Marvel : the Author

Hello everyone ! Hope you guys (gals and others) are well ! Hopefully by the end of this week, I'll be a much happier man ! Working at the reception desk alone can get quite stressful, tiring and mentally draining. Especially when the Karens come and the manager just doesn't want to see them…

Anyways, I have to correct a mistake I made last week about my other fic (the InFamous/the Boys one) : I missed a post. You see I decided to post on Friday and Sunday and assumed I did it… only to realize I didn't last Friday. So, yeah, there's one chap missing, making it at chapter 5 on Patréon right now ! If you want to check it out or read advanced chapters or discover some of my other works, search for Cathbel on their website.

And now, the minute culture… These days, I'm playing a rogue-lite game called Dreamscaper. Pretty neat. You character gets to sleep at night and live adventures while working through her traumas and gets up in the morning to spent the « currencies » you unlocked at night, as well as build friendships. No grand story of saving the world or anything, but still a pretty interesting story about loss and rebuilding oneself that's mostly implied. Check it out, you guys (gals and others !).

And now, onto the chapter ! Enjoy !

=============

« So, huh… I guess you've heard about them ? » I ask, surprised at their reaction.

Since Coulson has visited us once and mom didn't seem to recognize him, I thought they didn't know about S.H.I.E.L.D. Looks like I was wrong : they know. How, though ?

Mom shrugs and dad explains :

« What we do, it's… It's a small world. And while it's officially a spy agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. deals in all things bizarre and unexplained. Frankly, I always thought they were stretching themselves too thin… Anyways, it means that we have, on occasion, had to deal with their agents make a mess of things. »

Mom supplies :

« They know shit about magic ! Bumbling morons acting like tough shit… »

I can't help but feel my eyebrow twitch at that and the knee-jerk reaction of remonstrating my mom is held back… Barely. She's a real hypocrite to want me not to speak badly, and yet she goes and say stuff like that. If I say anything however, she'll just say that she's an adult, while I'm not, and to go talk to her about it in a few years. My guess ? In a few years, she'll have found another excuse why it's okay for her and why I should not do it…

My dad brings my mother out of her cursing fit by simply asking :

« Shall we ? »

I nod while wondering how they'll behave in front of the bald pirate. I really don't want them to embarrass me… I also don't want them to know that, since that'll only push my mom to do it. According to her, I should confront my fear and what makes me uncomfortable. Expert opinion, she says. So, if she knows… I can't help the shiver running down my spine.

Dad opens the portal after a moment and we step through… To land right inside Fury's office, alarms blaring overhead and the rush of boots running on the ground beyond the door. I look at dad with a look of :  'Really ? You just had to bring us here ?' I don't know if he has understood it since his eyes are currently focused on the man behind the desk. My father's hands are resting on either side of him, in an attitude that was not confrontational, but a little too relaxed not to be taken wrongly by someone as intense as Nick Fury. Mom, on the other hand, simply waved at the man and started skipping around. A comment soon flies out of her mouth :

« Still as Spartan as ever, huh, Nick ? » She sighs. « So~ boring ! »

He sighs, bringing a hand to rub the bridge of his nose :

« You two… » The next moment, his annoyance disappears and is replaced by his poker face. He glances at the three of us, and seems to have reached a conclusion… One that I don't like before he even voices it. Thankfully, you don't become a master spy by simply blurting out every piece of information you figure out, every suspicion you nourish. Instead, he pushed a button on his desk phone and order before anyone has the chance to answer :

« Stand down, all of you ! » As if an afterthought, he adds : « And cut the freaking alarm off ! »

Then, he cuts the call and focuses his gaze on my father, briefly glancing at me. He demands :

« Why are you here ? »

Even though I feel like he should ask the question to me, since I was in his custody not long ago, it's directed at my father… Or at least, his gaze is. Still, since I kind of am the person leading this party, I tell him :

« Quake, Squirrel Girl and Spider-Man… Are they here, too ? »

At this, a slight provocative smirk stretches his lips :

« So… You've come to what ? Spring them if they are ? »

Then, it disappears and he shakes his head :

« They aren't. Except for you, Otto Octavius and Aleksei Sytsevich, we found no one else… »

It's my turn to sigh, now. I expected it, but I really wished they'd been there. Unless it's a snake infested Hydra nest, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still a lot safer than any alternative I can think off. And right now, all the alternatives aren't pretty…

They might have been taken by the rest of the Sinister Six. The most logical option. Problem is, they were contracted to attack us, capture us… So, who wants us ? My guess is, of course, the Kingpin. But maybe it's someone else with deep pocket. The Hellfire club ? They might want to study us or force us to work for them. Osborn's opposed us, but even he seemed to answer to someone else. Hydra is another option. Or Task Force X. Or even Mister Sinister… The Sinister Six and Mister Sinister working together… I've got chills. Not the good kind, either !

Still, despite all the bad scenarios running around inside my head, there's only one I really believe in… Doesn't change the fact that I don't know where they are and in what state… For all I know, they might already be…


I shake my head at that, a firm resolve forming in my core. No matter what, I will see this through. I will bring them home safe ! If not… If it turns out that they were killed, that I find their lifeless bodies, I'd still bring them home. And then… Well, I did want to kill a fat evil lard of crime lord.