S.H.I.E.L.D. Crisis

Day One.

<The Secret Expenses of S.H.I.E.L.D.: They Spent Fifty Billion Dollars a Year... Building "Yo-Yos"?> — Skye leaked an encrypted S.H.I.E.L.D. budget proposal filled with bizarre code names like "Project Tahiti" and "Project Centipede."

The public erupted.

"Fifty billion?! I still can't afford fucking health insurance!"

"What the hell is Tahiti? A vacation resort?!"

Day Two.

<"Project Insight": S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Global Surveillance Network!>

— Skye hacked into the Helicarrier's database. Though she hadn't obtained the core files, she released Project Insight's concept art and stated purpose.

"...Three Helicarriers carrying railguns, capable of eliminating one million potential threats worldwide in a minute?!"

"This is fucking protection?! This is Nazism!!"

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately sued S.H.I.E.L.D.

Day Three.

Skye went all out.

Rather than leak information directly, she posted a... black-and-white photograph on the front page of the Daily Bugle website, now owned by Vought Media.

The photograph was old, from the Second World War.

In it was a man with round glasses and a sinister face.

Arnim Zola.

"...A dormant account transferred from a Swiss bank in 1947... the account's original holder... Dr. Arnim Zola?!"

"...A secret appropriation in 1985, used for the 'Winter Soldier' project at the Siberian base..."

Helicarrier, bridge.

"Boom!"

Nick Fury slammed a fist onto the table. His one eye was colder than ever.

"Sir!" Maria Hill's face was deathly pale. "Everything's gone to hell! The Security Council wants us to immediately dismantle Project Insight! The Department of Defense is interrogating us! Those damned politicians... they're practically blowing up my phone!"

"Coulson!"

"Here, sir."

"Motherfucker! That Rising Tide girl... Skye... find her!" Fury growled.

"...Sir," said the resurrected Coulson, his expression strange, "we... can't find her. It's like... she evaporated. Every trace of her was deliberately erased."

"...Vought." Fury uttered the name.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was in complete chaos after that.

Under Nick Fury's orders, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents frantically investigated what the hell "Zola" and the "Winter Soldier" were.

Meanwhile, the undercover Hydra agents desperately tried to cover up those traces!

"Fuck! How did they find out about Zola's account?!"

"The Winter Soldier has been exposed! Hurry! Delete Bucky Barnes's name from the database!"

"Councilman Pierce wants us to speed things up!"

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal communication channels were instantly flooded with two completely different sets of emergency orders, launching a frantic internal information war.

Pierce also realized there was an even more serious problem.

Project Insight's algorithm had been designed by Zola.

If the algorithm was exposed, anyone who truly understood it would soon be able to reverse-engineer Hydra's way of thinking from it!

"Fuck..." Pierce picked up his private phone. "...Call Rumlow's strike team back."

Starr Tower, top floor.

Azu lounged in a massage tub, drinking 1982 Happy Water.

On the massive screen before him, CNN, Fox, MSNBC... every channel was playing at once.

Every channel was frantically discussing the "S.H.I.E.L.D. Crisis."

"...The White House spokesperson stated that President Ellis was 'deeply concerned' and had ordered the formation of an independent investigative committee..."

"...The World Security Council has convened an emergency meeting, demanding that S.H.I.E.L.D. explain itself immediately..."

"...Rising Tide claims this is only the first wave. They have even more truths to reveal..."

"Sir." She handed him a report. "Just as you predicted, all the agents they sent to collect samples have been recalled. Our 'friends' within S.H.I.E.L.D. report that they're now searching the entire world for Skye."

"They don't have time to bother you anymore."

"How wonderful." Azu raised his glass toward the New York night outside the window.

"Let you bastards keep trying to pull my hair out..."

"Ashley."

"Sir?"

"Notify the publicity team. My movie... Homelander: Origins, can begin its global premiere."

Time passed. Los Angeles, TCL Huaxia Grand Theatre.

Traffic within a five-kilometer radius had completely collapsed.

More than a hundred thousand fans packed the Hollywood Walk of Fame, holding up Homelander light signs and Stars and Stripes.

"...Homelander! Homelander! We love you!"

"...Homelander! Homelander! We love you!"

"I love Steve! I love Steve!" an old man yelled inappropriately amid the fans, only to be "kindly" tossed into a warm dumpster so he wouldn't catch a cold.

"Oh my God! This is insane!!" the female entertainment host screamed into the camera, gripping her microphone. "I've never seen anything like this!"

"Look over there! It's Iron Man! Tony Stark himself!!"

"Oh! And Captain America! Steve Rogers! Oh my God, the Avengers... did they come to support Homelander?!!"

The crowd exploded in earth-shaking screams.

Tony Stark descended in the newly hand-built Mark 33 Silver Centurion, opened the faceplate, and waved at the fans.

"Fuck," he muttered to Steve beside him. "I feel like some... warm-up clown."

"Keep smiling, Tony." Steve wore a well-tailored suit, his expression relaxed. "We're here to show support."

"Show support? I just want to punch that fake-smiling face of his."

"Shh, he's here." Natasha's voice came from behind them. She wore a sexy black evening gown tonight.

"What?"

"Up there."

"Boom—!!!!!"

The crowd's screams instantly broke the sound barrier!

At that moment, every spotlight turned toward the night sky!

"Whoosh—!"

A streak of blue light, trailing fragments of a sonic boom cloud, descended from the heavens!

Azu landed directly on the red carpet.

"Boom!"

He struck the ground in Homelander's classic pose, kneeling on one knee with his hands on his hips.

As he slowly lifted his head, that handsome face and those azure eyes were broadcast worldwide through the hundreds of cameras at the scene.

The whole world fell silent for three seconds.

Then...

"Homelander—!!!!!"

"Homelander!!!"

"..."

Azu slowly rose to his feet, the eagle emblem on his chest gleaming beneath the camera flashes.

He spread his arms and basked in the most fervent worship and cheers.

**"Ding! Popularity Points gained +10812!"**

**"Ding! Popularity Points gained +12404!"**

**"Ding! Popularity Points gained +15810!"**

Yes... yes... Wu Yanzu laughed wildly in his heart. This is it! This is it!! This is fucking... what I deserve!!

He walked down the red carpet and took the microphone from the outdoor host.

"Hey! Everyone! I love you!"

His voice echoed through the entire block through the loudspeakers.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh—!!!!" The fans erupted into screams.

"Everyone! Do me a favor! Tell me... who is the real hero?!"

"You—! Homelander! Homelander!!!!!"

"No! It's you—! You are the real heroes!"

"Aaaaaah! Homelander! I love you!!!!"