Chapter 27: The Traitor, The Baron, and The Twins
Notes: Just a warning here for the future people who will call me out. The events that happen in this novel do not follow the timeline of the MCU or any other movies to the dot.
There are many things happening at the same time and many events that are either too early or toote whenpared to the MCU.
There are many reasons why. First, this isn''t an MCU fanfic but a Marvel fanfic. Two, there are some things in the MCU that don''t make sense...like how other heroes don''t help out when shit happens. I know this is cause of budget and some shit in the filming but it just won''t make sense in a real Marvel world scenario.
So I had toe up with a lot of reasons which then caused the timeline to change a lot and other events happening at the same time.
There''s other reasons too but...Anyway, just enjoy the novel up to as much as you can tolerate :P
Also, Merry Christmas everyone!
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<strong>Chapter 27: The Traitor, The Baron, and The Twins</strong>
<span style="font-weight:400">As Natasha, Ophelia, and Felicia started their missions, Benjamin has also begun to move.
<span style="font-weight:400">He wasn’t alone, however, as he decided to call a certain someone to assist him.
<span style="font-weight:400">David Morrow, or better known by his real name, Grant Ward. The double agent of HYDRA.
<span style="font-weight:400">He called him a while ago saying he has a lead on a big case and wanted Grant to go with him to watch his back.
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant, not knowing the details but figuring it’s a good chance for him to get close to Benjamin, naturally epted and they soon met up.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin rented a van and drove to their meeting ce. It was a pretty secluded area and there weren’t any people passing by.
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant rode in front and looked at the back of the van.
<span style="font-weight:400">Seeing as the van was empty, he asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What’s with the creepy van?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hm? Oh, I needed a big enough car to put in all the important peopleter. I’d bring a bus but this is all I can get on such short notice.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What’s the op?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant asked, wanting to know what operation they were going to do.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Just a simple smash and grab. I’ll do the smashing, you do the grabbing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin chuckled, not saying theplete details.
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant raised a brow at that but didn’t ask anymore.
<span style="font-weight:400">After a while, Grant frowned as he noticed they were actually leaving New York but he still didn’t pry as he only needed to do what he was told.
<span style="font-weight:400">But after some more time, all Grant could see were trees…he can’t help it anymore so he asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uhh sir? Why are we out in the woods?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The ce we’ll be hitting has a very secret hideout here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What exactly are we up against?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“HYDRA.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant’s eyes widened for a fracture of a second before reverting back.
<span style="font-weight:400">“...HYDRA? No offense but…this makes this a SHIELD op. I can’t let you go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“SHIELD won’t do anything. They have their hands full already.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What do you-”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Shh. We’re here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Before Grant could ask, Benjamin motioned him to quiet down as they finally reached their destination.
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant turned and saw a well-hidden ‘shed’ a few meters away.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin got out and looked around.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Stay here and get the van ready. This won’t take long.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sir! You can’t-”
<span style="font-weight:400">Grant tried to stop him but Benjamin already went inside the shed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Inside, Benjamin looked around and scanned the ce with his HUD Contacts and found a secret lever on the tools hung on the wall.
<span style="font-weight:400">The next moment, the whole floor shook and slowly descended.
<span style="font-weight:400">“ssic secret hideout.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin clicked his tongue and waited.
<span style="font-weight:400">There were hidden cameras in the forest earlier and in the shed so HYDRA should already be fully expecting him.
<span style="font-weight:400">He reckons that the instant the doors opened, there would be an army ready to shoot at him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, the doors opened and Benjamin saw a whole team of HYDRA agents holding what looked like energy rifles at him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, a holographic image appeared in front of them and revealed a bald German man with a monocle.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Greetings, Kapit?n Freed. Although I zo not know how you found zis ce, I shall give you two options. Surrender. Or die.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Faced with this threat, Benjamin smiled.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. You have been surrounded by me. Surrender now. There’s nowhere for you to run.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Baron sneered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I knew Ophelia would fail to rope you in. In zat case, zis shall be your grave. But zon’t worry. We will make sure to study your body very well zo you may continue to contribute to herr Skull.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He waved his hand and his hologram disappeared.
<span style="font-weight:400">The next moment, the HYDRA agents immediately started to fire their weapons!
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin just smiled and in an instant, his entire body was covered in white.
