SHIELD Helicarrier Conference Room.
Nick Fury's face was a thundercloud as he stared at his subordinates.
He had been in the middle of a bureaucratic war with the government and the military, fighting tooth and nail for custody of the Dark Elf flagship wreckage.
And now? He gets a report saying the most valuable chunk of the ship was stolen right out from under their noses.
"This is unprecedented! It's anarchy!"
Fury slammed his hand on the table, sending the report folder flying a few... well, centimeters.
Even though the report stated that most of the wreckage was still there, the stolen section contained the bridge, the primary energy core, the OS mainframe, and the shield generators.
Basically, the thief took the filet mignon and left SHIELD with the bones.
"Barton, you had close contact with the thief. Give me your assessment."
Clint Barton, who had been picking at his fingernails, sat up straight. He recalled the encounter in the alley.
"Target confirmed as female. Height around 160cm. She was bundled up, voice muffled, but based on tone and build, I'd say she's young. Under 20."
"Also... I suspect she might be a cosplayer or just really into theater. That crow mask was... elaborate."
"As for her methods? I didn't fully understand it. It looked like she could shrink objects?"
Fury nodded, then turned to the two young scientists from SHIELD's research team.
Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz.
"What's your take?"
Simmons and Fitz exchanged panicked glances, silently communicating: You do it! No, you do it!
Finally, Fitz lost the eye battle. He took the tablet, scrolling nervously.
"Um... Agent Barton's assessment might be a bit... simplistic. Based on the... the residual readings, it appears to be a highly concentrated particle compression event, causing spatial displacement or... or a localized quantum state contraction. This phenomenon—"
"Stop! Skip the techno-babble. Give me the conclusion!"
Fury barked, rubbing his temples. He glared at Fitz.
Simmons stepped in to save her partner.
"It shrinks things, sir!"
"Actually, the initial distraction—the smoke—used a similar method. We found glass fragments on site. The thief likely used shrinking tech to compress vast amounts of black and white pigment powder into tiny glass spheres, then detonated them to create the illusion of a massive gas leak."
"This chaos masked the theft of the main wreckage, which she then shrunk and carried away right under everyone's noses."
Fury sighed, finally letting them off the hook. He muttered to himself.
"Shrinking technology? The only person on record with that capability is Hank Pym."
Black Widow spoke up.
"Our investigation shows Hank Pym has been vacationing in New York recently. However, if the thief is a young female..."
"Pym has a daughter, Hope. But her age doesn't match the profile, and she's currently at Pym Tech headquarters in California. Solid alibi."
Fury frowned. "Does anyone else have this tech? Could Pym have shared it?"
"Unlikely. Pym Tech is currently run by his protégé, Darren Cross, who is trying to replicate Pym Particles but hasn't succeeded yet."
"Hank Pym is notoriously paranoid about his research. He kept it from his daughter, his students, and SHIELD. The probability of him giving it to a third party is extremely low."
Fury rubbed his forehead again. He turned to the video screens where Tony Stark and Luca (via the Haro Mech) were attending remotely.
Yes, Luca was invited.
Officially, because he had consulted on the Dark Elf tech earlier.
Unofficially, because Fury wanted to recruit him as a SHIELD consultant. Tony kept blocking these attempts, so Fury invited Luca directly to bypass Stark.
Luca, appearing as the Haro Mech avatar, stayed silent.
Tony, knowing exactly what Fury was up to, was annoyed.
"Why are you looking at me? I don't care about petty theft."
"Although," Tony smirked, "if this 'Miss Crow' is cute, I wouldn't mind a private consultation with her."
Fury scowled.
He didn't know that Luca, on the other end of the call, was even more annoyed.
"Miss Crow" was, of course, Luca in disguise.
Originally, he had given up on the Dark Elf ship as a Core Component. But while working in the quarantine zone, he noticed the main section of the hull was still glowing white.
The synthesis requirements had just increased a bit.
Armed with the [Dehydration Gun], stealing it was a no-brainer.
The female disguise? Just the [Transformation Watch] doing its job to throw off the scent.
The crow mask? Pure necessity. His [Tuxedo] offered invisibility, but only for the body. A floating head is conspicuous. The mask covered his face so he didn't look like a flying horror movie prop.
"Metal Knight," Fury said, addressing the Haro avatar. "What do you think?"
Luca paused his internal monologue.
"Metal Knight" was the codename he gave his Haro Mech persona. Fury likely knew his real identity by now, but they were playing a game of plausible deniability. It was better than being called "Haro" all the time.
Luca spun his virtual wheels, preparing to bullshit.
"Actually, Director, have you considered that your current database might be outdated?"