S.H.I.E.L.D. Falls: Enjoy This Expensive Fireworks Show

Washington, on the banks of the Potomac River.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters—the Triskelion.

The shrill air-raid sirens tore through the tranquility of the capital.

Project Insight was being forcibly activated. Three massive new Helicarriers, like three islands of steel, slowly rose from camouflaged docks beneath the river amid the roar of their engines.

Their enormous turbines churned the river, throwing up mist that even blotted out the setting sun.

Once they reached the suborbital altitude of 3,000 feet, thousands of precision cannons would link with spy satellites and eliminate thousands of "potential threats" every minute.

Top floor, Director's office.

Alexander Pierce stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling windows with a glass of champagne, watching the spectacular scene with feverish anticipation for the new order he was about to establish.

"What a perfect weapon."

Pierce took a sip, then turned toward the World Security Council members held at gunpoint by the assault team, a victor's smile on his lips.

"In this filthy world, someone always has to dirty their hands for peace. Hail Hydra."

Just then.

The office broadcast system suddenly erupted in a piercing burst of microphone feedback.

Then, a teasing, lazy voice rang through the entire building without warning, even broadcasting across the riverbank through the Helicarriers' loudspeakers.

"Hello, hello? Mic check. Good evening, Hydra agents."

"This is your friendly neighborhood Stark Industries chief consultant, Jiang Li."

The glass in Pierce's hand jerked violently, spilling champagne across the expensive carpet.

Jiang Li? That monster who had thrown an alien leviathan around like a javelin in New York? What was he doing here?

"I know you're in a hurry to establish your new order. You were so eager to take off that you probably didn't even use the bathroom first. But unfortunately, while your ships may be big, their firewall is... absolutely terrible."

The voice over the broadcast carried a trace of mockery, like a hacker laughing at a kindergarten computer class.

"So, as a technical consultant, I've decided to give you a free 'system reinstall.' No need to thank me. Stark's picking up the tab."

"Where is he?! Find him!" Pierce roared into the intercom, his voice cracking. "Launch the Quinjets! Kill him!"

"Sir! He's on the landing pad! He... he's glowing!"

On the landing pad outside headquarters.

The howling wind snapped at their clothes.

Steve Rogers held up his star-spangled shield like an unshakable monument before Jiang Li, deflecting every incoming bullet.

Above them, Falcon Sam spread his metal wings like a silver bird of prey, using his machine guns to suppress the Hydra agents trying to rush forward.

And Jiang Li stood at the very edge of the landing pad, facing the three steel behemoths climbing upward and blotting out the sky.

Compared to the Helicarriers, he was as insignificant as a speck of dust.

But the instant he raised his left hand and pressed the Omnitrix, green light illuminated the entire dusk.

"Three Helicarriers? That's certainly a lot of data."

A wild smile curled across Jiang Li's lips, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of pushing himself to the limit.

"But that's exactly what I wanted!"

"It's Hero Time!"

This time, the black-and-green light did not condense into a physical form as usual. Instead, it instantly erupted into a massive, writhing storm of liquid metal that seemed alive!

"Galvanic Mechamorph—Upgrade!"

"They're all... mine!!"

The black fluid Jiang Li had become shot into the sky. Rather than possessing one Helicarrier directly, it forcibly split apart in midair, transforming into three enormous torrents of black-and-green data!

Like black serpents, the three torrents ignored gravity, crossed hundreds of meters, and lunged precisely at the command towers of the three Helicarriers!

"Bzzzt—!!"

The instant they made contact, a miracle occurred.

The engines of all three Helicarriers, which had been glowing an eerie blue, turned an unnatural blackish green at the same time!

Glowing green circuit patterns swiftly crawled over their cold steel hulls, as though the ships had been covered in alien skin.

Inside the Helicarriers, command room.

Every screen turned to static in the same second, then coalesced into a massive green one-eyed symbol.

Every control console failed, sparks flying everywhere.

The Hydra technicians discovered in horror that no matter how they hammered at their keyboards, the system only displayed one blood-red message:

[Authorization seized. Administrator: Upgrade.]

"Rewriting fire-control systems..."

"Locking onto new targets..."

Inside Pierce's office.

He watched the three Helicarriers outside the window—the very ones that should have been protecting him—as their enormous gun barrels slowly turned.

Not toward the ground.

But... toward each other!

