章 8: Chp. 8 The Date
Just as Nick Fury and Coulson stood outside did the director turn of the jammer within his hand.
"zzz-re-zZ-tor ZZ-ury, Director Fury can you hear me?" A slightly concerned voice was heard as soon as the device stopped within the earpiece of Fury.
"I am fine Agent Hill, have the men retreat for now and place surveillance for any group that might try to approach Mister Esteban inside." Nick briefly gave out orders to also make sure the requests of Paul were arranged immediately.
"Sir if I may…" Coulson called out from the side.
"What is it Phil?" Fury looked at his trusted agent and knew that the guy was excited about what he had just heard because he too was excited as well knowing an iconic hero might resurface but he still was able to pick up something within Paul's words.
"It seems Mr. Esteban here already knew who we were and seeing him showing no hostility means that he is not of any threat to us for the moment. So I wanted to stay behind and observe him more closely in case I might be able to pick up new information." Coulson looked at Fury seriously but as he finished a folded paper shuriken flew towards the director making him subconsciously catch the origami between his two fingers.
"That's a list of materials that I'll be needing and the equipment that I'll need in the nearby future." Paul's voice could be heard by the two agents who were quite impressed at the finesse of control Paul had to throw that from the living room to them.
"Alright agent, keep contact with him so we can prepare if any events might happen that needs our intervention. Also find everything you can on the 'target' that he said about, I'll have someone find you to give the things he asked for." Fury was in a hurry as he also saw from his phone that the council was asking about what happened in Central Park.
Meanwhile inside the apartment Coulson returned which made Paul look at him come back inside the Apartment with some hopeful eyes.
"What? You want a goodbye kiss or something? Sorry I don't swing that way bro. no homo." Paul said as he started washing the dishes by the sink.
"I have been assigned to observe and help Mr. Esteban in case you have need of anything more as the new Consultant of our division." Coulson looked at his phone and saw that he already was given the apartment besides Paul's and that the key would be given to him in a moment.
"I see, that's something Fury would do but I think there is something more isn't there Agent? Sorry but that was all I could divulge for the moment, the Missing Link would appear after some test done by the chinese and people should start to be nice or else Santa would not give presents to anyone again." Paul gave a slight sad smile.
"So you were not kidding about that?" Coulson looked at Paul with a frown cause he thought he was kidding earlier as his mind was more at the fact that HYDRA, the enemies of Captain America was still ever present in the US.
"No, like I said earlier there are those who were given immense powers by the X-gene. One of those is Santa Clause himself, but there are also other powers of his that are not related to his x-gene cause there were speculations he knows how to use magic and stuff like that." Paul finished his dishes and went to get his coat.
"So when I asked for a limited edition card before it was him? But what about the ones the parents buy for us when we were kids? You don't expect that no one would notice when there are extra presents on the tree when they wake up do they?" Coulson looked at Paul following him as they walked out of the apartment.
"Like I said, magic. There are spells known by sorcerers to make everybody forget about something so maybe Santa knows this and makes the parents believe that they were the one that bought the presents. Anywho, when will I get that 100K of mine?" Paul looked at Coulson who was beside him in the elevator.
"Soon Mr. Esteban, it'll just have some time to process as we are also making an identity for you to stay here in the US." Phil said as the info is being said to him in his earpiece. " And can I ask where are you planning to go right now?"
"The mall, just wanted to do some shopping." Paul answered.
[SHIELD]
Nick Fury was in a room looking at different screens with faces of powerful influential politicians of the Country. He had just finished reporting the events that happened within Central Park and told everyone present about the new threat that calls himself Exodus and how he is classified as a Omega level mutant. He also reported Paul but he downplayed his contribution and placed him on an Alpha mutant level that helped turn the tides of battle.
"Do you have any records about who these new mutants are Fury?" asked Council Member Hawley.
"No we do not, these two are new and possibly not even born in this era or planet." Nick answered in a vague way but it did catch the attention of some in the council.
"Elaborate Nick, what do you mean not from this era and especially not from this planet?" Council Member Pierce looked at Nick seriously as they too have knowledge of some extraterrestrial presence out of the Planet.
