Regret is a universal emotion, but for those without the power to alter time or warp reality, it's the most useless of feelings.
When Nick Fury's corpse fell, devoured by swarming Xenomorphs, it was over.
No one found the outcome shocking. If anything, Adam doing nothing would've been the real surprise, prompting suspicions of a grander scheme.
That would herald a future far worse than a symbiote-ravaged Earth.
"Nick's dead. Pity. But lasting this long was impressive. If I were Adam, I'd have struck sooner, faster." Alexander Pierce said, staring at a screen as Fury's vitals flatlined, his face expressionless.
As a Hydra operative and former S.H.I.E.L.D. director, Pierce held no fondness for Fury, only exploiting their connection.
"Such a shame, Nick. You were this close to uncovering Hydra… or maybe you did? Too bad you'll never get to act on it. I'd hoped to kill you myself." Pierce said with a tinge of regret, swiftly dialing a number.
Don't misunderstand, he wasn't stepping up to seek justice for Fury. A glance at the digital world map, dotted with countless red blips, showed the staggering number of Xenomorphs. Even Hydra couldn't eradicate them.
As for targeting Adam? Forget it. Beyond his personal might, Adam's eerie control abilities, displayed in multiple battles, gave Pierce pause.
Even if they killed Adam, could they eliminate his vast Xenomorph horde? Laughable. It'd only plunge global order into chaos. If humans were parasitized en masse, chestbursted, leading to humanity's extinction, what would Hydra rule over? A barren world?
"This Earth hasn't become a Xenomorph planet. That's the best outcome." Pierce said into the phone.
"Best for Earth, not us. I've tried magic to tackle Adam, altering his cognition, but then I think of that Eternal, Druid, and realize the challenge. I might end up brainwashed, becoming another Druid." The voice replied.
"Then your plan is…?"
"The Cosmic Cube. It's been emitting strange energy pulses across the universe. That could be a dangerous signal, alerting cosmic heavyweights to its location on Earth. But if we play it right, we could recruit cosmic allies. No one wants to face Adam blind over the Cube, but partnering with us Earthlings changes the game."
"What? That's nothing like our original plan!" Pierce was floored. The idea of more threats like symbiotes flocking to Earth made his skin crawl.
"We're out of options. How else do we handle this many Xenomorphs? Nuke the planet, trigger a nuclear winter? That'd only kill basic Xenomorphs, mid-tier and above are barely fazed. And Adam can expand his horde anytime."
The gap between low-tier and high-tier Xenomorphs was staggering, a near-evolutionary divide. It wasn't a flaw per se, but Pierce wondered if Adam had a solution.
He ended the call abruptly. He'd always feared the venomous Madame Hydra, but her madness exceeded his expectations.
Faced with two terrible choices, she'd picked the seemingly worse one?
Pierce gazed out at Xenomorphs hunting scattered symbiotes, falling silent.
In a planetary war, Fury's death was trivial, a fleeting ripple in a tidal wave, quickly subsumed.
Across Earth and distant star systems, those watching this war had eyes for one figure alone.
This man, once again, faced a cataclysmic event and ended it himself.
"Hm. Fury's dead? That pesky flea, finally tracked and squashed. Next, I'll dismantle his secret bases worldwide, ensuring no clones or resurrection tricks." Adam said.
He issued a global order to his Xenomorphs, tasking them with hunting and searching hidden outposts.
Compared to this minor episode, Adam's gaze pierced the infinite cosmic void.
Perhaps an illusion, but he felt occasional, cryptic stares from the universe's depths.
The Celestials, maybe? Their feud with Knull was legendary, so tracking him was natural. Likewise, they had a score to settle with Adam.
Arishem's Eternals and Deviants sent to Earth were all wiped out by Adam, including Hyperion, a Skyfather Level Eternal with untapped potential, poised to grow stronger.
"Whoever it is, gods, demon, whatever, none will walk away unscathed if they cross me. My bite needs to be sharp, or I won't chew through these increasingly tough foes." Adam said.
He gazed deeply at the star-strewn cosmic darkness, genuinely finding its beauty breathtaking.
Such a magnificent universe, failing to shape it into a Xenomorph cosmos would be a tragic waste.
Adam glanced at Earth below. Not quite a Xenomorph Earth yet, but close enough. At the very least, he'd spared them a symbiote Earth. Demanding restless souls offer their flesh to sustain his Xenomorphs was a fair trade.
…
"The battle's outcome is clear. The Klyntar expeditionary force was utterly defeated. We've confirmed reports: Hyperion indeed perished on a place called Earth. That remote little planet harbors unimaginable power." General Corvus Glaive said, shouldering his scythe-like weapon, or perhaps his true form, as he approached a purple-skinned Eternal descendant.
Corvus Glaive shot a dangerous glance at the figure, then bowed respectfully.
Thanos, fully aware of his top enforcer's, and the Black Order's second-in-command's, scheming nature, knew the Black Order's members were all potential traitors. Their loyalty held only because of his overwhelming strength. A single defeat, injury, or moment of wavering resolve, and they'd seize the chance to betray him without hesitation.
But Thanos was confident he'd remain invincible, leaving no openings for opportunists.
"Hyperion… He may not be dead. Genetically, he's merely transformed into another lifeform. Fascinating. No wonder the universe is abuzz with talk of Xenomorphs. To think even someone like Hyperion could be parasitized… Though, normally, without Adam defeating him first, Hyperion would've crushed any foreign entity with his muscles the moment it entered." Thanos mused.
