Chapter 136 [Vol. 3] Chapter 16: Taking the Test

Dozens of dark figures descended silently, crouching along the surrounding rooftops. They moved without a sound, like black dragonflies skimming the surface of a pond.

Finn, Daredevil, and Hawkeye stood facing in three different directions. Ninjas surrounded them on every side, clad entirely in black, their faces concealed behind black masks. They carried all sorts of weapons: katanas, chain-sickles, bows… Every blade and arrowhead had been blackened so it wouldn’t catch the light.

“Careful. Their weapons are poisoned. If you get hit, my teacher Stick is the only one who can make the antidote, and I’d rather not have to take you to see that old man.”

Daredevil drew his two batons, keeping a wary eye on the ninjas.

Short black arrows sliced through the night, flying straight at the three of them. Hawkeye hurriedly rolled out of the way, while Daredevil twisted and dodged to avoid the poisoned projectiles.

Only Finn remained where he stood.

“Beacon, what are you doing? Move!” Daredevil cried in alarm.

Hawkeye scrambled through three desperate rolls, barely escaping the volley before ducking behind a water tank.

“Hey, Finn! You only just joined S.H.I.E.L.D.! Already trying to get us to pay out death benefits?”

Finn calmly shook his head. “Why would I dodge a bunch of children’s toys? If they had squirt guns, I might have to worry about getting wet.”

“What’s with the big talk? Who do you think you are, Superman?” Hawkeye shouted.

He’d finally managed to recruit a new agent, only to discover the man was a reckless rookie.

Nocking an arrow, he cautiously peeked around the side of the water tank.

What he saw left him stunned.

The black arrows seemed to strike an invisible wall, clattering down from midair.

Finn had formed a domed shield out of Profound Energy. Like a giant transparent bowl turned upside down, it covered the rooftop, keeping the arrows off Daredevil and Hawkeye without any extra effort.

When the volley ended, the ninjas charged from every direction, swords and daggers in hand. They moved as swiftly as the wind, their bodies almost blending into the shadows like ghosts. Had Hawkeye and Daredevil been facing them alone, they might well have been in for a rough fight.

“What century is this? You’re still fighting with swords?”

Finn shook his head, raised his sword, and unleashed Crimson Flame Torrent. A jet of searing flame shot from the blade, sweeping through the ninjas like a fiery dragon. They were burned to charcoal before they could even scream.

It was like using a flamethrower to kill mosquitoes. Finn poured on more power, every sweep of the flames incinerating its targets without fail.

Before long, the entire ninja force had been consumed by the flames.

At the same time, several fire engines came speeding toward them, sirens blaring. Apparently, someone in the neighborhood had reported a fire.

“Well, that’s one more person at S.H.I.E.L.D. who’s stronger than me.” Hawkeye gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Still, that’s a good thing. We’ll need ridiculously powerful superheroes like you to deal with that cosmic crisis.”

“What cosmic crisis?” Finn asked.

Hawkeye shrugged. “Come with me to S.H.I.E.L.D. and take a little test. If you pass, you might get to find out.”

“Let’s go now.” Finn had never liked dragging things out, and this “cosmic crisis” had certainly piqued his curiosity.

“Sure.” Hawkeye lowered his head and said something into his watch. A short while later, a Quinjet swooped toward them like a hawk. It hovered overhead and lowered a rope ladder.

“Come on. Let’s head to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.”

Hawkeye climbed nimbly up the ladder. Finn caught hold of its bottom rung and said goodbye to Daredevil, agreeing to return in a couple of days to kill Kingpin.

The Quinjet disappeared into the clouds.

After watching it leave, Daredevil turned toward Fisk Tower, which loomed in the night like a block of black obsidian.

Somehow, he could sense that Kingpin, the ruler of the criminal underworld, was standing inside that tower, watching him. He had the unsettling feeling that nothing that had just happened had escaped Kingpin’s notice.

…

Ten o’clock the following morning, S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Finn hadn’t expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to be the sort of cushy workplace where people started at nine thirty, clocked out at four sharp, and never worked late. No wonder the building had been practically empty when he arrived in the middle of the night.

He was still only a Level Three agent, with very limited clearance. Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff, by contrast, were both Level Ten. Even so, Finn had made use of his access to browse S.H.I.E.L.D.’s internal files.

He discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been recruiting heavily of late, though most of its new agents were low-level.

Were they agents in name, cannon fodder in practice?

S.H.I.E.L.D. had also launched several programs to uncover hidden potential and stimulate innate abilities. It was searching for people with superpowers in high schools, elementary schools, and even kindergartens. It had also partnered with the Japanese government to establish “Academy City,” a place dedicated to training people with superpowers.

There were some deranged proposals, too. One involved breeding large numbers of irradiated spiders and releasing them among the public to see whether their bites could produce a second Spider-Man.

Others included exposing death-row inmates to gamma rays, or seeding clouds with the same chemical waste that had mutated Daredevil, then inducing rainfall over a wide area in an attempt to create another one.

Of course, many of the crazier plans had never progressed beyond the drawing board. Otherwise, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been little different from a terrorist organization.

Finn realized that, since S.H.I.E.L.D. was also searching for people with superpowers, he could use its resources to find recruits with limitless potential for the Spacetime Destruction Bureau.

Hawkeye sent him a message asking him to report to the third basement level for his test. He had to go arrest a criminal named Edward Snowden, so he wouldn’t be able to accompany Finn.

Finn found the designated room on the third basement level.

Despite being underground, it was an enormous space. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all painted pure white. Standing inside, he felt like an ant at the bottom of an empty white paint bucket.

A loose line of people stood in the vast room, along with two military officers in formal attire. The officers stood straight-backed and stern, while the others wore an assortment of outfits and stood around casually.

Some wore brightly colored skintight suits. One man wore a white karate gi, while another held a pizza box and looked like a delivery guy.

The most eye-catching of them was a girl with sky-blue hair tied in twin ponytails. Her skin was fair and smooth, her face pretty and fresh. Judging by her features, she was of mixed ancestry.

Her dark eyes shone with curiosity as she looked around, restlessly craning her neck to take everything in. She was easily the liveliest person there.

“Is Nick Fury not here?” Finn asked casually.

It would be a shame to visit S.H.I.E.L.D. without meeting Nick Fury or Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

“You think you can just stroll in and see the director, Level Three?”

One of the middle-aged officers gave Finn a cold look, putting particular emphasis on his rank.

“Wow, you’re a Level Three agent? I’m only Level One!”

The blue-haired girl immediately turned toward him, her face full of curiosity and envy.

“Hmph. Straight to Level Three the moment he joins? Must have connections,” the man in the karate gi said scornfully.

A man dressed like a hippie, his hair pulled into a messy ponytail, looked Finn up and down with a mocking grin.

“Well, if it isn’t Firebreather. What’s the matter? Superman wouldn’t let you into the Justice League, so you came running to S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

Finn walked past without so much as a glance, treating him as though he didn’t exist.

Having failed to get a reaction, the hippie muttered a few curses under his breath.

“Hey, Firebreather.”

At the end of the line, a woman with dreadlocks nudged Finn with her elbow.

“People online say you staged that whole thing about bringing Lois Lane back to life so you could get famous,” she said, clearly trying to provoke him. “You were the one who pushed her off the building, weren’t you?”

Finn curled his lip and ignored her. Instead, he addressed the two officers.

“Whatever this test is, get on with it. I don’t have the patience to perform circus tricks with a bunch of clowns.”