I really don’t ride in cars often.

Well, technically, I’m inside a van, but all the same.

When you can move faster than airplanes and casually teleport across the world, the necessity for a vehicle drops significantly.

And apparently that old cliche where the government uses fake vans like a plumber’s or an electrician’s is true!

This one in particular was for a roofing service; it even had a ladder and various odds and ends on the outside to look the part.

The inside was surprisingly cozy, though.

Salem, Jinn, Coulson, and I fit into the back comfortably even with all the electronics and surveillance equipment without issue.

Not surprising considering that they probably need to have people camped out inside for days at a time when watching places.

The car ride didn’t take long before we came to a stop.

Nor did Coulson tell us to extend the whole ’secrecy’ aspect as we hopped out of the car. I looked around to see the building we were parked out in front of. It was a warehouse with the view blocked at almost every angle.

A black site, he called it.

Just as Coulson stepped out, another agent was walking over, folder in hand, handing it over to him, and then he handed it to me.

I flipped it open to see the information. "Antony Johnson, age 32." I blinked for a moment. "Shouldn’t this be secret information?"

Coulson adjusted a belt he put on around his waist, complete with a gun holster and other things. "You’re working with us; it’s all the same at this point. If there’s something you need to know, it’s blacked out."

Couldn’t argue with that.

"Military career, picked up by Shield at the end of an Afghanistan tour. Completed training in good time. Near spotless record as an agent, only a few failed missions." I continued to flip through things. "Anything important I should know?"

"I didn’t know what you would need, so I brought his file just in case. I’m in the dark here; this is your area of expertise."

True.

Better safe than sorry.

I pointed to one of the agents holding a rifle. "Can I borrow that?"

The agent looked at Coulson, then Coulson gave him a nod, and he lifted the sling of it over his head and handed me his gun.

I checked the chamber, then I dropped the cartridge and started to take out the bullets, picking one up and eyeing it.

I took out a Dust Round and compared them. "Jinn, what do you think?"

Jinn peeked over my shoulder. "It’s the same size bullet, but the stopping power is different. It may cause damage to the gun over prolonged use."

Goddess of Knowledge is very handy. She’s not just knowledgeable about magical things. She literally has the cumulative knowledge of Remnant in her head; that includes science and technology.

I originally had the idea to have her help with Yasaka’s present, but she didn’t have the same breadth of knowledge of Earth’s stuff. And the biggest thing was tweaking the technology to make it usable without Dust.

Regardless, I took out more bullets and filled up the cartridge and handed it back to the agent. "Magic bullets. It’s more complicated than that, but you can just consider that what they are for now."

I set down a bucket and filled it with more of the same type of bullet, considering they were all using the same type of gun.

"Feel free to make use of them." I gestured openly. "They might have a little bit more of a kick, but other than that, they’re basically the same."

Was this necessary? No.

But I was also trying to show off a little bit for Coulson, considering I wanted to trade.

I already knew that the bullets were generally the same size. They just weren’t labeled the same, considering they came from different worlds. It was already convenient enough with how much overlap there was; I wasn’t going to complain that I had to do a manual comparison.

"You heard him. Everyone, switch out your ammo and be ready in ten." Coulson hollered out, and they all moved.

About a dozen agents when all was said and done.

One more person came walking over.

I wouldn’t have given it a second glance, except he was wearing much different gear. That, and he had a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.

"Coulson," he greeted.

"Clint." He nodded back. "How’s the situation?"

"Same as before." He tilted his head, then looked at me. "And are these our ’experts’?"

"Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, at your service." I held my hand out.

"Clint, Codename Hawkeye." He grabbed it. "You are our magic man?"

"I dabble." I pointed to his quiver and bow. "Are you a good shot?"

"I’m alright." He said the same casual response that I did.

I found myself smiling. "This wonderful woman is Jinn." I playfully pulled Jinn to my side.

"Hello." She waved.

"Hello to you too, Miss Blue Lady." He said jokingly.

"And this is Salem." I gestured to Salem, who was, of course, a bit more standoffish. She probably didn’t care to be here other than out of mild curiosity. I could tell that she too was curious about the supposed ’possession.’

