Hell's Kitchen

Chapter 6: Hell's Kitchen

Jessica's strength stunned everyone. Fudge fearfully craned his neck back.

Thinking about how he always liked to tease Jessica, that harmless-looking little girl, his neck began to ache. If she hit him just once, he could be stuffed into a coffin and buried underground.

The middle-aged police officer, Michael, grimaced as he rubbed his ribs, seemingly recalling something unpleasant.

Natasha was even more shocked. She had never expected a little girl to possess such immense strength. Leaving a palm print on such a sturdy table was no small feat. At the very least, she had never seen anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. accomplish something like that with sheer physical strength alone.

There had been no mention in the intelligence she received of a girl with such absurd strength. More accurately, every piece of intelligence about this Restaurant had been wrong!

Just then, the Restaurant door was pushed open again. A middle-aged man in a suit walked in from outside. He was slightly balding, wore a smile, and carried a gentle air about him.

His sincere smile made him instantly likable. The middle-aged man walked to the bar, nodded to Alvin in greeting, and apologetically said, "I'm very sorry for the trouble we caused. My name is Phil Coulson, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

Coulson then turned to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, I'm sorry our intelligence was wrong. That report was nearly a year out of date. Purple Man left here long ago.

"I don't know what happened, but when you return, you'll still need to submit a report to headquarters explaining your passive conduct today."

Natasha nodded with a cold expression, saying nothing as she turned and headed for the Restaurant door. She did not want to stay here for another second. She had actually wasted so much time over outdated intelligence. That was truly idiotic! Someone would have to pay for this!

Alvin looked teasingly at the nice old fellow before him, the glue holding the Avengers together, Agent Phil Coulson.

"Why do you think you can swagger into my place and settle this so easily? Let me remind you: this is Hell's Kitchen, the Peace Hotel. No one gets to do something wrong here and leave without paying the price."

The moment Alvin finished speaking, Natasha, who had reached the Restaurant entrance, let out a muffled grunt as she was slammed back inside. She landed on the floor in a most undignified split-legged sprawl. Thor, the black dire wolf, bared his teeth and gave her a domineering growl.

Coulson reacted swiftly, turning and drawing his gun on Thor. The other dire wolf, Dom, slipped in through the entrance, circled along the wall, and reached Coulson's side. He bared his fangs at him, issuing a low, rumbling growl.

"Mr. Ye, think this through. Are you planning to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Have you considered the consequences?" The smile vanished from Coulson's face, but he did not appear particularly afraid. He merely shifted his gun between the two dire wolves and calmly questioned Alvin.

Alvin smiled and did not answer him. "I have surveillance footage and recordings here. They clearly document how Agent Natasha abused her authority to threaten a law-abiding citizen.

"And you, Agent Coulson, think one apology is enough to settle this? You're thinking far too simply."

Then Alvin turned to Matt and asked, "Matt, what would happen if I sued them over this?"

Matt slowly took a sip of lemonade and said, "We can sue them for abuse of authority, threatening and intimidating civilians. Oh, and now we can add another charge: using a firearm to coerce a citizen's pets!

"The result would be that these two agents lose their jobs, and S.H.I.E.L.D. would have to offer the public an explanation. Why can they disregard the safety of ordinary citizens while carrying out a mission? Why can they abuse their authority when civilians refuse to cooperate?

"Hmm, we might even be able to secure some financial compensation."

Matt's words made Jessica clap in approval. She was now deeply hostile toward an organization that wanted to recruit a freak like Purple Man.

Matt's words made Coulson break into a sweat. This seasoned agent feared dangerous criminals, but he was helpless when dealing with a lawyer like Matt, especially when neither reason nor force was on his side.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had never been welcome among government law enforcement agencies in the United States! Recently, because of a series of incidents, S.H.I.E.L.D. had fallen out badly with both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Even at a disadvantage, Coulson remained calm. He did not argue with Matt, merely saying softly, "Then what would you like, Mr. Ye? What would it take for you to forgive my colleague's impulsiveness? She has bled and been wounded for this country. I believe you know that, Mr. Ye."

Alvin waved for Thor and Dom to return to the entrance, then poured Coulson a beer and said, "You're right. Last week, I pulled her out of the water at the beach and called an ambulance for her."

Thinking the atmosphere had eased, Coulson put away his gun, sat at the bar, and took a sip of beer.

"The ambulance and the medical expenses I paid in advance came to two thousand dollars. Matt, write that down. I want them to reimburse me for that too." As Alvin finished, Coulson nearly spat out his beer. He had not expected one extra sentence from himself to cost him another two thousand dollars.

"Oh, right. Fudge, you told me you know people in the media. Call them over. They should be interested in how S.H.I.E.L.D. does its job. And count this matter as a commission. Your law firm can take twenty percent of the compensation as your fee." Alvin smiled and nodded at the eager Fudge.

"Twenty percent is too little. How about fifty percent? Taking on S.H.I.E.L.D. carries some risk for us," Fudge haggled with a cheeky grin.

"Forty percent. Not a cent more. How hard you work will determine the quality of the facilities at the Kindergarten on the corner, and the caliber of teachers it can hire." Alvin made the final decision.

Fudge excitedly gave a Barton-style military salute. "Understood. I'll notify the media right away. Alvin, you're a good man. I've decided to donate half the income from this commission to the Kindergarten." With that, he took out his phone and made the call.

Coulson irritably scratched his thinning hair. When had they ever encountered something like this? If a civilian refused to cooperate during an agent's mission, that was one thing, but suing S.H.I.E.L.D.? Was there no law anymore?

He hurriedly stopped Fudge from making the call. The shrewd Coulson even glanced at the number. It really was Fox Television's news tip line.

"Mr. Ye, we can discuss this properly. Please don't escalate the matter. This was merely an individual agent's conduct; it does not represent S.H.I.E.L.D.'s usual way of doing things.

"We should sit down and talk this over. Perhaps you can name a reasonable price, and we can settle this matter." Coulson looked at Alvin pleadingly.

By then, Natasha had climbed back to her feet and stood behind Coulson. She was rather curious. This Restaurant owner was very unusual.

In her experience, no one facing pressure from S.H.I.E.L.D. had ever remained as composed and at ease as he was.

The faulty intelligence had led her to make many wrong judgments. Although she had certainly achieved her goal of ending this mission quickly, she would remember the humiliation she had suffered.

Once Coulson settled this matter and she found the culprit who had nearly gotten her killed, she would come here often. As an ace agent, wherever she fell, that was where she needed to get back up.

Natasha's gaze made Alvin's scalp prickle. He was not afraid; he simply felt that being watched by an old monster like her would probably bring him a lot of trouble in the future.