I touched down on Kamar-Taj with complicated emotions—satisfaction at beating back Lauren and fear that she'd managed to get the Necrosword at all. It had been days since our meeting in the demon world, yet she'd grown so much—or maybe that power-up had been in the works for quite some time. If she got her hands on any more god-tier weapons like Zeus's bolt, Gungnir, or hell, a specially made Uru weapon, I could be in serious trouble. And don't get me started on what else was out there.
My mind drifted back to my Storage Island, the place I was currently drawing up plans to convert into a supervault, packed with so many protection runes that it would take a planet-sized explosion to break into it. At its deepest level sat a reinforced protection field housing my most powerful weapons: the Infinity Stones and Yamato.
I'd used both Stones liberally. Maybe it was time I finally got around to using Vergil's weapon. It had me feeling some type of way, even though Vergil wasn't my brother.
Still, the fight had instilled a new sense of urgency. Even after everything I'd accomplished, there was still so much to do.
I had to act decisively and quickly. Lauren's final warning echoed in my mind. She'd set something big in motion—whether it was a new Ascendant, empowering mutant hate groups, or something else entirely.
Whatever it was, I couldn't let it rob us of our momentum. I needed to kill—all of her—before she becomes stronger than me.
I spent the next five minutes erecting an Ancient Defense Array and empowering it with energy sourced from my armor. Kaecilius had decimated Kamar-Taj's wards when he attacked. I couldn't very well leave it unprotected.
With that final bit of business sorted, I appeared on top of SHIELD HQ, startling more than a few agents and a lot of automated weapons.
The patrolmen spun on their heels, pointing energy rifles at me as massive automated guns swiveled upward, barking at me in a thick, automated voice.
"Unauthorized access. Identify yourself and state your business."
I was a bit surprised by the hostility, though completely unbothered by it. The improvements were plain to see, extending even to the uniforms. Nova had inundated Earth with more technology than it knew what to do with. The concrete was firmer—likely a more advanced composite mix—and even the uniforms were better made. Some kind of micro-weave that greatly boosted tensile strength without compromising comfort.
It might give my wares a run for their money when I eventually get around to releasing them.
I removed my helmet, letting the humans see my face. The men lowered their guns, and one of them actually looked embarrassed.
"Sorry, sir. We're just not used to the new armor."
There was an unmistakable tinge of respect in his voice, though his mind was shielded from me. The entire building was covered in some kind of telepathic null-field. I could push through it if I really tried, but I'd rather not sour our relationship further.
"Tell Fury I want to talk to him," I said.
"Already done," the second guard replied, lowering his weapon and meeting my gaze. "He's given us clearance to let you in."
Both men turned and led me toward a helicopter pad set on an incline, seamlines running along its edges. In the twenty or so agonizingly slow steps it took to reach it, I took in the New York skyline. The city was months—if not years—ahead of schedule in terms of repair.
SHIELD HQ was nearly whole again and had undergone some obvious changes. Half of Manhattan had. It looked like something out of a cyberpunk video game. Massive holographic ad boards had begun springing up across the city. The restored buildings were taller, sharper, more artificial—and down on the street, I was pretty sure I spotted one or two aliens lingering near SHIELD HQ.
I was surprised they'd gone the transparency route, and it was drawing obvious backlash. Protesters filled the streets, shouting all kinds of xenophobic slurs. There was a clear throughline to it all—an understandable, overwhelming sense of fear and irrelevance.
Progress only looked like progress from high atop the ivory tower. The people down below likely saw something very different.
Magnets hummed as the elevator descended with a lurch, dropping several floors before halting in a weapons development lab. Half-built helicopter prototypes and disassembled spacecraft littered the space, dozens of engineers and scientists swarming over the carcasses. They stared as the guards escorted me to another elevator, which carried us several floors deeper to a private room lined with vibranium harvested from Antarctica.
Fury, Captain Marvel, and Maria Hill waited behind several increasingly secure doors that opened only after repeated scans.
The situation room had changed a lot since my last visit. Sleeker chairs, a wider table made from processed wood, reinforced walls. I whistled.
"Somebody's been drinking a little too deeply from the Nova Empire's cup."
"Dante," Captain Marvel said, stepping forward to shake my hand. "I wasn't expecting a visit so soon."
"And I wasn't expecting an ambush from the Asgardians," I replied, turning slightly. "Where are they, by the way? Tell me you're keeping them supervised."
"They're in the newly constructed residential floors with all the food and entertainment they can stomach," Maria Hill said without looking up from her holographic tablet. "That should keep them out of trouble for a while."
Fury didn't turn to face me. "What do you want, Dante?"
I nearly scoffed. Was this motherfucker aura farming?
"Kamar-Taj is gone," I said flatly, ripping off the bandage.
They took it slightly better than I did. The place had been my home, Jean's home, the Ancient One's sanctuary. And some pissed-off asshole student decided to blow it up just because of a grudge match. Fuck Kaecilius. He got off easy.
The anger burning in my gut felt both hotter than the sun and far away like Pluto. With a high enough mind-affinity, it was easier to compartmentalize.
Fury turned to look at me, his sorrow written on his face. Captain Marvel looked genuinely rattled, while Maria Hill's expression went distant. She hid it well, but she was struggling to keep up. The world was tearing itself apart, and SHIELD was adapting too slowly to keep pace.
"What happened?" Carol asked.
I told her everything—Kaecilius's return, the extra-dimensional magic cloaking his signature, the battle. Carol's expression hardened when I mentioned the Necrosword.
"And you survived?" she asked.
I shrugged.
"I still don't understand," Maria said. "A fight of that level—our satellites should've lit up."
"That's probably the Necrosword and Lauren working together," I explained. "She has some kind of heightened invisibility. You can't smell, sense, touch, or see her if she doesn't want you to. Makes her one hell of an assassin. But when the person you're fighting is faster and stronger than you, it makes no difference. Pair that stealth with the Necrosword's shadow magic, and she could wipe out a major city without you knowing for days."
Fury's face drained of color. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."
"Just wait," I said. "I haven't gotten to the good part yet. Lauren said she already had something in motion. Her exact words were: 'You've already lost. You just don't know it yet.'"
Maria's expression tightened as she flicked a holographic display into existence from the projector on her collar. "I think I know what she meant."
It was a scaled-up anatomical display of some kind of amorphous blob, loosely resembling a creature. At first, I thought it was a tentacled predator—until I read the designation beneath it.
"A1Z4–20," Maria said. "Also known as Red Death. The Kree expedition force that discovered it named it after what it did to the infected. The incubation period is short, and the symptoms are violent. Victims die bleeding from nearly every opening in their bodies."
My blood ran cold. "And she released it on Earth?"
"Not the original strain," Carol said. "That was eradicated by the Kree Empire nearly three hundred years ago. It was deemed too virulent to use, even as a bioweapon. Whatever is circulating now is a new variant. We discovered it days ago. Every single person we've tested is infected—but there are no symptoms yet, and we have no idea how it's spreading."
Fuck.
"I have a pretty good idea," I said. "This is Corvus's doing. Probably part of his new Ascendant power. It's their original plan, but worse. They're going to try and wipe out the planet without lifting a finger."
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