The midday sun blazed like a merciless spotlight, its heat bending the world beneath it into a wavering mirage, burning too fiercely for any human eye to endure.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead—whether from the heat or from the crushing realization that his world was far stranger than he had ever imagined—Nick Fury finally pulled himself together and sprinted toward his car.
Of course, he wasn't new to the weird side of the world, but today he was hit once again with another profound lesson—never underestimate any possibility.
Aliens? What's next… angels, demons, and magicians?
Oh, right. We already have one of those.
"Motherfu—" he bit off the curse, growling it under his breath as he yanked the car door shut. His glare cut to his partner, voice sharp with fire.
"Follow them!"
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, two pairs of eyes had witnessed everything that unfolded here—probably even more than he did.
High above the street, concealed by powerful invisibility magic, Maverick and Isabella perched atop a floating construct, quietly watching—and occasionally commenting on—the chaos playing out below.
Isabella had already pulled out her recorder and started filming everything. After all, she was a journalist now, and whether or not it had anything to do with their magical world, this was still a huge story.
Besides, she wasn't doing anything illegal, like crossing the secrecy law. She wasn't interfering with Muggle affairs or exposing herself—just quietly recording from the shadows.
Even if she did, what could anyone do to her? Is the ICW going to arrest her? Of course not. Rules are only meant to control the weak, or people without connections. And Isabella had more than one pair of thick enough thighs behind her to make anyone think twice before even trying anything.
And really, the magical world had every right to know their discovery. News of life beyond Earth would be a first for them as well, and seeing them with abilities similar to her own kind made it all the more monumental.
Maverick glanced at her from the corner of his eye and could only let out a helpless smile at her antics. He hadn't realized just how passionate Isabella was into this—into being a reporter.
At first, he had thought she had chosen this profession to help him achieve his ambitions, but now it was clear that he had been mistaken. Observing her behavior, it was obvious that she was completely in her own element—a full-on, news-hungry reporter with zero pretense.
"Are you sure, Ricky, that's a creature not from our world? Like… an actual alien, from outside?" Isabella asked. Her tone wasn't shocked in the slightest—if anything, she sounded almost giddy as Maverick explained his theory.
Of course, it wasn't really a theory. He knew exactly what it was, but he couldn't exactly admit, Yeah, I've seen this in a movie from my past life. So he kept it vague.
"That's definitely not a magical creature," he said calmly, nudging the magical construct they stood on to rise a little higher for a clear view of the action below—the woman who would one day be Captain Marvel chasing the Skrull, and Nick Fury, along with… not Coulson, hot on their trail.
"I can't sense any trace of magical energy from it. The only other explanation could be a mutant, but I've never heard of multiple mutants sharing the exact same ability."
Earlier, when Nick Fury had been momentarily frozen by Danvers suddenly displaying her powers and the Skrull, another shapeshifter had slipped in from behind him, flawlessly taking on the form of the other agent who had entered the Blockbuster store just moments before.
Fury didn't notice, but Maverick and Isabella saw it clearly—what had first looked like an ordinary Muggle suddenly changed form, exactly like how the one Danvers was chasing.
So if there were already two… then it could only mean there were more, ruling out the possibility that these strange creatures were mutants.
"Are we going to tell him?" she asked, eyes never leaving the camera's viewfinder, flicking between the speeding car and the on-foot chase that had now spilled onto the top of a moving train.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Maverick replied, the corner of his lips curling up as they paced above. Of course, he was ready to take action at any moment—obviously he couldn't exactly let Fury die.
Inside the car at that very moment, a fistfight was erupting while the vehicle zigzagged wildly out of control. It seems Fury has finally realized that his "partner"... wasn't really his partner.
"To the front, Ricky! I want to capture the cat fight!" Isabella nudged him sharply in the arm, her eyes alight, her voice buzzing with excitement.
Maverick's corner of his lips twitched, but he obliged nonetheless.
Isabella was grinning from ear to ear, capturing every tense second of the back-and-forth struggle between one man and one green alien.
"They are not physically, in terms of strength, that much different from ordinary humans. At least not that one…" she remarked from time to time as the fight dragged on, until—
Boom!
Screeech…
Eventually, Fury managed to turn the tide. With one clean shot right between the brows, he put the Skrull impostor down, then wrestled the car back under control and brought it to a stop.
"Hm… it's green?" Isabella finally lifted her head from the viewfinder, squinting at the crumpled body to get a better look.
"Well, more proof it's not an Earthling. We humans—whether mutants or magicals—at least all bleed red, right?" Maverick shrugged his shoulders.
Isabella made a thoughtful expression as she nodded, then shut off the magical camera with a contented smile and stowed it in her storage ring.
"So, what's next? Where's that woman and the other alien?"
Maverick smiled helplessly. "No need to look for them. The alien has slipped away, and the woman's searching in the opposite direction."
His magical sense hadn't left Danvers and the Skrull, but he had no intention of chasing them for now. If memory serves, what happens next would be Danvers digging into her past, eventually stumbling across Project Pegasus—likely in a day or two.
