章節 85: Dealing With Hydra

His grandfather looked at him strangely, wondering why his house wasn't good enough to go to after this.

As time passed, a nurse came by with some paperwork. Not wanting to cause a fuss in case his grandfather needed help again in the next few hours, Liam signed the forms consenting to the treatment his grandfather had gotten. He also filled in a form with basic identification information.

After the four hours had passed, his grandfather was cleared to leave the hospital. As they walked out, Liam turned to him.

"Follow me," Liam said.

"Where are we going?" his grandfather asked as they turned into an alley.

"You'll see," Liam replied, smiling slightly again.

Making sure there was no one around, Liam stopped and turned to his grandfather.

"You should prepare yourself for something you've never seen before. Don't want you dying of a heart attack, after all," he teased.

"I prepared myself the moment I had to walk into these filthy alleys. Hurry up with whatever you're planning. I don't want to stay in this disgusting mess any longer," his grandfather said, clearly unused to the smells of the streets after his time on the countryside.

"Alright, then." Liam turned and began to open a portal in front of him with his sling ring.

At first, Harold couldn't see it clearly. But as the portal grew larger, sizzling orange energy forming a circle big enough for a person to pass through, Harold's face froze in shock.

"What work of the devil is this?" Harold murmured.

"Come on, follow me, Gramps," Liam said, shaking Harold from his stunned state.

"What is this?" Harold asked.

"This is a portal," Liam answered as he stepped through. "It's magic, and it will take us to your new home."

Harold, still in disbelief, took a cautious step forward. Trusting his grandson, he followed through the portal.

His surroundings instantly changed to a room completely different in style from anything Harold had ever lived in before.

After stepping through, Harold looked around in amazement, his thoughts a complete mess.

"Where are we now?" he asked.

"This is my room," Liam answered. "This is where I've spent most of my time the past few years."

Liam glanced around the room, surprised not to find Illyana there. 'Probably in Limbo, or atleast I hope she is,' he thought. 'Maybe that's for the best. Gramps needs to adjust to the idea of magic before seeing something like a dragon.'

"Let me sit down for a second," Harold said, feeling overwhelmed. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Liam nodded. After Harold sat, Liam began explaining the basics about the Sanctum and magic. He decided to hold off on the more complex and time-consuming details—he still had scores to settle, after all.

Harold struggled to digest the information. Liam could see it in his eyes, so he decided to show him instead of tell him.

"Come on," Liam said. As Harold stood, it was clear his thoughts were still a mess.

'It's going to take time. I'll get him a room here now and help him adjust after dealing with Hydra.'

As they walked, Liam introduced his grandfather to their surroundings.

When they passed the training grounds, Liam stopped to talk with the master training a group of students.

Liam turned, about to step onto the courtyard, when Harold spoke.

"Has the history I've spent my whole life learning been nothing but a lie?" Harold asked.

"No, I don't think it is," Liam replied after a moment of thought. "Magic may have influenced things behind the scenes, but for the most part, it's stayed out of human affairs."

'There's no need to tell him about Dormammu or other threats right now,' Liam thought. 'He'll learn those things gradually through books at his own pace.'

"We also have books on history here," Liam continued. "Only, this history covers far more than you can imagine."

Hearing this, Harold's face lit up slightly again.

Liam led him stay and watch the training while he went to a nearby master in the training courtyard to arrange a room for his grandfather. The master agreed and directed them to an empty room close to his.

As they walked back, Liam continued talking with his grandfather. He noticed that his grandfather seemed to be gradually recovering from the shock, with his excitement and interest becoming increasing noticeably in the way he spoke with Liam.

Once his grandfather was settled, Liam spoke at the door. "You should get some sleep, Gramps. With everything that's happened, you need rest. The time difference here might leave you feeling terrible tomorrow if you don't."

''Tomorrow I'll also tell you how I ended up here.'' Liam said.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that," Harold said. "And this time, I want to hear everything."

Liam smiled and closed the door. When he turned, the smile faded.

