21 Ending S.H.I.E.L.D.

Soon, we were all dressed in our costumes, Rhodey joining us with Tony. Fury waited until we were all suited up before walking towards the conference room.

I felt pretty badass walking through the halls with the group. There's an energy when you walk with superheroes like that all in costume, something I imagined groups of cosplayers felt something close to. We went in a sort of lose triangle formation. Iron Man and Captain America behind Fury on his right and left sides, respectively. Falcon was behind Captain America, War Machine behind Iron Man. Bringing up the rear was Black Widow and Hawkeye, with Dial, me, in-between them.

It hadn't been as clear as right then that I was a superhero now. Dial. It had just been a random codename. Even my fights, as desperate as they had been at times, just felt like fights. Why would the scale change my feelings on it? But now, walking among the greats, having SHIELD agents and personnel watch us as we walked by, their eyes filled with awe... it was pretty cool, but also-

"This is so weird," Sam noted to me as I walked closer to him.

"I know," I replied. "I mean, it's also kinda awesome, but..."

My fellow newbie and I shared a glance and nodded when we saw we understood the same thing. It was cool, but it was also kind of alienating. Ironically so, considering the Omnitrix.

We walked like that until we reached our destination, another conference room. This one was bigger than the last by a wide margin. And it was full of people and cameras, all surrounding a massive table in the center of the room. I took them all in, trying to remember who was who.

The World Security Council, all of them sans Gideon Malick, who had gone into hiding when he'd been revealed to be HYDRA, and Alexander Pierce who was now imprisoned. Four of them, Singh, Rockwell, Hawley, and Yen, gave Natasha and Clint grateful nods, presumably for the two saving those members lives.

Phil Coulson, Victoria Hand, Richard Gonzales, Tomas Calderon, and Jennifer Weaver sat in a line. They all seemed friendly enough.

There were also several holographic screens around the table. One had Maria Hill, clearly broadcasting and watching from the Triskelion. Another showed Matthew Ellis, President of the United States, an older man with graying brown hair and piercing blue eyes. The other screens also showed world leaders from other countries. England, Russia, France, China, Japan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, the whole UN was there. Fury circled around to the head of the table, the seat left open for him, and we followed. Two other seats were open next to it, and Steve and Tony took those. There was a bit of nervousness in the room when Tony's seat let out a few creaks of protest under the weight of his armor, but it held. The rest of us stood behind them facing the rest of the room. I blinked when I realized that the way we had entered had me standing directly behind Nick, Natasha and Rhodey on my right, Clint and Sam on my left. I crossed my arms and tried to look professional.

Coulson was looking at Steve and Tony apologetically. Steve kind of smiled sadly, while Tony let the impassive look of his helmet speak for itself. The Council sitting on the other side of the table eyed us. The whole room stilled.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Fury said simply. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this. We are at war. At war with an enemy that has been hiding within our ranks like a parasite, chewing away at us. They were our friends, our fellow soldiers, even our leaders," Rockwell nodded firmly, scowling at the thought of Malick and Pierce, or so I guessed. "HYDRA. An old enemy, one we'd thought beaten. They tried to use helicarriers like the very one we are all standing on to finally take control of the world," I suddenly realized why Fury had chosen to use one of the helicarriers for this meeting. "Luckily, with the help of many of you, SHIELD has stopped them, and now we have them on the run. HYDRA isn't finished though, make no mistake. Despite the Hercules app, despite agents, military, and law enforcement all over the world hunting them down, HYDRA is fighting back. They're desperate. And desperate people tend to reach for weapons they would never use otherwise," Fury held up a hand when several of his captivated audience began to speak. "I won't mince words either. While we may be holding up well, SHIELD is in shambles. Not just that, but HYDRA had its people everywhere. I've had reports of government officials, computer technicians, CEO's, and even a coffee barista with easy access to a Russian diplomat's daughter, all found out and arrested. We can't simply move on from this. SHIELD and HYDRA are teetering on the brink. I say we get ourselves together before they can."

"What exactly are you proposing?" Councilperson Hawley asked seriously.

"I agree," a person from one of the screens, the Russian president, said. "What is it you want, Fury?"

"Oh, it's not just me," Fury looked over at Steve.

Rather than being put on the spot, Steve was ready. "We've all come to a decision. Many of us agree, that SHIELD, as it was, can no longer stand. We can't simply put it together again. SHIELD... it's done. And something new has to take its place."

The room exploded. Coulson stared at Steve and Fury as though they had broken his heart. Hand was shouting at Fury, before turning on Rockwell. President Ellis was trying to speak, but he was drowned out by the Chinese President shouting in his language as Jarvis provided subtitles. The various SHIELD agents around the room shared in the shouting.

Fury raised a hand. I pressed down on the Omnitrix. I grew up several feet, grey fur sprouted across me, muscles rose across my form, my fingers became claws, and my mouth became a muzzle.

