Chapter 67

  Arc 5 - Ch 20: Week’s End

  Date: Saturday, June 4, 2011.

  Location: RAFT, Hudson River, New York

  Tyson and Natasha passed through a series of security checkpoints, each guarded by stone-faced agents the dark blue uniforms of SHIELD before they reached Director Fury's office. The ss lining the far wall flickered with data streams, satellite images, and security footage from around the globe. Fury stood with his back to them, hands csped behind him as he gazed out the wide window at the steely waters of the Hudson River below. He cut an imposing figure even from behind, his signature bck leather trenchcoat. His one good eye was hard as it fixed upowo agents.

  "Agent Smith. Agent Romanoff," he rumbled, "I've been looking forward to this debriefing. I hope you've got intel worth the wait."

  Tysoled into the chair across from Fury, not speaking but making lingering, direct eye tact with the director. Suddenly his voice filled the room, emanating from everywhere, and nowhere.

  "Director Fury, I am casting an illusion to vey my message securely," a disembodied voinounced. Fury's eye narrowed slightly in response. "What I have to share is for you and Agent Romanoff alone. My illusions rey information without fear of interception, but your verbal responses will be audible to all present. The nature of what I have to tell you are things you will not want others to know."

  Fury's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. He g Natasha, seeking her opinion. She gave a single brisk nod in acquiesce. Without missing a beat, he reached over to a sole and ked up some music, the heavy beats filling the room with a yer of auditory cover. He then activated a surveile device, its lights blinking rapidly as it sed for any hidden bugs or cameras. Finding several covert listening devices, Fury's fingers danimbly over the trols, effitly rerouting their feeds to create a private audio bubble within the office.

  "Alright, Agent Smith," Fury's words were nearly drowned out by the pounding music, his expression steely and guarded. "This room is now secure from eleic eavesdropping, and your... unique precautions are duly noted. Now, start talking. What's so important it needed all this cloak and dagger?"

  In respoyson made a subtle motion, and the music's deafening volume lowered, at least within the bubble of their perception, to little more than background noise. Iy, the bring tunes tio safeguard their privacy. "That's ve," Fury remarked dryly, a hint ing appreciation in his tone.

  Tyson nodded almost imperceptibly before speaking. "Before I get to the events of tonight and their significe, there's a question that Natasha asked me months ago, and I think it's finally time that I answer for you..." He paused, his mismatched eyes b into Fury's single, watchful one. "Why does no one remember mutants?" Another beat of sileo ahat, I o expin what happe Alkali Lake."

  Fury leaned ba his chair, g his fiogether, his fa inscrutable mask as he listened ily. The lights from the sole washed his dark skin in a pale glow, casting shadows that emphasized the hard lines of experien his face. His eye never left Tyson's face, taking in each minute shift in expression as the agent began to uhe mystery.

  Tyson's mismatched eyes darkened as he delved into the painful memories. "I was taken to Alkali Lake," he began, his voice low and gravelly. "William Stryker, the leader of the on X project, orchestrated an attae and several other mutants. His pn was nothing short of genocide."

  Tyson paused, jaw g. "Stryker had structed a structure at Alkali Lake desigo amplify psychic abilities. He captured one of the world's most formidable telepaths and used another mind troller to force him to kill every mutant on the p." Fury listened ily, his single eye fixed on Tyson, taking in the agent's every word and shift in expression. "But another fa interfered," Tyson tinued after a moment. "They turhe tables, ging the telepath's orders tet all humans instead." His eyes fshed with remembered anger.

  "I see. And since we're all still here, I take it you or someone else stopped this from happening?" Fury replied evenly, though his shoulders te the thought of the near-catastrophe.

  Tyson gave a curt nod. "I killed the mind troller who flipped the script. His abilities passed to me in his death, grantihe power to create illusions." He waved a hand vaguely around his head. "It was then that I made the choice to... erase mutants from the collective sciousness. At the time, it seemed the best way forward."

  Fury studied the agent, his single eye pierg in its iy. "This is all very iing, Smith," he said slowly. "But I suspect it's not the main reason for all this secrecy."

  "No, it's not." He hesitated, the tension in the room ratcheting up. "Stryker admitted to me that he was Hydra."

  The words dropped like stones in the ensuing 'silence'. Fury's eye narrowed, his expression grim as the implicatio in.

  "Hydra," Fury growled after a long moment, anger simmerih his stoerior. "So you believe Hydra still exists and that they've infiltrated SHIELD." His gaze sharpened. "Do you have proof?"

  Tyson nodded. "Earlier this year, one of my cssmates vanished. I decided to iigate on my own. It led me to a man named Edgar Lasbe, the ard Pharmaceuticals. Using my illusions, I eavesdropped on him and learhat he was Hydra." Fury's expression remaioic. He motioned for Tyson to go on. "As you know, with just a touch, I gain access to a persoire set of memories," Tyson tinued, "While I was in New Mexico, I came into tact with Agent Jasper Sitwell. In his mind, I saw fshes of Hydra's training."

  "Sitwell even tried recruitio their cause. It firmed my suspis. Hydra still exists within SHIELD."

  Fury absorbed this bombshell revetion, his jaw tightening. Hydra's tendrils running through SHIELD could destabilize everything he had built.

  After a weighty pause, Natasha spoke up. "Banner's gone off-grid again. But we learned something critical from General Ross." Her lips thio a grim line. "Ross now heads the on Plus program, the current iteration of the on X program. And Ross gave one of the soldiers under his and, Emil Blonsky an early version of the super soldier serum."

  Fury's eye widened a fra. Natasha pressed on, "Blonsky was exposed to Banner's blood which then transformed him into the ragi that tore through Harlem. Agent Mirage was able to subdue Bonsky, and he's currently in the custody of on Plus. But we discovered where the serum is bei. Camp Lehigh."

  "A site that I believe is used by Hydra," Tyson tacked on ominously.