<span style="font-weight:400">The HYDRA agents continued to shoot at him and created a dust cloud that blocked their vision.
<span style="font-weight:400">Only after a few more seconds did they stop at themand of their team leader.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hold!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone stopped firing and waited with bated breaths for the dust to settle.
<span style="font-weight:400">When the dust finally settled, they saw…nothing!
<span style="font-weight:400">“Where-!?”
<span style="font-weight:400">The team leader was about to shout when suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him and mmed his face to the ground!
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone then saw a pure white silhouette amidst their group and…his head was a skull that caught on fire!
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin looked at them and sneered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Boo.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“F-fire!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Shoot him!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone started to panic as they fired at Benjamin.
<span style="font-weight:400">However, none of their shots managed to pierce through his symbiote armor so Benjamin continued his rampage while being surrounded by them.
<span style="font-weight:400">The fight didn’t take long.
<span style="font-weight:400">Behind the cameras, Strucker had only turned around when he left then got curious why the feed suddenly grew silent.
<span style="font-weight:400">When he turned to look at the monitor again, he was shocked to see a white figure with a skull head that was on fire.
<span style="font-weight:400">Around him were flickers of electricity here and there as he stood above the numerous ‘corpses’ beneath him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, the skull-headed man turned his head and his fiery voided eyes stared directly into the camera as if he could see him through the monitor.
<span style="font-weight:400">Strucker unconsciously stepped back in fright.
<span style="font-weight:400">“W-what is this!? This wasn’t in the intel! That fucking Z! No threat to HYDRA he said!? Fuck!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Strucker mmed his fist on the desk, startling the nearby agents.
<span style="font-weight:400">One of the agents asked him fearfully.
<span style="font-weight:400">“W-what should we do now, herr Strucker?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Strucker fell silent for a moment then decided.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Release the twins.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“B-but, they’re still not ready…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“DO IT!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“U-understood!”
<span style="font-weight:400">The agent quickly ran to a special section of the basement where two rooms were located and surrounded heavily by weapons and guards.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rooms contain a pair of brothers and sisters who were both selected and experimented on using Loki’s scepter that was taken from the Battle of New York.
<span style="font-weight:400">Initially, the scepter fell into the hands of SHIELD but Strucker was able to get it due to HYDRA being deep undercover in SHIELD for a long time under the guise of ‘studying’ the scepter.
<span style="font-weight:400">Be that as it may, they could only hold on to the scepter for a week before they had to return it so as to not arouse any suspicions just yet.
<span style="font-weight:400">Still, with that one week, they managed to run some tests on the twins who then surprisingly developed…interesting abilities.
<span style="font-weight:400">Because they haven’t had in-depth tests yet, their abilities were onlybeled as such:
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda Maximoff: Telekinesis, Mind control.
<span style="font-weight:400">Pietro Maximoff: Superspeed.
<span style="font-weight:400">The agent took a deep breath and motioned for the surrounding guards to open the doors.
<span style="font-weight:400">Soon, a man with white hair and a woman with long brown hair walked out. On their necks was a rather thick cor.
<span style="font-weight:400">Neither of them had any super suits and only wore white shirts and pants since they are still treated asb rats by HYDRA.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Herr Strucker’s orders. Eliminate the intruder.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda and Pietro looked at each other and could see each other’s paleness.
<span style="font-weight:400">It has been a while since the two met as both of them would usually be experimented on separately.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rooms they were in were also sturdy and Wanda’s walls were made specially to prevent her mind control from reaching out to the agents outside.
<span style="font-weight:400">Finally able to leave, Wanda’s first thought was to control everyone here and escape but…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do not do anything strange. If herr Strucker sees you using your abilities on us, the bombs on your necks will explode. If you even try to remove those cors, they also explode.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...”
<span style="font-weight:400">Both Wanda and Pietro gritted their teeth.
If it was just her, she might take the risk. But if, because of her action, her sibling gets hurt…
It wasn''t only Wanda who thought this way but Pietro too.
<span style="font-weight:400">As such, the two of them could only nod.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good. Now go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, back at Benjamin.
<span style="font-weight:400">Having finished clearing around four floors now, Benjamin continued to make his way down further.
<span style="font-weight:400">At this moment, two figures appeared before him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin only guessed based on their looks that these two must be Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.
<span style="font-weight:400">Using the HUD Contacts only confirmed his guess.
