"Old pal, S.H.I.E.L.D. ain't what it used to be," Dum Dum Dugan grumbled in his tavern, clinking glasses with Hit-Monkey. "Thought we crushed Hydra, but now it's back—inside S.H.I.E.L.D.!" He didn't expect comfort from a monkey, no matter how smart. Hit-Monkey fought, not felt, in Dugan's view.
"Screech!" Hit-Monkey downed his drink. Neither expected the other to understand their pain—just two lost souls drowning sorrows.
Dugan's encrypted phone rang, a line only trusted allies used. "Hello?"
"Dugan, we found a Hydra base!" Warpath, the werewolf leading the Howling Commandos, spoke.
"Where?" Dugan asked. Warpath's call meant the Commandos couldn't act directly—likely to avoid tipping off Fury, whom they suspected as Hydra, thanks to Pierce's endorsement.
"Vampire territory. Details in person," Warpath said, hanging up. Dugan frowned. Hydra hiding in S.H.I.E.L.D. made sense, not in vampire lands. He needed an expert: Blade, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rogue agent, hunting vampires.
Unlike Midnight Vampire's noble tales of a Blood River-wielding progenitor, these vampires were a disease, not a clan. Dugan scoffed at their lore, doubting such power despite his supernatural encounters.
He dialed Blade. Gunshots crackled. "What? I'm busy. Call you later," Blade said, hanging up.
Dugan refilled Hit-Monkey's glass. "This world never rests."
"We made it!" Hawkeye, exhausted, glanced at his remaining team. No losses, but only a few followed him toward the peak. Without the team's life detectors confirming others' survival, he'd have aborted. His vaunted sight failed him here.
"What the hell!" a teammate gasped. A monstrous truck roared through the snow, bouncing wildly.
Figures stood atop it, too many to count quickly. "Ha! Volusk! Faster!" "I want a drink, but I'm dead!" "Speed up, fool!" War cries echoed. Hawkeye's team gaped at translucent figures shouting chaotically.
"The files didn't mention ghosts driving!" someone whispered.
Crash! The truck flipped, wheels spinning. "Volusk, my turn!" The spirits didn't float—they sprawled in the snow, cursing.
"Quiet! Newcomers on the mountain!" a shout silenced them, and they vanished. The truck righted itself under an unseen force.
"What's with this car?" Hawkeye nearly swore like Fury, stunned.
"I want one!" Luke Cage said, tending wounds. He'd found Madoc racing the truck and entered a trial, nearly losing his skin to a demon. The pain was new, but he endured, earning a rare "Good job" from Madoc. He could call himself a barbarian now.
The barbarian set's hand axe was his and Matthew's, but the small round shield was overlooked by the ancestors. The standard potion awaited Bul-Kathos's blessing at the Elders' Temple. Their faint Nephalem blood gave them potential to grow stronger.
"I want one too," Rumlow said, bandaging wounds on a stone bed, not Matthew—who, blind, couldn't drive. No young man resisted a car, but Matthew's superhuman senses couldn't read traffic lights, and no one issued a blind man a license.
The trio had bonded. Among the Three Ancestors, Talic's trials were toughest. Facing grotesque fiends, ground-pounders, and Agren trolls, Talic's flawless defense earned his title. Rumlow, fresh from beating an Agren troll, could now best Luke or Matthew one-on-one, his agent training giving him an edge in skill and mindset, despite not yet passing five trials.
(Chapter End)
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