Alan lowered his hands, the blood barrier dissolving back into his system. His nose bled slightly from the effort.
Through the smoke and settling dust, three Quinjets roared toward them—rotors cutting through the haze, their dark silhouettes growing larger against the grey sky.
Steve grabbed his shield. "We need to move. Now."
Natasha was already scanning the terrain. "Tree line."
The Quinjets banked hard, weapons hot. Tracers tore through the treeline as Steve and Natasha dove for cover behind massive oaks.
"How many are coming?" Natasha called out between shots.
"Three initially," Steve grunted, firing back. "But those are just scouting vessels."
Alan stood between them, blood dripping from his nose.
he wiped the blood from his nose. " we need to get going." He said, as they ran through the forest eventually finding a car and hot-wiring it
The engine roared to life, protesting the age of the vehicle as Steve floored it down the narrow forest road. Behind them, the Quinjets continued their pursuit, tracers cutting through the trees.
"How far to the nearest city?" Natasha asked, bracing herself against the dashboard.
Steve glanced at the rearview mirror. "Two hours. Maybe less if we push it."
Three streaks of dark crimson sliced through the air, piercing the cockpits of the pursuing Quinjets. The pilots slumped forward as blood spattered across their control panels. The aircraft veered wildly, crashing into the forest with thunderous impacts.
Steve glanced at Alan, eyebrow raising slightly. "Noted. Blood manipulation is... versatile."
"And deadly," Natasha added softly.
"trust me, you've seen nothing yet." he said smirking
Steve shook his head, a rare smirk tugging at his lips. "I'll take your word for it."
The car sped through the backroads, leaving the smoke and wreckage behind. Natasha tapped her earpiece.
"We need to get to someone we can trust. Anyone."
Steve's expression darkened. "If Zola was telling the truth, S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. We can't trust anyone."
"correction, you can't trust anyone who worked for Shield, so Captain do you know someone who hasn't worked for them?" He asked
Steve hesitated, thinking carefully. "Not officially. Sam Wilson—former pararescue. He's not affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. currently. He was... discharged." His voice carried a hint of approval. "I trust him."
A few hours later, they were inside his house, telling him about everything and figuring out Alexander Pierce was also Hydra.
Sam Wilson's face hardened as he listened to their account. "Alexander Pierce? The man who runs S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He ran a hand over his buzzed head. "That's impossible. The guy's a patriot. Built this whole organization."
"He's HYDRA," Steve said firmly. "Zola confirmed it."
"now there's only one problem with how the three of us are going to handle this." he said as Sam laid his profile on the table. " You mean the four of us. Consider this my résumé."
Steve flipped through Sam's file—awards, missions, deployments. "Air Force pararescue. Two tours in Afghanistan. Highest level of aerial rescue qualification."
Sam crossed his arms. "You're going up against an organization that's been operating in the shadows for seventy years. You need someone who can fly."
Natasha glanced at Alan. "Four sounds better than three."
"can't argue with that."
"Alright, let's lay out the plan," Steve said, pulling out a map. "If Pierce is truly HYDRA, then S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top brass is compromised. We can't walk into any official base." He paused, looking at Alan. "And you're... unique."
* Natasha rolled her eyes.*
"Unique is one word," Natasha muttered.
Sam studied Alan's file—or what little there was. "And what exactly can you do, kid?"
Steve shot him a warning look. "Sam—"
But Sam was persistent, leaning back in his chair. "If we're going up against HYDRA, I need to know what assets we're working with."
"well, I have blood manipulation. I can control my own blood anywhere is he making it into weapons speed of light projectiles stuff like that oh it's also poisonous because of how my blood is I'm not going to explain my biology that will take too long."
Sam blinked. Natasha raised an eyebrow. Steve just stared.
"Poisonous," Sam repeated slowly. "Your blood is... poisonous?"
"And controllable," Natasha added, her mind clearly running through tactical applications. "Projectiles. Weapons. Speed of light?" She looked at Alan skeptically. "That's a bold claim."
Sam rubbed his jaw.
"then there's my construction technique it basically allows me to create anything out of my special energy like this." He created a 9 mm gun.
Sam's eyes widened as the gun materialized in Alan's hand. "Is that... solid?"
Natasha stepped closer, examining it carefully. "It's not just solid—it's functional." She could feel the weight, the texture. Real.
Steve took it, inspecting the craftsmanship. "This is remarkable."
"Construction technique," Sam murmured, tapping his chin. "So you can make anything? Vehicles? Ammo?"
