[Nick Fury POV]
I walked out of the tent with a not so good feeling.
I took what he said with half an ear but somehow I couldn't shake this black pit forming in my stomach.
"What do you think boss? You think he is telling the truth." Barton asked me as we made our way past some guards. I couldn't help but take two looks at them as the pit-like feeling in my stomach increased.
It was as if I was in a coliseum with all the beast of the wilds released at once. Everywhere felt like a danger zone. Even though I didn't fully believe him, those files however painted a realistic picture which was what had me on this new edge.
"I don't know Barton. I hope not." I couldn't help but think if I could even trust them but I shook those thoughts out of my head. These two were people I personally scouted, if I couldn't trust them then I was pretty much boned from the start.
"What are we going to do about him? We'll just watch for now while I go check somethings out." I said and cut into a different path that led to my makeshift office.
He gave me three people; Pierce, Strucker and one of Pierce's guy Rumlow.
The Strucker guy was a new recruit.
If, and IF what he said had any semblance to the truth, then this was worse than he thought.
He still had doubts though.
Pierce was someone like a mentor to him, thinking that the man was a traitor was a disgusting thought that came to him.
But then again that call Pierce made to him when he was coming here; If before it seemed normal then now it didn't.
First of all why would Pierce think that there would be a survivor of something like this or even wanted to know about the survivor.
He would call every two days since that day to ask for an update which he now found weird because he always made his updates on time.
But now wasn't the time to think of that.
He only had two people he could trust at his side, that guy didn't count.
There wasn't much they could do with so few hands.
…
[Draul St. Cross POV]
I felt different.
I felt lighter.
I felt stronger.
Whatever the explosion did to me, or the supposed nuclear radiation, made me stronger.
The first fact of that was my healing. I cut open my stomach to take out the box and it took less than 30 seconds…11 seconds to heal from that. There was also something that I could feel but couldn't quite grasp.
Well it was nice so no complaining there.
I walked to the monitor and inserted the drive and opened the files that had the 'I-039' tag.
I read through the files and I was stunned what I found.
Firstly, Ernst thought my ability was evolution-based and adaptability was just the first step to evolution. Adaptation and Evolution went hand in hand. So if my ability wasn't just adaptation but evolution then that means it wasn't as passive as an ordinary resistance to external stimuli as I thought.
Evolution occurs when something has adapted to the peak of what is biologically possible for it.
If we take that as true then I'm not yet at my humanly possible peak. So to grow faster I need to breakdown myself more to adapt to my limit before I will be able to evolve.
All these were Ernst's theory.
It even had a chart of my growth, from temperature resistance to my growth in physical strength and speed. Turns out my physical growth started slowing down months ago.
My elemental resistance was what had the highest growth. But it was only that, resistance. Ernst wanted to see if it was possible to be immune to something. Everything.
Turns out that fire and ice would be the best way to experiment since they were the opposite of two extremes.
But what I found interesting was that Ernst said it was possible to guide the evolution even though it was biologically impossible… like a human breathing in space or the human body not needing blood for the function of the body but instead sun light.
Or to point out the end point, could someone be immune to death… immortality.
The research was not something I could phantom with my budding IQ.
What was wrong with the Marvel-verse and Evolution?
Red skull wanted evolution.
Arnim Zola wanted evolution.
Dr. Connors wanted evolution.
Reed Richards wanted evolution.
Bolivar Trask wanted evolution.
Nathaniel Essex wanted evolution.
Apocalypse wanted evolution.
Magneto wanted evolution.
The Extremist guy from Iron man wanted evolution.
Ultron wanted evolution.
Thanos wanted evolution.
The freaking damned Celestials wanted evolution.
And the number one G of this entire verse left them to their selves because he wanted to see them… evolve.
Everyone wants a piece of this thicc thighed meat called 'Evolution', and all that did was put me on the chopping block.
Hydra won't be the last. You don't just wake up in the Marvel-verse and think you would be able to ride the wave and just chill. I would know, I experienced the folly of that first hand.
I needed to be stronger…
And Ernst's research would be my crutch to grow.
I read other files, the one about their projects, their previous missions, some authorized by different people and the most important piece of information I got from that drive were some transfer files to some locations.
Their bases.
Scattered all over the world.
America had the most. 37 bases.
This was a gold mine.
This was what I had been hoping for. A way to find their bases.
I removed the hard drive and stuck it in me once more.
I went back to the bed to my head and digest what I just found out.
The next day Barton came and escorted my out of the base.
He drove me to an area that had a clearing and we entered an already waiting chopper that flew us to New York.
…
Arrived in New York during the evening and he took me to a little quaint house, ordinary looking as any could get, and inside I saw Fury and Coulson waiting there.
"So? What are we doing here?" I asked them.
"This is a safe house outside S.H.I.E.L.D's radar, this will be our base of operations."
"Base of operations? You finally believe me?" I wasn't that surprised.
"Can't say I don't. There's a difference." Fury replied.
"So where do we start?" I asked.
"What do we have?" Fury asked with a question of his own.
