Valentina smirked as the EMP pulse spread across the floor. She expected Howard's fancy armor to shut down instantly.
But something unexpected happened.
Instead of shutting down, the suit absorbed the energy. The red and silver plating glowed brighter, pulsing with new power.
Howard blinked inside the helmet. "Uh… did that just..."
[EMP energy redirected. Power levels increased. Activating combat enhancement: Electric Whips.]
Two glowing whips of crackling blue electricity extended from Howard's gauntlets. They hummed with raw power, arcing through the air like living lightning.
Ward's smirk vanished. "That's… not good."
Before anyone could react, the auto-combat mode kicked in.
Howard's body moved on its own.
With a sharp flick of his wrists, the whips lashed out. The first strike sent two Hydra agents flying backward, their weapons sparking as they hit the ground.
Another agent charged at him from the side. Howard spun, the whips snapping out in a precise arc. The electric tendrils wrapped around the soldier's rifle and yanked it from his hands before slamming him against the wall.
The remaining agents hesitated.
Too late.
Howard lunged forward, moving faster than he ever could on his own. The whips danced through the air, striking with pinpoint accuracy. One agent went down. Then another. And another.
Valentina took a step back. "Okay… that's definitely not Stark's usual tech."
Ward raised his rifle, aiming carefully. "Doesn't matter. We..."
Howard didn't give him a chance to finish.
With a powerful crack, the whips struck Ward's weapon, frying it instantly. Sparks flew as the gun overheated and exploded in his hands. He stumbled back, cursing.
The last of the Hydra agents tried to run.
Howard's suit didn't let them.
The whips lashed out, knocking them off their feet. One by one, they collapsed, unconscious.
[Bang! Bang!] Fury shot Ward and Valentina, targeting their knees as they tried to climb down an open vent.
Howard threw two electric arcs toward them zapping the shit out of them.
In seconds, it was over.
Howard stood in the center of the wreckage, the electric whips retracting back into his gauntlets. He exhaled. "Okay. That was awesome."
Fury holstered his pistol and stepped out from cover, eyeing the fallen Hydra agents. "Do I even want to know what that thing is?"
"In due time," Howard replied.
Hermes activated the scanner, pinpointing all the Hydra agents in that Hellicarrier. There were still thirty agents left.
Howard extended his arm. The holographic map of the carrier appeared with red dots. The agents looked like moving toward the containment area.
Fury's jaw tightened as he studied the map. The remaining Hydra agents were moving with purpose, their destination clear.
"The containment area," he muttered. "They're after the damn symbiote."
Howard clenched his fists, his armor's energy whips flickering for a moment before fully retracting. "Of course they are. Because why just try to kill us when you can also unleash a highly dangerous, world-ending alien parasite while you're at it?"
Fury tapped his earpiece. "Hill, talk to me. What's your status?"
Static crackled for a second before Maria Hill's voice came through, strained but still controlled. "Not great. We're barely holding them back. They're throwing everything at us. If you don't get here soon, we won't be able to stop them from breaching containment."
Howard checked the map again. "We're about three floors above you. If I override the security locks, I can get us an express elevator down there."
Fury gave him a sharp look. "Do it. Fast."
Howard extended his arm, his suit interfacing with the helicarrier's systems. The AI flickered through hundreds of security protocols in seconds.
[Override successful. Elevator access granted.]
The reinforced doors at the end of the hall slid open. Howard and Fury rushed in.
As the elevator began its descent, Fury reloaded his pistol. "What the hell does Hydra want with the symbiote? They can't seriously think they can control it."
Howard shook his head. "I don't know, but if they bond that thing to one of their soldiers, we're looking at a whole new level of nightmare."
The elevator jolted to a stop.
[Containment level reached.]
The doors slid open to chaos.
Maria Hill and a handful of SHIELD agents were pinned behind makeshift cover, firing at Hydra soldiers who had already breached part of the containment area. The once-sterile white walls were scorched with gunfire, and alarm lights flashed red across the corridor.
At the far end of the room stood a reinforced chamber—a massive, cylindrical containment unit surrounded by blast-proof glass. Inside, a swirling mass of black goo pulsated violently against its restraints.
The symbiote knew something was happening.
And it was excited.
