Marvelous Mutations

Pierce was beyond furious.

At such a critical moment, right when they were on the brink of global domination, he had just received devastating news that should have been reported immediately.

His hand flew to his pistol.

With unblinking fury, he aimed it straight at the operator's head, finger on the trigger. His eyes blazed with a fire that made the room drop ten degrees.

The trembling operator didn't even dare to breathe.

Pierce was ready to blow his brains out right there. But then, just as his finger twitched, he stopped himself.

Killing the operator wouldn't solve the problem. It wouldn't bring back the two destroyed helicarriers, or regain control over the only one left.

Gritting his teeth, he slowly withdrew the pistol, his knuckles white from the grip.

His expression darkened, and veins bulged at his temples.

Only helicarrier 001 remained.

And although it had inexplicably turned on its allies, it was still in the air.

Still operational.

Still Hydra's last hope.

He forced down his rage. Every second counted now.

He turned sharply to his men.

"Rumlow!" he barked. "Find the traitor. I want names!"

Then to the rest of the stunned room: "Everyone else, get back control of that helicarrier, NOW!"

He spun to Sitwell, who had been standing uselessly behind him. "Contact the bridge! I want a status report!"

The entire control room sprang into chaos. Rumlow immediately began interrogating personnel, checking comm logs, and running scans on systems. Those who passed the checks joined the desperate efforts to hack back into the helicarrier's controls.

Sitwell fumbled with the console and opened a secure line.

Static crackled before a frightened voice came through.

"Yes, Director Pierce. This is Captain Müller aboard Helicarrier 001…"

Sitwell didn't let him finish. "Why the hell did you fire on the other two helicarriers? Are you out of your mind?!"

The voice on the other end cracked with panic. "No! I didn't give any orders to fire! The system, it's completely out of control! I can't override anything!"

Sitwell went pale.

Pierce snatched the communicator from his hand, his voice a growl. "Then find out what's going on! If something else happens, if one more thing goes wrong, I swear you'll pay with your life!"

But before the terrified captain could respond, a new voice echoed through the speaker. Calm, teasing, unbearably infuriating.

"Pierce, really? Yelling at your subordinates again? You're so loud and cruel, I can hardly stand it."

Pierce froze.

That voice didn't belong to anyone aboard the helicarrier.

And it definitely wasn't a Hydra agent.

His pulse spiked. "Who are you?"

The smug voice responded, "Forget me already? A few days ago, you sent the Winter Soldier to kill me. Just now, you sent a whole army to my store and even tried to blow me up with a missile. I guess you really don't like me."

The voice sharpened, turning icy.

"Do you think I'm that easy to bully?"

Pierce's fingers curled into fists.

Luke Yale.

He knew it before the name was even said. That irritating, unpredictable boy.

Pierce's stomach twisted as the realization set in.

Luke had hacked into the helicarrier's systems.

He was controlling it.

"You…" Pierce's voice dropped low. "What do you want?"

He tried to mask his growing fear. Around him, his subordinates were scrambling, whispering anxiously, eyes flickering between the screens and Pierce's reddening face.

He needed time.

If Luke had penetrated their system, then his team just needed a few minutes to patch the breach, retake control. So he needed to stall.

"I don't know what Nick Fury promised you," he said slowly, carefully, "but whatever it is… I can give you more. Three times. No, ten times more."

In the grocery store, Luke had the phone on loudspeaker.

He leaned casually on the counter, amused by Pierce's desperation.

Fury sat slumped across from him, shoulders sunken, head lowered, as if the weight of the world had crushed him in the last few minutes.

He wasn't angry.

He wasn't even surprised anymore.

He was just… tired.

Because he'd heard the explosions outside too.

He'd heard how Bumblebee resolved the crisis, by turning helicarrier 001 against the other two and destroying them completely.

Helicarriers.

Billions of dollars of technology and manpower.

Gone just like that.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest weapons… wiped off the map.

And the only one left?

Handed over to Luke.

Fury couldn't feel victorious. Not when the cost was so high.

Couldn't Luke have just taken control of all three?

Why destroy them?

Was he making a statement?

Or was it just because he could?

Fury sighed bitterly.

Even if Luke had helped win the day, it no longer felt like a victory.

And yet… there were no complaints.

How could he argue with the man who saved them all?

Then Pierce's voice crackled through the phone again.

His words were oily, mocking beneath the surface.

Trying to buy him off like some mercenary.

Like Luke was just another hired gun who chose the highest bidder.

Luke's eyes narrowed.

The system hadn't flagged Pierce's words as an insult, but Luke's pride had.

The implication that he could be bought…

The suggestion that he was doing this for Nick Fury's reward…

It annoyed him to no end.

His voice turned cold as steel. "Are you insulting me?"

There was a long silence on the line.

Pierce, genuinely confused, faltered. "What…?"

Click.

Luke ended the call without another word.

His jaw tightened as he turned toward the garage.

"Bee," he said, his voice flat, "blow up the building. All of it. Every single Hydra agent inside."

Fury snapped upright.

"What?!" he gasped. "Wait, what building?! You can't…"

But the look on Luke's face stopped him cold.

A second later, the earth trembled.

A series of deep, echoing explosions rolled through the night like thunder.

The sky lit up in the distance, one massive blast after another painting the clouds orange and red.

Fury's mouth hung open.

He knew exactly what building it was.

There was only one place nearby that Hydra had taken over.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

His last major asset.

Now reduced to rubble.

He sank back into the chair, stunned. Unable to speak.

Unable to stop it.

…