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*****
"I'm sorry, that is classified," Nick Fury said, shaking his head. He continued, "Actually, I came here to ask if there is any way for the two of you to communicate?"
Skye didn't answer his question. Instead, she frowned and asked, "He went to help you, didn't he?"
Nick Fury gave her a surprised look, but he nodded and admitted it.
"In other words, you're the reason he's missing? He's even left Earth!"
Skye glared at Fury. From the tone of his earlier words, it was clear that they couldn't contact Fini either.
"How did you know that!?"
Now it was Nick Fury's turn to lose his cool. His brow furrowed deeply. Security at the base had been tightened to the point where even a mosquito would struggle to get in or out. If information was still leaking under those conditions, he'd be speechless.
But looking at Skye, it didn't seem like a security breach.
Could she be the reason Fini knows so much intel? Fury couldn't help but wonder as he scrutinized her.
Then, another possibility struck him. Staring at Skye, he asked, "You know his situation... Have the two of you been in contact?"
Skye turned her head away angrily without answering, but that was all the confirmation Fury needed.
"He's still alive!?"
Fury felt a surge of relief. Although Fini was impossible to control, based on his current personality and actions, he was an absolute asset to Earth. He felt lucky that he had decided to seek out Skye; it seemed the two of them really did have a unique way of staying in touch.
"Where is he now? we'll send a team to rescue him," Fury said in a low, serious voice.
"I don't know. I only know he's on a very distant alien planet," Skye said, shaking her head. The Ancient One hadn't told her the name of the planet, but to her, any planet would be "very distant."
"How did you communicate?" Fury asked again, mentally adding "interstellar communication" to Fini's list of abilities.
"We haven't been in contact!" Skye repeated.
Hearing this, Fury frowned. "Please trust me, Miss Halsey. I want him back even more than you do."
He meant it. If Fini returned, he wouldn't have to agonize over whether to recruit Bruce Banner, and he could save a fortune on security costs.
"I really haven't talked to him. He just notified me that he'd be coming back and asked me to help him request a leave of absence from school."
Fury, who had been watching Skye's micro-expressions, was surprised. He could see she wasn't lying. This made things strange.
"How did he notify you then?"
"Sorry, no comment!"
Skye certainly wasn't going to mention the Ancient One. She understood the rules of Kamar-Taj well enough to know that telling a secret agent would be foolish.
For a split second, the thought of detaining Skye for interrogation flashed through Fury's mind, but he immediately dismissed it. Fini might be gone, but since Skye knew exactly where he was, it meant Fini likely left behind safeguards even if they weren't in direct contact.
"So, when will he be back?"
"Maybe in six months," Skye answered truthfully after a moment's hesitation.
"Six months!?" Fury didn't understand the significance of that timeline, but then again, neither did Skye.
"Thank you for the information, Miss Halsey. If you encounter any trouble or hear from him, you can call me."
Fury left a business card with his number on it. Hidden within the card was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most advanced listening device. Although he didn't plan to move against Skye yet, he couldn't resist trying to learn more while Fini was away.
Unfortunately for Fury, Skye was no ordinary civilian. If he had given that card to Fini, the boy might not have noticed anything. But he gave it to Skye. Her vibrational abilities allowed her to sense the internal frequencies of objects; she detected the anomaly the moment she touched the card.
"I understand."
Skye accepted the card without showing any emotion. The reason she had shared so much with Fury was to make him wary. Without Fini there to protect her, she had to learn to grow up.
After Fury left, Skye immediately used her powers to sweep the entire house. Sure enough, she found another bug hidden in a dark corner. She hadn't even seen Fury go near that spot; she had no idea how he'd planted it.
Fury's visit only made her miss Fini more.
---
"What do you think it'll turn into?"
Meanwhile, Fini was watching the glowing body of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon with anticipation, questioning the Red Skull beside him. After ten days of feeding, the dragon had finally reached its Rank 2 evolution.
The process was incredibly short. Before the Red Skull could even formulate an answer, the light faded.
"Doesn't look like much has changed," the Red Skull remarked. "Except it's quite a bit bigger."
"Yeah," Fini agreed, observing the Rank 2 dragon closely. As the Red Skull noted, its size had increased significantly. If it was the size of a car before, it was now at least the size of a medium truck. Its scales were whiter, and while its eyes still lacked true wisdom, they were sharper than before.
"Can you talk?" Fini asked, walking closer. What he wanted most was for the dragon to possess intelligence.
"Roar!"
The dragon let out its usual cry. Fini couldn't tell if that meant "yes" or "no." He wondered if there were any universal translators on other planets that could handle "Dragon-speak."
After some simple testing, Fini found that the Rank 2 evolution didn't bring new skills. Every physical attribute had been enhanced, but the core mechanics remained the same.
Though slightly disappointed, Fini didn't dwell on it. This was only Rank 2. In the anime, Blue-Eyes was a high-level card, so its evolution potential should go up to at least Rank 7 or 8.
Finally, Fini had to test the dragon's most important ability: energy absorption.
He decided against bringing out the Soul Stone. He felt a Rank 2 dragon still wouldn't be able to handle that level of power. He just wanted to see if its absorption capacity had improved.
Fortunately, when he had visited S.H.I.E.L.D., he had brought a small Arc Reactor with him, thinking it wasn't safe to leave at home. It had been teleported along with him.
"Here, try some new dragon food!"
Fini tossed the small Arc Reactor into the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's mouth.
(End of Chapter)