A white whirlwind swept through.
Bant released the terrifying cold air within him while simultaneously grabbing Stark by the back of his collar, lifting him up like a chicken.
Blue wings unfurled, revealing his moth-like appearance.
"Let's go, Captain!"
Though Peter had never seen the Frost Ghost before, he had already guessed that this was Bant.
He immediately shot out a web line, snagged Captain America, and hauled him aboard the Quinjet.
Bant tossed Tony upward as well. The fragments of his armor scattered across the floor like pieces from a Lego set.
Everyone fled amidst the blinding white gale.
In truth, if Bant had wanted to, the frigid aura within him could have frozen the entire base in an instant.
But that would have defeated his purpose.
If his only goal was destroying SHIELD, he could have just turned into Four Arms or any other powerful hero and gotten it done.
On the plane, everyone looked a bit deflated.
Tony, just freed from his ruined armor, gasped for air and slumped against the wall on the floor. The enclosed space made his condition much worse. He looked more like he was having an anxiety attack, his face deathly pale and unable to speak a single word.
"What do we do now?"
Peter broke the suffocating silence.
He held up his phone angrily. "We're all wanted! They're slandering us as HYDRA!"
By now, HYDRA had already issued bounties for them.
Everyone present, even Tony, had been labeled a HYDRA operative.
"There's no way around it."
Hill shook her head as she piloted the jet.
"Pierce controls the Security Council. He's taken SHIELD back completely. We're basically up against an entire nation. Worse, we're enemies on the international stage too."
Both SHIELD and the military answered to the Security Council. At this point, Tony's chances of getting help from Rhodes were next to none.
Rhodes's armor could only be operated by him, but right now he was undoubtedly under strict supervision, with no chance of even getting close to it.
"And us..." She turned her head and swept her gaze across everyone in the cabin.
"Including this alien, there are only eight of us."
"How rude. I told you, my name is Frost Ghost." Bant glared at her unhappily.
"Does any of that matter right now?"
Tony finally regained a bit of composure. He panted and said, "What matters is, can someone turn off the AC? I'm freezing to death."
"I didn't turn on the AC."
Hill replied.
Immediately, everyone's eyes shifted toward Bant, whose every breath leaked cold vapor.
"Big moth, dial it down a notch."
Bant: "..."
Afterward, Tony sat in a chair and rubbed his shoulders. "I need a new suit. You Plumbers have materials, right?"
Having learned from Bant that he was a wanted man, Tony had already figured out that both Stark Industries and his own home were likely compromised with ambushes waiting.
He couldn't go back there. That meant he had to build a new suit at Plumbers' headquarters and reboot JARVIS.
He was actually a bit worried about Pepper, but fortunately, anticipating the inherent danger of this situation, he had made some preparations beforehand.
He just hadn't expected his own armor to get completely disabled.
"I'm definitely installing an anti EMP device this time!"
"Still, it's strange," Natasha said, turning toward Peter with a puzzled look. "Why does the wanted notice only target Spider Man and not directly expose your identities?"
At SHIELD, not many people knew the identities of Spider Man and the Hacker. In fact, it was limited to Fury's inner circle.
But the files on Spider Man and the Hacker were still on record.
Once Pierce regained control of SHIELD and obtained Level 10 clearance, he should have been able to access them.
"Because Plumbers sealed every document related to Spider Man."
Bant replied hoarsely.
He hadn't been idle during his time at SHIELD.
All data pertaining to Spider Man's identity had been locked and deleted by him. Even if Pierce had Level 10 clearance, it was useless.
"Why?"
Hill countered.
She was deeply confused.
On one hand, the fact that Plumbers could accomplish such a thing right under SHIELD's nose was terrifying. On the other hand, why would Plumbers go out of their way to protect Spider Man's identity?
"Well..." Peter hesitated.
Tony picked up the thread.
"Isn't it obvious? Because Spider Man is a member of the Plumbers."
He shrugged.
If Bant was part of the Plumbers, then it was no surprise that Peter, as Bant's cousin, was a member too.
"I thought that was an alien organization." Coulson said.
"In truth, Earthlings and extraterrestrials are all just beings of the universe."
"Then let's head to Primos. There's someone there you won't expect."
At that moment, Captain America finally spoke up.
"We're just leaving the Hacker behind at the SHIELD base? He's also a Spider Man, his abilities should be about on par with Peter's. Sure, he's got plenty of gadgets, but if they hit him with another EMP bomb, he'd be in just as much danger, wouldn't he?"
He found it incredibly difficult to accept abandoning a teammate.
It reminded him of the day Bucky fell from the train.
Another comrade lost.
What if the Hacker was in trouble?
"What makes you think no one else went to rescue him, Captain?"
Bant asked in return.
"You're saying another Plumber went to save him?" Steve exhaled in relief.
"You'll find out when we get there."
Bant offered no further explanation. He simply phased his body and departed from the plane.
High above, the intangible Bant plunged into the clouds. The next moment, a green flash flickered within the mist, followed by a crimson creature diving out from the cloud layer.
"Jetray!"
Jetray, an Aerophibian from the planet Aeropela, had a completely red body with yellow horns extending upward from the nose area on both sides. Beneath its arms were yellow wing membranes, and on its shoulders were black lightning bolt markings.
Due to its strong resemblance to a fish called a ray, it was named Jetray.
It possessed supersonic flight capability, and its maximum flight speed could even exceed light speed. In Ben 10's usage, Jetray once crossed distances spanning countless light years in a short period.
At the same time, its eyes and tail could both fire lasers.
Setting aside Alien X, among all of Bant's alien forms, Jetray had the fastest travel speed, even surpassing Fasttrack.
However, Jetray's reaction speed was inferior to Fasttrack's.
After transforming into Jetray, Bant could fly even faster than the Quinjet.
