[Nick Fury (POV) ]
The Justice League….. They were an extreme breach of protocol, and anything that anyone in power was used to dealing with.
Of course, they were useful. The heroes have aided many times in taking down certain superpowered beings that would have taken SHIELD much more resources to even try to undertake.
But at the same time, they were dangerous…. What would happen if they suddenly decided to stop being heroes?
Of course, Nick Fury already had as much information as possible on each member of the League.
He had an understanding of their beliefs and their commitment to justice…
But the issue was that beliefs aren't unchanging… Such things would change as long as enough trauma or enough time passed..
A hero trying to save everyone could end up becoming a villain if the wrong things happened….
In a perfect world, he would have liked to place his trust in the League and go take a vacation somewhere across Europe..
But that isn't happening any time soon.
The Avengers…. The new team has finally been formed after it was approved by those greedy people in power.
The Avengers Initiative was one of his plans to help deal with a rogue Justice League.
Of course, he wasn't the only one who had such an idea…..
Nick Fury walked to the file placed on his office desk as he opened it, reading the contents:
'Suicide Squad'
They have been active for quite a while…. The American government, and more accurately, Amanda Waller—a woman with a moral compass that is questionable at best.
He had intended to visit that Crystal City himself, but after the information the Justice League gave him, he held off… for now.
Nick Fury moved his hand as he placed the file back in place, sitting in his seat and pressing a button to watch the same recording again.
Black Adam…. A catastrophe made from ego and lightning that decided to make it the world's problem to deal with…. Was defeated in less than an hour.
A man that is capable of turning into a dragon, and apparently commands a crystal-shaped heart that can give most nukes a run for their money.
But at this point…. Why not!
Atlantis and the Amazons are real, so might as well! RIGHT!?
….
And the other apparent issue….. Mind-controlled agents.
More than a dozen agents, all under mind control…. All have been working under SHIELD, all completely normal and competent agents…
'It seems I have been too focused on outside issues…. Very well.'
Nick Fury's face showed no emotion whatsoever as he poured himself a cold glass of water.
He would deal with the new half-dragon king later. For now, he would leave this matter to the League…. He had already made his wish for the agents to be returned back clear to the heroes.
Or at least questioned for what they remember..
But for now, Nick Fury had a much more important issue to deal with…
Nick Fury raised the cup to drink before slamming it hard against the edge of his office table, as the next instant, a small black sphere with a red very well-hidden light in the middle of it fell to the metallic ground.
Once he received the news of the agents he had acted completely normal and started searching his office….The reason was simple if even his office had been compromised them the matter isn't just few agents…Shield is compromised.
Nick's boot came down as it crushed the hidden camera, with his eyes narrowing dangerously. 'It seems I have really been too unfocused lately….'
It would take a while and it would weaken shield for the short term but he knew what he needed to do …"Time to clean house."
[The Crystal Empire POV]
"What do you mean you are not coming?!"
"I mean that YOU, AND SHIELD, AND EVERYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH THIS WORTHLESS JOB CAN DIE IN A HOLE!"
The recovering agents soon got separated into groups, each with their own opinions.
Those that had families outside that were still alive, or used to serve under SHIELD before being brainwashed, intended to return to SHIELD and try to have their lives back.
But not everyone was as enthusiastic, especially those who had served under the brainwashing since childhood… They didn't trust SHIELD to protect them, and they could not care less about what happens to SHIELD..
So when the few agents that had loyalty to SHIELD tried to convince the others that going back was the right option, fights and arguments were just a reality.
Some were not loyal to SHIELD nor any moral high ground—never was, never will… They simply wanted to live.
Thankfully, the presence of the likes of Superman and a few members of the League kept things under control.
Superman made sure to tell them that they have the freedom to make their own choices now, and he made it clear that he won't force them to choose anything against their will.
While Martian Manhunter focused on soothing those who had more severe trauma… and thankfully, he was almost finished.
Meanwhile, Batman has been collecting information from all the stable agents to understand everything about their situation.
And he didn't like it one bit…. Batman was going to have a busy day trying to deal with uncovering certain secret bases.
(Meanwhile)
Sombra was at the top of the castle to understand the extent of the damage that happened to the castle, and hopefully fix it if possible.
