The Cosmic Cube can be used like that? Tony was floored. The artifact had shone during World War II, wielded by Red Skull's crew to craft powerful weapons, only recently unearthed alongside Captain America.
"The Cube can create living people?" Tony asked.
"Always could. It's one way to tap its power. We all underestimated it, including Red Skull, who merely used its energy for high-tech weapons, never unlocking its true potential." Fury said, gazing at the battered synthetic Steve, his expression unchanging, only a serene smile, as if embodying all the world's virtue. He sighed.
"This Captain, devoid of human flaws, is a construct of our imagination, a justice machine. I overestimated his combat ability and underestimated the enemy. I didn't expect him to be crushed so badly, losing even his shield." Fury admitted. The shield had been taken from the real Steve.
"Where's the real Captain?" Tony pressed.
"In a lab with the Cube. You didn't think I'd kill the real Steve to make a copy, did you?"
"Others wouldn't, but with you, who knows?" Banner interjected, openly mocking.
Fury's face stayed neutral. "I thought opening S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret projects to you would build trust, Banner. Still no faith in me?"
"You think I should trust you? The more I know, the more I see what you hide! If these enemies weren't beyond your handling, each tougher than the last, you'd never have shared that tech with me and Stark!" Banner sneered.
"But neither of us has a choice. We can't let Earth, our only home, rot in endless wars, destroyed by some unknown horror." Fury said, pointing at the screen. Adam's forces were wrapping up, figures chasing Ikaris, cornering the last Eternal like a lion pride toying with prey on the African savanna.
"This shows Adam's gotten stronger. What else? Ha, you're still hung up on his Xenomorphs, aren't you? You want to be Adam, S.H.I.E.L.D. in one hand, Xenomorphs in the other, boosting their power to surpass him. That's your goal, right? Protect Earth that way? I don't see how you're better than him. At least he's a leader and warrior. You? A scheming spy." Banner said coldly.
"Partially true, but not entirely. What Adam can do, I can. What he can't, I can too. I'm responsible for the world, not him, so he gets to run wild." Fury countered.
"Yet that wild man's protecting our planet." Tony shot back, scanning the synthetic Steve.
"You call his war with Atlantis protection? Expanding Xenomorph numbers like he's prepping for World War III, turning Earth into a Xenomorph planet, that's protection? I'd buy he's protecting Xenomorphs, but humans? No way. If someone points a gun at your head, claiming they're protecting you, what do you think?" Fury said gravely.
Tony and Banner fell silent. They couldn't fathom why Adam had turned so aggressive, recklessly scaling up his Xenomorphs, sparking war with Atlantis. Asking Adam yielded no answers, perhaps he deemed outsiders' queries beneath him. Even this devastating New York battle was a byproduct of the Atlantis conflict.
They had reason to suspect Ikaris and the other likely Eternal were Atlantis' hired guns.
"But the Sorcerer Supreme hasn't moved against him. Her duty is guarding Earth. Her inaction suggests Adam's not destroying it. I bet a tough enemy's coming, one even Adam's prepping for." Banner mused after a moment.
"You're right, it's possible. He likely coordinated with the Ancient One, hence his global expansion. But remember, she oversees the mystic realm, I handle the mundane. The same event looks different from each perspective." Fury said.
The talk ended sourly. Banner felt he and Fury could never align. "Your bias is too strong. You always approach him with hostility, I can tell." Tony said as they walked the Helicarrier's corridors.
"Shouldn't I be hostile? If I weren't worried about Hulk bursting out, I'd punch him! Normally, I'd be hiding in South America or India, ignoring the world." Banner griped.
Tony shrugged. "Before, I'd buy that. Not now. Wherever you hide, Xenomorphs will find you. You'd end up surrounded, shipped to Adam, and turned into a Xenomorph incubator. I bet he's got a way to briefly suppress your gamma radiation for a successful parasite."
Banner stayed quiet, Tony was right.
"Forget Fury and Cap. Let's finish our project. I've got a feeling something big's coming, though I can't pin it down." Tony said. They dove back into their work, racing to restore that weapon.
…
Ikaris, battered and dirt-streaked, stood before Adam, his once-confident face now etched with defeat.
"Been a while, Ikaris. When you fought my Xenomorphs, you didn't foresee this day." Adam said, eyeing the Eternal he'd once met. No mockery, given Ikaris' caliber, it wasn't worth it. His tone was calm.
"Want my last words?" Ikaris said, his lips twisting into a grim expression.
Sunspot socked him in the face. "Punk, don't talk to my boss like that!"
"I'm about to die. You expect me to grovel?"
