Riggly, Pennsylvania-
Coulson introduced the situation to the team: "The leader's name is Adam Cross. He reported hearing something strange in the woods, went to investigate, and discovered an abnormal static discharge."
The group arrived at the scene, and Fitz, looking around curiously, remarked, "What I don't understand is that this type of anomaly is usually caused by large thunderstorms."
Simmons added, "But there were no storms within a thousand miles last night."
Coulson explained, "This anomaly is different. It comes with a side effect we've never seen before. Killer Bee, can you check if there's any residual chakra here?"
Killer Bee nodded, "Leave it to me."
With a flash, Killer Bee began scanning the area.
Meanwhile, May opened the hood of a car parked nearby and observed, "The car's battery burst through the engine cover."
Ward, looking at the battery on the ground, noted, "It landed here."
"How much force would it take to blast something like that?"
Skye knelt down and poked the battery with a stick. As Ward stood up and walked away, she followed closely behind, bumping into him.
Ward, noticing how close she was, asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm following my supervising officer."
Ward replied, "Follow, but don't stick too close."
He then walked off to the side, looked up at the nearby trees, and said, "The tree here is scorched all over. It's a wonder the entire forest didn't catch fire."
Skye surveyed the area and commented, "I don't get it. This whole electric thing feels like a freak lightning strike."
"Why are we here? What's so special about this?"
Just then, Skye noticed a body floating in midair and exclaimed, "Never mind, forget I said anything."
Killer Bee, standing by the floating corpse, didn't touch it but instead turned to Coulson and said, "There's no residual chakra here. This lightning phenomenon has nothing to do with ninja techniques."
Relieved to hear that it wasn't caused by ninja involvement, the group let out a collective sigh.
Simmons remarked, "What a tragic way to die, but also kind of fascinating."
Coulson turned to Fitz and Simmons and asked, "Can you two figure out what could have caused this?"
Fitz thought for a moment and then said, "A horizontal discharge... there's a soliton hypothesis."
"Or maybe nanobatteries... in transit... judging by..."
Before Fitz could continue, Coulson cut him off, "Stop."
"Let me ask again, do you know what caused this?"
Both Fitz and Simmons shook their heads and replied, "No, absolutely no idea."
Ward stepped forward and said, "From where I'm standing, it's either a natural occurrence or some kind of new high-tech weapon."
"Killer Bee, have you seen anything like this in the ninja world?"
Killer Bee shook his head, "Ninjas wouldn't go to such lengths. To kill an ordinary person, they wouldn't even need to use jutsu or chakra."
Skye chimed in, "Could it be someone from your classified list?"
May shook her head, "No one on the list has abilities like this."
Coulson added, "As far as we know, no. But I'll contact Agent Blake at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ to investigate further."
"Whoever or whatever caused this, we can't let it happen again."
At that moment, Simmons noticed something, "Fitz, look at his forehead. See the discoloration under the skin?"
Fitz glanced over and said, "It's spreading in the same pattern as the marks on the truck."
Simmons approached the body for a closer look, carefully observing, "It could be a rapidly burned entry wound."
As Simmons got closer, a sudden static charge shot from the body, making contact with her. At the same time, the floating corpse plummeted to the ground.
The unexpected shock startled both Fitz and Simmons.
"Scary," Fitz muttered.
…
Meanwhile-
In the Summoning Realm-
At this moment, C looked at Karui and said, "We have already grasped the basic knowledge of this world. The next step is to gain a more detailed understanding once we integrate ourselves into it."
Karui nodded, replying, "I can't wait to meet the young teacher."
After exchanging a glance, the two of them simultaneously released the Reverse Summoning Technique.
With a "bang," a cloud of smoke dispersed, and both C and Karui vanished from the Summoning Realm. Their figures reappeared at the Inca temple in Peru.
…
Meanwhile-
Sitwell sat in his office, reviewing information on ninjas. The two Cloud ninjas, C and Karui, had been gone for a week, and there was no telling when they would return.
At that moment, an agent hurried in and reported, "Sir, C and Karui have reappeared."
Upon hearing this, Sitwell immediately stood up from his chair and asked, "Where are they?"
"Agent Barton has already taken them to the meeting room. He sent me to inform you."
Sitwell adjusted his suit and said, "I'll head over right away."
He then exited his office and made his way to the meeting room. Opening the door, he saw C and Karui sitting on the sofa, and a smile spread across his face.
"Welcome back to the both of you. How can S.H.I.E.L.D. be of assistance to you this time?"
Seeing Sitwell's warm reception, C and Karui exchanged glances.
…
Elsewhere-
Coulson and his team returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft.
In the command room-
Coulson looked at Skye and asked, "Did you find anything unusual about Cross?"
Skye replied, "A lot of things. But you should already know everything thanks to this nifty little S.H.I.E.L.D. tracking gadget, it monitors my every move—every door swipe, my online activity, even my cholesterol."
"Though I wish it came in a different color, or maybe I could get rid of it entirely."
Ward gave Skye a quick glance and asked, "What about the victim?"
Seeing that Coulson and Ward weren't addressing her other comments, Skye got straight to the point:
"Adam Cross, single, no children.
From Riggly, Pennsylvania, not far from here."
Coulson nodded, "I've been there. They hold a strawberry festival every spring."
Ward pressed on, "What was his profession?"
Skye explained, "He was a high school gym teacher, the football coach, a Boy Scout leader, and a volunteer firefighter."
"Any criminal record, restraining orders, or anything suspicious?"
Skye shook her head at Ward's question, "Nothing. Not even a parking ticket."
"I went through all his emails and connections on his social media, hoping to find a crazy ex or a superpowered stalker, but he was clean."
Ward said, "Everyone seems clean during the initial investigation."
Seeing Skye's silence, Coulson added, "Ward's right. We must be missing something. Keep digging."
Skye nodded in acknowledgment.
###
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