Just as he was about to leave the office and settle for dinner somewhere random, a middle-aged man wearing a black suit and dark sunglasses with a severely receding hairline appeared at the office.
Even though the man hadn't spoken yet, the first moment he saw him, Russell knew who he was.
Phil Coulson!
S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8 agent, model American agent, avid fan of Captain America, and one of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Mom messes with Farkman Nick Fury's most capable subordinates.
Russell hadn't dealt with Coulson since coming to this world, but that didn't mean he didn't know Coulson.
In a way, he even knows Coulson's future.
"Mr. Bradley, hello! I'm Phil Coulson, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. New York."
Upon entering the office, Coulson removed his sunglasses and spoke directly.
As he introduced himself, he extended his right hand towards Russell, in the manner of shaking Russell's hand.
Russell, however, had absolutely no intention of shaking Coulson's hand and instead surveyed his left hand.
The Broken Hand Stalker is kind of a traditional art form in the comic book world.
Coulson is one of them.
"Something?"
Russell returned his gaze to Coulson's face with a casual look.
Coulson smiled and brought his right hand back, saying slowly, "May we sit and talk?"
"Sit down."
Though Coulson hadn't made his intentions clear at this point, Russell could already roughly guess why he'd come over.
Unsurprisingly, Coulson had also come over for the Inner Symbiotic Battle Armor.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had quite a bit of black technology, but something like high-tech battle armor was just as interesting to them.
After sitting down, Coulson looked at Russell, who was sitting across from him, and said with a kind face, "Yesterday, we observed a flight phenomenon, and know that you, Mr. Bradley, flew a few laps around the city in a suit of high-tech battle armor yesterday."
"Is it convenient to ask if that battle armor is the latest product from Stark Industries?"
While both are interested in the Inner Symbiotic Battle Armor, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s style is completely different from HYDRA's.
Bakshi, who was here on behalf of Hydra, wanted to study the battle armor as soon as he opened his mouth.
And Coulson, who was here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., was more than a little euphemistic.
"I shouldn't be under any obligation to confess to you, should I?"
Russell asked rhetorically.
HYDRA wasn't a good organization, but S.H.I.E.L.D. he disliked just as much.
The fact that the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. is black goes without saying.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "all I do is protect the world" face alone was not something he liked.
Yes, S.H.I.E.L.D. is indeed a legitimate intelligence agency with an official background.
But that doesn't mean Russell is going to be all that kind to them.
Legal is legal and like is like, they are two different things.
"It's true that you're under no such obligation, I was just asking."
Coulson, completely unconcerned by Russell's attitude, smiled.
"Is there anything else, if not, I'm off duty."
Russell said directly.
"We are very interested in that battle armor, and we wish to buy your battle armor if you are willing."
"If you don't want to sell the battle armor, some of the related technical data, we are also willing to acquire."
Robbing by force has never been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s modus operandi.
Things that can be solved by legal means, they are inclined to utilize legal means to solve them.
The exception, of course, is when facing dangerous people and terrorist organizations.
"I have no intention of selling either the battle armor or the data."
Russell refused without even thinking about it.
Selling the battle armor to S.H.I.E.L.D., unless he was out of his mind, how could he not have made such an out-of-body decision?
Even if S.H.I.E.L.D. was willing to trade the Tesseract for it, he would never consider it.
The Tesseract is a good one though.
But if he wanted it, he'd consider just grabbing it instead of trading it for battle armor.
Granted, robbing someone is not something to be championed, but the Tesseract was never S.H.I.E.L.D.'s in the first place.
S.H.I.E.L.D. also stole it from Hydra.
S.H.I.E.L.D. can take the Tesseract from HYDRA, and he can certainly take it from S.H.I.E.L.D..
Don't forget, he's a HYDRA now.
Granted, he had just joined Hydra less than a day ago, but that didn't matter.
Getting the Tesseract back from S.H.I.E.L.D. for Hydra makes sense!
"That's okay, here's my card, if you change your mind you can always contact me."
With that said, Coulson pulled a business card from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table in front of Russell.
After placing his business card, Coulson got up and nodded to Russell and left the office without looking back.
When Coulson left, Russell picked up the business card on his desk and glanced at it.
Then, straight into the trash.
Hell's Kitchen.
Happy Peacock Chinese Restaurant.
Russell sits in the dining room, enjoying his dinner alone.
Diana was away on a business trip and there wasn't much to do when she got home.
Just as he was contemplating whether he should go to the Continental Hotel to have some fun, like talking to Perkins about life, he saw someone.
What the hell is going on today?
Why are they jumping out one by one?
On the dimly lit street corner across from the restaurant stood a man in a tight red uniform.
Though the light was a bit dim, the first moment he saw the man, Russell recognized him.
The man is no other than Nightcrawler Matt Murdock.
King and though he spent $10 million dollars on a bounty for the true identity of Nightcrawler.
But until now, no one has claimed the bounty.
Russell can claim it if he wants to.
But he wasn't interested in Jin and the bounty, and he wasn't interested in the feud between Jin and Nightmare Man.
As long as they didn't bother him, he wouldn't be interested even if they turned Hell's Kitchen into a battlefield in Syria.
After seeing Nightcrawler standing like a streetwalker on a dimly lit street corner, Russell turned his head to look around.
I can't believe you're not alone?
In addition to Nightmare, he saw three more people in other locations on the street.
A strong black man in a hoodie.
A man in a green uniform with a yellow hood.
A dark-haired woman in jeans and a black leather jacket.
What is this?
A team event?
Aside from the man in the green uniform, neither the black man nor the brunette looked out of place, dressed normally.
But upon seeing them, Russell immediately guessed who they were.
Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones!
The three of them, plus Nightcrawler, are the entirety of the superhero team the League of Defenders today.
The League of Defenders hadn't been around Hell's Kitchen much during the week, but Russell didn't think they'd just stumbled in now.
From the way they were standing, it looked like a roundup anyhow.
As for the target of the roundup, naturally, he was sitting in the restaurant shivering his third bowl of ground beef.