"Idiot, what if you don't die? What if you're just parasitized, not chestbursted?" Sunspot snapped.
Ikaris shook his head slowly. "Impossible, rookie. You don't understand your boss at all. I can't become like you, not because of my will, but Adam's. Our abilities are too similar. From another angle, he doesn't need duplicates of the same person. But identical Xenomorphs? No issue there. My fate, and Hyperion's, was sealed the moment we lost."
Ikaris maintained his composure until Druid arrived.
Druid gazed at Ikaris, the two comrades who'd fought side by side for millennia now locked in a silent stare.
"Any last words for an old friend?" Adam asked, his tone almost human.
Ikaris met Adam's eyes deeply. "Perhaps my best chance to kill you was at Broadway. If I'd fought to the end, bypassed that brute Xenomorph, and gone straight for you, I might've had a shot."
"You're right." Adam replied. "To kill me, you'd need to strike earlier in the timeline. The longer you delay, the stronger I become compared to before. But you've no chance now. Not only that, you'll join my ranks, fighting for me until your final breath."
A stir in Adam's mind prompted a Xenomorph to scuttle forward, clutching an ovomorph.
"You won't be alone, my friend." Druid said, devoid of grief for his comrade's impending demise, instead evangelizing with fervor. "You'll soon embrace the truth, witnessing the universe's greatest miracle…"
Ikaris remained expressionless, knowing conversation with Druid was futile.
Adam watched, struck by an eerie harmony.
In a parallel universe, a zealous Druid summoned a Celestial to judge humanity, only for Captain America to be deemed spiritually unworthy.
In this universe, Druid walked a similar path, fanatically upholding Adam's honor, relentlessly recruiting all manner of beings to his cause.
The group acted in unison, obliterating Ikaris's body, every bone, muscle, and tendon ruined, ensuring no resistance could thwart the facehugger or kill it mid-infection.
A Xenomorph's most vulnerable moment is when the facehugger merges its genetic material with the host.
Survive that fragility, and the chestburster inherits the host's traits, gaining their abilities and rapidly growing stronger.
Now, with Druid's mental domination, Ikaris was swiftly chestbursted. A Superman Xenomorph stood before them, set to mature in mere hours.
This was the first true Superman Xenomorph, but not the last.
"Next, you, mighty Hyperion." Adam said, eyeing the feeding Superman Xenomorph before dragging the half-dead Hyperion forward. "Ikaris's fate is yours."
Ikaris was merely a prelude. His strength was notable, but against Hyperion, he'd likely fall in ten moves.
"Heh heh, so this is a Xenomorph?" Hyperion rasped, his body a pulped heap, his face still defiantly untamed. "You used these to take down Ajak and the Eternals? They didn't lose unfairly. Looks like I'm next."
As the strongest Eternal, trusted even by Arishem, Hyperion had seen the grandeur of Celestials and conquered countless civilizations across planets. His pride was hard-earned.
He'd never lost so utterly, defeated by a near-identical foe, targeted and crippled without sunlight.
"Maybe I should've taken the fight to space." Hyperion said, his gaze shifting to Reynolds. "Then I'd have killed Sentry, not the other way around. But reality has no 'what-ifs.' Don't get cocky, bastard. You're just a lapdog. At least my master was a Celestial, while yours is a lowly native from a backwater planet."
Reynolds strode forward, crushing Hyperion's lower jaw and facial bones to powder with a single grip.
"Now you can't spew nonsense or beg." Reynolds snarled. "I won't give you a chance to grovel to Adam. I need loyal, brave soldiers, not a troublemaking wretch."
Eternals? Every last one would become Xenomorphs. Even their master, Arishem, a Celestial, couldn't sway the Xenomorphs' loyalty to Adam.
Hyperion wouldn't get the chance to surrender, even if he wanted to.
Soon, two Superman Xenomorphs stood before Adam, their bodies maturing rapidly, Superman's powers manifesting one by one.
"Excellent." Adam praised. "These two Superman Xenomorphs join your Superman unit. You and Costa must lead them well. Your team is arguably our strongest."
He'd seen countless Xenomorphs burst from hosts, but these two were sublime, beauty incarnate.
Sunspot had ideas. With two new recruits, he considered claiming Hyperion Xenomorph for himself, leaving Ikaris Xenomorph to Reynolds.
But Reynolds, anticipating this, swiftly claimed Hyperion Xenomorph, shooting Sunspot a knowing glance. Sunspot grimaced, he coveted Hyperion Xenomorph, a fully realized Hyperion, utterly obedient, likely surpassing the original.
