The Man Who Couldn't Die

Part Three: The Search

This is the voice of the Mysterons. We know you can hear us, Earthmen. We demand you return to us our soldiers, Black and Scarlet. If you fail, your undefeated games will be destroyed!

"That's a new one!" Commander Straker told Draco, Willow and Bruce. "Back in the day, they'd just issue threats! Why are they so desperate to get those two back?"

"A number of reasons, I imagine." Draco said. "For one thing, they will be curious as to how Captain Scarlet managed to free himself of their control and survive."

"They're gonna think we caught and interrogated Black." Bruce added. "They'll want to know how much we got out of him about their capabilities."

"Not to mention the fact that they'll think both of them will have up-to-date knowledge of our capabilities!" Willow said.

"We have, after all, no idea what the Mysterons have been doing for the last ten years, or what state they may or may not have been in." Draco concluded.

"They've given us time, anyway!" Bruce noted. "If they're referring to the Invictus Games, they don't start until October. That's what, five months from now?"

"That's cutting it fine!" Straker noted. "The only things I know of that could make the trip to Mars in less than four months are the Zero-X craft. But there are only two, both in mothballs, and neither has ever flown! How long it'd take to get them operational is anyones' guess!"

"You forget that StarGate Command has a number of interstellar craft that could reach Mars in hours." Draco pointed out. "I have no doubt that General Landry would be more than happy to assist."

Straker shrugged. "Until yesterday, all I knew about StarGate Command was the name!" He admitted. "They aren't a SHIELD Directorate."

"Quite." Draco allowed. "However, we are now operating against the clock, as it were. I have instructed agent Rhodes to meet us at the nearest SHIELD base to the coordinates you gave us, Commander, so unless you have anything else you wish to tell us, we will take our leave. Thank you for your hospitality and your cooperation."

"Thank you for being a good listener, Agent Malfoy." Straker said. "I feel a lot better now I've gotten all that off my chest!"

XXXXX

He didn't have long, he knew. They had never come in such numbers before. Three or four at a time, five at the most. But now there were at least a dozen on his trail, even after he had killed four! This time, they were not retreating, as they often did after a few casualties. If the Other One had been here, twice the number would be no threat. But with only his own eyes, ears and instincts to rely on, he was more vulnerable. Still, he would make them pay for whatever it was they wanted from him. He would make them kill him, so that they would never find the record.

XXXXX

The territory was wild, rugged and forested, wholly unsuitable for the big aircraft, and the Jumper could not carry the whole team. Draco had requisitioned a quinjet at the SHIELD airfield to conduct the search, while Rhodey, in full War Machine armour, flew on the wing.

"Been a while since I flew one of these things." Bruce noted. "They've been upgraded some."

"I'm glad to hear it." Draco said. "Are we here?"

"About ten klicks out." Bruce reported.

"Very well, we shall take this as our search perimeter." Draco decided. "Rhodes, if you would be so good as to sweep north and west, we will take south and east. We would be naïve to expect that no one else has overhead the Mysterons' demand, and should operate on the assumption that others might be aware of these coordinates and their significance. Please report anything anomalous.

"Carry on."

"Who in their right mind would wish to live here?" Gabrielle wondered. "Of course, it is beautiful, but so inhospitable!"

"Somebody who wants to hide." Doug told her.

"You think so?" This was Willow. "If I wanted to hide, I'd go to some big, anonymous city. As long as you stay offline and pay cash for everything, you're good."

"Only if you're the kind of person nobody looks at twice." Kent rumbled. "Not to be unkind, Willow, but you, Doug and Cypher could all blend in anywhere. Some of the rest of us stand out a little more – most men are gonna look twice, or more, at Gabbi. Bruce, Rhodey and I all look like military from a mile off and the Boss is always gonna look like an aristocrat!"

"Comes of being one, I'm afraid!" Draco opined. "But it does mean that I would be comfortable outside a town, I was raised in the country."

"Just so." Clark agreed, not realising he was picking up the Boss's phrases. "Out here, you can survive without money, there's not much chance of running into somebody who recognises you, and if anyone does find you, you can see them coming!"

"War Machine to quinjet, I've found something!" Rhodey's voice came over the commlink. "Twelve to fourteen people, all armed. Moving in a search pattern!"

"Hunters?" Draco queried.