"It means that one is a very old dude from the past and another is someone who seemed like a ghost to our system, no records or anything that could point to his direction." Nick saw the faces of the council members vary in reaction but he continued.
"The first one we have is someone named Paul Esteban, I myself had the honor in meeting this new guest of ours and gathered some intel that might be useful for everyone in the world. Though he did not explicitly say anything about him is that he is not from this planet. Soon I'll pass on a report of the things I learned from him and send it all to you in encrypted files so no one else but you could access them." Nick did give some seriousness about Paul's situation but that was all so that the council would not try to pry more into him as he wanted them to focus more on what they found about Exodus.
"The last one we have this new big bad 'Exodus' or so he calls himself, though we have no records of him in our data base we were able to track down where he came from and deduced a number of things. His first appearance was found to have been near the Alps in Switzerland, which recently where we found active presence of the mutant terrorist Magneto.
Though we have no match for him we were able to find something interesting from the few drops of blood we were able to find in the battlefield, there were no match to anyone but some findings did lead us somewhere. Some people near the place were found to have similarity in DNA with this Exodus…" Nick Fury gave a pause as he looked at the faces of the Council.
"Well, were you able to find close relatives of this new mutant?" Council member Malick asked.
"Now this here is the catch, we found his relatives but these people are considered to be the great- great- great- great- great- great-grandchildren of this Exodus guy after we ran some ancestral DNA test trying to find leads. Now do you all see why I said this man might be from the past? We are now fighting the ancestor of some people in the Alps." Nick Fury also went to explain what they had observed from the various statements of the mutants of Exodus powers.
This went on for a few minutes until the meeting is over leaving Fury standing in his office thinking of how to make Paul spill out more secrets.
[Central Park New York]
Paul sat in a park bench with Coulson watching the people go on about their lives like the events earlier the day did not happen. Though there were news of some terrorist mutant group attacking the people of New York appear which made him raise his eye brows a bit remembering a certain bacteria or virus that hates mutants.
"Speaking of which, did you and your division have list of supernatural events happening all around the globe?" Paul was eating a burger along with Coulson who was drinking diet coke.
"We do have records of inexplicable things or events, why? Is there something that we should pay attention too?" Phil felt that there might be some things Paul would divulge.
"Have you ever heard of the saying 'There is no smoke if there is no fire.'? Just like how did mythologies come to be and how every civilization even with no contact to each other they have their own versions of dragons and such. Santa Claus exist so there is a large possibility that whose birthday he celebrates also exist, though just not in the way we expect but there are merits if you know some things about myths and legends." Paul knew that besides Thor there are a lot of mythical and rare beings out there in that might be wandering about with the common people.
"I see, it seems that there might be a lot of re-planning to do in case such things are discovered." Coulson was thoughtful as he heard Paul's words. There were indeed many cases which were gathering dust due to the inexplicability of their nature and hearing Paul's words made him and Fury who was listening to try look at the old files with a different perspective.
"Well, the day is still bright so let's go find me some car to buy." Paul did not say anymore as he went and bought a car with Coulson following him around. Using the new ID and documents he has as well as the credit card with the $100,000 he bought a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado with 30K in a nearby car dealership as well as some various stuff that made Coulson look at Paul skeptically.
There were mostly camping equipment, boots, hammers, saws, various carpentry tools, a sand bag, gloves, thick overalls, a wielding machine, paint, nails and any more. Paul spent almost 85k in just one day which made Coulson discover how Paul carried a lot of things but show no signs of fatigue or weakness.
"Hey, I forgot to ask. Are there any empty warehouses or storage unit nearby which I can use or rent?" Paul looked at the Agent who was somehow sweating a bit following him walking briskly all around buying stuff.
"Is there any particular reason why you need it?" Coulson asked but he was just delaying a bit to hear from Nick Fury through his coms. A few seconds later a message arrived in his phone as well as Paul's which made them look at what they received.