  Fury rose from his seat, pag with purpose. He turo Natasha, his one good eye b into her with ser-like focus. "Suggestions?" he asked gruffly.

  "Small team infiltration and acquisition," she said crisply. "In and out quickly and quietly with the serum. No need for a full assault."

  Fury sidered her words, absently stroking his . After a moment he gave a curt nod. "Approved. We'll keep this low profile. Once we have the serum, I want it stored at a secure off-site facility."

  Natasha ined her head in aowledgment. Fury trusted her judgment. He corrected, "Banner's not off-grid yet. Satellite images had us following your extra, trag his taxi was easy enough. We've got eyes on him. If we o, we bring him in, but I'll give him space for now." Fury turned his eye on Tyso, his expression now tinged with exasperation. "Now Agent Smith, tell me what the hell happened in New Mexico."

  Tyson's mismatched eyes glinted with amusement. "We're not alone in the universe," he said, a teasing lilt to his voiatasha let out an undylike snort.

  "The phenomena Dr. Selvig and Dr. Foster witnessed was aein-Rosen Bridge, as Agent Coulsoio Stark's mansion." He tinued, "This bridge was geed by a device called the Bifrost. It allows travel between different realms." Tyson's voice took on a lecturing tourns out Asgardians are the protectors of these realms. Their prihe tall, blond muscle-head that Coulson captured briefly was Thor. Asgardians are long-lived superhumans who see Earth as a kind of protectorate."

  Fury digested this, his expression unreadable. Natasha, however, looked intrigued despite her earlier flippancy. They'd only had so much time to talk, and hadn't discussed everything that happened on Asgard and its implicatio. Nat was hearing this for the first time, just as Fury was.

  "Asgard is home to two prihe thunder god Thor, and his adopted brother, the trickster Loki," Tyson expined. "It seems the hs are rooted in the exploits of these so-called gods. If the idea of gods makes you unfortable, you sider them long-lived beings from a world far more advahan ours."

  "Thor's arrogance led him to defy the will of his father, Odin, nearly plunging Asgard into war. As punishment, Odin stripped Thor of his powers, making him human, and banished him here, powerless and mortal." he tinued, "The immovable obje the desert was Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, which Odin ented so that only one 'worthy' could lift it."

  "While Thor was exiled, Loki seized the throo prevent his brother's return, he sent the Destroyer to end Thor's life. The Destroyer was the giaal struct that we fought in the desert." Tyso on to expihe ironic twist in Loki's scheme. "Fag the Destroyer, Thor's ce and sacrifice allowed him to lift Mjolnir once more. Now wielding his powers once again, he id waste to the Destroyer, foiling Loki's pn."

  Fury leaned forward, his single eye narrowing as he processed the information. "What were the Destroyer's capabilities?" he asked, his voice gruff with .

  "The Destroyer had exterior armor pting that was incredibly difficult to pierce," he began, his toter-of-fact. "I'm certain bullets wouldn't have affected it at all. Even the Asgardian's ons, which are made from what they call 'Asgardian steel', though I'm sure it's not actually steel, but some other alloy, had trouble peing its armor."

  "My adamantium cws, however, had no difficulty cutting through it," Tyson tinued. Fury's eyebrow raised slightly at this, but he remained silent, allowing Tyson to tinue his expnation. "Thor's hammer was also able to damage it," Tyson added. "But that's a magical on made from a metal called Uru, whiy knowledge has no equivalent oh."

  "It was superhumanly strong," he said, his voice low. "And it possessed a heat beam that fired from its facepte. This beam was capable of destroying buildings and vehicles with ease."

  Fury nodded slowly, his face a mask of ption. "Lines up with Coulson's report," he muttered, almost to himself. "The Destroyer's power is ing. But what's more troubling is the fact that it was sent here at all. This Loki character, you said he was behind it?"

  Tyson nodded, his expression grim. "Yes. Loki sent the Destroyer to kill Thor and prevent his return to Asgard."

  Fury's eye narrowed further. "And what's to stop him from sending more of these things? Or something worse?"

  "I'll get to that. Let me finish expining, and by the end you'll uand." Tyson tinued, "Thor returo Asgard with the ardians, and I joihem,"

  Fury, eager to gain a deeper uanding of the events that had transpired, inquired further, "Tell me more about Asgard. Paint me a picture," he requested.

  Tyson nodded and responded, "That I do. He projected an illusion of the view from the Bifrost observatory. "Though I never ehe main city itself, from a dista appeared utterly massive and magnifit. A blend of futuristic teology and high fantasy architecture. It was like something straight out of a sci-fi novel, yet infused with mythological elements that made it seem otherworldly and mystical." He went on, "The world itself looked almost ft, with a visible edge where you could gaze out into an endless ic expa was breathtaking."

  "After Loki attacked Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost, the ardians rushed to tend to the injured guardian. Thor went to front his brother, and I was left aloh a sorceress at the Bifrost site."

  Natasha's eyes narrowed, zeroing in on a new detail. "You didn't say anything before about a sorceress," she remarked.

  Fury raised an eyebrow as well, intrigued by this new information. "Yes, tell us more about this sorceress," he said.

  "I'm getting to that part," Tyson replied. "But a full at will be included in my writte."

  He went on, "The Sorceress, Amora, had beeo Earth by Loki. I fought her in the desert. After Thained his powers, Amora submitted. She was one of the Asgardians that returned with us. Soon after everyo, Loki himself approached our location and ordered the sorceress to leave. Despite his as he was still the wful king of Asgard at the time. I tried to reason with him, as a representative of Earth. But he dismissed my words ht."

  Tyson paused, then said, "I engaged him in bat... and lost."