The more time he'd spent with his grandfather, the angrier he'd become inside.

'These Hydra people are nothing more than pests, and Fury is the rat that brought them to my grandfather. Despite all my warnings, he didn't listen. Even if it was unintentional, he deserves what's coming.'

During the meeting earlier today, Fury had given them a location they could meet up at in case they got seperated on their way over to Triskelion. Expecting them to be there, Liam opened a portal to that site, stepping out in front of a small gray building. Only it was empty.

'They're not here?'

Then another thought occurred. 'Could they have gone in ahead of time? It's been hours, after all. But they can't have left here long ago since they still had to drive over here.'

'They likely wouldn't have gotten ambushed on their way over here either. Hydra would condense their forces at the Triskelion after losing a lot of their super soldiers.' He thought. 'Then I'll deal with Hydra first.'

Liam opened another portal, stepping into a meeting room he recognized. As he entered, he summoned Incursio around him.

On the other side, agents stood ready, guns aimed at him.

The portal closed behind him. Liam counted 9 men. From these men, he got the exact same strange feeling he had gotten from the super soldiers earlier today. Only from these agents the feeling he got was a lot weaker.

The agents opened fire, and Liam no longer cared about the details. He summoned Neontote and infused it with energy, slashing outwards.

An arc of energy tore through the agents, large chunks of their bodies vanishing. The attack ripped through the rest of the floor, tearing through additional agents before dissipating outside the building.

Seconds later, an alarm went off, but Liam didn't care.

'It doesn't matter,' he thought. 'No one will leave. Not when I block the entrance with my domain.'

創作者的想法
Donnuuu

Rather difficult chapter to make, hope the way I made it was fine since we will now be getting to the fun stuff.

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章節 86: Domain

'It doesn't matter,' Liam thought. 'They won't be leaving here. Nobody will, not when I block the entrance with my domain.'

With that, Liam summoned a white rift in front of him. He started concentrating, replicating the feeling he had the last time he summoned his domain as he slowly synchronized with the dimension beyond the rift.

The terrain around him began to change. The floor beneath his feet transformed into a new material, with glass shattering everywhere and steel plates replaced by thick stones. Large portions of the walls disappeared with cracks appearing on the stones that replaced the modern building materials, while electric devices like lights and panels attached to the building vanished completely.

The transformation started on the floor he stood on, spreading gradually to lower and higher levels. As he felt large amounts of energy drain from his body, Liam realized that the limit to his energy could form a sphere around the main building. The surrounding hangars and parking areas were not something he had enough energy for.

During his fight with the Tyrant, he'd accessed a massive excess amount of energy thanks to his and Incursio's evolution. Now, however, he relied solely on the energy he could draw in.

'It doesn't matter. Most of the higher-ranking members are inside this building anyway. The lower-ranked ones won't leave without their leaders' orders,' Liam thought. 'Even if they escape now, they'll be hunted down later and eradicated.'

As the domain spread over the entire building, it spread onto the grass outside. The once-green grass withered, the trees decayed, while the soft dirt hardened into solid stone.

When his domain fully spread around the building, Liam sealed all lower-floor entrances and exits with ancient structures, leaving no way out. The only escape now required jumping from the higher floors, which meant certain death.

Liam walked to the edge of the transformed building, observing the chaos below. Several people were already falling to their deaths, their bodies smashing into the hardened ground below.

The sudden appearance of massive gaps and holes in the building had caught them off guard. The Triskelion now looked as if it were on the verge of collapse—large chunks of it missing, the entire place transformed into a ruined monument that looked like it had stood there for thousands of years.

Liam took a few steps back, his ears catching another scream as more people fell down, this time from the top floors.

With everything in place, Liam decided to begin the culling.

'Alexander goes first. I don't want him dying easily, not by suicide or a fall,' Liam thought, the image of his grandfather lying on the emergency table flashing in his mind.

The meeting room where he'd been earlier was on the thirtieth floor. Alexander's room was on the thirty-sixth.