"Negative, they have assault weapons. Wait one!" There was a pause. "They have a target, a single person, also armed. He's pretty evasive, but they're about to corner him. Alert! I'm picking up chatter on HYDRA channels."

"Understood." Draco noted. "You are weapons free at this time. Take them down and rescue their quarry if possible!"

"Roger. Out." Rhodey said, they could hear him grinning.

"Nice to have an associate who enjoys his work." Draco remarked.

"Boss, I have something!" Cypher said.

"No doubt Dr Howser can treat it." Draco replied. "Or do you mean you've found something?"

"Yeah, I found something." Cypher told them. "A building, some kind of shack or cabin. Dead centre of the coordinates we were given."

"Very well. Wayne, take the aircraft into full stealth and land us a kilometre or so away. Ramsay and Dr Howser will remain in the aircraft until needed. The rest of us will proceed to this building, and assuming we find no guards or inhabitants, Wayne, Kent and Ms Rosenberg will set up a perimeter while Mlle Delacourt and I will conduct an initial investigation." Draco ordered.

XXXXX

It had only taken one, one lapse of attention. He had been sighting down on one of them, and for a moment, had been concentrating too hard. The bullet had entered his back, missing the spine and exiting close to the navel, If he had lain still, let himself be captured, medical treatment and survival might have been possible. Instead he had turned and taken down his killer. Then pushing a swatch of grass and moss into the wound to slow the bleeding, he had made it to his last redoubt. A steep ridge behind and a fallen boulder in front. They could not come at him unseen, He would stay here and keep killing until he bled out or until another shot ended him.

They abandoned caution, approaching him in a semicircle, guns ready. Perhaps they thought him beyond fight, well, they would learn!

He never had a chance to teach them. A shadow streaked overhead, scattering grenades among them, then returning to mop up the survivors with a sustained burst of mini-gun fire. Not an aircraft, but a figure in black and silver armour, with weapons mounted on the shoulders, who landed heavily among the havoc he'd wrought and called out in an amplified voice.

"It's OK, I'm on your side! Come on out! That rifle's no good against this suit anyway."

XXXX

Rhodey watched the man emerge. Tall, powerfully built, with a pale rugged face and thick dark hair shot with silver. He held onto his rifle as he approached. So would I, in his place, Rhodey thought, then called aloud: "Are you Captain Scarlet, or Captain Black?"

"Neither, any more." The voice was that of an educated Englishman. "I was once, so they told me, Conrad Turner, who became Captain Black. But Conrad Turner was killed and the Mysterons raised Captain Black, who served them for a long time. Then the Mysterons went away, and I was nothing until the Other One helped me remember. But I only remember them, I am not them."

He stumbled then, dropping the rifle and doubling over. Rhodey was there in an instant, lowering him gently to the ground.

"You're hurt." He said. "We need to get you medical attention!"

"Too late." Black said. "I am dying. This is important, how did you find me?"

"Commander….Captain Blue told us." Rhodey said.

Black nodded. "Then listen! The Record is in our home, under the White Queens' Bishop. When I die, move away from me. If nothing happens, all is well. If I am remade, I will be under the control of the Mysterons, and your enemy."

With that, he closed his eyes and said nothing more. A few minutes later, he stopped breathing. Rhodey rose to his feet, saluted, then stepped back a few metres. A green glow surrounded the body, which crumbled to ashes as a new Captain Black appeared beside it. But a Captain Black with an expressionless face and dark eyes that looked through and past Rhodey. When he spoke, the voice was toneless and uninflected.

"You will return me to Mars." He said.

"We have to get Scarlet first." Rhodey said.

"Then I am your prisoner for now. I will cooperate with you." Black replied.

"Well in that case, you can get rid of that handgun, and the knife!" Rhodey ordered. "Then come with me!"

XXXXX

"Eh bien." Gabrielle remarked. "Whoever built this structure has put much work and time into improving it!"

"Evidently," Draco commented. "By the look of it, I would say that this was originally built for one person as a temporary hideaway, but has had to serve at least two as a permanent home for some time."

It was basically a crude but strongly-built shack. From the ground to the height of about a metre, the wood had been either reinforced or replaced with rough but carefully-laid stone, but the rest of the single-storey structure was wooden. There were two small windows in the front wall; not glazed but fitted with carefully-made wooden louvres and with fixings that indicated that shutters could be mounted over them. A sturdy structure built out from one corner supported a windmill which clearly was used to generate electricity. The heavy door was closed, but fastened with an external latch placed and designed so as to foil the efforts of animals to enter.

