"Did Team 3 find anything?" Fury asked, watching his best technicians working as hard as they could.
"No, sir."
"Nothing? There must be some signs or traces left, right?" He couldn't accept such a sudden change without any clue or awareness. The door suddenly opened and a woman walked into the room.
"Hill, tell me what you found?"
"Sorry, sir, all traces have been erased," Maria·Hill replied. "It was done too cleanly, even to the point of being weird."
"That sounds like an excuse to me."
"I'm sorry. I will try my best."
"Guys, keep moving," Fury yelled. "I need answers."
Beep!
He glanced at his watch and frowned. Fury went to his private residence and activated the communication device. "Minister."
"Director, you need to calm down and stop sending agents everywhere. You are wasting resources."
"You already know?"
"Shouldn't I know?"
Nick·Fury frowned. "The situation is--"
"I know the situation and why this happened. That's why I told you not to waste any more time," Ian said, sending him many documents. Fury read them quickly, and as time passed, his face became more and more solemn.
"You knew this all along?"
"Yes."
"How long have you known?"
"Since I took over."
Fury clenched his fists. He had just learned that Hydra had penetrated S.H.I.E.L.D. so deeply, but that wasn't even the worst part.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There was an operation to take control of Hydra for our use. You will be notified once that operation is concluded."
"So what? If I can't know this information, what's the point of being the director?"
"There are more powerful forces behind the scenes, Director," Ian explained calmly. "And before the time is right, some information is beyond your authority."
Nick·Fury took a deep breath and calmed himself down. For a long time since the new minister replaced Alexander Pierce, he had a feeling that he could not control the situation. But today, he finally confirmed this.
"So, what happened to that operation?"
"It got out of control," Ian explained. "An unknown force intervened and now Hydra is out of my control."
"What now?" Nick·Fury asked. Although he wanted to make a sarcastic comment, he knew now was not the time - especially since he could easily be blamed for allowing Hydra to penetrate S.H.I.E.L.D. so deeply.
"Concentrate your efforts on finding Tony·Stark."
"Him?"
"Yes. Once he comes back, the world will enter a new era," Ian said with narrowed eyes. "And S.H.I.E.L.D. will also become busier." The clone ended the call, leaving Fury deep in thought.
Earth-125:
Armed with the knowledge gained from Kamar-Taj, Ian entered Earth effortlessly. He floated in the sky while invisible. The place looked exactly like his Earth, and he named it Earth-003 after his codename from Bone Council.
However, he knew this place was different because Black Widow, Hawkeye, Tony and Captain America all died in Albion's invasion.
Ian slowly flew to the top of a building and whispered, "You took what belongs to me." A crack in space appeared next to him, and the Ancient One walked out.
"Are you the owner of that dragon?"
"That's right."
"Your friend caused a huge disaster on this planet?"
"I know, and I don't mind paying compensation for his actions."
The Ancient One was silent for a few seconds, "How did you bypass the Earth's defense system?"
Ian glanced at her, "It seems that a peaceful solution is impossible."
"You are a safety risk."
"Okay, let's fight at Mirror Dimension," Ian announced, opening a space crack leading to the destination.
The Ancient One did not waste time or delay, and immediately mobilized the power from Dark Dimension. Her perception told her that this man was comparable to Demon Gods, and he was definitely not a low-level one.
The Ancient One pointed his hands to the sky, opening a dark portal, and then the portal shot out a terrifying dark beam, enough to Annihilation the entire Mirror Universe.
'This is really weird,' Morgana said. 'Her body is only Tier 3, still in the human category. Her soul is only Tier 6, but her attack power is as high as Tier 10. I think I will never like these worlds with non-linear power systems.'
Ian calmly raised his hand, opened a portal, and sent the beam behind the Ancient One. However, her body became translucent, and the beam passed through her and hit Ian standing in front. So, he opened a portal to Dark Dimension, sending the attack back to its source.
Meanwhile, the Ancient One continues to attack with the Time Stone() hanging around her neck. She is not a stubborn person. In this case, if she still worries about breaking the laws of nature, she and the entire planet will be in serious trouble.
She summoned two pieces of Mirror Dimension and shot them at Ian. However, they flew less than two meters before being swallowed up by a green light and disappearing.
'Directly attacking my timeline? Unfortunately for you, I am also a time master,' Ian thought, raising his hand to reveal a small magic circle above his palm. Then, the two dimensional fragments appeared on his palm.
Hundreds of black straps fall from the sky in an attempt to trap Ian. The spell looks like [Crimson Bands]; however, they are dark and contain the aura of Dark Dimension. Ian creates a shield around it, but the straps are quickly corroding it.
The Ancient One was about to continue the attack when her face changed. Countless magic circles appeared above her head and began to emit purple light balls. Her sense of danger warned her, so she turned into a black mist and teleported.
The building they were standing on disappeared the moment it came into contact with the first light ball. Then, other light balls followed the Ancient One, and as time passed, their speed began to increase.
In the end, the Ancient One realized that she could not avoid it, so she created countless black mandalas as a shield around her. This shield only lasted for a few seconds, and once the attack ended, she disappeared.
'Interesting. She jumped a few seconds into the future,' Ian thought. As expected, the Ancient One appeared.
[Winds of Watoomb]
The Ancient One pushed his hand forward, creating an extremely terrifying tornado. In less than a second, this thing grew to the size of a galaxy cluster, and it continued to grow and tear apart everything in its path until there was nothing left in Mirror Universe - except the two of them.
The Ancient One was not surprised that the latter survived the attack. Her main purpose was to buy time. Floating in Void, she held a black ball of light between her palms.
'She perfectly combines the dark power of Dark Dimension with the energy of Time Stone,' Ian commented.
'You have to hurry up, because you can't block this attack,' Morgana said.
'How strong is it?'
'High-level demon Divine Grade.'
'So powerful?'
'Yes, but her soul might break later,' she added.
'Do you think our the Ancient One is so powerful?'
'Maybe not. This the Ancient One seems to have absorbed the power of Dark Dimension more deeply in order to deal with you,'
'So, she has this potential,' Ian commented. 'Okay, let's end this battle.' He clapped his hands, and suddenly, the light ball in the Ancient One's hand disappeared, and then Dark Dimension Mark on her forehead also disappeared.
How could someone like him not have a plan for how to deal with the Ancient One if their relationship sours? And the answer to that question is simple - cut her off from Dark Dimension to weaken her.