  Fury leaned forward ily, his single eye b into Tyson. His tone was a mix of disbelief and anger. "Let me make sure I have this straight. You. Who easily defeated the Green Goblin and knocked out Vanko in his oversized Iron Man suit with one punch, lost in a fight against Loki? And on top of that, you attacked the king of an advanced alien civilization expoially more powerful than ours? Yoing to have to expin this to me very clearly because I'm struggling to prehend how and why you would do something so stupid a your ass hao you in the process."

  Tyson shifted in his seat, choosing his words carefully as he addressed Fury's s. "The Bifrost isn't just for teleportation. I have no idea how far away Asgard is, but the Bifrost harnesses enough energy to travel ielr distances in moments. Imagirying to trol that kind of power." He paused, letting the gravity of his statement sink in.

  Fury's eye widened slightly as uanding dawned. "You're saying this thing could destroy the p."

  Tyson nodded. "If left open, yes. Loki had already expressed hostility toward Earth, so I thought it prudent to deny him access."

  "Risky move, but I get it," Fury ceded. "What happened after you got your ass kicked?"

  "Loki opehe Bifrost, using it as a on. But he didn't target Earth, he went after a realm called Jotunheim. Thor intervened and they fought." Tyson's mismatched eyes darke the memory. "Thor won, but the Bifrost was still active, stuck open. He had to destroy the bridge between it and Asgard which supplied the Bifrost's energy to shut it down."

  Fury leaned forward ily. "So ne, no telep armies or ons of mass destru?"

  "Correct. We're cut off for now," Tyson firmed.

  Natasha, who had been listening closely, spoke up. "That expins why Asgard is out of reach, but it doesn't expin how you got back."

  Tyson scratched his stubbled jaw. "I had help from that Asgardian sorceress I mentioned."

  Fury muttered under his breath. "Great, an alien wizard on the loose here too." He shook his head before tinuing more optimistically, "Well, at least I've got some good news for the World Security cil. Earth isn't fag an immi invasion."

  Tyson held up a hand, a serious look crossing his rugged features. "Before we celebrate too much, there's something you should know. Asgard has beeh's silent guardian for lohan recorded history. Like a watchful big brother, their presence has kept hostile alien races from moving against us. With the Bifrost gohat deterrent disappears. We're vulnerable in a way we've never been before."

  Fury's expression darkened as he absorbed Tyson's warning. "Let me get this straight. With big brohe bullies are going to e around to steal our lunch money?" He shook his head. "We just went from a gated unity to the bad side of town. Lovely."

  After a pause, Tyson waved a hand, and an illusory image projected between them. "Speaking of the World Security cil and potential threats, what you tell me about this man?" Tyson asked, though his tone implied he already khe answer.

  Fury leaned forward, reition flitting across his weathered features. "Alexander Pierce. He's the Secretary of the World Security cil and the man ointed me as Director of SHIELD." A note of wariness entered his voice. "Why do you ask?"

  Tyson locked eyes with Fury, his expression deadly serious. "Because I believe Secretary Pierce is actually a of Hydra."

  Fury reeled at the accusation, his single eye wide with disbelief. "You think the Secretary of the World Security cil, one of the most powerful men in global security, is secretly part of a Nazi splinter group?"

  Tyson gave a solemn nod. "I do."

  He searched Tyson's face for any hint of uainty. Finding none, he slowly sat back, exhaling sharply as the implications sank in.

  Fury weighed the revetions Tyson had shared. The threat of Hydra infiltrating the highest levels of global security was dire. "Dammit," he muttered, he turned and tapped at a sole. After a moment, he looked up, his single eye fixed on Tyson. "gratutions, Agent Smith you've been promoted to level six clearance."

  Tyson's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Level six granted extensive privileges a Fury trusted him with SHIELD's most sensitive operations. Beside him, Natasha blihough her expression remained ral. As a level seve herself, she uood the significe of Tyson's atus.

  Fury turo Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, you're leading the op to recover the super soldier serum." He g Tyson. "Agent Smith, you'll assist her."

  Tyso Natasha's gaze and gave a slight nod. She responded in kind, wordlessly aowledging their new partnership.

  "I'll be in tou our snake issue," Fury tinued, folding his arms across his chest. "Per our prireement, Romanoff remains your liaison, but you now have autonomy befitting your level six clearance."

  Fury's single eye bored into them both. "We good?"

  "Yes sir," Tyson and Natasha responded in unison.

  With a subtle wave of his hand, Tysourhe bring musi Fury's office to its previous deafening volume.

  "Dismissed," he barked.

  — Rogue Rept —

  [Opening Music]

  Good evening, New York! It's your truth-teller, J. Jonah Jameson, back with another eye-opening episode of 'The Daily Bugle'. And tonight, we've got a hot topic – Mirage! Yes, that Mirage. Now, folks, when I first heard Mirage was cooperating with federal agencies, I ughed! I thought, "What's this? More of Mirage's smoke and mirrors? Another a his circus of deception?" I was ready to call baloney!

  But hold your horses, dear listeners! In January, at Sergei Kravinoff, otherwise known as Kraven, the Hunter's trial, Mirage was officially tagged as a federal agent. "What's the game here?" I thought. Still, I didn’t buy it. Not o!

  [Trial footage pys in the er of the s]

  Then came st Saturday's Senate Hearing. And, oh boy, did things take a turn! Mirage, in a move that could've knocked me off my chair, turned over military hardware from the Green Goblin! The Green Goblin, folks!

  [A clip from Mirage at the Senate Hearing pys over half the s]

  "I have ected with SHIELD. If the gover needs me, I'll ahe call. I'm not your enemy, Senator. I help stop those in my neighborhood who pose a threat that the police 't handle. I kept a military on out of the hands of the bad guys. You wanted me to give it back, and I have... but like Mr. Stark… I'm not your on."

  [Cut baeson]

  you believe it? I couldn't! Mirage, sitting there, looking all noble, pledging his allegiao w and order! It’s like watg a bulldog wearing a tutu!

