69 CHAPTER 69

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Surprises in this universe were a thing I was used to, but this... this was unsettling, for the last thing I expected was encountering Stryker with a calm demeanor sitting on a timber chair with a broad welcoming smile on his face.

[Stryker LV 31]

"I was waiting for you." He smiled, which made me feel all the more uneasy. As a general rule, an enemy welcoming you to his lair is never a good thing, not like this.

I looked at him, trying to formulate a response; as I inspected my surroundings, he had to have a trap, something. "I see," I replied.

With a grin, Stryker began to clap as he stood up from his chair. "I must admit, I had my doubts as to who you were when Victor told me an enemy was nearby. But, seeing as you are here." he smiled. "Well, I am glad I was correct."

I had to admit; I was lost in this rather bizarre scenario; I mean, he was happy I was here. In fact, he seemed delighted. 

"I think this is the first time I see someone so happy to be captured," I replied, eyeing the minimap every now and then; he had to have a trap, an enemy powerful enough to give him this peace, something.

"Well, I am a realistic man." Stryker chuckled. "Besides, you won't capture me."

"Your compliance is not a factor on this." I snorted, walking towards him, ready to end this mission once and for all, when all of a sudden, he tossed a file at me.

"Read that." He smiled, walking towards a small fridge on the ground. "And after that, we can talk about my capture."

I looked at the file and froze; it was a SHIELD file about me. "I see now." I chuckled, grabbing the file with a sigh, "This file is supposed to make me change sides, right?"

"In a way." Stryker nodded.

I looked at the file again, and I started to read the information within the file with a sigh; I had to admit, I was curious about what could be within the file that could make Stryker think I would switch sides, I was to say something, skeptical about the whole thing.

However, soon enough, I found out why he was so sure of this as I read the file more and more, beginning to finally understand why Stryker was giving me this; the file was nothing more than a contingency plan to stop me should I become evil.

It went into great detail how Emily was my main emotional weakness, and how exploiting her would bring me to my knees.

"SHIELD is not your ally." Stryker began, but before he could continue, I started to laugh. "You find that file amusing?"

"This?" I waved the file at him, burning the thing down with my mana. "Nah, it annoys me a bit, sure, but otherwise, I'm okay with it." I chuckled.

"They are planning ways to kill you, and you laugh?" Stryker replied.

"SHIELD is free to plan, just like I am." I winked. "Besides, this is just the report of a random agent stating the obvious."

"Which is?" Stryker inquired, his eyes on me.

"That a father's weakness is his child." I smiled under my helmet. 

"I had a feeling you would react this way." Again, Stryker smiled, and once again, I felt uneasy.

"Enough," I stated, pulling his body towards me with telekinesis. "I don't know what game you are playing, but I ain't playing these games."

"Good." He grinned.

Even at my mercy, he was confident, but of what, if the file was not enough, what was his actual plan? "Well, bye." I sighed, my patience running thin, as I opened a portal to throw him into Fury's office, but before I could do that, a magical blast of eldritch energy blasted me into the ground.

"Took you long enough," Stryker commented.

"We had to make some... preparations." I heard someone reply.

Brushing off the dirt of my armor, I stood up as I looked to see who had struck me down with Eldritch magic, only to find a group of women flying in literal brooms above me. 

The first woman to the left was a blonde beauty that had what I like to call the no-no eyes, meaning her eyes gave you a feeling of uncertainty like she would stab a man mid-fuck for what he said two years ago. [Adrth'a Lomen LV 151]

The one in the middle looked innocent, inviting, like a trap waiting to strike its prey; it was unsettling, though this one was a brunette, unlike the one to the left.  [Royth's Lomen LV 149]

The last one was an Asian beauty, her pristine skin and exotic charm vibrating with her rather revealing clothes; she looked both innocent and dangerous at the same time. [Permf't Lomen LV 150]

"The Lomen Coven," Stryker said, his index finger pointing at them with a cocky smile. "They are my plan to you."

"Those the Ancient One knows you work for him?" I said, cracking my neck. 

"Foolish boy." Adrth'a hissed. "We do not answer to that sorceress, for we are witches!"

Witches huh, I wonder if they are related to the witch that at one point will try to steal the dark scepter from the ancient one in the future. 

"But you answer to a man with no powers or magic, good to know." I chuckled.

"Laugh while you can, little sorcerer." Royth's grinned. "Soon, we will be the ones laughing."

"Okay... well, time to go," I muttered, considering these three were around my level, and the enemies around the camp and those who I had left in the middle of nowhere were drawing near; I would soon be outmatched in numbers at least, so it was time to do what people call a tactical retreat. 

However, as I tried to open a portal, nothing happened.

It felt like something was blocking my magic altogether.

"Runes... and a claimed space, the nightmare of every magic caster, don't you think?" Permf't winked, flying towards me in a rather seductive manner. "You are powerless here."

Runes, this bastard was buying time... meaning the witches were otherwise occupied creating a runic space to block all but their magic, well fuck, Stryker just outplayed me.

"You learn a lot from videos and such." Stryker grinned as Ajax, Copycat and Kimura arrived, walking towards him all with smiles on their faces. "I knew SHIELD would eventually send you, so I invested a lot of time and money into hiring these resourceful witches."

"Well... fuck..." I sighed; it seemed like I would have to get out of this with my hands and my hands only. Suddenly I'm glad I have an almost indestructible set of armor protecting me; I feel like I'm about to get a lot of hits today.