"Hahaha! Yes, well said!"
As Fury spoke those words, his face twisted with hatred. Hatred for LexCorp, for the World Security Council, for America, and for the people who had driven S.H.I.E.L.D. out.
That deep resentment erased the last shred of doubt in Pierce's mind.
Already drunk on his sudden surge of power and blinded by arrogance, he never once considered that such an expression could be an act.
The man who earned Howard's approval and succeeded him as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after his retirement was no fool. He had his skills.
As for Coulson, who still hadn't made his choice?
Pierce didn't even bother looking at him anymore. If Fury himself had yielded to his strength, then that man's decision was irrelevant.
"Alright. Let me turn Los Angeles into rubble, and then we'll take this beauty and fly away."
Despite his arrogance, Pierce hadn't forgotten his mission. Nor was he foolish enough to fly to New York and challenge Reid to a fight to the death.
Hydra still needed time to grow in secret, to spread its roots. That was the plan he and the other heads had agreed upon long ago.
With that, he turned to head toward the cockpit.
Fury followed closely behind, silent. When he passed by Coulson, he brushed against him, giving a slight push.
The motion made the former's jacket flare open, revealing several vials of Scarlet Serum strapped to his waist.
Coulson froze for a moment. Then it hit him. He understood what his superior was planning. And at the same time, he made his decision too.
It happened fast. Just as Pierce let his guard down completely, Fury seized the chance. Without hesitation, he injected every single vial of Scarlet Serum into his veins. Then he lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around his target before he could react.
"What?!" Pierce's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't understand why Fury didn't attack but instead held him tight.
"Nick Fury! What are you doing!" He roared.
But before Fury could answer, Coulson acted. He plunged his own serums into his body, then charged straight at them. Like his superior, he clung to Pierce with all his strength.
"You two... bastards! Let go of me!"
Struggling for only a few seconds, Pierce realized something was terribly wrong.
Fury and Coulson's bodies were heating up. The Scarlet Serum inside them had triggered a surge of raw energy, and it was leaking out in blinding red waves.
Even with his green energy shielding him, Pierce felt the burn against his skin.
"You—!"
His words broke off as their clothes ignited, flames crawling up their bodies. With nothing left to hold back the torrent, the energy inside them erupted outward.
They were self-destructing.
It was an old tactic. Simple, but brutally effective.
Ever since the Scarlet Serum had been created, the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. had researched its potential exhaustively. The properties of laser energy were well understood, and how to unleash it for maximum effect had long been settled.
But no one had ever pushed the serum to its ultimate limit. As the only way to truly display that power was through self-destruction.
Everyone knew this, yet nobody dared to attempt it. Because this wasn't just strapping explosives to one's chest and pressing a button. Detonating with one's own laser-charged body was agony beyond imagination. Every second before the end was a torment worse than death.
Fury and Coulson knew how painful this method would be, yet they gritted their teeth and endured it. After countless days and nights of training, they finally offered their lives to deliver one last strike against Pierce.
"Pierce! Joining Hydra? You really have the nerve to say that! I am the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.! The explosion from this laser energy will cause irreversible damage to the Helicarrier. Don't even think about bombing Los Angeles!"
Coulson stayed silent, but the increasingly bright crimson glow radiating from his body told its own story. His resolve was unshakable.
"Ahhh! No! Let go! Both of you!"
Panic ripped through Pierce. For the first time, real fear gripped him. The heat was unbearable, and their power was climbing by the second.
He couldn't hold back anymore. With a roar, the green energy inside him exploded outward, colliding with the crimson waves in a violent clash of light and force.
"Raaahhhh!" ×3
One side fought to save Los Angeles. The other fought to survive. Red and green light devoured the Helicarrier, flaring like a dying sun before fading into silence.
Bang. Bang.
Two bodies hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Fury and Coulson lay motionless, their energy spent. The technique they'd used had shredded their cells, leaving them broken and powerless.
But Pierce... was still standing.
The dark green energy granted by the new serum was almost entirely depleted, with just faint strands of green light swirling around him.
He had won. Hydra's newly developed serum completely crushed the decade-old Scarlet Serum, nullifying the explosive power of the two men's self-detonation.
Yet by neutralizing the laser energy and preventing the final explosion, he had also spared Fury and Coulson's lives.
Lives now in his hands.
"Nick, you've truly disappointed me."
Pierce took several deep breaths before finally calming down. Then he stared coldly at Fury lying on the ground, pulled a pistol from his belt, and aimed it at his forehead.
"I told you. I'd give you a chance. But clearly, you didn't value it."
Faced with the black muzzle, Fury showed no fear. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Coulson lying beside him.
"Tell me, Coulson. When we're dead, do you think a hero will descend from the sky, stop this idiot, and protect Los Angeles?"
Coulson chuckled at that, his voice weak but calm.
"Of course there will be. If nothing else, Los Angeles has at least five street heroes active. But if I could choose, I hope it's Captain America who comes down from the sky. How amazing would it be to see that with my own eyes."
Death close at hand, he no longer hid his admiration for Steve.
But their carefree words felt like mockery to Pierce. It burned worse than any wound.
He was the victor here, yet somehow, they made him feel like the loser.
"You want to die so badly? Fine. I'll grant your wish!"
He pulled the trigger.
The gun roared, smoke curling from the barrel. A bullet shot straight toward Fury's head.
And at that moment...
"Flame on!"
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