"Mr. Akatosh, may I ask why you've summoned me here?" Coulson stood respectfully before Raiden and spoke.
Raiden took a sip of coffee and gestured to the chair in front of him. "Have a seat."
"Of course," Coulson nodded slightly and sat down.
Observing Coulson overly… polite demeanor and catching the somewhat excessive… admiration in his eyes, Raiden felt a bit puzzled.
After all, when they first met at Tony banquet, Coulson eyes had been filled with wariness. But ever since their second meeting, his attitude had undergone a significant change.
However, none of that mattered now.
Raiden had called him here to get some answers—answers he needed to know.
"Mr. Akatosh, may I ask why you've summoned me here?" Coulson asked again after Raiden remained silent for a while.
"Ah, yes. I wanted to ask you—are Richard Parker and his wife, Mary Parker part of your organization?" Raiden got straight to the point.
Coulson fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Are they… dead?" Raiden hesitated before asking.
Coulson looked at Raiden and nodded again.
Raiden seemed visibly downcast upon receiving the answer. He quickly followed up.
"How did they die?"
"The Parkers betrayed us. They fled the United States, intending to head east, but their plane met with an accident while passing through the Middle East" Coulson explained.
"Betrayal? They betrayed you? How could that be? I don't think… they seemed like the type to do such a thing!" Raiden said with uncertainty.
"I'm also puzzled by this matter. However, we can't rule out the possibility that it was a premeditated betrayal, as there were no warning signs. Although I didn't know them personally, according to Hill, the Parkers she knew shouldn't have been capable of such an act. It's truly hard to believe" Coulson said, shaking his head with a grave expression.
"No warning signs? What did the Parkers do for you? What was their work?" Raiden pressed.
Coulson hesitated but eventually answered. "Richard was a biologist, and his wife, Mary, was one of our agents. Richard joined us after marrying Mary."
'Something's not right. There's a discrepancy here—a point of suspicion.'
Raiden furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Based on the information Coulson had just provided, Raiden quickly identified the inconsistency...
"Coulson, you said the Parkers' defection was completely without warning?" Raiden asked urgently.
"Yes, that's correct. Why do you ask?" Coulson replied, puzzled.
"So, you're saying your organization didn't react in time to their defection? You didn't send anyone to pursue them?" Raiden asked with a serious expression.
Coulson shook his head. "We only learned about it after the Parkers had left the United States and the accident occurred in the Middle East."
Raiden fell silent, his head bowed in deep thought. After a long while, he finally looked up at Coulson and said with determination.
"The Parkers didn't defect. I saw them the night they left. They weren't fleeing with a plan, they were escaping in a hurry, running from someone's pursuit!"
Coulson frowned in confusion. "How could that be? If Richard and his wife were being pursued, why didn't they seek help from the organization?"
"The answer is simple" Raiden replied, locking eyes with Coulson. "Either you couldn't protect them, or their pursuers came from within your ranks—or perhaps someone who is part of your organization but doesn't truly belong to it."
Coulson's expression changed dramatically. Regardless of which scenario was true, the nature of this incident would be drastically altered. This matter had to be reinvestigated, no matter the reason!
"What about the Parkers' bodies?" Raiden asked, bringing up the question that had been troubling him after presenting his theory.
Coulson shook his head. "We couldn't retrieve their bodies. At the crash site, there was a group of terrorists... unexpectedly powerful. We couldn't use conventional means to safely bring their bodies back."
"Just a group of terrorists?" Raiden questioned in disbelief. "You're S.H.I.E.L.D.! How could you not handle a group of terrorists?"
At Raiden accusation, Coulson seemed oddly hesitant. He stammered before finally uttering a name.
"That organization... it's called the Ten Rings."
"The Ten... what?" Raiden paused, a strange, almost manic smile spreading across his face.
Coulson sighed and pulled a photo from his pocket, handing it to Raiden.
"The organization is called the Ten Rings, and this... is their leader, Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar also known as Raza."
The man in the photo was unmistakably the bald man! Even though his face had been burned, Raiden could never forget him.
'It was him, that guy. How could he still be alive? How could he not be dead yet?'
Raiden fell silent, and so did Coulson. The room was engulfed in a heavy, oppressive silence.
Cold.
It was so cold.
Coulson tightened his coat as a chill spread from his back, as if the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.
A suffocating pressure filled the room, weighing down on Coulson chest. He could barely breathe. He wanted to speak, to break the silence, but he couldn't open his mouth. He had lost control of his body.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The bottles on the liquor cabinet, the chandelier on the ceiling, and the floor beneath their feet began to shatter. The photo in Raiden hand vanished into flames, and the oppressive feeling disappeared the moment the photo was consumed.
"Whew... whew!"
Coulson gasped for air, drenched in sweat like a drowning man just pulled from the water.
He had brushed with death, but strangely, there was no fear in his eyes—only a look of astonishment... Was this guy some kind of masochist?
But Raiden, consumed by anger, naturally did not notice Coulson gaze. Raiden was lost in his own memories, those he had wanted to forget and had almost succeeded in forgetting.
Finally, finally, he was about to forget, finally able to deceive himself.
Why, why... this guy must die, he must end all of this with his blood!
When Raiden looked up again, Coulson could even see the flames burning in Raiden eyes... and an endless sea of blood!
"Coulson... you should go back first. I think your organization still has a lot of things to handle, and the matter of the Parkers will be left to me, including this guy life." As Raiden spoke, he raised his head and gazed at the sky outside the window.
"If you still have people there, you can have them all withdraw." The sunlight outside the window was truly blinding. Raiden shielded his eyes with his hand, watching the crimson light seep through his fingers.
"Alright, Mr. Akatosh." Coulson reply received no response from Raiden. Seeing Raiden in such a trance-like state, Coulson quietly left.
Stepping out of Raiden house, Coulson heaved a deep sigh of relief.
He wasn't without fear, but the joy in his heart far outweighed his trepidation.
Yes, it was him.
Found.
He had finally found him.
He is just as you said.
With a smile on his face, Coulson walked to the window and looked up at the sky. The sun today was truly blinding.
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