Liam headed for the staircase, jumping over large gaps as he went up. On the next floor, three agents stood in the hallway, weapons drawn and pointed at the staircase. A lifeless body already in front of them.

Malicious intent came from the agents as they aimed Uzis and pistols at Liam. Knowing the higher floors had Hydra's high-ranking personnel, Liam wasn't surprised by their hostility. They clearly recognized him.

Liam advanced, launching himself towards the agents. He sliced through two of them simultaneously, spinning around to decapitate the third in a single movement.

The bodies collapsed to the ground as Liam approached the elevator shaft. Looking down, he saw a deep hole that went all the way to the building's ground floor. Summoning an ancient pillar beneath his feet, he used it to ascend to the higher floors.

As he passed the thirty-fourth-floor elevator exit, two familiar figures came into view: Romanoff and Barton. They navigated the floor cautiously, weapons raised, avoiding the large holes in the ground.

Deciding to approach them, Liam jumped from the pillar, landing with a soft thud.

Both Natasha and Clint spun towards the sound, weapons aimed.

"Liam," Natasha said, lowering her weapon slightly. "Do you know what the hell is going on here?"

Clint nodded warily, keeping his bow drawn and ready.

"Yes, I know exactly what's happening," Liam replied.

"I came to you both so you can send a message to Fury," he continued. "I'll take you to the top floor and let you use the device there to warn the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents."

"After that, they'll need to reach the tenth floor within ten minutes. Any agents not on that floor, I'll assume are Hydra operatives," Liam said. "You'll hold that floor against Hydra agents trying to get in, with Maria and Coulson providing communication support."

Natasha's and Clint's expressions darkened slightly as they understood what Liam's plan was. Both knew beforehand that this mission wouldn't end without sacrifices.

After a moment, they nodded in agreement.

Liam gestured for them to follow. Back at the elevator shaft, he expanded the stone plateau on top of the pillar, allowing both Natasha and Clint to step on with him.

As the stone platform ascended, both agents remained tense, looking around their changing surroundings carefully. Natasha thought of the unfinished business in her ledger, while Clint thought about his family.

Reaching the top floor, Liam stepped forward into the hallway. A familiar figure came into view on his right side: Agent Sitwell. He stood near a large hole in the floor and wall, roughly ten meters away from the elevator exit.

"It seems the entire building's been turned into… this, Secretary," Sitwell shouted, his voice panicked.

Liam gestured for Natasha and Clint to follow him as he walked towards Sitwell. The Hydra agent turned at the sound of their footsteps, his face draining of color.

"Secretary, send the soldiers outside—please!" Sitwell yelled as he stumbled back, trying to retreat into a nearby room.

Liam closed the gap in an instant, slicing through one of Sitwell's legs. The agent collapsed to the floor, blood flowing from his leg.

"Help," Sitwell whimpered, his voice breaking from the pain.

Ignoring his pleas, Liam grabbed Sitwell and hauled him into the air.

"No… please…" Sitwell begged, barely understandable because of his fear and pain.

Liam's expression remained cold as he carried Sitwell to the massive hole. The agent's pleas grew more desperate, but Liam released him without hesitation, letting him fall.

As Sitwell's screams faded, Liam turned away and approached a nearby room—the one Sitwell had tried to escape into.

He looked back at Natasha for confirmation of whether it was the correct room. When he did, she nodded.

Meanwhile, Clint stopped at the edge of the hole, looking down to make sure Sitwell was dead and hadn't managed to grab onto something.

When he looked over the edge, he saw Agent Sitwell's body. His body was impaled around twenty stories below him, a large stone spike piercing straight through his stomach.

Clint's face darkened before he turned and followed Liam and Natasha into the room.

創作者的想法
Donnuuu

Yes, it is a little bit dark in the next few chapters. Don't feel bad for any of these people however, Hydra has done many mass genocides in the comics and SHIELD in itself isn't innocent either.

Think about Ava Starr for example, where she was tricked and kept on a leash since she was 6 years old.

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