  [Cut to parison footage of Mirage and Spider-Man]

  And then there's Spider-Man, swinging around in his pajamas, making a mess of our city! Spider-Man, if you're out there, get a pad and start taking notes from Mirage! This is how you do it! You work with the w, not above it!

  But bairage! I admit, I was wrong about him. There, I said it! J. Jonah Jameson was wrong! He's not the vilin I painted him to be. He’s cooperating. He’s pying by the rules, something I thought was as likely as me getting a full head of hair again!

  But hold onto your hats, because that was just the start. At the Stark Expo disaster, when Oscorp dropped the ball, things were going south fast, who swooped in? Mirage! You knoas also there? Spider-Man. But let's be clear, folks. He was obviously taking cues from Mirage, New York's only official hero!

  And just when you think he might take a breather, Wednesday rolls around. The sed debacle at the Stark Expo was caused by Hammer Industries. A mess if I ever saw one. Who do we see jumping into the fray? You guessed it, Mirage!

  [Cut to footage from the Stark Expo]

  But wait, there's more! Tonight, a monster. Yes, a monster! Rampaged through Harlem. There was chaos, and pani the streets. And who was there to stop this behemoth? Mirage, once again! He didn't just stop the monster; he saved the lives of brave soldiers who faced this creature head-on.

  [Cut to shaky footage from the Duel of Harlem]

  Ladies alemen.

  Mirage is a shining example of what a real hero looks like. He’s not swinging from webs or flying around in fancy armor making a spectacle. He's on the ground, w with our forces, ensuring the safety of reat city. Spider-Man, if you're listening, and I know you are, take a leaf out of Mirage’s book. This is how you serve the city. This is how you earn respeot by gallivanting across the skyli by being a team pyer, by cooperating with the authorities!

  So, te, I say thank you. Thank you for your service, for your bravery, and for being the hero New York needs. This week has shown us the best of what a hero be. Mirage didn’t just step up; he soared. He's been everywhere, doing everything, and for that, he deserves our appuse.

  Betty!

  Get on the phoo House of M. I want Mirage in here for an interview.

  As we tonight's segment, let's remember the as of this remarkable individual. Mirage, you've set a andard for heroism in this city. And for the intes out there, it's time to step up or step aside.

  [Closing Music]

  This is J. Jonah Jameson, signing off. Stay safe, stay informed, and always keep a for the real heroes among us. Goodnight, New York!

  — Rogue Rept —

  The observation room enclosed Kaine Parker like the walls of a prison cell. He sat motionless in one of the room's few pieces of furniture, a cold, metal chair that offered little fort. His gaze was fixed through the wide pane of transparent gss that domihe far side of the room, staring across the corridor at the identical observation room opposite.

  Within that opposing room was Dr. Miles Warren fully engrossed in his test experiment. Sitting demurely was Warren's creation; a young woman whose fwless beauty and physique seemed sculpted to perfe. Her short hair framed a face of ideal symmetry and proportions. She had been engio be the pinnacle of human potential. Yet Kaine khat no matter how ideal this peared oside she was but a e, just like himself, made from Warren's obsessive pursuit of geic perfe. For Warren had grown dissatisfied with Kaine, deeming him an imperfect, failed experiment.

  And Kaine was all too aware of his fws, from his scars to his ever-present pain.

  The ceaseless pain he experienced was a stant remihat he was a failed experiment, merely a discarded prototype in Dr. Warren's obsessive pursuit of perfe. His scarred body from Warren's fwed ing process marked him as aion. The physical problems were not just superficial. A bone-deep hurt that ed his every waking moment. Kaine's cellur abnormalities left him in uing pain. It never ceased, never abated. He loo be free of this broken shell of a body, to escape the raw, naked anguish that defined his pathetic life.

  Kaiched Warren work with a mix of simmering anger and unease. No matter how fwless this new e appeared to be, Kaine knew from experiehat Warren would always find imperfes, minute deviations from his vision that would iably lead to the same disappoi aion.

  His only respite was the television s on the far wall. As news anchor J. Jonah Jameson unched into another diatribe, Kaiared bnkly, letting the words wash over him. He felt a flicker nition hearing Jameson rail against Spider-Man, against Peter Parker. The person Kaine had been ed from. He had all of Peter's memories and khe life he had lived. It was one free from torment, full of purpose and promise. The gulf between that past life and Kaine's current one was staggering. He could never be Peter. Kaine was doomed to eke out his days in this wretched, defective body, while his progenitor went blithely about his life. Bitterness welled up inside Kaine, mingling with the ever-present pain. He found himself agreeing wholeheartedly with Jameson's ses. Peter didn't deserve the gifts he'd been given. He was oblivious to Kaine's plight. His hands curled into fists, the urge to sh out rising.

  Kai transfixed, his eyes locked oelevision s as J. Jonah Jameson unched into yet airade. However, tonight's vitriolic broadcast was different. The bombastiews anchor focused his attention on Mirage, extolling the masked hero's virtues and his colboration with authorities around the city.

  Kaine listened ily, momentarily distracted from the sm embers of pain that ed his body. At the mention of Mirage, memories of Tyson surfaced in Kaine's mind. Kaine remembered Mirage all too well, and the man behind the mask.

  As Jameson trumpeted Mirage's heroism and selfless deeds, a slow burn of anger began to build within the depths of Kaine's scarred body. The sheer injustice of it all struck him profoundly. Jameson, who despised Peter Parker with every fiber of his being, was now singing the praises of Tyson Smith. The disparity made Kaine's blood boil. He could still recall Peter's own plicated feelings towards Tyson. The effortless popurity, the fshy motorcycle, the easy fideyson represented everythier yearo be but could never achieve. Everything Kaine could never be.

