Chapter 50: Earth's Youngest T0 Threat
It all happened too suddenly.
Fury's face remained impassive as he watched Melinda's gruesome death, but his clenched fist crushed the corner of the table.
As he listened to Du Wa unscrupulously describe his next move, Fury finally understood Du Wa's objective.
"Du Wa wants to use the Rainbow Bridge to transport the Xenomorphs to Asgard? Reinforcements?"
Fury immediately understood that a war must have broken out in Asgard. He also finally knew what Du Wa had meant earlier when he mentioned reaching an agreement with Thor.
That madman, Du Wa, had actually involved himself in a war between high-level species, using the Xenomorphs as weapons of war and pushing them to the very forefront of the conflict!
Fury didn't need to be a genius to know how perilous the war in Asgard would be. It was a great battle involving a large group of terrifying individuals wielding the power of gods, one that would cause immeasurable destruction.
"You're insane! You'll drag Earth into a war it shouldn't be a part of," Fury's voice was low.
Du Wa glanced down at the earpiece in his hand and said, "Is there a difference? If S.H.I.E.L.D. had any ambition, it would have done the same thing long ago—forcibly researching and manipulating things that were never meant to be under its control. It's just that now, things are out of control. You've lost an excellent subordinate, and you've significantly enhanced my strength."
"It seems you planned this from the very beginning. Even letting me know about controlling the Xenomorphs with pheromones was intentional. Your real method of controlling them is mind control."
"Very imaginative, Sherlock." Du Wa neither confirmed nor denied it.
Fury had been pondering the relationship between Matriarchs. In Du Wa's absence, if the offspring of different Matriarchs were to meet, would they fight each other to the death?
This was crucial, as it determined whether Fury should continue to invest a huge price to deal with Du Wa.
"As long as I control one Matriarch, it won't be long before I completely uncover your secrets," Fury said.
The chips on the necks of many Xenomorphs on the scene immediately glowed red, looking as if they were about to explode.
But Du Wa reacted faster. He raised Thor's hammer, summoning a sky full of thunder to strike down. Each bolt of lightning wasn't particularly powerful, but it was more than enough to interfere with the signal and destroy the chips.
It just meant the Xenomorphs would suffer a little. As long as it wasn't fatal, they could always recover.
"It seems I've underestimated divine power. From now on, I will create a special file on you and organize a team of professionals to study you."
No emotional fluctuation could be heard in Fury's voice, but that very coldness was the greatest display of emotion.
"No one likes to fail. So, perhaps we should discuss the next topic: are you interested in the war that has broken out in Asgard? Maybe we can reach a consensus on certain aspects." Du Wa nonchalantly commanded all the Xenomorphs to wipe out the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present.
"You just tricked and fooled me, and now you want to talk about cooperation? Don't tell me you want me to provide you with more Xenomorphs? Or do you think you can treat me like an idiot just because you have a slight intelligence advantage?"
Even Fury, who prided himself on being a man who put interests above all else, felt a headache coming on from Du Wa's seamless transition.
Sometimes, he really wanted to pry open Du Wa's skull to study just what dangerous thoughts the guy was having all day.
"That's impossible. I won't cooperate with someone like you unless you relinquish control over the Xenomorphs." Fury felt that saying this made him sound far too righteous, completely unbefitting of his persona.
"What a pity. In that case, there's nothing to talk about. Acting like this, you're essentially blaming me for all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s incompetence—did I stop you from controlling the Xenomorphs? You stole my little cutie, imprisoned it, and ultimately failed. And you blame me?"
Du Wa glanced around and noticed that all the recording devices on site had been destroyed. So he looked up at the sky, spread his hands, and made a helpless gesture. "Then, you're in big trouble, Nick Fury. You've committed the crimes of theft and illegal confinement. You are provoking the ruler of a species."
Fury raised his guard. He couldn't judge how Asgard would view Du Wa. After all, the position an Earthling who had lifted Thor's hammer would hold in Asgard was still an unknown.
This newly-minted God of Thunder was now resorting to radical military expansion, even defrauding all of S.H.I.E.L.D. and making a global organization like it take the fall for him. Such actions...
"You're in such a hurry to show your loyalty to Asgard. I'm guessing you've already gotten an Asgardian green card," Fury asked.
Hearing this, Du Wa tossed the earpiece to a bewildered-looking Thor beside him.
