Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

"Damn it! How did this happen?!"

Evenson’s furious voice echoed through the shop.

Honestly, anyone would have lost their temper in his position.

Men had all kinds of little flaws. Everyone was different, but there was one habit shared by a surprisingly large number of them.

Secret savings.

The Eredar twins had already carried out what could only be described as a complete financial raid on Evenson. They had effectively placed his entire personal economy under martial law, linking every one of his bank cards to their phones.

Every card except one.

And now, apparently, that last refuge had fallen too.

Evenson checked the notification on his phone.

His stomach dropped.

The phone number linked to the bank account ended in Saloras’s number.

He was finished.

Not only had his carefully hoarded emergency fund been discovered, but keeping that money hidden in the first place was already a serious offense in the eyes of the twins.

He had no idea how much talking it was going to take to survive this.

Then something clicked.

Wait.

Evenson’s panic abruptly gave way to suspicion.

Yes, he’d been away for quite some time.

But so had the Eredar twins.

They hadn’t exactly been sitting around the house monitoring his finances.

So how had they even known this bank account existed?

His expression hardened.

He slowly looked around at everyone standing on either side of him.

Then he spoke in a low, ominous voice.

"One of you betrayed me."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"Uh..."

Everyone reacted differently.

Taylor’s face twisted with outrage.

Sarah’s eyes widened in shock, and she accidentally knocked against a cup on the table. It tipped over, sending water cascading across the floor.

Trippy shrank into himself and began glancing nervously from one person to another with his tiny, shifty eyes, apparently deciding that none of them could be trusted.

Dumen remained completely expressionless.

As usual.

Whether that was because he was exceptionally calm or simply incapable of displaying emotion was difficult to determine.

Then there was Habs.

The dog stared at Evenson with enormous eyes, tongue hanging from his mouth. He dropped heavily onto his rear and used his front paws to cover his suspiciously round belly.

Evenson took in the entire scene.

Then he smiled.

It wasn’t a pleasant smile.

His eyes settled on Habs.

"You’ve gotten fatter since I last saw you."

Silence.

Everyone immediately reached the same conclusion.

They turned toward Habs as one.

Their eyes became dangerous.

Now that they thought about it, the evidence was overwhelming.

Their food supplies had been raided.

For days, they’d been surviving on little more than a single cup of instant noodles a day.

Meanwhile, one particular dog had somehow become noticeably rounder.

Why?

Sarah gave a cold snort and drew her whip.

"I knew it. A husky will sell out its master for food. That dog must have received premium dog food from the twins in exchange for revealing the bank account."

Habs lifted his head, clearly preparing to defend himself.

Taylor beat him to it.

"You’re going to say we don’t have proof, aren’t you?"

She cracked her knuckles.

"That’s easy enough to fix. We’ll just search your stomach and see what you’ve been eating."

Habs immediately curled into a ball and covered his head with both paws.

He regretted everything.

Every single decision.

The truth was that the Eredar twins had successfully recruited him.

Eager to prove his loyalty and desperate to earn himself a little credit, Habs had told them about the hidden bank account.

The twins, true to their word, had rewarded their new informant.

Their second-in-command, Luther, had handed over a kilogram of washing powder and exchanged it for a supply of premium dog food.

Habs had been presented with the finest food he’d ever dreamed of.

And he’d completely lost control.

He’d eaten with such enthusiasm that he’d gained enough weight to expose himself.

Evenson stood.

He straightened his sleeves, then patted Sarah on the shoulder.

"He’s all yours."

Sarah looked up.

"Boss?"

"Don’t go easy on him. I want to know exactly what the twins gave him, where he hid it, and how much it’s worth."

Evenson’s expression became merciless.

"Whatever they gave him, turn it into cash."

"Understood, Boss."

Sarah flicked her whip.

Crack!

The sound echoed through the shop.

After several miserable days of starvation, Sarah and the other demons surrounded Habs with smiles that contained absolutely no warmth.

A moment later, the shop was filled with a series of increasingly desperate canine howls.

Anyone from an animal-protection organization passing by at that exact moment would probably have concluded that Evenson deserved a prison sentence.

At minimum.

Once the traitor had been dealt with, Evenson went upstairs and slept like the dead.

When he woke, however, his thoughts immediately returned to Gideon Malick.

How was he going to manipulate this old fox?

Malick was an extremely important piece of Evenson’s plans.

In fact, he was practically indispensable.

This meeting had to go smoothly.

There was very little room for mistakes.

Several uneventful days passed.

Eventually, the appointed day arrived.

Evenson had gotten a haircut the previous evening, then gone home and slept for an unusually long time.

When he woke, he put on the new S.H.I.E.L.D. suit, tied his tie, checked himself in the mirror, and prepared to put his plan into motion.

He reached the front door.

Then stopped.

His eyes dropped to the suit.

Something suddenly occurred to him.

Wait.

I’m a tailor.

Evenson had completely forgotten that he’d learned the Tailoring profession.

And his skill wasn’t exactly low.

He couldn’t make any promises about haute couture, but producing a respectable suit for himself would be trivial.

He turned around.

"Sarah."

"Yes, Boss?"

"Take those other two suits I had issued and sell them."

Sarah blinked.

"Sell them?"

"Then use the money to buy some good wool."

Evenson paused.

"And don’t put the profit in a bank account."

Sarah’s expression became slightly puzzled.

"Keep it as cash."

He thought for another moment.

"And if you ever go out with your boyfriend, find a way to get her to open a bank account."

Sarah smiled brightly.

"No problem, Boss."

Satisfied, Evenson headed outside.

He was just about to drive toward Malick’s estate on the outskirts of the city when a long black Lincoln pulled up directly in front of his shop.

A chauffeur wearing white gloves stepped out and politely opened the rear door.

"Mr. Richter. Our master sent me to escort you."

"Oh?"

Evenson stepped away from his own car and looked at the chauffeur.

"Mr. Malick is certainly being generous."

"It wouldn’t do for a guest as distinguished as yourself to have to drive all the way to our estate."

The chauffeur’s voice was respectful.

Evenson glanced back at his own vehicle.

Then he smiled.

"Then please thank your master for me."

He climbed into the Lincoln.

The chauffeur closed the door and returned to the driver’s seat.

There was, of course, a reason Malick had gone to the trouble.

Evenson himself didn’t realize it.

Driving to the estate in his own car would have been rather embarrassing.

The vehicle he currently called the Black Scythe Vanguard had originally been the infamous Hydra vehicle once associated with the Red Skull, Schmidt.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had seized it as a trophy before eventually handing it over to Evenson.

And Malick was Hydra.

Having one of his own organization’s old vehicles sitting outside his estate while he hosted an important guest would be more than a little awkward.

Better to send a proper car.

The chauffeur nodded, closed the door, and smoothly drove toward the outskirts of the city.

Evenson never noticed that someone had witnessed the entire exchange.

Claire had seen everything.

She stood there for several seconds.

Then she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Why does that look exactly like he’s being picked up by his future in-laws?"

She sighed.

There was only one thing to do.

Claire returned to the counter, picked up the phone, and pulled the folded note she’d been carrying from her pocket.

The phone number she’d requested earlier was still written on it.

She dialed.

The call connected.

"It’s me."

Claire smiled.

"Don’t sound so surprised. I have something important to tell you two."

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