Ultimate Marvel System

Chapter 46: Strange Symbols

Chapter 46: Strange Symbols

Fridge. Undisclosed location.

A small plane landed on the roof after gaining clearance. Inside this plane were Coulson, Benjamin, and the others.

Only Agents May and Trip stayed on the Bus for standby.

“Director Coulson. We’ve been expecting you. Right this way please.”

A middle-aged man greeted them as they landed and led them inside.

Inside, they underwent another set of tests and checks to verify their identity. This was to ensure the security of the items stored here and prevent any attempts to break out any prisoners.

Even a shapeshifter like Mystique will have a hard time sneaking in here.

It took them a few minutes to finish everything. Benjamin was also provided a temporary pass by Coulson and managed to enter.

They then went inside an elevator that sent them to one of the lower levels of the Fridge.

By the time they reached their target floor, they were greeted with rows upon rows of wooden crates.

Coulson turned to his team.

“Let’s split up. Look for the crate.”

“Understood.”

Everyone nodded and left in different directions.

Benjamin didn’t join them and merely looked around.

There were some interesting things here but most of it is useless to him. Actually, most of the things here are just HYDRA trinkets.

The useful stuff is probably kept elsewhere.

As for why SHIELD decided to keep the Obelisk here…Benjamin has no idea. It was obviously a dangerous thing.

Maybe they are thinking of hiding it from a bunch of useless things so no one will think of stealing here.

As he was thinking of such things, Fitz shouted.

“Found it!”

Everyone turned and started to converge on his location.

Benjamin walked towards him as well and just in time to see Fitz opening the crate and reaching his hand out.

“Don’t touch it!”

“!!!”

Fitz was jolted in surprise and froze up.

Benjamin sighed in relief when he saw that he was still okay.

He approached them and saw a silver object with an irregular shape inside the crate.

This was indeed the Obelisk. Or rather, the Diviner.

The outer shell is made of some alien mineral and is dangerous to human touch. In the TV series in his previous world, a certain group had managed to grow new Terrigen Crystals from it but was unable to separate the Diviner from the crystal, hence the mist created from that version was also harmful to humans.

It was different from the pure Terrigen Crystal that Benjamin had used the other day.

Coulson asked.

“This is the Obelisk?”

“Yes. It’s dangerous if a human touches it.”

“What exactly is this thing?”

Skye asked while staring at the Obelisk, feeling a strange sort of connection to it.

“It’s Kree.”

“Kree?”

Benjamin nodded and explained.

“Many years ago, the Kree found Earth and discovered the potential of humans. They genetically modified humans such that they gain powers through a process called Terrigenisis. This…Obelisk, itself isn’t the most important part but the thing inside it. Terrigen Crystals. Upon breaking it, it will release a mist that will transform those humans with genetic markers passed down from their ancestors who were genetically modified by the Kree.”

Everyone fell silent, still trying to digest the sudden information that Benjamin told them.

Benjamin didn’t mind their reactions and continued.

“I said earlier that it’s dangerous if a human touches it. But those who carry that specific gene can touch it without a problem.”

“W-wait, hold on. I’m confused. How exactly do you know all these things?”

Jemma asked.

Everyone turned to Benjamin as well. They were all thinking the same thing.

Benjamin merely smiled and shrugged.

“I just know things. HYDRA doesn’t know about that yet and only knows of its destructive properties to humans.”

“...What is this genetic marker? How can we tell if anyone of us has it?”

Fitz asked.

“You can’t actually. The genetic marker will only be visible once they have been activated after going through Terrigenisis.”

Benjamin considered telling them that Skye had it but it would be too troublesome to explain how he could tell.

He was already stretching it by telling them what this thing is.

“It’s too bad Captain Marvel is still unreachable at the moment. She’s the only leading expert we have on anything Kree.”

Coulson said.

“In any case, HYDRA wants this thing. And we can’t let them have it. Fitz-Simmons. How fast can you make a replica of this thing?”

