Marvel: NIHILITY

My escape from the Sanctum was no less chaotic than the chase that had begun with the bounty on my head.

The moment I darted through the doors, the mob swarmed like a tidal wave, clamoring to catch a glimpse of Earth's most wanted bachelor.

New Yorkers were nothing if not persistent when there was money on the line, and the mere thought of $10 million made them all act like they were auditioning for a reality TV show.

"Man, this city's gotten way more aggressive since I left!" I shouted as I vaulted over a set of stairs, narrowly avoiding a bottle thrown at my face.

"Ten million bucks! Come back, Faust!" a voice yelled from the crowd. "You're the golden ticket!"

I am so done with this crap.

A few leaps and a near miss with a taxi, and just when he thought he was in the clear, he heard the whoosh of helicopter blades.

"You're kidding me, right?" David sighed, watching a helicopter approach. At this point, nothing was surprising anymore.

It landed a few yards away, and a smug-looking man in a sharp suit popped his head out of the door. He looked way too pleased to see David.

"Get in!" the pilot yelled. "You want to escape the mob? Get in!"

David paused. On one hand, he really didn't want to deal with anyone else chasing him down. On the other hand, this was an opportunity to get away from the crazy mob for a while. He'd deal with the "reward" crap later.

"Fine," he muttered, hopping into the helicopter. "But if you try to sell me out to Emma, I'll personally make sure you have a permanent seat on my villain list."

The pilot flinched. Then with a guilty look he pleaded, "Come on, man, help a brother out. I'm getting married next week, and my mortgage is a bitch. Don't get me started on the student loans. I swear I'll donate the rest after paying for them. To sick orphans or something."

David rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to argue. As the helicopter ascended, David caught sight of the chaos below: a horde of fans, some with "Find Faust" t-shirts, others with phone numbers scribbled on napkins—likely hoping to "find" him and become best friends with ten million dollars.

After they got high enough, David felt that leaving earth for now might be the best option. He just grinned and mock saluted the pilot, then jumped off the helicopter, flying towards the sun, where he might find some peace and quiet.

Unknown to him that his flying away like that would cause another huge mess as it was being broadcasted in 4k HD resolution by a media channel that was following him. 

Meanwhile, back at SHIELD's monitoring station, things were going crazy.

As David soared off into the sky, leaving a trail of chaos behind him, SHIELD's satellites were all over the mess.

They had been monitoring the whole situation—keeping an eye on some strange cosmic anomaly . But what they didn't expect was for their newest target to fly straight into space like some kind of intergalactic tourist.

Back at SHIELD HQ, Maria Hill was sitting at her desk, flipping through some paperwork that had a suspicious amount of coffee stains on it.

She was already deep into her second cup of coffee when a low-level analyst, one who had probably just started with the organization and hadn't yet realized how disastrous a day at SHIELD could get, burst into her office.

"Agent Hill, ma'am," the analyst panted, clearly winded from the frantic run through the hallways. "We... uh, we've got a situation."

Maria didn't even look up. "Is it about the fact that the coffee machine still isn't fixed? Because if it's not, I don't have the energy for this."

"No, ma'am," he said quickly. "It's David Faust. We just... we just tracked him flying into space."

Maria slowly turned her chair to face him, her eyebrow arching in an almost theatrical fashion. "Come again?"

"Yeah... uh... he flew straight into space," the analyst repeated. "No warning, no prior indication—just shot up like a rocket. And... well, the footage is being broadcasted live, in 4K resolution, for all of humanity to see."

Maria's face was a mixture of disbelief and irritation, which, when combined, made her look like she was contemplating using the analyst as target practice. "This... is real, right?"

Before the analyst could answer, the big screen in her office flickered on, showing David Faust grinning, mock saluting the pilot, and sailing off into the cosmos like a rocket. It wasn't exactly what she would've called "subtle" hero behavior.

The analyst stepped back, practically stumbling over his own feet. "It's all over the media right now, ma'am. Everyone's freaking out. He's, uh, that guy with the bounty."

Another massive screen in the center of the room flickered to life, revealing David Faust flying through the space , looking like a cosmic hero from an over-the-top sci-fi movie.

The man was grinning like he was on the cover of a rockstar biography—not like someone who was supposed to be hiding from the bounty hunters of New York.

"Seriously?" Maria muttered, rubbing her temples. "This is why I can't have a nice day."

