This all traced back to over ten days ago.
At the time, Natasha had come to the office, saying there was a particularly tricky mission and she wanted to borrow someone from Karl.
Originally, she wanted Karl himself to go. But he refused—he and Gwen were heading to the airport that day to pick up George's family. Skye, meanwhile, had taken on a major job: maintaining the Avengers' base systems.
That left only Wanda.
Karl hadn't wanted her to go. Every time that "black brined egg" Nick Fury came looking for him, nothing good followed. Sure, Karl could squeeze a hefty payment out of him—but Fury had a habit of dragging people into trouble.
But Wanda wanted to go.
So Karl didn't stop her.
And now—something had gone wrong.
At this point, Karl had already mentally cursed out Fury's entire ancestral line several times over.
"I'm going to find that black brined egg. Wanda should still be at the Avengers base—I'll bring her back. You two stay here."
Without hesitation, Karl blew the chocobo whistle and entered the chocobo space.
---
In the blink of an eye, Karl appeared at the entrance of the Avengers base.
The next second, flames erupted from his body, instantly blasting the main gate to pieces.
"Nick Fury! Get your ass out here!!"
His voice was amplified, laced with violent pressure. Instantly, alarms blared throughout the base. Agents swarmed in from all directions, surrounding him—led by Coulson.
"Karl… calm down… this is the Avengers base. Whatever it is, we can talk."
The moment Coulson recognized him, he ordered everyone to lower their weapons and stand down.
Soon, the flood of agents receded. The wrecked lobby was left with only Karl and Coulson.
At the same time, Steve and the others rushed out from their rooms—they had all recognized Karl's voice, and more importantly, the fury within it.
"Karl!!"
The moment Wanda saw him, she ran forward and threw herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry, Karl—I messed up—I didn't notice in time—it's all my fault—"
Clearly, she had already seen the news. The entire world was blaming her.
"It's okay. You were trying to save people. It was an accident," Karl said, pulling her close, his flames completely gone. "You saved more lives. No one has the right to blame you."
"Karl, let's go upstairs and talk. Something about this isn't right."
Steve stepped forward. He had a bad feeling.
After every mission, they always wiped any footage of their operations. But this time, somehow, the video had still made it online.
It felt like someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
Karl didn't respond. He simply took Wanda's hand and walked toward the elevator.
---
Inside Wanda's room, everyone gathered.
Steve, Natasha, Coulson, Sam, Barton, Hill—
And Nick Fury.
"Nick Fury," Karl said coldly, still holding Wanda's hand, "you owe me an explanation. If I'm not satisfied, I'll tear this entire base apart—and then I'll blow up every media company in the United States."
"Uh…"
Even Fury looked exhausted.
The mission itself had gone smoothly. Natasha had retrieved the target item without issue. But somehow, someone had leaked the footage.
He knew he had ordered all agents to delete every recording.
Yet somehow—it still got out.
The truth was, Fury could only erase data from connected devices. Offline recordings? Without prior access or planted malware, even he couldn't touch those.
Most likely, someone had recorded the footage and deliberately released it over ten days later.
This wasn't an accident.
It was targeted.
"Karl, no matter how thorough a mission plan is, there are always unexpected variables," Fury said, though his explanation felt weak. "And this time, I'm certain someone is manipulating things behind the scenes. The mission happened over ten days ago—yet the footage is only surfacing now. That's not normal."
Steve and Natasha both picked up on that detail as well.
Most people who recorded something shocking would upload it immediately—for attention, for clout.
Waiting over ten days—and sending it directly to media outlets?
That wasn't normal behavior.
"I'm taking Wanda home. We'll deal with the rest later."
Karl stood, pulling Wanda up with him, already taking out the chocobo whistle.
"Oh—and the payment. Not a single cent less."
He shot Fury a glance before blowing the whistle.
---
Back in the chocobo space, Gwen and Skye were already waiting.
The moment they saw Wanda, they rushed over, surrounding her with comfort and concern—completely ignoring Karl.
With nothing to do, Karl wandered off to the stables to find Onion for some emotional support.
At least Onion never ignored him.
After soaking in the hot springs and relaxing, the four finally returned to the office.
But the moment they arrived, they found someone waiting outside.
T'Challa.
Dressed in a black suit, he stood by the door. Gwen and Skye had locked up before leaving, and Karl hadn't answered his phone—so he had no choice but to wait.
"Why didn't you pick up?"
That was the first thing T'Challa said as he walked in.
"Uh…"
Karl patted all his pockets—nothing.
Then it hit him.
He'd left his phone on the bed that morning.
"You saw the video?"
Karl asked as T'Challa sat down. Skye handed him a cup of tea.
"Yes. My father, the council—we've all seen it."
As he spoke, T'Challa looked toward Wanda.
Wanda happened to glance up at the same moment. Their eyes met.
Then she lowered her head, guilt written all over her face.
"…It's not entirely her fault," T'Challa said calmly. "We reviewed the footage. It was that bullet—it interfered with her."
Wanda froze.
Her head snapped up, eyes filled with shock.
Karl, too, hadn't expected T'Challa to say that.
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