Nick Fury felt that his luck had been absolutely terrible lately.
Ever since learning part of the truth about the universe from Adrian Cross half a month ago, the notoriously unlucky Director had barely been able to taste his food.
His mind was constantly occupied with one question—
How the hell was humanity supposed to deal with all those threats beyond Earth?
In the end, Fury reached a very simple conclusion.
The formation of the Avengers Initiative had to be accelerated.
And not long after he came to that conclusion, the bad news arrived.
Dr.
Banner, who had been captured following the battle in Manhattan, had disappeared once again.
Meanwhile, Iron Man—Tony Stark—had recently been attacked.
His attacker was Anton Vanko, the son of one of Tony’s father’s former research partners.
Although Tony had barely managed to defeat him, he had sustained fairly serious injuries in the process.
Fury’s mood immediately worsened again.
He only had four candidates for the Avengers Initiative right now, and the two strongest among them had suddenly ended up with one missing and the other injured.
How the hell was he supposed to accelerate the plan now?
Eventually, Nick Fury began comforting himself.
“It’s fine.
Those threats from beyond Earth are only the word of that Summoner from the pet shop.
Maybe things aren’t actually that bad.”
The very next day, while Fury was eating lunch, he received a report.
Something had fallen from the sky in New Mexico.
And preliminary analysis confirmed that it was most likely the product of an extraterrestrial civilization.
Fury nearly inhaled his sandwich into his windpipe.
The King of Spies immediately decided to contact Adrian Cross.
And then…
He discovered that Adrian Cross had disappeared too.
So when Fury finally heard that Adrian Cross had reappeared, he immediately boarded a S.H.I.E.L.D.
aircraft and rushed straight from the Triskelion to Manhattan.
“Adrian, I think you owe me an explanation.”
Inside the alternate dimension, Nick Fury did his best to control his emotions as he looked at Victini beside Adrian Cross.
Then he pointed toward the little Pokémon perched on Adrian Cross’s head.
“And what is that?”
“That’s Victini.
My new summoned Pokémon.”
Adrian Cross answered Fury’s question without hesitation.
However, he was somewhat surprised by Fury’s account of what had happened to Tony.
Because if Adrian Cross wasn’t mistaken, those events should have been part of Iron Man 2.
And by sheer coincidence, everything had happened while he was away at Kamar-Taj…
Missed out on some System Points.
Adrian Cross muttered inwardly.
Still, he didn’t particularly regret it.
He had gained far too many benefits from his trip to Kamar-Taj.
Giving up a few Points in exchange was hardly a loss.
“…Was your disappearance during this period related to that thing?”
Fury gave the incredibly adorable Victini a strange look.
But after his previous experience with Celebi, he knew better than to underestimate cute little creatures that looked like squirrels.
This one might be far more powerful than its appearance suggested.
“That was part of the reason.
But the main reason was that the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme and leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, needed my help with a small matter, so I paid them a visit.”
Adrian Cross casually explained while feeding Celebi and Victini.
“The Masters of the Mystic Arts?
You’re in contact with them?”
Hearing the now-familiar name immediately piqued Fury’s curiosity.
“A little.
But that isn’t why you came here, is it, Director Fury?”
Knowing that the Masters of the Mystic Arts preferred to remain hidden from the world, Adrian Cross deliberately changed the subject.
He understood Fury’s personality perfectly well.
Adrian Cross had no desire to invite that kind of trouble.
“You said something fell in New Mexico.
What exactly was it?”
Although Adrian Cross asked the question aloud, he already had a pretty good idea.
At this point in time, there was only one thing that could have fallen in New Mexico.
And sure enough, his guess was correct.
“Take a look.”
Rather than answering directly, Fury opened the laptop inside the case he’d brought with him.
There was only one image displayed on the screen.
In the middle of a barren, desert-like landscape was an enormous crater.
And at the very center of that crater lay a silver war hammer.
“Our specialists have examined it.
The material it’s made from doesn’t correspond to any known substance on Earth.
It’s incredibly hard and resilient—it even survived the extreme temperatures generated by falling through the atmosphere.”
“What’s more, no matter how many people try to lift it at once, and even when we use heavy excavation equipment, we can’t make the hammer move so much as an inch.
According to our understanding of atomic structure and the relationship between mass and matter, that should be impossible.”
Fury spoke solemnly.
What he didn’t expect was for Adrian Cross to burst out laughing.
“Of course you can’t lift it.
It was forged from the heart of a dying star and the divine metal known as Uru.
On top of that, it bears a powerful magical enchantment.”
