00019. Exposed?!
00019. Exposed?!
You could hear if a pin was dropped in the room, everyone was glued to the monitor and waited for Ezekiel to say something. Ezekiel looked down for a while and started to giggle, which turned into an almost maniacal laughter. After a while he calmed down and as he looked at The Ancient One he said, “This is why I said I didn’t want to talk to you. You can be so troublesome.”
Fury looked at The Ancient One and asked, “Are you telling me we have been working with a toddler?”
She shook her head and said, “No Director Fury. While his physical age might be two, I expect his mental age to be older. He does not talk like a child after all.”
Ezekiel smiled and said, “I am about sixty years old if you count my previous life. But I am currently two years old in this life.”
Everyone looked a little confused and Hank was the first person to talk as he asked. “So you are what, reincarnated?”
Ezekiel nodded and said, “It’s different, but that is pretty close to what happened.”
The Ancient One asked next, “Who sent you here?”
Ezekiel looked off to the side for a few seconds before he said, “The best way to put it is the one above the .”
The Ancient One’s calm face slowly changed and a look of complete shock and almost horror graced it before she asked, “How sure are you it was someone like that? It could have just been a who is using you and sent you here as a seed. I have seen similar things happen before, you could be a threat to the entire world. I would have to check your soul for any contamination to confirm though.”
Ezekiel shook his head as he smiled, before he said, “It wasn’t a trick and I am positive it was them and not someone lesser. While they did send me here, I made a deal and specifically asked them to do it.”
“You don’t make a deal with someone that powerful, you only make deals with entities that want your soul. I really will need to meet you as soon as possible Ezekiel. I would recommend to everyone here not to interact with this man until I ensure that he is not a host to something sinister.”
Ezekiel frowned at that and said, “This is why I didn’t want to meet with you so early, I knew you would be a pain to deal with.”
“I take the safety of the Earth very seriously, I will not let the possible host to an extra dimensional threat exist on Earth while I am its magical protector.”
Ezekiel let out a sigh but said nothing and just stared at The Ancient One for a while. After he let out another sigh, he said. “The boss isn’t gonna be happy with this. Give me about twenty minutes and I will be back with his answer.”
Before anyone else talked, the display shut off and Ezekiel was gone. Everyone looked at each other in silence for a few minutes before Steve said, “This wasn’t what I expected to learn today. Also what do you think he meant by he had to ask his boss?”
Coulson replied with, “Maybe he is talking about his parents, since he is so young. But who would call their parents boss?”
Fury shook his head and said, “I don’t know and don’t really care, I wanna know everything he knows and if he has been talking to anyone else besides us.”
The Ancient One said, “Honestly his knowledge of this world doesn't matter or who he has talked to, what matters is if he is a host. The world could be in serious trouble.”
Steve looked at The Ancient One and asked, “If he is a host then what?”
“Depending on what I find, I might destroy or banish him from this plane of existence. If I can, that is. It will depend on how strong he is.”
Maria spoke up for the first time and asked, “He is only a child, how strong could he possibly be?”
The Ancient One looked at Maria and said, “He could have more than enough power to destroy the planet.”
Everyone stopped talking and looked at The Ancient One, Steve was the first to speak and asked, “Is that a joke?”
The Ancient One shook her head and said, “Unfortunately it is not. People who are host’s tend to have at least a fragment of their master's power. Depending on who it is, we could be dealing with a world ending threat.”
Steve nodded his head in understanding as Fury said, “The real question is, do we still work with him if he passes The Ancient One’s test?”
Peggy, Steve and Hank were quiet for a while as they thought over Fury’s question. Hank was the first to speak and said, “If he passes, I will be working with him no matter what. I want to find Janet.”
Peggy looked from Hank to The Ancient One and asked, “If you do end up dealing with Ezekiel, could you help Hank find his wife? She is currently trapped in the quantum realm.”
