Location: SHIELD Helicarrier — Classified Command Center (Above Atlantic Airspace)
Timeline: Months Before the Avengers Initiative
Nick Fury stared at the large display table in silence.
Profiles flickered in holographic blue: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, and several "in development" candidates that hadn't yet made the board.
Around him, analysts and field agents whispered about Stark's unpredictable tech development and rising threats abroad — gamma incidents, alien signals, rogue AI activity.
None of it surprised Fury.
What did surprise him… was the encrypted black file that had appeared on his private server that morning.
> SENDER UNKNOWN
File Title: "S.P.E.A.R. Framework – Phase 0"
Subtitle: "Before gods rise, give men something to believe in."
The attached proposal was surgical — targeted dossiers, strategies for managing powered individuals, even predictions for future extraterrestrial conflicts.
No digital fingerprint.
But Fury wasn't stupid.
Someone wanted him to build something.
And they were helping him do it.
---
Location: Shadow Nexus – Below Zurich
Same Time
Victor Ashburn stood in a cathedral of silence, encircled by monitors displaying every SHIELD facility on the globe.
Krieg approached with a report in hand.
"The Phase 0 file was received," Krieg said. "Fury took the bait."
Victor folded his arms behind his back.
"He's a pragmatist," Victor murmured. "He doesn't need to trust me. Just the data."
He turned to a panel displaying a SHIELD blacksite in Siberia.
"Any sign of opposition?"
Krieg nodded. "HYDRA's still embedded in SHIELD. They've flagged the Phase 0 algorithm. Arnim Zola's digital ghost pinged it."
Victor smiled coldly.
"Let them watch. They'll think it's just Fury pulling strings."
---
Washington, D.C. – SHIELD Headquarters – Director's Office
Maria Hill frowned as she read the updated projections.
"Sir, these profiles — the ones in Phase 0 — they're beyond our reach. We can't control them."
Fury didn't look up. "We don't have to. We guide them. Let them believe it's their idea."
Hill crossed her arms. "You don't find it strange this came from nowhere? No origin? Just landed in our system like divine intervention?"
Fury finally looked up.
"I find it convenient," he said. "And in my line of work, convenient is usually a warning."
He paused.
"Which is why I plan to use it before it uses me."
---
Manhattan – Below Grand Central – SHIELD Subfacility "Needlepoint"
Victor walked unseen through layers of biometric scans and retinal locks.
His shadow soldiers flitted along the walls, silent as falling ash.
Inside this vault were SHIELD's earliest Avengers-related records: Howard Stark's SSR data, Tesseract archives, early vibranium metallurgy, old Project Rebirth documents.
Victor took nothing. He didn't need to.
> [Scan: Complete]
> Data uploaded to Shadow Codex
Highlights: Super Soldier Replication Failure, Asgardian Tech Limitation, Stark Legacy Node Weaknesses
He turned to Krieg.
"When they build their champions," Victor whispered, "we'll know their faults before they do."
---
London – Underground SHIELD Liaison Meeting
An old spy codenamed "Silvertide" lit a cigarette and leaned in.
"You hear the chatter? There's a benefactor pulling strings through the dark net. Military contracts. Biotech. Anti-meta planning frameworks. All before we even ask."
His younger partner, Agent Weston, tapped a small encrypted drive.
"Says his name's Ashburn. But no one's met him. Not even in our shadow programs."
Silvertide smiled grimly.
"Maybe he's real. Maybe he's just a ghost the world created to keep its monsters scared."
Neither of them noticed the shadows shifting behind them.
Listening.
Recording.
Preparing.
---
Shadow Archive Entry – Codename: Initiator Protocol
> Goal: Nudge SHIELD into creating Avengers Initiative
Method: Strategic data leaks, predictive models, redacted reports, passive manipulation of crises
Secondary Objective: Seed future fractures — ideological, tactical, moral
---
Latveria – Border Facility (Secret HYDRA Cell)
Screens flickered under the dim red lights. Arnim Zola's digitized consciousness stared through cracked displays.
"Unknown signature detected," the machine-voice buzzed. "Shadow logic… matches no known celestial, human, or machine lineage."
Beside him, a HYDRA technician paled. "Do we engage?"
Zola pulsed.
"No. Observe. Influence in silence. The greater predator does not roar — it waits."
---
Meanwhile – Stark Tower (Under Construction)
Tony Stark moved through blueprints, oblivious to the cloaked drone perched two towers away.
Victor, in full Shadow Monarch regalia, stood atop the skyscraper under construction.
> [Inventory Update: Stark Industries Microtech Stolen: 2 units]
> Integration into Shadow Armor: Pending
Krieg stepped forward.
"He grows arrogant again."
Victor nodded. "Let him. He needs to believe he's winning. He's SHIELD's pride. Earth's great hope."
He turned, shadows rising like smoke behind him.
"And when the world looks to him for salvation… that's when we offer something better."
---
SHIELD Contingency Log #38 (Classified – Director Only)
Subject: Project NIGHTWATCH
A note from Nick Fury's desk:
> "There's someone playing long chess with us. Not an enemy, not yet — but not a friend either. He's helping. But he's too precise.
If this Victor Ashburn exists…
He knows more than we do.
And that makes him the most dangerous man alive."
---
Shadow Sanctum – 6,000 Feet Beneath The Arctic Circle
Victor stood before a series of glowing glyphs — ancient, lost languages from realms that predated even Odin's reign.
One word pulsed at the center of the obelisk:
> "INITIATE."
He placed his palm against it.
And the glyphs unraveled into seven distinct sigils — each matching one of the future Avengers.
He raised his head.
"Your time will come," he said softly.
He turned away, cloak rippling like smoke.
"But your reign will end in shadow."
---