Ten minutes earlier, atop S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Rumlow stood in the expansive office, his brow furrowed.
"Sir, are you really not leaving?"
Pierce remained motionless before the floor-to-ceiling window, his silhouette framed against the city skyline. The tailored suit he wore appeared ordinary at first glance, but on closer inspection, subtle refinements hinted at something more deliberate.
Today, Pierce carried himself with an air of calculated elegance, as though preparing for a grand occasion. His fingers adjusted the bowtie at his throat with precise movements, smoothing it into place. Rumlow's question lingered in the air, unanswered. Pierce's gaze remained fixed on the river below, its surface calm and undisturbed.
As he lowered his arms, a scarlet silk scarf emerged, perfectly complementing the dark fabric of his suit. He turned, his expression composed.
"Everything is ready. From here on out, it's our era."
Rumlow—or rather, Talos, wearing Rumlow's face—stared at him, bewildered. He couldn't shake the feeling that Pierce had lost his mind.
Pierce's sharp eyes locked onto Talos, piercing through his disguise. The Skrull's confusion was palpable.
"Any of you can leave," Pierce said. "But I cannot."
"Why? This place won't be safe for long."
"There's no place that's truly safe. Not until we deal with that dragon. Even if all three helicarriers from the Insight Project launch, they'll still be shot down."
"We have a comprehensive defense system."
"Can it stop that dragon?"
Talos hesitated. He knew the answer was no. In his mind, Pierce's plan was a fool's errand—less about securing HYDRA's dominance and more about hastening their destruction.
Pierce read his thoughts effortlessly. With a faint smile, he countered, "The helicarriers alone can't stop him, but there are other methods."
Talos frowned, then shook his head decisively.
"Sir, with all due respect, I doubt anything we do will restrain him. He's a force of nature. The public may call him a hero, but we both know he's not what they think he is."
Otherwise, Talos wouldn't have aligned himself with HYDRA. It was a simple truth. Yet Pierce seemed to operate on a different level.
"You're right," Pierce conceded. "But understand this: when the masses call someone a hero, they're compelled to act like one, whether they want to or not."
Talos's brow furrowed deeper.
"Mr. Pierce, I see your point, but he doesn't play by the rules."
"No, he doesn't. Which is why we won't confine ourselves to conventional tactics."
"Do you really believe those three women will sway his decision?"
"I don't know. But this is our only chance."
"We could retreat and regroup. There will be other opportunities."
Talos's concern for Pierce's survival wasn't born of loyalty or camaraderie. He simply saw Pierce as a valuable asset—a skilled strategist who could help him control S.H.I.E.L.D. and, by extension, HYDRA. But the aging agent appeared to have lost his grip on reality.
"Go," Pierce said firmly. "Once you've captured that woman, retreat along the planned route and lay low. As long as you're not followed, I'll be safe."
Talos hesitated, then tried again.
"Sir, someone else could handle this."
"No. As the leader, this is my responsibility. My mission."
Pierce dismissed further conversation with a wave of his hand.
"Go. He'll come for me first. That's his arrogance—and my next opportunity."
Talos was silent. After a moment, he asked again, "Sir, this matter can be left to someone else."
Talos, as their leader, scoffed at Pierce's words. The Skrulls had once been far more powerful than HYDRA, their history richer, their skills in covert operations superior. But when it came to decisive action on critical matters, the Skrulls and humans were fundamentally different.
To Talos and his people, retreat was a natural strategy—a lesson hard-earned from surviving in the harsh realities of interstellar life. There was no shame in it. Pierce, however, saw things differently.
"Besides," he continued, "we all know he has a method similar to a space portal. If I don't wait for him here, he might dismantle our plans entirely."
Pierce turned his gaze toward the sky outside.
"Everything should be ready by now, right?"
Talos nodded.
"Sir, they've been prepared for some time."
Pierce gave a slight nod and waved his hand dismissively.
"Go. Take that woman and leave. She has no special protection. Get her on a fighter jet immediately, disappear for a while, and wait for further instructions."
"Understood."
As Talos turned away, his eyes flickered with lingering confusion, but it quickly gave way to relief. He, too, was a leader—greater, in his mind, than those of HYDRA. Bowing before Fury had been suffocating enough. Now, with Fury gone, he still found himself submitting to Pierce.
Outwardly, he maintained loyalty, but beneath the surface simmered mockery and manipulation. Yet even this charade left a bitter taste. Once outside the room, the door clicking shut behind him, he exhaled a silent sigh. Talos knew he would never see Pierce again. The man was already dead.
Inside the room, sparks erupted, and Pierce spun around. Hong Fei approached, calm and deliberate. Not a trace of panic crossed Pierce's face. Instead, he greeted him with his usual smile.
"Mr. Hong, have you come to witness history in person?"
"No," Hong Fei replied flatly. "I'm here to kill you."
Pierce's smile widened. He strolled to the side, pouring himself a glass of wine with practiced ease.
