Come Forth, Tibbers! Bite Them to Death!

"Hey, mister!! Where are we? Can you help me find my mommy and daddy?"

Annie was getting a little annoyed by the two strange people questioning her. She reached out and casually spun the globe of the Valoran Continent, then looked at Coulson, hoping he could point out where this strange place was on the continent.

Annie had always thought that after passing through that misty barrier-like Space Gate, she must have been transported somewhere in the Valoran Continent. She just didn't know exactly where. But as long as she found out, Annie was sure she'd find her way home sooner or later. That's right!

Besides, if this weird mister hadn't said he could find her mommy and daddy, Annie wouldn't have talked to him for so long!

This weird mister looked stupid and bald, and wasn't fun at all! Worst of all, he'd interrupted her while she was eating ice cream. The lady beside him was weird, too. She kept scowling, even though Annie hadn't burned anything of hers! Hmph! Tibbers said she was hostile toward Annie, and was suggesting that Annie burn her to a crisp—or let him out to eat her!

"Uh..." Coulson looked at the Valoran Globe still floating and spinning above the table, then said awkwardly, "I don't think we're anywhere on this. We might not be able to help you find your parents."

As he spoke, Coulson pulled a tablet out of his briefcase, tapped the screen, and brought up a 3D image of a globe. Then he held it out in front of Annie. "Look! We're here." Coulson pointed to the 3D globe on the screen, his finger landing on New York, in America.

"Huh?! What a magical illusion! Oh? Is it like the television on the wall?" Annie peered at the tablet's screen, then turned her head to inspect its back curiously. There was nothing there, though.

"This isn't... a magical illusion. It's computer technology. Hey! Don't tap it, you'll break it!" Coulson hurriedly reached out to stop her.

"Technology?" Annie thought about it. Maybe it was like the Yordles' weird robot monsters? But their technology wasn't much use. One Fireball and they'd fall apart.

"This isn't Valoran..." Annie finally noticed the important thing. She couldn't see Valoran anywhere on this magical computer. The 3D globe looked completely different from the Valoran Globe. They had to be two different planets!

"That's right! This is Earth." When Annie tossed the tablet onto the table, Coulson quickly took it back. It had lots of important files on it! It would be a real problem if it broke!

"Earth? How far is Earth from Valoran?"

"Well... I'm not sure. Maybe as far away as the stars in the sky!"

Coulson gathered his thoughts and tried to explain it in a way he thought a little girl could understand. He was now certain that the girl was an alien! This was Coulson's first close encounter with one, though there were plenty of alien artifacts in S.H.I.E.L.D.

As for exactly how far Valoran was from Earth, or where it was, Coulson figured they should ask the Federal Space Agency. Maybe they'd know.

"As far away as the stars in the sky? That's so far... I can't go home?" Annie looked hurt. She bit her lower lip and tossed her spoon aside. Suddenly, she didn't feel like eating ice cream anymore!

Annie's mother had taught her about astrology, so she knew just how far away the stars in the sky were. Even the longest-range Teleportation spell on the Valoran Continent couldn't reach any of the stars closest to Valoran.

Worse, Annie wasn't very skilled in large-scale Teleportation spells! If she thought hard and tried a few times, she might be able to manage a short- or medium-range Teleportation spell within a planet. But an interstellar Space Gate was definitely out of the question! Maybe she'd never be able to go home again. When she thought about never seeing her mother again, Annie felt like crying. Tears were already welling up in her beautiful green eyes.

Coulson watched the little girl sitting with her head bowed, looking miserable. He was just trying to think of a way to comfort her when he heard a loud crash outside!

A Ford car slammed into the ice cream shop's plate-glass window. The glass shattered, sending shards flying and nearly injuring the three people sitting there. The shopkeeper farther away wasn't so lucky. A wheel came rolling through and tore off half his head. Red and white splattered across the ground. He was clearly dead.

Coulson and Melinda hurriedly looked out at the street. Two green monsters had appeared from nowhere and were fighting fiercely. After finding cover, they looked closer in shock and recognized the huge, muscle-bound man in the distance, green from head to toe, as Hulk! Coulson knew the all-green behemoth. S.H.I.E.L.D. had a file on him.

If he remembered correctly, the green giant was called Hulk. His real name was Robert Bruce Banner.

According to the records, he was a genius nuclear physicist with a doctorate. But during an accident, he'd been heavily irradiated by the Gamma Bomb he'd made while protecting a colleague, and his body had mutated into the Hulk!

The report also said that when his emotions became too intense, he transformed into the mindless green giant Hulk! What Coulson couldn't understand was what the other giant was—a bony figure with a similar build, but a slightly lighter shade of green, fighting the Hulk. Who was it? Was this another thing the military had created?

Before Coulson could think any further, the bony giant grabbed another car and hurled it at Hulk. The green giant knocked it away with an elbow. By terrible luck, the car flew straight toward the little ice cream shop where the three of them were. The monsters' enormous strength had ruptured the car's fuel tank. The car struck the storefront, throwing off sparks that ignited the fuel, and the blaze set off a huge explosion alongside the previous car. The gasoline-fed flames filled the shop's small space with a wave of heat, while shrapnel flew toward them...

This was it. They were done for...

That was the last thought Coulson and Melinda shared. They had never imagined that a routine mission today would end with them dying for no apparent reason at the hands of these two monsters! And in such a frustrating case of being caught in the crossfire! Being an agent really was a high-risk job! If only they'd applied for desk duty sooner!

"Hmph! I'm mad now! And there'll be consequences!!"

Hearing Annie's voice beside them, Coulson and Melinda opened their eyes. They'd closed them and braced for death, but were astonished to find that they were all unharmed. On closer inspection, a red, transparent, membrane-like shield had blocked the explosion. The flames still raging inside the shop and the waves of heat couldn't affect the three of them inside the shield!

Was this another one of the girl's powers?!

Melinda and Coulson exchanged a glance. Still reeling, they looked at Annie again. Could Mutants really have so many abilities? Maybe she really was a sorceress?

Annie didn't care what they thought. She clutched Tibbers in her left hand and clenched her right hand into a fist as she strode toward the shop entrance. Annie was furious today! Extremely furious! Mega-furious!!

She'd just found out that she might never be able to go home again or see her mother again! It had already made her feel awful, wronged, and like crying!

And then, out of nowhere, a hunk of metal had flown in and killed the shopkeeper who made such delicious ice cream! She hadn't even had time to figure out what was going on before the two giant beasts fighting outside threw another hunk of metal at them! They must have been trying to burn her to death too, right? That had to be it!

That was unforgivable! Annie thought. She was supposed to be the one who burned other people! And now someone was trying to burn her to death instead?! Hey! How interesting! Annie figured they'd never seen her Little Bear before.

"Don't go! It's dangerous, ah...!" Seeing Annie head out of the shop, Melinda instinctively tried to grab her. But flames flared up around Annie, and Melinda hurriedly pulled her hand back, burned.

Stepping outside, Annie looked at the two big brutes still trading punches and kicks in the distance, and at the street they'd turned into a wreck-strewn ruin.

Annie took a deep breath and thought it over. It seemed more reliable to let Tibbers handle this! She was a clean, well-behaved girl, after all. She couldn't get into a brawl with two big, savage Orcs! That wouldn't be ladylike at all! Even casting spells from a distance didn't seem right. For fighting and brawling up close, it was better to send her Little Bear instead. Besides, Tibbers had been urging her to let him out for a while now!

Then that settled it.

"Come forth, Tibbers! Bite them to death!"

"ROAR~!!!"