(General P.O.V)

(Gaea)

The explosion of light rippled out through the entire realm. A massive wave of blue that ushered in a new age. The light was pure spiritual energy released from the opening of the Water Dimension.

(Elsewhere)

There was a dull thunk on top of the container.

Agent Hamilton and his squad were immediately on alert.

"Status report, Agent."

Alexander Pierce, one of the council members of the World Security Council, was following this particular mission carefully from a prestigious loft over a 1000 miles away from the drop point.

"Possible ambush. Suspicious activity noticed 9 o'clock to our location."

Hamilton answered, immediately motioning to some of his men. Three agents sprang into action as they ran in towards the source of the noise.

"E.T.A on shipment delivery?"

Alexander wondered, nursing a glass of bourbon.

"No communication from our partners, sir."

Hamilton answered just as two of his men arrived on either side of the container. The lights came on from the third and the entire docks were bathed in visibility.

Pierce frowned. They were expecting a very important shipment and their business partners knew enough not to mess with them. Hydra was a beast asleep that had a bite strong enough to cripple any organization. Despite the power they held, Pierce knew not to show his cards too early.

"Commence evacuation process. I want you and your men back in South Dakota. Lay low for the next one week until we make sure you're all clean. Standard Operating Procedures. I'll have transport out to you in..."

The comms went dead.

Back in the docks, Hamilton couldn't believe it. His heart hammered inside his chest at high speeds. They were all frozen. As if time had stopped moving, yet the gentle laps from the ocean water past the docks disapproved of that notion completely.

Their position remained unchanged. 2 of his men, Vee and Prakash were behind him, flanking both of his sides. Connery, his second in command was facing him slightly, watching their backs but not completely blocking their line of sight. Hamilton could see the fear, anger and confusion in his gaze. The broad shouldered tall agent had his hand on the gun strapped to his hip, but couldn't move it.

Antoine and Prince had not come back from their investigation on what had made the noise. And Leam, the one responsible for lighting up the docks was similarly missing.

Hamilton could only hope that reinforcements were on the way before whatever Mutant responsible for this killed them.

"You know, it's that kind of mindset that sows more and more hate between both species."

A pleasant voice that sounded more like the voice of the devil to Hamilton, stated. Something landed at Hamilton's feet and surprisingly enough, he regained enough control of his neck muscles to look down.

He recognized the rifle on the floor. It was Leam's

"Oh are you wondering where the owner is?"

Hamilton's head shot up quickly, his eyes landing on the figure responsible for all this. They had black hair, brown skin and looked to be of Asian descent if it wasn't for the brilliant blue eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.

Their most distinguishing factor laid on the dragon tattoo drawn on their skin, almost coming alive in the dim lighting of the surroundings.

"Eyes up here Mister."

The enemy laughed.

Hamilton glared at him before shock was plastered on his face. Above the enemy, Leam, Antoine and Prince were suspended in the sky, faces stiff with veins appearing on their forehead.

"What are you doing to them?!"

Hamilton yelled upon seeing the state of his team.

"Nothing much, just testing out a little skill called Blood Bending." The stranger answered, bowing towards the statue like agents.

"Oh where are my manners, if you want to know who's brave enough to fuck with Shield..." His eyes twinkled from underneath the loose locks of hair framing his face.

"Or should I say...Hydra, then you're in the presence of none other than the White Shadow."

He knew! Hamilton could not let any evidence leak out and if the man was going to take them in as opposed to killing them, then...

"Nah huh huh. Can't let you cyanide pill yourself out of this."

He told him by pulling out the poison from Hamilton's blood stream. Hamilton's heart sank as the situation got dire.

"Now, how about you and I have a little conversation?"

The White Shadow said, stopping a few places infront of him.

"Mostly about a certain mutant trafficking shipment that was arriving a few minutes ago. Well, that was before being welcomed by yours truly."

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?"

Hamilton found control of his mouth and asked.

"I'll do you one better, do you have any idea just how much I don't care?"

