Inside Bumblebee, the yellow Camaro was speeding down the road, but the real noise wasn't coming from the engine, it was coming from the back seat.
"Why is it called Extremis again?" Wanda asked for the third time, chin in hand, clearly not satisfied with Luke's earlier explanation.
"Yeah," Sharon chimed in, "and if your head gets cut off, does a new one grow back, or does your body regrow from the head?"
Luke gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles whitening. His temples throbbed as the endless barrage of questions pounded into his brain like a jackhammer.
"For the last time," he groaned, "it's called Extremis because it rewrites your cells to the extreme. I won't die if I'm shot. Probably. I heal fast. But no, my head doesn't grow back, I'm not a starfish!"
Wanda leaned forward between the seats, eyes wide with curiosity. "So if someone throws you into lava…"
"Enough!" Luke shouted. "No more hypotheticals involving my gruesome death!"
The car screeched into the alley behind the grocery store. As soon as they stopped, Doggo squeezed through the little dog door, his tail wagging furiously. He practically tackled Luke in excitement, nuzzling his leg with a goofy grin.
"Good boy," Luke muttered, squatting to pet him. "At least you don't interrogate me about my internal organs…"
Doggo rolled over, blissfully accepting belly rubs like a furry little prince. Luke sighed with relief.
"See? Loyalty. Simplicity. Silence. You could learn a thing or two from him," he added, casting a sideways glance at the two women.
But peace didn't last long.
Wanda disappeared into the kitchen, and when she reemerged, she held a gleaming kitchen knife in her hands.
"Okay, so we're going to test how fast it grows back," she said, approaching him with a little too much excitement.
Luke paled and stepped back. "W-Wait! Wanda! That's not necessary!"
Sharon didn't stop her. She just leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching with mild amusement.
"Oh, I want to see this too," she said, smiling slightly.
"This is madness! You're both insane!" Luke cried, bolting out the back door.
"Stop running, don't be a baby. It's just a finger or two, maybe an arm!"
Eventually, after dodging Wanda for two blocks and being chased past a hot dog stand and three confused pedestrians, Luke stopped running.
"Okay, okay," he said, panting. "Let's do this safely."
He pulled out a small paring knife from the counter and, without hesitation, made a shallow cut across the pad of his thumb. Sharon and Wanda watched closely.
Before their eyes, the wound knit together in mere seconds, leaving smooth, unmarred skin.
"…Okay, that's kind of amazing," Wanda admitted, leaning in.
Luke looked at her, deadpan. "Could've done that with a paper cut instead of being chased with a kitchen knife."
She shrugged. "Less dramatic, too boring."
Despite the chaos, Luke couldn't help feeling satisfied. The regeneration wasn't the only thing, he could feel it in his bones: his strength, his speed, his stamina. All significantly improved.
If he had to compare, physically he was now at Captain America's level. Maybe better in endurance. But in combat? Not even close.
He wasn't a soldier.
He was just a guy running a grocery store… with some help from a mysterious system.
Extremis was never about becoming a hero. It was about surviving whatever madness the world might throw at him.
He still had no intention of joining the battlefield.
Not unless it followed him home.
…
The days returned to a strange, comfortable rhythm.
Luke played games. Slept in. Walked Doggo. Total bliss.
Wanda ran her mini-cons on unsuspecting customers, fake fortunes, overpriced charms, lucky talismans, and they all sold like hotcakes.
And Sharon? She blended in as if she'd always been there, part protector, part roommate, and now definitely part of the madness.
But while the grocery store settled into a familiar chaos, far away from Luke's quiet corner of New York, something darker was stirring.
…
The tension inside the World Security Council had reached a boiling point.
Alexander Pierce, the newly appointed Secretary, smiled calmly as several council members glared at him through the holographic screen.
"You're far too close to Fury," one said. "How can we supervise an organization when its leadership is practically in your pocket?"
Pierce didn't blink. "I support what's best for global security. That happens to align with Nick Fury, for now."
They didn't know the half of it.
Pierce wasn't just a political appointee.
He was Hydra's top infiltrator.
And his real priority? Making sure Project Insight succeeded.
The idea, pitched by Nick Fury after the Battle of New York, was ambitious: three helicarriers, airborne at all times, linked to a global algorithm capable of predicting threats, and eliminating them before they acted.
But Fury never realized the plan he proposed would become the very weapon of his own destruction.
To the World Council, Pierce was a supporter blinded by loyalty.
But to Hydra?
He was their gateway to global domination.
…
Underground Hydra Facility, New York
Pierce stepped through reinforced steel doors into a subterranean conference room hidden beneath the city.
Around the table sat Hydra's hidden elite, dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D officials, scientists, and operatives. All high-ranking. All unsuspecting to the outside world.
They had worked side by side as S.H.I.E.L.D agents for years without knowing.
Today, the masks were off.
"Project Insight is nearly ready," Pierce began, his tone calm, cold. "Soon, we will no longer need to hide in the shadows."
The room buzzed with anticipation.
"But there is a problem," he continued. "Several, in fact."
A screen lit up behind him, displaying images of known threats: Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, etc.
Then, the last image: Luke Yale.
"This one... is different," Pierce said, his eyes narrowing. "Nick Fury speaks of him often, but no one understands what he's capable of. Not even Fury."
He looked around the room, his voice now razor-sharp.
"We can't afford unknowns. Before Insight launches, Luke Yale must be removed."
There was silence.
Then Pierce gave the order:
"Activate the Winter Soldier."
The room remained still.
But the shadows began to move.
Hydra had just declared war.
And Luke didn't even know it yet.
…