With that I brought out the drive which was in my pocket, not my stomach this time, as cutting open my stomach whenever I wanted to was not a good thing to see for me or others.
I brought out the drive and loaded up the files I read yesterday, the ones that had the transfer locations.
We looked through the entire files and found out that there were almost 150 Hydra base located all around the world.
America had 37. Sokovia 6. Germany 23. Russia 18, with the rest spread out across different countries. Just the numbers alone were enough to shock Fury and the others.
It showed them that this wasn't just some organization, this was a world power.
"How do we do this?" This time it was Barton who asked.
"You'll go," Fury said to me after a moment of thought, "You'll draw their attention by attacking some of their bases in New York and we'll see who rattles. You took on a base by yourself bet you can take on another."
"So I'm bait?" I asked.
"In a less derogatory way, yes. According to those files you are important to them, so if you start attacking their bases eventually someone's gonna panic and I'll have my eyes on them." I couldn't even find a way to be mad at that because he was right.
"Where do we start?" I asked with a smile.
…
Decked out in casual wears, a black trouser and a white shirt with a loose tie around my neck, I walked towards a store that sold automobile spare parts and functioned as a front for an Hydra base underneath.
The moment I walked in the man at the desk came up to meet me.
"Anything I can help you with sir?" He was so polite that if not for the fact that I knew that civilians couldn't be working in an Hydra base then I would have been fooled by his act.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact you do." I said to him as he waited for my request, "someone told me you were supposed to have something in bulk as it was delivered today." He looked confused at that.
"Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to specify as we did receive some new arrivals today. Do you by chance know the products name?" He asked me as we walked and browsed through various car parts
"Yes I do. Death." Before he could understand what I said I looked at him and snapped his neck, killing him swiftly.
I could hear something falling which I assumed was someone in the control room which was at the back.
I walked up to the reception desk and checked under and found two guns, a Glock 19 and an M11. Just what I needed.
I couldn't come here with firearms since that would draw too much attention if I suddenly opened fire up here. And besides I wanted to test something out.
I walked to the control room and kicked it open only to be received with a bullet to the chest. Great! He just ruined my shirt.
I killed him off and found out that he had already contacted those downstairs.
I walked to the control panel and inserted a drive Coulson gave me.
"Are you guys in?" I spoke to the comms in my ear.
"We are receiving the signal annnnd we are in. We got the surveillance downstairs. Looks like some kind of armory. Hitters are heading to your position." Clint informed me. The drive they gave me was to hack inside the place's network and download any and all files connected to it.
I turned around to leave but something caught my eye – the area around where I was shot was glowing, or more specifically, the veins around it and it was emitting smoke.
Alarmed I opened up my shirt thinking it was something they shot me but all I could see was the bullet coming out as it continued emitting smoke. It stopped as they bullet fell and the wounds closed.
That's new.
It looks like my body was already evolving because as far as I know my body never emitted smoke when it healed itself and it never spat out bullets. The explosion and the radiation from whatever experiment that blew up in that lab did something to me and I'll use this outing to find out what it was.
Following Barton's directions, I made way to the hatch that led downstairs and jumped down it.
"Incoming in five seconds. Four assailants." Clint informed me and I took a split second decision and tossed away the gun.
"Uhm, what are you doing?" Came from Clint as I looked and saw a camera, most likely the one he was using to monitor me, and gave him an OK sign with my fingers.
I heard the running footsteps and the next second 4 people stood in front of me with guns.
I didn't wait for them to say anything before I charged at them as they began firing. I only had to watch the shots directed at my head as I disembarked upon them.
The more they shot, the more I felt something churn and the more I sank in the feeling. It was like something was on the cusp of being broken.
More people joined as I continued fighting anyone that entered my sights. The feeling became more pronounced that I could practically 'feel' it.
Heat.
Intense heat.
It flowed through every cell in my body, going to my fists every time they made contact with anyone.
My blows became harder, my movements faster. It was like someone stored a nuclear bomb inside my cells. My veins were glowing the more I fought as I felt as if a furnace was lit inside me and I fought to extinguish it with every blow, every bullet wound, every movement.
It sought a release and I used my body as the medium for it and let it flow free and unabated. Submerging in that feeling of heat, I let out a strong punch pushing everything I was feeling through it and watched as my hands punched through someone.
"Holy shit!" Barton's voice broke me out of my submersion and back to focus and the first thing I saw was my hand lodged through the chest of one of HYDRA's men.
It was as if magma was flowing through my veins as my entire arm glowed and the heat from it was enough to cauterize the whole wound.
I pulled out my arm from his chest and looked at the pile of broken bones littered all around the floor.
There was a lot of smoke and mist in the air and they were all coming from the pores in my body making it seem as if my body was a steam engine.
"What the fuck was that?" Barton asked me with agitation in his voice.
I looked at my body still releasing smoke and steam and with a thought it all stopped except for those which still had bullets in them.
"My ability." Ernst was a fucking smart bastard. Evolution was something someone would die to have. A smile came to my face as I realized this.
This was just my first step in the road of evolution.
With that I walked deeper through the base killing anyone I found leaving none alive.