  Tyson was admired, and celebrated, living the life of a hero in the light of accim. Meanwhile, Kaine nguished alone in the shadows, enduring ceaseless, naked pain. The injustice cut deep into Kaine's core, mingling with the ever-present hurt. But beyond the jealousy and unfairness, Kaine's aemmed from a more personal pce.

  Tyson had helped Peter in the past, yet he had dohing for Kaine.

  He was oblivious to Kaine's existeo the relentless agony that ed his every waking moment. It was this ignorahis ck of uanding, that truly fueled Kaine's simmering hatred. Kaine despised Tyson for not knowing, for being blind to the depth of his suffering. In Kaine's mind, Tyson lived a charmed life of popurity and heroism while he wasted away in obscurity, ed by never-ending pain. Hearing Jamesool Tyson's virtues only amplified these feelings, deepening the simmering well of rese. Kaine imagiyson s through the city on his motorcycle, revered, celebrated. Bile rose in his throat.

  But, Kaine was no fool.

  Kaine uood Dr. Warren's true motivations. The geicist saw him as nothing more than a failed experiment, a defective e to be disposed of once his perfect creation was ready. His eyes flicked to the new e. She was a step closer to Dr. Warren's masterpiece, endowed with all of Peter's intelligence, and none of Kaine's fws. Soon she would be released into the world, showered with the adoration and acceptahat Kaine could only dream of.

  He saw his only path to freedom easement, to py the pliant subject. And so he swallowed his pride and fury, knowing each small cessiht him closer to escape.

  But pliance was only part of Kaine's pn. Once free, he would force Peter and Tyson to see him, to aowledge his existence. More than that, Kaine would make them feel his agony, to experie a fra of the ceaseless pain that defined his pathetic existence. Only then would they uand.

  Kairembled with anticipation, his scarred hands curling into fists. Soon, very soon, he would step from the shadows into the light, aer and Tyson would e to know the gnawiihat ate away at his soul. They would see him as more than a failed e, aion.

  Kaine would make certain of it.

  — Rogue Rept —

  Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a breathtaking panorama of the glittering cityscape below, the lights twinkling like stars uhe velvet night sky. Plush sofas in rich leather domihe room, plemented by a sleek minimalist coffee table where two gsses of red wine awaited.

  After a grueling week fraught with peril, Tyson and Natasha were eager to unwind. Fresh from rejuvenating showers, they slipped into fortable clothes, shedding the weight of their professional personas along with the fines of their formal wear. Tyson's fitted bck t-shirt hi the muscur physique beh, while rexed lounge pants repced his usual skintight e. Natasha chose a silken blouse in deep red, matg the shorts that showcased her toned legs. Her fiery locks tumbled freely over her shoulders, the picture of casual elegance.

  Settling together on the sofa, wine gsses in hand, a sense of peaceful respite enveloped them. "Tell me about the sorceress," Natasha requested. Though her tone held no traces of jealousy or mistrust, her curiosity was evident.

  "Her name is Amora," he began. "She's powerful." He paused, juring up memories of their intense enter. "We fought in New Mexico. She bested me without too much effort." He went on to describe Amora's abilities. "She relies primarily on magic but still possesses superhuman attributes greater than miyson's eyes gzed over briefly as he recalled a pivotal moment of their battle. "The only reason I stood any ce against her was because wheried to put me under her spell, she kissed me, attempting to charm and beguile me."

  "But her ploy backfired," he tinued, a note of grim satisfa entering his tone. "When she kissed me, I absorbed a fragment of her power. I also got a glimpse into her soul along with it."

  Tyson's expression became ptive as he described his insights. "She is ing and maniputive, that much is certain. But I don't think she's bad per se. There's more nuao her than that." He met Natasha's attentive gaze. "And she possessed a magic that allowed her to touch me without triggering my absorption."

  He chose his words carefully, hoping to vey the full meaning to Natasha. "You know how I mentiohat there's a psychic imprint of everyone I've killed with my touch, stored in my mind?"

  Natasha nodded slowly. "Yes, I remember you saying something like that."

  "Well, it wasn't just a metaphor," Tyson said early, holding her gaze. "On two occasions, powerful telepaths helped me enter my mindscape… A representation of my subscious that's almost like a physical space. And there, in that white room, were the remnants of those I'd killed. Jason Stryker, Victor Creed, all of them."

  Natasha's eyes widened slightly as she grasped the implications. The idea of a tangible mental ndscape, housing the echoes of those he'd absorbed, was a revetion. "I think I uand," she said after a moment, her voice tinged with fasation. Then she refocused, tying it back to their inal discussion. "And this retes to Amora… how?"

  Tyson's eyes took on a faraway look as he reted, "After Loki defeated me, Amora was there waiting. She'd been watg the whole time," he began.

  He went on to expin Amora's predit. "She was obligated to follow Loki's orders, but she also supported Thor in the brewing flict. They were engaged in what amouo a sibling squabble, but it was also a fight for the Asgardian throne. She couldn't interfere directly, bound as she was by w. So instead, she did something subtle." His voice took on a note of wonder.

  "She empowered me, unlog something deep within my mutant ability. In that moment, I realized there was more to my life absorption power than I ever imagined." Tyso on, delving deeper into the revetion. "The white room, where the psychic remnants of those I've killed reside, wasn't the only mental space I could access."

  "I ended up in a long hallway beyond the white room, stretg deeper into my mindscape. Lining the hallway were doors, and behind eae y the imprint of everyone I've ever touched, not just those I absorbed." Tyso Natasha's attentive green eyes. "A part of them, their essence, was stored inside me."

  Natasha listened raptly, grasping the profound implications of what he was describing. The idea that Tysoained a piece of every persoouched, that his mihose fragments like rooms in a vast mental mansion, was astonishing. She smiled. "I like the idea of a piee being inside you, no matter what happens."

  Tyson's lips puckered for a moment, but he went on. "With Amora's spell emp me, I was able to open one of those doors. I gained access to and trol over Azazel's power, that red-skinned demon I impersonated during the fight against Mago."

