Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

As Ethan and Felicia head towards the docks with bags full of loot, a plot of another kind starts on an island that most would believe to be uninhabited, but under the surface it was rife with activity.

Deeper under the island's surface there sat a conference room with four chairs around a table. The room was dimly lit and had a very brooding vibe to it. Both on the black table and black walls was the red symbol of Hydra. In one of the chairs was a white haired man with a scar over his left eye. In another of the chairs sat a woman with black hair, standing behind her was a man dressed in black with a metal arm and a mask covering his face. In the third chair was an old bald man who had a cane resting against the table. In the final chair was a red haired middle aged man. Standing behind him was a woman with green hair and a full body suit and mask.

"Strucker, why did you call this meeting?" the red haired man asked.

"Doctor Faustus, I called this meeting because it appears that Shield has found concrete proof of our existence after the war they can use it to gain more support." The man with the cane, Strucker, explained.

"So vat? How does dis matter?" The woman asked.

"Well Madame Hydra, it means we no longer have to keep our heads down and keep an arm tied behind our back as we approach our objective. So you no longer have to hold back. You can launch the 'all-out war' you so wished to do." Strucker clarified with an evil smile, "you can even have your Winter Soldier fight the enemies you have been looking to move off the board. And Doctor you can finally have Viper and the nest of snakes loose, not that it worked out well for you last time against Wolverine. But it also means that we can see more problems from the general public when an announcement is made."

Doctor Faustus clicked his tongue in annoyance when he glanced over at the last person at the table, "What about you Silvermane? Are you gonna let your cyber loonies loose over New York?"

Silvermane shook his head, "can't. It is because of an old Hydra facility in New York that Shield caught on in the first place. I even had our people check the other old facilities in New York and only a single one has yet to be cracked open and raided by whoever raided that last facility."

"Then why not clear it out?" Madame Hydra pointed out.

"Because we don't know how good they are. If they see proof of activity they might never show. So instead I have a squad of my people watching the only entrance that wouldn't set off an alarm." Silvermane explained.

"Well since that was all then I suppose we can adjourn this meeting?" Madame Hydra asked.

Doctor Faustus nodded as he got up and started walking away. While his bodyguard, Viper, could only think that Hydra was divided into four parts because they didn't want to be on equal footing and they were each obsessed with a different direction of study. Doctor Faustus was obsessed with Inhumans and the X-gene, or mutants as they are commonly called. Silvermane was a cyborg and crime lord that decided he needed Hydra support and delved into cybernetics using their funding as a startup, he eventually became the head of operations on the East Coast. Madame Hydra was more obsessed with the muscled-headed and easier to control super soldier's of various kinds, her brainwashing techniques are used throughout the country. While Werner Von Strucker kept his position as the head of Hydra only through the research and development of magical energies, even making advancements in magical creatures and taming them.

At the end of the day though they all used mind control for their strongest and most capable subordinates even Viper herself was being mind-controlled. At the moment it was like she was in the backseat while her body was being controlled by Doctor Faustus' words. So she could only pray silently in her heart that she would be reunited with her daughter Laura and her lover, James eventually.

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Back in New York, Ethan and Felicia entered an open room through a tunnel.

"Wow!" Felicia looked around the room. It was a large area, but even from above she could see how organized this place was. There was a shelf full of computer parts and harddrives. At least three large cold storage units where she could see vials and containers of liquid. Then in another corner was a wall full of weapon racks with weapons inside. There was also the oddly placed train car in the center of the area. But more than half of the area was still empty including the inside of the train car.

"Told you it was nice." Ethan exclaimed, "But like I also said, There isn't much to do here in terms of active research. But I will also get some exercise equipment built here. But that will take some time to get delivered." Ethan then started walking down the metal staircase that was by the entrance.

Felicia followed him down. He then pointed at the cold storage, "please label them when you put them up." She walked over to the storage while Ethan went to the computer parts and added the harddrive to the shelf. They quickly put up and labeled the stuff they got from the raid yesterday night putting the files in a separate area by the racks of computer stuff.

"All done?" Ethan asked as he walked back towards the stairs.

Felicia nodded as she looked disappointingly at the cold storage, "yes I really want to study everything we found and take a closer look at the other vials in those storage devices. Can you get me the chemical equations from the notes?"

Ethan nodded as they left the hideout.

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Meanwhile somewhere else in New York.