"It seems we have an available storage unit for use nearby, I'll guide you there after you are done with you shopping." Coulson said as he looked at Paul who was smiling while looking at his phone making him look at Paul questioningly wondering what he received.
"Nice, thank Fury for me. And don't worry, I just received a message about my date for tomorrow." Paul was feeling a bit worried earlier since he had not received a message after he changed phones but fortunately Shanna seemed to have remembered to text his number that he left.
"I see, pardon my curiosity but what is the purpose of the things you are gathering?" Phil had to ask cause Fury also sent with the message to inquire the purpose of what Paul was gathering. Fury does not want to speak through the ear pieces because he felt Paul might pick up something with his very sensitive hearing.
"Nothing much, I was just planning to make my own personalized gym. I just can't have a normal gym due to my physical strength so I need to at least make my own that might be able to handle the intensity of my training." Paul felt that this was not much of an important secret.
"Would it be okay for me to observe the process Mr. Esteban?" Phil was curious as he had heard Paul seemed to have extraordinary strength so hearing him planning to make a personalized training place might be useful for SHIELD.
"Sure, no problem, just tell these guys where the warehouse is so they'll get the stuff there as quick as possible." Paul nodded as he loaded the items he had bought in the hardware store. Some employees also followed him cause he also bought large supplies of wood and steel which will be delivered by the store to where he wanted them.
"Sure thing." Coulson nodded as he went to give the address somewhere in W 55th St. near Central Park. Paul had Coulson drive his new car because even with his license he still hasn't adjusted yet after years of not driving a manual car. But he did observe on the way which made him able to see how Coulson drives making him understand enough of the basic mechanics in driving by the time they arrived.
It took about two hours until what he ordered arrived and Paul getting the keys as well as documents to show he now owns the large storage unit. It was also conveniently placed in an inconspicuous corner where he could go to three directions to leave which is the entrance, backdoor and fire escape routes.
"Huh, you really went a bit much here Agent." Paul looked around and felt that even if he trains here there would not be much noise that could disturb as this place was not that close to some apartments. The storage unit owner also seemed to be care free giving him the keys which either meant he is lazy or Fury already has that guy on his pocket.
"Anyways, let's start in making a training space for me." Paul just let it be as he placed all the items he has inside the storage unit and pulled out his phone to reply to the cute girl he met on the park that he'll pick her up tomorrow for dinner. He also checked his Nokia phone that got wet and saw that it was functioning again after drying out a bit.
Paul smiled and took out another sim to put in the sturdy phone as an emergency measure incase his Motorola phone gets broken.
Putting down his bag where his new documents are along with his phone and jacket, he started creating a small obstacle course which was a bit hardcore for normal humans but normal for the training regime he knew from Might Guy's knowledge.
It was already evening and Coulson just watched as Paul worked nonstop in the storage room which was owned by SHIELD and saw how a track course was being created as well as three wing chun dummies made of steel instead of wood. He was amazed at the speed of which Paul worked like he knew how the thing works already.
Even if Might Guy was a pure taijutsu user, he was still knowledgeable with ninjutsus and genjutsus. So while Might Guy himself might not be talented, it was a different situation for Paul. His body is so tuned to itself that his chakra reserves are many times more than that of a regular Jonnin. Thus Guy's knowledge of ninjutu's could be used by Paul to practice.
Paul was even sure that if he uses his whole power his level would be way above that Might Guy's because he still has the physique boost of Zombieman who is an S-rank hero in the anime Onepunch man. Meaning his boost will be many times more and deadlier, Paul could gauge his maximum strength a bit due to his mind and soul strengthened as well.
He doesn't know how he got these powers but at least he knew how to use them, which made him want a private storage unit to try out some of the things he has not yet tried. Like world hopping, he knew he could do it because whatever gave him his powers at least gave him instructions in his mind on how to use them.
For a few hours he kept working while taking a small break when Coulson went out to buy pizza for dinner. He looked at the silent agent that kept following him and felt that it was nice they gave him a personal caretaker to make things easy for him.
It wasn't until the sun came up again that Paul noticed how long he had been working non-stop, he looked at the time as he heard birds chirping outside with his enhanced senses. He looked around and noticed that Coulson somehow had set up a tent inside the storage unit in the corner.
