As Wolverine ripped open Nick Fury's chest in a single stroke, a mixture of red and yellow fluids instantly splattered everywhere.
Flying out alongside the liquid was a heap of shattered parts and tubes, which clattered noisily onto the ground.
One small pump bounced a few times on the pavement before rolling over to Venom Robin's feet. Robin crushed it with a stomp, then scratched his head in bewilderment as he looked at the flattened pump.
The superheroes were also startled by Wolverine's sudden violently tearing Nick Fury apart. Jack Monroe and Black Knight Dane Whitman even looked at Wolverine with a hint of fear in their eyes.
However, when Nick Fury lay on the ground with electric sparks flickering continuously across his body, uttering buzzing static noises from his mouth, even the biggest fool realized what was going to happen.
"It's a Life Model Decoy?" Iron Man stated the obvious.
"Correct." Batman lowered his hand expressionlessly, no longer paying mind to Nick Fury lying on the ground. "He kept trying to trigger a self-destruct protocol, but with me here, he couldn't initiate it."
"No wonder." Iron Man, Tony Stark, nodded.
His Mark armor had been rendered scrap in the previous battle; otherwise, he certainly would have noticed Nick Fury's anomaly.
"Well, this is great." Blade strolled over to Batman's side, looking down at Nick Fury on the ground as he spoke.
Batman caught a scent of blood on him that was even thicker than Wolverine's. Blade was already injured, but the metallic reek didn't stem from his own wounds; rather, it came from large patches of blood that had long since dried black.
Noticing Batman's gaze, Blade said in a low voice:
"Belongs to those vampires."
Batman gave a slight nod. Before the superheroes assembled at Times Square, Blade had gone alone to an underground parking garage to engage in a bloody battle with the vampires.
Batman didn't know the exact details of Blade's fight against the vampires, but the result was clear: the vampires were wiped out, and Blade had survived.
"How do we handle things next?" Professor Morbius squeezed his way over as well.
Blade's gaze fell onto Professor Morbius, a flicker of doubt passing through his eyes.
However, he said nothing and simply waited for Batman's instructions.
The superheroes also looked at Nick Fury on the ground, who was emitting continuous static currents, remaining silent.
Right at this moment, Nick Fury spoke up:
"I know you're all very tense... zzzt... Don't worry, this is the end."
Interspersed with electrical static, his voice was broken and disjointed:
"In terms of politics, I've already avoided it once... zzzt... but this time, I won't avoid it again."
"You won't see or hear from me again... zzzt... Though there are still many unresolved problems, my mission is complete... zzzt..."
Captain America slung his shield onto his back, stepped up to Batman, and asked:
"Where is he?"
"His signal is being transmitted from somewhere else," Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards, provided the answer for Batman.
Tony Stark rolled his eyes. That statement was just as much of an obvious redundancy as his own earlier comment.
"You are heroes. I've already witnessed your strength... zzzt... and the whole world has seen your strength as well... zzzt..."
Nick Fury's words were surprisingly still not finished.
A cybernetically modified agent—whose body was entirely mechanical except for his human head—walked over, giving a slight nod toward the others:
"I'm Garrett."
Whoosh!
The eyes of Batman, Iron Man, and even the other superheroes who had been active in New York for a while instantly focused on him.
"I'm not Nathan Garrett from a while back," the agent explained, seemingly aware of everyone's thoughts. "I'm John Garrett."
Black Knight Dane Whitman secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Perhaps one day, you will look around and see the world just as I described. When that time comes, you'll know I was right—at least you'll understand why I did what I did." Nick Fury kept talking to himself on the ground.
His rage still unappeased, Wolverine stepped forward and crushed the Life Model Decoy's head under his boot.
With a squelch, fluids squirted all over the ground.
"Are there any other questions now?" Captain America turned to the police officers surrounding the superheroes.
Gulp!
Under Captain America's intense gaze, the police officers couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Of course there are questions!" It was a limping Eddie Brock who spoke. "Not just me—I believe the people all across the world watching this live stream have plenty of questions in their hearts, just like me."
The superheroes' eyes shifted toward Eddie Brock. Though this reporter was weak as could be, his courage was terrifyingly massive:
"The witness you brought forward..."
Eddie Brock pointed at Nick Fury.
"What he said just now was purely a one-sided story, and he dumped most of the responsibility onto this person."
He pointed again at the unconscious Quake.
"Unless she admits it herself, you still can't clear yourselves of the crime of participating in the Latveria massacre."
Hoo!
A long exhale sounded beside Eddie Brock. He looked back, only to see the facial muscles on Wolverine's face contorted together, and the steel claws he had just retracted were slowly extending out millimeter by millimeter once again.
Any ordinary person would have been scared senseless by Wolverine long ago, but Eddie Brock surprisingly wasn't. Instead, he aimed the camera lens straight at Wolverine:
"You can kill me, but the world needs the truth, not a statement like the one just now that glosses over multiple key details."
"Logan, leave it to me," Batman said to Wolverine.
Wolverine glared at Eddie Brock, squeezing a sentence out from between his teeth:
"Got balls, kid!"
Black Panther, T'Challa, stood quietly beside Batman. He truly didn't have much to say, simply standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother.
"I can resolve all of your doubts, and I trust that after hearing what comes next, you won't have any more questions." Batman looked at Eddie Brock.
Looking back at Batman, Eddie Brock's eyes flickered slightly:
"Fine! Tell us."
Batman's voice was deep, emphasizing every single word:
"May 2004: The Latverian government engaged in cooperation talks with the United States government."
"August 17, 2004: Nick Fury gathered intelligence regarding the Tinkerer."
"August 30, 2004: The President of the United States convened that secret meeting, rejecting Nick Fury's operational proposal on the grounds that Ms. Lucia was a democratically elected, legitimate government official."
"September 22, 2004: Captain America awakened from the Arctic glaciers and was transferred to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in Wyoming."
"Between October 7 and October 15, 2004: Nick Fury secretly met with Daredevil and the others."
"Today, November 10, 2004: The operation codenamed 'Secret War' commenced."
As if he were Nick Fury himself, Batman detailed the Latverian mission from beginning to end:
"Every single one of these events is documented in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files and reflected in the President's official schedule."
--
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