Inside the factory—
"I'm sorry, Michael, there's nothing I can do. This is company policy."
A fat man in a white shirt and tie walked ahead, rejecting Michael's desperate plea without a shred of sympathy.
"Gary, please! Help me. I'm about to be evicted—if I can't pay rent, my son and I will end up on the streets!"
"We don't have room, Michael."
Gary stopped and turned, his voice cold and businesslike.
"Even if there were an opening, the factory wouldn't give it to you. There are at least a hundred people like you waiting in line. And most importantly—they don't complain when their backs hurt."
"Gary, I was injured back then! I've recovered now—I can do double the workload!"
But the manager on duty, unmoved, simply shook his head.
Michael—known by Coulson as the "Hooded Man," a supposed superhero—felt fury boiling in his chest.
His wife had left him. The factory that exploited him had discarded him after his injury.
Now, when he needed money just to survive, the world turned its back again.
And when Gary sneered—
"Trash like you shouldn't even bother showing your face here. Damn it, I've already wasted too much time on you—"
Michael snapped.
He grabbed the manager and hurled him several meters away.
Gary's heavy body slammed into factory equipment with a loud crash.
Inside the Blackwing Fighter—
"Did you find anything?"
Kai and Coulson arrived at the lab, watching Simmons as she ran diagnostics on the samples.
"I found quite a lot," Simmons said, pushing up her glasses.
"You probably won't believe this, but the explosion wasn't caused by that alien metal I picked up at the scene."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Then what caused it?"
"At first, I thought it was the metal, but after analyzing the fracture patterns and dispersion radius, I realized I was wrong."
Simmons turned her monitor toward them. "The metal was full of gamma radiation—but the mucus samples we recovered contained several compounds that resemble Dr. Erskine's Super Soldier Serum from the 1940s."
"Super Soldier Serum," Coulson said grimly.
"Exactly. We're looking at a cocktail of every known superpower source—serum, alien metal, gamma radiation, even traces of the Extremis virus."
"Extremis?" Kai frowned.
"Yeah," Coulson said, turning toward him.
"Developed by Aldrich Killian and Dr. Maya Hansen at A.I.M. After Killian's death, Natasha retrieved all of A.I.M.'s secret files for S.H.I.E.L.D."
Kai nodded. "A.I.M. worked with everyone—military, corporate, political. Even Rhodey's War Machine armor was upgraded by A.I.M. at the Pentagon's request."
He crossed his arms. "So if Skye's intel is right and this 'Centipede Project' is linked to A.I.M., I'm not surprised."
"If the Hooded Man was injected with a hybrid version of this stuff," Kai continued, "then emotional instability could trigger an Extremis-style detonation."
"Which would blow half a city block," Coulson muttered.
"Exactly. Let's hope Ms. Skye cooperates after Ward gives his charming 'self-introduction.'"
Kai took out his phone. "I'll contact Tony. He has a backup of the Extremis formula—and knowing him, he's already figured out how to suppress it."
"If we can stabilize the Hooded Man, we might save him before he turns into a walking bomb."
"Then it's all yours," Coulson said, stepping back.
In the lounge—
"Wow, the lazy brat actually called me first for once," Tony's voice came through, dripping with sarcasm.
"Don't tell me you missed me. Or is Coulson's team too boring and you want to come back here to slack off again?"
Kai smirked. "Yeah, I missed you. Also wanted to ask if your three-minute problem got fixed."
"F**k you! That's a lie—an absolute lie!" Tony exploded, nearly dropping his wrench.
"I never touched that third-rate actress! She made that up for publicity!"
"Do you know how many women have claimed to have slept with me since I became Earth's savior? You wouldn't understand, you little virgin—"
"Are you sure you didn't sleep with her?" Kai teased, calmly sipping his tea.
"Of course I… uh, maybe… possibly… who the hell knows? I've lost count, alright?!"
Kai chuckled. "Then those three minutes must've happened for real."
"F**k off, you little bastard!"
Kai placed his cup down with a smile. "Anyway, Tony—remember the Extremis formula backup you made after Killian went down?"
"Of course!" Tony waved Jarvis to pull up the file.
"I tried merging it with the armor systems to build a global defense network. Didn't work out, but no big deal. Only an idiot would inject Extremis into themselves."
Kai sighed. "Then I've got bad news—the idiot showed up again."
Tony's hologram flickered as he scrolled through files.
"Figures. I've already cracked the stabilization algorithm. Tell Coulson to send someone to pick it up.
And don't come yourself, you damn brat. Because after that 'three-minute' comment, I don't want to see you for three days!"
"Sure thing, old man. Though three days might be too long for someone who can't even last three minutes."
"F**k you, Kai! You womanless monk! May you die a virgin!"
"Heh... sure thing, Three-Minute Man."