"Marcus, I can practically hear Strucker screaming from here. You've single-handedly turned a thousand Hydra troops into a confused mess," Captain America said through the comms, unable to hide the admiration in his tone. Even though neither side had actually seen Marcus in action, no one could deny that his influence on the battlefield had been decisive.
"They defeated themselves," Marcus replied coolly, his voice edged with sarcasm. "I just gave them a little… guidance."
From a high cliff, he watched as Captain America led the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers through the artillery's blind zone, rallying them toward the Hydra fortress. Seeing their determination, Marcus gave a faint nod of approval.
Beneath that same cliff, however, was a mass of Hydra soldiers — the remnants of Strucker's forces who had unknowingly gathered there because of Marcus's falsified orders. Under Strucker's latest command, they were preparing to redeploy, but his timing couldn't have been worse.
Marcus hoisted the massive BFG rifle onto his shoulder. The weapon, nearly the size of a rocket launcher, began to hum with energy. He took aim at a snow-covered section of the cliffside — a natural load-bearing ridge packed with tons of earth and ice. The gun's barrel glowed with blinding orange light before unleashing a devastating plasma beam.
The shot struck true. The supporting rock shattered instantly, unable to withstand the immense pressure above it. The overhanging snow and soil began to crumble, cascading downward in a roar that built into an unstoppable avalanche.
The Hydra soldiers below looked up in confusion at the ominous rumbling overhead. Realization dawned on them just as the mountain itself seemed to fall from the sky.
"F.U.C.K!" one of them managed to shout — the last word any of them would ever utter.
BOOM!
The avalanche hit with apocalyptic force. Tons of snow, ice, and rock tore through the forest, sweeping away trees, tanks, and soldiers alike. Even the heaviest armored vehicles were tossed around like toys, buried and crushed beneath the rushing tide of destruction.
From his perch, Marcus watched the chaos unfold, smiling faintly as he raised a hand in mock farewell to the doomed soldiers. When the roar finally subsided, all that remained of Hydra's central force was silence and ruin.
After this disaster, Hydra's once-formidable army had been reduced to Strucker's personal guard holed up in the fortress — and a handful of terrified survivors scattered in the snow.
Now, only one obstacle remained: breaching the Hydra fortress itself.
"Marcus, tell me that was your handiwork back there. Because if it was — damn. You've probably taken out more enemies than all of us combined," Captain America said, half in awe and half in disbelief. He wasn't wrong — while S.H.I.E.L.D.'s troops had been struggling to push forward, it was Marcus's actions that had turned the battle into a rout.
"You're celebrating too soon, Captain," Marcus replied quietly. "The real fight hasn't even started yet."
Hydra's rank-and-file were never his real concern. The true threats were still waiting inside the fortress — the twin experiments who hadn't yet revealed themselves: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Those two would not be easy to handle.
---
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion echoed from below. The earth trembled under Marcus's feet. Looking down toward the valley, he could see plumes of smoke and fire rising from the heart of Sokovia's city center. Buildings were collapsing one after another, the city lit by waves of flame.
Police sirens wailed in the distance as convoys of vehicles rushed toward the chaos — to no avail. Whatever was happening down there wasn't something mortals could contain.
Marcus didn't need long to guess who it was.
"Hill," Captain America barked into the comms, "what's going on in Sokovia's civilian districts?"
Hill's voice came through the channel, strained and urgent.
"Captain… it's Abomination."
"What?!" Steve's expression darkened. "Why is he there?"
---
Sokovia City, downtown
The grey-skinned monster tore through the streets like a living earthquake. In each hand, Abomination clutched a police car as if they were boxing gloves, swinging them wildly while bellowing with rage. Gunfire from the surrounding patrols pinged harmlessly off his armored hide — the bullets may as well have been raindrops.
He snarled, hurling one of the cars into a building with enough force to bring down half the structure. Then, roaring with unrestrained fury, he charged at another skyscraper, crashing straight through its foundation.
Concrete and steel buckled under his weight. Within seconds, the tower began to tilt — then collapse completely, toppling into the next building like a chain of falling dominoes. The screams of trapped civilians were drowned out by the deafening sound of destruction.
"HULK!" Abomination's roar shook the air, a sound of pure hatred that shattered windows across entire city blocks. "COME OUT AND FACE ME!"
Until the Hulk appeared, nothing could stop him.
Captain America's face hardened as he watched the disaster unfold on the feed. "At this rate, he'll level the entire city before sundown," he muttered. Then he opened a channel to Fury.
"Nick, I don't know how he got loose — but he's here, and we need to help those civilians!"
"Every operative we have is already committed to your assault," Fury shot back without hesitation. "You know we don't have the manpower to stop him. And don't forget why you're there in the first place."
"So we're just supposed to take the base first and deal with him later?!" Steve's voice rose, anger seeping through his usual calm. "By the time we're done here, there won't be anyone left to save!"
"Stay on mission, Captain!" Fury snapped.
The line went dead.
The two men represented opposing ideals — Steve, the spirit of America's conscience; Fury, the embodiment of its cold, pragmatic interest. There was never any reconciling the two.
Marcus, listening silently to the exchange, exhaled through his nose. He hadn't expected Abomination to appear so soon — his plans were slightly thrown off. Still, if the monster wanted to waste his strength rampaging through the city, so be it.
Let the so-called heroes deal with it.
Marcus was no savior, and the lives of those people weren't his concern.
He turned his gaze back toward the looming Hydra fortress, its black walls rising from the snow like a tomb.
That was where his true objective waited.
__
T/N:
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