Bayonetta kissed her pistol, her pale gray eyes turning toward the arcanist.
"My dear little stag, are you ready to be hunted?"
Solomon had planned to take either Stephanie or the witch to dine at a newly acquired restaurant—a front for money laundering—but that plan was quickly scrapped. He rushed to dress, kissed the witch goodbye, and promised to be back within a few hours. He would never miss out on their nighttime or morning affection. With bullets raining like a storm, Solomon, now wearing the antlers the witch had lovingly prepared for him, stepped through the portal and arrived at the administrative building of Immortal City.
Stephanie screamed and ducked as a bullet followed him through and shattered the hall's ornate stained-glass window.
Still shaken, she quickly briefed Solomon on the situation.
"Next time you return from a battlefield, please give me a heads-up first."
"That's hard to say, dear Stephanie. Everywhere is a battlefield."
They took the elevator—adorned with gilded vine patterns—to the top floor of the Gothic tower. Immortal City's power structure was as straightforward as the floors in the building: at the very top, the Interior Office and Solomon's personal office, connected through Stephanie's own workspace. While she appeared to serve as a check on Solomon's authority, in truth, she functioned as his transmitter, not advisor. As a dictator in all but name, Solomon's commands were passed through her without challenge.
"Agent Coulson wishes to speak with you, My Lord," said Agent Victoria Hand. As someone aware of parts of the Sokovia incident's true story, she now addressed Solomon with a reverent tone, knowing full well that he had the power to destroy governments with a flick of his hand. Wearing light ballistic armor, Hand stood stiffly, flanked by a tactical squad sent from the Sisterhood to reinforce the Intelligence Department. They were armed with Immortal City's most advanced infantry weapons and could request ballistic missile support. A single squad could topple a high-intensity conflict.
In the holographic feed, Hand's face was tinged with blue light.
"Perhaps you recall the female hacker from Coulson's team. She gained powers—Inhuman powers. According to our intel, Skye's ability is seismic in nature, though the mutation mechanism remains unclear. Her mother, Jiaying, is the leader of the Inhuman enclave known as Afterlife." Hand paused briefly. "After Commander Gonzales was killed, Skye defected from Coulson's team and fled with the Inhumans. We don't know exactly what happened unless we capture Jiaying. Only she can explain. Also, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s only remaining helicarrier was attacked by the Inhumans. Agent Weaver has been out of contact for over twenty minutes. I plan to request a portal in five minutes and lead a strike team to support them and recover any surviving agents. Before you decide whether to speak with Coulson, I need to know—what is your position on S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"I don't care, Agent Hand. I saw Nick Fury just yesterday. Perhaps Coulson already knows some of the old S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were recruited by us, but it's irrelevant. Even Fury doesn't care anymore. S.H.I.E.L.D. belongs to the past, not the future. I only keep them around because a certain destiny requires Coulson's life—and until that destiny is fulfilled, he won't die. Nor will anyone tied to it. You make the call. As long as they don't get in the way."
Agent Hand exhaled in relief. "Thank you, My Lord."
"But I expect to see a field agent—not an emotional vigilante. By the way, during the Ultron incident, your department performed excellently. You helped us shoot down spy satellites and mobilized external assets. You will be rewarded, Victoria Hand. Your record will reflect your merit. Now patch in Coulson."
"Yes, My Lord."
"Good morning, Agent Coulson. Or perhaps good afternoon, or good evening—you pick."
"Solomon, I'm asking you to stay calm. According to intel from May, it seems Gonzales fired first. The Inhumans believe so," Coulson said humbly, nearly pleading. He was well aware of the Sokovia events—Maria Hill had told him—and he knew the Inhumans wouldn't stand a chance against Solomon's magic.
"Are you certain? My intelligence tells me Gonzales approached with good intentions. He was human. The Inhumans believe themselves above humanity. And now he's dead. That is the fact, Coulson. I know what kind of man Gonzales was. I even tried to recruit him. Immortal City made contact with many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents during the HYDRA uprising. After the mutiny aboard the carrier was crushed, Gonzales led his team to support the Three-Helix HQ battle."
"Let's first figure out what really happened. I still don't understand a lot. I sent four Quinjets—Agent Morse's disappeared entirely, signal and all. One of the Quinjets attacked the Inhumans and then vanished. This is a conspiracy, Solomon. I ask you—aim your sword at our enemies, not our allies."
"I'll act on Agent Hand's intel." Solomon cut off the video feed, ending the conversation. He and Stephanie had work to do: the resettlement of orphans who voluntarily followed from Sokovia—should they be trained alongside the Syrian orphans brought in by Lara Croft? What to do with the chant-division staff who had now encountered magic—should they join the Mars Forge Project? Should the Intelligence Department expand? Should equipment be upgraded? What about helicarrier maintenance and munitions resupply? What was the deadline for Sisterhood armor and weapon repairs? Intelligence funding? Strategic weapons maintenance crew rosters?
Solomon processed every document Stephanie handed him with lightning speed, issuing direct decisions on each. Once finished, he asked her to pull up Lara Croft's file and application.
Lara Croft had once again made the London tabloids. Some unscrupulous outlet mocked her for being "lost in the same fantasies as Sir Richard Croft." Everyone in the field knew she'd returned from two expeditions with only minor trinkets and no proof she'd found Kitezh. It wasn't that Solomon had blocked her from publishing papers on the undying prophet or the lost city—it was that Lara herself had destroyed her own nearly finished draft. She refused to expose miracles that bordered on magic to the public, knowing the chaos it would unleash. Solomon owed her—again.
She'd even grabbed him by the collar and demanded he give her a site rich in mystery but free of magic, monsters, or aliens—something she could actually write a paper on.
"You want to give her a ruin? Shall we have the engineering corps build one?"
"No need. I think Lara Croft will never publish a proper archaeology paper in her life," Solomon replied, flipping through her itinerary with a smirk. "Because she'll never be rid of mystical ruins. Look—she's not even planning a break. She's heading to South America again next year."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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