Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Locke had been sent to Hell.

Johnny had finally found true redemption.

By any reasonable standard, that should have been a happy ending.

For Evenson, however, there was still one loose end to deal with.

Just as everyone began to relax, Evenson suddenly spread both hands toward Danny.

The unconscious boy’s body jerked upward.

He rose into the air, arms and legs stretched wide, suspended helplessly in front of them.

Even unconscious, Danny cried out in pain.

"Danny!"

Nadya’s face went white.

She lunged forward, desperate to grab her son, but Rumlow caught her and held her back.

"Don’t hurt him!"

She struggled against Rumlow’s grip.

"Please! He’s innocent!"

Evenson didn’t even blink.

Instead, he intensified the spell.

A violent pressure wave exploded outward from Danny, forcing everyone nearby to stagger back. At the same time, black energy began pouring from the boy’s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

The energy streamed toward Evenson’s outstretched hands.

It gathered between his palms in a dense, swirling mass.

Only after every last trace had been extracted did Evenson lower his hands.

Danny slowly descended.

Rumlow released Nadya.

She immediately rushed to her son and gathered him into her arms.

For several agonizing seconds, she checked his breathing and heartbeat.

He was alive.

Just extremely weak, as though every ounce of strength had been drained from his body.

Nadya finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

"You extracted the power Locke left inside him?"

The Ancient One frowned.

She had seen exactly what Evenson’s spell had done.

Evenson didn’t answer immediately.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head strangely from side to side.

Then his entire body shuddered once.

He opened his eyes and gave a deeply unimpressed sigh.

"Yes."

"The power itself is incredibly strong. Unfortunately, Locke took the authority needed to control it with him to Hell."

He glanced toward Danny.

"Leaving that power inside a child who can’t use it would accomplish nothing except painting a giant target on his back."

Evenson smiled faintly.

"Power without the ability to defend yourself is practically an invitation."

"People from Hell would come looking for him. People from Earth would come looking for him. And unlike me, they probably wouldn’t be satisfied with simply removing the power and leaving the kid alive."

The Ancient One’s eyebrow rose.

"So you’ve taken his problem onto yourself."

Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

"How noble."

Evenson grinned.

"Let’s keep the praise between us. If you say it out loud, I might actually start believing it."

The Ancient One shook her head.

That man’s shamelessness could probably survive an encounter with Dormammu.

"Now that everything here is settled, I should be going."

"By all means."

Evenson immediately gestured toward the exit.

He didn’t even bother pretending to stop her.

The Ancient One had brought quite a few people with her this time. The sooner she returned, the sooner she could make sure nobody had decided to break into Kamar-Taj while she was gone.

The Ancient One had already opened a portal when Melinda suddenly called after her.

"Your Holiness... Ancient One."

The Ancient One paused.

"If you have the time, we’d be honored if you could visit S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Fury would like to speak with you about improving our ability to protect the world."

Evenson’s mouth dropped open.

Is she seriously doing this?

He watched Melinda with barely concealed disbelief.

Where did this level of politeness come from?

Your Holiness? We’d be honored?

Whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. needed something from him, Melinda’s attitude was basically:

I’ve got a problem. Get over here.

And once the problem was solved:

We’re done. Get lost.

Now she was practically rolling out a red carpet for the Ancient One.

Was the difference between a sorcerer and a warlock really that enormous?

Or was it the words Sorcerer Supreme?

Evenson was a Highlord of the Black Harvest. He was Earth’s first warlock to transcend mortal limits.

Where was his respect?

The Ancient One wasn’t particularly impressed by the invitation.

"I don’t think that’s necessary."

She didn’t even turn around.

"If S.H.I.E.L.D. simply avoids causing trouble, that would already be one of the greatest contributions you could make toward protecting this world."

Then she stepped through the portal and disappeared.

Evenson smirked.

"I told you."

He looked at Melinda.