“There’s a 3D printer at the Bus and all we need is its dimensions so…an hour should be fine.”

Fitz answered.

“Do it.”

The two nodded and Fitz started to check his backpack.

“Where did I put those tweezers at…”

“Have you checked that side pocket?”

Jemma tried to help him look for it since they needed to hold it up to get an accurate 3D scan.

“Here.”

Benjamin raised a finger and used his Telekinesis to lift the Obelisk into the air.

“Or…that works too.”

Fitz was surprised for a while but still did his job and scanned its measurements.

They then left and returned to the Bus so Fitz-Simmons could work on the replica.

As for the other members, they remained on standby.

“So this is what’s all the fuss about?”

Trip saw the Obelisk floating near Benjamin and approached it to take a closer look.

He then stretched his hand towards it to grab it and see.

“No no no! Don’t touch it!”

“Ah?”

Skye, who was right beside Benjamin at that time, panicked and quickly stretched her arm out to block Trip but she ended up accidentally touching the Obelisk herself.

Benjamin could’ve reacted in time and moved it away but since he saw it was Skye, he thought it would be a good opportunity instead and acted like he didn’t react immediately.

As soon as Skye touched the Obelisk, the Obelisk glowed red, and marks appeared on it that seemed like a pattern.

Skye quickly retracted her arm with a pale face.

“I-I touched it! Am I going to die!?”

“If you were going to die, it would be when you had touched it. Seeing as you’re fine, it seems that you’re one of those that carry that special genetic marker.”

“No way…”

Benjamin smiled and controlled the Obelisk to approach Skye.

“Go ahead. You will be able to hold it.”

“A-are you sure?”

“100%”

“...”

Skye turned to look at the others and to Coulson who gave her a nod.

Though it was shown briefly, he had recognized those patterns somewhere and wanted a closer look to be sure.

“Then…here goes nothing…”

Skye took a deep breath and slowly extended her hands toward the Obelisk.

As she neared, she hesitated for a moment then decided to close her eyes and grabbed onto it!

The Obelisk glowed once again and patterns appeared on its surface.

“...What now?”

Skye asked.

“Nothing. It just confirmed your lineage. You’ll still need to open it in order to use the Terrigen Crystals inside.”

Skye frowned and looked at the Obelisk.

“How do I open this thing?”

“I assume some kind of ritual is needed. Those patterns might be a hint.”

“I’ll scan it and run a decoder program.”

Fitz approached with a device in hand which he pointed at the Obelisk while Skye held it.

Skye helped and rotated it a few times to get a clear 3D image of the scan.

At this moment, Coulson spoke up.

“I recognize those marks.”

“Where?”

Bobbi asked.

Coulson didn’t answer immediately as he was deliberating in his mind.

Finally, he sighed and pulled out a file from his tablet, and sent it to the big screen in the briefing room.

It was a recording of interviews where Coulson interviewed several people in an enclosed space.

In the beginning, it was a normal interview with the interviewees thanking Coulson for giving them another second chance at life.

However, it soon changed and the interviewees became more unstable as they tried to carve on the table strange symbols.

“There. Same symbols.”

“You’re right…what exactly is this about?”

Skye asked, finding it weird how these were connected.

Coulson sighed.

“...They were all test subjects of a formula called GH-325. Project TAHITI…The idea was to save a fallen Avenger…it’s a resurrection drug, basically.”

“You mean…these people were dead!? Like actual dead!?”

“Yes. Although we managed to bring them back, as you can see, their mental states were…unstable. We had to erase their memories and rewrite them so they can move on with their lives.”

“...What does TAHITI stand for?”

Mack asked with a frown.

“Terrestrialized Alien Host Integrative Tissue I. It makes use of an alien corpse to create the GH-325 formula.”

“Let me guess…that alien corpse is Kree?”

Coulson nodded.

“Correct. We believed that the Kree’s memory was affecting the patients through its DNA which was the reason for the weird symbols so we had to overwrite them for them to be stable. However, I deemed the project was too dangerous so we had to shut it down.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment until Skye spoke up.