"Shall we?" Draco asked. "Given that the door is locked from the outside, I think it safe to say that nobody is at home."

The inside was an odd jumble of ageing manufactured items and newer home-made ones. Two well-used camp chairs were drawn up to a rough but sturdy table. A pot-bellied stove of uncertain age and local manufacture occupied one corner, its fire carefully banked. There was also an open fireplace with various attachments that indicated its use for roasting meat. At the back, two doorways, both covered with heavy hide curtains. Behind each was a small sleeping area containing a pallet and a sleeping bag.

"Only what they could bring with them or make here." Draco noted. "There is evidence of cultivation outside, and there is hunting equipment here." He pointed to a crossbow that hung on the wall. There was also a home-made bookshelf supporting a dozen or so well-thumbed volumes. In one corner was a careful stack of heavy batteries which were, Draco presumed, charged by the windmill outside. Other wiring led to several naked bulbs suspended from the ceiling, and to another device.

"I am no expert on muggle technology," Gabrielle remarked, "but this seems to be a radio receiver. FM, AM, Long and Short Wave. No DAB. Some frequencies are marked. Favourite stations, do you suppose?"

"Entirely possible." Draco agreed. "But also possibly to enable monitoring of any official channels used by local authorities. Now, what have we here?"

An elegant wooden box, clearly an antique, with a brass catch. When opened, it proved to contain a set of Staunton chessmen, with a patina that spoke of much use.

"Pieces, but no board." Draco mused.

"The table." Gabrielle told him. In the middle of the table top, carefully-cut squares of alternating light and dark wood had been precisely inlaid to form a chessboard.

"Odd." Draco frowned. "Surely it would have been easier to simply put those squares into a frame to make a board?"

"Perhaps they had a better use for the wood?" Gabrielle suggested.

"Perhaps…" Draco examined the table again, but was interrupted by a beeping sound. He pulled out his smartphone. "A text message from War Machine." He told Gabrielle. "The capabilities of those suits continue to astonish me!

"It seems that he has the person formerly known as Captain Black in custody, having eliminated a number of HYDRA operatives. Black is now back under Mysteron control, but is currently being cooperative. However, prior to falling back under their control, Black informed Rhodes that something is to be found 'under the White Queens' Bishop'.

"He is bringing Black back to the aircraft on foot, and they will be some time."

"There is no room to hide anything in here." Gabrielle was examining the box.

"No indeed." Draco said. He rapped sharply on the table top with his knuckles, nodded, then bent and reached under the table, again rapping with his knuckles. "Hollow." He noted.

He examined the chessboard pattern. "I am no Ronald Weasley," he remarked, "but I do play Wizard chess."

"My brother-in-law is a master." Gabrielle allowed.

"Indeed he is." Draco commented. "Had I been aware of that fact during our schooldays, I would have treated him with rather more caution and respect. However, I am given to understand that the starting positions of the chessmen are identical in both the wizard and muggle games. That being the case, the White Queens' bishop would start either on that square or this one."

Draco took out his wand and carefully cast a levitation charm. A square of dark wood lifted out of the inlay. Invoking lumos, Draco examined the space opened.

"There appears to be some kind of catch here." He remarked. Reaching in, he slid a small toggle sideways. There was a click, and the entire chessboard lifted perhaps a centimetre. Draco lifted it carefully away, to reveal a sizeable receptacle. Inside were two packages, both well-wrapped in thick polythene covers.

When unwrapped, both proved to contain several hard-backed exercise books. One set was blue, the other grey.

"Two different hands, as well." Draco noted. "These blue ones are in civil service cursive, the grey are in copperplate."

"Does this tell you anything?" Gabrielle asked.

"Not a great deal." Draco allowed. "However, it goes some way to confirming what Commander Straker told me. Both were written by English people, for instance. It is likely that the writer of the grey book was older than the other, or attended a Public School rather than a state one."

"This you can tell from the writing?" Gabrielle asked.

Draco nodded. "Copperplate is a somewhat old-fashioned form of cursive writing, to use it properly requires time, even when one is practised. The civil service cursive is a simplified form which has been used for many years in State schools in the United Kingdom. However, some of the more traditional Public Schools still teach copperplate penmanship. Americans, I am given to understand, are taught an entirely different form of written communication known as emojis.

