Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

"Using the U.S. military as the scapegoat was actually a pretty good idea."

Having someone else step forward as the fall guy was obviously convenient. Still, Evenson couldn’t shake one concern.

"You might not know Nick Fury as well as you think. That man has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I’m worried the military won’t be able to carry this one."

SHIELD and the U.S. military had crossed swords more than once, and the military had lost more often than it would probably care to admit.

For example, the last time Fury had simply forged General Ross’s authorization and used it to take custody of the corrupted body recovered from a special military facility.

There was nothing stopping him from pulling the same stunt again.

And if he did, Evenson wouldn’t merely lose two scientists. Fury could use that opening to follow the trail much farther, potentially uncovering far more than Umbrella’s involvement in this one incident.

"Actually, we know a fair amount about the director of SHIELD."

Salora smiled faintly.

"And, from what we’ve seen, we may know him a little better than you do."

Evenson’s eyebrows rose.

He had dealt with Nick Fury several times. The Eredar Twins had never even met the man.

How exactly were they supposed to know him better than he did?

"That old bastard Ross told us quite a lot about Fury."

Aureseus planted her hands on her hips.

"Obviously, we had to filter out the personal attacks, complaints, and deliberate attempts to make Fury look bad. But once you strip all that away, you can still get a pretty good idea of what kind of man he is."

"And in our long lives, we’ve met plenty of people like him."

Salora spoke with the easy confidence of someone who had seen the same pattern repeat across countless worlds.

"It doesn’t matter what kind of world you’re in. Anyone who reaches a position like his tends to share one very obvious trait."

"They care about results."

Aureseus narrowed her eyes.

"They don’t care nearly as much about how those results are achieved."

"Exactly," Salora said. "Which means he won’t bother with anything that offers him no result."

"That’s why I specifically ordered my man to leave the agent alive and leave the alien rifle behind."

Salora’s smile turned smug.

The weapon could certainly have served as useful research material, but the Twins had already sent people to recover plenty of Chitauri technology during the Battle of New York.

"That way, SHIELD gets exactly what it wants. They recover the alien weapon, their mission is complete, and they have no real reason to fight the military over the scientists."

"Besides..."

Aureseus turned and fixed Evenson with a direct stare.

"Are those two really that important to SHIELD?"

She had a point.

The couple were valuable to Umbrella precisely because the organization was still in its early stages. Its resources were limited, and every capable scientist mattered.

SHIELD had no such problem.

SHIELD was already one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Its access to money, personnel, laboratories, and information gave it an enormous advantage in recruiting talent. It even had its own university, where brilliant researchers seemed to exist by the dozen.

The two scientists had demonstrated some talent when it came to reverse-engineering alien weapons, certainly.

But if SHIELD handed the same problem to its own researchers, someone would eventually reach the same result.

Probably a better one.

For SHIELD, bringing the couple into the organization would be useful.

Losing them would hardly be a disaster.

Going to war with the military over two scientists, on the other hand, would consume enormous amounts of time and political capital. The World Security Council could easily respond with one hearing after another.

"The cost doesn’t justify the benefit."

Salora spread her hands.

"A man as calculating as Nick Fury isn’t going to make that kind of foolish move. He probably won’t even bring it up."

"Let’s hope you’re right."

Evenson scratched his scalp.

The Twins clearly had confidence in their plan, and the deed was already done. There wasn’t much point dwelling on it now.

Aureseus suddenly pouted.

"Still, it feels awful."

"We went through all that trouble to recruit those scientists, and to SHIELD they’re practically disposable."

"And as our organization grows, SHIELD will eventually become an obstacle."

Salora’s tone became more serious.

"An organization that powerful standing in our way could make our plans almost impossible to achieve."

"You don’t need to worry about that yet."

Evenson gave them a mysterious smile.

"No matter how enormous a tree becomes, if its roots are already rotten, it won’t survive for long."

Salora gave him the faintest smile.

"I’ll borrow your words, then. Let’s hope you’re right."

She really didn’t enjoy Evenson’s habit of speaking in riddles.

"Well, I think that’s enough about your side of things."

Evenson took a breath.

"Now I’ll tell you what I found on my trip."

"Wait."

Salora raised one finger.

Then she exchanged a glance with her sister.

The two demons turned toward Evenson, planted their hands on their hips, and announced with identical pride,

"We’re meeting the President."

Silence.

Evenson’s eyes moved slowly from one sister to the other.

He stared.

Aureseus finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"Seriously? We’re meeting the President. Can you at least react a little?"

"You two have probably killed hundreds of kings between you."

Evenson waved dismissively.

"Now you’re meeting a president. What’s there to get excited about?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Evenson immediately amended his statement.

"That said... I am surprised. I genuinely didn’t expect it to happen this quickly."

The Twins’ expressions brightened instantly.

Both narrowed their eyes into pleased crescent shapes and made soft, satisfied sounds in their throats.

Evenson’s mouth twitched.

And they called me a cat.

Look who’s acting like a pair of cats now.

Cats that have had way too much catnip.

"This is largely thanks to our star-making program."

Aureseus looked extremely pleased with herself.

"After the Battle of New York, that kid Ross turned into a rising political star. His influence has become enormous."

The Avengers had been the undeniable heroes of the Battle of New York.

But their success had also highlighted just how badly the government had performed.

Government coordination had been chaotic.

The police had been overwhelmed.

The National Guard had arrived late or failed to appear where needed.

And the military?

It had been practically invisible from beginning to end.

Against the Avengers, the American government’s performance had looked painfully inadequate.

That was a serious problem.

For the moment, the country was still absorbed in mourning the dead and trying to process the shock of an alien invasion.

But the White House had already seen what was coming.

Mass protests.

Anger over government incompetence.

Public outrage over wasted tax dollars.

It was only a matter of time.

If the administration failed to calm the population, calls for the President to resign and the government to be dismantled could quickly become impossible to contain.

Then Ross appeared.

Or rather, a discarded camera appeared.

Its footage captured General Ross during the Battle of New York.

Still in uniform.

Machine gun in hand.

Shouting patriotic slogans as he stood his ground against the alien invaders.

And, more importantly, helping local police organize trapped civilians and get them to safety.

A hero.

That was exactly what the President needed.

To the White House, Ross looked like a ray of sunlight cutting through an otherwise disastrous political future.

The administration’s entire communications apparatus sprang into action.

Ross’s actions were plastered across television screens and newspapers. His courage was praised. His defiance was celebrated. The message was simple:

America still had heroes.

The government hadn’t abandoned its people.

There was no reason to lose faith.

Ross’s popularity exploded.

Before long, people were openly speculating that if he entered politics, his current reputation alone would be enough to carry him to Secretary of State.

And the vice presidency?

That no longer sounded impossible.

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