00175. Making a plan for the Hand.

    It was about a month later when Theo finished collecting all the information he could from the Hand. He spent another month going through it all and digitizing it so it would be easier to share with his group. Once he was finished he called a meeting to discuss what to do with the rest of the council.

    Ezekiel showed up to the meeting early and took his seat at the middle of the table. The main meeting room was expanded over the past year to fit more people and make it easier to talk at the same time. Ezekiel’s spot was placed in the middle while everyone else was fanned out around him in three layers shaped in half circles. Each layer was placed slightly above the next so everyone could see clearly.

    Since there were so many people on the council now, it was a little hard to talk with everyone at once. So each seat had a microphone and when they would talk a small image of them would appear on the main screen. Each seat also included a built-in computer so people could browse through the information easier during the meeting.

    As Ezekiel prepared for the meeting, people started to trickle into the meeting room. The original people like Fury, Peggy, Steve, Hank and others arrived first. With Tao, Agatha, Bill, Jarvis and others not far behind. It took about half an hour before the room was completely filled up with people along with the recently added members to the council which included Minato, Tobirama, Shikaku Nara and some other ninjas. All told there were now just over twenty people on the council with room to fit up to fifty total.

    It was already a slight issue having so many people in the meetings and would only get worse once it was completely filled. But it was good to have a wide range of viewpoints so that better ideas and solutions could be figured out.

    Once everyone was settled in, Ezekiel brought up a picture on the main screen of a dried bloody hand print on an old piece of paper as he asked, “Before we start, does anyone know what this symbol is?”

    “A bloody handprint?” Jarvis asked.

    “It''s the symbol for an ancient ninja cult called the Hand.” Minato said.

    “Ninjas? Like what you''re training us in?” Jarvis asked.

    “For the traditional aspects like stealth and concealment or moving silently... They''re passable, but that''s about it. They have nothing else that''s worth mentioning.” Tobirama said.

    Ezekiel glanced around the room as he said, “You can think of the Hand kinda like Hydra. Except they don''t want to take over the world. Their original purpose was lost five hundred years once they started following a summoned demon called the Beast.”

    Ezekiel pulled up more information on them as he said, “They used to be consumed with gaining power and influence while they pursued immortality.”

    “They still do those things, but working under the Beast it influenced the clan towards nihilism and annihilation. They now wish to see the world burn as their ultimate goal.” Ezekiel said as he pulled up some more information on the group.

    “I''ve already taken care of the Beast with the help of Tao and I''ve had people investigate the inner workings of the Hand for almost two months. We now have their complete structure mapped out and a complete list of all members, bases and properties.”

    “If you gathered all of their information in two months. Why haven''t you collected everything on Hydra yet?” Steve asked.

    Ezekiel glanced towards Steve as he said, “Because Hydra is too cautious and no one person has much information about who is who. Even Alexander Pierce, who is the nominal leader for Hydra, only has information about the people in Shield.”

    “As for any bases and people outside of Shield... We have almost no information.”

    A picture of an old Asian woman appeared on the screen as Ezekiel said, “This is one of the leaders of the Hand. Through her alone I was able to discover all the other leaders. They don''t compartmentalize any information and the only reason it took so long to collect, is because most of it was stored on paper.”

    Fury was still going through the information when he said, “I can''t believe they flew under Shields radar. This organization is massive.”@@@@

    A few others nodded in agreement before Ezekiel said, “Well, we know about them now and we''ve already dealt them a heavy blow by removing the beast. The next question is what should we do with them.”

    Melina, who was going through the files on each of the leaders, said, “If even half of this stuff is true, we should probably just kill them all.”

    “Maybe for some of the members, but it looks like most people are indoctrinated and practically brainwashed from a young age. I think we should try to help them out.” Bucky said as he was reading through some of the files on how the Hand works.

    “That explains why there''s a lotion bottle next to your computer!” Ezekiel said with a smile.

    “My hands have been dry lately and the lotion helps!”

    “Really? Should I ask JARVIS about your browser history?” Ezekiel said in a joking tone.

    “Mr. Stark locks me out of his lab randomly for about half an hour each day and his browser history is cleared when I am allowed back in.” JARVIS said.

    Tony buried his face in his hands as Ezekiel and Happy burst into laughter. After a few moments Ezekiel said, “I''ll make sure I text you before I portal over from now on... There are certain things I''d prefer not to see.”

    Happy gave Tony a pat on the back as he said, “Now I know why you keep doing maintenance on the cameras each day.”

    “I hate both of you.” Tony said as he grabbed his food and moved back to his desk.

    As Tony sat down at his desk, Ezekiel said, “Don''t worry about it so much, it''s natural and everyone does it...”

    Ezekiel glanced around Tony''s workshop for a moment before he added, “But maybe stop doing it in the workshop and take it to your bedroom. I really don’t want to touch something weird one day because you forgot to clean up after yourself.”

    Tony did his best to ignore Ezekiel’s teasing but after a few minutes he finally asked, “What brought you by anyway?”

    “Mostly to check on the current projects and see where you’re at with them. I also wanted to see if you and Pepper are finally done acting like awkward teenagers.” Ezekiel said.

    “Nope. If anything it''s getting worse.” Happy said before he took a bite of his food.

    Ezekiel glanced at Tony as he said, “Just kiss her already.”

    “It''s not that simple.” Tony said with a sigh.

    Ezekiel glanced at Happy as he said, “Wow, it is getting worse. I honestly didn''t think it was possible...”

    “Is it rag on Tony day and I missed the memo somehow?” Tony asked with a frown.

    “No Mr. Stark, the memo is currently in your unread email.” JARVIS said.

    “Don''t you start again too.”

    “Maybe we should stop before we make him cry.” Ezekiel said as he looked at Happy.

    Happy nodded as he said, “It''s probably for the best.”

    “If he does cry, I could upload the footage to Vibe labeled, ‘Billionaire cries after being bullied.’ I am sure it will be a hit.”

    Tony flipped them both off and one of the cameras as he said, “I hate all of you.”