In Liu A'dou's eyes, schemers were always small-minded. They used cowardly, underhanded means to chase goals they couldn't speak out loud. And Hydra was full of them. Back in World War II, Hydra latched onto Nazi Germany with a false alliance while running its own secret agendas. More than half a century later, nothing had changed. Maybe that was because some of Hydra's big names just wouldn't die.
Rotten institutions loved repeating the same conspiracies, always dreaming of becoming the last one standing in war. But they never learned a thing. Classic case of failing over and over again yet refusing to quit. All they were good at was showing up again and again with no shame.
As Liu A'dou would put it: villains weren't dumb, they were just addicted to courting disaster. They always had to do some outrageous anti-human stunt just to feel seen. Liu A'dou couldn't understand them at all. Villains only ever succeeded when humanity's collective IQ went down the drain—like in the original Watchmen, when the whole world got dumb enough to let Ozymandias kill millions.
But nowadays, judging by how things were going, human intelligence was still holding steady. With sharp-minded souls like Batman and Captain America around, there was no way for Hydra to win. If Liu A'dou were their boss, he'd pick up a different hobby instead of chasing schemes that would blow up in his own face. But villains loved to overestimate themselves and underestimate others.
Like right now—Madame Hydra had just hijacked five full trucks of alien gear. Liu A'dou had no idea how she planned to smuggle such a huge haul out of the U.S.
Drones quickly reached the area and locked onto the convoy. Sure enough, some of Hydra's people still thought like it was the 1940s. They had no clue how vast the sky was or how deep the surveillance tech ran now.
But Ada had also underestimated Hydra's firepower. On-screen, a green figure took aim and shot down the drone with deadly precision. Hitting a fast-moving aerial target with one clean shot—that wasn't luck, that was skill.
The screen went black. All the agents turned to look at their acting director, waiting for orders.
The drone's last location gave Ada two possible destinations: a harbor or an airport. The harbor was a commercial one, heavy with cargo traffic—perfect for hiding weapons and smuggling them out. The airport was Boston's air force base.
Harbor or airport?
"All field agents, move out. Target: Boston Harbor," Ada ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" S.H.I.E.L.D. agents mobilized.
Ada boarded a craft herself. But once her agents were airborne, she turned to her pilot and said, "We're going to the airport."
"Acting Director?" The pilot blinked. They'd just sent everyone else to the harbor—why head for the airport?
Ada suspected there were Hydra spies aboard the Helicarrier. Someone had found and removed the trackers and bugs she'd planted. Someone had tipped off Hydra. That's why she faked them out. Knowing Hydra's style, they were definitely headed to the airport.
"Set course for Boston Air Force Base," she said from the co-pilot seat.
"Copy that."
Her craft veered off toward the airport.
Meanwhile, Madame Hydra sat in the lead truck, planning her next move. Once the weapons reached Brazil, her people would be armed and ready. She'd make the world realize Hydra was back.
She looked ahead and spotted the runway. The cargo plane was ready—massive and military-grade. She smiled with satisfaction, green lipstick curving into a perfect arc.
"Supreme Commander, we've got a tail."
Madame Hydra glanced at the rearview mirror and spotted a S.H.I.E.L.D. chopper closing in fast. Just one? How bold.
Before she could act, the chopper raced past the convoy and hovered midair over the road. Twin Vulcan cannons on either side locked on.
"Take cover!" Madame Hydra barked. She hadn't expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to strike so fast.
Two streams of fire streaked down the highway. The driver of Madame Hydra's vehicle yanked the steering wheel hard, skidding the truck sideways across the road.
The tires screeched with a sharp, grating sound. White smoke and black skid marks scarred the pavement. The lead truck slowly blocked the road. The vehicles behind had to slam the brakes, barely avoiding a collision.
"Cease fire!" Ada ordered. She had just given the command to fire, forcing the lead vehicle to stop. "You've got nowhere left to run. Surrender immediately."
But Hydra wasn't about to lay down their weapons. Their answer came in the form of gunfire.
Bang!
A bullet spun through the air, slamming into the intake vent of the aircraft with pinpoint precision. The aircraft shuddered violently and spun out, crashing toward the roadside dirt.
Madame Hydra smirked coldly. So they thought a few agents could catch her? Ridiculous. She spun her gun once and holstered it on her thigh.
Then she saw a figure burst from the crashing aircraft—Ada, dragging the pilot out at top speed. She leapt through the air and counterattacked.
Two women locked eyes mid-air.
Same dark hair. Same lean, shapely build. Same razor-sharp gaze. As Ada flipped and brought her pistol around in a clean arc, Madame Hydra didn't hesitate. She drew and fired again.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots fired almost simultaneously. The bullets screamed through the air—and collided mid-flight.
A bullet-on-bullet impact. A scene right out of a movie—but it just happened.
Ada landed, tossed the weak-kneed pilot aside, and raised her gun again. Madame Hydra already had hers trained on Ada.
"Surrender. I've got your forehead lined up," Ada said flatly.
Madame Hydra didn't back down. "I've got your heart. We could find out who's faster."
"I'm faster. No question," Ada replied confidently. When it came to marksmanship, she didn't lose to anyone.
'Cocky little girl,' Madame Hydra thought. Still, she was curious. Besides Black Widow, when did S.H.I.E.L.D. pick up another female agent like this? "Who the hell are you?"
Ada smiled, calm and self-assured. "Ada Wong. Acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Acting Director?" Madame Hydra was surprised. She'd never even heard of this girl before—and now she was running S.H.I.E.L.D.? "So S.H.I.E.L.D. really is crumbling. I guess even little girls can be directors now. What happened to Black Widow and Maria?"
"You seem to know a lot about our organization," Ada said with a calm grin. Her gun didn't waver at all. Then she called out her opponent's identity: "You're the so-called Supreme Commander of Hydra, or should I say… Madame Hydra?"
Madame Hydra froze for a moment. She hadn't expected anyone to recognize her after being out of sight for so long. Clearly, this young woman didn't get promoted for nothing.
"Call me whatever you like," Madame Hydra said, unmoving. The two women—deadly, poised, and powerful—stood on that open road, guns up, barbed words flying. A standoff between queens. A rare, grudging respect in the air.