She had Grimm, who could do possession, so maybe that was where the curiosity stemmed from.

Salem glanced his way and didn’t verbally acknowledge him, but Clint gave her a silent nod.

From the way things were, I could tell that Clint here was a much higher level than the normal agents. Especially if he got away with using a bow compared to guns. That and he had a ’codename’; that meant he was important!

"So...any chance you got some magic arrows too?" He eyed the bullets. "I’m feeling a little jealous here."

"Ask and ye shall receive." I had a bunch left over from the youkai stuff anyways. "I got ones with more stopping power. Ones that explode in an area of ice. Ones that magically burn whatever they hit. Oh, and these explode." I showed him the variety I had.

He swallowed. "I was joking, but I’ll gladly accept." He took a few of each. "Thankfully they’re color-coded."

Well...that was more a necessity for the Youkai. The Youkai are many things, but...uh, politely, they aren’t always the most intelligent.

"Coulson, you guys are pretty armed, huh?" I turned his way.

"We aren’t taking any chances." He said simply. "The Target has been secured after some effort, but this is new territory for us. Clint, could you please give Mr. Schweinorg a debrief from the beginning? You can skip the unnecessary details."

"Right." Clint seemingly unconsciously shifted his posture, like a superior was calling on him and he was about to respond. It spoke a lot about the military discipline they’re put under. "Four days ago, we were assigned to make contact with a potential recruit for the, uh, new branch."

"Drew the short end of the stick, huh?" I mused because he also seemed a bit out of his depth.

He let out a short sigh. "Owed a favor." He shook his head. "Standard meet and greet. I had Johnson with me and two more waiting in a car on the street. Johnson and I approached the door; no answer, but I smelled something dead. We took a chance, and I kicked the door open and found the dead body of the person we were supposed to meet. Next thing I know, Johnson walked in this weird circle on the ground, and something shot out of a nearby mirror at him; I barely caught it out of the corner of my eye."

Sounds like some kind of ritual circle, then. Or maybe a spell circle meant to trap something, considering whatever it is hadn’t escaped until that point?

"Why didn’t you send any of the people from before?" I asked Coulson. "Wouldn’t they have been a better choice?"

"Unfortunately, we aren’t quite fully set up yet. Paperwork was still going through, and we were working on contracts, and due to the...unique nature of what we’re dealing with, it’s been a slow process." Coulson replied.

Ah, bureaucracy, thou givest and thou takest away.

"Let me guess, immediate aggression?" I asked Agent Hawkeye.

He nodded, his face looking dark. "Eyes turned weird, jumped at me, tried to bite my neck. I stabbed him through the stomach with one of my arrows to put him down, then tased him."

"Hmm." I rubbed my chin. "And after that?"

"We tied him up onto a table because he managed to leverage himself out of a chair and almost escaped. He’s much stronger and faster now. And whatever is inside of him seems to be fighting for control. Every so often, Johnson talks back and tells us what’s going on." Clink elaborated a bit more.

I raised an eyebrow. "Johnson talks back?"

"That’s right."

I shared a look with Jinn, and she shared a similar expression as I did.

"When he gets too aggressive, we’ve been splashing him with holy water. That seems to hurt whatever it is and stops it from freaking out." He added.

Huh.

"It has purifying properties, so that tracks." Holy Water wasn’t only anti-Church evil stuff either. So that didn’t quite narrow it down.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Clint here had all but bathed in holy water since coming into contact with the so-called possession.

But even so.

"Want me to give you a once-over just in case?" I offered. "I only need to see your hand."

Clint looked pensive for a moment before extending it. Without giving him a second to register, I slapped a talisman onto his skin. "You’re good. And keep that on you."

I took out more, a large stack of talismans. "Coulson, one for you too." I handed him one.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"Evil-Warding Talisman. In the presence of ’evil’ things, ghosts, demons, or even really nasty mystical human stuff, it’ll start to burn. It won’t hurt, the burning part, if it touches you. The ’stronger’ the evil thing, the faster it burns. While holding it, it should protect against things like possession or other similar effects." I gave him a brief description.