"Where did she go, the little street rat!" A man yelled while coming out of a building. He glanced around before he grunted in annoyance and went back inside of the bar. But on the roof above him a little girl was shaking as she retracted her metal claws.

She cried for a moment in pain before she ran across the rooftop with the bag of money in hand. "Don't worry mom. I will find dad and come save you."

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"I am gonna go back to the sorority house and get ready for dinner tonight." Felicia explained as they separated while walking back.

Ethan only shook his head while a smirk graced his face, "call if you have a problem."

Felicia chuckled, "yeah I will."

Ethan walked home and changed into a suit and tie. It was only 3 o'clock which was a bit before their scheduled meet up. So he pulled out a box of files from his closet and started looking over them. He was looking through purchase records for an hour before leaving and headed towards the location of his rendezvous with Felicia.

When he arrived he was awestruck by a beauty in a dress. It accentuated her body in the green shoulderless dress. Matched with a pair of green heels and handbag. He smiled as he walked up to her and when she saw him she smiled back as their arms interlocked. "Ready beautiful?"

Felicia giggled when she heard his compliment, "of course handsome."

They grabbed a taxi cab and headed towards downtown. Once they arrived they exited the vehicle to arrive at the bottom of another skyscraper. Felicia glanced at Ethan with a raised eyebrow. Ethan merely smirked back at her. He opened the door for her and she entered the building, Ethan followed after. They walked to the elevator lobby and Ethan clicked the up button, a door opened and they entered. But instead of clicking the top floor he clicked the 42nd floor.

"So?" Felicia asked.

Ethan merely smiled at her. When the door opened, a beautiful restaurant came into view. It had a few guests seated around at the tables. The majority of which were couples. There was one man at the bar and a family at a table to shake it up a bit.

"Hello and welcome to Kira Japanese Cuisine! How may we help you today?" An asian woman with a thick accent was standing at the podium by the door. Her dress was clearly made to accentuate her curves and figure. Basically it was eye candy for guests, but Ethan only glanced at it for a moment. Mostly because of the eyes that were staring at him in annoyance when he was caught with eyes that wandered for a moment.

"A table for two for Hilt." Ethan quickly stated, and he felt Felicia's eyes leave the hole they were staring at the side of his head.

The woman blinked for a moment before she started looking at something on her podium. Then she nodded and looked back up at them. "Please follow me." She then led the way and they followed, swaying her hips in a practiced manner as they went. They eventually arrived at a table by a window with a beautiful view of the city. It was still only 5:30 pm when they arrived so dusk was soon approaching. They sat down and the hostess set down a pair of menus, "these are our menus. Ms. Hawa will be your server today. She will be here in a moment. In the centerpiece is the menu for alcohol. Please have a pleasant stay while you are here."

Ethan glanced at the alcohol menu before he looked at the food menu. It was a few minutes of focusing when Ethan stopped and set the menu aside. He then looked at Felicia waiting for her to finish.

When she was done she looked back up at him. "So why did you pick this place?"

Ethan thought for a moment before he gave her a stunning smile, "because the food is good, so are the proportions, as well as the view." With the last comment he nodded towards the window.

Felicia looked out the window and nodded in agreement, "Okay understandable. You never explained all of the-"

At that moment the waitress walked up, she was dressed similarly to the hostess but she had an apron around her waist. "Welcome to Kira, I am Ms. Hawa, I will be your waitress today. What can we get started for you?"

"Crab Puff. Gyoza. For Appetizers. Water to drink. And today's Poke Bowl of Chef's Choice." Ethan stated quickly.

The waitress then looked at Felicia once she finished writing that down. "I will have shrimp tempura to start and then a spicy ramen. I will only have water to drink as well." Felicia set her menu to the side as well.

The waitress nodded then walked away.

"So, as I was saying before. You didn't tell me much about those chemical formulas. What do they do?" Felicia asked.

"Various different things. There were some defective super soldier serums, some serums that would alter physiology in a defective manner, and then variants of some creature called a symbiote and the symbiotes themselves." Ethan explained.

"Huh? So it is mostly defective products? I guess that means the symbiotes were of no use either?" Felicia asked.

"Actually, that file was most interesting but it actually looked like the people who cleared out the place only took a glance at the summary and determined it wasn't useful. But once I looked closer I realized that those symbiotes are probably my biggest take away from one of these… 'raids' I suppose we should call them." Ethan explained.

