Makari the Speedy had long caught the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. after numerous investigations. Her speed was so extreme that not even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-tier surveillance systems could capture a clear image of her. At best, when slowed down, all they could see was a golden blur skimming across the screen.
Eventually, Nick Fury found a way to make contact with her. Had it not been for the discrepancies in the data they had, he would have suspected she was one of the two individuals responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark.
The clue that led to Makari's trail came from the remaining Dora Milaje warriors in Wakanda. After Wakanda's fall, it was Nick Fury who personally arranged new identities for T'Challa and others. Some of the surviving Dora Milaje even joined S.H.I.E.L.D.—a fact known only to T'Challa and Fury himself.
Pepper Potts' arrest had disrupted Fury's original plan. He had just managed to secure two favors from Makari, but now those would have to be used to deal with the fallout from her detainment.
He regretted not giving Coulson more authority before leaving and not doing more to stop Tony Stark—the ever-reckless genius—from acting impulsively. Had he been stopped earlier, none of this might have happened.
"Stark," Nick Fury said, turning to him, "go find a team of lawyers—good ones—and try to secure a meeting with Ms. Potts. We need to find out what exactly she saw. I'll work from the S.H.I.E.L.D. side to investigate the military's actions. If neither of these two routes works—then we move on to Plan C."
Fury made it clear: rescuing just one person from the military was still within the realm of possibility.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that this entire incident might derail S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wider operations.
Tony Stark suddenly stood up, frustrated. "We're moving too slowly. Why haven't we done anything yet?"
"Stark," Fury replied, wearing a wry expression, "without solid evidence, what U.S. agency do you think can legally move against a man like Kain pent?"
Despite having lost his company, Tony Stark was still a billionaire—still an elite. In America, wealth is power. Even with the Iron Man armor exposed to the public, the government couldn't just seize it without consequence.
Meanwhile, Kain pent wasn't just rich—he was the richest man in the world. Nearly all the assets of his conglomerate were consolidated under his personal control. On top of that, his girlfriend's father was about to become president. His rivals didn't stand a chance.
Many had tried to kill Kain—especially oil tycoons threatened by his Ark Reactor energy project—but none succeeded. Why? Because Pent's reach included wealth, global influence, and unmatched firepower.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had gathered intel showing that hundreds of mercenaries and assassins were wiped out in New York City alone—and their employers died mysteriously afterward.
Umbrella, the security arm of the Pent Group, fielded military-grade forces. On the surface alone, they had over twenty known super soldiers.
Their combined strength could topple a mid-sized nation. Even powerful oil cartels wouldn't dare challenge the Pent Group. What could they use—lawsuits?
Fury scoffed at the idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. going head-to-head.
Tony asked, "What about his home? Didn't you say it might hold some major secrets?"
"Stark," Fury sighed, "you need to rest. Then go apply for visitation rights to see Ms. Potts. And if you have the time, help Coulson's team upgrade their gear."
He placed a firm hand on Stark's shoulder.
"And don't go off on your own again. If you'd looped Coulson in before, a lot of this could've been avoided. You need to start trusting him. He and his team aren't any less capable than the Avengers—you need to accept that."
In Fury's eyes, Coulson had shown real awareness of his limitations. He was methodical, cautious—never rushing in, and always requesting intel from secondary sources instead of going after main targets directly. That had yielded valuable insights.
Tony Stark, in contrast, was brilliant—but overconfident. He always acted like he was the smartest person in the room. But in a world with artificial intelligence, super soldiers, and secret organizations, he wasn't the only one with power.
And yet, he chose the most reckless, brute-force way to uncover the truth.
Even handing it over to Agent Romanoff would have been far better than giving it to a layman like Pepper Potts. At least Natasha would have had a chance to escape.
After Nick Fury left, Tony Stark contacted some lawyers in an effort to meet with Pepper Potts.
Once Coulson saw Stark leave, he could only pat Fitz on the shoulder, signaling that now wasn't the right time for introductions.
Fitz was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best—not as brilliant as Tony Stark, but in Coulson's eyes, more than capable of handling most tasks.
Coulson had originally planned to send his team to infiltrate Kain's residence, but their equipment needed upgrades. Fitz believed their current tools were flawed—workable, but far from optimal.
He was confident he could improve them, especially with Stark's insight. Coulson agreed, but unfortunately, with everything going on, Tony Stark wasn't in the right state of mind to discuss tech upgrades.
