In the " Phantom " incident, Nick Fury lost completely.
Even the S.H.I.E.L.D. that is S. H. I. E. L. D. can't budge Vought's iceberg.
He needs another way.
Some smaller, faster, unruly things.
A pack of Wild Dogs.
A pack of Wild Dogs, cornered by Vought's brilliance, licking their wounds in the Shadow.
He personally sifted through the files of those Metahuman marked as "dangerous" or "unstable".
In Fury's eyes, they were the perfect weapon.
Brooklyn, an underground bar with no sign.
Fury pushed open the door and walked straight to the corner of the bar.
A girl in a tattered hoodie was chugging beer, her head down. The metal edge of the bar she was leaning on was rusty, and rust powder was falling off in a flurry.
Iris Jones.
Ability: Rapidly Rust the metal it comes into contact with.
File record: Due to loss of control, three police cars and a substation were destroyed; currently on the wanted list.
"A glass of bourbon."
Fury sat down next to the girl and spoke to the bartender.
Iris didn't even look up, her voice hoarse. "Get lost, old man, I'm not in the mood for a date today."
Fury ignored her provocation and simply pushed the glass the bartender offered towards her.
"Not a date."
"Oh? They're here to present me with a banner?" Iris looked up, her eyes full of impatience. "To commend me for my contributions to city cleanliness?"
Fury looked into her eyes. "The world needs a weapon that can rust those shiny pieces of metal. Do you want to be that weapon?"
Iris's hand, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air.
No one had ever spoken to her like that before.
They called her a monster, a destroyer, a walking disaster.
arms?
Without waiting for her reply, Fury left a few bills, got up, and left.
"I've made up my mind, so I'll drink that glass of wine."
Long after he left, Iris stared at the amber-colored liquid in the glass, finally grabbed it, and drank it all in one gulp.
Fury's second target was a container area at a dock.
A man named Marco is using his ability to control shadows to steal a box of goods silently from a gang's transaction.
When he returned to his hideout with his spoils, Fury was already waiting there.
"Well done."
Fury's voice made Marco's hair stand on end.
"Who are you?"
Marco blend into the darkness of the corner, leaving only his wary eyes visible.
"Someone who can help you use your cleverness on a bigger stage."
Fury was toying with a S.H.I.E.L.D.. badge in his hand.
"What's the point of stealing from a few thugs? Want to try stealing from the Vought International?"
Marco, hidden in the Shadow, fell silent.
Why should I believe you?
"Because we have a common enemy."
The third target was a car repair shop located in Queens.
David Chen, a highly skilled mechanic.
He can resonate with metal, and any machine can be repaired or modified at an astonishing speed in his hands.
His life story is as clean as a blank sheet of paper; he is honest, hardworking, and a well-liked man in the eyes of his neighbors.
When Fury found him, he was repairing an old car, covered in oil.
Your cooking is excellent.
Fury leaned against the side of the car frame.
David smiled sheepishly and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
"Just trying to make a living. Sir, is there something wrong with your car?"
"My team needs someone who can make a pile of scrap metal roar again."
Fury handed over a plain black business card with only a silver eagle shield logo on it.
We offer an opportunity to change the world.
David looked at the business card, smearing the grease from his hands onto it.
He hesitated for a long time, his expression somewhat troubled, but in the end he accepted the business card.
"I... I'll think about it."
Fury was very satisfied with him.
These technical talents are reliable, unambitious, and provide the perfect logistical support for the team.
He didn't see that after he turned and left, the kind smile on David's face gradually disappeared.
David went into the inner room of the repair shop and took out a strangely shaped communicator from a hidden compartment in a toolbox filled with wrenches and parts.
[The fish has taken the bait. --The Artisan ]
The last target was a retired female soldier, Sarah Miller.
She was severely wounded by a bomb on the battlefield, but miraculously survived and awakened the ability to heal at high speed.
After retiring, she was unable to reintegrate into normal society and made a living by fighting in underground boxing matches at a gym.
Fury found her backstage at the boxing gym, amidst the smoky atmosphere.
She had just finished a match and was covered in wounds, but those wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"The army abandoned you," Fury said bluntly.
Sarah wiped the blood from her face with a towel and stared at him coldly.
"So you've come here to recruit me for experiments too? To study why I don't die?"
"No." Fury's tone was serious. "I'm here to make you a soldier again. Not for the country, not for politicians, but for those like you and me, those left behind by this era."
He threw a file on the table.
"Join us, or continue to be watched like a monster here. The choice is yours."
A few days later, at an abandoned subway platform in New York.
Fury's " Wild Dogs " assemble for the first time.
Iris, who can make metal rust, exudes an aura that keeps strangers at bay.
Marco, who can control shadows, was curled up in a dark corner.
David, the honest and unassuming mechanic, stood awkwardly, staring at the tips of his shoes, like a stranger who had wandered into this place by mistake.
Former female soldier Sarah leaned against a pillar with her arms crossed, expressionless, scrutinizing the other three people.
Fury stood before them, having exhausted all his lie detection skills and experience in judging character, convinced that these people were trustworthy.
They all harbored a deep-seated hatred for Vought and the existing order.
"From today onward, you have no names, no past, only code names and missions."
" Vought sells glamorous heroes, we'll show them the Shadow beneath their heroism. Vought boasts of their indestructible armor, Iris will rust it into a pile of scrap metal. Vought thinks their secrets are foolproof, Marco will steal them from their shadows."
Fury's gaze hardened; he felt he had finally regained control.
He seemed to see a corner of the collapsing Vought Empire.
He didn't know.
At the same time that his " Wild Dogs " squad assembled.
The top floor of the Vought Tower.
Lynn Morris is reviewing a report that has just arrived.
The report comes from the Data and Technology Analysis Department.
Person in charge: Tali Zola.
The report was very simple.
[Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.., has secretly contacted four registered wild Metahuman in the past 72 hours. Their codenames are: " Rust," " Shadow," " Artisan," and " Self-Healer." " Artisan " ( David Chan) is an agent of our Deep Dive team. Fury has assembled a covert operations team targeting us, named " Wild Dog Project."]