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Afghanistan.
With the flawless disguise provided by the Mimic-Mimic Fruit, Black Widow had no trouble at all slipping past every checkpoint along the way. No one even gave her a second glance as she drove the truck straight into the heart of the terrorist compound, the very group responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark.
Meanwhile, inside the truck's cargo hold, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were hard at work. They conducted a detailed sweep of the base using a combination of high-tech scanners and tactical mapping software. Every hallway, every hidden corner, and every guard position slowly lit up on their display, creating a clear and actionable map of the entire area.
Headcount? Check.
Weapon inventory? Check.
Patrol routes? Check.
Nothing was left to chance.
"This has to be the cave the Shopkeeper mentioned," Black Widow said, her eyes never leaving the road ahead as she spoke calmly into the comms. Without missing a beat, she issued her next order.
"Start scanning for Stark. Find him."
"On it, ma'am!" One of the agents jumped into action, quickly switching to thermal imaging and sweeping the cave system for any human signatures.
The data came in fast. A total of eighteen heat signatures appeared across the cave network, each one tagged and tracked in real time.
Facial recognition wasn't possible with thermal scans, so they couldn't immediately confirm who was who, but the process of elimination worked in their favor.
Out of the eighteen figures, sixteen were carrying weapons. That made it obvious they were the guards.
That left only two unarmed individuals, both tucked away in a more isolated part of the cave, well away from the armed personnel.
It wasn't hard to guess who one of them had to be.
The agent relayed the findings back to Black Widow, who didn't hesitate.
"Hope you're up again. Time to work your magic." Black Widow said over the comms.
"On my way."
Without wasting a second, Hope shrank down to her Wasp form, wings buzzing softly as she darted out of the truck and zipped toward the cave. Her flight was fast and fluid, but her real advantage came from her Liquid-Liquid Fruit abilities, which allowed her to phase straight through walls, rocks, and any obstacles in her path. Within moments, she reached the target location the agents had identified.
There, deep inside the cave, stood Tony Stark, sweaty, focused, and hammering away at a glowing piece of metal, sparks flying with every strike. A bespectacled man hovered attentively beside him, following Stark's instructions as they worked together on whatever makeshift device they were building.
"Visual confirmation! I've got eyes on Tony Stark!" Hope's voice rang out over the comms, filled with confidence.
The update triggered a ripple of excitement throughout the team. They were one step closer to pulling off this rescue, and every piece was finally falling into place.
"Now that we've got Stark's location, everyone stick to the plan and move into position," Black Widow's calm but commanding voice came through the comms, leaving no room for hesitation.
"Copy that!" came the immediate response from the team.
Hope zoomed deeper into the cave without wasting a beat, weaving effortlessly through the dark, narrow tunnels. Her wings hummed softly, the sound barely noticeable against the distant noise of guards moving around.
She had a clear destination: the control room. That's where the terrorists were monitoring the base's security feeds—cameras, motion sensors, everything. Taking them out was critical if the team wanted to stay invisible.
Hope didn't bother making a dramatic entrance. Instead, she hovered near the doorway for half a second, then flicked her wrist, tossing a gas grenade straight into the room.
*Pssshhh!*
A thick, choking cloud filled the air almost instantly.
"Cough! Cough—ack! Cough!"
The men inside barely had time to register what was happening before they were doubled over, hacking violently. One by one, they crumpled to the floor, completely knocked out by the fast-acting gas.
Hope didn't even pause to watch them fall. The moment the room was clear, she spun around and zipped back the way she came. Thanks to her Liquid-Liquid Fruit ability, she phased through solid rock and walls like they weren't even there, cutting her travel time in half.
In just moments, she was back at Stark's location, ready for the next phase of the mission.
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Inside the cave
*Clang! Clang!*
Tony Stark wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand before raising the hammer again, bringing it down hard against the glowing chunk of metal on the workbench. This had to be a first for him, the billionaire playboy turned prisoner-turned-blacksmith. Manual labor definitely wasn't part of his usual skill set, but right now, it was his only shot at survival.
"Hurry up, Yinsen! Pour the water!"
Stark barked the order at his partner, seeing the piece was almost ready.