<span style="font-weight:400">[Wanda Maximoff - Scarlet Witch. Affiliated with HYDRA]
<span style="font-weight:400">[Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver. Affiliated with HYDRA]
<span style="font-weight:400">Sure enough, it’s indeed them…but does this mean Ultron will be appearing soon?
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin thought for a moment and shook his head.
<span style="font-weight:400">Many things in this world have urred that are simr to the MCU plot in his previous world but there are also many changes and many more things added.
<span style="font-weight:400">It’s still not determined if Ultron will indeed appear soon.
<span style="font-weight:400">But…I suppose I should drop by and check in on Starkter…
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin made a mental note and focused on the two in front of him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hm?”
<span style="font-weight:400">After looking at them once more, he noticed the two were wearing rather thick cors…unless that’s a new fashion nowadays, it seems that these two aren’t here out of their own volition.
<span style="font-weight:400">But the cors also mean that their brainwashing isn’tplete yet. Otherwise, there would be no need for the cors.
<span style="font-weight:400">Since that’s the case…
<span style="font-weight:400">But before Benjamin could make a move, Pietro suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin had yet to react but his symbiote had already reacted for him, instantly creating spikes on his back and stab at the rushing Pietro.
<span style="font-weight:400">Pietro’s eyes widened and quickly tried to evade but his momentum was already fast. In the end, he only managed to avoid being impaled in his vital organs but still ended up getting pierced on his shoulder.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Pietro!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda shouted in panic when she saw this.
<span style="font-weight:400">Angered, her eyes glowed red and her hands also simrly glowed red.
<span style="font-weight:400">The metal tes on the floor and ceiling suddenly bent and rushed toward Benjamin.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin released more spikes and impaled these metal tes to stop them.
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, his hand moved and chopped at Pietro’s neck with a subtle force. Just enough to knock him out temporarily.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Stop!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda panicked again and tried to hurl things at Benjamin but Benjamin casually deflected them with the symbiote.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, he took out a Small Recovery Pill and fed it to Pietro who gulped it down after his mouth and nose were blocked.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin sighed when he saw this.
<span style="font-weight:400">To think that he could feed a pill to an unconscious person like this instead of mouth-to-mouth…that damn System really yed me back then!
<span style="font-weight:400">[Host, stopining. Host got to kiss ck Widow. What more do the host want!?]
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin ignored the system and checked on Pietro’s wound.
<span style="font-weight:400">After confirming he was recovering, he ced him down and turned to look at Wanda who was still frantically throwing things at him.
<span style="font-weight:400">These two were basically newbies at the moment and they don’t know how to use their powers yet.
<span style="font-weight:400">Most likely, they only developed their abilities recently.
<span style="font-weight:400">Seeing as throwing stuff didn’t work, Wanda tried to control Benjamin’s mind but…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ahhhhh!!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">She was met with a strong bacsh instead!
<span style="font-weight:400">Protecting against mental attacks wasn’t something Benjamin had on his list of abilities. However, the System naturally wouldn’t let any ‘virus’ infiltrate him. It’s not that the System itself cares about its Host. Rather, it is a means of self-defense to protect itself.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thanks to that, Benjamin got a free Mental Immunity without needing to buy it in the store!
<span style="font-weight:400">The bacsh Wanda felt was too strong and caused her to instantly faint.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin saw the two of them unconscious and couldn’t help but scratch his cheek.
<span style="font-weight:400">Umm…that was a bit too easy…wasn’t it?
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, it can’t be helped. They’re still new to their powers. Anyways…I should do something about those cors.
<span style="font-weight:400">He thought for a moment then decided to just directly crush it and throw it away.
<span style="font-weight:400">With both hands each holding a cor, he took a deep breath and activated the Spin Ring to slow down time around him in case these cors are rigged to explode upon removal.
<span style="font-weight:400">Just like that…
<span style="font-weight:400">*BOOM!!!*
<span style="font-weight:400">Two explosions rang out on both sides.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for Benjamin, Wanda, and Pietro, they were all protected by the symbiote surrounding them.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well, good to know that it worked.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin wiped an imaginary sweat on his forehead.
<span style="font-weight:400">Honestly, he was 50/50 on whether that would work or not.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was a good thing that both Wanda and Pietro were unconscious and didn’t hear it. Otherwise, it’s unknown how they would react…
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin then had two symbiote arms carry the two while he continued to walk deeper into the HYDRA base.
