Chapter 609

Luke Cage.

That was the man’s name.

Bulletproof skin and strength far beyond a normal human certainly made him resemble the Hulk in a few obvious ways. The difference was that just about everything else was several tiers lower.

Still, Luke had one major advantage over the Hulk: he didn’t need to transform, and he didn’t lose his mind when he used his abilities.

That made him worth paying attention to, at least.

"Luther already went to meet him, right?" Evenson asked. "Then there shouldn’t be any problems."

"There shouldn’t be," Moira replied. "Although Luther did take his gauntlets this time."

"His gauntlets?"

Evenson frowned.

"Isn’t that a bit much?"

He remembered Luther fighting Killian aboard Air Force One. Killian had been wearing a suit of Iron Man-style armor, and Luther had gone in barehanded. This time, however, he was dealing with nothing more than a low-budget Hulk, and they weren’t even sure there would be a fight.

Showing up wearing the Doomfist gauntlets sounded less like an investigation and more like an execution.

"The gauntlets are only there as a precaution," Moira explained. "Luther may not even use them. Besides, this is also a simple test."

A faint light flickered in her eyes.

"We need to know whether his durability can withstand a direct strike from Doomfist. The results will help determine how we handle him afterward."

"Try not to make the test too aggressive."

Evenson nodded.

"Harlem isn’t exactly a safe neighborhood, so there’s no need to bring him here. Let him stay where he is and live his life. Luther can collect whatever data he needs from nearby, then take a blood sample before leaving."

"Understood."

Moira nodded and moved on to the second case.

"This incident took place in Clinton."

Evenson blinked.

It took him a moment to recognize the name.

"Just call it Hell’s Kitchen. I’m more familiar with that."

Clinton was Hell’s Kitchen’s official name, but the nickname had long since become more famous.

"Black Badge is a government organization," Moira said seriously. "We use the official names of administrative districts."

"Fine. Clinton it is."

Evenson shrugged.

"So what happened in Hell’s Kitchen this time?"

"Well..."

Moira rolled her eyes.

"There appears to be a vigilante operating in the area."

A vigilante.

Technically, the term meant someone taking the law into their own hands. Usually, it wasn’t meant as a compliment.

Evenson didn’t care enough to debate whether vigilantes were good or bad.

"What makes this one special?"

"According to the information we’ve collected, his physical strength hasn’t even reached the human limit. His main advantage appears to be exceptional combat skill."

"Then he’s not our problem, is he?"

If his physical abilities remained within ordinary human parameters, then no matter how skilled he was, he was still fundamentally a normal human being.

That put him outside Black Badge’s jurisdiction.

"Physically, that’s correct."

Moira nodded.

"But several witnesses, including police officers who encountered him, reported that he fights while blindfolded."

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

"Blindfolded? Are you sure he doesn’t have eyeholes cut into the mask? I mean actually blindfolded. He really can’t see?"

"That’s what the reports indicate."

Moira’s expression became thoughtful.

"Several details vary between witnesses, but every account agrees on one thing. He fights with his eyes covered."

Evenson’s eyes shifted slightly.

"So he has enhanced senses."

The moment the possibility occurred to him, he remembered a particular person. The characteristic was simply too distinctive.

"That makes him a little more interesting. What’s your recommendation?"

"Subject 47 will take full responsibility."

Moira began listing the procedure.

"First, we identify him. Then we obtain all available records, especially medical records. We need to determine the nature of his mutation and what caused it."

"Hmm."

Evenson nodded.

"Leave him alone for now. Observation only. No contact, and definitely no capture."

He leaned back.

"If the local police ask for assistance, delay them by pointing out that he’s still technically within normal human limits. Let him run free for the time being."

Evenson smiled faintly.

"He may be useful to me later."

"Understood."

Moira took the second report aside.

"The third case is more difficult to classify."

"What makes it unusual?"

"This one also happened in Clinton."

"Again?"

Evenson threw up his hands before she could continue.

"Hell’s Kitchen again? Thank God I didn’t buy a house there just because the property was cheap. I settled in Brooklyn instead, where things are at least somewhat civilized."

Moira ignored the comment.

"One month ago, a young woman named Hope disappeared. Her parents suspected she had become involved with a cult."

"Cult?"

The word immediately soured Evenson’s mood.

"Disgusting."

The Eredar Twins looked equally unimpressed.

As far as they were concerned, most cults on Earth were almost laughably pathetic. They called themselves evil without having the slightest understanding of what true evil actually looked like.

