Free Web NovelChapter 47: Ch 46: Lemurian Star Hijack VI
[Somewhere in New York]
Like the rest of the nation, Agent Maria Hill was currently standing in a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse, watching Veritas’s live stream on a massive monitor.
She stood perfectly still, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
She had watched the entire thing.
And now, looking at the broken figure of Luna Graham, Maria Hill felt something she rarely allowed herself to feel.
Guilt.
Because all the horrific things that Veritas had just shown to Luna - and broadcast to the entire world - had been provided by her.
She let out a heavy sigh and sank down onto the safehouse couch, resting her forehead in her hands.
Hydra had definitely infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
When Veritas had first tipped her off about a parasite growing inside her organization, a stubborn corner of her mind had still held onto some doubts.
However, that changed when she started digging into the background and life histories of the personnel stationed on the Lemurian Star to gather the intel Veritas had requested.
She was an experienced agent. She had been doing this for a very long time. And she immediately noticed something very off about a few of the agents’ profiles.
It took 6 grueling days of covert snooping around her own organization’s highly classified databases like a thief in her own home.
It wasn’t easy.
She had to put her own life in jeopardy several times just to finally obtain their actual histories and uncover the terrible things they had done in the shadows.
The information she found completely erased all her doubts.
Excluding officer Jasper Sitwell, 8 out of 47 permanent personnel on the Lemurian Star were undeniably Hydra. Sitwell’s information appeared to check out, but the doubts lingered. She wasn’t certain about him yet.
The horrific things those 8 personnel had done had zero official S.H.I.E.L.D. records. But the raw data she managed to scrape together had one glaring, terrifying issue attached to it.
All of these heinous, off-the-books missions had been authorized by... Director Nicholas J. Fury.
Of course, Hill trusted Fury without doubt. It was obvious he wasn’t a Hydra agent. She immediately brought these highly classified files directly to him.
Fury had looked at the data with his one good eye and simply sighed. He told her that while these files definitely proved a deep rot had grown inside S.H.I.E.L.D., the scale of it just wasn’t enough to convince the World Security Council or the President.
After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. doing some dirty, bloody work behind the curtains wasn’t exactly unexpected for a global spy agency. To definitively prove Hydra’s existence and root them out, they needed something much bigger.
So, Fury gave her the approval to send these decrypted files directly to Veritas as previously planned.
To let the exploding Jester stir things up, creating chaos and buying Fury some much-needed time to delay Project Insight’s launch.
"Just make sure you scrub my name off the authorization lines before you hit ’send’," Fury had added dryly. "I have enough paperwork as it is."
In the files Hill eventually forwarded to the masked terrorist, there were a lot of heinous things those 8 supposed Hydra agents had done. Some of their crimes were arguably even worse than what Lucas West had done to Luna’s family.
Considering Veritas’s explosive, unpredictable personality, Hill was absolutely sure he was going to execute one or more of those Hydra agents on his live broadcast. And to be honest, she didn’t really care if he blew them up the same way he killed Patrick Sein. They were monsters who deserved it.
But what he just did to Luna... Hill had never imagined Veritas would do something like this.
The way he had manipulated an innocent girl into executing Lucas West.
The way he had completely shattered and corrupted her mind right in front of millions of viewers. It was so much worse than him simply exploding Patrick Sein’s head.
It was a level of psychological cruelty Hill hadn’t expected.
Hill sat up, her eyes hardening as she stared at the masked figure on the screen.
Her initial assessment of him was dead-on. He hadn’t warned her about Hydra because he wanted to help.
No, to that madman, S.H.I.E.L.D. was just another piece on a chessboard he intended to flip over.
"You’re a special kind of monster, aren’t you?" Hill whispered to the empty room.
She made up her mind right then and there: once this Hydra crisis was taken care of, she was going to make sure Veritas was thrown behind bars herself.
[Lemurian Star, Indian Ocean]
"Hah... Hah..."
Luna stood there, the smoking gun still trembling in her grip. Her chest heaved, and that unhinged grin stayed plastered on her blood-spattered face.
The man who had tortured and murdered her entire family was now a very messy stain on the floor.
Veritas removed his palms from her shoulder and wrapped his arms just above her chest, pulling her into a tight, comforting hug from behind.
"You did well, Luna," he murmured, "Today, you did humanity a great favor. The world is objectively better without that monster in it."
He paused, then his voice softened to something almost tender.
He squeezed her gently. "You can cry now... you’ve suffered enough."
Hearing those gentle words, Luna’s blood-stained lips began to tremble. The cracked dam inside her - the one Veritas had forced to hold steady just minutes ago - finally shattered completely.
"Waaaah Aaaaaaaahh sniff sniff..."
