"Hey, make it quick. I'm busy," Blade snapped, returning Dugan's call. Gunfire echoed as he fought vampires.
"Got any weird intel from those vampires?" Dugan asked.
Blade paused. Strange news was common with these creatures. "About what?"
"Hydra," Dugan said.
Blade fell silent, familiar with Hydra from his Howling Commandos days. "You hiding something, old man?"
"I'm under Fury's watch, so I can't say much. If you find anything, let me know," Dugan said, hanging up. Both knew Hydra's weight; he'd said enough.
"Fury? Damn world," Blade muttered, grabbing his guns and leaving his safehouse. Nighttime was perfect for clearing another vampire nest. Unlike Midnight Vampire, these were diseased, not noble. Hydra news meant he'd keep an ear out, though his no-survivors style might've buried past leads.
"Rumlow, explain what you've been doing!" Hawkeye confronted Rumlow, who was battered from a fight, blunt-weapon wounds catching Hawkeye's eye.
"Just training," Rumlow said, spreading his hands to show harmlessness.
Luke and Matthew, packing nearby, were invisible to the tension. Madoc had said Bul-Kathos would take them to Hell's Kitchen today.
"You know our mission!" a Pierce-planted Hydra agent barked, reminding Rumlow of Hydra's priority. His reckless words tied him to Rumlow, minimizing his own risk. A low-level grunt, he knew only Rumlow as his boss, unconcerned about exposing Hydra. Pierce tasked him to test Rumlow's loyalty, and he saw a chance to climb by letting Rumlow take the heat.
Hydra needed secrecy, but less urgently now. A small slip wouldn't hurt. Rumlow's fist answered, sending him sprawling. "Know your place," Rumlow said coldly, snow chilling the agent's daze.
The exchange thrilled Rumlow—Hawkeye would notice. Small cracks like this would eventually expose Hydra. He nearly applauded the fool.
"Rumlow, I'm taking command. Explain your actions," Hawkeye said, brandishing Fury's orders. "Start with that truck."
Rumlow shrugged. The grounded Hydra agent sensed trouble.
"Uncle, this is Jessica's payment?" Jill asked, swinging his axe, eyeing a bag of crumpled bills on the table, various denominations jumbled.
"Your pocket money. Take what you need when you're out," Bul-Kathos said, sipping liquor, assigning the money's use.
"Training's done. Rest. School tomorrow," he added. Jill nodded, placed his axe on the rack, and went to wash up.
Bul-Kathos locked the shop, heading to Harrogath to prepare potions for Luke and Matthew. Their miraculous nature didn't matter—who could steal from a barbarian? Even Malthael, wielding the Dark Soulstone, only beat him using death's rules. Who in this world matched that power?
Worlds were cages, limiting strength, like Harrogath's vast roots and few peak warriors. If he knew pyramids, he'd liken it to one. Death, a universal pinnacle, was a tricky concept. He'd seen it here too.
Opening a portal, he heard ancestors' shouts and the truck's roar. "Madoc, you bastard!" he cursed, stepping through, ready for a clash. Could this world get worse than Sanctuary, caught between Heaven and Hell?
(Chapter End)
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