"Fitz, have you pinned down the locations of those seven hammers?"
Inside a SHIELD base stripped of much of its former glory, Director Phil Coulson stood before a projection table, his expression tight. Since the collapse of Project Insight, SHIELD had survived, but only just. The organization had lost the trust of most governments and a large portion of its reach. What remained was folded directly under U.S. oversight, its role narrowed to handling anomalous threats and serving as the government's uneasy bridge to the Superhuman Academy.
Not the empire it once was.
But still dangerous.
Leo Fitz brought up a holographic display, fingers moving quickly.
"Using data from SWORD's orbital sensors, I isolated the energy signatures of the seven objects," he said. "I built tracking algorithms around those fluctuations. We've confirmed their positions."
The display shifted.
"There's also an eighth hammer," Fitz added. "It matches the same signature profile but appears to have been on Earth for a long time."
Coulson leaned in. "Where?"
"Sokovia," Fitz replied. "That's where the eighth hammer was located. Four of the seven new ones landed there as well. The remaining three initially fell in Wakanda, off the coast of Spain, and in Miami. But they've all converged on Sokovia since."
Coulson's jaw tightened.
"Sokovia," he repeated. "That doesn't sound like a coincidence. Hydra territory."
Pierce was gone, but Hydra wasn't. Interrogations had confirmed it. Cells, bases, entire command structures still active across the globe. Sokovia, in particular, housed one of their largest remaining strongholds.
Eight anomalous weapons. All gathered there.
"I'm leading a team," Coulson said decisively. "We need eyes on this."
He turned to an agent. "Notify May. Wheels up in thirty—"
The door burst open.
"Director! Emergency!"
An agent rushed in, pale and breathless.
"Sokovia… the entire city just lifted off the ground. It's airborne and heading straight for Washington."
Silence slammed into the room.
"…Fitz," Coulson said slowly, "get me satellite visuals. Now."
Within seconds, the wall filled with live footage.
Sokovia.
Flying.
At its forefront stood a towering, ancient figure gripping a staff, flanked by eight colossal figures wielding massive hammers. Behind them stretched ranks of Hydra soldiers and war machines.
Coulson swore under his breath.
"Notify the Secretary of Defense. Missile interception, full authorization," he snapped. "And get me Rowan Mercer. Immediately."
High above the clouds, Kull sensed the incoming storm.
Missiles streaked toward the airborne city in dense waves, contrails cutting the sky.
He didn't move.
Instead, he turned slightly and gestured behind him.
"Primitive weapons," he said disdainfully. "Worse than the arms of the Dark Elves. Killian. Handle it."
A man in a tailored suit stepped forward, his hammer glowing crimson.
"My honor, great Lord of Fear."
Flames erupted across his body as he hurled the hammer skyward. It split into arcs of fire, circling once before detonating the incoming missiles midair. Explosions blossomed harmlessly in the distance.
Aldrich Killian smiled.
A week ago, this power would have been unimaginable. Now it was his birthright. The hammer had remade him. No longer human. No longer limited.
Only devoted.
Kull felt the surge of terror ripple upward from below. Another harvest.
"Good," he murmured. "Let us hasten this."
Sokovia accelerated.
By the time the second wave of missiles launched, the city was already there.
Above Washington.
Inside the White House, alarms screamed as officials scrambled. The President. The Vice President. Cabinet members. Military command.
They never had time.
Kull struck his staff against the ground.
The city fell.
The impact obliterated the White House and everything around it. The seat of American power vanished beneath crushing stone and steel. Government leadership was erased in an instant.
Fear exploded across the capital.
Kull inhaled deeply.
Strength flooded him.
"My children," he said, voice echoing across the ruined city, "go. Spread fear. Let this world learn despair."
The Hammer-Bearers surged forward, Hydra forces following, clashing with the first wave of responding troops. Destruction tore through Washington as fires rose and screams filled the air.
And the world watched.
News helicopters hovered at a distance, cameras rolling. Broadcasters streamed the devastation live, uncensored, unable to look away.
Kull allowed it.
The more eyes that saw, the more fear he could claim.
This was only the beginning.