Marvel: Death Knight

Kingpin and his gang members piled into several vehicles, preparing to leave the area. One of them noticed his friend still standing around, engrossed in his phone. Annoyed, he shouted, "Hey, Abby! Stop playing with your phone and get moving, or you can walk home!"

"Oh, I'm coming!" Abby hastily pocketed his phone and dashed toward the convoy.

What none of them knew was that Abby was actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent sent by Director Fury to monitor Kingpin. Moments earlier, Abby had been momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered and recorded the scene of Garus reviving Kingpin with his phone. He immediately sent the footage to Fury.

At this time, S.H.I.E.L.D., still officially called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, was headquartered in the Triskelion, as the Helicarrier had yet to be built.

Fury sat in his office, his brows furrowed deeply as he reviewed the video sent by his agent. The footage clearly showed an Eastern man effortlessly killing Kingpin—a figure they had been monitoring—only to bring him back to life moments later with an eerie ability. After being resurrected, Kingpin's demeanor became submissive, as though under the man's control.

Reviving the dead and controlling the underworld? Such powers seemed far from righteous; they were deeply sinister.

A knock on the office door interrupted Fury's thoughts. His deputy, Agent Hill, called from outside.

"Come in," Fury said.

The short-haired beauty entered, her heart sinking when she saw Fury's troubled expression. In all her years working with him, she had never seen such a look on his face.

Suppressing her curiosity, she asked, "Director, is there something you need me to do?"

Fury originally intended to have her approach Tony Stark, but the situation had shifted. He handed her a new task instead.

"Take a look at this video first." Fury replayed the footage on his computer.

Agent Hill leaned in curiously, her expression shifting to surprise as the video unfolded. She turned to Fury with a skeptical look.

"Director, where did this come from?"

Seeing someone resurrect after having their chest pierced was unbelievable. The man's conjured weapon, appearing almost magically, was even more fantastical than the Hulk's rampages. But she recognized the deceased—it was Kingpin.

Fury anticipated her doubts. If not for his prior encounters with the Masters of the Mystic Arts, he would have thought the agent was joking.

"This was sent by an undercover agent in Kingpin's circle. I'm confident these events are real. I'll have the agent return for a debrief. In the meantime, I need you to gather more information from him."

Hill asked, "What's the plan after that? Do we infiltrate his circle, or deploy a strike team to take him down?"

"No, we can't act rashly."

Fury had witnessed firsthand the immense power of the Sorcerer Supreme and knew such forces were beyond ordinary means to counter, even with their most advanced weapons. They didn't fully understand this man's intentions, capabilities, or weaknesses. It was too risky to act without more information.

If the Masters of the Mystic Arts could assist, matters might be simpler. But those reclusive sorcerers rarely ventured out of their sanctuaries.

This reinforced Fury's determination to assemble a specialized team to handle threats beyond the capabilities of ordinary agents.

"Kingpin controls a significant portion of America's underworld. His influence is massive. We can't let someone like him fall under such control. But we also can't tip our hand. Deploy someone to infiltrate his circle and uncover this man's motives and vulnerabilities. If he poses a threat to our nation, we'll do whatever it takes to stop him."

"Understood, Director," Hill replied with a nod. "If there's nothing else, I'll get started."

"Go ahead."

Once Hill left, Fury remained alone in his office. He reconsidered the task he had initially planned for her and decided to reassign it.

Picking up his phone, he dialed a number. "Coulson, come to my office."

Minutes later, Agent Coulson entered.

"Director, you needed me?"

"I have a mission for you," Fury said, closing his computer and standing. "I need you to approach Tony Stark and find out what happened during his captivity. Also, inquire about a man named Garus."

Fury had known Garus first appeared around Stark but had been too busy to investigate. Now was the time.

"Understood, Director."

Fury debated whether to report this to the Security Council. However, past operational failures made him suspect a mole within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s upper echelons. For now, he decided to keep it under wraps.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark had confided in his friend, Colonel Rhodes, about his encounter with Garus in the terrorist camp.

"Hey, Tony, I think you were just stressed out. It must have been a hallucination," Rhodes said over the phone.

Tony firmly disagreed. "No, Rhodey. I know what I saw. That was no hallucination. I'm telling you so you can be on alert. I don't want my mistakes putting the country at risk of a terror attack."

Rhodes relented. "Fine, fine. I'll assign someone to monitor him."

"Be careful," Tony warned. "Don't let him notice. He's not someone ordinary people can handle. And remember, he saved my life."

"Got it," Rhodes replied, eager to change the subject. "By the way, Tony, shutting down Stark Industries' weapons division has thrown the military for a loop. Are you really okay walking away from all that money?"

Lying on his sofa, Tony replied lazily, "Money is just numbers to me, Rhodey. I'm setting up Stark Energy instead."

"Fair enough," Rhodes said, sighing. He envied Tony's freedom. "Still, Obadiah must be livid."

Tony thought of Obadiah's furious reaction and shrugged. "Uncle Obie's not happy, but I'm not changing my mind."

What Tony didn't know was that Obadiah wasn't dwelling on Stark Industries shutting down its weapons division. He had already acquired the remnants of the Iron Man suit abandoned at the terrorist camp. Fascinated by its power, Obadiah had mobilized Stark Industries' scientists to reverse-engineer and improve it, working tirelessly around the clock.

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