"First of all, please don't lump me in with them!"
After giving his wording some thought, Lee first raised his right index finger and wagged it, then said, "They're just my customers. I happened to realize they were loaded and not very bright, so I came here to sell them a few little handicrafts and scrape by."
"..."
When Nick Fury heard Lee's words, his face, already the color of an egg, darkened even further.
Scrape by? How much did he have to spend to live like that?
And handicrafts? If you could call the things he was selling handicrafts, then what did that make guns? Children's toys?
Although the veins in his forehead were almost popping, Nick Fury finally managed to rein in his temper and asked Lee, "Even if things really are as you say, don't you know anything about them?"
"Know anything? Hmm... a little, I guess!"
Lee thought it over, then said, "They're loaded, not very bright, and very curious. Basically, they all seem to take a game-like attitude toward life. But if you mean joining some sort of organization, then even if they have one, I doubt such a loosely organized group could pose much of a threat."
"Forget it. Another question."
Seeing Lee act like this, Nick Fury gave up on trying to get an explanation out of him, though he still looked deeply worried.
"Go ahead."
Lee shrugged, still unconcerned.
He had explained himself to Nick Fury, anyway. Whether Fury believed him was none of his business.
Sooner or later, a group like the players would attract the attention of organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. It was only because they had gathered in New York ahead of schedule, and because he himself had drawn S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention, that the agency had noticed them this early.
Actually,