Lock sat in silence, piecing together every minor detail he'd once ignored while watching the Marvel films. Now, having entered this universe, those details had become chillingly relevant.
His newly acquired abilities paled in comparison to the real threats that lurked in the shadows of this world.
His greatest weapon wasn't power—it was foresight. He knew the direction of the plot. If he played things smart and stayed low-key, he could build his strength to its peak. But if he started showing off now, acting like an invincible badass and drawing attention to himself? He'd get crushed before he knew what hit him.
He had already ended up married to a woman who had vanished the same day, technically a spy sent to deceive him. But even so, Lock wasn't about to let someone else keep what was his. If Natasha had walked out on their wedding day, he was going to find her and ask why.
At sunrise, Lock opened his laptop and searched for the location of a certain building.
S.H.I.E.L.D. — officially titled the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.
To most, it sounded like just another bureaucratic government agency. But Lock knew the truth. This was the legendary secret organization that would one day recruit the Avengers and become the Earth's front line of defense against alien threats.
The location wasn't classified. It showed up easily on online maps and satellite imagery. Most people didn't think twice about it. Just another federal facility.
But Lock knew better.
After getting dressed, he headed straight for the gates of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
Outside the building, armored vehicles rolled past, soldiers in combat gear standing at alert. A guard booth sat just ahead of the entrance.
Lock approached calmly.
"Stop!" one of the two posted guards called out, raising a hand. "Please show your pass."
"I don't have one," Lock replied, completely unbothered. "I'm here to see my wife."
"What?" The soldier blinked. "You do know where you are, right? You're here to find a wife?"
Lock pointed at the sign above the gate. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. That's S.H.I.E.L.D., right?"
The guard frowned. "Yeah, and this isn't a dating agency. You'll have to look elsewhere."
Lock held up a folded document. "I brought a marriage certificate. I'm here to speak to your Director about it."
The two soldiers burst out laughing.
"Our Director's got someone showing up first thing in the morning asking for his wife?" one of them wheezed. "That's a first."
"Fifty bucks says the Director brought home some beauty from a bar last night," the other said with a smirk. "Probably still in his bed."
"I'll add a hundred. Gotta be an exotic beauty—Asian, I bet."
Lock gave them both a tight-lipped smile. "Since you're my wife's coworkers, I'll let that slide. But you might want to get Director Fury out here. If he doesn't show up soon, I'm going to lose my temper."
The guards laughed harder.
"You? Lose your temper? At S.H.I.E.L.D.? This is comedy gold."
"An Asian guy walks into S.H.I.E.L.D. and demands to see his wife… I'm telling you, this beats anything on late-night TV."
Lock didn't respond to them. Instead, he turned toward a security camera and said clearly:
"Fury, I know you're watching. If you don't come out, I'm serious—I will lose it."
He knew Fury had to be aware of the marriage. It may have been staged for a mission, but someone like Natasha wouldn't leave it out of her report. Even if Fury had forgotten about the marriage, last night's battle certainly wouldn't have gone unnoticed.
After all, Lock had gone head-to-head with the Hulk—and won. That wasn't something the U.S. military or General Ross could contain. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to have picked up on it by now. They'd tracked the Hulk before, and they'd even tried recruiting him to the Avengers.
And if Lock remembered correctly, in Avengers 1, they sent Natasha herself to coax Banner into cooperating, but secretly had an elite squad nearby in case he snapped. That level of paranoia said everything.
Lock figured S.H.I.E.L.D. was already on high alert the second he showed up at their door.
When the building remained silent and no response came, Lock narrowed his eyes and raised his voice.
"Fury! You're going to make me do this?!"
He shouted, and instantly the base's alarms began to wail.
Dozens of guns pointed at him as a voice barked over the loudspeaker: "Don't fire! Do not fire!"
Too late.
"RATATATATATA—!"
Bullets rained down.
Lock's face darkened. He stomped the ground, sending a shockwave through the earth. The concrete cracked, and the guard booth shattered.
Then he moved.
Bullets tore through the air as Lock dove forward. Tanks shifted their turrets. One fired.
BOOM!
The explosion engulfed Lock in flames.
Silence fell.
Then, he stepped out of the fire.
Untouched.
The soldiers froze in disbelief. Even tanks weren't enough?
Lock let out a furious roar and launched forward. With a thunderous crash, he slammed into the tank that had fired.
BOOM!
The engine sputtered, black smoke curling into the air. Lock ripped the side open like wet paper. The pilots barely had time to scream before he hurled them out and lifted the tank clean off the ground.
CRASH!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
He smashed the tank down again and again, flattening armored vehicles that had barely turned their guns toward him.
If he had been someone like the Hulk or the Abomination—lost in rage—he might've killed every last one of them. But Lock had control. He didn't want to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.—yet.
A voice finally called out: "Mr. Lock! Please—stand down!"
It was Nick Fury, hurrying across the courtyard in a rare display of urgency.
Fury was rarely rattled. Not when the world ended, not even when he got shot. But right now, sweat beaded his forehead.
Lock turned to face him, tank still in hand. Fury instinctively stepped back.
Lock dropped the tank with a heavy thud and approached.
"You sure know how to greet guests," he said. "Is this how S.H.I.E.L.D. handles unexpected visitors now?"
Fury held up a hand. "Misunderstanding. That's all this is. On behalf of my agents, I apologize."
The two soldiers from earlier were visibly pale, drenched in sweat. They thought they'd been mocking some nobody.
Turns out, they'd insulted a monster.
Lock crossed his arms. "You know why I'm here?"
Fury forced a smile. "Why don't we talk inside?"
Lock gave him a look. "Aren't you worried I'll tear your HQ apart once I'm in?"
Fury chuckled awkwardly. "Mr. Lock, I trust you're a rational man."
You better hope so, Lock thought.
They took an elevator to the top floor, entering a wide office with a view.
Lock wasted no time.
"Where's Natasha?"
Fury replied, "She's not at headquarters. She's rarely here unless on assignment. She's on standby around the globe."
"Then I'll talk to you," Lock said, settling into a chair.
"I'm listening."
"I came to see my wife," Lock said casually. "She walked out on our wedding day, and I haven't seen her since. I miss her."
Fury hesitated, then said carefully, "Mr. Lock… the wedding wasn't real. It was part of an operation. It wasn't legally binding."
Lock raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Because I have a marriage certificate stamped with your government's official seal."
Fury cleared his throat. "At our level, local laws don't always apply. We didn't know who you were at the time. It was a miscalculation on our part. We apologize. What is it you want?"
Lock grinned. "Relax. I'm not here to force a marriage. I just want Natasha back. Maybe it started as an assignment, but that doesn't mean it ended that way."
Fury looked surprised.
"I intend to win her back the right way," Lock said. "Not through lies. Not through force. I'll make her come back to me—because she wants to."
Fury slowly nodded. "If that's the case… I have no objections. We don't restrict agents from personal relationships. You're free to pursue her."
"But," Lock added, standing up, "I do need one thing from you."
"And what's that?"
"A little cooperation from the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." Lock's voice hardened. "Otherwise, I will lose my temper again—this time, for real."
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A/N: Please Leave A Comment Or Drop A Powerstone It'll mean alot to me...