It’s a fairly common talisman out east, one of the first things an Onmyoji learns when getting taught.

Ironically, as a Devil, they don’t burn in my presence.

It wasn’t really an objective dark creature scanner or anything like that. It really had to cross over the threshold of being something kind of nasty. But even that has a wide breadth when it comes to indication.

"Can it help Johnson?" Coulson asked.

"No." I shook my head. "Unfortunately, it’s a preventative measure rather than a reactive one. Also, they’re not omnipotent; like any tool, they can fail or be overcome. If something is strong enough, they can hide or completely ignore it. But those cases...well, you shouldn’t run into many of them. In which case, you have way bigger problems than one of these talismans not working."

Hmm, interacting with mundane authorities, I’m not used to overly explaining everything to people who come from a place of ignorance.

Was I missing anything?

"Make sure everyone keeps one on them." I handed Coulson the stack. "More than one won’t do anything."

Coulson nodded and started handing them out to his agents.

They were very receptive to this, which is surprising considering how different things like this probably are from what they trained for. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

I mean, they were normal agents, albeit handling odd things, maybe even aliens and such. But suddenly, they’re now dealing with a demon possession.

Actually...I think I recognized some of them from the thing that happened with Thor. Were these the same agents that were there during the fight with the Frost Giants?

That explains a lot of things.

They were far more trusting in their mannerisms.

As each one grabbed a talisman, they didn’t even look perturbed or skeptical, just accepting it and moving on.

Well, I think I showed off enough for now.

Making a good impression here was important!

Well, Salem was looking impatient, so I won’t hold them up anymore. "Ready when you are, Coulson."

He nodded. "Alright everyone, we’re going inside. Wait for any orders before shooting, and keep an open mind and steady finger. It may get strange before the day is over, but don’t let anything you see disturb you."

I glanced at Clint, who had his bow in his hand.

He really was using a bow; that’s neat.

Respect.

For a regular human, in a world of guns, to be using a bow? That had nothing but respect from me.

I didn’t interrupt them and followed behind.

This was their ’mission’ after all. I wasn’t going to be here to watch over them every time they had to interact with something like this. It was best for them to learn how to do things from their side.

The inside was about what one would expect.

It wasn’t a wide-open warehouse; there were plenty of rooms and such. And as we went in deeper, at a slow pace as they advanced with weapons drawn, I started to notice something that almost made me chuckle.

They practically littered the walls with holy symbols.

Crosses were common, really common. But it wasn’t just those; there were plenty of Stars and Crescents from their Muslim cousins. There were Stars of David in various places as well.

And even things that are divorced from the Abrahamic religions.

I noticed Thor’s symbol in a few places, and some other Asgardian gods.

Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

They really did just slap everything on the walls as a precaution, didn’t they? No one can say that they aren’t thorough.

I suppose it’s my fault; I did tell Coulson that holy symbols are good across every faith for vampires, and he seemed to take that to heart here too. Which wasn’t exactly wrong either.

Things Demonic tended to be antithetical to Divine.

It wasn’t the simple case of Holy Power burning Demons. But that they were two separate sides that were counter to one another in their state of existence.

Obviously I was a bit of an anomaly in that area. But then again, the so-called ’rules’ are only rules until they’re broken.

We entered the main room, which was rather spacious. Except, in the middle was a table with a man tied up on it. His arms and legs pulled taut, looking uncomfortable.

I looked at a sprinkler spraying a faint mist over him the entire time. I dabbed it with my finger, noting that it was holy water. "Clever."

"We’ve had to get a little bit creative." Coulson said casually, gesturing to his agents as they all took up positions around the edges of the rooms, with their weapons ready.

"You could try getting a few fire trucks and getting some tanks filled with holy water on them for future operations. Finding a group of vampires and hitting them with the pressure of a fire hose with holy water would be debilitating for them." I mused out loud.

"An interesting thought." He smiled lightly. "The floor is yours, Mr. Schweinorg, Miss Salem, and Miss Jinn." Coulson gestured to us.

