Chapter 803

"How’s the mission coming along?"

"More or less finished."

Evenson had left early, but that didn’t mean S.H.I.E.L.D.’s work could stop. A warlock disappearing halfway through an operation was hardly unusual. So Hill had called Coulson to check on the mission’s progress.

Coulson was alone in his office, giving Hill his report.

Judging by his posture, however, you’d never have guessed he was in the middle of an important operation.

His suit jacket was hanging loosely from his shoulders, the buttons of his shirt undone. He was sprawled comfortably across his chair with both feet propped on the desk. One hand held his phone while the other casually tossed a green apple into the air.

"So where are we with the recovery operation?"

"Evenson has already left. We should have results soon."

The exchange sounded casual, but it revealed something important.

Coulson, who was supposedly only handling the cover operation, had known about the real objective from the beginning. He had merely pretended otherwise. Hill clearly knew that, too.

"That’s good to hear."

Hill paused before asking, "Actually, there’s something I don’t understand. If you already had this mission planned, why didn’t you just tell me about it from the start? Why make everything so complicated and have me assign it specifically to Evenson?"

The recovery mission had indeed been personally commissioned by their unusual client. Coulson had acted as the intermediary, but for once, the normally tireless agent had actually tried to dodge responsibility.

He had specifically suggested assigning the mission to Evenson—and had even insisted that the whole thing be made as mysterious as possible.

Coulson caught the apple neatly in his palm.

Then, without warning, he opened his mouth and swallowed the entire thing.

No chewing.

No choking.

Nothing.

"You know what he’s like," Coulson said calmly. "If you don’t make the whole thing mysterious enough to give him the impression that he’s getting some special treatment, he probably won’t have much motivation to take the job seriously."

"Oh..."

Hill sighed.

"You really do understand him. Oh, and one more thing. Your package has reached customs. You should pick it up as soon as you can. I pulled a few strings because I trust you, so please don’t let anything go wrong and make me regret it."

Hill had suddenly remembered the shipment Coulson had mentioned a while ago. Apparently, someone in France was sending him several packages containing things he urgently needed, and he had asked her whether she could help get them through customs without making him wait through the usual procedures.

Hill had agreed almost immediately.

After all, this was Coulson.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. had reached the point where Coulson was secretly smuggling contraband, then they had much bigger problems.

"I’m warning you, though. This is against procedure. Don’t make a habit of it."

"You have my word. There won’t be a next time."

Only then did a faint smile appear on Coulson’s face.

"Thank you, my friend."

"You’re welcome. Good luck with the rest of the mission."

Hill hung up.

Coulson rose from his chair and walked over to the wardrobe. He opened the door and stood before the mirror, fixing the rather undisciplined appearance he had been sporting moments earlier.

He buttoned his jacket.

Tucked his shirt neatly into his belt.

Smoothed every wrinkle.

Adjusted his cuffs.

Then stretched his neck and tightened his tie.

Anyone who knew Coulson well would have found the whole performance surprising. He was normally a neat and professional man, but not to this degree.

Once he was satisfied, Coulson opened his mouth in an exaggerated yawn and stretched his jaw.

That was when someone suddenly appeared beside him.

The man was tall, with long strands of hair hanging around his face. His features were covered in soot, and his expression was vicious. In his right hand was a massive pipe wrench.

He stared silently at Coulson.

It was Tobias Ford’s ghost.

In life, Tobias had worked in the same organization as Hannah Higgins. He had also been hopelessly in love with her.

Unfortunately, Hannah was beautiful, wealthy, and successful.

Tobias was... not.

Their backgrounds and incomes were so different that they barely had anything in common.

So Tobias had plenty of feelings and absolutely none of the courage required to confess them.

Instead, he had tried to get Hannah’s attention.

His brilliant strategy?

Constantly filing safety complaints with her.

Unfortunately, every complaint disappeared into the bureaucratic abyss.

So Tobias, already possessing questionable judgment, decided to take things a step further.

After Hannah finished inspecting a piece of machinery, he secretly loosened several screws on its coupling.

His reasoning was spectacularly stupid.

The accident, he figured, probably wouldn’t be too serious. But it might get Hannah’s attention.

And if the accident got her fired, she would lose her income.

At that point, their financial circumstances would supposedly become more equal, and Tobias could finally pursue her without feeling intimidated.

Leaving aside the fact that this might be the single worst courtship strategy ever conceived, there was one rather important detail Tobias had overlooked.

They were conducting a particle-collider experiment.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he should have considered the possibility that tampering with the machinery of a highly precise scientific experiment might have consequences.

Especially since the particle collider contained a dark magical artifact capable of opening a gateway to Hell.

Predictably, the experiment went catastrophically wrong.

A massive explosion tore through the facility as Hell magic erupted out of control.

Tobias’s coworkers didn’t even have time to die before they were dragged bodily into Hell.

But there was an old saying: the good die young, while disasters somehow manage to live forever.

