[1] 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 | 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

! ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇᴛʏ-ᴏɴᴇ: ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴀs ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs.

📍PORTLAND

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MONICA RAMBEAU drove the couple of hours that it took to get to Maine and then the extra thirty minutes to Portland.

She parked her car behind the Sheriff's vehicle — the officers talking to Agent Jimmy Woo.

She got out of the car, closing the door behind herself.

"James E. Woo, FBI." he flipped open his identification.

"Monica Rambeau, S.W.O.R.D. What's the story here, Agent Woo?"

"I've got a witness set up down the road in Portland, and this morning, it looked like he flew the coop."

"Your missing person is in the Witness Protection Program?" she questioned.

"I have contacted known associates, relatives..."

"And let me guess, none of them have seen him either?"

"No. None of them have ever heard of him. Something seemed hanky to me, so I took the first flight out of Oakland to interface with local law enforcement, which is when I encountered a new wrinkle."

"What is that?"

Jimmy nodded back towards the officers and began to walk away, Monica following.

"Pardon me, Sheriff. Would you mind repeating your claim about Westview to my colleague here"

"No such place." the officer responds.

Monica's brows rose slightly. "You're saying the town of Portland, Maine, doesn't exist?" she said as she glanced at the sign that said Portland in bold.

"It's what I keep telling your G-Man here, but he won't listen."

"I see. And, I'm sorry, what town are you from?"

"South Portland." he responds plainly.

She pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

"Thank you, Sheriff." Jimmy says. "I'll reach out if we need any further assistance."

They began to walk back towards Monica's SUV.

"I, pulled phone numbers for all the residents. I'm only through the Ds, but so far I got Diddly Squat." he informed.

"So you can't reach anyone inside and everyone on the outside has some sort of selective amnesia?"

"This isn't a missing person's case, Captain Rambeau, it's a missing town. Population 3,892."

"Why haven't you gone inside to investigate?"

"'Cause it doesn't want me to. You can feel it too, can't you? Nobody's supposed to go in."

• • •

The back of Monica's SUV was popped open, revealing a SWORD briefcase with some devices in it.

She pulls out a helicopter drone and placed it on the damp road.

"What about you?" she asked her new partner.

"Me? Well, I'm from Bakersfield, originally. Growin' up, other kids had Michael Jordan posters on their walls, but I had Eliot Ness."

"No, no, no, no. I mean, why is it that you have an awareness of Portland?" Monica began to control the drone, moving it towards the anomaly. "Or me, for that matter? Is it because we are outside of a certain radius, or maybe because we don't have a personal connection"

The video on the remote control began to stutter and fizzle out as soon as the drone moved into the invisible shield.

"Wait, where'd it go?" Monica said as she walked towards the field.

"It was right there." Jimmy followed.

As Monica took a closer look at it, she noticed the outlines of static. She noticed the wall. "Whoa..."

"What is it?"

"Some sort of energy field." she reached out towards it, her fingers sinking in.

"Careful, Rambeau."

She pulled it away before putting them back into the energy. It was alluring.

"Captain Rambeau! Watch it."

That's when her whole arm got sucked in followed by the rest of her body.

She disappeared.

"Captain Rambeau!" Jimmy called out and ran towards the field. "Captain Rambeau!"

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