He looked at the already awake agent in his pajamas coming out of the tent with two cups of coffee in his hands going to Paul.
"I made coffee." said the agent as he gave a cup to Paul who realized that he used the newly bought camping equipment that he brought with him yesterday. Paul shrugged as he took the coffee and had a sip too looking at the amount of work he had done overnight.
"Wow, I am not sure what to say that you are able to make this much in just one night. And you don't even look tired at all." Phil was amazed a started to check out the things Paul made.
"Yeah, this is just the start. If I have more equipment then I'll be able to make more but this'll do for the moment. So would you like to give it a try?" Paul gestured for the agent to follow him and gave him a simple run down of the small training course he had made.
"Though it is mostly basic stuff here there are sets of training I do daily that might need the assistance of such equipment." Paul then took his overalls and gloves and was left with his pants and tank top. He started making warm-up moves as he picked up a bulging military back pack that was covered in thick duct tape with at least ten straps that was stitched together.
Coulson was skeptical about what the bag was and went to another one to inspect it but as he tried he felt that the bag won't budge. Placing his cup aside he went and tried lifting the bag with his strength and realized that it was about 200 pounds of sand inside the bag held together by duct tape and several layers of cloth sewn in the bag.
Realizing how much the bag weigh he looked Paul nearby making jumping jacks like the bag weighed like two pounds. Watching closer he could realize as a veteran spy that Paul did not make a sound while jumping at all, no thuds on the ground as he jumped means that other than immense strength he has a monstrous amount of control with his body.
Even their best agents couldn't jump easily with 200 pounds strapped behind their back without making a sound at all. It was then he watched as Paul went running to the obstacle course dodging some swinging bags as well as balance himself while walking a trembling plank yet Coulson still can't understand how Paul did not lose his finesse in control with so many distracting elements on the obstacle course.
It was then Coulson noticed a small range where wooden planks with targets swinging about randomly after Paul solved his obstacle course. He then saw Paul take out some sharpened steel bars on a table as well as various pointed weapons and even small blunt projectiles.
It was then he saw Paul do a somersault and throw the sharp steel bars while landing gracefully and silently. He did not just see a very efficient skill set of assassination skills but also graceful demeanor that was silently serene.
Coulson could tell the Paul has skills of a very dangerous assassin but something else caught his eyes as he saw Paul seemingly walk on walls. Coulson was mesmerized with the way Paul used various items to be used as deadly weapons, there was even pencils used which were amazing even for him a veteran spy.
"So is this why you made this bunch of equipments here, Mr. Esteban what is your raison d'etre?" Coulson suddenly asked as he looked at Paul who had just finished testing his small training center.
"My reason? Nothing much, I'm pretty sure you are confused because I have this kind of strength that I have but there is nothing much to it. I had just come from a world that is dying and my hope was diminished at the prospects of being alone. So mostly I just want to have a life for the moment, I don't want to go to some grand ambition right of the bat when I still can't give heads about why I was given this powers I have." Paul was in a trance like state as he answered as he was thinking of his past life.
It could not be called a past as it was just the definition of a mediocre life, even now as he kept himself busy trying out the knowledge he has, he was still in a small state of denial. Waking up seeing your world is destroyed then suddenly thrown away to another place with powers you just receive doesn't take away the memories and hopes he had of seeing his family again.
But he knew it was impossible to do that and he was clueless as to why his world ended, but it did and it gnawed at him deeply. If it wasn't for his stronger soul and the experience of a veteran warrior in him he would have broken down crying then and there.
"So right now I am just finding my raison d'etre Coulson, I want to do something to distract me a bit and so I built this in case any of you want to come and learn a lesson from me or two. How else could I charge $100,000 for a consultation if there is nothing to consult you with." Paul smiled as he looked at the confused agent.
"If you could have told us then we would be glad to build you a training space and still give you the payment promised." Coulson said.