He'd have to settle for leading Ikaris Xenomorph.
Still, everyone could see Sunspot's grin, wide and uncontainable.
Ikaris Xenomorph was far from weak. Chestbursters inherited the finest genetic traits of their hosts, surpassing their potential. Leading such a formidable Xenomorph from the outset, Sunspot had no complaints.
He was itching to return to Brazil and flaunt his success to his father, whose business teetered on collapse under Hammer Industries' pressure.
"I salvaged fragments of Captain America's shield." Foster announced, soaring back. "With some repairs, it could be decent gear."
She hadn't joined this battle, a regret, as she yearned to spar with the Superman unit. Pairing with Scorch, she figured they could challenge Reynolds and Hyperion Xenomorph, though defeat was likely.
"Do as you like." Adam said, uninterested in the shield.
Forged from proto-Adamantium, a unique metal and the universe's strongest for defense, the shield also incorporated Vibranium, courtesy of Howard Stark, granting energy-absorption properties.
But it was one-of-a-kind, unsuitable for mass arming.
This battle skyrocketed Adam's forces. Were he to wage war on Jotunheim now, he'd need no Asgardian aid, just his Xenomorphs could secure an easy victory.
Facing Laufey wouldn't require the effort of old, nor his personal involvement. A few lieutenants could topple the frost giant king, perhaps with a twist or two, taking a bit longer.
"Time to focus on the oceans." Adam said with a smile. "Those aquatic pests sent me such a grand gift. We must respond."
Laughter erupted, especially from the two newly chestbursted Superman Xenomorphs, their screeches piercingly sharp.
They weren't saints repaying evil with kindness. Their creed was to crush enemies by any means, restraint shown only in not returning malice with mercy.
"It's over. Utterly over." Attuma raged, a trace of incredulous despair in his voice. "Those two Eternals were useless, especially Hyperion, strutting in as the 'mightiest Eternal,' fooling me into thinking he was a cosmic powerhouse. Now he's Adam's, bolstering his forces for nothing!"
The sea warlord knew Atlantis alone couldn't withstand Adam. Not against top-tier Xenomorph heroes, nor even the relentless Xenomorph hordes over time. Hence, he'd sought external aid.
But this outcome? His allies turned into the enemy's assets.
As Attuma feared, Xenomorphs worldwide rioted simultaneously, surging into the oceans like a tidal wave, ravaging all in their path. Atlanteans bore the brunt.
Those who died honorably in battle were the lucky ones. Most were maimed, captured, and hauled away, their fate clear. Soon, Xenomorphs bursting from their chests joined the fray, turning on their kin.
Oceanic cities crumbled, countless Atlanteans subjected to merciless cruelty.
Xenomorphs knew no pity, only the absolute execution of Adam's will.
Wretched howls formed a haunting symphony, collapsing civilizations a vivid tapestry of history.
Atlanteans wouldn't be alone, their lives transmuted into another form, etched as part of Earth's grand chronicle.
No one aided Atlantis. Onlookers watched coldly. A few superheroes felt pity but were swiftly detected and swarmed by Xenomorphs upon acting, forcing them to weigh the consequences.
At last, the 20,000-year-old Atlantean kingdom faced its end.
Attuma, the sea warlord, led his forces in a desperate stand, only to gaze hopelessly at two towering Xenomorphs before him.
"You're Hyperion and Ikaris, aren't you?" He roared, unhinged. "My end, at the hands of the very allies I summoned!"
How could he accept this? He was Attuma, the renowned sea warlord!
But the Xenomorphs ignored his ravings.
The two Superman Xenomorphs flanked him, striking with lightning speed.
Despite Attuma's formidable strength, high-tech gear, and rudimentary magic, he buckled under their assault, subdued without even a chance to end his own life.
Attuma wouldn't be alone. He'd soon join the Xenomorph ranks, his body a tribute to Adam, surrendering soul and flesh.
Atlantis would fall entirely, every clansman joining Attuma, none would escape.
---
Hi guys! If you're into Marvel stories and want a different from the usual stuff and aren't full of clichés, feel free to give this new Marvel story a try:
[A Survival Guide to the Marvel Universe]
Synopsis:
Marvel.
A cursed superhero world that even the craziest person alive wouldn't want to visit.
How could they? There's basically an apocalypse every Tuesday.
Only the craziest of the crazy would choose to stay in a place like this.
And Ludwig isn't one of them.
The only way for him to return to his original world is to die.
In this cursed world, dying should be the easiest thing to do.
But there's just one problem standing in his way...
Why the hell do these idiots keep stopping him from dying?!
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