The screen continued playing.
After Captain America destroyed one of the engines on the aircraft, it immediately lost balance and began to sway in the air.
Captain America took the opportunity to suddenly grip the motorcycle's brakes, causing it to stop abruptly. Due to inertia, he was flung off.
Taking advantage of the momentum, he leapt onto the aircraft.
He pulled out the shield he had embedded in the aircraft, and with a flick of his wrist, launched it.
Clang clang!
The shield ricocheted off the aircraft's twin tail wings, instantly destroying both.
Captain America smoothly caught the shield midair and leaped gracefully to the ground from the aircraft.
The aircraft staggered like a drunkard, veering off course before crashing onto the bridge with a loud boom.
Smoke billowed everywhere. The aircraft was a complete wreck.
A Quinjet had just been taken down — with nothing but a shield — in mere minutes.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Nick Fury would never have believed it possible.
The scene cut again.
Back to the command room.
"Everyone, listen up! Drop what you're doing, we are now at level one alert!"
"Contact the Department of Transportation and switch all traffic lights in this area to red!"
"Shut down all runways at Washington Airport, Dulles Airport, and Reagan National Airport!"
"Feed all surveillance footage to this screen!"
…
The bald commander began issuing a rapid series of orders to apprehend Captain America.
"With all due respect, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is ordering the arrest of Captain America, we deserve to know why!" a female agent suddenly spoke up.
"Because he lied to us!"
The figure of Pierce appeared. "Captain Rogers is withholding information about Nick Fury's death and refuses to cooperate."
"As hard as it is to accept, Captain America is now a fugitive of S.H.I.E.L.D."
The footage ended there.
"If this really is something that will happen in the future, then Fury's death is definitely not that simple."
After a brief silence, it was Captain America who solemnly spoke first.
"That's obvious." Nick Fury nodded in agreement. "This whole situation reeks of conspiracy."
"How I died remains unknown. What crucial information I told you before dying also remains unknown."
"But I did tell you not to trust anyone!"
The room fell into slight silence. That one sentence from Nick Fury to Captain America conveyed something deeply important.
"That assassination attempt on you — S.H.I.E.L.D. must have been involved." Captain America added, his expression grave.
And indeed, it was obvious.
From the footage, Captain America was clearly part of S.H.I.E.L.D., yet Nick Fury still warned him not to trust anyone. Who else could he have been warning him about?
Nick Fury fell momentarily silent, his expression dark.
To think, after all his years of work, he thought he had complete control over S.H.I.E.L.D. But clearly, that wasn't the case.
He, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was going to die at the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D..
How ironic. How laughable.
"Nick Fury, don't you have anything to say?" Iron Man asked, seeing him fall quiet.
"The footage doesn't give enough information for a precise analysis. Aside from confirming that someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved, we can't draw any definitive conclusions."
"Maybe a field agent leaked my location to my enemies. Maybe someone fed me false intel to lure me into a trap."
"Or maybe a high-ranking executive in S.H.I.E.L.D. orchestrated the whole thing... there are too many possibilities."
"What we do know is that someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. wants me dead. That's the only fact we have."
Nick Fury had fought his way up to the Director's chair, and along the way had undoubtedly made a host of enemies — some openly, some in the shadows.
Even those who weren't enemies surely coveted his position.
In an organization as vast as S.H.I.E.L.D., power struggles, politics, and ambition were the norm.
There were plenty of people who wanted Nick Fury dead.
So his conclusion — that someone wanted him dead — wasn't exactly groundbreaking.
"What about Alexander Pierce?"
Captain America asked in a low voice. "Do you think there's anything suspicious about him?"
"From what we've seen of Pierce's actions so far, nothing seems off." Nick Fury responded thoughtfully.
Though Pierce's methods were a bit aggressive — very much like a movie villain — everything he did followed protocol.
The accusations against Fury weren't baseless; the evidence was solid. Even the attempt to apprehend Captain America was by the book.
Nick Fury figured that, had he been in Pierce's shoes, he might've done the same.
"Let me guess — there's a 'but' coming?" Iron Man couldn't help interjecting, seeing Fury's expression.
"But!"
Of course there was a but.
"Pierce was a little too efficient." Nick Fury finally voiced his suspicion. "I died 'last night,' and according to emergency protocols, Pierce temporarily took over S.H.I.E.L.D. — that's expected."
"But by the very next day, he already had all that evidence lined up!"
"Even I wouldn't be able to pull that off so cleanly."
Initially, Captain America and Iron Man didn't think anything was off. But now that Fury pointed it out, they agreed — something didn't add up.
A minister who didn't usually involve himself in day-to-day S.H.I.E.L.D. operations takes over as director and… doesn't need any transition time?
Immediately operating like a seasoned director?
"Maybe… maybe Pierce was fed false information? That's why it all went down so smoothly?" Captain America suggested, pondering another possibility.
"I know Pierce. He's not that easily fooled." Nick Fury shook his head.
Pierce had been the previous Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after all. The man was competent — he wouldn't fall for fake intel so easily.
"Then that only leaves one possibility."
Captain America's expression turned serious. What he was about to say was a serious accusation.
"Pierce is exactly the kind of person we're talking about. He orchestrated the entire thing. All that evidence — was planted in advance!"
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