  Tyson gave Natasha a signifit look. "It shouldn't have been possible. Azazel was killed months ago."

  "But I had full access to Azazel's powers, without any of the dark influence of his twisted personality, which had influenced me both times I’d previously made tact with him." He shook his head, still grappling with the magnitude of what had transpired. "I was in plete trol of his abilities," Tyson said, his mismatg eyes distant, as if glimpsing possibilities he'd never dreamed existed.

  "I told Fury that the Sorceress's magic had brought us back, implying her spells had transported us from Asgard to Earth." Tyson's gaze refocused on Natasha. "But it was her magic emp my own mutant gift, that allowed me to return home." He lifted his wine gss and took a slow sip, the pause allowing him to steady his thoughts before tinuing. "Iermath of my power boost, I was drained like nothing since I first absorbed Sabertooth's healing factor." The strain in his voice made it clear how pletely the experience had taxed him.

  "The st thing I remember before colpsing was Amora saying she'd e along to ensure I arrived safely." Tyson's eyes grew distant again. "She told me to grow strong. And that she'd be watg over me."

  He let out a long breath. "Despite her ing nature, she showed real care and i in seeihrive." Tyson gave Natasha a signifit look.

  Natasha reached across the table and gave his hand an uanding squeeze. "If anything, I'm thankful she brought you bae."

  She asked pointedly, "You absorbed her memories, so you knew everything about her, at least for a little while. Do you have any insights into her true goals and ambitions?" She studied Tyson ily, refleg her keen i in unraveling the intricacies of Amora's character.

  Tyson shook his head, his mismatg eyes clouded with uainty. "That's just it. It doesn't make sense," he admitted, his fusion apparent in the furrow of his brow. "She was in a perfect position in Asgard, her aaneuvered her into a role where she stood to gain signifit porestige. Amora has always been ambitious and hungry for influence." He paused, gaze distant as he pohe plexity of the Asgardian entress. "She coveted Thor in the past, but he was smitten with Jane Foster when we left New Mexiaybe Amora realized she could ruly have Thor the way she desired." Tyson guessed.

  "Before we left Asgard, she cimed she o atone for past mistakes, but I don't believe that for a sed," he added, his tone skeptical as he dismissed the siy of her words.

  "But you do believe she's ied in you now, wanting you to grow stronger?" she asked.

  "Yes, that much seemed ge least," he affirmed.

  Natasha sat back as she pieced together the intricacies of Amora's behavior. "So with Thor beyond her reach, she's set her sights on you instead?" she proposed, returning her pierg gaze to Tyson's. "But to what ultimate end?"

  Tyson grimaced, sidering her suggestioill grappling with uainty. "Maybe?" he replied hesitantly. "The sliver of her psyche inside my mind spoke to me when I was in the… Hallway of Possibilities. She made it abundantly clear that she uands the full depths of what I'm capable of."

  He took a slow sip of wieadying his thoughts before tinuing. "When she boosted my abilities, her only request was that I look upon her favorably iure as repayment." Tyson's voice took on a distant quality as he added, "I get the distinct impression she wants to nurture my potential, to see me grow into something greater still."

  Tyso Natasha's gaze again meaningfully. "She specifically urged me to imagine what we could bee together."

  A ptive silence desded. Tyson and Natasha slowly savored their wine, each lost in their own spiraling thoughts about the mysterious Asgardian entress and her designs for Tyson.

  In a hotel suite across the bustliropolis of New York City, Amora the Entress gazed ily into her ented mirror, its surface shimmering with are magic. Strange runes and glyphs were etched into the walls of the vish room, pulsing with an eerie glow.

  She watched through the mirror with a critical eye as Tyson engaged a hulking, rampaging monstrosity.

  "Powerful, but a mere brute. Hardly a challenge," Amora ented, her toinged with dession. She observed the battle with a detached, analytical gaze as if the frontation was beh Tyson's true capabilities.

  Later, the image in the mirror revealed Tyson and Natasha seated together in a more intimate se as they engaged in deep versation. Amora watched them closely, greedily gathering insights into their retionship and personal struggles revealed through their exge. A faint smile curved her red lips as she listened ily to Tyson and Natasha's versation. Her fingers lightly traced the ornate frame of the magical artifact. She gleaned hints from the versation revealing that Tyson had shared his vision of the future. Her brow furrowed. She had dismissed it as a clever ruse, but now, hearing him agaihe same premise, she felt a flicker of doubt.

  "Curious," she murmured, her lips pursing in thought. "The same tale, yet he speaks with such certainty." Amora thought back to the events on Asgard. Tyson's as there had been almost prest. At the time, she had attributed it to quick thinking and adaptability. Now, in light of this repeated narrative, she wasn't so sure. The Entress tapped a perfectly manicured nail against her , her expression a mixture of intrigue and skepticism.

  "Could there be truth to his cims?" she wondered aloud, her voice barely above a whisper. The implications of such a possibility were staggering. If Tyson truly possessed knowledge of future events, it would expin much about his as. It would also make him even more valuable than she had initially believed.

  Amora's gaze remained fixed on the mirror, watg as Tyson tio fide in Natasha. The siy in his voice, and the details he shared, all lent credeo his story. Yet, the seasoned sorceress knew better than to take things at face value.

  "Truth or deception," Amora mused with a small smile, "either way, you're oh so iing."

  Amora leaned closer to the ented mirror, fasated as their versation shifted to herself. She listened with rapt attention and a sly smile as Tyson and Natasha analyzed her motives and specuted about the meaning behind her intrigued i in him. Though they tossed theories bad forth, trying to decipher the sorceress' inscrutable iions, Amora remained silent, giving no tells to betray her thoughts. She absorbed their words like a sponge, gathering invaluable insights into how they perceived her and what they believed she was after. The mirror allowed Amora to evaluate not just Tyson's reas and strategies, but the very nature of his partnership with Natasha, this supposed Bck Widow.