"So we need to take a closer look?" Felicia asked.

"Definitely, but since they are living creatures it would be best if we asked for their permission first." Ethan explained, "Unless you want to play the part of Dr. Frankenstein while the symbiotes play Frankenstein's monster?"

Felicia seemed to process what he said for a moment, "Isn't Frankenstein the monster?"

Ethan flinched when he heard that. So the rest of the night before they went back to Ethan's place was him clearing up Felicia's misunderstanding and exchanging likes and dislikes of various books and movies.

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Meanwhile at a luxury apartment somewhere in New York.

A big bulky man joined his wife at the diner table which she so cautiously prepared. "I looked into that woman you asked about." He placed a file on an open spot on the table in between them. As his wife sat down he started repeating what was in the file, "her name is Felicia Hardy, daughter of Lydia and Walter Hardy. Walter Hardy is a biochemist that is currently working at Oscorp. Lydia is a lawyer working for various clients, most of which are criminals. They divorced when their daughter was 8, unfortunately Lydia got custody of their daughter."

Vanessa stopped cutting her steak, "Unfortunately? What happened?"

Fisk continued after taking a bite of his steak, "it appears that Lydia made a reputation for sleeping with several of her clients. All while neglecting her daughter, it was enough that after the little girl blew up their loft the mother didn't notice until a week later."

Vanessa frowned, "and their families? Please tell me I am not related to Lydia."

Fisk shrugged, "Walter was an orphan. No other family besides his daughter. As for Lydia, both her parents are alive but don't speak to her. For a good reason I would say. She also has an older and younger sister. Her older sister is Renee Ulik, quite a renowned police chief down in Florida." Fisk continued eating.

Vanessa had a sinking feeling in her stomach, "and the younger sister?"

Fisk nodded as he understood what she was asking, "she went missing about five years ago off the coast of Florida when she was visiting her sister. According to the report her sister searched but couldn't find her. She did find out that her sister was a witness to a drug pickup and the scum from Mexico's Warply Family shot at her which knocked her off the boat and she was never seen from again."

Vanessa seemed to be swaying with excitement. Hanging onto Wilson's every word.

Fisk smiled as he took a bite of his mashed potato, "mmm… What did you do to the potatoes? They taste lovely." Wilson took a moment to tease the woman.

Vanessa pouted and it looked lovely in Wilson's eyes, "so am I related to any of them?"

"Possibly. I am having a sample of DNA taken from Renee and her parents to be brought here. We will test it against a sample of your DNA." Fisk told her.

Vanessa frowned, "why don't you get a sample from Lydia or Felicia?"

Fisk sighed, "Lydia runs through too many criminal circles so she knows not to leave samples of blood or hair around. Which is ironic considering she spreads her legs so often. As for Felicia, she doesn't have one easily accessible and I can't get it forcefully because both her and her date clocked my men when they were following them yesterday."

Vanessa whistled, "so they would be useful if you tried to recruit them?"

Fisk shook his head, "forget it. Both your niece and her boyfriend basically set off red flags when I went through to get their information. Hell since I did that I have had a tail on me. I have no clue who is playing guardian angel but whoever it is, is far more dangerous than me."

Vanessa stopped mid bite, "mrrgh gare rwoangwath?" Wilson just stared at her with a mystified expression. She finished chewing before she repeated her question. "I apologize, really that dangerous?"

Wilson nodded, "they are the kind of people that operate a level higher than my own shadowy organization. Honestly it is the kind of operation I want to have a hand in one day."

Vanessa nodded, "okay but if we verify that I am related I totally want to meet my niece."

Wilson smiled and nodded at her, "I will arrange it."

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Once again in another part of the city another couple sat down to eat. Of course this couple had files in hand once again.

"Our little accident really knows how to bring in trouble. He is on the radar of both Kingpin and Hydra. Of course for different reasons. But I must say, I am really liking this girlfriend of his. A crazy chemist? Totally awesome. Too bad her mom's a bad seed." The woman exclaimed.

"Honey, stop reading files and eat your salad." The man rolled his eyes. A moment later he looked at his wife again as she flipped through files. "What has got you so interested?"

The wife made a serious face as she stared at something in the file, "in all honesty. I really want to see what adorable munchkins my son makes with this beauty."

The husband's noodles spewed out of his mouth.