90: The time has come

The establishment of the Men in Black wouldn't change much in the short term.

For now, the agents who had no immediate missions returned to their previous positions, awaiting Lyon's orders.

As an independent organization, the Men in Black also needed a stable source of funding to maintain operations.

Yelena's mural gave Lyon some inspiration.

After discussing with Tony, Lyon acquired the rights to DC Comics and started an Iron Man comic, establishing a superhero management company.

The primary function of this company was to manage the entertainment products and merchandise of superhero intellectual property (IP).

Revenue would be split 30-70.

Thirty percent would go to the superheroes, while seventy percent would go to the company.

Similar to Vought International in "The Boys."

A company like this would surely thrive in the Marvel universe.

With Lyon, as Superman, backing it, they also proposed that half of the superheroes' 30% share would be further allocated.

Using part of the superhero earnings to compensate for any damages caused during their pursuit of justice would likely attract a flood of superheroes eager to sign contracts with the company.

Lyon, as always, acted swiftly. With a wave of his hand, he incorporated the entire above-ground section of the Men in Black headquarters into the company's domain.

The next day, the superhero management company was officially established and began operations. Yelena temporarily assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Men in Black agents all over the world also received their tasks, and they started setting up company branches in their respective locations.

As for Natasha, Lyon had assigned her to work at Stark Networks.

...

Another week passed.

One morning, Lyon returned once again from the world of Resident Evil.

His single-arm strength had now reached 1.93 million tons, though the speed of his improvement continued to slow.

He was nearing his physical limit.

'Once I deal with the Ten Rings and Hydra, I'll head to Kamar-Taj next,'

Lyon felt that it was about time to pay a visit to the renowned Ancient One from the Marvel universe.

He stepped out of his room and noticed Natasha and Sherry having breakfast.

"You're back? We couldn't find you in your room earlier," Natasha said while spreading butter on her bread. "Sherry's about to head to school, so we didn't wait for you."

A few days ago, Yelena had arranged for Sherry to attend a nearby school. Now, every morning, Natasha, Yelena, and Lyon took turns escorting her to class.

Though Sherry insisted that with her strength, she could easily punch through several tons and didn't need any escorting, the others, especially Natasha and Yelena, firmly disagreed.

They argued that if other kids had parents taking them to school, Sherry shouldn't be left out either.

This continued until they eventually realized that most of the students in the area took the school bus, and the whole debate was dropped.

Both Natasha and Yelena seemed quite interested in the experience of raising a child. It gave them a sense of family.

Every day after work, they would rush upstairs to help Sherry with her homework. Once they finished with the schoolwork, they'd even go over extracurricular lessons.

Natasha taught hand-to-hand combat, while Yelena instructed Sherry in Russian.

The enriching education began to fill the gaps in Sherry's childhood, bringing a sense of fulfillment to her life.

"No need to wait for me. You know that eating or not eating breakfast is the same for me," Lyon said, pouring himself a glass of milk. "Sunlight is the best food for me."

"But doesn't having an empty stomach feel uncomfortable? Or are you saying sunlight can also fill the emptiness in your belly?" Natasha quipped, handing Lyon a slice of bread.

"Thanks," Lyon replied, taking a bite. "Bread, milk, eggs, and nuts—a nutritious breakfast."

"Little Sherry needs all this for her growing body," Natasha said, pulling out a thumb-sized glass box and placing it on the table.

"Something happened last night. You need to take a look at this."

She lightly tapped the glass box, and it projected a video recording.

"Last night, all the surveillance around S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters went offline."

"This footage was captured by Agent K, one of our operatives, using the Black Suits armor."

The video started playing, showing the time as 11 p.m. the previous night. The streets were eerily empty, illuminated only by dim, isolated street lamps.

A black Lincoln entered the street, slowly moving forward.

Suddenly, as it passed through an intersection, several police cars rushed in from four directions, tearing through the darkness and crashing violently into the Lincoln.

Up to this point, the footage seemed normal—just like a typical New York police chase of a dangerous criminal.

But what happened next was far from ordinary.

With the Lincoln immobilized and surrounded, officers from the police cars opened their doors, pulling out Gatling guns and power hammers, unleashing a barrage of firepower as if they were storming a fortress.

Unsurprisingly, the Lincoln didn't last long and exploded into wreckage.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network. After filtering through and cross-referencing the data, the person in the car was most likely Nick Fury," Natasha said.

Lyon paused mid-chew.

He rewound the footage to the beginning, focusing on the Lincoln's front, where the driver was just visible through the dark. It did indeed appear to be an African American man behind the wheel.

"So, it looks like Nick Fury's recent actions have finally caught Hydra's attention?"

"Very well. They're starting to have internal conflicts—that's exactly the moment we need," Lyon said, finishing off his bread in a few bites. "Notify all the Black Suits—it's time for them to act."

"Have the agents spread Hydra's detailed intel through their respective channels, and stir the waters."

"Oh, and remember to only expose Hydra's global operations for now. Keep the S.H.I.E.L.D. internal info under wraps for the time being."

"I'd love to see the Security Council sending S.H.I.E.L.D. in to wipe out Hydra," Lyon added with a smirk.

"As for the network company, put it on hold for now. You and Yelena need to find a chance to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D., hack their internal network, and copy all their agent data."

"When the time is right, we'll release everything online."

Natasha's expression shifted slightly. "Are you planning to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. too?"

"A sieve-like organization like that is better off gone," Lyon replied. "If they dissolve, that's ideal."

Natasha nodded. "Once I've taken care of the company matters, I'll pass on the orders. Right now, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are still in the dark, tense on the outside but relaxed within—it'll be easy to infiltrate."

"What about me, what about me?" Sherry chimed in excitedly, clearly fascinated by espionage and secret missions at her age.

Her eyes sparkled as she ate her breakfast. "What's my mission?"

Lyon and Natasha exchanged a glance and responded in unison: "Your mission is to focus on school!"

"Ugh, school again…" Sherry groaned, her head drooping like a wilted plant after too much sun.

Natasha gave her a playful pat on the head. "Come on, kiddo, it's time for school. Let's go!"

"Alright," Sherry sighed, taking the book bag Natasha handed her. As she headed towards the door, she waved back at Lyon. "Bye, Big bro Lyon! See you tonight."

Lyon smiled, sipping his milk. "Bye! Pay attention in class!"

"I know, I know," Sherry mumbled, lowering her head even more.

…

Meanwhile, in a hidden facility on the outskirts of New York City.

Nick Fury, his body wrapped in bandages from head to toe, lay on a medical bed. His only usable hand, the right one, tapped on a virtual screen displaying various files.

Surrounding him were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Hawkeye, Phil Coulson, and Maria Hill.

"You all know the situation. Right now, the only people I can trust are you three," Fury said.

"We absolutely cannot let S.H.I.E.L.D. fall into the hands of those damn Hydra bastards!"

His gaze locked onto an image of Tony Stark on the screen.

"But to take back S.H.I.E.L.D., the three of us won't be enough."

"We're going to need more help."

__________

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