The next morning.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Headquarters, the Triskelion.
Director’s Office.
Fury took a sip of the strong, freshly brewed coffee he’d made to wake himself up, then continued flipping through the documents spread across his desk.
S.H.I.E.L.D. handled countless matters every day.
Very few of them actually required the director’s personal attention, but anything important enough to reach Fury’s desk was never simple.
Every case was the kind of thing that burned through brain cells.
Good thing he was already bald.
Otherwise, his hairline would probably have been in serious danger.
Just as Fury finished reading one of the files, a knock sounded at the door.
He set the folder aside, laced his fingers together beneath his chin, and said, “Come in.”
Coulson opened the door, walked up to the desk, and stopped directly in front of Fury.
Fury studied him.
“Hill tells me you insisted on reporting this mission to me personally. Why?”
As previously noted, Fury was the highest-ranking officer in S.H.I.E.L.D.
There was no possible way he could personally handle every matter that crossed the organization’s path.
Reports from low clearance missions normally didn’t even qualify to land on his desk.
The mission Coulson had just completed, for example, had only required Level Four clearance.
Under normal circumstances, a mission that minor wouldn’t even have been assigned to a senior agent like Coulson.
The only reason he’d handled it personally was because it involved Tony Stark, whom Coulson was already responsible for contacting.
It had essentially been an extra task he’d picked up along the way.
And yet now, that ordinary little investigation had somehow escalated to the point where Coulson insisted on briefing Fury face to face.
Fury had to admit, he was interested.
He knew Coulson well.
The man wasn’t prone to making mountains out of molehills.
If he’d insisted on reporting in person, then something unexpected had definitely happened.
“It’s like this, Director,” Coulson began.
“The mission encountered a fairly major complication. I thought it was something you needed to hear personally.”
“Oh?” Fury raised an eyebrow, though his voice remained unchanged.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Yes, sir.” Coulson briefly organized his thoughts.
“During contact with the target, I was unable to determine his exact relationship with Tony Stark. However, we did obtain a possible lead regarding his identity, though it remains unconfirmed…”
“Keep going.” Fury said nothing else.
What Coulson had told him so far certainly wasn’t worth a personal briefing.
Failing a mission and then insisting on reporting directly to your boss just to explain how you’d failed was practically begging to get chewed out.
Coulson wasn’t some masochist who enjoyed being yelled at.
Which meant the important part had to be that speculation about the target’s identity.
What kind of identity could possibly warrant reporting directly to me?
Now Fury was genuinely curious.
“A sorcerer,” Coulson said.
His expression became distinctly strange.
“The target is very likely a sorcerer capable of using actual magic.”
Even now, Coulson still hadn’t completely gotten over what he’d seen.
That spell had left one hell of an impression.
The image of Stark Tower framed inside that glowing Portal was still vivid in his mind.
“Hold on.” Nick Fury stared at him in disbelief.
“What did you just say? A sorcerer?”
He narrowed his eye.
“Did I hear you wrong, Agent Coulson, or did you say that wrong?”
“A sorcerer,” Coulson confirmed.
Then he began recounting everything that had happened the previous night, placing particular emphasis on the organization of sorcerers Evan had described and the power Evan himself had demonstrated.
Once he’d finished, Coulson summarized his findings.
“We can’t verify whether everything the target told us is true. But there’s no question that he possesses some form of spatial ability.”
“So you’re telling me there’s potentially an entire group of sorcerers hiding in the shadows, secretly protecting the world from magical creatures?” Nick Fury’s expression turned decidedly odd.
It sounded like the kind of bedtime story people told children.
Any normal adult would laugh it off without a second thought.
Especially when the evidence Evan had provided wasn’t remotely sufficient to prove the rest of his story.
“He claims there is.” Coulson shrugged.
“All right. I understand.” Fury leaned back slightly.
“Don’t archive this mission yet. I’ll handle it personally. You can get back to work.”
It was an unmistakable dismissal.
“Yes, sir.” Coulson turned and left the office.
Once the door closed behind him, Nick Fury picked up the report lying in front of him and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
It didn’t make sense for the man to invent such a blatantly questionable story as a lie.
Especially not when speaking to trained intelligence agents.
A story riddled with things that couldn’t be verified wouldn’t fool them.
It would only make them more suspicious.
So…
Was he actually telling the truth?
“If that’s the case…” Nick Fury narrowed his eye.
No one knew what was going through his mind.
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Around noon, after the lunch rush had ended, Evan stood inside the apartment he’d rented.
“I’m heading out to take care of something,” he told Banner.
“Best case, I’ll be gone three or four days. Worst case, maybe ten days to two weeks.”
“If anyone comes looking for me while I’m gone, tell them I’m away. Get their name and let me know who it was when I come back.”
As he spoke, Evan handed Banner a stack of cash and his phone.
The money was obvious enough.
Banner was currently broke.
As for the phone, there were two reasons.
Wandering around crowded streets wasn’t exactly a good idea for him right now.
Second, someone might call Evan.
It certainly wouldn’t be any of the restaurant’s regular customers.
Evan had already informed them at lunchtime that he would be away for a while.
If anyone called, it would most likely be S.H.I.E.L.D.
Assuming nothing unexpected had happened, Nick Fury should already know Evan existed by now.
The only question was when Fury himself, or someone he sent, would come looking for him.
Leaving the phone behind was simply a precaution in case S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to arrange a meeting by phone.
After all, there wasn’t exactly any cell reception in another world.
“Got it.” Banner accepted the money and phone.
“All right, then.” Evan stared at Banner’s expressionless face.
For some reason, he had this nagging feeling that something was going to happen while he was away.
Just to be safe, he added, “Be careful while I’m gone. Try not to get yourself captured.”
“Mm.” Banner nodded.
He’d already decided that until Evan returned, he wasn’t setting one foot outside this apartment.
Seeing Banner agree, Evan waved his hand.
The Dimensional Door appeared.
“All right. I’m off.” He stepped through and vanished beyond the wooden door.
Once Evan was gone, the Dimensional Door began to fade as well.
Within seconds, it had disappeared without a trace.
Banner had already pulled out the phone.
He recorded the entire process of the Dimensional Door vanishing, then transferred the video onto his computer.
Once that was done, he used the phone to order some takeout.
Then, while waiting for his food to arrive, he sat at the computer chatting with someone online.
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Meanwhile, Evan stepped through the Dimensional Door and emerged in an ancient forest filled with towering trees.
Beneath the massive trunks, weeds and undergrowth grew thick and wild, flourishing without restraint.
A hazy mist blanketed the surrounding forest.
The pale light of a newly risen sun filtered through the dense canopy, scattering sparse patches of gold across the ground.
Every so often, the unknown roar of some wild beast echoed from deep within the woods, the sound alone enough to make one’s scalp prickle.
Evan stood amid the forest and gazed into the distance.
Neither mist nor trees could obstruct his vision.
Gradually, a crystal clear lake came into view.
Mist drifted across its surface.
And within that mist, an enormous shadow was moving through the water.
Whatever it was, Evan couldn’t tell from here.
He thought for a moment.
Then he started walking toward the lake.