“Do we know where any of these patients are now?”

“They’re under different names now. Let me see.”

Coulson checked for a while and pulled out 6 names.

Skye then did her thing and started to look up these 6 people.

Soon after, she frowned.

“Looks like we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“Out of these six, only three are alive. The other three are dead and guess what's found on their bodies?”

Skye didn’t keep the suspense and showed them pictures of the crime scenes.

All three bodies had weird symbols carved onto them.

It was the same symbols on the Obelisk.

Bobbi turned to Coulson.

“Seems like you didn’t erase their memories completely after all.”

At this moment, Benjamin spoke to Skye.

“Send me those files. I’ll have someone in the EPD look into it as well.”

“Alright.”

Skye nodded and sent the files to Benjamin.

Anyway, those weren't SHIELD files but police files so she’s just returning them so to speak.

Benjamin then called Jake on his phone.

“Jake, I sent you some files. See if you can use your ability to know where the murderer is based on the evidence stored in the department.”

“One sec…I got it. Hm?”

“Something wrong?”

“Well…we just had a report come in a while ago about the same M.O. It might be the same killer.”

Benjamin frowned and asked.

“What’s the name of the vic?”

“Uhh, Janice Robbins. Why?”

“Alright. Head to the crime scene and see what you can find. I’ll be heading there as well.”

Benjamin ended the call and turned to Coulson.

“Looks like another one’s crossed off.”

“Which leaves two. One of them has to be the killer.”

Coulson turned to the two names.

“If I have to pick, I’d say Sebastian Derik is the most likely one to be it. He was the most dangerous one among the patients.”

At the side, Skye shook her head.

“It’s no use. I can’t find anything on the guy. I have no idea where he is.”

“But we know where he’ll be headed. His next target. Bobbi. You’ll go with Mack and Trip and check in on the last one, Hank Thompson. The rest are with me to check the crime scene. See what we can find.”

“Understood.”

“Who do I drop off first?”

May asked.

Before Coulson could say anything, Benjamin interjected.

“Just keep heading to where Hank Thompson is. I’ll take the others to the crime scene.”

Benjamin circled his hand with the Sling Ring and a portal appeared in front of him.

He smiled at Coulson and his group and gestured over the portal.

“Shall we?”

“...”

Their group was naturally shocked.

Fitz pointed at the portal with a shaking finger and muttered.

“H-how did…d-did you just fold space? H-how….just how!?”

“Magic. Now get in.”

Since they keep dilly-dallying, Benjamin pushed them all into the portal and closed it behind them.

“Ben, you’re here.”

Jake greeted Benjamin and looked at the group of people with him.

“Who’re they?”

“SHIELD. The victim’s a former SHIELD agent related to an ongoing investigation of theirs so I had them come along.”

Jake nodded in understanding.

“So? Anything you found yet?”

“Not yet. I just got here too. Give me a sec.”

Jake went over and touched a random wall and his eyes whitened.

“...I see them. The victim’s with another person a few hours ago. Tall, blonde hair, muscular…oh and he has these weird tattoos all over his body. Same symbols as the ones carved onto the victim.”

Coulson raised a brow and looked at Benjamin in confusion.

“What’s he doing?”

“He’s seeing the ‘memories’ of the wall a few hours back.”

“Aaaand he’s started carving onto the victim. Ugh. He continued to carve even after she died from the blood loss…It seems to be some kind of compulsive behavior.”

Jake sighed and shook his head as he ended the vision.

Coulson then showed him two pictures. One of Sebastian Derik and the other Hank Thompson.

“Which of these two was the culprit?”

“Oh, you already have suspects? It’s this one.”

Jake was a bit surprised but he still pointed at who he saw in his vision. It was Sebastian Derik.

“Huh. You have quite the useful ability there.”

“I know right?”

Jake laughed sheepishly.

Suddenly, Fitz’s voice rang out from the other room.

“Uhh, sir? You might want to see this.”

