Marvel: Ned the Master of Mystic Arts

"Zzzzz!"

Ned waved his hand, summoning a portal.

"???"

Tony Stark froze, stunned. He had already noticed the glove on Ned's supposedly severed left hand earlier but thought it was just a cover-up. Perhaps Ned stuffed something into his sleeve to avoid drawing attention, then sewed the glove on.

But now, watching both of Ned's hands open a portal together, Tony couldn't contain his shock. "Wait, what?! Your hand grew back? There's no tech capable of this yet! Is this some magical mumbo jumbo again?"

"Come on out."

Ned called through the portal, then turned to Stark, explaining, "Yup, the Sorcerer Supreme personally restored my arm."

"Whoa, that's incredible," Stark marveled, his mind already racing. "Say... does your little magician club need funding?"

"What?"

Ned blinked, caught off guard.

"I'm saying, if I were to make, let's say, a generous donation of a couple billion dollars, would your Sorcerer Supreme let me take a tour of your mystical hangout?" Stark whispered conspiratorially, clearly intrigued by the magic world.

How did Stark know about Ned's connection to a mystical group? Well, blame Peter Parker. Back when Spider-Man was panicking about Ned's disappearance, he spilled everything to Stark, including how the Ancient One had used magic to put Aunt May and Ned's grandmother to sleep during the New York battle.

Stark, being Stark, deduced instantly that Ned wasn't acting alone—there had to be a group of "wizards" behind him.

"Uh..."

Before Ned could respond, Nick Fury interjected, "If donations are on the table, I've got some spare cash lying around, too. I was going to use it for new safe houses, but if your wizards are struggling, I'm happy to help."

Fury's sharp ears missed nothing.

"Well... I'd have to get approval from the Sorcerer Supreme first."

Ned knew Fury wasn't offering charity, but the decision ultimately lay with the Ancient One, and he couldn't agree lightly.

"Let's focus on these guys for now," Ned said, nodding toward the group of burly men stepping through the portal under his command.

"They seem to listen to you," Fury noted.

"Is that... Loki's scepter?"

Stark, sipping his drink, eyed the glowing staff in Ned's hand nervously. He instinctively rubbed his chest where the scepter had recently struck him.

"Yes."

Ned's confirmation made Fury's one good eye narrow warily. In his line of work, nothing was scarier than mind control.

"State your organization, leader, and mission."

Ned commanded the group, speaking loud enough for Fury and Stark to hear.

"Hail Hydra. Baron Strucker. Retrieve the girl."

The leader of the group answered with his head bowed, his voice eerily compliant.

"Damn it!" Fury shot to his feet, visibly agitated.

"Language," Ned quipped, giving Fury a sideways glance. "Say another curse, and I'll tell Stark how you really lost your eye. Trust me, if Stark finds out, everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. will know within three days."

"You..." Fury's expression darkened, his single eye narrowing suspiciously.

For years, Fury had claimed his eye was taken by an alien in a heroic act of resistance. But Ned's tone suggested he knew the truth. Could he really know about that incident with the orange cat? Fury doubted it—only a handful of people were there, and none would've shared the embarrassing truth. But still...

Ultimately, Fury decided it wasn't worth risking his reputation over a few choice words.

"Hydra was destroyed years ago, thanks to your buddy Steve Rogers." Fury's voice was icy. "And for the record, Baron Strucker is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s European Division head."

"I just want you to know this so you can stay vigilant. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

Ned ignored Fury and turned back to the Hydra leader. "Why do you want to take the girl?"

"She signed an agreement crafted by Strucker's agents in disguise. There are many like her. Strucker plans to use them for human experimentation to create superhumans."

This information was no secret within Hydra's ranks; even mid-level agents knew about Strucker's experiments.

"Okay, I've got the answers I wanted. What do you want to do with these guys?" Ned asked Fury.

Fury's face had turned as dark as his trench coat. He stepped forward and searched the Hydra leader's body, pulling out a small black ID booklet.

Opening it, he froze. It wasn't a forgery—it was an authentic S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 4 Agent ID for one David Grassi.

"Motherfu—" Fury bit back his favorite curse just in time, remembering Ned's earlier warning. His face turned even darker as he processed the implications. If Strucker, a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. official, was Hydra, then how deep did the infiltration go?

"You said you had a solution for me?" Fury finally asked, remembering Ned had promised a "plan" to handle the crisis.

"Yup."

Ned nodded. "But... I'm broke these days."

"One million dollars."

"Deal."

Ned agreed immediately. He didn't intend to extort Fury too much since his "plan" required zero effort on his part.

"There's a fascinating alien race in the universe called the Skrulls," Ned began, instantly making Fury's eye twitch while Stark perked up, intrigued.

"They can shapeshift into any being they've seen and even access the recent memories of the person they're imitating."

"Years ago, they fled to Earth while escaping a cosmic threat and formed a bond with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent during a battle."

"Wait, wait—are you saying aliens came to Earth years ago?" Stark interrupted, his curiosity piqued.

"Yup. And at the time, an infamous galactic villain also set his sights on Earth," Ned added, casually dropping another bombshell.

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