"Come, I am sure Cypher will make short work of these, and they may well lead us to the elusive Captain Scarlet."

"If he is alive!" Gabrielle cautioned.

"Indeed, but as there is no sign of a grave outside, we can at least deduce that he did not die here. I think it is unlikely that his companion would have eaten him, as there appears to be a good deal of game in the area."

"I think," Gabrielle said, "that I would not wish to practise Legilemency on you, mon vieux. Your mind appears a little, how to say, warped?"

"Perhaps a trifle." Draco allowed. "Put it down to being brought up a Death-Eater. But as my schoolmate Harry Potter once remarked, you should never count a human dead until you have seen the body. Even then, one may be mistaken."

"Boss?" Cyphers' voice. "You got a bogey incoming. Low, fast and in full stealth, I only just caught it!"

"Understood." Draco said.

He and Gabrielle stepped out of the shack. There was no sign of the others. Then, with a roar, an aircraft appeared, coming to a recklessly fast landing nearby.

"A HYDRA helijet." Draco noted.

Four men emerged from the craft, in HYDRA battlesuits. They strode forward, weapons levelled, but stopped some metres short of the two SHIELD agents. The leader removed his helmet.

"Mynheer van Roek." Draco said. "Journeys end in lovers' meetings!"

"Malfoy!" The Boer wizards' scarred face twisted with a mix of rage and triumph. "Every time I go against SHIELD I hope to find you. Today I have!"

"Herr Standartenfuhrer!" A Hydra agent said urgently. "There is a War Machine in the vicinity, we must be quick!"

"Of course, Herr Sturmbannfuhrer." Piet van Roek acknowledged, then turned to Draco. "It appears I will have to kill you quickly, Malfoy. A disappointment, but one I can live with. I see your Veela slut has what we came for, anyway!" He raised his hand. "Last time we met, you took my hand. HYDRA gave me the Satan Claw to replace it!"

A powerful bolt of electrical energy seared from the prosthetic toward Draco, but he and Gabrielle were already moving, in opposite directions. At the same moment, the helijet exploded in a ball of flame, there was a crackle of gunfire and two HYDRA agents fell.

Gabrielle and Draco both cast Killing Curses at the same time, Gabrielle at the remaining HYDRA agent, Draco at van Roek. The results were unexpected. Both men were pinned in place, twitching and screaming as their battlesuits sparked and smoked. Then van Roeks' bionic hand exploded, tearing off his arm and causing him to bleed out in seconds. The other mans' heart appeared to give out, and he collapsed, still twitching spasmodically until the suit finally stopped sparking.

Willow, Clark and Bruce all approached from differing directions.

"Excellent work, ladies and gentlemen!" Draco approved.

Bruce looked from Willow to the burning wreck of the helijet, and back. "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" He remarked. Willow giggled.

Clark was standing over van Roeks' corpse. "One off the bucket list, Boss?" He asked.

"I do not have such a list." Draco replied. "But I must admit there is a sense of relief. Having ones' footsteps dogged by a raving maniac is uncomfortable. Especially when one has family."

"I hear you." Clark nodded.

Bruce had been examining the man Gabrielle had killed. "Looks like they were trying to beef the suits up to resist spells." He said. "There's a few runes and things stitched into and onto them."

"Pointless." Draco noted. "There are no known runes, sigils or amulets that can protect against the Killing Curse, only physical barriers."

"Yeah, I know." Bruce said. "But by the look of this suit, they'd increased the electromagnetic shielding and changed the settings to try to divert magic as well as projectiles. They obviously don't know about the new ceramic ammunition and it looks as if those Killing Curses just overloaded the suits."

"Call SHIELD local and ask them to send a retrieval team at once." Draco said. "Hopefully, they can look further into these modifications. In the meantime, we had best get back to the quinjet."

XXXXX

They returned to the SHIELD airbase, where Draco ordered that Black be confined in the brig of their large plane. Then they all had a much-needed meal. Shortly thereafter, Cypher was able to report on the contents of the books they had found.

"The grey ones were written by Conrad Turner – Captain Black – and the blue ones by Paul Metcalfe – Captain Scarlet." He said. "They're pretty much memoirs, but different. Black apparently suffered complete amnesia for a time, and it took a lot of work for him to bring things back. He never did remember anything about his life before his first death, but there's quite a bit of stuff about the Mysterons.

