Chapter 94 Xi Nian's Strike, Breaking the Cage
New York, Stark Industries Headquarters.
"Sir, the Anti-Black Flash Armor is ready." Jarvis's calm voice echoed through the top floor hall.
"Bring it over. Prepare for departure." Tony Stark's eyes gleamed as his fists clenched tightly.
Last time…
When he faced the strange black kitten-like creature—Black Flash—his Mark armor had been utterly helpless. Worse, he had been exiled into some unknown dimension, enduring horrors beyond imagination.
Tony had never let that humiliation go. Even in his sleep, he sometimes woke in terror at the sound of phantom cat cries.
So for the past week, he had programmed and worked day and night, forging a new line of countermeasure armors. The Anti-Black Flash Armor had even been given higher priority than the Hulkbuster, taking the number one spot among all his specialized counter armors!
These "counter armors" were not upgrades of the regular Mark suits, but strategic designs crafted specifically to combat and defeat a single extraordinary target.
"This time, I'll show you what I can do. I'll capture you, and finally learn what you are." Tony muttered, brimming with confidence.
Jarvis asked gently, "Sir, should I record a personal message? Or perhaps call Miss Pepper upstairs?"
"Jarvis." Tony's smile vanished as his brows lifted. "That's not funny."
"…Apologies."
…
Inside the research institute, the Suicide Squad stood frozen in shock.
The massive, grotesque starfish monster imprisoned within loomed before them.
"Look at it! So beautiful!"
The Thinker's eyes shone with mania as he gazed at the enormous starfish behind the glass. "I've studied it for over twenty years! Its name is Starro, an alien lifeform. It can spawn offspring that attach to humans, control them, and drain their energy to grow stronger!"
As he spoke, the enormous cyclopean eye in the center of Starro's body glared back at him with fury. A massive tentacle slammed against the reinforced glass barrier, shaking the lab.
Twenty years?
Xi Nian caught a troubling detail. Xiao Huang was only a Flerken cub, yet Starro had already been imprisoned here in Jotunheim two decades ago.
If so, how did Xiao Huang know Starro, and why was she so desperate to find it?
Even she couldn't explain it herself.
Perhaps only through Starro could the truth be revealed.
"Why would you carry out such inhuman experiments? Do you plan to use it to threaten the world?" Ratcatcher II demanded.
"Hahahaha!!"
The Thinker burst into mad laughter. "Twenty-two years ago, the U.S. government captured this alien in space and brought it here, to this island nation. They built Jotunheim specifically for its study."
The squad looked at each other in shock.
The Thinker sneered. "That's right. The very same U.S. government that sent you here to 'clean up' Project Starfish was the one that commissioned me to perform human trials and alien research in the first place! They only want to bury their crimes now because of regime changes. They want to erase the evidence, nothing more!"
"Lies! Don't believe him, he's insane!" Peacemaker snapped, his face red with anger.
"Don't believe me?" The Thinker chuckled darkly, pointing at a terminal. "Take the chip in that console. It contains all the records—proof of everything the U.S. has done. That's what your masters truly want destroyed."
Harley Quinn, ever eager to stir trouble, skipped over and pulled the chip from the machine.
"Give it to me!" Peacemaker barked, stepping forward and reaching for it.
"You didn't believe him before. Now you want it so badly?" Harley snickered.
"True or not, I'll destroy it for the sake of peace!" Peacemaker growled, resolute.
"Everyone calm down!" Captain Robert and Ratcatcher II tried to intervene.
But in that moment, no one noticed the black kitten approaching the glass wall.
Through the thick, reinforced barrier, Xi Nian—merged in his three-in-one form—gazed silently at the colossal starfish filling the chamber.
"So, you want to get out, don't you?"
The black kitten's lips curled into a vicious grin as he slowly raised one paw.
"What's that cat doing?" The Thinker blinked, unsettled.
At his words, the squad turned to look.
Everyone's minds went blank.
And then, as if to confirm their worst fears—
Xi Nian swung his tiny black paw against the reinforced glass.
"Then come out!"
Bang!
With a single swipe, cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact, spreading across the entire wall of glass that even sniper rounds couldn't pierce.
"No way! That's impossible!!" The Thinker's face twisted in horror as he watched his understanding of the world shatter before his eyes.
And with it came a flood of dread.
The alien monster Starro, imprisoned for over twenty years, was about to be unleashed upon the world.
…
New York, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
In his office, Director Nick Fury was organizing reports on the aftermath of the Battle of New York.
Something made him pause.
From a drawer, he pulled out a photograph. His single sharp eye softened as he looked at it.
It was a group photo: a tall Black man who resembled a younger version of himself, his eyes intact, stood beside a beautiful blonde woman in a strange protective suit. Behind them was a spacecraft of alien design. On the floor sat a grown orange tabby cat, and next to it, a palm-sized alien starfish.
"It's been over twenty years already…"
For just a moment, Nick Fury's hard features melted into nostalgia. Then he tucked the photo carefully into a file.
It was a relic of a goddess long gone… and a youth that would never return.
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