Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Running S.H.I.E.L.D. was less about commanding every operation and more about deciding which fires deserved personal attention.

In theory, Nick Fury oversaw everything.

In practice, that was impossible.

Hundreds of operations crossed his desk every day. Even if he worked around the clock, there weren’t enough hours to review every report himself.

So he relied on layers of authority.

Each clearance level handled its own responsibilities, with only the information necessary to complete the mission. It kept the organization efficient while ensuring no single agent possessed the entire picture.

Except him.

That wasn’t an accident.

Fury trusted his people.

He simply never trusted anyone completely.

Random audits and surprise inspections were part of his routine, making sure every branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to function as intended.

Still, some matters were too sensitive to delegate.

Those stayed under his direct supervision.

No sooner had Melinda May finished reporting on Evenson Richter than Phil Coulson entered the office carrying another classified file.

His expression alone told Fury the news wouldn’t be pleasant.

"Let me guess," Fury said. "Not the breakthrough we were hoping for."

Coulson gave a weary nod.

"The research facility completed full autopsies on all twenty-five enhanced subjects."

He opened the file.

"Internal anatomy, blood chemistry, and tissue analysis all match almost perfectly. Every specimen displays the same biological alterations."

He flipped another page.

"The only notable difference is the five recovered in Afghanistan. Their mutations were more advanced, and they were significantly stronger."

He paused.

"They also carried almost no equipment, which is probably why they were eliminated so easily."

Fury folded his hands.

"Can we finally confirm the mutations were artificially created?"

That was the question that mattered.

Twenty-five nearly identical monsters appearing within two days was already enough to dismiss coincidence.

Yet too many inconsistencies remained.

One group had attacked a classified American facility.

The other had ambushed U.S. forces searching for Tony Stark in Afghanistan.

Why?

Why were the Afghan specimens stronger?

Why did one team possess sophisticated weapons while the other fought with almost nothing?

The contradictions refused to fit together.

Fury already suspected Hydra’s involvement in the attack on the secure storage facility.

The hackers and Ethan had tried to hide their objective before dying.

Unfortunately for them, over ninety percent of the artifacts stored inside that warehouse had originally been confiscated from Hydra more than sixty years ago.

If someone wanted those relics back...

Hydra was the obvious suspect.

If Hydra had engineered the attack, logic suggested they had also created the mutants.

But that opened another problem.

What had they been doing in Afghanistan?

Kidnapping Tony Stark to force him into building weapons?

Seeking revenge because he was Howard Stark’s son?

Either explanation was plausible.

The equipment wasn’t.

The attackers in America had been heavily armed.

The Afghan team looked as though they’d scraped together whatever they could find.

The disparity was absurd.

Even criminal organizations didn’t have budget gaps that extreme.

The truth was much simpler.

The Afghan operation really had been short on funding.

Of course, Fury couldn’t possibly know that.

He found it difficult to believe both groups came from the same organization.

Yet believing two unrelated organizations had independently mastered directed human mutation was even less convincing.

Technology capable of reliably transforming humans was more valuable than nuclear weapons.

No one shared breakthroughs like that.

Certainly not in secret.

The U.S. government had poured resources into similar research for years.

General Ross had become almost obsessed with replicating the Super Soldier Serum and still had little to show for it.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own scientists were no closer.

So how had two underground organizations succeeded where entire governments had failed?

None of it made sense.

Coulson finally answered.

"The researchers haven’t determined the source of the mutations."

He looked genuinely frustrated.

"They can’t."

Fury frowned.

"The facility has some of the best equipment and scientists in the world. Why can’t they continue?"

"They discovered an unfamiliar energy within the subjects’ blood."

Coulson slid several laboratory photographs across the desk.

"They believe it’s responsible for the mutations."

"But the energy decays extremely rapidly."

"The moment blood leaves the body, the decay accelerates. Before they can complete a detailed analysis..."

"It’s gone."

Fury tapped the desk thoughtfully.

"Can they stop the decay?"

"They found that extremely low temperatures slow it almost completely."

Coulson shook his head.

"But freezing it creates a different problem."

"The energy becomes completely inert. It doesn’t react to chemical, biological, or electromagnetic stimulation."

"So they can’t study it."

"And once they warm the sample..."

"The energy reactivates," Fury finished.

"...and immediately starts disappearing again."

Coulson nodded.

"Exactly."

Fury sat silently for several seconds.

"You know what this reminds me of, Agent Coulson?"

"I do."

Coulson’s voice turned grim.

"A technological lockout."

"It behaves like anti-reverse-engineering measures."

He leaned forward.

"When governments export advanced fighter aircraft, they deliberately restrict access to critical systems. Proprietary components are protected or designed to become useless if someone tries to steal the technology."

"This feels similar."

"The mutation process appears to have built-in safeguards specifically designed to prevent outside analysis."

Fury’s expression hardened.

"I reached the same conclusion."

There was no chance nature had produced something this convenient.

The conclusion was unavoidable.

The mutations had been engineered.

Whoever created them possessed biotechnology beyond anything S.H.I.E.L.D. had imagined.

Locking down biological technology was far more complicated than welding an aircraft engine shut.

The protective mechanism couldn’t activate while the subject remained alive.

Otherwise, the mutation itself would collapse and kill its host almost immediately.

That level of precision bordered on the unbelievable.

At least, from Fury’s perspective.

If Evenson had been standing in the room, he would have found the mystery almost amusing.

The "unknown energy" wasn’t some revolutionary biological catalyst.

It was fel energy.

To a competent warlock, causing fel energy to disperse under specific conditions required little more than a few precautionary enchantments.

Simple.

Elegant.

And entirely practical.

The only unusual part was that almost no practitioner of fel magic would ever bother doing it.

Most sought to spread fel energy, not make it disappear.

Just as Fury was beginning to feel another headache forming, the intercom buzzed.

"Director."

His secretary’s voice came through the speaker.

"Agent Sylvette is here."

"He says he has urgent information."

...

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