"Blitzwolfer! ▅▂▃▄▄▅▅▂▂▃▅▂▃▅▃▃▄▄▅!"

It was hard to control a howl like mine to just be pure noise, rather than destroying the room but I managed to keep my long cry in control. When I was done, there were a lot of people staring in shock, but no one, not even Fury and those close to me, was deaf. I glared around the room for a moment as Steve began to speak again.

"This is necessary," he said softly. "SHIELD was compromised in a way no intelligence apparatus ever has before. We have resources, people, and allies... but we need to rebuild. Not just to fight HYDRA either."

"What are you going to do," Tony said, drawing attention. "The next time someone as smart as me shows up, and one of the Avengers can't stop him?"

"Or if the next guy who gets a watch like mine," I added. "Isn't as nice?"

"What will happen," Fury asked, leaning forward into to rest his chin on his knuckles, his one eye panning around the room. "When someone like Loki shows up again, and Thor isn't around to stop him... But more than that. Who will protect those who suddenly find themselves with gifts they can't understand?"

"What do you mean?" Tomas asked, confused.

"The world is becoming full of people like us," Steve said. "People with gifts, whether exceptional intelligence, talent in combat, aliens like Thor, or those who have been given gifts due to circumstance beyond their control, like Banner."

"You want to protect people like that?" One of the leaders said in disgust. "Or like that... damned wolf?"

I held back a growl.

"People," Natasha said, drawing the room to her. "That's the keyword. They're people. We're not saying we don't arrest people who do wrong. But we need to do more than just catalog people with abilities and tell them to sit tight and do nothing. We need to protect them from those who would do them harm, who would exploit them."

"People like Bucky Barnes," Tony said, surprising me. He didn't look around when those of us who knew the deeper implications of his words stared at him. He simply let that enigmatic mask keep him hidden.

"Or Carl Creel," I added. "People like me. We know HYDRA can brainwash people, that Loki has done it."

"Not just him," Coulson said. "An Asgardian named Lorelei appeared on Earth a while back. We managed to stop her, but if she managed to control someone with powers..."

"Isn't that more of a reason to just stop people like that?" the Russian president asked. "Prevent them becoming a risk?"

"Not when that person is innocent," Clint said. "We don't believe people should be punished for the crime of being different. Some of these people just want normal lives. Some come from tough situations, or will want to protect others."

"We need to be more than just the wall between the world we think of as normal and the world we think of as weird," Steve leaned forward. "That line doesn't exist anymore. It hasn't existed since I stood in New York City fighting alongside a Norse god and a man in a power suit against aliens coming out of a portal. The world is not normal, but we can still protect it. Keep the innocent safe, no matter where they come from."

Now it was my turn. I leaned forward, over Fury. Everyone looked at me, the werewolf standing massively as my eyes glared at the audience. "And if HYDRA, if aliens or even gods come here again, trying to exploit, rule, or kill us, then we will stop them. Earth will be defended, and all of our people as well."

"This isn't a threat," Fury clarified, not worrying about the wolf who was looming above him. "But we are telling you what we believe we need to do. Together, we can protect this world. But SHIELD needs to be rebuilt to do it. With all the damage HYDRA has done to us..."

I looked around. We'd aimed for drama, for shock and awe to convince the room we were right. From the looks of it, it worked. Some people were still not on board. Coulson still looked as though we'd killed his puppy, though Fury had told us he had some ideas about that.

Councilperson Rockwell leaned forward. "I think, we might need to talk about this for a moment longer. But personally, I agree," he ignored the looks some in the room gave him. "I assume you have a proposal."

Fury leaned back in his chair. "X. Show 'em what we got."

"Of course sir," the former VI said. Holographs appeared in front of all the people around the table, and I could see dignitaries on the screens around us being given tablets by their assistants.

"What you see there are just the bare bones of what I've written up," Fury said simply.

"Wait, is this real?" President Ellis said, looking up from his tablet. "You're stepping down as Director?"

Everyone looked at Fury. He smiled a very sour and sad smile. "Of course I am. No matter what happens, I will be the one who is blamed for this."

"That's not true," Hand said, her eyes soft behind her glasses. "None of us realized or suspected anything for years."

"It doesn't matter," Fury said confidently. "I was head of SHIELD when it was revealed that HYDRA infiltrated. And that's okay. I don't mind stepping down for someone new to take the reins and I will not let my predecessors be blamed for this. I will step down," he smirked. "Plus, I like the idea of history knowing me as the last Director of SHIELD. Holds weight."

Fury wasn't telling the whole story, of course. Just because he wouldn't be in charge didn't mean he was planning to stay out of the fight. But none of those he'd confided in said a word, me included. It was all part of the plan.

"Then who will replace you?" the British Prime Minister asked.

"That's what we'll decide," Fury said. "I have a list of candidates. But first, before I step down, let's figure out the new rules, shall we?"

I held back a groan when I realized I'd have to stand for a while they spoke. Still, we were on our way.