"Agent Hill," a voice crackled through her earpiece, and she immediately recognized the sarcasm-laden growl. Nick Fury.

Maria could almost hear the steam hissing out of his ears.

"Hill, what the hell is going on? Is that... is that Faust flying into space?"

Maria raised her eyebrow. "You know, Boss, I'd love to say this is some kind of cosmic misunderstanding, but, uh... no. That's him, alright. And he's living his best space-faring hero life right now."

"Space-faring hero, my ass," Fury growled. "That kid's a walking nuclear bomb waiting to blow up the entire East Coast, and he's up there acting like motherfucking Superman."

"I mean, he does have the S on his chest and is flying to the sun like he's got a sunburn to fix," Maria said dryly, "so I'd say definitely not your average 'hero' material."

"I swear, Hill," Fury's voice was vibrating with rage—and possibly some concern. "First, he disappears for weeks. Then he shows up as Earth's most wanted guy for reasons we don't know . Now he's flying to space like some kind of celebrity in the making. And we never heard anything about it till now! "

Maria glanced at the screen again, watching Faust, now hovering near the edge of the atmosphere like he was checking out the view.

"Boss, I think you might be looking at this wrong. This could be a chance for SHIELD to... I don't know, maybe recruit a hero who doesn't need to wait to suit up before saving everyone within a 500-mile radius in a few minutes."

Fury's laugh was short, almost manic. "You seriously want that guy on the team? We're already dealing with a Hulk who throws tantrums and Thor who can destroy cities. Then there's been talk of a new guy who calls himself Spider-Man. Now this.

This guy's got more power than some countries. He's either going to save the world or set it on fire while taking selfies for his 'Insta-fame.'"

Maria straightened her posture, leaning over the desk, hands clasped. "Maybe both."

Fury wasn't having it. "Maria, listen to me. The only thing I want to hear from you is how we're gonna catch Faust before he starts calling himself 'Captain Earth' and decides to wipe out half the population for fun."

Maria gave him an unamused look. "You want me to catch him? He's flying to the sun, Fury. We're talking about a guy who just skipped the 'secret identity' part like it was a bad Netflix show. You want to try catching him, be my guest."

There was a moment of silence before Fury sighed, and Maria could feel the frustration radiating through the earpiece. "I know I'm gonna regret asking this, but—do you think he could be... a good guy?"

Maria blinked. "What?"

Fury wasn't joking. "Do you think he could be a hero? Like, maybe a wildcard hero? Because I'd much rather have him on the team than on Emma Frost's bounty.

Do you know what she's like when she has a personal vendetta? I don't even know why she wants him brought to her unharmed for 10 million dollars! We'd need more than just the Avengers for this one if mutants are involved ."

Maria stifled a laugh. "You're seriously considering this?"

Fury groaned. "Not considering, Hill. Hoping we could hire him. If we can't, we'll just have to keep our eye on him for any signs . maybe keep him from taking out the entire city with his sun-powered hero routine.'"

Maria turned to the screen. Faust was indeed in a freefall, mocking the situation with a salute to some poor helicopter pilot who, no doubt, was going to have a very bad day. Then he hovered for a few seconds and instantly flew out of the atmosphere in a blink.

"Okay," Fury's voice crackled again. "Now that's just getting ridiculous. This guy's either going to become Earth's biggest hero or the world's most expensive mistake."

"Honestly, boss," Maria said, looking at David now streaking toward space, "it's kind of a good thing we have a few people who know how to deal with crazies... like Thor, Hulk, and Stark. Maybe they'll want to have a chat with Faust about... recruitment."

"I swear to God, if I ever have to deal with one more spaceflight-hero wannabe in my life," Fury muttered, "I'm sending them all to space." His hidden trauma flaring up from his younger days.

Maria grinned. "Well, let's see if he comes back soon —or if he's too busy wrecking the some space Empire for a 'bad boy' vibe."

Fury sighed again. "This is gonna be a problem."

Maria just sipped her coffee. "Could be worse. You could be dealing with an army of random superpowered civilians, or—"

"Don't tempt fate," Fury interrupted.

"What about Stark, by the way? I thought he'd be acting up. He had a crush on that Emma girl, but he got rejected badly publicly ."

Maria smirked as she replied, " He is throwing a tantrum, of course, as expected."