Coulson followed him and saw Fitz-Simmons looking at the scattered paintings in the room…all of which had the symbols painted on them as well.

Jake clicked his tongue.

“Man, talk about one freaky case…”

“Tell me about it…”

Skye who stood beside him sighed.

She turned to Jake curiously and asked.

“So you’re like…what, a mutant?”

“Nah. I’m an Inhuman. It’s basically the same thing but instead of the X-gene, I have the Inhuman gene.”

“Inhuman gene?”

“Yeah. Apparently, I’m some kind of human slash Kree person. Pretty cool right?”

Jake laughed but Skye was more than surprised.

Inhuman gene…was this what Benjamin was talking about earlier!? There’s actually already one whose genes were activated!?

Before she could ask anything further, Jake turned to Benjamin.

“So what’s all these about exactly? Why do they keep drawing these things?”

“Hm? Ah well, these former agents were injected with a formula that contains Kree DNA, and apparently the Kree’s memories are somehow affecting them into drawing or carving these things.”

“...”

Jake fell silent.

“Uhh…I’m not going to go crazy like them too right?”

“No, you’re different. They were humans while you’re an Inhuman so it won’t happen to you.”

“Cool cool cool cool cool”

Jake repeatedly said that word over and over while sighing in relief.

Skye overheard their conversation and asked.

“Ben? You know about the Inhumans too?”

“Hm? Well, I did tell you about the special gene already right? I just didn’t put a name on it so as to not overwhelm you. But yes, that special gene is the Inhuman gene. After going through Terrigenisis, you will become an Inhuman.”

Benjamin confirmed Skye’s thoughts.

Jake was surprised and turned to Skye.

“She’s also one of us?”

“Yeah. But she hasn’t gone through the Terrigenisis yet. And I don’t have any crystals anymore. Well, they already found one but it’s up to her if she wants to use it.”

Benjamin shrugged.

Forcing others to go through with it will only make things worse and might even create a powerful enemy.

At this time, Coulson spoke up.

“We need to meet up with Bobbi and the rest. The culprit is probably headed their way now.”

“Oh, actually, I can still track him if you want.”

Jake raised his hands.

“How?”

“Well, I’ll just look at the corridor’s memory, see where he turns, and so on.”

Coulson turned to Benjamin who nodded to confirm what Jake said.

“Lead the way then, Detective.”

“Yes! Man, this is exciting. I can’t believe I’m doing a mission with SHIELD!”

“Focus, Jake.”

“Right, right.”

Benjamin sighed at the overly excited Jake.

Jake then went to the corridor outside the apartment room and checked which way the culprit went.

“He’s…huh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…it’s weird. I saw him head to the staircase then after a while, he suddenly appeared again and went to another room.”

Skye turned to Coulson with a weird expression.

“He probably left first then doubled back to throw off any investigations…”

“And the place he chose to hide is right next to where the murder happened. The safest place is often the most dangerous place.”

Coulson could only smile wryly.

Sadly, this guy didn’t expect someone like Jake to exist and his plans were completely thrown off.

“Aww, is it over already?”

The most dissatisfied one was Jake who thought he’ll be joining a SHIELD mission only for it to end immediately.

“Well, at least this made things easy.”

Benjamin chuckled and nodded at Jake who then turned to other police officers on the scene.

After a while, the police officers started knocking on the neighboring doors as part of the standard protocol for questioning on an ongoing investigation.

They knocked on a few other doors for a while first in order to lower Sebastian’s guard before finally knocking at his door.

“This is the NYPD. We just have a few questions.”

“...”

“Anyone home?”

The police officers knocked again.

This time, the door opened and reveal a tall blonde-haired man with a muscular build.

Confirming it was the suspect, the police officers looked at each other and quickly stepped away.

Knowing something was amiss, Sebastian tried to take a step back to reassess the situation when a hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto his neck.

When Sebastian saw the face that appeared out of nowhere, he saw a flaming red skull whose hollow eyes seemed to stare deeply into his soul.

Benjamin smirked and felt a little playful.

“Boo.”