Tahiti.
A magical place.
Crystal-blue water.
Endless white beaches.
Golden sunshine.
Fresh tropical fruit.
Luxurious massages beneath swaying palm trees.
At least, that’s what the travel brochures promised.
The reality before them consisted of none of those things.
Instead, a heavily fortified concrete bunker had been carved directly into the face of a seaside cliff. A massive blast door, painted to blend into the surrounding rock, concealed the entrance. Nearby sat a landing pad barely large enough for a single Quinjet.
Claire looked around, visibly disappointed.
"...I’m struggling to see the magical part."
"For us," Nick Fury replied as he approached the blast door, "bringing the dead back to life is magical enough."
A surveillance camera rotated toward them.
A synthesized electronic voice echoed from a hidden speaker.
"Smooth trip from Istanbul?"
Without hesitation, Fury answered,
"How would I know? I came from Constantinople."
Claire blinked.
"...Aren’t those the same city?"
"They’re using a challenge-response code," Evenson explained.
Though privately, he found it embarrassingly uninspired.
At least make it memorable.
Something impossible to guess.
’The eagle flies at midnight.’
Anything.
Once the exchange was complete, Evenson looked toward Fury.
"So facial recognition isn’t enough?"
"Forging a face is easier than remembering the right password."
Fury didn’t sound remotely amused.
A moment later, heavy gears rumbled behind the cliff face.
The reinforced doors slowly parted.
Beyond them stretched a pitch-black tunnel.
As the group approached, overhead lights flickered on one after another, illuminating the passage.
"Good."
Evenson nodded in approval.
"For a second I thought someone around here was about to disappear into the darkness."
Fury’s eyebrow twitched.
"...What was that?"
"I didn’t quite catch it."
Evenson laughed awkwardly.
"Nothing."
"Coulson first."
The urge to shoot him subsided.
Barely.
As they continued deeper into the facility, Fury changed the subject.
"Speaking of the Kree..."
"How do you know so much about them?"
S.H.I.E.L.D. had almost no information.
Even Kamar-Taj possessed only fragmented legends.
Yet Evenson seemed to know the Kree Empire as though he’d lived there.
"I’ve told you before."
Evenson smiled faintly.
"I know many things you don’t."
"Your colleagues again?"
Fury remembered Evenson giving the same explanation when he’d provided intelligence about Umbrella.
"That’s right."
"My colleagues."
Evenson’s smile grew almost mysterious.
"And not all of them live on Earth."
Fury stopped walking.
"...You can communicate with people on other planets?"
"Is that really so strange?"
Evenson shrugged.
"Warlock magic is a complete magical system."
"That kind of knowledge doesn’t emerge overnight."
"It takes countless generations."
"Entire civilizations."
"Earth has always developed primarily through science."
"It simply isn’t the sort of world where a fully mature magical tradition would naturally originate."
Fury watched him carefully.
"So..."
"Your fellow warlocks..."
"They aren’t all human."
"Not all of them."
Evenson answered honestly.
Fury’s single eye narrowed.
"Then where do your loyalties lie?"
Evenson immediately understood the real question.
"If one day those other warlocks turned against Earth..."
He finished the thought himself.
"...would I stand with them because we share the same profession?"
"...Or would I stand with humanity?"
Fury gave a slow nod.
"That’s exactly what I’m asking."
Evenson answered without hesitation.
"Being a warlock is my profession."
He met Fury’s gaze directly.
"Being human comes first."
"I’m a human from Earth."
"Does that answer satisfy you?"
Fury merely nodded.
Inside, however, he relaxed.
The older and more powerful an organization became, the easier it was for its members to place loyalty to that organization above loyalty to nation...
...or even species.
Until now, Fury hadn’t known whether Evenson ultimately belonged to Earth...
...or to something much older.
Now he did.
Just then, an elderly Black man in a white lab coat hurried toward them.
Evenson instinctively took a small step backward.
Five people.
Two of them are Black.
Why do I suddenly have a terrible feeling about surviving this Chapter...?
Fury gestured toward the newcomer.
"This is Doctor Streten."
"Coulson’s attending physician."
"Pleased to meet you."
Evenson’s greeting was polite but restrained.
Melinda, on the other hand, bowed her head sincerely.
"Thank you, Doctor."
"Thank you for bringing my partner back."
Streten forced a smile.
"It was my duty."
Then his expression darkened.
"...Though lately..."
"I’m beginning to regret it."
Melinda’s face hardened.
The doctor continued quietly.
"Death exists for a reason."
"Defying it rarely ends well."
"What happened to Agent Coulson only proves that."
Although his words were directed toward everyone...
His eyes never left Fury.
"Humanity has spent its entire history breaking the rules of nature."
Evenson answered calmly.
"I’m not convinced this particular rule deserves special treatment."
Before the conversation could become an argument, Fury interrupted.
"How is the patient?"
The doctor sighed.
"...No change."
That was enough.
Fury turned immediately.
"This way."
The laboratory was cold enough to make every breath visible.
At Fury’s signal, Doctor Streten unlocked a large cryogenic storage unit.
Inside lay the remains of the blue alien.
The upper half of its body rested within the frost-covered chamber.
"...So."
Evenson looked at the corpse.
"This is the Kree sashimi."
Several people stared at him.
Including Claire.
"...That is an exceptionally unfortunate comparison."
Judging by everyone’s expressions...
Japanese raw fish had just disappeared from several future dinner menus.
Evenson ignored them.
He couldn’t afford sushi anyway.
He placed a hand on the corpse.
Claire did the same.
Only a heartbeat passed before Evenson reached his conclusion.
"It’s been dead for a long time."
"The soul has almost completely dispersed."
"It couldn’t influence anyone anymore."
Claire nodded after conducting her own examination.
"I agree."
"There’s barely any spiritual residue left."
"But..."
Evenson narrowed his eyes.
"The body is another matter."
A faint strand of emerald energy drifted from the corpse into his palm.
Even after so many years...
It still contained astonishing vitality.
"The Kree must have undergone extensive genetic enhancement."
"Life force this powerful..."
"...could absolutely affect another organism."
He looked toward Fury.
"Let’s see Coulson."
"If the problem comes from residual Kree biology..."
"I may be able to remove it."
Fury nodded and led them into the observation room.
A surveillance monitor displayed Coulson’s hospital room.
Phil Coulson sat motionless on the edge of his bed.
Completely still.
Without warning...
He slowly turned his head.
Directly toward the hidden camera.
As though he could feel someone watching him.
Then everyone saw his eyes.
Claire’s expression immediately turned grave.
Evenson’s face darkened with fury.
He slammed a fist into the monitor hard enough to crack the screen.
"Damn it!"
"What the hell did they do to you?"
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