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*****
"Should I release Hela as a threat?"
The thought flickered through Fini's mind for a split second before being tossed aside. That was a lose-lose strategy; his relationship with Asgard hadn't devolved to the point of mutually assured destruction. Besides, a star chart was just a map. While nearly impossible to find on Earth, it was likely common knowledge in Asgard.
With the spaceship still nothing more than a blueprint, there was no need to rush.
Fini traveled to the Himalayas and summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, feeding it a few small Arc Reactors. Watching the majestic creature crunch down on them like snacks, Fini felt a twinge of helplessness. Tony was generous, but providing a lifetime supply of reactors was asking too much, and Fini felt awkward constantly pestering him for "dragon kibble."
Since the Tesseract couldn't be absorbed yet, part of his motivation for heading into space was to find more potent energy sources—like Sovereign batteries—to accelerate Blue-Eyes' evolution. Away from the Sanctums' restrictions, he could even use the Golden Derivative Art freely.
Time flew, and as the holidays ended, Fini prepared to return to school for his final year. He had spent his break grinding for experience; he was now less than halfway to his eighth skill draw. Consequently, the "Combat Mage of Kamar-Taj" had returned to haunt the training grounds.
Mordo finally had to admit that even without his armor, he was no longer a match for Fini. His only consolation was that Fini still wasn't using Kamar-Taj's own spells to beat him. However, thanks to the Tesseract's affinity buff, Fini's research into the Mirror Dimension was finally bearing fruit. It wouldn't be long before he mastered the very goal that had brought him to Kamar-Taj in the first place.
In his downtime, he consulted with Tony on the ship's design—though his contributions were mostly aesthetic.
The world had settled into a deceptive calm. S.H.I.E.L.D. had scrubbed much of the Chitauri's impact from the public eye, making the Battle of New York seem like a distant, singular accident. But those in the know understood that the world had fundamentally shifted.
As the semester loomed, Fini stepped back from his training regime. It occurred to him that he hadn't checked on the Hydra base or "Afterlife" in quite a while. After a quick visit to Afterlife to chat with Gordon and confirm everything was stable, he headed toward the Hydra facility.
On the surface, everything looked normal. But the moment he contacted Sitwell, the tone shifted.
"Sir! You finally reached out. I have urgent intelligence for you!"
Sitwell was practically vibrating with anxiety. For two months, he had waited for Fini's call, fearing he had been forgotten or discarded.
"What is it?" Fini asked, sensing the urgency.
"Years ago, Arnim Zola used a modified version of Stark's Super Soldier Serum to create a group of Winter Soldiers," Sitwell said, his voice low and hurried. "They are Alexander Pierce's sharpest blades—every single one of them is on par with Captain America."
"But the serum's side effects made them unstable, so they've been kept on ice. Recently, Pierce ordered them all thawed. Their mission is to hunt you down."
Fini waited for more, but the line went quiet. "And?"
"And... that's it. They are incredibly dangerous, Sir! Please be careful!" Sitwell cautioned. He had initially doubted they could kill someone like Fini, but after seeing them in action during recent field tests, he wasn't so sure.
"I see. How do they plan to find me?" Fini relaxed slightly. He had expected a world-ending catastrophe, not just a handful of brainwashed soldiers. Still, he didn't drop his guard; arrogance was the quickest way to end up in a ditch.
"The plan is to create chaos to lure you out, then track you to uncover your civilian identity."
"Create chaos?" Fini was confused.
"Because... they assume you're a superhero," Sitwell explained sheepishly.
"Uh..." Fini recalled the frequent reports of minor conflicts and skirmishes he had seen while at Tony's. Were those all meant to bait him?
"The genius who came up with this plan is a real 'bright spark,' isn't he?" Fini muttered. If they were waiting for him to play the vigilante, they'd be waiting a long time. Unlike Tony or Cap, he didn't go out of his way to play hero.
"I have the dossiers on all of them. Do you want the data?" As a professional mole, Sitwell knew he had to prove his worth.
"Yes. I'll be at your place tonight."
If he didn't know, he'd ignore it. But since he did, he couldn't let them run amok. Besides, these soldiers were likely worth a decent chunk of experience.
Late that night, Fini arrived at Sitwell's home clad in Incursio.
"Everything is in here. There are six of them in total," Sitwell said, handing over a thick folder.
Fini sat on the sofa, flipping through the pages. He paused when he saw a familiar face. "Bucky Barnes was sent out too?"
"Yes. He's the most stable and easiest to control, so he's the squad leader," Sitwell explained.
"I have the trigger words I got from Zola. Can I take control of him?" Fini asked.
"During their most recent conditioning, they added safeguards. Alexander Pierce is the primary authority. If he gives an order, no one else can override it."
Fini abandoned the idea of a mutiny and looked at the other five. Aside from Bucky, there were four men and one woman. Their records were terrifying: experts in assassination, infiltration, and political subversion, fluent in over thirty languages.
Compared to them, Bucky was actually the "weakest" link.
(End of Chapter)