The Fortress of Solitude was far larger than Eric had imagined. The hidden structure occupied most of the mountainside, its vast chambers carved into the frozen rock beneath the Arctic ice. What looked like a simple iceberg from the outside concealed an entire technological sanctuary left behind by Kryptonian civilization.
The moment Eric stepped inside, he saw an enormous statue standing at the center of the entrance hall. It depicted a man and a woman raising a Kryptonian object toward the sky, their expressions calm and resolute. The two figures were Jor-El and Lara, Superman's biological parents, immortalized in silent tribute to the world they had lost.
Beyond the statue stretched countless chambers and corridors, each built with alien technology that hummed faintly with power.
One of the rooms Eric discovered had clearly been prepared for Batman. Inside were numerous items that resembled equipment from the Batcave, along with various pieces of memorabilia associated with the Dark Knight. At the center of the room stood a life-size statue of Batman himself, cloaked and imposing.
The room perfectly captured the complicated relationship between Superman and Batman. There was both respect and tension in that connection, a strange balance between rivalry and trust that had shaped their partnership for years.
Another chamber had been specially designed as Clark Kent's bedroom.
Unlike the Batman room, this one served no real functional purpose. Its furniture and layout were carefully arranged to resemble an ordinary living space. The entire room existed only to mislead anyone who might discover the fortress, convincing intruders that Clark Kent and Superman were two different individuals.
Elsewhere in the fortress, Eric found a large laboratory.
The room was filled with advanced equipment designed for scientific research. Its primary function had been to study samples of kryptonite. Clark Kent had spent years trying to discover a method that could neutralize or reverse kryptonite's devastating effects on Kryptonians.
So far, however, those efforts had failed.
None of these living spaces or research areas truly interested Eric. What caught his attention instead was a device located deep inside the fortress vault.
It was a replication machine.
Superman had once used this device to create Bizarro.
Bizarro was a clone originally produced when Lex Luthor combined Superman's DNA with human genetic material. The result was a distorted reflection of Superman, possessing powers that often worked in the opposite way.
For example, Superman possessed heat vision, while Bizarro could release freezing beams from his eyes. Superman could exhale icy breath capable of freezing objects solid, but Bizarro's breath burned like fire.
There were many such differences.
The most important distinction was that kryptonite weakened Superman but strengthened Bizarro.
If Eric had not recently witnessed Umbrella Corporation's massive cloning factories, he might have been shocked by the existence of this replicator. Compared to Umbrella's industrial-scale technology, however, the machine inside the fortress seemed relatively primitive.
While exploring the vault, Eric also discovered several other extraordinary objects.
One of them was the bottled city of Kandor, a miniature Kryptonian metropolis preserved inside a sealed container. Another was the Phantom Zone projector, a powerful device Superman used to imprison dangerous Kryptonian criminals by banishing them into the Phantom Zone.
Among everything inside the fortress, three pieces of technology attracted Eric the most.
They were the Superman robot, the supercomputer, and the super mech.
The Superman robot was essentially a mechanical duplicate of the real hero. Whenever Superman lost his powers or left Earth for extended periods, one of these robots could take his place and handle crises. To the outside world, the robot was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
The super mech served a similar purpose.
When Superman temporarily lost his abilities, he could use the armored suit to continue fighting threats. The suit allowed him to maintain combat effectiveness even without Kryptonian powers.
Finally, there was the supercomputer.
Its role was comparable to Batman's central system or Iron Man's JARVIS. It acted as an intelligent support network capable of assisting Superman with analysis, calculations, and strategic planning.
As he had done before with other advanced systems, Eric removed a USB drive and connected it to the supercomputer. The White Queen would later analyze and absorb the Kryptonian technology stored inside.
Two weeks passed quickly while Eric studied the fortress.
When he finally left the Arctic and returned through a portal to the New York shelter, he was immediately struck by something strange.
The entire facility was empty.
Only a few wandering zombies staggered through the area where people once lived and worked.
Eric frowned slightly and muttered to himself, wondering what had happened.
At that moment gunfire suddenly echoed from outside the shelter.
An SUV burst through the entrance and slammed into one of the concrete pillars. Seconds later two more vehicles raced inside and opened fire on the SUV with automatic weapons.
The driver's door flew open.
A woman clutching her wounded right arm rolled out of the vehicle and took cover behind the pillar. After catching her breath, she gripped a handgun in her left hand and fired blindly around the corner.
The shot struck the driver of the second vehicle directly in the head.
The car immediately lost control and overturned.
A rocket launcher appeared from the third vehicle.
The rocket slammed into the pillar where the woman was hiding and exploded violently.
At the instant the blast erupted, Eric moved.
He leaped forward and shielded the woman with his body.
The woman looked up in shock and recognized him instantly. She called out his name with disbelief.
Eric simply smiled faintly as he brushed stone fragments from his clothes. Then he bent down, picked up a fist-sized rock, and casually threw it toward the remaining vehicle.
With his strength amplifying the throw, the rock struck the car like a cannon shell.
The vehicle exploded instantly.
Afterward Eric reached down and helped Firefox to her feet.
She glanced at the injury on her arm and said it wasn't serious enough to kill her. Then she walked to the trunk and pulled out a first-aid kit while asking where he had disappeared to for the past month.
Eric calmly explained that he had been in the Arctic.
He took the first-aid kit from her and asked what had happened to the shelter while he was gone.
Firefox sighed heavily before answering.