Dr. Yinsen, standing just a few steps away, immediately reached for a nearby basin of water. His movements were steady—until they weren't.
Out of nowhere, a dark shape flickered into existence right in front of him.
"W-What the hell?!?!"
Yinsen practically jumped out of his skin, nearly losing his grip on the basin. His hands shook so badly that instead of pouring the water onto the metal, he ended up dumping the entire thing straight onto Stark.
"Are you kidding me?!" Stark sputtered completely drenched and glaring daggers at his panicked assistant.
"Stark," Yinsen stammered, adjusting his glasses with trembling fingers. "T-There was no one here a second ago, right?" His wide eyes stayed locked on Hope, who was now standing calmly in front of them, looking like she'd just walked through a wall.
Stark froze for half a beat.
He was absolutely certain that the only people in this cave had been him and Yinsen. No guards. No visitors. Definitely, no mysterious woman casually appearing out of thin air.
Yet here she was.
"Invisibility tech?" Stark muttered, his gaze drifting over Hope's sleek, tactical suit. That was the most logical explanation his brain could come up with at the moment.
"No time for a Q&A session, Stark. I'm here to get you out." Hope cut straight to the point, her tone sharp and all business. Without waiting for a response, she raised her hand. A compact bulletproof vest appeared in her palm in a blink, seemingly from nowhere.
Stark's eyebrow shot up. "Okay, definitely not just invisibility. Some kind of size-shifting tech?"
Even in the middle of a chaotic rescue, Tony Stark couldn't help being Tony Stark; the scientist in him was already dissecting what he was seeing.
Hope didn't even dignify Stark's comment with a reply. Instead, she all but shoved the bulletproof vest into his hands, helped him slide it on, and cinched the straps tight with practiced efficiency. Before he could even think about protesting, she grabbed his wrist and gave a firm tug, making it very clear that they were leaving now.
"Okay, okay! Whoa—time out!" Stark yanked his arm back, raising both hands like she'd just tried to arrest him.
"Look, I appreciate the rescue and all, but let's set one ground rule—I'm not a fan of surprise touching. Personal space, you know?"
Hope let out a slow, controlled breath, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Even in a hostage situation, Stark was still Stark—brilliant, mouthy, and absolutely impossible.
Fine. If he needed a demonstration, she'd give him one.
Without saying a word, Hope walked over to the nearest section of the cave wall. She pressed her palm flat against the rough stone.
Stark leaned forward slightly, fully expecting her to just stand there awkwardly, touching a rock like a lunatic. But instead, the wall rippled beneath her hand—like the surface of a still pond disturbed by a single drop of water.
Stark's jaw dropped. His eyes flicked between Hope and the wall, disbelief plastered all over his face.
'Okay… what the actual hell?!' He rubbed his eyes hard, convinced his exhaustion was messing with his vision. But no, the wall kept rippling, clear as day.
Before he could fire off another sarcastic comment, Hope stepped forward—and half of her body vanished into the rock.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Stark's voice spiked into a near-scream, his hands flying to his head like he was about to physically hold his brain in place.
"That's not possible!" Stark scrambled closer, running both hands along the cave wall. The surface felt completely solid to his touch; it was a rough, dry, unremarkable stone.
But his eyes were telling a different story. He could see the ripples. He could see Hope phasing through the wall like it wasn't even there. But his hands? They felt nothing but solid rock.
Hope glanced back, her expression calm and just the tiniest bit smug. She held out her hand. "It only works if I'm holding you. If you want to get out of here, you're gonna have to trust me."
And just like that, Stark understood why she'd tried to grab his hand in the first place.
He still had absolutely no idea how she was pulling off this whole 'walking through walls' trick, and his scientific brain was already spinning through half a dozen theories, but one thing was clear: if he wanted to escape, he was going to have to put his life in the hands of a woman who had literally just phased out of nowhere.
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Next Chapter: The Devastating Combat Power of the Devil Fruit Task Force!
Next Next Chapter: The Despair Brought by the Devil Fruit Task Force
Next Next Next Chapter: Tony Stark: Are Devil Fruits Actually Real?
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