(Elsewhere)

The recently promoted Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury stepped away from the helicopter as he was led inside the office of the director of the F.B.I.

Something had come in that needed the attention of the boogies as Shield was known to other domestic authorities like the CIA and the FBI. SHIELD in comparison was a joint effort with responsibilities and clearance that superceded individual nations. It was the net around the planet. The guys you called in when things stopped making sense.

Even the way he and the two agents flanking him walked was different. FBI agents watched them with a certain kind of reverence. This was SHIELD, created during the world war. They had withstood the test of time.

The office of the F.B.I director was crowded. Everyone went silent when Fury walked in without knocking, eyeing the room with his one good eye.

"Excuse us, everybody."

The deputy director gave the order and immediately the room was cleared, leaving only 6 people inside.

"Director?"

The deputy director of the FBI nodded towards Fury.

"Ma'am."

He responded with an amiable nod as well.

"Ask your men to leave, Nick. This information does not need alot of ears."

The director, an old graying man ordered.

"Trust me, Bridge. You're fighting a losing battle."

A new voice informed them from the doorway.

"Pierce?"

Fury muttered, turning his head to face one of the board members of the World Council.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Washington?"

Alexander Pierce walked in, removing his coat and having one of Fury's agents take and hang it on the doorway.

"I made it here as fast as I could. The president wanted my thoughts on the matter."

Bridge, the director rubbed his eyes.

"Christ, as if we need more people on this. I told the president we could handle this. The information came to us. I don't need SHIELD meddling in my business."

"He's just mad because I beat him in golf a few weeks ago."

Pierce whispered to Fury.

"In any case Bridge, Fury is only here to consult. Your team will handle the bulk of the work. Now what seems to be the problem?"

The deputy director showed them to the conference room attached to the director's office.

Then she went to the end of the table and pressed a section on the wall. It withdrew, a screen emerging from within that showed the logo of the FBI.

"0800 hours today, the perimeter and motion sensors in the Director's office were triggered. The monitoring devices installed in the room managed to capture a video of the culprit."

The screen display changed to show the director's office that they had just left. And then a yellow portal appeared in the room. Fury stiffened as a very young man walked out of the portal. Pierce was watching Fury's reaction and only looked away when he saw the surprise in his gaze. That confirmed that the spy had no idea who this was.

"He walked around the room, not touching anything."

The deputy continued.

"Except taking a sip of my expensive Diamond is forever martini."

Bridge grumbled.

"Apart from that, he did not do anything else except leave something behind."

She reached into the briefcase she had with her and pulled out a folder with documents.

"Information about the terrorist group Al Qaeda, and the very likely threat that they pose."

She passed the papers towards Fury and Pierce.

"They are planning to bomb the World Trade Center next year on September the 11th?"

Fury asked in disbelief.

"Yes. And there's more. Mutant trafficking and extremists groups. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened in the last decade of the FBI."

The Deputy Director said.

Pierce turned to Fury.

"Which is why we need him." He pointed to the screen.

"Alive. He can be an asset, who knows what else he might tell us."

Fury scratched his chin, in thought. Shield had considerable resources, but they were not quite there yet in ways to deal with the growing extraterrestrial and extraordinary incidents.

"He will be hard to track."

He honestly stated. The man could create portals.

"I know. But I'm sure Shield is up to task."

Pierce replied.

"I'll get my best on it."

Fury nodded in acceptance.

"Great. Now Bridge, you said something about a martini..."

(A few hours ago)

"Cyclops, we're almost there."

Beast, from the cockpit told the team gathered in the cabin of the X-jet. They were pulling up on a container ship that was lazily drifting in the sea a few miles away from the docks.

"Okay team, this shipment contains mutants trafficked from across the world. We go in and seize control of the ship before it reaches land."

The gathered X men agreed. Scott was the leader assigned. At the back, Logan sat alone thinking about the last thing the Professor told him.

"Be careful and protect them."

He had warned him. Xavier had sensed certain familiar presence that terrified him. He did not want his X-men coming across whoever he thought it was.