"yes, but complex things like that will take more time."
Sam leaned forward, interest piqued. "How much time for something like a minigun?"
Natasha cut him off. "Sam, focus. We're planning an infiltration, not a shopping spree."
"Right, right." Sam rubbed his hands together. "Okay. So we've got a guy who can make weapons out of thin aircars and a master assassin. Sounds like a party."
"oh, I also have shrine and don't think it's about praying or anything. It's a whole lot more deadly."
"Shrine?" Sam repeated, exchanging a glance with Natasha.
Steve leaned against the table, arms crossed. "You said this was deadlier than blood manipulation?"
Natasha's eyes narrowed with interest. She'd seen a lot in her career—nothing surprised her anymore. But this kid kept pulling new tricks out of nowhere.
"Define 'deadlier,'" she said carefully.
"imagine it like cooking The Slashes: His core attacks—Cleave and Dismantle—function like kitchen knives chopping, slicing, and preparing an ingredient.
The Fire (Furnace): His flame ability (Kamino or Furnace) acts as the stove or oven used to cook the prepared target.Dismantle: A standard ranged slashing attack whose output adjusts to objects or targets with lower cursed energy. me just casually doing it and not restraining the power can destroy cities Cleave: A close-range slashing attack that automatically adjusts its lethality and cutting power based on the target's toughness. this one also lets me destroy city if I wanted to. Furnace (Kamino / Divine Flame): A high-temperature explosive flame attack that Sukuna can ignite after conditioning the battlefield or target with his slashes. at full power my flame can destroy a continent. that's just a rough estimate."
The room fell completely silent.
Sam stared at Alan, his mouth slightly open. "Continental... destruction." He rubbed his face. "You're casually dropping continent-destroying power levels like it's nothing."
Natasha was calculating. "Cleave adjusts lethality based on toughness. Dismantle is ranged. And Furnace is... explosive flame." She paused.
"So, you're essentially a walking, talking tactical nuke." Sam summarized dryly. Natasha, meanwhile, seemed to be mentally adding up Alan's power level in relation to their mission. Steve watched the boy quietly, trying to read his expression. No arrogance. No boasting. Just facts.
- "Just facts." Steve repeated softly.
"I also have this divergent fist. It's when I hit something with my superhuman strength and my energy flows back and explodes the inside out."
"Divergent Fist," Natasha repeated, her head tilting slightly. "The impact hits first, then the energy explodes seconds later. Doubling the shockwave." She shook her head. "You're going to have to restrain yourself, kid."
Sam snorted. "Restrain himself? The guy just dropped continental destruction and a poison blood supply on the table."
Steve finally spoke up. "Can you control it?"
Alan nodded. "Mostly. I just need to be careful."
"Mostly," Sam echoed sarcastically. "So we've got a kid who can accidentally wipe out a continent if he sneezes wrong."
"Sam," Steve cautioned.
"What?"
"I have to actually think about activating my powers for them to work."
"Activation," Natasha noted, filing the information. "So you can't accidentally trigger them without conscious intent."
Sam nodded approvingly. "That's... actually reassuring. A kid who can blow up continents but needs to *think* about it first." He rubbed his jaw. "But what happens if you hit someone with that Divergent Fist?"
"it depends on where they get hit. If it's a knee, they lose the leg if it's the chest, they die."
Sam's hand instinctively covered his chest. "Jesus."
Natasha's face was unreadable, but something in her eyes had shifted—respect, maybe even something darker.
"And the Divergent Fist," Steve said, his voice dropping. "It explodes *inside*. Your energy flows back after the initial hit."
"Right," Sam muttered.
"So a punch to the leg destroys the entire limb," Natasha summarized, calculating the combat implications. "A punch to the chest is fatal."
Sam ran a hand over his buzzed head. "And this... Shrine technique. You said Cleave and Dismantle adjust to the target's toughness." He paused. "That means if you hit someone tough enough, Cleave just..."
"Adjusts until it cuts," Natasha finished, her voice low. "Automatically scaling lethality based on durability." She looked at Sam. "That' technically infinite cutting power. No defense holds."
Sam swallowed hard. "And Furnace."
"Ignites the battlefield after the slashes," Steve added, summarizing. "Turning conditioned targets into... well, cooked meat."
"can we get back on mission now?"
Sam exhaled sharply. "Yeah. Yeah, let's focus." He pulled out the map, pinning it to the table. "Pierce has three Helicarriers. Project Insight. The algorithm identifies threats and eliminates them from the sky."