Before they could take action, an explosion rocked the helicarrier, sending a shockwave that rattled the floors beneath their feet. The hull trembled as a massive hole ripped through the side of the containment chamber, the sound of twisting metal and shattering glass filling the air. A SHIELD aircraft, its nose crumpled and mangled, had been blasted into the side of the carrier, forcing its way through the outer walls. The front glass shattered in a spray of shards, and from the wreckage, a figure emerged.
Peggy Carter.
Fury's eyes widened in disbelief as she stepped from the wreckage, dust swirling around her. Her uniform was the same as always, but her stance… her energy… everything about her screamed like she'd just walked out of another time. She looked just like her old photos from when she was 25 or 30.
"You've got to be kidding me," Fury muttered, shaking his head.
Peggy raised her fist, cracked her neck, and wiped some of the dust off her face. "Nice to see you too, Nick."
Howard, standing beside Fury, couldn't help but smile despite the chaos. "You're looking... younger," he said, with just a hint of amusement. 'Looks like the serum worked. Now, all that's left is to stop these Hydra bastards.'
"Long story," Peggy shot back, eyes scanning the area. "I'll explain later. For now… let's kick Hydra's butt."
Fury didn't have time to argue. His eyes went to the Hydra agents recovering, and then to the black, writhing mass of symbiote inside the containment chamber. The thing was thrashing violently.
The chaos escalated as Fury and Peggy Carter led the charge against the relentless Hydra forces. Explosions, screams, and the sound of clashing metal filled the corridor.
Howard flew forward. His electric whips sliced through a line of charging agents, sending them flying and zapping. Fury fired off a series of shots, each bullet finding its mark. Peggy moved like a shadow between them, her fists and acrobatic strikes taking down any Hydra soldier who dared come close. She even took some bullets to save the other Shield agents. Then her regeneration kicked in.
She was as good as new.
Amid the battle, a woman in a matte-black stealth suit zipped through the hole in the hull where Peggy crashed earlier. Her suit's active invisibility mode rendered her completely undetectable as she moved silently through the chaos.
Inside the containment chamber, the symbiote writhed violently behind reinforced blast-proof glass, its dark, amorphous form pulsating as if aware of the impending change. The intruder's gloved hand flicked two compact devices, temporarily disabling the security alarms on the glass and creating a holographic projection, to prevent them from noticing her opening the containment glass and stealing the symbiote.
As soon as she opened the main glass door, the Symbiote lunged at her, but she was ready. Before the Symbiote could latch onto her, a square-shaped blue energy field appeared around it. She quickly put her palm over it. The nanites rushed out, forming a tiny containment box over the energy box. It lashed, trying to get out, but the energy box held strong.
With her mission completed, she retraced her path to the hole in the hull. In an almost ghost-like manner, she slipped away into the darkness, leaving no trace of her presence except for the holographic device which will self-destruct in a few minutes.
...
[Meanwhile...] [Tony's lab]
Tony slammed his fist on the table, grinning like a madman. "Holy hell, that was beautiful!"
The holographic displays surrounding him flickered with live feeds from Howard's suit. The battle was still raging on the helicarrier, but it didn't matter. Milena had already slipped away, undetected. Hydra, SHIELD, even Peggy Carter herself... none of them had a damn clue.
He leaned back in his chair, watching the playback of the extraction. Slowing it down, frame by frame, he admired the perfection of how Milena neutralized the alarms, the seamless way she contained the symbiote and her effortless escape through the breach.
"Right under Fury's big damn nose," Tony chuckled, shaking his head. "God, I love it when a plan comes together."
"Really now?" Yelena, sitting beside him, raised an eyebrow.
"What? I knew Shield was hiding something, that's why I had Milena follow Dad... just never thought it'd be a freaking Symbiote of all things," He replied, leaning back.
"What's a Symbiote? Judging from how those Hydra agents were throwing everything, it must be something dangerous, right?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Dangerous? Well, more than dangerous. And the one who created it... Let's just say, it's a threat even I won't be able to face right now," Tony sighed.
"So..." Yelena raised an eyebrow. "That thing being on Earth..."
"Yup! Not a good sign. Hopefully, we might be lucky," He gave a side nod. 'Knull. Just stay asleep, please.'
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