Coulson presented a novel theory, but everyone had to admit, it was highly plausible.
They already knew Thor was a "Lone Star of Misfortune." And Norse mythology had Ragnarok. If they were the writers, they would absolutely use that material. It just made sense.
"Analyzing it from that angle, it is indeed very likely," Fury agreed.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He had just confirmed Asgard was a shield for Earth, and now he found out the shield was about to break.
Headache.
"Also, judging from Lucas's caution, the entities he fears must be from the magical side. Or rather, magical supervillains," Black Widow added.
"He was so low-key before. He tried his best not to affect the so-called 'plot.' His contact with Tony Stark was minimal—just a quick hello, grab ten million, and retreat back into his shell. He spends his time teaching math to Gwen Stacy. His mindset seems to be: minimize impact on the world."
Natasha continued her analysis. "So he must be afraid. Very, very afraid. For example, the Ancient One (whose identity is still unknown) and the Purple Potato (Thanos). He seems to fear the magical side represented by these two figures."
Everyone nodded.
Lucas's early behavior was excessively cautious. Based on the psychological profile from his early diary entries, before he gained powers, he just wanted to be a rich idler.
Low profile. Stay alive.
But after gaining power (somehow), he grew bolder. He started contacting Spider-Woman's family. Clearly, he felt his strength was enough to handle minor deviations in Gwen's storyline.
This was a key point.
Lucas wouldn't do anything he couldn't control.
"We don't know who this Ancient One is yet. But the Purple Potato is linked to a world-ending event—something Lucas felt he couldn't handle. That's why he was so scared," Fury said.
"However, even though he mentions the Ancient One, he never mentions any destructive actions from her. This suggests she might not be a supervillain. She might not even be a superhero. Character-wise, she fits the archetype of a 'Hermit Master' or 'Hidden Guardian'."
"This isn't hard to analyze. Based on the video of him destroying the Destroyer armor, we ran the data. His current combat power should be above the Hulk. He is likely the ceiling for Earth-based beings right now, surpassing Thor," Fury continued.
"In other words, if the Purple Potato or the Ancient One were only as strong as the Hulk—or slightly stronger—Lucas wouldn't be this nervous."
"From this, we can reverse-engineer his logic," Fury deduced. "This time, he abandoned his low-profile policy and publicly destroyed the Destroyer. Why? Besides the confidence boost from his power-up, it's because he saw this as a crucial opportunity to learn magic."
"So far, the magical entities we know of—Werewolves, Vampires—are barely scraping the edge of 'magic.' They aren't strong enough to threaten Lucas."
"But Lucas knows more than us. Going to Asgard to learn magic was likely a premeditated plan. He knew the plot of Thor 1. He knew Thor would be exiled. He planned this."
Fury paced around the table. "He just wrote that he has 'shored up his magical defenses' and won't be helpless against magical enemies anymore. Think about it. A man with no equal on Earth felt 'helpless' before learning magic. That means the enemies he's preparing for... are terrifying."
Fury struggled to find a word to describe these magical threats. In the end, he settled on "troublesome."
Because he felt responsible for handling all supernatural events on Earth, just thinking about threats that scared Superman gave him a migraine.
Based on their profile, Lucas was cautious. Or to put it bluntly, a bit of a coward. Unlike Thor, who acted like he owned the universe.
Maybe the more you know, the more you fear.
"But this also implies... Earth might be under surveillance," Agent Hill said quietly.
"I don't know why he's so afraid. Earth is huge. Billions of people. Even S.H.I.E.L.D., with branches everywhere, can't claim to monitor everything globally. Can we filter every piece of information on the planet?"
Hill's rhetorical question made everyone pause.
Of course not. They didn't have the manpower or the processing power.
"But Lucas has been worried about this since the moment he transmigrated. Don't you find that strange?" Hill pressed. "When he first arrived, he was just an ordinary person. If we hadn't found the diary, who would have noticed him? Who would have cared?"
"Even now, he's just a street-level hero with influence over a few city blocks. On the same level as that new vigilante, Daredevil. Why would a cosmic threat or a magical hermit monitor him specifically?"
"Isn't that... weird?" Hill asked, her unease growing as she spoke.
If Lucas believed he was being watched even when he was a nobody, it meant the surveillance system wasn't based on "threat level."
It was based on something else.
Something omnipresent.