He knew Hyperion well. As fellow Eternal descendants, they were infamous across the cosmos.
Thanos, the cosmic butcher, earned his title slaughtering planets. Hyperion, Arishem's loyal enforcer, handled the dirtiest tasks.
"Claiming to be the mightiest Eternal, only to die before me, his honed body now the enemy's trophy." Thanos said, finding the irony bitter. Hyperion, undefeated against countless foes, fell on Earth. One misstep, and he became the enemy's asset.
"We've also detected pulse signals from the Cosmic Cube, confirming it's on Earth." Corvus Glaive added. A cold-blooded killer, he rarely hesitated, but now unease flickered across his face.
Against any other planet, he'd have led the Black Order to slaughter all obstacles. But Earth…
Over the past two years, the planet's news had been relentless, each revelation more shocking. The string of paradigm-shifting events on such a backwater world made many suspect rumors.
"Xenomorphs have appeared across the universe lately. Our investigation points to a mage named Kraglin. He studied magic at Earth's Kamar-Taj, no secret there, and, under Adam's orders, periodically deploys Xenomorphs across the cosmos." Ebony Maw said, fingers clasped, speaking with refined grace.
Anyone facing the Xenomorphs' cosmic spread would despair. How do you fight them?
Astonishing reproduction rates, staggering growth potential, robust adaptability, scattered across countless worlds.
They were a thriving clan, branching out universally, making targeted strikes by the Black Order nearly impossible.
Handling one Xenomorph splinter was feasible, but an entire race? Even the Black Order's Chitauri, famed for vast numbers and ferocity, only held a technological edge.
At least Chitauri could don gear for prolonged vacuum combat.
In the main universe, their sheer numbers once wore down Captain Marvel, Hyperion, and Alpha Flight's team, exhausting them in Earth's orbit.
Thanos remained stoic, as if unburdened, but he knew without the Mind Stone, he was no match for Adam.
A single Hyperion Xenomorph was headache enough.
And Adam, commanding multiple such beings, had more than one.
How strong was Adam himself?
Their intel was lacking, with no concrete cases of Adam personally fighting.
In every galaxy-shaking battle, Adam dispatched subordinates, yet vague reports suggested their actions reflected Adam's will. Terrifyingly, this implied every Xenomorph was his vessel.
Outlandish, yet logical, especially with Knull, the symbiote god, as a precedent.
It reminded Thanos of notoriously intractable races like the Annihilation Wave or the Matrix, each ruled by a supreme, absolutely authoritative core.
"I'll need more Infinity Stones, becoming a being rivaling or surpassing a single universe, to confidently tackle Earth's threat and seize the Cosmic Cube and another Stone." Thanos concluded.
Earth wasn't just Adam and his Xenomorphs, it housed troublemakers like the Ancient One and Odin.
Thanos dismissed claims of being the mightiest Eternal.
Not just him, others had noted Adam's name, etching it in their minds, aware of the Xenomorphs' rapid cosmic spread.
Kraglin was relentless, routinely using magic to scatter Xenomorph batches, likely losing track of which planets he'd seeded.
No matter.
"Another batch of Facehuggers spawned? Someone's in for a bad day. Hope the Knowhere crowd doesn't do something stupid, like babbling about capturing Xenomorphs for profit." Kraglin muttered. Whatever happened, he couldn't control it.
He'd heard Knowhere's master, the Collector, one of the universe's eldest Celestials, had publicly shown interest in Xenomorphs. Perhaps someone had already captured one for his collection.
Bounty hunters, living on the edge, knew the Collector's generosity.
Kraglin glanced anxiously toward the Collector's museum, dreading a Xenomorph outbreak in Knowhere.
He'd learned every Xenomorph was a potential conduit for Adam's mind, relaying all experiences.
If the Collector had done this, hadn't he exposed himself to Adam's scrutiny?
Out of Kraglin's sight, the Collector marveled.
"Beautiful, simply beautiful. Is this a Xenomorph? It's as if the aesthetics of slaughter are etched into its bones. To think a place like Earth birthed such a exquisite creature."
The Collector's eyes gleamed with delight.
Didn't he know Xenomorphs were dangerous? Or how formidable Adam was?
He knew, crystal clear. But knowledge aside, as the Collector, suppressing his acquisitive urges would be unnatural.
His obsessive collecting of rare treasures had kept him sane for over ten billion years. Without it, his soul would've shattered.
Skyfather Level had limits, unlike Cosmic Level Celestials, who embodied universal laws.
Even Odin, strong enough to battle multiple Celestials, buckled under a mere million years. The Collector, a Skyfather Level surviving billions, couldn't be free of side effects.
He even coveted fellow Elders of the Universe, itching to collect the Grandmaster or Gardener, but lacked the chance or strength to overpower them.
Gazing at the stunning Xenomorph, the Collector rubbed his hands, envisioning a grand path.
"Standard adult Xenomorphs can't survive or move in cosmic vacuum unless given potent hosts from the start… That caps their racial potential." He noted with regret. This Xenomorph wasn't the universe's last. He collected only the rarest items. If only he could eliminate all other Xenomorphs.
That was a feat for Cosmic Level Celestials.
Or, alternatively, collect Adam himself.
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