Things were not as bad as it could have been, but definitely not as good as he hoped…. Black Adam's arrival had certainly been anything but polite..
Sombra would have liked to stay and try persuading the agents, but he wasn't going to beg them to stay.
He made his position to the agents clear once most of them were awake..
And once the League leaves, Sombra already decided to take the Crystal Heart to a populated area to recharge…. So the agents aren't as crucial…
And he already had a plan to fix the population issue once and for all, but it would still need the Heart charged to a certain degree, and he can't exactly start working on it while the League is in his city.
Sighing heavily, Sombra placed his hand on the cracked crystal wall as dark crystals grew in the cracks and fixed the wall.
Sombra made sure to travel through the ruined level of his castle, fixing it and patching the roof with crystals wherever he could.
It was a temporary fix, but it would have to do for now… He had many things on his to-do list, and making his castle look prettier is not on his necessary list..
Although it was unpleasant…. the room of the Crystal Heart was, quite frankly, ruined, and the upper level of the castle—the one where the Crystal Heart should light down on all the empire—was just… ruined.
'It's fine… All of it would be fixed once I get the Crystal Heart up and running once again.'
There was a number of cities he was considering…. Metropolis was a possibility.
It would be easy to convince Superman to allow him to pay the city a visit…. And considering that Sombra didn't have any villainous intent, nor was he targeting a certain Daily Planet reporter, then the visit should be quite peaceful.
'Hopefully.'
On the other hand, his plan for people recruitment would not work best at a city with Superman present to take care of..
'Gotham.'
Gotham would be perfect for what he planned… He was sure he could get at least a thousand new residents, or maybe more or less, as long as his plan worked as intended.
The issue with Gotham was that…. Well, it was Gotham, which is more than enough of a problem, not counting Batman, who for whatever reason seems to not like Sombra already…. Not that Sombra liked him. Batman is a great character until you have to deal with him personally.
I wonder why that is?…. Sure, he is paranoid, but he seemed particularly hostile, like he had a reason or something that gave him an opinion about me already...
'Sigh… I don't plan to be his friend, but having Batman on at least neutral terms is very important and useful…'
'I wonder what the Bat-family is going through at the moment…. Has Red Hood died and come back to life yet? Is Nightwing a thing yet? How many members of the Bat-family does Gotham have right now?'
'The same goes for Superman… Is his cousin here? Is she in space, or is she some evil variant of herself? Has Superman been cloned in this timeline? Should I worry about an Injustice timeline?'
'Is the protégé of Green Arrow a clone? Has he been replaced secretly with a clone yet, or is this world a different story?'
'I would not be surprised if certain things just didn't happen like I remember… For instance, who is to say that Batman in this world didn't take Spider-Man as a protégé?'
'Or maybe a member of the Avengers is in the Justice League, or the opposite?'
'There are a lot of variables for me to assume that anything is the same.'
'In the end, I just have to deal with it as it comes.'
Sombra removed his hand from the Crystal Heart as he placed it again at its place. 'I would have to place detection spells and traps around this room again, because a certain lightning freak has fried them with pure magic.'
"Talking about dealing with things one at a time…. Maybe I should ask what is it that you wish to achieve by following me?…."
Sombra turned his face towards a dark corner of the room that seemed to be as ordinary as anything else.
A moment of silence passed as Sombra just stared at the corner with a deadpan expression, as he raised an eyebrow.
A moment later, the shadows turned darker as they merged together, as Raven emerged from the shadows with her eyes narrowed at Sombra, as she said, "You noticed?".
Sombra's deadpan stare didn't change as he answered, "Don't feel disappointed, it is a nice trick… But trust me when I say no one can use the shadows to hide from me."
"Your name was Raven, right?…. Superman mentioned it, which I am quite thankful for since you heroes don't seem very good at introducing yourselves… What is it you want from me, little witch?"
Raven's eyes narrowed further as she glanced at Sombra and then at the Crystal Heart that was slowly regaining energy and was brightening slowly.
"Who and what are you?"
'That is a loaded question…. Not that I plan to answer it…..'
*******
(A/N):….I don't really have anything to say except that I hate college and I am starting to have a personal vendetta against organic chemistry….have a nice day everyone…And I almost forgot that I promised to release sombra chapters so here it is…