A lot had happened in the past month.
In short, it was all connected to Hydra.
They had launched a major attack and completely destroyed the shelter.
Eric immediately asked what had happened to the people who used to live there.
Firefox explained that some had died during the fighting, while others managed to escape and disappeared. Most of them, however, had been captured by Hydra.
Those prisoners were given only two choices.
Join Hydra or die.
Eric then asked about Coulson, wondering why S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't intervened.
Firefox shook her head sadly.
Coulson had also been captured.
She had attempted a rescue but failed.
After closing the first-aid kit, Firefox suggested they leave immediately because the area was no longer safe.
Before they could move, a loud curse echoed from outside.
A brightly colored clown car drove into the shelter.
The driver wasn't a clown.
It was Scarecrow.
Two motorcycle riders followed behind him.
Firefox instinctively reached for her gun, but Eric stopped her.
Scarecrow froze for a moment when he saw Eric. Then he suddenly turned around and shot the two henchmen riding behind him before running toward Eric with excitement.
He called Eric "boss" and asked where he had been.
Firefox leaned closer and quietly warned that Scarecrow was now working for Hydra.
Scarecrow immediately exploded with anger, loudly denying the accusation. He insisted that he had only pretended to join Hydra and was actually acting as a spy.
Eric calmly asked about the Joker, Bane, and Barney.
Scarecrow hesitated before answering.
Joker and Bane were imprisoned because they refused to join Hydra.
Barney, Christmas, and Gunnar had all been killed.
Eric's expression darkened slightly.
Those three men had been members of his team.
Even though they had not known each other long, they had fought alongside him. Hearing that they were dead filled him with quiet fury.
With a simple gesture of telekinesis, Eric pulled Scarecrow toward him and grabbed his throat.
His voice turned cold as he demanded to know who was responsible.
Scarecrow struggled to breathe and finally shouted that Red Skull had ordered the executions.
Red Skull—Johann Schmidt—was one of Captain America's oldest enemies and the founder of Hydra during World War II. Over the years he had gained multiple abilities and enhancements, including mutant powers and even a clone body carrying Captain America's super-soldier strength.
He was one of the most dangerous villains in the world.
Eric released Scarecrow and gave a single order.
Take him to Red Skull.
Scarecrow immediately warned that the entire city of New York was now under Hydra's control. Walking directly to Red Skull would be like entering a trap.
When Eric's expression darkened, Scarecrow quickly changed his tone and agreed to lead the way.
After Red Skull took control of New York City, Hydra had converted City Hall into its central fortress. Coulson and many others were being held prisoner there.
Two blocks away from the building, Eric and Firefox separated.
Firefox explained that she had only managed to gather ten remaining allies.
Eric said that would be enough.
He handed her a supply truck filled with weapons and equipment, enough to arm an entire company.
Firefox stared at the cargo in disbelief before asking if he truly planned to enter City Hall alone.
Eric nodded calmly.
He would create a distraction and kill Red Skull if possible. The rescue mission would depend on her team.
After distributing the weapons to her people, Firefox led them through the sewer system toward City Hall.
Meanwhile, Eric followed Scarecrow directly to the front entrance.
Under Red Skull's rule, the building had become a heavily fortified stronghold.
The bodies of people who had refused to join Hydra were hanging at the entrance as a warning. Their corpses attracted huge numbers of zombies that wandered constantly around the plaza.
Eric suddenly ordered the car to stop.
Barney, Christmas, and Gunnar were hanging among the dead.
Scarecrow tried to tell him there was no point in causing trouble for the dead.
Eric told him to be quiet.
He stepped out of the car and instructed Scarecrow to go inside first.
As the approaching zombies noticed Eric and rushed toward him, Scarecrow quickly drove away through a side entrance.
Eric stood alone in the plaza.
His anger boiled quietly.
He summoned the Black Dragon mech and hurled a nearby car directly into the zombie horde.
The impact crushed countless undead bodies.
When the remaining zombies surged forward again, Eric fired a small rocket that detonated the vehicle and engulfed the area in flames.
He flew upward, retrieved the bodies of his fallen teammates, and placed them carefully inside a nearby building before returning to City Hall.
Because Scarecrow had already warned them, no one fired when Eric walked through the entrance.
Inside the lobby stood dozens of villains gathered from across New York.
On the second floor balcony, a man wearing Captain America's uniform looked down at Eric.
He welcomed him warmly and invited him to join Hydra.
Scarecrow quietly coughed and stepped back.
The small gesture revealed the truth.
The man on the balcony was not the real Captain America.
He was a clone being controlled by Red Skull.
Eric looked directly at him and asked if he was Red Skull.
The man proudly confirmed his identity as Johann Schmidt and suggested Eric could simply call him John.
Eric's voice turned colder as he asked if Red Skull had ordered the execution of his teammates.
Red Skull casually confirmed it.
To him they had been nothing more than ordinary soldiers from the suicide squad.
He even offered to assign new subordinates to Eric if he needed replacements.
Hearing that, Eric's anger flared.
Red Skull clearly viewed ordinary people as expendable insects.
Eric stared at him and asked a single question.
What if he wanted Red Skull to become his subordinate instead?
The atmosphere instantly turned tense.
Red Skull's face darkened briefly before he smiled again.
He calmly replied that if Eric could expand Hydra and make it stronger, then he would prove he deserved Red Skull's position.
If that happened, Red Skull said he would gladly follow him.
....
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