'.....'= Thoughts
"....."= Conversations
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Harry stood quietly in the Mirror Dimension, watching a man drive a car below. Thanks to Wei's skills, they were following the man without being seen. Earlier, during a battle, Harry had used his Sensing Technique to check for hidden enemies. That's when he noticed the man sitting suspiciously in a car about a mile from the SHIELD facility. Since the SHIELD outpost was in a remote area with no civilians around, anyone that far away was immediately suspicious.
'No civilian would be here,' Harry thought, frowning. Even SHIELD agents were stationed closer to the facility. A lone man miles away, sitting in a car with no reason to be there, raised red flags. 'He's definitely not here by chance.'
Although sensing someone from such a distance had used some of Harry's chakra, it was a small price to pay given his large reserves.
The man's behavior only heightened Harry's suspicions. The way the car circled, as if the driver was checking for a follower, indicated caution and intent. Harry wondered if this man was working for Alexander Pierce, possibly spying on the SHIELD facility. Pierce was known for his backup plans and always seemed a step ahead of Fury and SHIELD. This man could be reporting back to Pierce, sharing what he saw at the facility.
'If that's true, we need to act quickly,' Harry thought, his mind racing. He considered the man's abilities. It was possible he was Inhuman, someone who could see or sense things from afar. Harry was almost 60% sure of this. If this scout was linked to Pierce, they were running out of time. The man could have already told Pierce about their plans, and if Pierce found out, he would disappear again. Harry knew that if Pierce got away, finding him later would be tough.
'Stopping him is the best option,' Harry concluded. But doubts crept in. What if the man had a backup plan? If they attacked, would he alert Pierce? Would Pierce know the moment his scout was gone, or had he set up something to escape if his henchman was killed? The risks were high, and Harry had to be cautious.
As Harry contemplated his next move, the car suddenly turned into a forest, the driver seemingly confident he wasn't being followed. Harry and his team—Wei, Mark, Emily, and Emma—continued to follow the car through the Mirror Dimension, unseen. They passed through the thick trees, the world shimmering around them as Wei expertly kept them hidden in the alternate reality.
Once deep in the forest, the car stopped. The man got out and looked around, his movements careful, as if he was waiting for someone. Harry tensed, instinctively reaching for the Tesseract, ready to use its power if needed.
Suddenly, another man appeared out of nowhere next to the first. He didn't walk in or come from the shadows—he just materialized. Harry narrowed his eyes. 'Teleportation,' he thought.
Time was running out, and they had to act fast. "Wei, close the Mirror Dimension," Harry ordered. "We need to leave now."
As the shimmering world around them began to collapse, Mark was already ahead. He quickly cast an invisibility spell over the group, hiding them as soon as they exited the Mirror Dimension. Once back in the real world, the forest felt eerily quiet. Harry wasted no time, activating his Sensing Technique again.
He expanded his senses across the forest, looking for any signs of life. His brow furrowed in concentration as his chakra spread out, but he found nothing. The man and his teleporting companion had vanished.
'Not good,' Harry thought. 'They could be anywhere.'
Refusing to give up, he shifted his focus. 'If they're not above ground, they must be below it.' Closing his eyes, he adjusted his technique to search for life signs underground. It didn't take long. Harry quickly sensed several faint presences about five miles away.
"They're underground," Harry said, his voice tense but steady. "There's a whole group of them, five miles from here."
Without hesitation, Wei opened the Mirror Dimension again. His swift movements showed his mastery of sorcery. The shimmering veil between worlds opened easily, and he began navigating toward the hidden base Harry had sensed. As they moved, Harry felt a wave of unease wash over him. The feeling of danger loomed heavily in his mind.
"Wei, wait," Harry murmured, hesitant. "It's dangerous there... I can handle them by my—" Before he could finish, four pairs of eyes turned sharply toward him. Mark, Emma, Emily, and Wei all glared at him, daring him to continue. Harry froze under their collective gaze.
"What I meant," Harry quickly corrected, "is that we should be more careful."
The tension eased slightly as Wei, who had looked most irritated, sighed but returned his focus to the task.
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Deep underground, hidden in an old SHIELD facility from the early nineties, Alexander Pierce sat in a worn chair. The room was dimly lit, shadows clinging to the corners. Pierce wasn't alone; five of his most trusted subordinates were nearby, each dangerous and loyal.
After Fury's recent visit, Pierce had received orders from higher-ups to capture Harry and prevent him from taking the Tesseract. However, Pierce found this command hard to accept, as his intuition warned him something was off.
Unable to refuse the command, he sent two of his Inhuman subordinates—one a shapeshifter who could mimic anyone, and the other meant to gather intel without attracting attention.
Pierce's instinct had served him well, and he preferred to stay steps ahead of his enemies.
His gamble to ignore the orders had paid off. He received critical information from a contact within the World Security Council—an operative Fury hadn't found yet. The news was grim but not surprising. Fury had uncovered several Hydra operatives in the council, leading to a purge. However, not all of Pierce's allies had been discovered. One had escaped, but for how long, he couldn't tell. The informant warned that contact would be cut off for now to avoid detection.
Pierce leaned back in his chair, thinking through escape routes and backup plans. Fury had always been a thorn in his side, but with his resources dwindling and his network collapsing, he had little room for mistakes. The remote SHIELD outpost was an old facility, mostly forgotten. It wasn't much, but it would serve as a temporary hiding spot while Pierce regrouped.
He glanced at Thatan, who stood ready to act. Teleportation was a rare and valuable ability that had saved Pierce before. With a single thought, they could disappear from this hideout and reappear in one of their safehouses around the world. But teleportation had its limits. Each jump drained Thatan's energy, and the longer the distance, the more energy it took. Pierce knew they couldn't rely on it too much.
His other subordinates were just as powerful. Each one had a unique ability that made them essential to Pierce's operations. But even with their skills, the shadow of SHIELD—and especially Fury—loomed over them. They couldn't stay hidden forever. Sooner or later, they would be found, and when that happened, they had to be ready.
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