The Ancient One glanced at Peggy then turned to look at Hank and said, “If I work with that young girl Ava I might be able to do it. But I make no guarantee, the quantum realm is a strange place that twists time. Also, if I teach Ava magic, she might be able to stabilize herself once she becomes proficient.”
Hank nodded his head at that and said, “I still don’t believe in magic, but I will gladly take your help. As for Ava you will have to talk to Bill about it.”
The Ancient One nodded and said, “I will discuss it with him later. But I have a question for you Dr. Pym, what do you think advanced science looks like to someone who has never seen anything even remotely like it? A good example would be your Pym Particles.”
He thought about it for a moment before he asked, “Magic?”
The Ancient One nodded and said, “You can think of magic a little bit like a very advanced science. There are big differences between magic and science, but you get my point. Just because you have never really seen it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”
Hank nodded in understanding, then looked at Peggy and said, “Thanks Peggy.”
Peggy smiled in reply, before she turned to Steve and asked, “What do you want to do about Ezekiel?”
“He just wants to help people and I won’t turn away someone trying to do the right thing.”
Peggy smiled as she nodded her head. She already knew Steve’s answer before she asked him. She glanced at Fury and asked, “What about you?”
Fury frowned a little and said, “Looks like I am already out voted. I am not sure about working with a child, but I want the knowledge he has.”
The monitor screen flashed back on and Ezekiel smiled before he said, “I have the body of a child currently but I am not a child, Fury.”
Ezekiel looked at The Ancient One and said, “The boss said you can come over on one condition. You have to swear to the that you will not divulge the location to anyone else or you lose your ability to use magic.”
With no hesitation The Ancient One stood up and said, “I, the current Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, do swear under the loss of my magic that I will not share the location of this person Ezekiel with anyone else.”
The air simmered around The Ancient One in multi-colored light and three different voices spoke in sync and said, “We do so witness.” The light disappeared and The Ancient One looked at Ezekiel and asked, “Good enough?”
Ezekiel let out a sigh and said, “You made me lose a bet with the boss. Go to the and then I will tell you where to go.”
The Ancient One nodded, looked at everyone else and said. “I will hopefully be back in a while. If something bad happens, someone will let you know.”
She raised her hand a little and made a quick circle. A portal appeared in the air lined in orange a second later, she stepped through it and it closed right after. Then the monitor shut off again.
Steve stood up and said, “I think I am gonna go eat lunch while we wait, does anyone care to join me?”
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After Ezekiel called the sanctum and gave her the address, The Ancient One prepared herself for battle, before she then portal-ed to the backyard of a nondescript house in Brooklyn. She was greeted with a well kept back yard that had two decent size trees in it. She focused on the house in front of her and prepared herself as she walked to the open back door. As she entered it, a voice of a child was heard from deeper inside as they said, “Don’t touch anything, I don't want my parents to know anyone was here. I am in the living room.”
She didn’t drop her guard as she walked towards the sound of the voice, as she came closer she heard the clicking of keys at a fast pace. When she entered the living room, she looked to the right and saw a child sitting on the top of a desk, with a keyboard on his lap, typing away quickly as he scanned the screen in front of him. He never looked towards her but said, “Make it fast, I am busy.”
She quickly scanned the area around her, before she asked, “Didn’t you say you have a boss? Where are they?”
“Two houses over to the left. Just listen for a bunch of kids making a lot of noise.”
She didn’t reply, but started to study the boy in front of her. After a while she started to make small gestures and mumble some words quietly for a while as her eyes started to glow. After a few minutes she stopped and said, “I have no idea who you made a deal with, but you have no soul… I also don’t see anything inside of you that could be controlling you either.”
Ezekiel never stopped typing or even turned to look at The Ancient One but asked, “What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean I don’t have a soul? Everyone has a soul.”
The Ancient One shook her head and said, “I do not see one in your body. I am not really sure how you are even alive right now.”