"Ugh—!"
Peggy Carter clawed at the hand tightening around her throat. Her face flushed red as she struggled, her airways squeezed like they were caught in a steel vice.
She thrashed against Alex's grip, putting every ounce of strength into her resistance—but it was useless. She couldn't break free, not even an inch.
"Peggy Carter... are you trying to teach me how to act?"
Alex's voice was like ice—his expression colder still. Holding her up with one hand, he glared at her, eyes gleaming with a barely restrained power.
And that was what suffocated her—not just the physical pressure, but the crushing psychological weight of the man before her.
His aura alone was overwhelming.
For someone of Alex's power level now, intimidation wasn't an act—it was natural law.
Even a hardened veteran like Peggy Carter felt her spine stiffen.
"Sir, she meant no disrespect!"
Colonel Stenson quickly stepped forward, trying to de-escalate. "Agent Carter was just… panicked. Right, Agent Carter?"
Peggy nodded weakly, throat burning.
On one hand, she had been intimidated. But on the other—Stenson wasn't wrong. She had spoken rashly.
Alex released her with a flick of his wrist.
"Cough! Cough—cough!"
Peggy stumbled back, clutching a flipped-over tactical truck for support as she coughed violently, trying to get air back into her lungs.
She shot Alex a resentful look, but said nothing.
Because in truth… it was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fault.
They'd meddled with powers beyond their control—and unleashed a hell they couldn't contain.
If Alex hadn't shown up when he did, they'd all be dead. All of them.
He was cleaning up their mess.
"For Stark's sake, I'll let this go," Alex said coldly. "But there better not be a next time."
The menace in his tone made Peggy's blood run cold.
"Sir—" Stenson started again.
BOOM.
But Alex was already gone.
A sonic boom rocked the ruined base. The wind kicked up dust, and a heartbeat later—
BOOM.
Alex landed back at the mutant base, right in the center of the war room.
Immediately, Raven, Hank, Emma Frost, and Copycat hurried over.
Their eyes locked onto him.
Concern. Curiosity. Expectation.
"How'd it go?" Hank asked first, unable to hold back.
"Hank," Copycat chimed in before Alex could answer, "that might be the dumbest question I've heard today."
With Alex's power level? What suspense could there possibly be?
Alex rolled his eyes. "You heard what Vanessa said earlier, didn't you? So relax."
Only then did Hank let out a long breath, tension draining from his face.
"So… what now?" he asked, gaze hopeful.
Alex shrugged. "Now? We let the bullets fly for a while."
Everything had been set in motion. No need to rush.
Hank looked disappointed—but he understood. Once Alex made up his mind, no one could talk him down.
---
The battle at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base exploded through the media like wildfire.
The image of towering "robots" laying waste to a military installation shocked the public and plunged the nation into panic.
To the average citizen, they weren't robots.
They were weapons.
Monsters of war.
Though top brass quickly shut down further news reports and classified everything under the highest clearance level, it was too late.
That one leaked segment had already done the damage.
Panic spread like a virus.
Speculation ran wild.
No one felt safe. Not the elite, not the common man.
Calls bombarded the Pentagon, Congress, the Department of Defense, the CIA—every agency imaginable. Powerful families demanded answers.
Who built these machines?
Why did they attack S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Were more coming?
But the truth was—no one had any idea what was going on.
The officials could only stall and soothe, lacking any real answers.
Which, naturally, only made things worse.
Rumors exploded across TV, radio, and the early channels of the internet. People whispered of government conspiracies, alien invasions, black projects gone rogue.
Meanwhile—
In a secure safehouse, Peggy Carter sat across from Howard Stark.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s third co-founder, Colonel Phillips, was there too.
All three wore the same expression—grim and pale.
The joy they'd felt after uncovering Megatron and the AllSpark had completely evaporated.
Now, it had become a disaster of historic proportions.
Megatron was loose.
The AllSpark was gone.
Worse, all the agents who might've seen who took the AllSpark had been killed in battle.
And so…
They assumed the Decepticons had it.
"Stark," Peggy asked slowly, her voice hard-edged, "that cube… you said it can turn machines into UB6s. Are you absolutely sure?"
Colonel Phillips stared too. No blinking. No softening.
Howard Stark's lips twitched. He hesitated—
Then nodded, grimly. "Yes."
"God damn it." Phillips cursed, slamming his fist into the table.
Peggy's heart sank.
This was the one thing they couldn't afford to be true.
If the Decepticons had the AllSpark…
They could mass-produce themselves.
Build an army.
And Earth had nothing that could stop it.
"Congratulations, Stark," Phillips muttered bitterly. "We may have just doomed the planet."
Peggy shook her head. "We've made a mess, Stark. One we might not be able to clean up."
Howard Stark looked like he'd swallowed a nail.
He didn't even bother defending himself.
He hadn't wanted to destroy the world. He'd just wanted to do science. To discover.
How did it all go so wrong?
"It's out of our hands now," Phillips said after a long silence. "We need to go to the Department of Defense. Now."
Howard looked from him to Peggy—then sighed, defeated.
"You're right. We've got no other choice."
With the S.H.I.E.L.D. base flattened and the military wiped out, the incident had already reached the highest levels of government.
And maybe even…
The man in the chair.
There was no way to cover this up anymore.
And if Megatron did manage to create an army—
Humanity might not survive the year.
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
https://patreon.com/Twilight_scribe1