You can read early chapters on my [P].[A].[T].[R].[E].[O].[N].
Link: [email protected]/Arson09
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"Come on, Skye," Coulson muttered under his breath as he saw her heartbeat stabilizing, letting out a sigh of relief.
"It's working," Fitz added. Everyone shared a smile of triumph, but the moment of victory was short-lived. As Ethan was regenerating Skye's inner organs, she began to code.
Every agent rushed into the pod at the sound of the machine; Simmons was at the front, followed by Fitz.
She is having a cardiac episode, Ethan realized, though he remained calm.
Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep!
"She's spiking!" Melinda exclaimed.
"Stop it! Ethan, how can we stop it?" Coulson spoke. "SKYE!"
"What is happening?" Coulson asked, looking at Ethan desperately.
"She is having a cardiac arrest," Ethan replied as he continued outputting RCT, undeterred.
"It's bad, right?" Ward asked.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Having a heart attack during such a delicate procedure? Yeah, it's bad," Ethan replied.
"Do something! We have to do something!" Fitz spoke frantically, on the verge of tears.
We? Ethan thought, while shaking his head.
Simmons reached the opposite side of Ethan and started stroking Skye's head gently. "Why are you so calm, then?" she asked, though there was venom in her tone.
Did Park even care if Skye lived?
Just as she finished, Skye began to stabilize.
The rhythmic, consistent waveforms, paired with a stable heart rate of 59 and a normal blood pressure of 112/67, indicated that Ethan's Reverse Cursed Technique had effectively stabilized her physiology.
Skye was no longer in critical danger.
"Her heartbeat—she is stabilizing," Simmons spoke.
"Park?" Coulson asked.
Ethan nodded his head. "She is a strong one, isn't she? She will be alright." then turning towards Simmons he replied,
" And to answer your previous question, Dr. Simmons, I was calm because I have performed similar procedures a thousand times over. Panicking wouldn't have helped anyone." It wasn't arrogance that made me say that, just the quiet confidence one gains after performing a task several times.
As for why Skye suffered a heart attack, Ethan deduced that as the RCT energy forced her cells to grow, they rapidly depleted the bloodstream of potassium and phosphate.
This created a severe electrolyte imbalance that disrupted the electrical conduction of the heart, leading to arrhythmias like ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest. It was rare, but in cases like hers—where she had already suffered from severe blood loss and subsequent surgery—it became much more probable.
"Thank you for saving my friend." Simmons answered with a sob.
"Can someone tell me what we just saw?" Ward questioned.
"Heh... the girl's a fighter. What did you do to her?" Triplett questioned Park.
"Ah... I feel like I've answered enough questions for a week," Park replied with a sigh. However, as something occurred to him, his face lit up.
"Coulson, I'm taking a look around your plane—consider it payment rendered. And I'm taking this one with me," he said, pointing toward Fitz.
"Why me?" Fitz questioned, taking a step back. He didn't get far, though; Ethan reached out and gripped him firmly by the shoulder.
"You're the engineer, right?" Ethan asked.
"Yes—how did you know?" Fitz questioned frantically.
Ethan simply looked around the room and then back at Fitz. Every agent followed his gaze. No words were spoken, but the collective silence carried the same thought: It's obvious; you're the scientist here.
Fitz followed the gesture, and his face fell. "Never mind." With a nod from Coulson, the two made their way out.
If Ethan remembered correctly, the Zephyr One—which was created after the Bus was destroyed—was capable of both space and time travel and both were designed and made by Leo Fitz. Ethan didn't require time travel yet, but space travel was something he was genuinely looking forward to.
Lately, Ethan had been considering a retirement plan. What if he actually accomplished his goal? If he erased cursed spirits from existence, then what? He wouldn't die naturally anytime soon; with Mahoraga's assistance, he could live for the next 300 to 400 years practically without aging—possibly longer.
Exploring space seemed like a fine way to spend that time. While he could technically survive in the vacuum of outer space by himself, a ship would still be essential. Imaging a spacecraft imbued with the Gravity Sheep or his Wood Dragon shikigami, a smile formed on Ethan's face. With the Ten Shadows, the possibilities were endless.
Ten minutes later:
Coulson and Garrett were in the Bus's main office.
"I want to thank you, Garrett, for letting us keep Quinn on the plane," Coulson spoke.
"Don't mention it; there is still time for me to make his life a long, living hell," Garrett countered.
"I'm counting on it," Coulson reaffirmed.
"There is something I need to ask you, Phil," Garrett said. "We have known each other a long time."
"Yes, we have," Coulson agreed.
"We have shared tight spots together. Had it gone the other way—if the boy wonder hadn't arrived and Skye hadn't survived—were you really prepared to throw Quinn off this plane?" Garrett questioned.
"You were the one who made that threat. I just asked to keep him on the Bus for a while," Coulson countered with a signature smile.
"You're right. I made that threat. My mistake," Garrett smiled back. He had his answer: Coulson wouldn't have hesitated.
"One more thing. Could you ask the boy wonder to provide us with a supplementary quantity of those Vitalis for our agents? I could have saved my people if I'd had those."
"You can ask him yourself. I'm sure he won't refuse. I haven't even properly introduced you two yet," Coulson said as he began descending the stairs.
After the introduction, Garrett explained the issue to Ethan, who asked, "Agent Garrett, are you to engage in a firefight in the next two hours?"
"What? No. Why?" Garrett fired back.
"Then I can't help you, Agent. You see, my Vitalis are made of ordinary metal; they break under the strain of my jujutsu in under two hours. That's why I mostly imbue them on the spot," Ethan explained with a smile.
Garrett stood frozen, his persona's mask dropping for a second. He couldn't exactly tell Ethan he was injured without risking his Deathlok secret being revealed to Phil and S.H.I.E.L.D. He couldn't force the issue without risking exposure.
Garrett's brain was already planning his next move: a scenario so intense and deadly that Ethan Park would be forced to distribute a vast amount of those Vitalis. If a few went missing along the way, they wouldn't be missed. All he had to do was kill some rabbits to make it happen.
"I see... that's unfortunate," Garrett spoke, his smile returning.
However, as he and Coulson made their way to the upper deck, Ethan called out from the lab, "Agent Garrett... catch!" Garrett looked back just in time to see a disk flying in his direction. He instinctively caught it and looked down. This was it—this was a Vitalis.
He looked back at Ethan, who was already speaking. "Those are some nasty burn wounds. Third-degree?"
"Yes," Garrett answered immediately, his hand reaching for his collar. He realized it was pulled down. When had he pulled it down?
"Any friend of Coulson is a friend of mine," Ethan spoke, winking at Phil as he headed back toward Fitz.
You stupid son of a bitch, Garrett thought. "I guess being friends with someone who died and came back has its own perks too," he said, waving the disk. Coulson was also smiling.
What Garrett didn't know—or rather, couldn't know—was that the Vitalis Ethan had given him wasn't meant to heal.
It was a Trojan Horse.
It was designed to overload his system with enough RCT to trigger Stage 4 cancerous growth within a week—a rate far faster than his natural vitality could handle.
He will initially feel great, until suddenly he won't, as for someone investigating his death, Hydra won't risk it, not when they were so close to Project Insight.
John Garrett will probably pass away from a plane crash or something similar.
Ethan, Of course, Had his own plans regarding said project, but thoes have to wait, for the right moment.
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A/N: So how was the chapter?