Most were nothing more than organizations built around a charismatic leader’s greed, lust, or pathological desire for control.

Even something as self-destructive as the Twilight’s Hammer seemed vastly more substantial by comparison.

And although Evenson and the others were Warlocks, they had never considered themselves members of a cult.

Even if they created an organization, it would simply be a group of dangerous, unconventional people the wider world didn’t know how to accept.

Once Evenson and the Twins had finished expressing their contempt for cults, Moira continued.

"Hope’s parents reported her missing several days later."

She paused.

"But everyone knows what law enforcement in Hell’s Kitchen is like."

The local police force was deeply compromised. A missing-person case involving an ordinary young woman wasn’t exactly the sort of assignment that attracted much enthusiasm, especially when there was no obvious money or influence attached to it.

And a beautiful young woman disappearing in Hell’s Kitchen carried some rather ugly implications.

The responding officers took a statement, filed the report, and then effectively waited to see whether they would eventually be identifying a body.

Her parents, naturally, refused to give up.

They spent their own money hiring a private investigator to search for their daughter.

Surprisingly, the detective from Alias Investigations turned out to be competent.

Within a few days, she found Hope.

"So..."

Evenson spread his hands.

"What’s strange about that?"

"Hope killed her parents."

Moira delivered the answer with unnerving calm.

"She’d only just been collected from the detective’s office. She and her parents were in the elevator on their way downstairs when she shot them."

"Cult!"

Evenson was suddenly furious.

"Those people are monsters. Deal with them."

His expression became downright zealous.

"Have the cult leader brought in. If he’s a superhuman, dissect him. If he isn’t..."

Evenson thought for a moment.

"Dissect him anyway. Just tell everyone afterward that we made a mistake."

He pointed a finger.

"And no anesthetic."

"I’m of the same opinion."

Moira calmly filed the report away.

"However, Hope claims she has no memory of killing her parents. She says she was being controlled by a superhuman with mind-control abilities."

"Mind control?"

Evenson’s expression changed.

"Are we sure about that?"

For once, the answer wasn’t obvious.

"Is Hope actually lying to escape responsibility, or did she really encounter someone capable of controlling her mind while she was missing?"

"We can’t say yet."

Moira frowned.

"But there’s something else."

"The private investigator who found her isn’t ordinary either."

Evenson stared at her.

So this case came with a bonus.

"What about the detective?"

"Jessica Jones."

Moira answered immediately.

"She’s actually fairly easy to investigate. She has a substantial record with the police, and her personal life is... unconventional."

Moira chose her words carefully.

"But she really does possess superhuman abilities. If we have to compare her to someone, she’s essentially a female, simplified, low-budget version of Captain America."

Evenson paused.

A female Captain America?

He wasn’t sure how much value to place on that.

On one hand, she wasn’t particularly powerful by the standards of the beings they’d encountered.

On the other hand, a combatant operating at that level was potentially far easier to reproduce than someone like the Hulk.

"Does she have any other connection to the case besides finding the girl?"

"That’s what’s strange."

Moira smiled faintly.

"Jessica Jones completely believes Hope’s story. She doesn’t question it for a second."

She narrowed her eyes.

"It’s almost as though she was affected by the same mind controller."

"Hmm."

Evenson nodded.

He exchanged a glance with the Eredar Twins.

Then he looked back at Moira.

"How do you want to handle it?"

"I’ll lead the investigation personally. McKenna will assist."

Moira’s expression was now completely serious.

"If the investigation confirms that a mind controller is involved, we’ll locate them immediately and eliminate them on the spot."

Evenson glanced toward the Twins again.

Both gave a slight nod.

They approved.

"Do it."

He looked back at Moira.

"Everything else can wait. This one cannot go wrong."

Mind control.

Of all the kinds of superhuman abilities that existed in the world, that was the one Evenson found hardest to tolerate.

Not because he was afraid of it.

Quite the opposite.

When it came to manipulating minds, influencing emotions, and bending people’s wills, who on Earth could claim greater expertise than Evenson and the Eredar Twins?

A genuine mind controller appearing out of nowhere was practically stealing their business.

Worse, the ability apparently wasn’t even particularly powerful.

This wasn’t someone who could sit in a wheelchair and mentally dominate the entire planet.

The power seemed much more opportunistic than overwhelming.

It was closer to a con.

Once people broke free of the influence and realized what had happened, the former victim would become an enemy almost by default.

Use the ability once, and you might gain another enemy forever.

Evenson saw little reason to let someone like that remain alive long enough to cause a real disaster.