"Scarlet, on the other hand, remembered everything except what he'd done when he was a Mysteron drone. His book is full of accounts of Spectrum operations and a lot of it is grim reading. Apparently, Colonel White was completely paranoid and some other Spectrum agents were total psychopaths!"

"Fascinating, I'm sure." Draco commented. "But none of this is germane to our immediate mission."

"I know, but toward the end of both journals, there is some useful stuff." Cypher replied. "It seems that a couple years back, Scarlet got really sick. Sick enough that he decided to give himself up."

"It seems he didn't though!" Willow said.

Cypher's reply was grim. "Oh, he did! He crossed the border into Latveria, and let the guards there pick him up and told them who he was! Black saw them take him."

"Oh, Dr Doom would be real interested in him!" Bruce remarked. "An indestructible man! He's probably in little pieces in a dozen Latverian labs by now!"

"Perhaps." Draco allowed. "But if we obtain even one of those bits, no doubt the Mysterons could reconstruct him. That, at least, would mean we had fulfilled our part of the bargain.

"Very well, if we are all fed and rested, we should board our aircraft and head for Latveria at once."

"How are we supposed to get in?" Rhodey wanted to know.

"I have family in high places." Draco told him.

XXXXX

The challenge came just as they were about to enter Latverian airspace. With it came two fighter aircraft that orbited just within the border. Not that Rhodey was bothered by them. The big planes' weapons and defence systems were more than a match for two fighters, even Latverian ones.

"Attention SHIELD aircraft!" Came over the Guard channel. "This is Latveria Control. You are approaching Latverian airspace. Either state your intentions or change course at once."

"Take a holding pattern this side of the border." Draco instructed Rhodes, then spoke into the radio. "Latveria Control, my name is Draco Malfoy. I seek audience with King Viktor by Right of Kinship on a matter of urgency!"

"Hold position." Control instructed. Then, remarkably rapidly. "Earl Malfoy, audience is granted. Follow your escorts. Only you are permitted to leave your aircraft. His Majesty accepts your parole against the conduct of your crew. Control out."

"Proceed." Draco told Rhodey.

"Earl Malfoy?" Bruce asked.

Draco nodded. "The title was given to my ancestor Armand Malfoy by King William the First. As with all titles of muggle nobility held by wizards, the style was taken out of use when the Statute of Secrecy came into force. But none of the grants of title or achievements of arms were rescinded, and the records of descent, marriage and so forth, as well as the arms themselves, are maintained by the Wizard Heralds."

Draco activated the plane-wide comm system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please! We will soon be landing, and for my sins, I will be the only one permitted to leave the aircraft. I have also given my word of honour that I will be responsible for your conduct while we are here. I must therefore ask you all to rein in your natural instincts for causing mayhem! Mr Ramsay, please ensure that our systems are not infiltrated, but restrict yourself to defensive actions. Thank you."

XXXXX

Draco had changed into formal dress robes, on the basis that to meet with Doctor Doom while wearing SHIELD uniform would be distinctly undiplomatic. He was met on the apron by an elderly Latverian wizard who introduced himself as Carolus von Doom.

"I believe we are kinsmen, to some degree." Carolus said, in his heavily-accented English. "We are related, on the distaff side, to the Gaunts, who I believe have contributed to your line also?"

"Certainly," Draco replied. "it was upon that basis that I requested Right of Kinship. Pureblood ancestry is occasionally an advantage, even nowadays."

"Do you regret the old days?" Carolus asked.

"Only in the sense that I regret they happened." Draco allowed. "My father's folly was made clear to me long before he realised it."

"His Majesty is of similar mind." Carolus remarked. "As a Half-blood himself, he has a wider perspective. That fool Riddle came here, demanding allegiance and help, and the King sent him packing!"

Bu this time, they had a arrived at a building which was clearly a hospital. Carolus guided Draco to a conference room.

"Have a care, kinsman!" He warned. "His Majesty has little tolerance for fools or time-wasters. Be succinct."

Draco knocked on the door, deep voice bade him enter. He stepped in, closed the door behind him, and gave a short bow to the towering armoured figure who awaited him.

"You Majesty, thank you for seeing me." He said.