The three of us stood over him.

He was ’unconscious.’

Around his face, his skin was charred and cracked. Around his hands, the same thing, looking rather demonic, jokes aside.

"Oh?" Jinn looked at him curiously.

"Hmm." Salem nodded.

"Right." I followed along.

"That’s..."

"Yup," I agreed.

"It’s fairly obvious." Salem added.

We were in agreement.

I poked the man’s face, the demonic parts of it, out of curiosity before taking a picture for later reference.

The man stirred, and I gestured to Jinn, who turned off the holy water mist.

He opened his eyes, and they were discolored. Like a mix between orange and red, very unnerving.

I glanced at Coulson, who was holding his talisman, and the corner of it was burning, showing that it was detecting the ’evil’ present here.

"Salem, do you want to wake him up?" I asked.

"With pleasure." She smiled for the first time since coming here. A little bit of magic gathered at her fingertip, and she pressed it against his forehead.

The man jolted under his restraints. "Who are you!?"

"Mr. Johnson, calm down." Coulson spoke up. "They’re experts we brought in to help."

"Coulson?" He breathed out. "Experts? You guys can help?" He turned to us. "Please, I can’t hold on for much longer. It keeps trying to pull me back down, and it feels like it’s getting harder and harder to get control back again." He pleaded.

I walked around the other side of the table between him and Coulson. I made a few gestures with my hand behind my back, then turned around and gave Coulson a wink as the possessed man’s attention was drawn to Salem as if to inspect her, then turned to Jinn.

It was ever so brief, but his eyes lingered on Jinn and showed a hint of concern.

"So, Johnson, was it?" I clapped my hands.

His attention snapped to me. "Um...yes, sir?"

"Right." I nodded. "So, here’s the deal. Unfortunately, it’s too late. Sorry to say, but I hope you have your will written."

"W-what?"

"You’re giving the ultimate sacrifice, soldier." I pat his arm. "You know the drill: take the enemy down with you, and tell your family you love them. Heroic death, and you’re remembered in the hearts of your friends and family forever. And every year, they visit your grave, putting fresh flowers on it. They’ll get a big reward from Shield, I think. Coulson? What’s the policy on heroic sacrifices for the greater good?"

"All our agents have good life insurance for their next of kin or spouses." Coulson spoke up. "Don’t worry, John, they’ll be well taken care of. I’ll personally make sure that your children also have their colleges paid for and plenty of doors opened for them."

"See? Well taken care of. Nothing to worry about, soldier." I pat his arm again. "So, any last words?"

The man’s face looked frozen. "But Sir, I can still fight? I’m not out yet..."

"No need, Johnson." Coulson stepped forward. "You just said you couldn’t hang on much longer; no need to risk it. Mr. Schweinorg, what’s your suggestion?"

"I’m a big fan of immolation. Mix some oil and holy water, and make a holy fire! It’s a good way to send him off, right?"

"I think we can manage."

"Sir! I’m not finished yet!" Johnson’s voice changed a little, a little deeper. "Trust me!"

"Don’t worry, Johnson. I’ll send your last words to your family personally." Coulson kept a polite smile. "Just tell me what you want to say."

Johnson was struggling in place. "I can feel it, sir; it’s getting pushed back! You don’t have to worry; I think I can keep control."

I shared a look with Coulson, and he nodded to me.

Salem let out a sigh. "It’s rather pathetic."

"Mmm, yeah." Jinn propped herself up with her elbow on the table. "He didn’t even once mention his family. He didn’t even react to it."

John’s face twisted around, looking at all of us.

"Sorry, Coulson, but the owner of this body, his consciousness, had been suppressed since the very beginning." I just ripped the band aid right off and flicked the head of the person.

"That’s unfortunate." Coulson said calmly.

"What? No! Coulson, you know me." His head looked around. "Clint, come on." He focused on presumably his friend or someone he’d worked with for a long time. "It’s me."

"You know..." Clint clicked his tongue. "Johnson could never stop talking about his kids. I hadn’t heard him mention them once since what happened."

