Chapter 258: Chapter 258 Heroes

“Director, the suspect likely fled. I’m preparing to—”

Squelch!

Coulson was mid-sentence with Fury when a sharp, searing pain exploded in his chest. He looked down. A pair of blood-drenched fists had punched clean through his torso from behind. The exit wound felt like a floodgate, draining every ounce of strength from his body.

“Surprise!”

A woman’s whisper drifted into his ear—the voice was clear and melodic, but dripping with pure malice.

“You…”

Coulson tried to turn his head, but his body had gone limp; he was barely staying upright.

“Agent Coulson? Coulson!” Fury’s voice barked frantically through the phone.

“Director, I…”

Alex violently retracted his arms, and a massive spray of blood erupted from the wound. Coulson collapsed instantly, his phone clattering to the floor.

Crunch.

Alex crushed the phone under his boot and stood over Coulson with a cold smirk. His flesh began to writhe and shift, shedding the skin of the young woman and returning to his original hooded form.

Looking up at the man in the hoodie, a flash of realization struck Coulson. He remembered the hospital murders, connected the dots to tonight’s events, and the mountain of questions in his mind finally found an answer.

“So that’s your power… I finally understand.”

“A bit late for epiphanies, don’t you think?” Alex picked up the discarded laser cannon and examined it curiously. “You hit me with this thing earlier, didn’t you?”

Coulson gave a weak snort, seemingly proud of that fact.

Alex aimed the barrel at him, finger hovering over the trigger. “It hurts like hell. Why don’t I let you see how it feels?”

Coulson remained silent, his face a mask of stoic defiance.

At that moment, the agents who had been searching the perimeter returned. They froze at the sight of Coulson lying in a pool of blood with a stranger standing over him.

“Shit!”

The agents opened fire. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several rounds slammed into Alex’s back, blooming into red craters.

“You want to die that badly?”

Ignoring the agony in his back, Alex spun around and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

A bolt of blue energy surged out. The agent it hit didn’t just die—he liquified into a heap of charred remains, his weapon turning into a puddle of molten metal.

Alex stared at the smoking barrel, stunned. What the hell are these people? Where do they get weapons like this?

The gunfire drew the rest of the SHIELD team. They took cover behind pillars and displays, raining lead on him. His confidence surging with the god-tier weapon in his hands, Alex abandoned his cover. He charged, swinging the laser cannon like a scythe.

The power was devastating. Even when agents hid behind thick concrete pillars, the laser punched through both the cover and the man behind it. By the time the last agent fell, the cannon’s energy cells finally flickered and died.

Alex tossed the dead weight aside and walked back to Coulson, looking down at him. Coulson’s eyes were filled with grief; he knew his comrades were gone—men he had hand-picked himself.

Despite having only a breath of life left, his gaze remained steady. “You won’t get away. SHIELD will find you.”

At the mention of the agency, Alex’s expression turned to one of pure contempt. Thanks to the Joker Organization, SHIELD’s reputation among the public was currently about on par with a local neighborhood watch.

“Heh, SHIELD… tell me, if I get your face, will yourSHIELD still hunt me?”

As he spoke, the flesh on his upper body began to churn. Thick, cord-like veins started to detach from his torso.

“With the identity of a SHIELD agent as cover, I can haunt New York and grow in peace.”

Coulson’s expression didn’t flicker. It was impossible to tell if he truly believed in his agency or if he was simply refusing to let go of hope in his final seconds.

Irritated by the lack of fear, Alex offered a cruel grin. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll be sure to take good care of your family for you.”

With that, the tendrils lashed out, lunging toward Coulson like striking cobras.

VROOOOM!

Suddenly, a circular object tore through the air with a deafening whistle. Panic—the raw fear of death—seized Alex. His instincts took over; he threw his upper body backward in a desperate limbo-like arch.

Zip!

The object blurred past his face, effortlessly slicing through the cobra-like tendrils. Alex hit the floor and rolled, scrambling to his feet.

The circular object was a shield. It had embedded itself halfway into a stone pillar behind him. The hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood up. If he hadn’t moved, that shield would have cleaved him in two.

He dropped into a defensive stance, facing the direction the projectile had come from. A man in a strange, star-spangled uniform crashed through a glass partition and landed in the center of the mall.

It was… Captain America.

Alex froze for a second. This was a man from the history books. He never dreamed that a legendary hero would personally come to hunt him down.

To be hunted by this guy… I guess I’ve made it, Alex thought grimly.

Steve surveyed the carnage, his breathing growing heavy and ragged. He hated nothing more than a bully—the strong preying on the weak. He had been the weakling once; he knew how it felt.

Steve’s voice was a low, dangerous growl. “Did you do all of this?”

Alex shook his head, offering a mocking retort. “I didn’t mean to kill them. They just got in the way of my car.”

Seeing the murderer crack jokes over the bodies of innocent people snapped Steve’s restraint. With a roar of fury, he charged. He didn’t ask for a name; he just wanted to break the monster in front of him.

Alex shifted his weight, searching for an opening. A punch? A kick? When they were less than ten meters apart, Steve suddenly launched himself into the air.

Crap, a knee strike!

Alex had misread the move. He couldn’t dodge in time. He threw up both arms in a cross-block, bracing his chest and head as he dropped into a low crouch.

CRACK!

Steve’s knee slammed into Alex’s forearms. The sound of snapping bone was sickeningly crisp. Agony twisted Alex’s face as his radius and ulna shattered instantly.

Then came the force. It felt like being hit by a freight train. Alex was launched backward, crashing through layer after layer of glass partitions until he flew out of the mall’s opposite exit and onto the street.

The impact of the blow felt like a release for Steve, but he didn’t give chase immediately. The man on the ground was trying to speak.

“Captain…”

Steve knelt down, pressing his ear to the agent’s lips. He recognized this man—he’d seen him earlier.

“His… power… he absorbs humans… changes shape… takes memories… and…”

The words came in ragged gasps. Then, Coulson’s voice cut off. The last spark of life left his eyes. He had lost too much blood; he was a man running on fumes. If not for the desperate need to pass on the intel, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.

“I understand,” Steve said, nodding with solemn respect. “Thank you.”

It seemed that even after seventy years, the world was still a place where cruel monsters walked the earth—and where heroes were still willing to die to stop them.

.

.

.

.

You can read advance Chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.

pat reon.com/GreenBlue17

500 power stones.

Top 100. All time.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep