The radar alarms on the top floor of the Triskelion flashed wildly.
Almost the very second that golden ring of light tore open in the sky, a piercing buzz erupted throughout the building's internal alarm network.
"Warning, unauthorized high-energy flying object has breached the airspace, three hundred meters from the landing pad... descending rapidly!"
Inside a sealed conference room on the thirty-seventh floor, the heavy alloy door was shut tight.
Steve Rogers wore dark civilian clothes, both arms braced on the conference table, his expression even grimmer than the clouds outside.
Across the table, Natasha was looking down as she toyed with a black tactical pen, tapping its tip against the glass tabletop again and again.
Barton leaned in the shadows by the window, holding a badly worn arrowhead, his gaze wandering somewhere unknown.
All three of them bore the marks of the batch of Compound V Lucian had given them.
They had originally thought it would only strengthen their physiques, but once the drug's effects had fully taken hold, all sorts of strange supernatural powers had begun emerging within their bodies.
Natasha could easily leap between shadows, crossing dozens of meters in a single step.
Barton could even compress leaping electrical sparks and volatile energy directly into his arrowheads. As long as the alloy of the arrowhead could withstand it, shooting through a light armored vehicle with a single arrow was child's play.
As for Steve, he could spread an invisible force field around himself, forcibly stripping away his enemies' strength and distributing it among the comrades beside him.
They had grown stronger, yet all of them felt increasingly uncertain.
"You've all read Vought International's public statement." Steve broke the silence, his voice rough. "No restrictions. Any civilian who passes a physical can get the shot. What does that