When Natasha and Coulson stepped into the office, several men in black suits remained stationed outside, standing watch. Clearly, the Obelisk was far too valuable in Nick Fury's eyes — he wasn't about to risk it getting stolen.
"What exactly do you need this thing for?" Natasha asked, handing the black case directly to Lucas without the slightest hesitation, as though she were carrying nothing more than an ordinary briefcase. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has had entire teams of scientists study it, and no one's been able to figure it out. You're telling me you know?"
Don't be fooled by the plain look of the case — it was a marvel of S.H.I.E.L.D. engineering. It used biometric locks for both fingerprint and iris scans, came with an advanced temperature-stabilizing system, impact shielding, and sensors that constantly monitored the Obelisk's condition.
Coulson added, "She's right. S.H.I.E.L.D. spent massive resources and still couldn't determine what it really is." He handed Lucas a pair of specially designed gloves. "Put these on. Touch it barehanded, and you'll turn to stone instantly."
Lucas slipped on the gloves and opened the case.
Inside sat a tower-shaped slab of stone — unremarkable at first glance, but pulsing faintly with energy. The power emanating from it was so intense that Lucas could feel it prickling against his skin even through the gloves.
Snap!
He immediately shut the case. What was harmless to an Inhuman could be deadly to an ordinary human.
"Skye, pack up. We're closing shop for the day," Lucas said before turning to Natasha and Coulson. "I'll need an isolated location — somewhere with no people around."
Coulson nodded and began making calls right away, while Natasha kept her eyes fixed on Lucas.
She knew him too well. If he wanted the Obelisk, then he already understood what it was — and probably where it came from.
"You know what that thing really is, don't you?" she asked.
This time, Lucas didn't bother denying it. He nodded. "Yeah. I know what it is — and what it's for."
"I knew it." Natasha crossed her arms. "You're planning to use it on Skye, aren't you?"
She really was top-tier — one look at the situation, and she had already pieced it all together.
Lucas nodded again. "Exactly."
"I'm warning you," Natasha said, her tone deadly serious. "Skye is my friend. If anything happens to her — if she so much as stops breathing — I'll kill you myself."
She meant it. Skye reminded her too much of her own sister, Yelena.
Lucas raised a hand reassuringly. "Relax. She won't be in any danger. I promise."
He wasn't lying — Skye would only lose consciousness for a while, not her life.
By the time Coulson finished arranging the site, Lucas didn't even need to ask to know that S.H.I.E.L.D. would have it crawling with agents and sensors, observing every detail. But that was fine. Skye's powers wouldn't manifest immediately anyway — they would develop gradually. Nothing S.H.I.E.L.D. saw today would give them the full picture.
Soon, they arrived at the designated location — an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of New York. The place looked like it hadn't seen life in decades.
"Nice spot," Lucas said with a smirk. "Perfect for what we need."
He extended his magical senses. As expected, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounded the area, stationed hundreds of meters away. The air was thick with surveillance — thermal scanners, hidden cameras, data collectors, and likely more advanced instruments to monitor the Obelisk's energy readings. Fury never missed an opportunity for data collection.
Lucas set the case down at the very center of the vast warehouse. There was plenty of room for Skye to move — or collapse — safely.
"Skye," Lucas said gently, "in a moment, you'll open the case yourself and touch the Obelisk with your hand. That's all you have to do. Leave everything else to me. There's no danger, I promise."
"Just… touch it?" Skye asked hesitantly. She'd imagined some kind of energy infusion ritual, not… a tap.
Lucas chuckled. "That's all. Just touch it. When you do, it'll release a burst of energy. We'll step back — far back — and wait until it's over. Then we'll come get you. You might feel dizzy, so be ready for that."
Skye nodded, determination flickering in her eyes. There was no turning back now.
"Alright," Lucas said, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll be outside. Remember, just a touch."
He turned and walked out of the warehouse, leaving Skye alone inside.
"Leaving her in there by herself doesn't feel right," Natasha muttered as she joined Lucas and Coulson a hundred meters away. Both agents raised binoculars to keep Skye in sight, surrounded by a forest of scanning instruments and thermal monitors.
Lucas glanced at the equipment. "Relax. She'll be fine. Trust me."
Inside the warehouse, Skye's hands trembled as she stared at the black case. It looked like a beast ready to swallow her whole. Her heart raced — what if she awakened something useless… or failed entirely?
Despite Lucas's reassurances, her nerves wouldn't calm.
"Alright… let's do this," she whispered, psyching herself up. "Come on, Skye. You've got this!"
She pressed her finger against the scanner.
Beep!
A red light swept across her eye — iris scan complete. Then came a sharp click! The locks released, and a faint mist of chilled air escaped from inside.
Her hands shook as she lifted the lid. The Obelisk sat before her, stone-gray but alive with faint ripples of light that flowed across its surface.
The moment she gazed at it, she felt it — the Obelisk was responding to her. It recognized her.
Inside the artifact, fragments of Terrigen crystals pulsed faintly — not pure enough to form Terrigen Mist on their own, but ready to react when triggered by contact.
Skye took a deep breath, steeled herself, and pressed her palm against it.
Instantly, blinding energy surged from the Obelisk, wrapping around her in a storm of white mist.
BOOM!
A deafening shockwave exploded outward, shattering the air. The warehouse trembled violently as the blast of energy expanded in every direction.
The wave hit the outer perimeter like a hurricane. Instruments toppled. Monitors screamed. Red warning lights flared as the readings went off the charts.
Lucas reacted in a split second, grabbing both Natasha and Coulson and dragging them back as the shockwave swept past, tearing through the ground where they'd stood moments before.
All around them, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sensors went haywire — data spiking to maximum, alarms blaring, systems flashing uncontrollably.
And at the center of it all stood Skye — engulfed in light, her silhouette barely visible — as the Obelisk completed what it had started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~