  "He's not just strong, but noble," Amora mused aloud, breaking her silence as if versing with the empty room. "And far more siderate and thoughtful than that oaf, Thor." She frowned slightly, at the thought of the Asgardian Prince who'd never paid heed to her advances.

  "Tyson will make a fine king. And I, his queen," she decred fidently.

  As she eaihoughts of their potential together, the entress shrugged, nont yet scheming. "Every king needs his mistresses and subjects," she added with a ile. The mirror shifted its focus to Natasha then, prompting a whispered response from Amora. "She'll suffice, I suppose. For a start." the sorceress remarked, her tone dismissive. Viewing Natasha as a temporary fixture in Tyson's saga, someoo be tolerated for now, but hardly an obstacle trander ambitions.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The Hart Senate Office Building stood as a pilr of gover authority, housing the offices of promi legistors who shaped the course of the nation. Within his spacious third-floor office, Senator Robert Kelly sat at an imposing antique desk. The wood-paneled walls and bookshelves den with leather-bound w books exuded gravitas and tradition. Awards and endations from Kelly's lengthy political career adorned every avaible space, refleg his rise to power and influence. Outside the tall arched windows, the Capitol Building towered above the bustling city, a stant reminder of the far-reag sequences born within these halls.

  P over a fidential briefing beled 'Stark Expo Is', Kelly scrutihe dossier. Witestimonies, expert analyses, and forensic evidenbio paint a portrait of a narrowly averted catastrophe. The first se icled Oscorp's failed fusioor experiment, an ambitious energy project goerribly wrong. Pages of imperable stific jargon followed the sheer terror and havoc described by those present during the reactor's meltdown.

  Senator Kelly flipped through the thick dossier. Through the report, it was clear that the intervention of two 'heroes' had prevehe experimental fusioor's meltdown from being a deadly disaster. He snorted derisively at the report's politically correguage.

  "Saved by mutants, they mean," he muttered under his breath, the words saturated with s. But s not at the mutants, at the ones who piled the dossier.

  While the report tiptoed around directly aowledging the heroes' mutant status, Kelly reized them for what they were. As he reviewed the timeline of events, oeical detail seized his attention. The fusioion had destabilized, geing an intense magic field in the reactor's viity. Acc to witness statements, this intense magic pull had impeded one hero's efforts at reag the endangered civilians. This "Mirage" character had been forced to take a more roundabout approach, while his parthe viginte Spider-Man, was ued. Kelly's instincts ti this revetion. He furrowed his brow, sidering the implications.

  Why would a magic field hinder Mirage specifically?

  Kelly had assumed both so-called heroes were mutants, but what if that assumption was mistaken? What if Mirage was human after all, relying on some sort of advaeology that ied poorly with magism?

  The Senator steepled his fihoughtfully, his sharp gaze b into the report. This anomalous detail warranted further iigatiourhe page, his mind still mulling over the implications of Mirage's mysterious iion with magism at the Oscorp reactor. As he tinued reading the dossier, his focus shifted to the i at the Stark Expo.

  The report provided a detailed timeline of the rampaging Hammer drones and Iron Man's efforts to tain them. In dry, iguage, it he "minimal loss of life" thanks rgely to the drones' singur focus on eliminating Stark.

  Kelly's sharp gaze caught on the mention of Mirage's involvement. Acc to eyewithe viginte had used his illusions to expertly guide panicked crowds to safety. But from what few recs were recovered from the Expo area, Mirage's as went unrecorded, leaving no video evidence of his illusions. Kelly sidered the implications of this. The ck of hard evidence suggested Mirage's abilities were psychi nature. A cssiifestation of mutant powers.

  Yet this seemed to tradict the earlier magiterference. Kelly furrowed his brow, intrigued by the puzzle this presented about Mirage's abilities.

  Delving further into the report, Kelly found ats of Mirage physically tearing apart the Hammer drones with his bare hands. He pted the sheer force required for such a feat. The viginte's streamlined suit cked the obvious enhas of Stark's armor. How could he possibly match Iron Man's strength without an exosuit?

  No, this level of power was clearly superhuman.

  Things were not adding up with this Mirage character. The disparate abilities simply did not align. The mutant seemed capable of both extraordinarily psionic illusions and immense dispys of physical strength. Such a bination was anomalous among mutants, who teo exhibit powers within a siegory, or theme, or abilities which were otherwise somehow ected.

  Kelly theorized that perhaps Mirage possessed a sedary mutation, or perhaps telekiic powers. This would grant him the raw foreeded for physical feats while still aligning with psionic abilities. The Senator nodded slowly, satisfied with this pusible expnation that fit the profile of a mutant with primary illusory powers and sedary tactile telekinesis.

  The Senator set aside the Stark Expo briefing, turning his sharp gaze to the mani folder that had just been delivered to his desk. Flipping it open, he sed the tents; reports and photographs detailing the devastating battle that had ravaged Harlem only hours earlier.

  The folder tered on the rogue experiment that had transformed a soldier inting behemoth dubbed the Abomination. This hulking monster had rampaged through Harlem with unchecked strength, leaving widespread destru and loss of life in its wake. Soldiers and civilians alike had been helpless before its power.

  Kelly's gaze lingered on the mentions of Mirage throughout the report. The mutant had once agai the ter of the chaos. The Senator raised an eyebrow at the inclusion of a CD taining photos and videos from the se. For security reasons, the digital files had not been transmitted remotely, but instead physically copied.

  Kelly slid the disto his puter. The s flickered to life, revealing footage from a building's exterior security camera. A massive figure burst through a crete wall, the camera lurg as the Abomination leaped into an alleyway. The security footage provided a harrowing glimpse into the devastatiht by the rampaging Abomination. Vehicles y strewn about the streets like the discarded toys of an angry child. Soldiers scrambled for cover, their futile shots ricocheting uselessly off the creature's imperable hide. Each se showcased the Abomination's titanic strength and capacity for indiscriminate destru.

