Marcus pulled the Scarlet Witch up from the ground and released her hand with a faint, indifferent look.
"Go," he said. "Explain your decision to your brother. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Yes… Master."
Wanda wiped the tears from her eyes. All traces of her earlier defiance were gone — the fierce, unyielding warrior who had stood against S.H.I.E.L.D. was no more. Now, she was quiet, obedient — a tamed creature carrying out her master's will.
She turned and stepped back into the cave, where her brother's lifeless body lay. Quicksilver, having died moments later than she had, was still in the process of mutating. His silver hair clung to his sweat-soaked forehead, and his body twitched faintly as the virus finished reshaping him.
Marcus didn't bother to follow. He knew it wouldn't be necessary.
If there was anyone in this world Quicksilver loved beyond reason, it was his sister. There was no argument Wanda could make that he would ever refuse.
Outside the cave, Marcus turned his gaze back toward the sky.
The battle between the Zombie Leviathan and the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier was reaching its end. Despite its monstrous size and nearly impenetrable armor, even the Leviathan could not withstand an endless barrage forever. Under constant missile fire, its massive steel shell was beginning to warp and crack.
From the carrier's twin wings, another wave of missiles roared into the night. The Leviathan twisted and rolled with surprising agility, avoiding several — but not all. A handful of the warheads struck true, detonating across its back. The armored plates split apart, exposing the pulsing, dark-pink flesh beneath.
The creature screamed — a piercing, guttural wail that echoed across the mountains.
Its task was complete.
The evidence had been destroyed. The fortress was gone. Now, the beast turned its final fury on the helicarrier itself, diving headlong toward the massive airship.
The impact of a several-hundred-ton monster moving at full speed would be catastrophic. But S.H.I.E.L.D. had anticipated this moment — and after suffering devastating losses on the ground, they were ready to end this fight once and for all.
"Target the damaged section of the armor," Fury ordered sharply, his one good eye blazing with focus. "All batteries, prepare to fire. Countdown from five… four… three… two… one—fire!"
The helicarrier's concealed turrets unfolded from its metal frame like blooming flowers. Thousands of rounds and missiles erupted from every direction, converging on the wounded spot of the Leviathan's back.
The sky became a storm of fire.
Explosions rippled across the monster's body, each blast carving deeper into its flesh. The roar of the barrage drowned out everything — even the sound of the beast itself. Marcus, watching from afar, could smell the acrid smoke drifting down the mountain.
The Leviathan shuddered in midair, its wings folding as fire consumed its frame. A final blast split its spine, and the monster began to fall.
It crashed into the forest below with a force that shook the mountains, flattening trees for hundreds of meters and sending a wave of snow and soil surging outward like a white tsunami. When the dust finally settled, a crater the size of a small city scarred the earth — the Leviathan's grave.
Onboard the helicarrier, the surviving crew erupted in cheers. Even Fury clenched his fist, a rare flash of relief crossing his face.
But the moment passed quickly.
Their losses were staggering. Entire platoons had been wiped out. Only Captain America and Black Widow had survived the ground assault, their transmissions weak but intact. Everyone else — gone.
Fury exhaled slowly, his voice heavy when he finally spoke.
"Search the ruins for survivors. Once the operation is complete, we withdraw."
The Hydra fortress was nothing but rubble now. Any clues buried beneath would take weeks to recover, and time was something they no longer had. In two days, the Battle of New York would begin — and Fury, as commander of the Allied Human Forces, had no room for delay.
Marcus, observing the wreckage below, felt neither disappointment nor satisfaction.
The Leviathan had served its purpose.
Even if he'd somehow managed to bring it back to New York, it would've been impossible to conceal or control in plain sight. Better to let it die here, ensuring Hydra's secrets — and his own tracks — were buried beyond recovery.
The creature's destruction was not a loss. It was cleanup.
There would be others.
Once mass production began, Leviathans like this would darken the skies.
---
[You have subdued the Zombie Hero: Quicksilver.
This individual can no longer resist commands issued through your psychic network, unless his consciousness is entirely destroyed.]
As Marcus expected, it hadn't taken long.
Persuaded by his sister's tears and the false truth Marcus had fed her, Quicksilver had willingly submitted. When the siblings emerged from the cave, their expressions were heavy with confusion and silent pain, their eyes fixed on Marcus's back.
Quicksilver finally broke the silence, his voice hoarse but defiant.
"You won't hurt Wanda… will you?"
Marcus didn't turn around. "I take good care of my pieces," he replied coldly.
He didn't need to explain more. With the psychic link binding them, betrayal was impossible. Every infected mind — no matter how powerful — was bound by a single, absolute rule: Marcus's will was law.
And among his growing legion of undead champions, the Scarlet Witch was his first Alpha-tier hero — a being of immense power and strategic importance.
He would not waste such a valuable asset.
In the coming Battle of New York, Marcus would need every weapon he had gathered — every ounce of strength he had built. Only by uniting his legion of monsters, mutants, and fallen heroes could he hope to withstand the combined might of the Avengers and the armies of Earth.
And when that day came…
The world would learn that the true enemy was not Hydra.
Not S.H.I.E.L.D.
Not even the Chitauri.
It was him.
___
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