"Who is our enemy?" T'Challa asked, his tone grave. "If even Kamar-Taj sanctions your actions, it means the threat isn't just aimed at Adam, it's likely targeting Earth itself, with overwhelming numbers."
"I don't know how much you know about Wakanda." He continued, "but we're not the backward agricultural nation some so-called insiders claim. We've warred with Atlantis for years, relying on advanced technology. If the world faces a crisis, Wakanda is eager to contribute. If possible, we'd gladly fight under Adam's banner."
Wakanda's existence was no secret to certain elites, who even knew of its vast Vibranium reserves, why else would the Red Skull have invaded during World War II?
Gloria offered a faint smile. "Prince T'Challa, there's no need to rush to profess goodwill. We never strike those who read the times wisely. Enemies and others are treated differently."
What a dreadful line, T'Challa thought. Most Atlanteans were innocent, yet you wiped them out… or rather, not quite. They were transformed into Xenomorphs, their bloodlines and genes preserved in that form. He kept these thoughts silent.
He couldn't challenge or question her. As a prince, his role was to nod in understanding, leaving no room for defiance.
"As for who our enemy is." Gloria said, "I can share some details, but it's not for public ears yet. Kamar-Taj is prepared, and we're planning to rally allies. When the war begins, more forces will join, including Wakanda's aid, which would be most welcome."
Gloria led T'Challa to a meeting room. Along the way, curious glances followed, speculating about the prince's identity to warrant her reception.
"Never seen him before." One whispered. "He's physically robust, always scanning every detail, clearly battle-hardened. Maybe another hero or criminal recruit."
"No record of him in my memory." Another murmured.
Whispers abounded. Adam's rising infamy and unimaginable feats, culminating in global shock, made every move of his and his subordinates a subject of intense scrutiny, dissected for hidden meaning.
The notion that there was no deeper intent? Impossible. If Adam were a brainless brute rather than a calculated strategist, how could he wield such power and status? Every step was surely planned three moves ahead, each action interlinked.
Whatever Adam did, it was a critical clue, a foreshadowing to be heeded.
"Symbiotes? Our enemy is those things?" T'Challa asked, swiping through a virtual screen, puzzled by the less-than-cutting-edge tech. "But if it's just symbiotes, didn't you already capture that dragon? You even used symbiotes to create new Xenomorphs."
"Heh, ignorant fool." A low, mocking laugh came from one of the room's occupants.
T'Challa didn't bristle, merely gazing calmly at the speaker.
"Carl Burbank joined before you, but I prefer 'Preacher,'" The muscular, battle-hardened man said, a cruel smile curling his lips as he sized up T'Challa. "I've never seen you. Your shallow knowledge betrays your mediocrity. But join the Xenomorphs, and you'll glimpse the world's truth, realizing how laughable your past understanding was."
T'Challa turned to the ever-courteous Gloria. "Is this how you recruit? One tempts gently, another provokes?"
"Not at all." Gloria replied. "Lower the bar, and countless would beg to join, no need for crude tactics. Burbank, you're eager to bolster your cult squad, but you're too hasty. Learn from Flash Thompson, he's far more composed."
Burbank roared with hearty laughter. "Lady, you haven't forgotten my calling. I'm a premier preacher, here to spread the gospel. Pulling talent into our ranks is the finest way to do it, especially guiding lost lambs like this newcomer, brimming with confusion."
T'Challa glanced at Gloria, puzzled by the others' presence in the meeting room.
"Like you, they seek detailed intelligence." She explained. "It'll go public soon anyway. Their other goal is to recruit capable fighters or brilliant minds, scientists, strategists, for their unsanctioned teams, still awaiting Adam's official approval."
Reynolds's Superman unit, just four strong, wielded terrifying power, sparking fervent devotion and fantasies of "I'm a Xenomorph, so I can do it too."
Rumor had it Jane Foster was rallying Scorch, that M16-toting lunatic, and eyeing Laufey Xenomorph to form a divine squad.
If successful, it would be the largest unit, drawing from Jotunheim's giant clans.
Gloria turned to T'Challa. "We're bracing for a symbiote invasion. In numbers, perhaps tens of millions will assault Earth, likely more, never less."
The figure stunned the room. Except for T'Challa, the others quickly relaxed, pivoting to discuss how many symbiote-Xenomorph hybrids or symbiote-enhanced Xenomorphs they could gain.
As recent recruits, they'd joined the Atlantean genocide, their chestburster embryos granting prolonged underwater breath-holding, enabling them to slaughter Atlanteans in the seas.
Now was their chance to shine, though they risked death, torn apart by symbiote hordes. But in a numbers game, the Xenomorphs were preparing too, no wonder Adam ordered expansion.
T'Challa finally grasped Adam's motives and Kamar-Taj's inaction.
"No wonder." He said. "To counter these things, a vast Xenomorph army is the best way to protect Earth. That's why Kamar-Taj didn't intervene."
It clicked. He wanted to rush back to Wakanda, mobilize the military, and forge countless Vibranium shields to repel any symbiote swarm. Warriors and citizens could hunker behind the barriers, watching symbiotes cling to them like moths to a flame.
With symbiotes in such numbers, no corner of the world, not even Wakanda, would be spared.
"I wish to meet Adam." T'Challa requested.
"You don't meet the standard." Gloria said.
T'Challa wasn't disheartened. From anyone else, such words might have sparked his youthful ire, but from Adam's camp, they felt inevitable.
"I genuinely believe now that your actions are about preserving world peace." T'Challa said. "The Atlanteans' deaths… they were so… meaningless." A pang of pity struck him for his longtime foes.