  Senator Kelly watched as the footage shifted te's sudden intervention. The mutant arrived to stop the taxi desding to crush the military Humvee. Muscles bulging, Mirage held the vehicle aloft, his teeth gritted from the strain. Kelly scrutihe image, residering his earlier notions about Mirage utilizing telekinesis. The raw physicality of the act was evident; this was strength borne of muscle alone.

  But Mirage's heroic efforts proved short-lived. Pitted against the Abomination's vastly superiht, his resistance quickly faltered. Mirage's eyes widened in desperation, his breaths growing ragged as the taxi inched closer to crushing him and the soldiers behind.

  Just when it seemed the Abomination's victory was assured, the footage captured a sudden ge in the beast. Brow furrowing in fusion, the creature turhis way and that, releasing the taxi to jump away toward some invisible foe. Kelly surmised Mirage had deployed his illusions as a distra. While the camera recorded nothing, the Abomination was clearly battling phantoms jured from the mutant's imagination. Once again, Mirage had demonstrated his pent for both physical and psychic feats, a rare bination among mutants.

  But what unfolded left the Senator stunned and questioning all he thought he knew about the mutant's abilities.

  With startling suddenness, metal talons tore from Mirage's fingers. Kelly reeled at this ued development. Since when did the illusionist have cws? The senator scrutihe s as Mirage buried those razor-sharp cws into the Abomination's back. The beast's imperable hide, impervious to rockets and gunfire alike, ierced with ease by these mysterious ons.

  Kelly's mind raced, grappling with this revetion. But the shog developments were far from over. Before the senator's disbelieving eyes, Mirage's body began to swell and shift, muscles expanding, clothes tearing from the strain. The illusionist grew steadily i and mass, his mask ripped away to reveal his face transf as he attained gigantic proportions. Soon Mirage matched the Abomination, having shapeshifted into a hulking behemoth.

  Overwhelmed by the implications of what he had just witnessed, Kelly paused the video and slouched ba his chair. The revetion of Mirage's transformation and his use of metallic cws opened up a whole new dimension.

  It was clear now that Mirage was no ordinary mutant. He was not simply an illusionist or someoh enharength or tactile telekinesis. No, it was evident Mirage possessed abilities far more plex than Kelly had realized…

  Abilities he'd been searg for.

  The senator slowly reached for his phone. He dialed a number ingrained in his memory, o saved among his tacts.

  The voice that answered was unmistakable, carrying a distinct tone of calm authority ced with a slight European at. It resonated with gravitas, the voice of one aced to anding resped even fear. Smooth yet underid with strength, it pelled attention without the o raise its volume.

  "Hello, Senator Kelly," the voice greeted, "To what do I owe the ued pleasure?"

  As Kelly responded, his voice took on a distinctly feminine lilt, his eyes fshing a vivid yellow.

  "I've found him."

  Author's Note

  And that's the end of Arc 5. Hope you ehis one. I really loved this story Arc. Maybe because I intended for this story to be an MCU story, and it took so many Arcs to reach Tyson's first dive into the MCU proper.

  I, for one, love the retionship with Natasha. However, I do feel it overshadowed what Tyson had with Felicia, making that retionship seem superficial in parison. And the Amora interlude may have been a bit much because Natasha pletely disappears for a rge segment of the Arc after su awesome date. On the flip side, I wholly enjoy Amora. It's almost like I made her into what Felicia could have been, the 'is she an enemy or is she an ally' kind of love i. But whatever, I'll keep chipping away at it.

  Arc 5 ended up being 50% lohan Arc 4. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 pages. But it did cover 3 films, whereas Arcs 4 and 1-3 covered 2 eaext week, we begin Arc 6.

  Behind the Ses

  - I've taken to using the st chapter of an Arc to tease the uping Arc(s). At the end of Arc 4, I set up the events of Arcs 5 and 6. Here we see the setup for the upis of Arcs 6 and 7. Here we also see the tinuation of one of the teasers from Arc 4's finale.

  - As this stoes on, I've gotten more fortable pying with perspective. I often shift between third-person limited and third-person omnist perspective as I feel the story requires. In the Arc 4 finale we saortion of the story from Dr. Warren's perspective. Here we see things py out from Kaine's perspective. And Kaine is very mu 'unreliable narrator'… or is he? Also, subtly tihe Naruto references in Kaine. Did you catch them?

  - For reference, in universe, the events of Arc 5 occurred over a one-week period from a Friday night to the following Saturday, Early June 2011.

  It has been about 2 months sihe end of Arc 4, and the opening of House of M.

  It has been about 9 months sihe start of Arc 4 and Tyson's first day at Midtown High. (Midtown was not mentio all this week, but Tyson is still a student and does still attend… most days. He's a senior and has det grades so missing this week didn't affect him much.)

  It has been about 10 and a half months sihe events of Alkali Lake in Arc 3.

  - Tysoering the bar looking for Thor in Chapter 58, occurred exactly one year after he ehe bar in ada in Chapter 1. Although it wasn't my inal i when I outlined and wrote this Arc. I would've preferred to mirror the Sabertooth's atta Logan with Tyson's suprise birthday fight on the exact date, but the events of the week didn't allow it to fall that way. Amora the Entress as a stripper seemed a fitting one year anniversary gift for his arrival in this Marvel Universe. I'll have to e up with something fitting for the sed anniversary of his arrival.

  Support Plug

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  For Arc 5, every chapter has had its own cover image.

  One buck membership gets you access to the galleries (Chapters 15, 28, 42, 44, 47, 50, and 53)

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  Ten bucks membership gets the same as above, but two chapters ahead, an exclusive what if, and a preview of the Arc 6 cover ( love i)