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The Florida air was thick with heat as thirty elite Kane operatives moved into position outside the A.I.M. facility. The operation had been planned with ruthless precision. No alarms, no witnesses. Just swift, professional execution.
The breach began swiftly. Kane operatives subdued the outer guards without raising any alerts. They advanced through corridors with practiced ease, heading straight for the lab where Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen were believed to be.
Alex was following behind, quiet and focused.
As the strike team reached the final corridor outside the lab, two guards blocked the door. Two operatives lunged forward with stun batons. One of them struck a guard across the face. The guard staggered—but then slowly looked up, the wound glowing with an eerie red light as it healed in seconds.
Both guards began to glow.
Five of them quickly surrounded the glowing guards, moving in with coordinated strikes. One operative swung a baton at the guard's ribs—only to be caught and hurled into a wall, his armor cracking from the impact.
Two others charged in together, only to be struck down by flaming fists that scorched through their vests. The final operative tried to flank, but the second guard spun and delivered a brutal uppercut that knocked him out cold before he hit the ground.
Before more could join the fray, an alarm sounded throughout the facility.
Alex stepped forward calmly. "Everyone fall back," he said in a low but firm voice.
As the operatives backed away, Alex extended his hand. A pulse of violet light shone in the air before the Void Crescent Spear materialized from his Dimensional Storage, forming in his grip with a resonant hum. Its twin curved blade edges gleamed menacingly, forged from dark metal, with faintly glowing runes etched along its length—it was a weapon of beauty and lethality.
He twirled it once with practiced ease, the weight perfect in his hand. His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the glowing guards ahead.
"I think it's time for a test drive."
---
Inside the lab, Maya Hansen turned towards Killian. "What's going on?"
Killian smirked. "There's been a breach. You don't have to worry; it'll be soon taken care of," he said confidently.
Just then, the reinforced lab door exploded inward, and a guard came flying through it, smashing against a console.
Killian's smile vanished.
Alex stepped through the smoke.
Without wasting a word, he hurled the Void Crescent Spear again. "Break," he commanded.
The weapon tore through the Extremis guard, disrupting his regenerative process mid-heal. Flames flared along the corridor as Alex pinned another attacker to the ceiling with a telekinetic blast, then called the spear back to his hand with a snap of thought. All of Alex's moves were filled with fatal elegance.
Across the lab, Killian grabbed a secure briefcase and ran toward a vault door. His veins pulsed with a red-orange glow. Sparks from an earlier explosion had grazed his arms, leaving small wounds that sealed shut in seconds, the skin knitting itself together with burning light.
"You won't get far," Alex warned coldly.
Killian sneered. "You're already too late." The door behind him sealed with a loud hiss, locking Alex and the operatives out.
As his team rushed to force it open, Alex slowly turned toward Maya Hansen, his expression cold and eyes still simmering from the confrontation. Maya stood frozen in place, stunned by the violence and speed of what she had just witnessed.
She looked at him with fear. "Who are you?"
Alex's gaze didn't soften. "Someone who's here to stop this madness."
She blinked, as if waking from a nightmare. "Why?"
Alex gestured toward the burning guards, his voice cold and steady. "Are you not aware of the deaths that occurred during your trials, Doctor? Or did you simply turn a blind eye to them?"
Maya's lips parted, her voice shaky and low. "I... I knew to some extent. But I turned a blind eye. Killian kept most of the damage away from me, but... I didn't ask him. I didn't want to. I was too focused on making it work, on reaching a breakthrough. I thought the ends might justify the means. But I was wrong. I see that now. I was blinded by the pursuit of success, and people paid the price."
Her hands trembled as she let the folder slip from her grasp, files scattering across the floor. The weight of her guilt etched on every page, a science too dangerous to leave in the wrong hands.
Killian slammed his hand against a nearby control panel. Deep within the facility, a violent explosion echoed from the tunnel level. A concealed escape route, now reduced to rubble.
As the building began to quake, Killian vanished through the tunnel with the briefcase.
Alex reached the ruined passage seconds later—only to find it collapsed in a smoldering heap.
Alex looked at the wreckage, his eyes narrowing. "He knows too much to be left alive."
Back in the crumbling lab, Alex collected everything he could salvage:
Dr. Maya Hansen, shaken but cooperative.
Incomplete Extremis formulas.
And digital logs detailing every unethical experiment.
[System Notification:
PERSONAL MISSION: SECURE EXTREMIS – PARTIAL SUCCESS
REWARD: 5,000 SP]
[New System Mission:
FIND AND ELIMINATE ALDRICH KILLIAN
REWARD: ONE-TIME 50% DISCOUNT ON SUPREMACY ENHANCEMENT]
---
Outside, three SUVs skidded to a halt. Phil Coulson stepped out with special agents from his back.
Guns were raised. Kane operatives aimed back, encircling Alex as he exited the facility. Maya followed behind, flanked by half a dozen soldiers.
"Fury wants the scientist and the research, Kane," Coulson called.
Alex kept walking. "He can file a request at headquarters."
Weapons clicked louder, fingers tightened on triggers.
Alex stopped, finally turning to face him. "You can take the logs. Make your report; And the test subjects—if you can keep them alive. But Dr. Hansen and the serum stay with me."
Coulson frowned. "Fury won't like this."
"He doesn't have to." Alex turned around and continued walking towards the SUV.
Moments later, as SHIELD began to withdraw, Alex climbed into the black SUV and sank into the seat. Through the window, he watched the agents file out.
Beside him, Henderson approached from the perimeter, scanning the scene. "Were we bluffing?"
Alex smirked. "If a fight started, we might win the battle... but we'd lose the war."
He nodded toward the wreckage. "Finish up here. We're leaving."
---
At Kane Headquarters, Maya Hansen sat at a secure workstation, guarded but focused.
"I want to be sure you're not another Killian," she said quietly, still shaken. "If I work for you, I need to know I won't be used the same way."
Alex nodded. "Then don't betray my trust. I'm not him—but I have my goals."
She hesitated. "And the formula... I want to perfect it. I can stabilize Extremis, but I need time—and help."
Alex considered her for a moment. "There is a way to improve it, but you'll either have to wait... or make a breakthrough on your own."
"And what will you do with it?"
His answer was simple. "You can help the masses, Doctor. But I want an army."
Maya said nothing, but nodded a second later.
The fire had been lit.
And soon, the world would feel the heat.