Hydra's Doom

Morning sunlight spilled across the Malibu coast. Tony was repairing battle-damaged armor in the workshop. The holographic screen displayed data from last night's battle, and every reading was alarming.

"JARVIS, analyze the energy output of that final Heat Vision blast." Tony stared at the data curve. "It has exceeded the combined yield of every known weapon."

"Unable to measure it precisely, sir. The sensors' upper limit was breached instantly."

Xiao Han came down the stairs with a cup of coffee in hand. "Nice weather today." He took a sip. "Perfect for tearing down a base."

Tony turned around. "About what you said last night, about paying Hydra headquarters a visit..."

"Already did." Xiao Han took another sip of coffee. "The scenery in Switzerland was quite nice."

Tony froze. "What? When?"

"While you were repairing your armor." Xiao Han set down his coffee. "I also brought back a souvenir."

He casually tossed out a metal case. The clear Hydra emblem on its lid made Tony suck in a sharp breath.

"This is... their main server?"

"Backup data." Xiao Han walked toward the refrigerator. "The original has already melted into the snowfields of the Alps."

Tony hurriedly opened the case. Inside was a neatly arranged array of hard drives. "JARVIS, analyze this data immediately!"

"Decoding... Good heavens, sir." JARVIS's voice carried rare shock. "This is the complete structure of Hydra's global network, including a list of every embedded agent."

Just then, Natasha hurried in. "Stark, we just detected a landslide in Switzerland... Wait, what is that?" She abruptly stopped when she saw the case.

"Good morning, Agent Romanoff." Xiao Han took some juice from the refrigerator. "Want some?"

Natasha stared at the case in disbelief. "Where did this come from..."

"Hydra's farewell gift." Xiao Han poured himself a glass of juice. "Now they really only have one head left."

Fury's holographic image suddenly appeared in the middle of the workshop, suppressed fury flashing in his one eye. "Stark, an incident resembling a nuclear explosion just occurred in the Alps. The United Nations is..."

Tony raised the hard drive in his hand. "Relax, Fury. We just received Hydra's final gift."

Fury's expression instantly froze. "What did you do?"

"Just saved you some trouble." Xiao Han said, "Now all you need to do is follow the trail and pull out the remaining snake heads."

Suddenly, JARVIS sounded an alarm. "Spatial anomaly detected!"

A spark-filled portal abruptly opened in the center of the workshop, and a tall man in a red cloak stepped through. Mysterious runes glowed around his hands, and his voice was low and imposing:

"I am the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange, here to investigate an anomaly in the timeline..."

Xiao Han did not even look up. He casually picked up a donut Tony had left on the workbench and took a bite. "From Kamar-Taj? Is The Ancient One doing well?"

Strange's spell gesture froze in midair. "You know Master The Ancient One?"

"We've met a few times." Xiao Han took another bite of the donut. "Your Cloak of Levitation looks better than the previous one's."

Strange watched him warily. "Last night, the timeline underwent a large-scale alteration. An organization that had existed for seventy years suddenly vanished from the timeline..."

"Hydra." Xiao Han nodded. "I did it. Problem?"

Strange's runes suddenly flared. "The flow of time cannot be tampered with at will..."

Heat Vision shot past his ear in an instant, vaporizing the clock on the wall. "Anything else?" Xiao Han asked.

Strange fell silent for a moment, and his spell slowly faded. "I will report this to Master The Ancient One." He stepped back, and a portal opened behind him. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I always do." Xiao Han finished the last bite of his donut.

After the portal vanished, Tony let out a long breath. "So... that's it? Seventy years of Hydra, gone in one night?"

Xiao Han picked up a second donut. "There are still a few small fry left. Leave them for S.H.I.E.L.D. to play with."

Natasha suddenly received a transmission, and her expression changed. "Stark, Director Pierce is on his way here with a Security Council task force."

Fury's image suddenly turned grave. "Pierce is Hydra? JARVIS, verify the data in that case immediately!"

"Confirmation in progress... Alexander Pierce, member of Hydra's highest council."

At that moment, the sound of helicopters came from outside. Three S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters were landing as fully armed tactical agents swiftly surrounded the villa.

Pierce's voice came through a loudspeaker. "Stark, hand over all illegally obtained materials immediately, or you will be arrested for treason!"

Xiao Han sighed. "Can't you let me finish my donut in peace?"

He slowly walked to the window and pushed open the shattered glass pane. Every gun barrel instantly aimed at him.

"Mr. Pierce," Xiao Han's voice rang clearly across the entire beach, "your heart rate is one hundred and twenty beats per minute, your blood pressure is elevated, and the adrenaline concentration in your sweat exceeds normal levels. Do you need emergency treatment?"

Pierce's expression changed beside the helicopter. "Open fire!"

Every weapon fired at once, but the bullets melted into droplets of liquid metal several meters from Xiao Han. A faint red light flashed in his eyes, and the engines of all three helicopters exploded simultaneously.

"Hail Hydra!" Pierce suddenly shouted, reaching out to press a device.

But nothing happened. Xiao Han raised his hand, displaying a self-destruct device that had already been crushed. "Looking for this?"

The tactical agents looked at one another and slowly lowered their weapons.

Natasha walked out of the villa, holding up her S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials. "Everyone, drop your weapons! Pierce is a Hydra infiltrator!"

Xiao Han turned and walked back into the villa. "You handle the rest," he told Tony. "I'm going to soak up some sun."

Tony looked at Pierce being restrained by the agents and suddenly smiled. "JARVIS, send an announcement to every media outlet: Stark Industries stock should rise twenty percent today."

On the beach, Xiao Han had already reclined on a beach chair and put on his sunglasses. The sea was calm and still, as though nothing had happened.

Natasha walked over and said softly, "Thank you. For everyone Hydra has hurt."

Xiao Han did not answer. He merely adjusted the angle of his sunglasses.

In the distance, a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel was salvaging the helicopter wreckage. Sunlight spilled across the ocean, and everything returned to tranquility.