It was clear now: Adam hadn't initially targeted Atlantis. He'd merely sought to expand his forces via the oceans. Atlantis's attempt to curb the Xenomorphs' growth triggered their annihilation.
A tragic miscalculation.
More chilling to T'Challa was Adam's utter lack of explanation regarding Atlantis. They were simply an obstacle, flattened without hesitation. Countless deaths could've been avoided, yet Adam chose otherwise.
This was the relentless churn of a juggernaut, crushing all impediments, transforming them into Xenomorphs, a perverse form of rebirth.
---
Loki arrived later than anticipated.
He lacked the Bifrost's convenience, unable to ferry vast legions effortlessly.
Knull, no longer facing the existential threat from his last Earth encounter, refused to brute-force a spatial tunnel as before.
Loki had to lead an endless swarm of symbiotes through the cosmos, navigating ubiquitous cosmic wormholes for spatial jumps.
This demanded far more time.
"I think I see why your creations betrayed you." Loki quipped. "As their creator, you failed to provide clear guidance, treating them merely as tools."
The God of Symbiotes didn't respond. The symbiotes, re-enslaved by Knull, were near-mindless machines.
Knull ignored Loki, focused on infiltrating Klyntar, seizing more symbiote collectives to reclaim his power.
"Pass this wormhole, and we'll reach the Sol System." Loki mused. "Father and Thor will know I've returned. I wonder what they'll think of me now."
He fell silent. This path wasn't his choice, circumstance forced his hand. He took a deep breath.
Being targeted by an evil deity like Knull, even just his soul's consciousness, was beyond Loki's resistance.
Yet this didn't stop Loki from half-hearted service. Given the chance, he'd gladly sabotage Knull's plans.
He wondered if Earth, more precisely, Adam, could handle his "gift."
Knull's primary target was Adam, who'd wrested control of some symbiotes, an unforgivable theft and affront to the symbiote god.
When the first symbiote wave reached the Sol System, it was immediately detected.
"They're here." A voice confirmed. "Such a massive primal life signature, it can only be symbiotes."
"No fear of their arrival, only of not knowing when." Another said. "Our mages are stationed at sanctums worldwide."
Kamar-Taj reacted first, swiftly notifying Adam.
Wong remarked, "I've never fought in a battle like this, a true planetary war. Even most Skrull-Kree conflicts pale in comparison. After this, our existence will be fully exposed to the mortal world."
"It was inevitable." Mordo replied, his face taut. "The internet's buzzing with mage hunters, and Himalayan pilgrimages have spiked. Our kind aren't secret, just not widely seen."
Facing an unknown, vast symbiote horde, Kamar-Taj would struggle immensely without the Ancient One. They'd be overwhelmed, consumed entirely.
"This is a war for Earth's fate, with Adam's legion as the vanguard?" Wong asked.
"Exactly." Mordo said. "Numbers against numbers. Even if we repel the enemy openly, scattered symbiotes across Earth would exhaust us, posing a grave threat."
Adam, informed by Kamar-Taj, was primed and ready.
"They're here, Loki." He murmured. "Don't disappoint me. Leading an army for Knull to attack Earth? I don't care. But if your symbiotes are too few, if they bore me after all this mobilization, I won't let you off."
A deep anticipation gleamed in Adam's eyes.
This promised to be a spectacular, sprawling war.
The last legion-scale conflict was the recent Atlantean annihilation, lackluster in challenge. Before that, the thrilling assault on Jotunheim with Asgardians, a rollercoaster etched in memory.
Yet Jotunheim's conquest, including Xenomorph casualties, involved a mere hundred thousand troops.
This time was different. A single local battlefield could field that number.
Globally? Millions of troops would barely make a splash.
Adam had no intention of relying solely on his Xenomorphs to charge, letting other powerful factions reap the benefits.
Warlike and aggressive, he wasn't a foolhardy altruist shouldering the burden alone.
The Xenomorph master began rallying allies, contacting every capable force, demanding they deploy troops to aid him.
"Such a grand event can't tolerate your absence." Adam declared. "This war will reveal who becomes a friend and who's destined as an enemy, a worthy distinction."
War wasn't just bloodshed; it involved diplomacy. Those blind to it could be dealt with post-victory, leaving only the diplomatically savvy.
Adam was prepared.
Loki's symbiote horde, a cosmic river, reached Earth's outer orbit.
The teeming symbiotes surged like a current in space, stripped of self-awareness, reprogrammed by Knull into frenzied malice. They awaited Loki's command to assault the azure planet below.
They sensed countless lives, especially sentient ones.
"Attack." Loki said, a sly smile curling his lips. "Isn't our purpose to seize every living thing on this world?"
Encased in symbiotes, shielded from the cosmic vacuum, Loki monitored the collective's movements. He watched countless symbiotes race to descend upon Earth.
Some on the swarm's fringes, rushing too eagerly, incinerated in atmospheric friction, perishing in flames. A trivial loss, thousands dead among millions meant nothing.
The first symbiotes to land targeted New York, aiming for Adam, Knull's orders, and Loki's own desire.
"Hahaha, it's been a while, Midgard's Adam." Loki taunted. "Let's see if my army's got you trembling."
Using symbiotes as his eyes, he glanced at the Weyland Tower.
He saw Adam looking up, gazing at the symbiote swarm, as if locking eyes with Loki across space.
Loki saw Adam smile.
A smile of profound satisfaction and disdainful superiority.
That grin shattered Loki's composure.
"Fine." Loki seethed. "Not cowering is one thing, but laughing out loud? Well played, Adam. Well played."
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