"Well I want to do something and waiting is not really doing anything so I built on my own and at least I could have time to myself and earn money. And if you did build it then I would be monitored more closely than I already am." Paul smiled as he looked at the person that just came through a side door of the large Storage unit.
"Mr. Esteban, just like you asked for we brought over the equipment you asked and the extra materials in the list you gave us." Nick Fury walked in carrying a long case towards the two.
"And the thing I ordered specifically?" Paul looked at the case Fury was carrying.
"These were easy to find, since it was just cold weapons so we had our team in Engineering make these overnight with the specific measurements you asked for." Fury was looking at the storage unit and put the case on the table then opened it. Inside were two dozen titanium kunais, a detachable pole with various tips that could be used like spear tips, short swords and a trident head, then there's a pair of nun chucks and lastly a belt with various small compartments.
Paul gave out a smile as he picked up the kunais and twirled them on his fingers. He then threw one at the targets that were still swinging and hit the bullseye.
"This is nice, much better that I expected. So I'll give you a bit of extra tidbit, Bennet du Paris, 12th century knight who later became mutant and strengthened due to the plans of someone called Apocalypse which in turn also named him Exodus. Go to the bald guy in the wheel chair and tell that to him, his boyfriend Magneto might be on his way to wake up a bigger bad guy." Paul was as he weighed the nun chucks and tested their balance.
"I appreciate your help Mr. Esteban…" Fury was about to go back as he knew that what Paul just said was big news and needed to be prepared for immediately.
"I still have another info you might like but this one will be another 100K." Paul said as he saw Fury pause in his steps and look at Paul.
"Give me two and I'll give you a quarter mil." Fury said which made Paul raise his brows but still nodded as he thought of what he could give out.
"Ever heard of Carbonadium?" Paul looked at Fury who was thinking but it was Coulson who answered.
"It's a metal developed by the USSR, they made it in hopes to replicate the material strength of vibranium which was what Captain America's shield is made of. It was a success since it was prove to be stronger that Steel and found to be almost virtually indestructible but it's radioactive properties are lethal to the human body." Paul and Fury looked at Coulson and remembered he was a big fan of Captain America.
"Right… so anyways, it has another nifty function too. It could interfere with the regenerative factor of mutants like Exodus and Apocalypse. You could make bullets for your snipers while they could be dressed in thick hazmat suits and fire away to help the x-men fighting this new big bad. So that's one then for the next is, do you know the muffin man?" Paul smiled as he looked at the confused faces of Coulson and Fury.
"The muffin man?" Coulson was absent minded a bit that he missed Paul's smiling face.
"Yeah, who lived on Drury Lane." Paul said seriously.
"Just give us another one Mr. Esteban, I still need to prepare for this new bigger bad guy that might be waking up soon." Fury realized Paul was messing with them a bit but he did not get angry cause he was more uneasy at the moment.
"Tell your Black Widow that her younger sister is the new White Widow and that her last boss still has control over her through certain voice commands and very much alive in the Red Room rebuilding it." Paul then didn't give attention to Fury who was stunned as well as Coulson cause they were surprised Paul knew of their other agent without meeting her and that she was a sister.
"I see, the money will be sent to you in a bit." Fury was seriously realizing that he has a lot to do for the moment. Paul and Coulson was again the only people in the Storage room but soon a message arrived and a few delivery trucks came in as some heavy equipment arrived.
Electric Furnace, Tongs, Hammers, Fullers, Chisels, Hydraulic Press and an Anvil as well as crates filled with lad equipment including microscopes, chemistry sets as well as paper and ink and oddly a loom with unprocessed cotton on the side.
Paul was surprised as he saw some equipment he did not even ask, he just asked for mortar and pestle as well as some herbal plants that were common which he planned to make medicinal baths.
"Whoa, your boss is really putting in the works here, he seems eager to pull me in." Paul smiled as he went and helped in placing in the equipment.
"You're a valuable asset Mr. Esteban. My boss realizes that so we want you to be at good terms even if things might go wrong in the future if what you indeed said was true." Coulson was referring to the fact that maybe Hydra was indeed alive and well.
"I see, welp gotta finish this fast cause I have a date in a few hours."
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