Natasha leaned over the map. "If we destroy all three, the project dies."
Steve looked at Alan. "Can you take one?"
Sam interjected.
"Can he take one?" Sam looked at Alan. "The kid just described continent-level destruction. A Helicarrier's what, a few hundred feet?"
Natasha smirked. "Small target, relatively speaking."
Steve still looked at Alan, gauging his confidence. "If you take one, that leaves two for us. But we need to be careful—civilian casualties, collateral damage. Can you keep it contained?"
"Yes but we need to make sure Hydra is ratted out and Shield is permanently shut down."
"Agreed," Steve said firmly. "If we just destroy the Helicarriers without exposing HYDRA, Pierce will just rebuild. Another algorithm, another project."
Sam pointed at the map. "We need proof. Hard evidence tying Pierce to HYDRA. Zola mentioned decades of infiltration." He looked at Natasha. "You were S.H.I.E.L.D. for years."
"well, luckily for you I have it." he said, pulling out a flash drive from his pocket. " While we were talking to zola, I may or may have downloaded all of Hydra dirty secrets, as well as shields onto this drive, so hook it up and it'll be all over the Internet."
The room went silent. Sam stared at the flash drive like it was a live grenade.
"You... downloaded HYDRA's entire dirty laundry while talking to Zola?" Sam whispered. "How long were you in there?"
Natasha leaned forward, her eyes sharp. "That drive contains everything? Every operative, every mission, every compromised official?"
"Yes everything is on here."
"And Shield's?" Steve added softly. "Every compromised agent, every dirty operation?" Natasha looked at Alan, then at the drive. "That's... that's leverage enough to sink S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA permanently." She nodded. "But it also puts a massive target on your back."
"I can handle it. I also forgot to mention you one thing is reversed cursed technique. It basically allows me to heal myself also have superhuman strength, speed, and durability."
"Heal yourself," Sam repeated, disbelief in his voice. "You've got continent-destroying power, poison blood, a construction technique, and you can *heal*?" He rubbed his face. "Is there anything else?"
Natasha was calculating—fast. "Superhuman strength, speed, and durability," she summarized. "Basically a one-man army."
Sam threw his hands up. "I'm not even gonna ask anymore. Just... let me know if you can also fly or turn invisible."
Natasha stood up, grabbing the flash drive from Alan's hand. "I'm uploading this. Now." She plugged it into the console. "Once this hits the network, HYDRA dies. Pierce dies. S.H.I.E.L.D. burns."
"maybe we should suit up before that because I'm 100% sure they're still going through with the plan if they're revealed or not."
Steve's jaw tightened. "He's right. Pierce is paranoid enough to have contingencies." He turned to the team. "Suit up. Three targets."
Natasha tapped the console. "Data's uploading—give it three minutes to spread across every secure channel. Pierce's people will notice soon after."
Sam grabbed his wings. "Kid, you got a costume or are you fighting in street clothes?"
The team watched as Alan's construction technique materialized a dark, tactical outfit—a hood, sleeveless jacket, arm guard, gloves, and combat boots. It was both practical and intimidating. Sam whistled. "Now that's a look." Steve nodded approvingly. Natasha checked her gear. "Looks like we're all set."
The console beeped. "Upload complete," Natasha said grimly. "Now we just have to wait and see how quickly they react." She checked her watch. "Three minutes until the entire network knows HYDRA exists." Sam's wings twitched nervously. Steve was silent, assessing.
"And Alan?" Sam added suddenly.
Sam looked at Alan. "If all this goes to hell—Helicarriers in the air, civilians on the ground, Pierce throwing everything at us—you hold back nothing. No holding back the big stuff."
Natasha agreed. "Use everything you've got. That Divergent Fist, Cleave, Furnace... whatever it takes." Steve placed a hand on Alan's shoulder.
"One question though," Steve said, his voice careful. "Those slashes you mentioned. Dismantle and Cleave. Can you use them on people?"
Alan nodded. "Yes."
"And they don't distinguish between friend or foe?" Natasha asked, her tone probing.
Alan met her gaze. "I decide who gets hit."
Sam smirked.
"Decisive," Natasha murmured, approvingly. "Good."
The console chimed sharply. Natasha checked her screen, her expression hardening. "Upload's hitting the mainstream networks. Pierce will know in... three, two, one."
A notification flashed across multiple screens—a massive data breach, HYDRA uncovered.
"It's begun," Steve said quietly.