144 C144 Mystique POV
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Weeks before Peter started his search through the coastlines of Morag alongside the few islands that appeared in the simulations, only days away from possessing one of the Infinity Stones, Mystique disappeared without a word to anyone.
This wasn't very normal for her either.
Usually, when Raven disappears for a mission or something, she would at least inform Erik, but even he was left in the dark this time.
Mystique promised Peter secrecy and would do her best to deliver on that. Especially since her stipulation was at stake.
Using the information that Peter provided, Raven did what she does best and infiltrated multiple Shield bases. Kidnapping her victims, she would impersonate them and slowly dig up any information on the cube that Peter was looking for.
Two weeks passed since receiving the mission, and Mystique infiltrated five different Shield bases, yet information about the Tesseract was few and far between.
One after another, Raven followed the tiniest crumbs that barely kept her hunt going.
Moving from base to base, she learned that the cube was on the move for a while before settling down in one place. The World Security Council decided to re-start something called Project Pegasus, but all other information wasn't available.
Raven had no idea what the World Security Council or Project Pegasus was, but at least she knew that the cube wouldn't be on the move anymore, which was good for thieves like her.
With this newfound knowledge, Mystique knew that she had to impersonate someone really high up on the food chain if she ever wanted to learn the Tesseract's location.
'He's going to be p*ssed if he finds out...' Mystique thought as she walked into a Shield facility in perfect disguise.
As she passed Shield employees, they would stop and make way, saluting respectfully as she walked by.
Raven already infiltrated this Shield base, so she knew the layout like the back of her hand. The reason that she chose this one out of all five bases she visited in the past two weeks was quite simple.
When looking into the Tesseract here, Mystique learned that the security clearance of the man she was impersonating wasn't high enough. The computer prompted that the information she was looking for was level 10 restricted.
This was something that she didn't see at any of the other Shield facilities.
She didn't know how she would find a Shield member with level 10 clearance, so Raven took the riskier more dangerous path and impersonated someone with the highest clearance.
Nick Fury.
Taking the elevator up, Mystique was surprised to find a group of high-level Shield agents waiting for her as the doors opened. At the front of them was the commander of the base she was currently infiltrating as well.
"Director Fury, we didn't expect your visit, sir." The leading man said nervously.
"I didn't exactly plan this visit. Something came up and I need something from lock up." 'Fury' says as 'he' steps out of the elevator confidently and starts walking down the hall.
Jumping into step behind 'him', the group of men and women start asking questions.
"What do you need, sir?" One asks.
"Classified." 'Fury' answers, keeping a fast walking pace through the halls.
"Do you need our assistance?" The commander asks.
"No, just return to your duties. I won't be here long." 'Fury' tells them as they arrive at a metal vault-like door.
Thankfully, the door in front of Mystique didn't require any codes, as she had no idea what Nick Fury's access codes would be. No, at the side of the door was a retinal scanner.
The group of Shield Agents stopped in their tracks and watched suspiciously as 'Fury' walked up and bent over, aligning 'his' eye with the scanner.
The only reason they were suspicious was one thing. Director Fury never visited their base before. Some of them have never even met the Director, so they thought he might be an imposter wearing a prosthetic mask or some other possible disguise.
As the light of the scanner waved over 'Fury's singular eye, the men and woman waited with bated breaths, ready to draw their weapons should the scan reject access.
*Chime*
"Access Granted." A mechanical voice called out from the scanner as the vault door started slowly opening. "Welcome, Director Fury."
"..." The watching crowd internally sighed as they saw the door open.
"Huh? You're still here?" 'Fury turns to send a glare at 'his' subordinates. "I thought I said to get back to your duties?"
"Yes, sir!" The commander kept a cool head as he shuffled away along with the others.
'Idiots...' Mystique thought in disdain as she walked into the vault.
As the doors closed and locked behind her, one by one rows of lights illuminated a giant warehouse-sized room. Long aisles of shelves were filled with boxes and crates. Each box or crate was either evidence from a Shield operation or some sort of high-level confiscated materials.
Mystique didn't even bother looking at the shelves in these aisles as she walked to the back of the warehouse. On the way, she passed many interestingly labeled boxes and crates.
[JFK]
[Jimmy Hoffa]
[Ark]
[Tupac]
[Dyatlov Pass]
Each of these boxes represented a possible unsolved mystery. Assassinations, mysterious deaths, a disappearance, an ancient treasure, and they certainly weren't the only interesting things in lock up.
Although any normal person would stop and take a look out of curiosity, Mystique wasn't your average person. She was on a mission and nothing else mattered at the moment.
Arriving at the back of the room, Mystique found a wooden door. Opening it up, Raven walked inside and saw a small room with a wooden desk and an old-school desktop computer.
'Time to see if all of this was worth it...' She thought.
Taking a seat at the desk, Mystique searched for information on the Tesseract. At this point, scavenging for information on Shield servers has become second nature for her.
Instantly, a prompt appears on the screen.
[Level 10 Restriction!]
As the pop-up filled the screen, the drawer beside her opened on its own, revealing a device with the imprint of a hand indented into it.
[Hand Print Required!]
Surprised by this, as she never had access to Lock Up on her last visit, Raven smirked triumphantly as she placed her hand on the scanner.
'I thought they would use a passcode...' Mystique thought as she planned to call Spider-Man if that situation arose.
After all, there weren't any cameras in this room, so he could easily portal over and put his smarts to use. If he could work with Stark and understand the nonsense that comes out of that man's mouth, then he could get passed some measly password protection.
Thankfully, it looks like she won't need any help though.
[Access Granted!]
'Now what do we have here...' Mystique thought as the screen changed to a file filled with a bunch of other files.
Though one stood out more than the rest.
[Project Pegasus V2]
Knowing that this was the project that was using the Tesseract, she clicked the file and many classified papers filled the screen.
Reading through everything as fast as possible, Mystique learned a bit more about what Project Pegasus really was.
Project Potential Energy Group - Alternate Sources - United States, abbreviated as Project Pegasus, was the name of the joint project between Shield, NASA, and the United States Air Force to study the Tesseract and harness its power.
In the 1980s, project leader Wendy Lawson used the Tesseract's energy to create a Light-Speed Engine. Following Wendy Lawson's death in 1989, the project was terminated.
At least until the project was reopened and moved to the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility in the Mojave Desert.
'Finally, a location.' Raven thought as she closed everything, turned off the computer, and took her leave.
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"Sir!" One of the men from earlier calls out as he rushes into an office.
"Yes?" The Commander of the Shield base asks as he looks up from his desk full of paperwork.
"We have a problem." The rushed subordinate says as he places a laptop on the desk. "Director Fury said he needed something from Lock Up..."
"Yeah, I know." The Commander nods confusedly.
"Then why did he access the computer room and leave empty-handed?" The subordinate asks as surveillance footage plays on the laptop.
"..." The Commander watches the video carefully before taking out his phone and making a call.
"Connect me to the Director!" He yells over the phone and waits a moment.
"What?" An angry voice answers.
"Sir, did you get what you needed from Lock Up?" The Commander asks.
"Lock Up?" The confusion in Fury's voice set off alarm bells in his head. "What the f*ck are you talking about?"
"Lock down the building!"
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Walking out of the building at an even yet swift pace, 'Fury' made it to 'his' black sports car as alarms started sounding from the building.
'Too late.' Mystique thought as she started the car and sped off before anyone came looking.
Her body morphed into that of a beautiful blonde woman as she drove out of the parking lot and disappeared down the street.
A/N: 1547 words :)
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