The air was thick with heat that didn't belong to the night.
Midtown's industrial fringe was quiet at this hour. A stretch of warehouses and old textile buildings that had long since been forgotten by the world—but tonight, one pulsed faintly, as though something inside was breathing sunlight.
Raj crouched low behind a crumbling concrete wall. The warehouse before him radiated warmth, unnatural and uneven, like the final rays of a dying star caught in its rusted ribs.
"We're close," Raj whispered.
Peter nodded beside him, crouched just as low. "That flare from Aidren? It's like he left a trail of breadcrumbs made of microwaves."
Raj adjusted the fabric over his face, the golden suit beneath his jacket humming softly with absorbed sunlight. He didn't need more heat—his skin already shimmered beneath the moonlight like it held a sun of its own.
They moved quickly, silently, darting from cover to cover. When they reached the outer wall, Peter extended a hand and shot a tight web line upward, anchoring to a ledge. He climbed, then offered a hand to Raj. Raj ignored it and vaulted up beside him in one graceful, physics-defying leap.
"Show off," Peter muttered.
Raj smiled faintly. "You're just jealous I don't need sticky fingers."
Inside, the warehouse hummed. They dropped in through a broken skylight, landing on silent feet. Below, rows of dusty machinery and storage crates sat like fossilized bones. But one corner flickered—lights, generators, and a Hydra-branded portable power core glowing ominously.
Aidren stood at the center of the room. Alone. Or so it seemed.
"Finally," Aidren said, turning his head slightly. His voice echoed oddly. "I know you'd come."
Raj stepped forward, Peter flanking him. Yeah, your guess is right"
Aidren didn't answer. Instead, the Hydra emblem on his shoulder blinked once, then powered down.
Peter murmured, "This is a trap."
"Yes," Aidren agreed. Then his whole body lit up.
A solar explosion burst from him, engulfing the room in blazing gold. Peter dove left, rolling behind a stack of crates. Raj stood his ground, eyes narrowing.
Heat slammed into him, but his skin didn't burn. It absorbed, rippled, and adapted. The fabric of his jacket incinerated, revealing the full golden suit beneath—sun symbol glowing bright against his chest.
He moved.
In a blur, Raj closed the distance between himself and Aidren, dodging another burst and driving a punch into his ribs. Aidren staggered, then recovered, retaliating with a plasma-charged uppercut. Raj ducked and countered with a solar-powered elbow to Aidren's chest.
The Hydra handler emerged from the shadows then, wielding a compact energy rifle. Peter intercepted with a web blast, yanking the weapon from his hands and slamming him against a wall.
"One gunman, one solar bomb. Real original," Peter quipped, panting.
Aidren shouted and unleashed another solar burst—but this one was tighter, more controlled, aimed directly at Raj's head. Raj absorbed it mid-swing, his arm glowing brighter with each second.
"You're not the only one who burns," Raj growled.
He launched forward with a sonic boom of speed, lifted Aidren clean off the ground, and slammed him into the concrete floor.
Aidren gasped.
Raj stood over him. "This isn't power. It's poison. You're being used."
Aidren coughed once, blood on his lips. He smiled.
"Long live Hydra."
Raj's eyes widened. Peter looked up sharply.
The Hydra handler groaned, echoing the same words: "Long live Hydra."
Raj stepped back. "What's happening?"
Aidren's chest began to glow. Not with power—but with a blinking light. Steady. Rhythmic. Counting down.
Peter swore. "Raj—move!"
Raj scooped up Peter and leapt for the nearest open window. Behind them, a muffled thump of internal combustion filled the air. Not loud. Not dramatic. But final.
They landed in a heap in the alley outside.
Raj spun to look back. The warehouse wasn't destroyed. It wasn't on fire. It was just… empty.
Aidren and the handler were gone. Reduced to ash and memory.
Peter sat up slowly. "That was a suicide protocol. Fused into their implants. Probably irreversible."
Raj clenched his fists. "Hydra doesn't take prisoners. They burn their secrets."
Sirens wailed in the distance—someone had noticed the explosion of light.
Peter wiped ash from his suit. "Time to vanish, solar boy."
Raj didn't move for a moment. His gaze fixed on the warehouse.
He said finally. "That's what this was. Not an ambush. A gauge."
Peter nodded. "And you did. Scary thought."
Raj stood. "Which means they'll send worse next time."
They disappeared into the shadows, the golden sun on Raj's chest dimming back into silence.
Far away, in a dark room lit only by green monitors, a Hydra commander watched footage transmitted from a dying camera drone.
The voice that spoke was cold.
"He's ready."
Another voice replied: "Then it's time to call in Phase Two."
On-screen, a still frame froze of Raj mid-leap—glowing, powerful, unknowable.
Below it, a single label:
PROJECT: SUNSPEAR INITIATIVE - STATUS: ACTIVE