The entire movie—at least the Earth-side plot—wasn't very long, he thought, hand on chin. Aside from the flashbacks, it all unfolded over just a few days, and if things really did follow the script, it was shaping up to be the perfect holiday for him.
Following the aliens with his fiancée, having fun together and maybe picking up a few alien tech "souvenirs" along the way—what's not to like about that?
That said, he wasn't planning to just sit on the sidelines until the very end. The real opportunities—specifically the Tesseract—would, or should, make its debut a little later, and that's when he would make his appearance. Until then, though, he preferred to let certain events play out naturally.
Of course, that was assuming no unexpected surprises popped up—which he wasn't leaving to chance. The moment he realized things were going off the rails compared to what he remembered, he would, by all means, try to track down the cosmic cube, even if it meant rummaging through a few minds along the way.
Besides, tonight was New Year's Eve. He had a surprise planned for Isabella—a romantic dinner somewhere special, and he wasn't about to miss it. As for Fury and Danvers, a simple tracking charm was more than enough. Their trail would still be there tomorrow.
"Let's go," Maverick said with a smile, linking arms with Isabella. "We can find them tomorrow, but for now… I'm still craving some of those ribs. Hopefully the other places are just as good."
---
They didn't linger long at the sight, and after realizing that most of the nearby restaurants had closed due to the earlier commotion, Maverick decided it was time to take Isabella to his surprise location. Thanks to the time zone difference, it was almost sunset there, with only a couple of hours left until evening.
But first, they returned to their hotel, took quick showers, and changed into casual-formal outfits: Isabella in a stunning fiery dress, Maverick in a smart-casual ensemble with a loose long-sleeve shirt and crisp white pants. Only then, with a subtle flick of magic, they teleported halfway across the world.
Their destination: the Maldives. Maverick had reserved a grand suite at a luxurious five-star resort, perched right over the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean—a perfect spot to welcome the New Year together.
They spent the first part of the evening enjoying the scenery and soaking in the extravagant New Year's decorations, impressive even by Muggle standards. Then, they moved to a private beach where a candlelit dinner awaited them.
Needless to say, Isabella couldn't hide her delight at the gesture. The couple shared a quiet, romantic evening under the stars, the ocean stretching endlessly before them, before finally stepping back to admire the resort's fireworks display.
But the night wasn't over yet. After dinner, they joined the resort's big festival, dancing with the crowd to DJs and music, even squeezing in some karaoke. By the end of it, both were laughing and breathless, calling it a night with hearts full and memories made.
---
Two days later, Mojave Desert, California.
A deafening boom ripped through the air as a heavily armored, heavily customized aircraft—its size somewhere between a VTOL and a private jet, with a sleek black hull glinting under the harsh desert sun—blasted out of what appeared to be a military base.
Gunfire cracked and ricocheted off its reinforced plating, sparks trailing behind as bullets and energy blasts tried to catch up. The jet shuddered with each near hit but clawed higher into the sky, engines screaming as it pierced the thin desert air, leaving a plume of dust and smoke in its wake.
After spending New Year's Eve in the Maldives, Maverick and Isabella once again returned to the United States, and had been quietly trailing Fury and Danvers ever since.
Until now, Maverick hadn't made a move, content to simply observe alongside Isabella. Judging by everything that had happened—from Danvers uncovering the Pegasus secrets to Fury tracking her down—he concluded that most events were unfolding exactly as he remembered from the movie.
Eventually, they traced the duo to a desert facility that, on paper, appeared to be a NASA lab. Ofcourse, in reality, it was the true Pegasus base, a high-security U.S. military installation.
Casting one last incredulous glance at the dozen or so soldiers who had let the pair escape with a stolen, bloody Quinjet prototype of all things—something, for lack of a better word, that could only be explained as plot armor—Maverick chose to leave as well.
"Hold on…" he murmured, wrapping an arm around Isabella and forming a magical barrier in front of them to shield against the wind.
Then, with a gentle nudge of his magic, he lifted their construct high into the air and propelled it forward at an incline, soaring above the desert and slicing through the clouds toward the east.
"Where are they going?" Isabella asked, gripping him tightly as they trailed the duo ahead. Half an hour had passed, and they were now maintaining a steady pace at virtually constant velocity, keeping roughly a kilometer behind.
"Up ahead should be Louisiana…" he paused, then nodded, having made a decision. "Bella, I think it's about time we make an entrance, don't you?"
Isabella raised a brow and shrugged, letting him decide. She was just following along—but, honestly, it was starting to get a little boring.
"Are we… apparating in to spook them?" she asked mischievously.
"Of course not. I don't want to be swallowed by a cat…"
"A what?"
"Hehe… never mind," he chuckled. "Anyway, how could I, a dignified archmage make an entrance that boring?"
With that, he grinned wildly and raised his free hand, letting his vast magic ripple outward, spreading through the air like a storm about to break.
—————————
Author's Note:
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