The Exorcist Sub-Personality chanted in Chinese, and it was a dialect, so Thor and the others didn't understand. (TL/N: The author means the Exorcist Sub-Personality was chanting in a non-standard regional form of Chinese, making it sound more obscure and harder to understand, even for Chinese speakers.)
But when they saw a strand of Thor's hair rise and fly on its own like it came alive, moving in one clear direction, they knew Raymond was using some special power.
When Raymond rushed after it, they followed from a distance but did not get too close.
Raymond had warned them not to disturb him, or the deal would be off.
The Exorcist landed lightly at the second-floor hallway of the factory.
The strand of hair suddenly seemed lost and spun in small circles in the air.
He reached out and caught it. "If nothing's wrong, this is where she vanished…"
"Thanks for the help," Raymond said in his mind, then switched back to the John Sub-Personality.
John glanced at Thor and the others, snapped his fingers, and burned the hair in front of Thor.
Thor understood—Raymond was telling him not to overthink it.
Then John stopped looking at them, picked up a broken stone, and started drawing on the floor like he was sketching at random.
"Thor actually went there… huh? And Tony and Dr. Raymond? Who's the other one… Okay, send it to me, thanks." In his office, Director Fury was on the phone with Agent Hand.
After hanging up, he looked at the white-haired older man in a cowboy hat sitting across from him. "It's Agent Hand."
"Hand, huh… been a while. How is she?" the cowboy-hat man smiled.
"My dear Principal Dugan, she's your student. You're asking me?" Fury shot back.
Yes—the man across from him was Dum Dum Dugan, the current head of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy and one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I told you, once I stepped down, I wouldn't mess with the situation. If I kept calling Hand, you'd be the one getting nervous…" Dugan chuckled and shook his head.
"You're overthinking it," Fury leaned back.
"Enough about that," Dugan changed the subject. "If Hand called you, is there an emergency?"
"Right, here's the situation…"
Fury gave a short rundown, including Hand's latest update.
"Dr. Raymond… the same one you placed in the Academy? How did he get tied up with Tony?" Dugan asked, surprised.
"I'm not sure yet," Fury said, shaking his head.
Just as he was about to go on, an encrypted message came in.
He didn't hide it. He pushed it to the office holo-projector for display.
The images came from Agent Hand, taken by drones from different angles.
In the photos were Thor in his iconic armor with his hammer, Tony in casual clothes, and Raymond in a flashy white suit.
Beside them stood a devil-like figure, red from head to toe.
"Mutant?" Director Fury frowned at the red devil.
"It's Red Devil, a tricky Level Four mutant," Dugan added.
"I once compiled a list of most known Level Three and above mutants with significant threat levels. Red Devil was one of the standouts," Dugan said with a shrug.
"Level Four…" Fury's face grew serious.
For S.H.I.E.L.D., and any human force, Level Four was a dividing line.
With a Level Three, as long as you were ready and not ambushed, a modern squad could handle it—even suppress them head-on.
Level Four was different.
A Level Four meant they had crossed a threshold in their power. If pushed, regular troops were basically useless.
In a city, the damage they could cause was beyond prediction—worse than terrorists.
So governments and agencies were extremely careful with Level Fours and above. Unless they were sure of a one-shot kill or had a perfect counter, they wouldn't pick a fight.
Fury didn't know Red Devil personally, but a Level Four would be trouble.
"So they ended up together after all…" Fury sighed when he saw Red Devil in the shots.
"If I remember right, Dr. Raymond is also a mutant?" Dugan asked.
He had told Dugan about placing Raymond in the Academy, so Dugan knew a fair bit.
"Some things are beyond human will. At my age, I'm starting to believe in 'fate'," Dugan said, noticing Fury's worry and trying to comfort him.
"Fate, huh…" Fury repeated, then countered, "What do you think S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fate is?"
"What's wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Hearing the tone, Dugan's expression tightened.
"HYDRA… is back," Fury said, one word at a time.
Dugan shot upright, incredulous. He shook his head again and again. "Impossible. We wiped them out. Don't joke about this."
"I knew you wouldn't believe me." Fury didn't argue. He pulled a printed file from his drawer and tossed it to Dugan.
Dugan read it, his face growing darker with every page.
John's scrawled symbols were done. He stepped back two paces, bit his finger, and drew a sigil on his forearm with blood.
Then he faced the hallway and chanted, "Ha-gu-li-si-da… Ba-xi-mo-ya… In my name, I command you—open!"
The crude markings on the floor began to glow with a faint gold light.
A moment later, a violent wind roared through the corridor!
It was like an invisible giant hand was tearing space itself—ripping open a crack at the hallway entrance!
Thor, not far away, saw Jane Foster lying unconscious beyond the rift. His hammer pulled him forward, and he flew straight into the crack.
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