Thor didn't know what a 'green card' was. Seeing Du Wa's expression, he naturally took the term as a peculiar Midgardian dry joke.
"Thor, these people are saying I'm trying to become an Asgardian through this war. The complete opposite of your situation."
"No, we're the same in at least one respect: neither of us wants to become a person of the other's world." Thor looked at the surrounding Xenomorphs, which had fallen silent again, and felt his mouth go dry. "Let's not waste time on idiots. I'll summon the Rainbow Bridge now and transport the troops! After the war is over, you can become whoever you want to be!"
Thor had also been trying to figure out Du Wa's temperament during this time. He knew Du Wa had no interest in Asgardian citizenship, so he could logically guess that Du Wa wanted to step onto a higher stage, to prove his own value and talent by participating in a grander war.
This was very normal. A large part of the values instilled in Thor since childhood was exactly like this.
Oh, or perhaps Du Wa was very interested in the Frost Giants and wanted to capture a batch of them alive for parasitism.
Thor didn't care about that. He also wanted to use this opportunity to bring an army back to assist Loki. He would prove to all the people of Asgard that even without his divine power, he could still help Asgard. He was still a worthy Asgardian warrior!
"Loki should have taken over all of Asgard. I can help him. He'll definitely be happy. In the future, he will be the king of Asgard, and I..." Thor shook his head. It was hopeless; he had already given up.
"Heimdall!! I know you can hear me! You've seen my efforts! Now, open the Rainbow Bridge and send me and the reinforcements I've brought back!!"
"Heimdall!" Thor roared at the sky at the top of his lungs.
Du Wa stood in the distance, watching quietly.
Soon, an incomparably brilliant rainbow descended from the sky, brewing with the power to traverse space, and shone down upon Thor.
At Du Wa's command, the surrounding Xenomorphs began to surge into the light of the Rainbow Bridge, one wave after another. When there wasn't enough space on the ground, they climbed over each other, piling up to rush inside.
This was only the first wave.
A second Rainbow Bridge appeared, followed by more, successively teleporting batches of Xenomorphs to Asgard.
Du Wa sensed carefully, confirming that the Xenomorphs had arrived in Asgard. Even across an immeasurably vast distance of space, his mental link with them remained stable. He was instantly relieved.
"So this is the Rainbow Bridge that sent Thor to Earth? It's quite an impressive technology," Fury remarked.
"Don't even think about it. This isn't just simple high technology; it also involves the application of high-level divine power. It's a domain you can never touch."
"Time will tell Thor that he has made a grave mistake, unleashing a dangerous creature like the Xenomorph onto a battlefield where it doesn't belong." Fury's expression was extremely grim.
This way, he had no means to destroy and control all the Xenomorphs.
Even though Du Wa had sent away his army and the power around him seemed weakened to the extreme, making it the perfect time to strike, Fury's head throbbed at the thought of the Xenomorphs in Asgard. He hated leaving loose ends.
And these were loose ends with endless consequences.
He had no way of going to Asgard to exterminate the Xenomorphs. He couldn't do it even if he called Captain Marvel back to Earth.
"You need to change your way of thinking, Agent. Perhaps, even if I hadn't sent the Alien Army to Asgard, you still wouldn't have been able to deal with me? Why don't you take a guess? Have I really shown you all my Xenomorphs? Might there not be a few hidden away?" Du Wa's voice was like the whisper of a devil.
If hidden Xenomorphs were to emerge, the destruction they could cause was unimaginable.
Fury thought that at least he still had a Queen in his grasp. With this Queen, he could continue his research and perhaps find a way to counter Du Wa in the future.
Du Wa controls Xenomorphs with his mind? Fury was already thinking about which superhuman skilled in mental abilities he should find to try and control the Xenomorphs in the same way.
With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vast scale, its countless legacies of knowledge and reserves of talent, as long as there was enough time...
"The war has already begun, Fury," Du Wa said suddenly.
"War? In Asgard?"
"No, the war between you and me. Even now, you still don't truly understand me."
Du Wa suddenly let out a deep sigh. His voice became incredibly calm, as if he had compromised with reality.
Fury frowned slightly, a bad premonition rising in his heart. But what could it be? He was on the Helicarrier. Surely Du Wa couldn't pull out a Super-Xenomorph capable of firing at the sky.