Doom made a dismissive gesture. "I am familiar with your record, Earl Malfoy. You are not a man to make claims or demands without good reason. There is clearly more Black than Malfoy in you, despite your name. Am I correct in inferring that you are here as a result of the latest Mysteron demand?"

"Precisely so, Majesty." Draco allowed. "We have secured Captain Black, though he is unfortunately now back under Mysteron control. We also recovered information which indicates that Paul Metcalfe, alias Captain Scarlet, surrendered himself to one of your border patrols two or three years ago."

"You are correct." Doom acknowledged. "Do you know why?"

"Because he was ill." Draco said. "Terminally ill but, if my suspicions are correct, unable to die."

Doom nodded. "Consider this a test, Earl Malfoy. Relate your 'suspicions' to me. If they are close enough to correct, I will tell you what you wish to know. If not, you will leave empty-handed."

"Very well." Draco said. "It is my suspicion that Paul Metcalfe is one of those people known as Immortals. The manner of his first death was one from which most Immortals would have recovered, but the immediate reconstruction of his body by the Mysterons disrupted the process. When the Mysteron replicant was killed by Captain Blue, it recovered because it was an exact physical copy and so also immortal. But because the death had not occurred through decapitation, the 'Quickening' of Paul Metcalfe, which included his memories and persona, was able to retake control of the body."

"Good!" Doom said. "Your conclusions are substantially correct.

"When he came to us. Metcalfe was suffering from Stage Four cancer of the colon. He was unwilling to kill himself, and unable to ask his companion to do so. He asked us to provide euthanasia for him in return for the opportunity to study him and the promise to leave Captain Black unmolested. A fair bargain, and one we have kept."

"So he is still here?" Draco asked.

"Still here, still alive." Doom admitted. "As you doubtless guessed, the euthanasia he sought was simply a method to cure the cancer. It was successful, but a year later a different kind of cancer had developed, and the process had to be repeated. A few days ago, we again euthanised him to remove yet a third type of cancer. He is currently well, however.

"Come, I will bring you to him."

The accommodation, at the top of the building rather than beneath it, was more of a small, pleasant flat than a prison, Draco noted. But then Scarlet was here voluntarily. A wiry man of medium height with dark hair, even features and intense eyes, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He rose and bowed to Doom.

"Your Majesty." He said.

"Captain Metcalfe." Doom acknowledged. "I present the Earl Draco Malfoy, agent of SHIELD. He is here regarding the matter we discussed this morning. Have you made your preparations?"

"I have, Majesty, and can leave immediately." Metcalfe stated. "May I ask some questions of Earl Malfoy?"

"You may." Doom gestured to Draco. Metcalfe turned to him and asked. "Do you have Conrad?"

"Yes and no." Draco told him. "We found him, but not before he had been located by HYDRA agents and mortally wounded. One of my agents dealt with the HYDRA people, but Mr Turner died shortly thereafter and was reconstructed. He is again under Mysteron control, but is currently cooperative."

Metcalfe closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his face set. "Do you have the journals?" He asked.

"Both of them." Draco said. Metcalfe nodded.

"Then I am ready to go with you." He said firmly. "Perhaps I can finally find peace!

"Your Majesty, my thanks for the care and hospitality I have received."

Doom gestured dismissively. "A bargain is a bargain, Captain, and you have more than borne your part. Take what you need and await us outside, I must speak with my kinsman."

After Metcalfe had left the room, Doom faced Draco. "I am, as I said, aware of your record." He said. "On that basis alone, your allegiance would be welcome. As a kinsman here, even more so. I do not ask it now, for your current mission is as much in my interest as yours. Some answer must be found to these Mysterons. However, should a time come when you see the folly and waste of your current superiors, you are welcome to return here, where your abilities will at least achieve something permanent and worthwhile.

"On a related matter, when next you speak with our mutual acquaintance and relative, Harry Potter, remind him that the offer I made when last we spoke still stands. I hold no grudge regarding the fate of Arabella Riddle, who was becoming a thorn in my side, as her father was.

"As for the current situation, you may inform Director Rogers that Latveria stands ready to provide assistance in the event of further misbehaviour by the Mysterons.

"In the matter of HYDRA, they are becoming a little careless in approaching my borders, and even violating them. It seems I shall have to discuss these matters with Herr Schmidt!

"Now you must leave, Earl Malfoy. Should you ever wish or need to return, you will be welcome. You have the countenance of Doom!"