<span style="font-weight:400">Strucker, watching all this, gritted his teeth and once again smashed on the desk.
<span style="font-weight:400">He continued to issue orders upon order but it was all useless.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even the other mutants they had captured were defeated easily by Benjamin and freed. Now they had joined him to trash the ce.
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda and Pietro also woke up from the disturbance and upon knowing they were freed by him, they also joined in on the fight to destroy these people who had experimented on them.
<span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, Benjamin prevented all of them from killing.
<span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t that he was very uptight with the no-killing policy but he just believes that death is too easy of a punishment for these people.
<span style="font-weight:400">The mutants were reluctant but still agreed on behalf of him saving them.
<span style="font-weight:400">It didn’t take long at all before they managed to capture all the HYDRA agents and Strucker himself.
<span style="font-weight:400">Once everything was done, Benjamin asked the mutants what they n on doing next.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I can send you guys to wherever you want but you best behave and don’t do anything illegal. Otherwise, I’ll being for you next.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The mutants looked at each other and sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Most of them wanted to be sent home where they can, hopefully, live a normal life.
<span style="font-weight:400">Some of them asked to go to the school they’d heard about that’s sheltering mutants.
<span style="font-weight:400">There’s also some who wanted to join the EPD when they heard that Benjamin was leading the team.
<span style="font-weight:400">Both Wanda and Pietro also asked to join.
<span style="font-weight:400">As such, Benjamin opened up various portals for them.
<span style="font-weight:400">For those who wanted to return home, he sent them near their homes.
<span style="font-weight:400">For those who wanted to join the EPD, he sent them to New York and asked them to report the next day.
<span style="font-weight:400">For now, he arranged them to sleep in a nearby hotel. Naturally, he paid for it. Only for a night each though. He also grouped them up so he only needed a few rooms.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for those who wanted to go to Charles Xavier’s School of Gifted…since it would be troublesome to just open a portal and drop them off, he figured he should go along with them and exin to Professor X.
<span style="font-weight:400">Before leaving, he made sure to send the captured Baron Strucker as well as several important people to Grant Ward who was still waiting for him above.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for the rest of the HYDRA agents, he temporarily bound them in the base for now and ced a magic formation around them to prevent them from escaping. He couldn’t portal them all directly to prison as he didn’t know where he’d put such arge group.
<span style="font-weight:400">He would ask SHIELD for a ce but SHIELD is a mess right now so might as well let them stay here for now.
<span style="font-weight:400">Back outside, when Grant saw Strucker and the rest, he was speechless.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin ignored his reaction and pushed the captives to him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Send these back and lock them up.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...Understood.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin looked at Grant with a gaze full of meaning before turning away.
<span style="font-weight:400">He naturally could’ve portal-ed Strucker and the rest directly in prison but they still need to serve a purpose.
<span style="font-weight:400">That purpose being…a test for the one known as Grant Ward.
<span style="font-weight:400">He wanted to know if this guy will turn on him at this moment…or continue his undercover as a SHIELD agent.
<span style="font-weight:400">Naturally, if he does turn on him, he will be able to instantly find him as he left a small tracker on Strucker, Grant, and the van.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even if they somehow removed the tracker, he just needed to wait till one of them mentions his name and he can find them immediately.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin was sure they would mention him if they do escape at least once to curse at him. He wasn’t worried about not being mentioned at all.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for why he needed to test Grant?
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, it was mostly his own curiosity really. And he felt like ying around a bit.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thinking that, he texted Ophelia and Jessica who knew about Grant, and exined what he did. Then he asked them if they wanted to bet on him to see if Grant will defect or not.
<span style="font-weight:400">Both Ophelia and Jessica betted that he will surely defect so Benjamin betted he won’t. The loser will then have to listen to what the winner says for a whole day.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin chuckled in his mind.
<span style="font-weight:400">He wasn’t worried about losing. Anyway, he feels like if they win, they would suggest some weird sex y and if he wins, he would also suggest a weird sex y so either way…it’s still a win for him!
<span style="font-weight:400">Once that’s been settled, he went back to the group of mutants who wanted to go to Xavier’s school.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin was somewhat looking forward to meeting the infamous X-men in this world.