Because the experiment had failed and the resulting Hell magic was unstable, chaotic, and unpredictable, Tobias’s soul somehow escaped the disaster and remained trapped in the mortal world.

And he still wasn’t willing to let Hannah go.

His obsession continued.

That was why Hannah had been mistaken for someone with supernatural powers.

Tobias was the source of nearly every terrible thing that had happened to her. His warped affection had brought her nothing but endless suffering.

Some people should probably come with warning labels.

Tobias was one of them.

Yet he remained convinced that he was protecting Hannah.

He didn’t care what she wanted.

He had followed her all the way onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft.

At first, Tobias had shown at least enough intelligence to keep his distance.

But now he believed he understood the situation aboard the aircraft.

More importantly, the man who had frightened him so badly had mysteriously disappeared.

It had certainly looked like magic.

But Tobias was already a ghost.

After everything he had experienced, the existence of magic wasn’t exactly shocking anymore.

So he had decided to play the hero.

He would rescue Hannah from this terrible place.

And, naturally, he would start by taking out the leader.

Once the head was gone, the rest should be easy.

With that brilliant strategy in mind, Tobias had slipped into Coulson’s office.

He raised the pipe wrench high.

Then Coulson turned around.

He should not have been able to see Tobias.

Yet he did.

And he was smiling.

Not quite a smile.

Something worse.

"Uh..."

Tobias froze.

Coulson’s eyes had changed.

The irises had become golden-yellow slits, unmistakably reptilian.

A wave of dread washed over Tobias.

Cold.

Slimy.

Predatory.

Every instinct he possessed screamed at him to run.

He had no idea what he was looking at.

He only knew he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

Tobias turned and fled.

"We’ll meet again."

Coulson calmly closed the wardrobe door.

Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "Or perhaps we won’t."

The office door suddenly burst open.

Melinda May hurried inside, her eyes sweeping the room.

"Coulson... what happened in here?"

Coulson suddenly swayed.

He pressed a hand against his head and blinked several times.

"May? When did you get here?"

He looked around, genuinely confused.

"Did something happen?"

"That’s exactly what I’m asking you."

May crossed the room and caught him by the arm.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"I... don’t know."

Coulson shook his head and stepped away from her support.

He felt as though he had blacked out after drinking too much.

Whatever had happened moments ago was simply gone from his memory.

"Maybe I’m more exhausted than I realized. We’ve been running missions nonstop lately."

"You’re not as young as you used to be."

May relaxed once Coulson seemed steady again.

"We used to work six months straight without a break. You never complained about being tired."

Coulson sighed.

"Maybe we’re getting old."

"What?"

"I said I’m getting old."

May gave him a cold look before walking out.

Was it just her imagination, or had Coulson’s unconscious talent for saying the wrong thing somehow become even worse lately?

Probably because he had been spending too much time around Evenson.

May frowned.

Damn Evenson.

He had wandered off and left them holding the bag, and he hadn’t even bothered explaining what they were supposed to do with the ghost.

Now Tobias had apparently decided to pick a fight with Coulson.

This was becoming a problem.

Everyone currently believed Hannah Higgins had superpowers because Tobias kept causing trouble around her.

Unless the ghost appeared in front of everyone and exposed himself, there was no way to clear up the misunderstanding.

Which meant they had to keep Hannah in containment.

And that meant putting an ordinary woman inside a freezer.

Hannah was already showing signs of psychological trauma. Locking her inside a freezer and subjecting her to repeated tests would probably leave her completely shattered by the time they discovered the truth.

May wasn’t comfortable with that.

Then she heard Simmons scream.

May immediately recognized the sound.

Tobias was causing trouble again.

That was actually good news.

With another eyewitness, proving that Hannah wasn’t responsible would be much easier.

May immediately ran toward Simmons.

As she moved, she reached into her bag and pulled out a dollar bill sword.

It had been made with a stack of American currency, some superglue, and a few coins.

Once she killed Tobias, she could simply claim Evenson had given her the thing as a supernatural ward.

Perfectly reasonable.

She hadn’t even taken two steps when the aircraft’s red emergency lights began flashing.

Tobias had indeed attacked Simmons.

But he hadn’t intended to kill her.

After the terrifying look Coulson had given him, Tobias had been frightened badly enough to rethink his plan.

Unfortunately, his replacement plan was somehow even stupider.

He decided to sabotage the aircraft.

The plane was flying above the clouds.

His solution was to damage it badly enough that it would have to make an emergency landing.

Then he would escape with Hannah during the confusion.

Apparently, Tobias had not spent much time considering what would happen if the emergency landing went badly.

I swear, when I get my hands on you, I’m making sure you never come back.

May had no choice but to turn around and run toward the cockpit.

She contacted the S.H.I.E.L.D. control tower and began arranging an emergency landing.

The aircraft eventually came down beside a large farm.