“Unless the hammer chooses you, you can’t lift it.”
“…You know where it came from?”
Fury immediately caught the implication in Adrian Cross’s words.
For a moment, the unlucky Director almost wanted to cut Adrian Cross’s head open and see exactly how many secrets were stuffed inside.
How the hell did this guy know everything?
“Of course I do.”
Adrian Cross nodded without the slightest hesitation.
If there was ever a time to show off, this was it.
“In fact, I’m certain you’ve heard its name before.”
“It is Mjolnir.”
“And its owner’s name…
is Thor.”
Nick Fury was undoubtedly a well-read man himself.
“You mean Thor, the God of Thunder from Norse mythology?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Adrian Cross nodded.
Fury stared at him seriously with his one good eye.
“But that’s only mythology.”
“No, Director Fury.
It’s more than just mythology.”
Adrian Cross smiled.
“Yggdrasil, the World Tree, truly exists.
It’s simply not an actual tree, but another special dimensional structure.”
“The Nine Realms also exist.
And the world we call Earth is known throughout the universe as Midgard.”
“…Midgard?
One of the Nine Realms?”
Fury frowned.
“Exactly.”
Adrian Cross nodded, then pointed toward the hammer in the photograph.
“And the owner of this hammer, Thor, comes from Asgard, the most powerful of the Nine Realms.”
“More importantly, he’s the Crown Prince of Asgard!”
“This…”
For Nick Fury, this revelation was nothing short of worldview-shattering.
He could accept the existence of extraterrestrial life.
But what Adrian Cross was telling him still went far beyond anything he’d been mentally prepared for.
And what attitude did they hold toward Earth?
Were they friendly?
Or did they simply not care?
Adrian Cross, however, had no intention of waiting for Fury to finish rebuilding his shattered worldview.
He simply stood up, straightened his clothes, and looked ready to leave.
“Where are you going?”
Even with his thoughts in chaos, Fury immediately noticed Adrian Cross’s movements.
“New Mexico.”
“…You’re going after the hammer?”
Fury frowned at him.
Adrian Cross shook his head.
“No.
I’m going to find the hammer’s owner.”
“Mjolnir and Thor are rarely separated.
So Thor must be somewhere on Earth right now, and he’ll definitely try to retrieve his hammer.”
At that point, Adrian Cross smiled at Fury, whose expression was already beginning to change.
“Let me guess.
You told the agents guarding the hammer that if anyone approaches it without authorization, they’re allowed to arrest them on the spot—or even shoot them, right?”
Nick Fury’s expression instantly looked like he’d swallowed something disgusting.
Because if everything Adrian Cross had told him was true, then Thor was the Crown Prince of Asgard.
And if the Crown Prince of Asgard came to retrieve his own weapon only to be captured and harshly interrogated by S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents…
Human history’s first interstellar diplomatic incident would basically be unavoidable.
And if one of those agents accidentally killed Thor…
Then they would be in some seriously deep shit!
“Adrian, take my private jet and get over there immediately.
I’m giving you full authority to handle this situation.
Whatever happens, make sure nothing happens to Thor!”
“Private jet?”
Adrian Cross rolled his eyes at Fury.
“Why would someone as low-key as me need something like that?”
“Rayquaza.”
At Adrian Cross’s call, Rayquaza, which had recently spent most of its time sleeping atop Sky Pillar, immediately descended and stopped in front of him.
Adrian Cross used Confusion to lift himself into the air, landed atop Rayquaza’s head, and casually waved goodbye to Fury.
“See you.”
ROOOAAAR!
With a heaven-shaking roar, Nick Fury was promptly expelled from the alternate dimension.
By the time he rushed out of the pet shop, all he could see was Rayquaza’s enormous figure shooting straight into the sky.
“My God!”
“It’s that dragon again!
It’s back!”
“Holy crap!
I still didn’t see where it came from!”
Listening to the startled cries erupting from the people around him, Nick Fury practically ground his teeth.
Low-key?
What part of this is supposed to be low-key?!
“Sir, what do we…”
One of the agents standing guard nearby spoke hesitantly.
“Contain the information.
Do your best to keep what happened here from spreading too quickly.”
“And contact Coulson immediately.
Tell him Adrian Cross is heading his way.”
“He has full authority to handle this matter.”
“Yes, sir!”
Watching the agent hurry away, Nick Fury couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.
“This is going to turn into another huge mess.”
Thinking about the consequences that might follow—and all the secrets Adrian Cross had just revealed about the Nine Realms—Fury felt as though his head was about to explode.