"She’s still pretty unhappy about what happened the last time your people were playing around with the Tesseract."

Melinda rolled her eyes.

She ignored him and touched her earpiece.

"Director, you heard her. She declined."

So that’s what this was.

Evenson finally understood.

No wonder Melinda had suddenly become so respectful.

Fury had told her to make the invitation.

And judging by the result, she’d just bounced directly off a wall.

"Really?"

Melinda suddenly cried out.

Her eyes became wet.

She turned toward Evenson, hardly able to contain her excitement.

"Director Fury says that just now, Agent Coulson woke up."

Her voice trembled.

"We did it."

Just now?

Evenson’s eyebrows rose.

That meant Coulson had recovered almost immediately after Locke was sent to Hell.

"Once the contract is fulfilled, demons are remarkably punctual about paying their debts."

Melinda nodded.

"Then we should get back too."

She sounded suddenly eager.

"We’ve already spent enough time on this little taxpayer-funded vacation. Besides, you don’t even have a passport. Technically, you’re an illegal immigrant right now."

Evenson stared at her.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

He knew exactly why she suddenly wanted to leave.

She wanted to see Coulson.

And apparently she’d decided that "illegal immigration" was the best excuse she could come up with.

"Coulson’s going to need some time in intensive recovery and rehabilitation."

Evenson sighed.

"Going to Hell isn’t exactly a relaxing experience. There’s no reason to rush back this second."

"That’s true..."

Melinda looked slightly disappointed, but she couldn’t argue with that.

"You all go ahead and board the plane."

Evenson summoned his Nightmare steed again.

"I’ll take care of the situation at the castle."

"I’ll come with you."

Claire appeared beside him so quickly that Evenson nearly wondered whether she’d used Blink.

He was already climbing onto the Nightmare when she arrived.

"No need."

His expression stiffened.

"I can handle it myself. You should stay on the plane and rest."

Claire smiled.

Then she reached out and grabbed his thigh.

Firmly.

"You sure you don’t want me to come?"

Evenson’s face twisted into a blissful expression of pure suffering.

"Of course not."

A pause.

"...I mean, of course you can come."

With no other option, Evenson pulled Claire onto the Nightmare behind him.

As they rode toward the castle, he silently repeated one thought over and over.

Please let me survive this.

Before long, they reached their destination.

Evenson and Claire dismounted.

The area looked like the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Rocks formed from cooled lava were scattered everywhere.

Only one person remained in the middle of the devastation.

He was sitting on the ground, completely exhausted.

Evenson squinted.

Was that General Guller?

Before he could investigate, two figures emerged from behind a rock.

The Eredar Twins.

Both women stared at Evenson with cold expressions.

They looked angry.

Evenson’s heart sank.

What did I do this time?

Everything had been fine when he’d left.

So why were they both glaring at him now?

Then he glanced at Claire.

Wait.

Is this because I brought her with me?

Before Evenson could ask, Salorass finally revealed the reason.

"Do you know?"

She raised the smartphone in her hand.

"Smartphones and the internet are remarkable human inventions."

She waved the device slightly.

"While we were waiting, the reading apps on this little thing helped pass the time."

Evenson relaxed.

Then Salorass tossed the phone at him.

"But..."

"Can you explain this?"

Evenson caught it.

He stared at the screen.

What had they found?

Had they stumbled across some terrible novel?

Had the author missed too many update deadlines?

Had the ending been so awful that they’d decided to hunt down the writer?

He opened the screen.

Then froze.

His heart skipped several beats.

The article displayed prominently across the screen.

The Back View

By P. T. Richardson.

Evenson’s face slowly went blank.

Below the title was a single line.

Good and evil always come full circle. Nothing escapes judgment forever.

Evenson’s final words.

Silence.

Evenson stared at the phone.

Then he slowly looked up.

The Eredar Twins were still staring at him.

Neither woman said a word.

Evenson suddenly had a very bad feeling about how the rest of this conversation was going to go.

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