Returning, Coulson asked Ward, "Do you know about Mount Thor on Bafin Island?"
"I don't know."
Coulson continued, "Do you know what isn't on Mount Thor?"
"It has no connection to Asgard; our agents found nothing there."
Coulson then looked at Skye and asked, "What did you discover?"
Skye, looking at the information she found online, said, "The Nystrom dark web message board is full of lunatics. They firmly believe they will ascend and become gods of death and destruction."
"They're all a bunch of bird-brained idiots."
Looking at Skye, Ward asked, "Is that your progress? 'Just a bunch of bird-brains'?"
Skye nodded, "They really are a joke."
"They're also talking about going underground."
Ward looked to Coulson, "It might mean going into hiding or..."
Coulson interjected, "Or searching for the next piece of the staff."
Ward added, "Professor Randolph suggested searching along Viking routes. Anything else?"
Skye replied, "There are some ruins along the Volga River in Russia, and some in Kyiv. Interestingly, there are some here too."
As she spoke, Skye pointed to Seville on the screen, the location where their team was based.
Coulson was surprised as he looked at where Skye pointed.
"In Seville, Spain?"
"The chances are slim, but the Vikings raided Seville twice."
At that moment, Mei approached with Killer Bee and said, "We found a possible location with Viking ruins: Eldevinoino."
"It's a church built on the ruins of an 8th-century burial site, which itself was a Roman site from 206 BC."
Ward immediately thought of the lines from Professor Randolph: "East of the river, there are many remains."
Coulson nodded, "Let's see if we can find anything."
"Let's go!"
…
Soon, everyone drove to the church. Ward and Skye used their instruments to search while Fitz stayed in the car, helping to locate the staff based on the instrument feedback.
Listening to the bells ringing outside, Fitz smiled and said, "This feels great; forced afternoon nap habits."
Coulson sat in the car, looking at the quiet street in front of him, and said, "Napping isn't forced, but it certainly is a wonderful thing."
Killer Bee, sucking on a lollipop in the back seat, found life a bit dull.
Coulson asked, "Ward, how's it going over there?"
Ward grumbled, "I really wish I wasn't this tall."
Looking at the feedback from his instrument, he added, "No findings yet; everything's normal."
Coulson continued asking through the comms, "What about you, Skye? Any luck?"
As Skye searched with the instrument, she chuckled and said, "Fortunately, my supervisor volunteered to search the creepy, dark hallways while leaving this not-so-great dungeon to me."
"I didn't find anything, sorry, nothing at all."
At this moment, Fitz, looking at his instrument, suddenly alerted, "Ward, your spectrometer is detecting anomalies around you."
Ward glanced around and said, "I don't see anything."
Fitz continued looking at the data on his device, "The readings show something right in front of you. Wait... no, hold on... Okay, just a moment."
"It's moving, northwest."
Ward looked in that direction and immediately spotted a figure quickly running away.
"I see a suspicious person."
Fitz provided guidance, saying, "Ward, turn left."
Before long, Ward caught up to the suspicious figure and grabbed him, only to discover it was Professor Elliott Randolph.
The stopped Professor Randolph said, "I can explain everything."
Ward communicated on the comms channel, "I encountered an unexpected situation."
As he spoke, Ward reached for the half-staff hanging from the professor's bag, and an overwhelming surge of anger and power shot through him, causing Ward to instantly collapse in pain.
"Ah… ah…"
In the next moment, Ward was haunted by his worst memories.
He recalled his brother screaming for help from the bottom of a well.
As Coulson heard Ward's anguished voice, he immediately asked, "Ward, what's happening?"
Fitz picked up the device and said, "His equipment just lost contact."
Killer Bee jumped out of the car window, exclaiming, "Let me see what's going on."
Coulson nodded seriously; after all, Ward had injected a physical enhancement serum, and the fact that he was in trouble suggested the situation could be more serious than he imagined.
"Skye, there's an incident with Ward. Don't run off; there may be enemies around."
"Killer Bee has already gone to assist."
Skye was feeling a bit panicked; she had no combat abilities.
"Okay, I understand."
…
Meanwhile-
Ward was engulfed in terrifying memories of his older brother throwing their younger brother into the well, where he kept calling for Ward to save him.
Yet his older brother had threatened Ward, warning him that if he tried to help, he would throw Ward in as well.
…
Soon, Killer Bee found Ward unconscious in the hallway. He approached and called out, "Are you okay? Ward!"
Ward suddenly jolted awake, instinctively swinging his fists in panic. Killer Bee managed to grab him but was instantly slammed against the wall.
"Boom!"
Crashing into the wall, Killer Bee exclaimed, "What immense strength!"
"Whoosh!"
Killer Bee, surrounded by crackling lightning chakra, charged at Ward and pinned him to the ground.
"Ward Grant, calm down!"
Realizing that it was Killer Bee who was pinning him down, Ward finally settled, though he continued to breathe heavily.
After several seconds, he managed to say, "The staff… he took it."
Killer Bee reported on the comms, "Ward is acting strangely; the staff is missing. Someone took it."
He then asked, "Who took it?"
"Elliott Randolph!"
Hearing the name, Killer Bee recognized it as the professor Coulson had visited.
He then got off Ward and said, "Let's go; we need to take you and Skye out of here."