"It can't activate at all—or even when it does, it fails. Could it be the rules? There's some kind of incompatibility," Kain murmured, staring at the Time-Turner in his hand, deep in thought.
Using his alchemical knowledge and analysis of magical arrays, Kain had refined the Time-Turner multiple times. Whether he had created it himself or brought it from the magical world, it still failed to function as expected.
At best, it could only affect himself.
After failing to create a fully functional time device, Kain modified it slightly. Now, the item recorded the user's physical state before an injury and could instantly reverse time on a localized scale to restore the body to its uninjured condition.
However, this was no longer a true time-turner. It was, at best, an advanced magical healing artifact.
"The magical power isn't enough to affect a wider area, or maybe the rules are too rigid," he muttered. "But if I were to create a grimoire like the Demon God's, one that spreads magical laws across a region, maybe I could use that as a foundation to affect time on a larger scale…"
This was an idea Kain had considered before, and the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. As for elemental magics—lightning, fire—he could research those later.
Still, magic in this world was different. Magical power seemed to reside in the blood. By this definition, everyone in the Marvel world was essentially a Muggle.
But Kain could change that. He could help these "Muggles" awaken. All he needed was to create the first generation of wizards.
"If I try to change it through diet and environment, it'll take generations to produce natural-born wizards. That's too slow. I need to start with genetics. Walter Company? No… I'll need to modify that plan."
It struck Kain that his current plan was eerily similar to what Walter Company had done. But unlike them, he didn't intend to start with babies. He planned to begin with orphans of the right age.
The Pent Group's charitable foundations already worked with war orphans and supported many orphanages across the U.S.
Instead of shallow stream-based education, he would implement genetic enhancements from magical creatures and intensive magical training. These abandoned children, once grown, would thank him for giving them purpose and power.
Even adults—nine out of ten of them—would jump at the chance to gain extraordinary powers. Though they were harder to cultivate than youths, Kain didn't intend to give up.
Wizardry was different from other supernatural systems. Without proper guidance, magic could go berserk or backfire. Only structured training could ensure safe use.
And when it came to compiling magical techniques, Kain planned to leave behind a subtle influence—a hidden backdoor, a creator's imprint woven into the spellwork.
The more wizards he created, the greater his magical influence would grow. If done right, it wouldn't be impossible to replicate Thorne's path—a legacy etched into magic itself.
"Establishing an orphanage and a magic school is the easy part. The real challenge is creating magic itself. Never mind—let's head to Kamar-Taj and pay the Ancient One a visit."
Once Kain made up his mind, he gathered some gifts and a copy of his magic book, then went straight to the New York Sanctum.
His strength was considerable now, and since the Ancient One wasn't part of the Avengers, there was no reason for any conflict. As for his reason to meet her—he could simply say he had sensed a different kind of magic and wanted to learn more. That would be enough.
Mordo had shown interest the last time he visited, particularly in Muggle-repelling spells and protective wards. Now, Kain had his sights set on the library of Kamar-Taj.
"Seriously, he's just ordering people around like it's nothing."
Betty sighed as she read Kain's message. Now even something as significant as setting up a school for orphan training was being handed off to her.
Kain hadn't told Betty about magic yet, so she assumed this was just another project under Umbrella's banner. Still, Kain had mentioned the school himself—she couldn't just ignore it.
"Nia, I'll leave this task to you. How long do you think it'll take?"
Betty forwarded Kain's email to Sharonia. But as she did, she suddenly realized her assistant team was overstretched. With three of them working nonstop, Sharonia's departure meant there'd be no one left immediately available to help her.
"If we're talking about school-age orphans, and everything goes well, we can probably open the school in three months," Sharonia replied after thinking it over.
That timeline was relatively conservative. If they rushed the project and lowered some standards, it could be ready in under two months.
In fact, buying an existing private school and modifying it would make the process even faster—something easily within the Pent Group's capabilities.
However, if they wanted to build a facility from the ground up, it would take more time. Sharonia felt a flicker of recognition as she reviewed the location Kain had mentioned.
After a moment, she recalled that there happened to be an Umbrella military security base about fifty miles away.
"Four months, maximum. I'll get some help lined up. There might be unexpected changes, so you'll want to keep your schedule flexible," Betty said, dismissing Sharonia to begin the work.
Once Sharonia left, Betty sent another message—this time to Laura. She needed to recruit two more assistants, and fast.
…
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