"It's a shame you don't drink. This bottle comes from France—an exceptional vintage, impossible to find now. The last of its kind. They discovered it in a count's home and gifted it to me. Destiny, you see."
Hong Fei smirked.
"Killing people and looting their possessions—you call that destiny? You White people certainly have thick skin."
Pierce turned, his tone smooth.
"Mr. Hong, should I interpret that as racism?"
"If that's how you choose to see it, I can't stop you."
Pierce raised the glass, swirling it gently. He inhaled the aroma, sipped, and savored it with theatrical flair. Hong Fei watched in silence, unmoved.
"This is the finest wine I've ever tasted."
As he spoke, the river outside the Triskelion surged. Waves roared, the water parting to reveal a massive metal surface emerging from the depths. Sunlight struck the metal, reflecting a blinding, razor-sharp glare. Pierce's smile deepened, the wrinkles on his face etching themselves more prominently.
"Mr. Hong, we could still cooperate."
"Why do I get the feeling you think you've outsmarted me?"
"It does seem that way, doesn't it?"
Pierce drained his glass in one swift motion, set it down, and turned back to face Hong Fei.
"Those three women aren't a secret, yet you insisted on separating them..."
"Wrong," Hong Fei interjected.
"Separating them wasn't to guard against you all, but to prevent them from fighting."
Pierce laughed. "Is the Dragon King afraid of women?"
"It's called respect."
"If you respected them, you wouldn't have three girlfriends at once. HYDRA has plenty of beautiful, pure women. If you need them, I can send dozens your way anytime."
"Send?"
"You're the disrespectful one here. Watch out for Iron Fist."
Pierce chuckled as he slowly closed the distance to Hong Fei. Their eyes met as Pierce curled his lips in a mocking smirk.
"Carol was just the warm-up act I prepared for you. She wasn't good enough, so we had to step in ourselves."
Hong Fei's response came in the form of a slap.
The crisp impact sent Pierce sprawling like a sandbag. His head cracked against the floor, blood immediately pooling beneath him. Violent coughs racked his body as several bloody teeth skittered across the tiles.
"I don't like getting close to men," Hong Fei said, wiping his hand. "Especially old ones like you."
Pierce didn't react with anger. He shook his head rapidly, blinking up at Hong Fei through the blood.
"You think my preparations only targeted your women?"
"What? Did you plant nukes across the world? If I kill you, will you detonate them and take hundreds of millions with you?"
Pierce's pupils dilated instantly.
Hong Fei smiled. "How would I know?"
At first Pierce frowned, then relaxed.
"Even if you guessed, it's useless. You don't know their locations."
"Why would I need to?"
"Stop pretending."
Pierce spat blood.
"I know you're panicking right now. Just agree that from now on—"
"You're projecting."
Hong Fei's smile didn't waver.
"I'm not anxious at all. In fact, I should thank you."
Pierce's frown returned.
"You did what I once considered but couldn't bring myself to do."
Pierce's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
"For you, there's no question whether I'm a good person. Yet you still hoped I'd rush to disarm the nukes."
Hong Fei shook his head.
"You really are getting old."
"I don't believe you. You can't ignore that many lives."
"Of course I care. I am a hero, after all."
Hong Fei spread his hands.
"But heroes aren't omnipotent. Those are nuclear weapons! You planted them behind my back—it's perfectly understandable I couldn't stop them in time, isn't it?"
"Do you comprehend the consequences? That many detonations won't just kill people—they'll shatter the world order."
"Exactly."
Hong Fei nodded.
"If a hero's sole purpose is preserving the existing order forever, then eventually that hero will stand against the majority. You've heard of revolution, haven't you? Lasting prosperity requires the courage to revolutionize oneself. No method lasts forever. No order remains valid eternally."
Pierce's face twitched as Hong Fei continued, "When necessary, a hero must pioneer change. Before revolutionizing others, first revolutionize yourself."
With visible effort, Pierce forced words through his battered throat.
"Just as I'd expect... from your country. Your Foundation had ulterior motives from the start. You want to reshape this nation—the entire world. You're no different from us."
"Wrong."
Hong Fei's smile turned icy.
"The difference is vast. For starters, I'm more powerful than all of you combined. Where your success rate is one percent, mine is one hundred."
"You're overconfident."
"Confidence is the strong's birthright. For the weak, it's poison."
Hong Fei stepped forward, his boot settling gently on Pierce's neck.
"Where are the nukes?"
Pierce burst into wet, bloody laughter.
"Hah! And you claim not to care?!"
"You still don't understand."
Hong Fei increased the pressure slightly.
"I truly don't care. But not caring doesn't mean I'll do nothing. That's how I differ from you."
Soon, Hong Fei extracted all the nuclear locations from Pierce's mind. Staring at the list of global metropolises, only one thought echoed through him:
Madness.
If these detonated, the death toll wouldn't stop at hundreds of millions. It would be everyone. Because the entire world would fall into the shadow of nuclear war, no land inhabited by humans would escape its reach. Whether the conflict erupted actively or passively, the consequences for humanity would be catastrophic—potentially even extinction-level.