"Director, that's pretty much the whole story. Yes! The other side's two Quinjets were shot down by Annie. That's right! Exactly!"
Coulson immediately reported everything to Nick Fury over a secure line. Honestly, when he saw Melinda stepping down from the Quinjet—with Annie, who looked a little unhappy, while Melinda wore a dark expression—the aircraft was scorched black from the explosions, and part of its hull was dented and battered. Coulson was genuinely startled!
When he learned that Annie and Melinda had been attacked by two Quinjets belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D., he knew how serious the situation was. The Director had told him that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra, and Coulson immediately realized this might be some kind of signal from the enemy. So, after calming the two women down, he hurried to call the Director and report it.
Looks like some people were getting restless. Nick Fury held the receiver and pondered for a while. He couldn't quite figure out what the other side was trying to accomplish. Was this aimed at his Avengers Initiative? Or were they testing him because he'd discovered Hydra's presence? Or both? Whatever the case, it looked like the Avengers Initiative had to be accelerated. The Avengers would be a trump card in his hands, and he needed to get them together at once!
"Director? Director?" When the call went unanswered for a long time, Coulson asked again.
"Don't worry about this for now. Just follow the usual procedure and file a report through the proper channels. Then, you need to carry out your Avengers recruitment plan immediately! I'll send you Robert Bruce Banner's location. Get moving! What do you mean, tonight? Go tonight! I'll have Hill assign you a plane."
Not knowing the other side's exact motives, Nick Fury thought it would be better to handle the unauthorized deployment of the aircraft in the usual, high-profile manner. He'd give them a proper dressing-down first, then order them to investigate immediately.
Once the investigation was done, he could simply pin the blame on a few scapegoats. And they couldn't all be Hydra agents, or that might provoke Hydra too much. He'd let them think he still knew nothing. After all, what Nick Fury needed most right now was time—more time!
"Yes, Director!"
Coulson hung up reluctantly. It looked like his peaceful days were over. Here he was, being sent out to work by the Director even though it was already night. A secret agent really did have to be ready for a mission at any time.
"Uncle Coulson, it's nighttime! Can't whatever it is wait until tomorrow?"
After getting to play for free in an exciting, super-fun dogfight at an altitude of ten thousand meters, Annie was exhausted. She'd planned to eat dinner, take a bath, and go to bed, but just after she'd eaten and before she'd even had time to digest, Uncle Coulson had dragged her onto another Quinjet.
Her own aircraft had already been taken by the staff to the New York branch for repairs and a fresh coat of paint. It looked like Annie wouldn't get to fly it again for the next few days. The staff had said it would take more than ten days to fix. What a bunch of lazybones! It would take that long? Annie was very unhappy about it.
"Annie, this mission is important. The Director said we have to deal with it right away!" Coulson was helpless, too. If the Director hadn't rushed him, he would've waited until tomorrow!
"Oh, it's important? Then you can go by yourself. Goodbye, Uncle Coulson. Have fun!" Annie said, getting ready to jump out of the aircraft. She didn't want to go on some mission with him in the middle of the night. It didn't sound fun at all. She'd rather go home, take a bath, and sleep!
"My dear Annie, just think of it as doing Uncle Coulson a favor! How about this... I'll get you two days off school whenever you don't feel like going?" Seeing Annie about to leave, Coulson hurried over to stop her. How could he possibly go looking for that huge Hulk without Annie?
"Five days!" Annie's eyes lit up at Uncle Coulson's offer, and she held up a hand.
"Five days is too many! Three days, tops!"
"Deal!!!"
Melinda rolled her eyes from the pilot's seat as she watched the two troublemakers haggling in the back of the cabin. She didn't know what to say.
"All right, Annie! The person in this house is one of the candidates for your Avengers Squad. We're here to recruit him." Coulson knocked on the door as he explained.
On the flight over, he'd told Annie about the Avengers. She'd said she had nothing better to do, so of course she wanted to join in on something so fun! Annie had agreed so readily that Coulson had been spared a lot of talking.
As for Captain America, Coulson had left him to Black Widow and the others. He'd make a personal visit to Iron Man in a couple of days. If he apologized properly, he was sure there wouldn't be much of a problem. So, if he could just get the Hulk on board today, his mission would be practically perfect!
"Who are you?!" Hearing a knock at the door late at night, Bruce Banner opened it. When he saw the two people, one big and one small, whom he didn't recognize, he grew wary.
"Hello. We'd like to talk to you about something. Would you mind inviting us in?" Coulson shrugged and smiled at him. It wasn't polite to leave guests standing in the doorway.
Although he wasn't very willing, Bruce Banner stepped aside and let them in. Perhaps it was because he saw Annie; he didn't think someone who'd brought a little girl along would mean him any harm.
"All right, come in. But I'm afraid I don't know you. Who are you, and what do you want?" After they went inside, he studied the two of them for a while, still puzzled. "Besides, I'm dangerous. I don't think spending time with me would be a pleasant idea."
"Perhaps," Coulson said casually, taking a look around the Hulk's temporary lodgings. The military must have been hot on his heels; the place looked pretty miserable. With time short, Coulson decided to get straight to the point.
"We're here to recruit you. And, for the record, we're with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Recruit me? You? S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Bruce Banner had never heard of them.
"That's right! S.H.I.E.L.D.! If you join us, you won't have to live in fear of being hunted by the military anymore. We have an Avengers Initiative..."
Coulson launched into his sales pitch. He gave him an overview of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s work, then focused on the real purpose behind creating the Avengers. He explained the Director's ideas and even embellished them a little, choosing whatever sounded best. A sales pitch was Coulson's specialty!
"Is this little girl also an Avenger? Are you trying to provoke me? I don't see why I should join an organization that lets little girls become members!"
At first, when Coulson talked about S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, Bruce Banner had been very interested. He could escape the military's endless pursuit and fight for the Earth, too? It was certainly appealing.
But this little girl was only a few years old, and she was an Avenger? What kind of joke was that? Bruce Banner felt his anger rising. This man had to be here to insult his intelligence. He wanted to transform and slap the man in front of him into a puddle of flesh!
"Oh, that's right! You may not know Annie, but I'm sure you remember the toy bear she's holding." Coulson gave him a knowing smile and gestured toward the toy in Annie's hands.
"Tibbers says it kind of wants to see you again! Do you want to fight it?" Annie grinned as she lifted up the little bear, Tibbers, and held it in front of Bruce Banner. At Annie's signal, Tibbers grew a little bigger and began to emit flames, but didn't transform into a giant Flame Giant Bear.
In truth, Tibbers didn't want to fight the Hulk at all. It was nighttime, and even as a Shadow Bear, Tibbers needed its rest! It had no time for a rematch with this defeated opponent. That would be no fun. But since Annie had given the order, Tibbers reluctantly put on a little show.
"That!!!"
"Well? Do you remember now?" Coulson was delighted to see Bruce Banner stumble back several steps in fright. The Director really was a clever man. Bringing Annie along had been the right call.
"Wait! No! My God! All right, all right, I'll join!!"
A wise man knew better than to fight when the odds were against him. He knew that toy bear all too well! Though it seemed to be a different size now, there was no mistaking that feeling. He still remembered it all too well. Look, it was breathing fire all over, and it was starting to grow? No doubt about it! It was the same Flame Giant Bear from before!
Before you continue