Luna broke down, crying loudly and uncontrollably. The kind of crying that came from somewhere deep in the soul. It was the pain of missing them. The pain of never getting to see them one last time. The pain of eight years of bottled grief finally exploded out of her small body all at once.
As her desperate cries filled the gallery, her body rapidly lost all its strength. Her knees buckled, and she began to drop, completely melting back into Veritas’s steady embrace.
To the millions of people watching the stream, it was a strangely heartbreaking, emotionally complex scene.
But to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the room who knew Luna, it was a scene of pure, unadulterated horror. It looked as if a pure, bright angel had finally fallen from grace. The angel cried in absolute agony, and the only thing that could calm her was the warm embrace of the devil himself.
The Devil Jester of Terror and Truth.
[Patron Comments:]
[The Fool Fan: Clap. Clap. Clap. ]
[The Fool Fan donated 5 TP]
[Jeff: Truly flawless execution of chaos. ]
[Jeff donated 1 TP]
[scoops ahoy: holy fucking peak ]
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[IfJesusisblackdoIgetthehookup: The Joker would proudly call you... son. ]
[IfJesusisblackdoIgetthehookup donated 1 TP]
[Erebus677: Holy crap. This manipulation, combined with the execution, was pure bliss. Chef’s kiss. Well done. ]
[Erebus677 donated 1 TP]
[ DrSkillz: Absolute Cinema! ]
[ DrSkillz donated 5 TP ]
[ Hazer0508: what a fantastic stream. I love an evil guy like him ]
[ Hazer0508 donated 1 TP ] freewёbnoνel.com
[enemies_to_Lovers_enjoyer: I know Gwen’s gritting her teeth in jealousy right now. Is she coming, by the way? I think he’s too far from America, and he didn’t even call her, so I guess she’s not... sad Squidward gif ]
[Yeageristo: As a certain someone said before... this reminded me so much of him (the Eren and Ymir scene) that a white tear just rolled down between my legs... ]
[Yeageristo donated 25 TP]
[Yeageristo: Don’t ask for more, boy. This is already beyond what the average T-Streamer gets in a single donation. and I’m not a rich guy like The Fool Fan ]
[urPP: Okay, this was kinda epic. ]
[PrettyInRed: But didn’t he say he was an IT worker with no background in human psychology in his previous life? How’s he so good at this stuff? @Cosmic_Johan_Leibert What do you think? ]
[Cosmic_Johan_Leibert: @PrettyInRed Just a little more empathy and understanding of human nature is all one needs to achieve this, honestly. Luke has been doing this since his very first stream. Today just happened to be much more brutal. That hug might cause some unexpected effects on her though... ]
[Cosmic_Johan_Leibert donated 3 TP]
[Redeyes_Man: welp good pussy always comes with a psycho bitch attached to it!]
[enemies_to_Lovers_enjoyer: @Redeyes_Man woah... how did your comment even passed the mods?]
After a couple of minutes, Luna’s desperate sobs gradually quieted into shaky, uneven breaths. She sniffled, wiping her blood-smeared nose with the back of her hand like a tired child.
Veritas felt her body relax slightly in his arms. He waited a few more seconds, then gently separated from her. He took two steps backward, the painted grin on his mask as wide and unreadable as ever.
The remaining hostages collectively held their breath, hoping the worst of the horror was finally over.
But then... the painted lips on his white jester mask seemed to stretch wider in an unholy delight.
"Now then, Miss Luna," he said, his voice returning to that familiar, casual cheerfulness.
As if the sympathy and emotions he had shown just a moment ago were a mirage...
"We strayed quite far from the game, didn’t we? I mean, what a thrilling detour!"
Luna slowly turned around to face him. Her cheeks were completely stained with a mess of tears and Lucas West’s blood. She stared at the unmoving white mask in silence.
"In case you forgot amidst all the crying and the brain matter..." Veritas said, steepling his gloved fingers beneath his chin. "You had lied to me earlier. And as the rules of the game clearly stated right at the very beginning."
He spread his hands apologetically, "...the one who lies, dies. You lost the game, Miss Luna."
Veritas tilted his head. "So now, you have to die."
Luna’s eyes widened. For a split second, a flash of surprise crossed her face.
But then... her eyes relaxed. Her shoulders dropped, completely letting go of any tension. A small, pleasant smile of acceptance formed on her bloodstained lips. She slightly nodded her head in silent agreement.
Behind the mask, Luke frowned slightly. He noticed something incredibly strange. Something he hadn’t planned for.
It was faint, almost negligible. Amidst the blood, the tears, and the sheer madness of the situation... there was reverence in her eyes.
=====================
Thanks for reading and for the love you showed for the previous Chapter. I love getting glazed. Glaze me... more.
Cap’s and rescue team’s reaction are also on the way.
Btw, tomorrow’s thursday so no chap tomorrow.
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Right now 4 advanced Chapters.
