S.H.I.E.L.D.
At the Triskelion, Phil Coulson entered Nick Fury’s office carrying a thick stack of files.
“Director.”
Fury closed the document he had been reading and looked up.
“What did you find?”
Coulson placed the files on Fury’s desk and began his report.
“Kez Merlin. He first appeared at an occult shop on 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens, when he was ten years old. The shop’s previous owner, Balthazar Blake, adopted him and registered his legal identity.”
“We couldn’t find any record of him before the age of ten. We cross-referenced every child born and subsequently reported missing during the ten years prior to his appearance, but so far, none of them match.”
“After registering Kez’s identity and transferring ownership of the property to him, Balthazar Blake disappeared.”
“Kez Merlin has effectively been living on his own ever since.”
Fury picked up a photograph of Kez and frowned.
“So he never had a formal education?”
“Correct. We couldn’t find any school enrollment records either.”
Fury’s frown deepened.
“So he’s technically illiterate.”
He set the photograph down.
“Child protective services really dropped the ball on that one. They let an orphan live alone without even making sure he went to school.”
Coulson wisely declined to comment and continued.
“After inheriting the occult shop, Kez taught himself divination, fortune-telling, and related subjects. He makes his living performing readings and solving problems for clients, and he’s developed a significant reputation both locally and within the criminal underworld.”
“His fee started at one hundred dollars and gradually increased to one hundred thousand dollars per reading.”
Fury’s eyebrows rose.
“According to our investigation, his readings have a reported accuracy rate of one hundred percent. We haven’t found a single dissatisfied client.”
That caught Fury’s attention.
“Then we’re probably not dealing with the usual fortune-teller scam.”
Coulson nodded.
“That’s our current assessment. We suspect he either possesses an anomalous object related to divination or used a Beyonder Characteristic and became a Beyonder himself.”
“There’s also the possibility that he’s an enhanced individual whose abilities have nothing to do with Beyonder Characteristics.”
Over the past several years, S.H.I.E.L.D.
had collected numerous Beyonder Characteristics.
Thanks in part to Arrodes, the organization had developed a preliminary understanding of both those Characteristics and the strange artifacts associated with them.
Internally, S.H.I.E.L.D.
classified people who gained supernatural abilities through Beyonder Characteristics or related artifacts as Beyonders.
Those whose powers originated from entirely different sources were categorized more broadly as enhanced individuals.
Fury leaned back in his chair.
“If he became a Beyonder by directly using a Characteristic, then he’s damn lucky he didn’t turn into a monster.”
S.H.I.E.L.D.
had already performed extensive experimentation on Beyonder Characteristics and confirmed one important fact: the Characteristics themselves did not disappear. Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.
Under certain circumstances, exposure to or use of one could grant a person unusual abilities and transform them into a Beyonder.
It could also cause them to lose control and become a monster.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
still had no reliable method of ensuring that someone who used a Beyonder Characteristic would successfully become a stable Beyonder.
As far as their researchers could tell, it was still a gamble.
That uncertainty had made the organization extremely cautious about both Beyonder Characteristics and Sealed Artifacts.
Rather than allowing agents to use Characteristics casually, S.H.I.E.L.D.
generally stored them as 0-8-4s and only authorized their deployment under exceptional circumstances.
“We haven’t confirmed that Kez Merlin is a Beyonder,” Coulson continued.
“For now, it’s only a working theory.”
“I’ve already arranged to speak with Tony through his assistant, Pepper Potts. Once we have Stark’s account of the rescue, we should be able to make a better assessment.”
“At the moment, we still don’t know how Kez Merlin managed to enter a terrorist stronghold alone and bring Tony Stark out.”
“His actual capabilities remain unknown.”
Coulson glanced down at the report.
“Based on his previous history, however, we haven’t found evidence of violent tendencies or any inclination toward large-scale destruction.”
“My recommendation is to observe him for now, obtain Stark’s testimony, and then make direct contact.”
Fury nodded.
“Proceed with that plan.”
Then he tapped another file on the desk.
“What about Tony Stark?”
Coulson looked at the photograph Fury had pulled out.
It showed the translucent, ice-blue brain-shaped object Tony had brought back from Afghanistan.
“Based on the intelligence we obtained from the military, we believe Stark acquired a Beyonder Characteristic while he was being held.”
He pointed at the photograph.
“This one.”
“My next step is to attempt to recover it, but given Tony Stark’s position, I doubt he’ll simply hand it over.”
Fury tapped his fingers against the desk for several seconds before making his decision.
“The Characteristic has to be recovered. These things are too dangerous to leave unregulated.”
“We can compensate him for it.”
Coulson immediately understood.
“Yes, sir.”
…
Elsewhere, Kez Merlin’s file had also reached military intelligence.
Lieutenant General Thaddeus Ross, who oversaw military operations involving enhanced individuals and remained responsible for the pursuit of Bruce Banner, was among those who received it.
“Eighteen years old. Suspected enhanced individual or Beyonder.”
Ross continued reading.
“Apparently rescued Tony Stark from a terrorist stronghold alone. Estimated individual combat capability comparable to a fully equipped twelve-man special operations team.” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“Not bad.”
He gave a dismissive snort.
“But nowhere near Banner.”
Then his eyes moved to another line.
“Three Beyonder Characteristics for one job?”
Ross raised an eyebrow.
“Greedy little bastard.”
For a moment, the thought of recommending Kez for recruitment into the Army crossed his mind, but Ross discarded it almost immediately.
He wasn’t interested in strengthening someone else’s command when a person with abilities like this could be far more useful to him personally.
Capturing Banner was anything but easy.
Someone like Kez might be exactly the kind of specialist Ross needed for the job.
A lack of formal education didn’t matter in the slightest; special recruitment procedures existed for a reason.
“Philly, clear some time in my schedule. I want to meet this Kez Merlin.”
The aide beside him immediately straightened.
“Yes, General.”
Ross set down the file.
“And have Rhodes speak to Stark.”
He tapped the photograph of the ice-blue Beyonder Characteristic.
“The military wants that object Tony brought back.”
“Find out whether he’s willing to sell.”
…
Two days later.
Back at home, Tony Stark used the equipment in his private workshop to build a new miniature Arc Reactor.
With Pepper’s help, he replaced the crude unit he had constructed in Afghanistan.
He handed the old reactor to Pepper afterward and told her to dispose of it.
With the power source in his chest finally dealt with, Tony turned his attention to the other thing he had brought home from the cave.
The Savant Beyonder Characteristic.
“JARVIS, perform a complete scan of the Savant Beyonder Characteristic in front of me.”
Tony placed the translucent ice-blue object beneath the laboratory sensors.
“I want everything you can get from it.”
JARVIS’s voice filled the workshop.
“Yes, sir.”
“Beginning comprehensive scan and data acquisition. Estimated completion time: three minutes.”
Tony gave another instruction.
“Also, pull up everything we’ve collected on the Fool, Beyonder Characteristics, Sequences, and Pathways. Cross-reference it with the material Pepper brought me, remove any duplicates, and display the results on the screen to my left.”
The monitor lit up almost immediately as pages of information began appearing.
Tony turned toward it and started reading.