"Damn it, it's happening again!"
James didn't react to Jack's panicked outburst. His gaze remained fixed on Onru with an intense, calm focus. He raised a hand and pointed to a tall steel door ahead.
"Open it!" he commanded.
Onru didn't hesitate. She darted toward the nearby control panel, her fingers flying across the keys. The metallic whine of systems activating filled the air as she worked.
Behind them, the wall continued to warp and twist unnaturally, as if reality itself was protesting.
"Munru, open that one too!" James shouted, pointing to another sealed door.
Munru ran toward a different panel near the control room entrance, his breath coming in short, nervous gasps.
James turned back to the group behind him, his eyes blazing with urgency. At this point, every person in the room had staked their life and future on his judgment. They had no one else to turn to. No plan B. Only James.
And yet, Ross stood with a conflicted expression, concern flashing in his eyes.
James inhaled deeply and raised his voice so all could hear, "Listen to me. All researchers, now's your chance—run. Head into this corridor. It leads to the power station above this facility. Once you get there, keep climbing."
He paused, giving everyone a moment to let it sink in.
"There might be a wall blocking your way eventually, and yeah, it's going to be disappointing. But keep going! Whatever is behind that wall, it's not going to be any slower than you!"
The researchers exchanged glances. Some were already trembling. Others were steeling themselves, nodding with grim determination.
Then James turned to Ross.
"Ross, I need you to lead Jack and the others. Hold the line. Fire at anything that comes through that twisted wall. I'll signal when it's time to retreat."
Ross hesitated, his brow furrowing. "What about you?" he asked quietly.
James didn't respond. He looked over to Irantu instead.
"Irantu," he said, "if you stay with me, things will get… messy."
Irantu nodded solemnly. "Understood."
There was no more time for discussion.
Suddenly, the floor trembled beneath them. The entire room quivered. A low, ominous rumble surged through the walls. Something was coming.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Move!" James yelled. "Get out of here—now!"
Ross didn't waste another second. He rallied the others and led them through the corridor. Just as the last of them cleared the room, a thunderous boom shattered the air.
The warped wall exploded outward with a sickening crack!
From the darkness beyond, a massive, black-skinned entity stormed into the room. At a glance, it had to be over two hundred meters tall. Its sleek, oily surface shimmered with an unnatural sheen. Deep red eyes glowed beneath a curtain of writhing black tendrils.
Its jaws parted, revealing sharp, yellowed teeth. Clinging grotesquely to the creature's torso was the naked body of a human woman—fused to the monstrosity like a grotesque ornament.
Then it screamed.
A shrill, soul-piercing wail burst forth, shaking everyone to their core. It wasn't just a sound—it was a pressure that invaded minds, freezing hearts and stealing breath.
James's arm trembled as he aimed his gun, but his eyes burned with unyielding determination. He didn't hesitate.
Da-da-da! Da-da-da!
The task force erupted in coordinated fire. Bullets tore through the air, followed by grenades and incendiary blasts. Flames licked across the beast's surface. Their survival instincts had kicked in. The paralyzing fear was momentarily replaced with an adrenaline-fueled defiance.
The facility shook under the onslaught. Gunfire, screams, explosions, and panicked footsteps merged into a chaotic symphony.
For a moment, the giant black creature recoiled. It seemed... surprised. The damage was enough to make it pause, if only for a heartbeat.
But then it counterattacked.
Dark liquid oozed from wounds on its massive body. From the fluid, more black leeches emerged. Several long tendrils lashed out at the nearest task force members, snapping through the air like whips.
Suddenly, Onru's voice broke through the chaos.
"It's open!" she cried, and without waiting for further instruction, she ran.
She didn't know what she had just unleashed—but something told her it was far from ordinary.
Her intuition was right.
From behind her, a deep groan echoed through the room.
Rumble… hissss…
The giant metal door began to slide open. From the widening gap, an icy fog poured into the room, coiling through the air. Visibility dropped. A cold, suffocating mist filled the space.
Everyone watching had the same question:
What the hell is locked inside there?
James turned again. "Munru, status?"
Munru stammered, "Y-yeah, I think—"
CRACK!
Before he could finish, the door behind him glowed a brilliant red. Then white. The metal bent outward like soft clay under pressure.
CRASH!
With a deafening crunch, the steel door gave way.
Munru leapt backward as a wave of heat blasted outward.
All eyes turned toward the breached chamber.
And then... silence.
Floating out of the chamber was a humanoid entity—tall and regal, its entire body wreathed in golden flames. It gripped a massive sword, glowing white-hot. And from its back, fiery wings unfolded with a thunderous whoosh!
BOOM!
The angelic figure spread its wings, and for a moment, the battlefield went utterly silent.
The Marvel world watching from across the globe froze.
In the live broadcast rooms, the chat groups, and on every screen tuned in—there was only stillness.
Mouths hung open. Fingers paused over keyboards. People stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Some viewers rubbed their eyes, convinced they were hallucinating.
What is that?
A fiery angel?
A literal flaming seraph with a sword?
What kind of joke is this?
But the absurdity didn't stop there.
The appearance of the angel-like entity seemed to provoke the black leech monster. It let out another piercing screech and whipped several tendrils at the flaming being.
Are they… fighting?!
It didn't make sense.
And yet, in the chaos, the truth slowly emerged.
In the S.H.I.E.L.D. control room, Director Nick Fury's expression twisted in realization.
"So that's what this was all about," he muttered. "That was James's plan all along…"
He thought back to the horrific moment when the black leeches devoured an anomalous memetic entity. He recalled the creature's insatiable hunger for abnormalities.
That's it, he realized. The black leeches devour the abnormal—and they never stop. They want more.
It clicked.
"No wonder James brought everyone here," Fury whispered, shocked. "No wonder he had the Samsara team open the cold storage door…"
He looked at the screen, eyes wide.
He was planning this all along—using one abnormality to fight another.
"Abnormality?" Natasha Romanoff blinked, then gasped. "Wait… you mean that angel—James let out a containment object? Doesn't that mean—"
"There's another one," she said slowly, the color draining from her face.
She remembered it clearly: the Samsara team had opened two doors.
Back at the facility, the fiery being and the black leech queen were locked in a mythic struggle.
There were no bullets now. No explosions. This was something older than modern warfare.
This was like a battle from legend.
The angel's sword sliced through the air, each strike sending waves of white-hot fire. Every tendril it struck erupted into a cloud of scorched fluid and ash. Leeches were incinerated mid-lunge, their bodies falling in smoldering heaps.
SCREEEEE!
The leech queen shrieked in agony.
It was furious now.
A dozen tendrils snapped toward the angel at once. The entire facility shook with the force of the strike.
But the moment the tendrils made contact—
A sound cut through the air.
It was haunting. Like a chorus of long, sorrowful sobs… and then, all at once—silence.
Absolute silence.
No gunfire.
No screams.
No explosions.
Just… silence.
The kind that settles before a storm—or after the end.
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