BOOM!
The sky over the SHIELD Helicarrier turned orange as fire erupted across the upper decks. Sirens howled. Metal groaned. Smoke twisted like writhing serpents through the wind.
"ALL AGENTS, FALL BACK TO ALPHA ZONES! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
Director Nick Fury barked into the intercom, his eye narrowed, blood dripping down his brow. Around him, the control bridge was chaos—consoles fried, agents injured, medical drones barely keeping up.
Three monsters from the Sinister Six had infiltrated the Helicarrier.
Green Goblin. Mysterio. Scorpia.
And they weren't here for espionage.
They came to end SHIELD.
CLANG!
The floor behind Fury exploded as Scorpia lunged forward, her venomous tail whirling like a blade.
Fury drew his pistol—BLAM! BLAM!—both shots ricocheted off her armored plating.
"You'll need more than bullets, pirate," Scorpia sneered, leaping at him.
(Move, NOW!)
Fury dove sideways, narrowly avoiding her strike. Sparks erupted as her tail impaled the deck.
"I need Night Team, now!" Fury shouted into his comms, skidding behind cover.
"Night Fury, this is Director Fury. You've got clearance to go full lethal. Wipe them out."
..
Meanwhile, down in the hangar—
Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, walked through a wall of illusion—multiple versions of him flickering in and out like a glitching nightmare.
SHIELD agents opened fire—
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! It's an illusion!"
Too late.
Mysterio raised his hands—WHOOM!—a sonic pulse detonated in a blinding burst, hurling agents like ragdolls.
"You can't shoot what isn't real, boys!" Mysterio cackled.
"But don't worry… the dying part? That's very real."
Above, in the aerial launch bay—
A green streak cut through the clouds.
"Hahahahaha!"
Green Goblin dived on his glider, tossing pumpkin bombs left and right. Each impact shredded a section of the carrier's wings.
"You think SHIELD can contain gods and monsters?!" he howled.
"Then let's see how well you fly without wings!"
A blast tore through engine two.
The Helicarrier tilted violently agents screamed, tumbling sideways as gravity shifted.
On the ruined bridge—
Fury gritted his teeth, rallying the remaining team.
"Agent May! Hold the west deck!"
"Agent Hill! Get comms online—we need evac birds, now!"
"This is a total breach—SHIELD is compromised!" Hill shouted.
Fury turned and saw a monitor—live feed: 300 casualties. Explosions in R&D. Security walls down. Bio-prison breached.
(They're going to burn everything.)
Night Fury Squad dropped in from above elite SHIELD black-ops in dark stealth suits, rifles crackling with sonic rounds.
"Targeting Green Goblin—on my mark!"
"EMP to bay three—cut the illusions!"
It was war now. Close-quarters. Brutal. Tactical.
Scorpia cracked through Night Fury lines, tail sweeping two agents like dolls.
Mysterio dropped smoke, twisted visuals of loved ones agents faltered.
And Green Goblin?
He was laughing.
"I remember you, Fury! You're the one who thought he could build a world order!"
"Let me show you what chaos really looks like!"
He fired a missile into the reactor core—
BOOOOOOM!!
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's core was in flames, systems fried, power flickering. Sirens blared, lighting the blood-slicked floor red, then blue, then nothing but black.
Fury hit the deck hard.
(Back's broken… ribs maybe cracked. Focus, dammit. Focus.)
His ears rang. Something had exploded right behind him he couldn't remember what. Metal groaned, twisted around him like it was alive. Blood pooled in his mouth.
He spat it out.
A young agent barely 20 tried to crawl toward him through the wreckage. Her uniform was torn, skin scorched, helmet cracked.
She whimpered, "Sir… I— I can't feel my leg…"
Fury's one good arm pulled her close, shielding her from falling debris.
He growled through his teeth, blood-streaked and furious.
"Don't you die on me, soldier. You hear me?"
"YOU HOLD ON!"
He pressed her head into his chest as the ceiling buckled again. Fire rained down in embers.
(Damn it… we're not making it out, are we?)
Another explosion. Closer.
The wall blew apart scrap and shrapnel everywhere revealing Green Goblin floating in the smoke. He was laughing, mouth wide, feral, fire leaking from his glider's tail.
Beside him stood Mysterio, helmet glowing eerie green.
Scorpia slithered on metal-clad limbs, blades snapping open from her arms.
Goblin sneered, "Your team lost, Fury… Why don't you save yourself the pain? Join us."
Nick's eye narrowed.
Before he could speak, one of the agents limping, soaked in blood raised his rifle and screamed:
"FUCK YOU!!"
Goblin turned, eyes wild.
He opened his mouth—
FWOOSH!
Flames burst from his teeth, a hellish breath of dragonfire. The agent barely had time to scream before he was engulfed his silhouette vanishing in a pillar of fire.
A chorus of desperate shouts broke out behind Fury.
"RUN, SIR!!"
"GET OUTTA HERE!!"
Nick gritted his teeth, jaw clenched so tight it bled.
(You bastards…)
He turned. Ran. Not because he wanted to. But because someone had to live to remember.
He sprinted through the fire-lit halls, boots splashing through oil and blood.
Behind him, the young agent he'd tried to save whispered, fading—
"I'm sorry… sir…"
Nick screamed over his shoulder, throat raw:
"NO!!"
Suddenly, Scorpia lunged forward from the smoke arms stretched, blades spinning—
But Mysterio raised a hand.
Fog spilled between them.
"Let him run," Mysterio said coldly.
"He just looks pathetic like this."
Scorpia snarled, retracting her blades.
The Sinister Three stood in the fire-lit wreckage gods among corpses.
Fury didn't look back.
(Let them think I'm pathetic.)
(Let them think I ran.)
(They'll learn soon enough… I always come back with a plan.)
And as he vanished into the darkness, Fury swore:
"This isn't the end. Not for me. Not for them."
"This is just war."
To be continue