As soon as May checked the surrounding area from the cockpit, she moved.

She opened the containment room and grabbed Hannah.

"Come on."

Hannah barely had time to react before May dragged her outside.

Meanwhile, Simmons explained to everyone what had happened.

Fitz, naturally, felt compelled to provide a scientific explanation for the supernatural.

According to him, ghosts were entirely possible.

There were perfectly legitimate scientific theories that could explain such phenomena.

Coulson and the others accepted the explanation.

But they were all thinking the same thing.

Damn it, Evenson. Couldn’t you have waited five more minutes before leaving?

May took Hannah into a storage shed on the farm.

Tobias followed.

And for some reason, the ghost suddenly found the courage to confess everything.

He explained how he had sabotaged Hannah.

How he had loosened the screws.

How he had caused the accident.

How the explosion had happened.

He even admitted that although his soul remained in the mortal world, he was still suffering the torments of Hell.

Then, with absolutely no shame, he asked Hannah to forgive him.

Hannah looked at him.

Then forgave him.

Maybe she was simply too kind.

Or maybe she figured that if she gave the lunatic what he wanted, he’d finally leave her alone.

Either way, Tobias was ecstatic.

For the first time since his death, he felt completely relieved.

Then—

Thwack.

May struck Hannah in the neck.

The woman collapsed unconscious.

Tobias stared.

"You... you hurt her!"

His fury erupted instantly.

He prepared to make May pay.

May didn’t even flinch.

Instead, she walked over to the corner of the shed and picked up a heavy chain normally used on the farmer’s tractor.

She grabbed it with both hands.

Green flames erupted across the metal.

May’s eyes turned completely green, flames seeming to burn within them.

Her hair lifted behind her despite the lack of wind.

"You."

Her voice carried a strange, supernatural weight.

"Are guilty."

Flames seemed to spill from her mouth as she spoke.

Tobias froze.

For perhaps the first time in his miserable existence, he realized something important.

He wasn’t the strangest supernatural creature aboard that aircraft.

Not even close.

He had spent all this time thinking he was the terrifying ghost.

Apparently, he had been the normal one.

Tobias turned and ran.

No.

He had finally been forgiven.

He had finally confessed his feelings.

He couldn’t disappear now!

"Go to Hell."

May swung the flaming chain.

It shot through the air like a living serpent.

It wrapped tightly around Tobias from behind.

"Aaaaaah!"

His scream tore through the shed.

Green flames engulfed his body.

And perhaps, for the first time, Tobias truly understood what Hell meant.

"Cry."

May pulled the chain tighter.

"Beg."

Tobias spun helplessly through the air like a burning top.

"And then..."

May’s eyes burned brighter.

"Die."

She yanked the chain.

Tobias screamed once more before crashing onto his back.

The flames finally went out.

What remained was a blackened, charred corpse of a ghost.

May flicked the chain.

Tobias disintegrated into ash.

Under the combined burning of Hellfire and fel energy, even his soul had been destroyed.

There would be no afterlife waiting for him.

No resurrection.

No second chance.

Nothing.

Back in his office, Coulson’s lips curled upward.

"So we really won’t meet again."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Good."

After all, nobody downstairs had been particularly eager to see Tobias, either.

At the same time, in Nevada, a private estate stood beneath the night sky.

The grounds were enormous.

Elegant sculptures decorated the gardens, and at the center of the estate stood a fountain built in the style of the French Renaissance.

Even at this hour, water continued pouring from it.

Clearly, whoever lived here had never needed to worry about the electric bill.

Evenson wiped water from his face.

Then he looked at the woman beside him.

"Can someone explain to me how this happened?"

Lily Grant calmly removed her soaked wizard’s robe and wrung the water out of it.

"Heh."

She looked at him.

"You really have an eye for quality. Out of all the portals in Kamar-Taj, you chose mine."

Evenson frowned.

"You also decided to turn halfway through."

"Well, yes."

Lily shrugged.

"You wanted to come to Nevada. I was available."

The problem was that while the portal had technically reached the correct destination, it had deposited them directly in the middle of the fountain.

Evenson had gone from dry to completely drenched in less than a second.

He knew Lily had almost no interest in magic.

She had only learned how to create portals after the Ancient One had kicked her into the Sahara Desert and apparently decided that was an appropriate teaching method.

Lily rarely used the spell.

Evenson was beginning to understand why.

"I knew your portals were dangerous," he said, wiping more water from his hair. "But this is impressive."

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"I’ll have you know I got us to Nevada."

"You got us to a fountain."

"A fountain in Nevada."

"Still a fountain."

Evenson sighed.

"When I’m finished here and we head back to Kamar-Taj, could you try to be a little more careful?"

Lily folded her robe over one arm.

"If we land in a sewer, fine. I’m a warlock. I’ve dealt with worse."

He pointed at her.

"But please, for the love of everything holy, don’t accidentally drop us into a septic tank next time."