Marvel: Ned the Master of Mystic Arts

"Motherf***er! It must be those Hydra bastards! The guy with the metal arm that Talos saw must be someone important!"

"Otherwise, Hydra wouldn't have sent someone to assassinate me right after I reported the intel. Doing so would reveal that there are Hydra agents in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top ranks!"

Nick Fury stood up, addressing the group that had just arrived. Then he turned to Carol and said, "I need to report this to Director Pierce so he can take precautions."

"Alright, but aren't you worried that another assassin will come for you as soon as you report this?" Carol sighed and asked with a shake of her head.

"We're heading to space soon; are they going to assassinate air? Besides, once Director Pierce is aware of this, he'll take action. Hydra is already on the brink of collapse!"

Nick Fury spoke confidently, but he didn't notice the disgruntled expression on Coulson's face as he listened.

"Sir, I still need to stay here and recover."

Coulson said flatly.

"Uh…"

Nick Fury was momentarily embarrassed.

"Don't worry; I'll cast a spell on you. As long as you don't leave the house, no one will be able to find you."

Ned spoke with a grin.

"I knew you'd have a solution, Master of the Mystic Arts. Coulson, trust your commander—I'd never forget about you."

Nick Fury breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned the situation around, addressing Coulson.

Coulson: "…"

Ned then created a mirror dimension, encapsulating the entire house, leaving Coulson and Monica inside.

The others watched as the large wooden house disappeared before their eyes, once again deepening their mysterious impression of Ned's abilities.

"So, my job is to impersonate Captain Marvel, stay here to intercept Rogg when he arrives, and buy you all time to locate the lab?"

The Skrull chief scientist asked his leader, Talos, in a serious tone.

"Exactly. A diversion tactic—it's a classic maneuver that has proven effective countless times on intergalactic battlefields."

Talos nodded earnestly as he explained.

"Uh… okay."

The Skrull chief scientist lowered his head, fully aware of the danger his mission entailed. But for the future of the Skrulls, he was willing to lay down his life.

"No one knows who Rogg will see when he communicates with the Supreme Intelligence. But I suspect it'll be the person he admires and respects the most. He's never told me who that is."

Carol shared this insight with the Skrull scientist.

"My earliest memory of Hala is of receiving a blood transfusion, and in my memory, my blood was blue."

"Got it. I understand."

The Skrull scientist nodded.

"One more thing—remember, that's Rogg's blood."

Ned added.

"You even know that?"

Carol shot Ned a surprised glance.

Ned shrugged and then glanced at her red-and-gold suit. "Nice to meet you, Captain Marvel."

"Captain Marvel? Cool title."

Carol raised an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face.

...

Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., USA:

"Why did you do it? I told you, Nick Fury is the best candidate to succeed me."

In a secret chamber, several people sat together. One of them spoke first, questioning the man across from him.

"He knows too much. The Winter Soldier absolutely cannot be exposed at this time. Besides, Pierce, are you really planning to let someone who isn't part of the organization take over S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

The white man sitting across from Pierce replied with disdain.

"I told you I'd handle it. Nick Fury may not be one of us, but he'll run S.H.I.E.L.D. better than anyone else could—by several orders of magnitude."

"When that happens, Hydra's influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. will spread across the entire world. The political and military sectors will be ours, not just these small-scale skirmishes we're dealing with now."

Alexander Pierce said coldly, his face stern.

"Alright, but it's pointless to keep talking. I've already sent someone to deal with him. Let's see how lucky your 'favorite' really is. I can promise you this, though—if he survives this time, I won't send anyone else after him."

The man across from Pierce clearly didn't care about his opinion. After speaking, he glanced at the others in the room and added, "Well, everyone, how about we all make a promise to Director Pierce here? Look at him—he's so upset his face is turning red."

"Haha!"

The room erupted into laughter, leaving Pierce fuming. He wanted nothing more than to draw his gun and shoot each one of them.

But at this point, Pierce didn't have the authority he would later wield. He couldn't afford to openly antagonize these people, so he swallowed his anger, his face alternating between shades of red and pale.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The sound of rhythmic knocking interrupted the meeting. The group inside exchanged glances, quickly falling silent.

"Come in."

Pierce picked up a communicator on the table and gave the command.

Boom!

The heavy door to the chamber swung open. A white man, roughly the same age as Nick Fury, entered. Ignoring everyone else in the room, he walked straight to Pierce and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

After the man finished his report and left, Pierce's mood visibly improved. Smiling, he turned to the man who had sent the assassins.

"Unfortunately, Nick Fury may not be as lucky as you, but he's not cursed either. His luck isn't bad enough to die this time."

With that, Pierce stood and left the chamber without giving anyone else a chance to respond.

"Damn it!"

The man who had clashed with Pierce earlier slammed his fist on the table in frustration before also storming out.

With the two main players gone, the other Hydra leaders exchanged polite goodbyes before departing.

"Tell Nick Fury to focus on handling the alien threats. I'll deal with Hydra's matters. After this is all over, there'll be plenty of vacancies in leadership. Tell him he'll be promoted three levels at once."

Sitting in a car, Pierce gave orders to the Hydra agent driving.

"Understood, Director."

Pierce closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat, mentally reviewing the list of Hydra operatives in high-ranking positions within S.H.I.E.L.D. He began planning who to remove and how to further consolidate his power.

At the same time, he considered using this opportunity to clean house further, replacing remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists with his Hydra loyalists.

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