Chapter 45: Hello, Grant Ward

How to describe Dante's mood?

Comfortable.

Sure, he still didn't fully understand how the System chose its so-called "mission-related characters".

But hey, at least this time confirmed one thing:

Characters could show up again.

And best of all?

Clark Kent was still in the prize pool.

A guy like that would never drop some garbage-tier ability.

And looking at the results? Way beyond expectations.

First, Coulson.

As charming as the guy was, Dante hadn't expected much in terms of raw combat capability.

Yet the System dropped Kree blood.

A literal key to unlocking Inhuman abilities.

In other words, if Dante ever got his hands on a terrigen crystal? Boom—Inhuman unlocked.

Who knew what kind of power he'd get, but whatever it was, it was already light-years beyond Coulson's basic field skills. That was a full-on SSR drop.

Then came Captain America's Super Soldier Serum.

No need to explain. Just pure, no-frills, high-end physical enhancement.

Clean. Reliable. No downside.

Next up: Loki's Astral Projection and Hela's Necromancy.

The term "Astral Projection" sounded vague on paper, but once you got it translated to "your soul leaves your body but still punches people in the face"—well, that was very intuitive.

As for Hela's Necromancy? Naturally overpowered. Sure, it didn't exactly fit the FBI's official aesthetic, but Dante knew better than to care about PR.

He wouldn't use it in crowded urban zones, obviously—raising the dead kind of tended to cause more panic than a supervillain on a Tuesday.

And last but not least: Heat Vision.

Among Superman's Swiss-army-knife set of OP powers, it wasn't the flashiest.

But it was a staple.

It outclassed Cyclops' optic blasts by miles, and the energy modulation made it surprisingly versatile.

Need to cauterize a wound mid-fight? Done.

Laser-slice a tank in half? Also done.

And for Dante personally, it filled a huge gap: a dependable long-range attack, other than the occasional Green Lantern ring swipe.

In short?

Chef's kiss.

—

"So you're saying this guy—Superman—has some alien fortress in the shape of a pyramid in the North Pole?"

Fury's one eye widened as he stared Dante down.

"That's right. But don't even think about it," Dante warned. "Let me put it this way—there's no one on this Earth who can afford to piss that guy off. My advice? Forget this conversation ever happened. Delete the file in your brain. Don't do anything dumb and get us all nuked."

"…It can't be that bad. You've got the Goddess of Death on your side—"

Fury still wasn't fully convinced.

It was an alien fortress, after all. Who knows how many otherworldly black-tech toys were inside?

Forget raiding the whole thing—just getting one or two items could rocket Earth's science forward by a century.

"Fury," Dante said, cutting him off. His expression was stone-cold serious. "As long as you don't try to manipulate him—or anyone he cares about—he's the purest force for good we've ever seen. He saves people because he wants to. But if you ever make him give up on humanity…"

He didn't need to finish the sentence.

Injustice Superman was all the warning he needed.

"Fury, Agent Dante is right," Professor X added calmly from the side.

He didn't even need to read minds to know where Fury's head was at.

"I've seen what lies in people's hearts. Trust me—Superman is only dangerous if we make him dangerous."

"…Fine."

Fury rubbed his bald head and finally dropped the argument.

Dante knew he hadn't fully given up, but until an opportunity fell in his lap, he'd probably let it go.

"That's it for the mission report. I'm heading out."

"…What kind of mission report was that?! You just told me about Superman!"

"Huh? That's not the most important part?"

"Where the hell is Captain America?!"

"Med bay."

"Coulson?"

"Bathroom. Emo-ing with old photos of his ex."

"…Okay. You can go now."

Fury waved him off before this man stressed him into a second imported bottle of heart meds.

—

Dante didn't go straight home this time.

He dropped Hela off with Ada and Harley, letting the three women babysit each other.

Then, after dragging Coulson out of the thirty-first-floor bathroom with Loki, he made his way to the Coulson Team's airborne command post.

Technically, the Airbus belonged to him now—Fury had given it to him—but S.H.I.E.L.D. still had a whole fleet of similar airborne command platforms.

"Dante, you've seen everyone's files, so I won't introduce them one by one," Coulson said.

Dante scanned the room full of excited and composed faces, matching names to files with ease.

"H-hi, Agent Dante, you and the Star Team have basically become legends in the Bureau," said Fitz, clearly nervous.

"Fitz, not the time to stutter—Agent Dante," Simmons jumped in, eyes gleaming. "I heard you have incredibly advanced self-healing. Would it be possible to extract a sample of your tissue for research purposes?"

The Science Babies struck fast.

Dante smirked. These two were definitely indoor Agents to the core.

And Simmons? She had all the makings of a mad scientist in the making.

"Fitz, cool her down before she dissects him," Coulson muttered with a sigh.

They were great kids—brilliant—but very excitable.

"It's fine, Coulson," Dante chuckled. "But looks like not everyone's here. Where's Grant Ward?"

"Reporting, Agent Dante!"

Skye stepped up, trying to act cool and failing slightly.

"Agent Grant Ward is currently in the lounge. He's still debating whether he wants to join this team."

"Oh? That so? Guess I'll go say hello." Dante turned to Coulson. "Cap's been in the med bay long enough. He should be waking up soon. Might be good for your team to be there when he does. Guy's been on ice for almost a hundred years. Probably gonna need a moment."

With that, Dante waved and headed toward the lounge.

Halfway there, he glanced back over his shoulder at Skye.

"Next time you wanna sneak a peek, just do it openly. No need to lurk like a cartoon burglar."

He kept walking without waiting for her flustered response.

As he reached the lounge, he casually disabled the surveillance system along the way.

Time for a real conversation.

He stepped through the door.

"Hello, Grant Ward."

"As a HYDRA agent… you really don't feel even a little uncomfortable sitting here?"

(To be continued.)

***

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