Ship One targeted Ship Two. Ship Two targeted Ship Three. Ship Three targeted Ship One.

They formed a perfect triangle of death.

"No... that's impossible!" Pierce threw down his glass and rushed to the controls, frantically pounding buttons. "Cut the power! Override manually! Stop them!"

"It's useless, Pierce."

Jiang Li's electronically textured, seemingly omnipresent voice rang out from the broadcast again, like a death sentence.

"Your hardware has already been assimilated by me. Now, they are my body—and my fists."

"Ready, Hydra? This fireworks show is very expensive."

Aboard the three Helicarriers.

Jiang Li's divided consciousnesses issued the final command at the same time.

"Target locked: enemy Helicarriers."

"Fire everything!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The main cannons, secondary cannons, and missile bays of all three Helicarriers fired at once!

Hundreds of missiles shrieked through the air, weaving into a dense, devastating web of firepower before slamming violently into each other's armor!

The blaze of the explosions instantly lit up Washington's night sky, as though three artificial suns had risen.

Massive flaming chunks of steel fell like a meteor shower heralding the apocalypse.

"Is this the order you wanted?"

Steve stood on the landing pad, watching the scene as his shield slowly lowered.

It was violent, and it was wasteful, but he had to admit... watching Hydra reap what it had sown felt damn satisfying.

"It's not over yet."

Jiang Li's voice came from the disintegrating Helicarrier wreckage, carrying a hint of exhaustion but also determination.

Controlling three Helicarriers had nearly drained his mental strength, but he had saved one final gift.

"Crash sequence initiated."

Under Jiang Li's precise control, the three battered Helicarriers, riddled with holes and burning fiercely, did not fall into the city. Instead, like three massive tombstones, they plunged straight into the lake beside the Triskelion... and into Hydra's secret underground dock!

"Rumble—!!!"

An earth-shaking explosion.

The towering waves even slammed against the Triskelion's windows.

The entire S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters shook violently. Pierce collapsed to the floor, watching his life's work, Hydra's decades-long plan, turn to nothing in an instant.

It was over.

All over.

That alien kid who had appeared out of nowhere had completely destroyed everything in less than five minutes.

"Hail... Hydra..."

Pierce muttered blankly, his eyes hollow.

Then came a gunshot.

Natasha kicked open the door, smoke curling from the barrel of her gun.

Ten minutes later.

Smoke still lingered along the riverbank.

Black liquid metal gathered from the ruins, reassembled, and transformed back into the pale, drenched teenager.

"Whew... I'm exhausted."

Jiang Li dropped onto the grass, feeling as if needles were stabbing into his brain.

Controlling the data streams of three Helicarriers while calculating their crash trajectories had already pushed Upgrade to its current limit. If the Omnitrix had not been upgraded several times, his brain might have burned out.

"Jiang!"

A white figure swung over and landed steadily beside Jiang Li, offering him a bottle of water.

Gwen removed her mask, her eyes sparkling.

"That was amazing! That explosion was more spectacular than every Independence Day fireworks show I've ever seen in Brooklyn combined!"

"Yeah, fireworks worth billions of dollars. Of course they were spectacular."

Jiang Li took the water and gulped down a mouthful, finally feeling alive again.

Then came the sound of thrusters from the sky.

Tony Stark flew over in his armor. He had been dealing with the falling wreckage from above to keep it from hitting civilian areas.

"Though I hate to admit it, you're more efficient at demolition than I am."

Tony opened his faceplate and looked at the priceless heap of scrap metal in the river. His arms-dealer instincts kicked in, and his face was full of heartache. "Those engines could've been salvaged... You really are a prodigal spender."

"Out with the old, in with the new."

Jiang Li smiled and rose to his feet, looking at Steve and the Winter Soldier approaching from the distance. The Winter Soldier had already been knocked out and carried over, lying on a stretcher.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had fallen, and Hydra had been destroyed—for now.

The Avengers had assembled once more.

"Hydra's head has been cut off. Next..."

Jiang Li looked at Tony, his expression turning serious. He had not forgotten the most critical hidden danger.

"Tony, that scepter is still in Sokovia. And there are two little problems there waiting for us to deal with."

"You mean... the twins you mentioned?" Tony asked.

"Yes."

Jiang Li brushed the dust from his clothes and looked toward the eastern horizon.

"Rest for two days. Then we're heading to Eastern Europe. I have a feeling that will be the Avengers'... real final exam."