Eventually, the jet touched down outside New York City. The group changed their appearances and, led by Peter, discreetly made their way back to the Primos Building.
When they arrived, they discovered Bant already standing at the company's main entrance, waiting for them.
"How did he get here before us?"
Steve was astonished.
"I told you, worry about ourselves before worrying about him." Tony removed his glasses and walked past Steve.
The group quickly entered Primos.
Bant pressed the button for the underground levels.
But Coulson was still puzzled. "Didn't we say we were going to Plumbers HQ? Why are we at the Primos Building?"
Just then, the elevator doors opened and Nick Fury walked out alongside Harry.
Fury said, "Because the Primos Building is Plumbers Headquarters."
"Fury!"
Everyone cried out in surprise.
Nick Fury only cast a meaningful glance toward Bant. "You hid it deep, Bant Parker. Never would have guessed you're the Plumbers' Earth based leader. And Primos is the Plumbers!"
"It's just temporarily serving as a conference building."
Bant had no intention of turning Primos entirely into Plumbers HQ.
After all, Primos was still a company. Sooner or later, it would be bustling with people and prying eyes. The Plumbers, as an organization, needed a more secluded base.
He thought Mount Rushmore looked pretty good. Someday, he'd have to hollow it out and turn it into a base.
Seeing Nick Fury alive undeniably brought a fair amount of hope to Hill and the others.
The black egghead was their superior, after all, and he had his share of legendary exploits. Even though he'd lost the title of SHIELD Director, seeing him safe was like swallowing a tranquilizer.
At least Coulson had relaxed considerably.
He glanced around the interior of Primos curiously. "I kind of expected to see a bunch of aliens here."
"Forget the aliens. Let's focus on what we're going to do now." Nick Fury said.
In his view, the situation was dire.
When Harry rescued him, instead of taking Nick Fury back to Oscorp, he had secretly brought him to Primos.
Now everyone knew Harry was the Green Goblin.
HYDRA would definitely go after Oscorp to get to Nick Fury.
Publicly, they were still SHIELD. As long as Fury remained unfound, they wouldn't make a move on Norman. The same applied to Pepper.
The group sat around the circular conference table. Nick Fury's face was creased with worry.
"Right now, they're just issuing wanted notices. But once those helicarriers are fully operational, no one will be able to stop HYDRA."
"All the upgrades we made to those carriers... we just handed them over on a silver platter?"
Peter's eyes widened in shock.
Tony shook his head. "No need to worry. The Hacker and I tampered with the carriers long ago. Once we swap out the targeting program, we can handle everything."
"When did this happen?"
Nick Fury shot to his feet, furious.
His one good eye darted back and forth between Bant and Tony, a look of shock and betrayal on his face, as if he'd been stabbed in the back. He roared, "You didn't trust me?!"
"Trusting you is exactly what landed us in this mess."
Tony crossed his arms and sneered.
"You came up with Project Insight, then listed me as a primary threat. You had EMP weapons ready specifically for me, ready to take me out at a moment's notice. How could I possibly trust you?"
"That wasn't my fault."
Nick Fury spread his hands. "Project Insight was Pierce's plan. I was on the kill list myself."
Then, dropping the matter, he asked, "You altered the algorithm?"
"That's right." Tony nodded.
Bant also nodded. "I'd already traced the Insight algorithm back to HYDRA's Dr. Zola. I found that bunker on my own and destroyed it, then replaced the underlying code."
"Once the carriers launch..." Tony picked up from Bant, "they'll find out they're the ones being targeted."
"Clever!"
Nick Fury nodded at first, then countered, "But what if they bypass the algorithm and operate the weapons manually to strike at us, or hold the world hostage?"
"That's..."
Tony hadn't considered that angle.
From the very start, he'd never imagined the carriers would fall into HYDRA's hands.
In his mind, the plan was to finish upgrading the carriers, then immediately launch them to execute a counter Insight protocol and wipe out HYDRA in one fell swoop.
Who could have predicted that HYDRA would make their move before the carriers were even finished?
Still, he quickly thought of an alternative.
"Then we take the carriers back!"
Tony Stark stood up.
"With just the few of us?"
Natasha laughed as if she'd heard the most absurd joke in the world.
Those were helicarriers, not Quinjets.
No one knew how many weapons they carried, possibly even nuclear warheads. The moment three helicarriers hovered over New York City, reducing the entire metropolis to rubble would be as simple as a single thought.
How could their tiny, insignificant group possibly seize control of the carriers back?
But at that moment, Bant stepped forward.
"I can do it alone."
"I handled the propulsion system upgrades myself. I remember every other system clearly. I can regain control."
In truth, control of the carriers already belonged to Bant.
If he wished, those HYDRA goons wouldn't even have the credentials to board them.
But he didn't plan on revealing that fact.
Right now, those carriers were the most powerful weapons HYDRA possessed. Without them, HYDRA would lose its fangs, and its threat level would plummet.
That wouldn't do.
What kind of hero doesn't have a sufficiently formidable villain to make him look good?
If there was no threat of helicarriers darkening the skies over New York, then how could Norman's courageous stand against evil appear so heroic?
Not just Norman, even Bant's own image seemed to gain depth in Nick Fury's eye.
Fury clapped his hands and turned to Natasha.
"See that, Agent Romanoff? That's what you call professional. Instead of always thinking there's no hope and giving up, you look for more solutions!"
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"You're right. Next time you have a plan, I'll strip you of every layer of secrecy first and come up with the solution before you even start causing trouble."
Nick Fury: "..."
"You've turned traitor too?"
"I haven't. I just figure SHIELD is about to go under, and you're heading straight to prison. That means you won't be my boss anymore."
Natasha's expression clearly said: Do I look like I give a damn?
/-\
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