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There was no real need to let Skye in on the darker details of his thoughts. After all, despite how dangerous New York could be, there were truly only a handful of incidents in history capable of threatening the entire city at once.
After giving Skye a general rundown of what had happened, Fini brought her back to New York.
By the time they arrived, it was around four in the afternoon. The ripples caused by the earlier battle were already fermenting and spreading rapidly. Every person in the city was caught in a frenzy, discussing Fini and the spectacular battle that had unfolded.
There were those who demanded Fini step forward, reveal his identity, and hand over his weapons to the authorities.
There were others who saw Fini as an object of faith, already making preparations to start a new religion centered around him.
And then there were the curious onlookers, the "melon-eaters" who just wanted to be part of the excitement and noise.
Regardless of their stance, however, one thing remained constant: everyone was consumed by curiosity regarding Fini and haunted by the sheer terror of the battle.
Sadness and pain were also quietly spreading through the city. Even though the robots were mass-produced, inferior models, the explosions caused by two hundred of them were no less devastating than a literal battlefield.
Despite Fini's best efforts to resolve the crisis, many people had ultimately been injured, and some had lost their lives.
This incident allowed Fini to truly grasp the cruelty of war for the first time. Ivan Vanko had only controlled a few hundred robots, yet he had caused such immense devastation.
Fini couldn't even begin to imagine what a tragic scene it would be if Thanos' Chitauri army ever launched a full-scale invasion. Perhaps in the coming years, the construction industry in New York would become exceptionally busy.
Today was destined to be a day New York would never forget. On this day, people re-evaluated the importance of Tony Stark, and they also witnessed exactly how powerful a single individual could become.
Though, for the time being, many still harbored doubts that Fini was even human at all…
Under the weight of such massive public influence, Nick Fury couldn't remain calm. By evening, he had already rushed to Los Angeles, arriving at Tony's villa to inform him that he had arranged a meeting with Fini.
"You arranged a meeting with a spy chief in my house?"
The moment the call connected, Tony's disgruntled voice came through. This reminded Fini that when he had been speaking with Natasha earlier, Tony hadn't actually been present for that part of the conversation.
"Didn't your spy secretary tell you?" Fini asked, attempting to shift the blame.
Sure enough, at the mention of Natasha, Tony's expression soured even further. He spoke into the phone with impatient annoyance. "He's waiting for you. Get over here and get him out of my house."
With that, Tony hung up.
Fini curled his lip. After telling Skye where he was going, he equipped "Incursio," teleported first to Mount Everest, and then opened a portal directly into Tony's home.
Watching the ring of fire suddenly manifest in the air, it was impossible for Nick Fury not to be surprised. Even though he had studied recordings of it countless times, seeing it with his own eye was far more impactful—especially the sight of the pristine white snow on the other side of the portal, which made it clear that these two locations were vast distances apart.
"A pleasure to meet you, Silver Knight," Nick Fury said, stepping forward with a deep, steady voice as Fini stepped through the portal.
"Just how much of a pleasure?"
"..."
"Just a joke." Seeing Nick Fury's dark, unreadable expression, Fini stopped teasing him and got straight to the point. "What do you want from me?"
"Who are you? Where do you come from? How did you obtain these abilities?"
Seeing Fini's directness, Nick didn't beat around the bush either. According to the intelligence gathered by Coulson and Natasha, the "Silver Knight" possessed a relatively mild temperament, so he calculated that such a direct line of questioning wouldn't provoke the other party.
Indeed, Fini wasn't angry. It was only natural for a normal person to be curious about him; even back at Kamar-Taj, many sorcerers were amazed by his unique abilities.
"I'm sorry, but I refuse to answer those questions."
But being calm didn't mean Fini was obligated to answer everything. In fact, he didn't even intend to reveal his identity as a sorcerer to Nick Fury.
He had told Tony because Tony, even with that knowledge, would only investigate privately and wouldn't cause any real trouble for Kamar-Taj. But if he told Nick Fury, given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vast resources, there was a risk they might accidentally stumble upon the sanctuary. If that happened, they would likely turn the place upside down.
Fini had no desire to bring trouble to Kamar-Taj.
"Then what can you answer?" Nick's single eye remained fixed on Fini.
Tony stood a short distance away without intervening. In truth, the fact that Fini had managed to remain hidden for this long was partly due to Tony's help behind the scenes—Tony had been spreading misinformation and even manufacturing models of the "Incursio" armor to mislead the agents' investigations.
"Hmm..."
Fini thought for a moment. It seemed there really wasn't much he wanted to say to Nick Fury, though he had a few questions of his own.
He didn't want to expose his identity, and as for Hydra... he had spent a long time thinking about that issue before coming here.
When he decided to meet Nick Fury, Fini had weighed whether or not to tell him about the Hydra infiltration. But the more he thought about it, the more it felt like the timing wasn't right. S.H.I.E.L.D. was too massive, and the Hydra moles within it were too numerous.
If he told Nick Fury right now that at least half of his organization might be Hydra, Fini couldn't predict what would happen. Would Nick Fury use his skills to quietly purge them all, or would Hydra realize they'd been compromised and simply step into the light, launching a desperate, all-out war against S.H.I.E.L.D.?
The first scenario was fine, but the second would be disastrous. If S.H.I.E.L.D. lost that fight, was Fini supposed to go out and eliminate the entirety of Hydra by himself?
While his confidence in his strength had grown recently, it hadn't reached that level of inflation. One must despise the enemy strategically but respect them tactically. While Hydra didn't seem to have much in the way of powerful individual combatants right now, who knew what trump cards they were hiding?
Furthermore, the Avengers hadn't been formed yet. The world still needed an organization to maintain global security, even if that organization happened to be Hydra-infested.
So, after careful consideration, Fini decided not to inform Nick Fury about Hydra for now. Rather than letting the future become an unknown variable, it was better to keep things as they were—at least that way, he still held the advantage of foresight.
Unfortunately, Fini didn't know that because of the Ivan Vanko incident, a seed of suspicion had already been planted in Nick Fury's mind; he simply hadn't found the time to investigate it yet.
"It seems there really isn't anything to answer. Would 'I'm not a threat' count?" Fini said after a moment, ultimately deciding that dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. was a massive headache.
"A tiger might not attack a person immediately after it's had its fill of food."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fini's brow furrowed.
"Whether or not someone is dangerous isn't defined by the person themselves," Nick Fury said, looking deep into Fini's visor. "We must have an understanding of who you are."
"So, you're planning on putting a collar on me?" Fini's eyes narrowed slightly. He began to calculate the consequences of going to war with S.H.I.E.L.D. right then and there. Although the Ancient One didn't want him involving other sorcerers, he doubted she would stand idly by if he were truly backed into a corner.
"No," Nick Fury said. "I just want to issue you a certification."
With that, Nick Fury picked up a folder from a nearby table and handed it toward Fini.
(End of Chapter)