Suddenly, Fury shot to his feet and rapidly tapped on the virtual screen in front of him a few times. "Quick, have Dr. Cleve increase the power of the A-28 psychic-dampening device—"
"It's already been running at maximum power, Dr. Cleve already thought of that... Dammit, the Matriarch is mutilating itself! It destroyed its own head with its inner jaw!!"
Fury stood frozen, his expression flickering between grim and shocked. He finally opened a screen, entered a password, and stared at the bloody scene.
Splattered blood landed on the Adamantium, making a sizzling sound as plumes of smoke rose.
Two scientists who were too close had been splattered by a few drops of blood and were now writhing on the ground.
Fury's expression changed completely.
What an incredible distance! And to break through the blockade of the psychic-dampening device to issue a command for the Queen to commit suicide!
"Are you surprised? I have to say, your protective measures are quite thorough, giving it no opportunity to escape. But that makes sense. As the world's number one organization, it would be a disservice to your professionalism not to build the prison out of Adamantium without any vulnerabilities." Du Wa's voice was frighteningly calm.
Fury stared at the screen before him, silent for a few seconds. "That was a Matriarch..."
"Queen. I prefer to call a Xenomorph leader with reproductive capabilities a Queen."
"This was the second Queen, extremely precious, and you didn't even try to bargain with me, just made it commit suicide with a single command?"
"A cunning probing technique. You're trying to extract intelligence at every moment."
Du Wa pointed out Fury's verbal tactic but continued anyway, "What makes you think it's difficult for a Queen to be born among the Xenomorphs? Why don't you guess again? How many Xenomorphs have I deployed on this planet? Among them, how many can evolve into a Queen, and under what circumstances would they do so?"
Du Wa's words made Fury's heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.
Du Wa continued, "That's why I emphasized that you don't understand me, nor do you understand the Xenomorphs. You haven't even figured out their nature. This is a highly-ordered species capable of extreme actions for the sake of survival, for the continuation of the species. And I..."
He slowly crushed the earpiece in his hand. "...am the God of this species."
Fury stared at the disconnected communication, understanding the meaning of Du Wa's last words.
Not the God of Thunder, but...
The God of Xenomorphs!
"It seems we've provoked a troublesome individual. Although I still scoff at his self-proclaimed godhood, it appears we have made a grave error." Fury's heart was heavy.
Coulson, still wrapped in bandages with his injuries not yet fully healed, had appeared behind Fury at some point. "Using the outcome to reason about the cause is never a good habit, but it can help us see things more clearly," he said.
"Then what result do you see, Coulson?"
"Du Wa is now the God of Thunder. Regardless of how Asgard sees him, that is how we should see him. This means Du Wa is difficult to kill by conventional means. Add to that the potential threat posed by the Xenomorphs, and it means..."
"In the shortest amount of time, and at the youngest age, Du Wa has become a T0-level threat."
...
Asgard.
Loki was furious.
With several planets having been surprise-attacked and already fallen, he was in the middle of mobilizing for war.
Heimdall had dared to activate the Rainbow Bridge without his, the king's, permission!
Below the throne, several people exchanged glances, seeing the pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.
"It must be Thor!"
"Thor has returned?"
Loki looked at the people, whose spirits were now soaring, took a deep breath, and revealed a smile. "Yes, my brother has returned. But there is unfortunate news. He has not recovered his divine power. Participating in a war like this will be incredibly dangerous for him."
Loki stood up, his gaze sweeping over the few people below him with their varying expressions, lingering for a moment on the faces of the Warriors Three.
"You think I didn't want to bring him back? But I couldn't! I was protecting him! With his personality, he would surely fight the Frost Giants to the death!"
The more Loki spoke, the more sorrowful he sounded, to the point that even Sif, who knew his treacherous nature well, was almost convinced.
"I know you are not content with me ascending the throne, but I had no choice! If my brother had to rely only on himself..."
Loki's words came to an abrupt halt. He realized that Thor was entering the Asgardian Palace at an astonishing speed.
The great gate burst open.
Under numerous astonished gazes, a horde of unidentified creatures swarmed in, surrounding a teary-eyed Thor.
"My good brother, say no more! I won't give you the opportunity to fight alone!"
Loki: "..."
He looked at these familiar beings, and the memory of the person who had brought him shame resurfaced. His entire face nearly turned blue.
(end of chapter)