Johnson’s face slowly twisted, and he let out a distorted roar, ripping the bindings off like they were made of paper, and he leapt up off the table, grabbing one of the scaffolds up top.

The agents raised their guns, but Coulson quickly grabbed the nearest, pulling it down. "Don’t shoot, Wilhelm!"

The thing inside of the man let out a very angry roar. Seeing how I was the one who seemingly ruined its plan, he focused on me and came at me rather aggressively.

"Hmph." Salem let out a snort, and a large Grimm Hand, easily the size of a car, reached out of her shadow and slapped him away.

The possessed man hit the wall, blowing a hole right through it and bouncing across the concrete outside.

The demon looked like it had decided that running was the best course of action, but right before it could make a move, a certain arrow landed right at its feet, planting itself firmly into the hard ground.

It was one of those Ice Arrows I gave to Clint, and it exploded outwards, freezing it in place.

I glanced at Clint.

He was a good shot.

"Let me show you my secret technique." I waved my hands around and.... I dropped my boat on him.

My ship just appeared in the sky about a dozen feet above him and fell down right on top of him.

Jinn and Salem, surprisingly, gave me the exact same flat look.

But I didn’t care; I was very proud of myself.

"Mr. Schweinorg." Coulson looked at it, then at me. "...Will Johnson be okay?"

"Oh yeah, don’t worry." I waved it off. "I measured his durability before I did something silly like that. The Possession bleeds through; the Demon’s physical abilities are superhuman enough to easily survive something like that."

He relaxed.

I walked over to it and returned my boat.

The demon was prone on the ground, in a hole, where my boat used to be.

I squat down next to him as he trembled, like he was trying to get up. I gently pushed down on his back. "Hey buddy, you don’t seem to be having a good day, huh?"

A low growl came from its mouth.

"I’m curious." Salem walked over. "What happens if I use my Geists to possess an already possessed person? Can I force out this demon?"

Huh.

That’s an interesting train of thought.

I was about to respond, but the world around us quickly distorted, and I noticed the space around us fracture and change.

It wasn’t the first time I experienced this either.

It was like mirrors shattering all over, and everything twisted and elongated, forming a weird mirrored version of the world.

"Greetings." A man stepped towards us. "If you would be so kind, that belongs to me; I would like it back."

What did the Ancient One call this, the Mirror Dimension?

It was rather neat.

Salem and Jinn looked rather intrigued as well.

I took my hat out, putting it on my head. "Well, hello there. And who might you be?" I asked. "You don’t look like a Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj other than the clothes. But you have a distinct air of ’I’m kind of an asshole’ about you."

He tilted his head. "So you know of Kamar-Taj; this makes things easier then. Regardless, yes, you should say I’m no longer affiliated with them. However, all of that is meaningless; I would like you to hand that over now. I’m busy right now, so I will be willing to let you go should you comply."

"So demanding, without even introducing yourself." I was uncaring about his ’threat.’

He furrowed his brow. "If you know of Kamar-Taj, then you should know my name." He slowly grinned. "I’m Kaecilius."

It’s like he was waiting for a reaction. "Never heard of you. But hey, have you ever seen a flying boat before?" I pointed up to the sky.

He looked up, and my boat came falling down on top of him.

It crashed into the ground, shattering the pavement.

Or, the fake pavement.

Either way, that’s two-for-two.

A swirling orange portal split open space a few feet in front of where my ship was now parked, and the man walked through it, looking completely nonplussed.

"Did you expect such a trick to work on someone such as myself?"

"Yes, but did you expect the second boat?" I pointed up.

He looked up, but nothing came. Only to look back at me as a brick hit him square in the face, knocking him off his feet.

No one ever expects the brick.

But it’s the perfect answer to some asshole who was most likely doing to do some shitty monologue.

[Line Break]

A/N

Wilhelm meets Kaecilius.

Wilhelm casts Brick; it’s super effective.

If you want to read 10 Chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can’t use the above under the same name.

Here’s a note. There havn’t been many Chapters this month and the last well, expect a mass release in the future to make up for it.