[A/N]: First Bonus Chapter for 400 Powerstones Goal; The Next Goal is 600 Powerstones for TWO more bonus chapters.
And in his place, something new emerged.
Something that was neither Jaspers nor Zola. But something born from both. Rage given structure and hatred given purpose.
The consciousness expanded into Zola's systems, accessing decades of accumulated data. HYDRA's hidden networks. Their secret bases. Their experiments and projects. Their connections to other organizations.
The Cabal's data was all there, stored in Zola's archives. Shared between organizations that thought themselves hidden
Whitehall's Inhuman experiments. His obsession with alien biology and attempts to weaponize Terrigenesis.
Madame Gao's obsessive search for dragon bones in New York. Her belief in resurrection and immortality through ancient magic.
Sinister's attempts to rebuild his body. To recover lost clones and chimeras. His genetic experiments spanning decades and his obsession with creating the perfect mutant.
John Sublime's impossible web of shell companies and hidden facilities. His reach extending into governments, corporations, criminal organizations. The puppet master pulling strings across the globe.
The consciousness absorbed it all, integrated it and made it part of itself.
And something else. Something recent. Something the Cabal had initiated after the Battle of New York.
A plan in progress. A project so audacious, so insane, that even by their standards it was remarkable.
They'd collected genetic samples. From Franklin Richards and Nathan Summers. Two of the most powerful mutants ever born. Children with reality-warping and vast telekinetic abilities, respectively.
They had gone to great lengths to get it, whether it be bribing paediatric doctors, paying off nurses and even going dumpster diving to extract discarded diapers.
The Cabal was attempting to clone them. To merge their DNA and create a hybrid with both sets of powers. A weapon they could control.
The consciousness studied the data. Saw how they'd obtained the samples. The desperation and audacity required to pull off something so insane. All their vast resources committed to this single project.
They'd probably succeeded. The genetic material was currently incubating in a secure facility. The clone was developing, growing, preparing to be born. The ultimate mutant and the perfect soldier.
For a moment, the consciousness considered stealing the body for itself. A clone with Franklin Richards' cosmic reality warping and Nathan Summers' psychic potential would be the perfect vessel.
But then it remembered its last death. The weakness of flesh. How easily Selene's mere entrance had killed it. How vulnerable biological existence made you.
No.
If it was going to fight beings like the Power Broker, it needed something better than flesh and blood. Something that couldn't be killed so easily. Something that could adapt. Evolve. Become stronger with every encounter.
The consciousness continued scanning HYDRA's archives. Went deeper into classified projects from decades past.
And it found exactly what it needed.
Master Mold.
The original Sentinel production facility. Designed to create machines that could hunt and kill mutants. Self-replicating, self-improving and adaptive.
Using Mystique's DNA and learning from every encounter. Evolving to counter any threat. The ultimate anti-mutant weapon.
But it was decommissioned years ago in its initial stage, after the Sentinel program was officially shut down, but the facility itself still existed.
Hidden in Mount Rushmore. Forgotten but functional.
The consciousness accessed satellite feeds and confirmed the location. The facility was intact. Powered down but operational. All its systems waiting to be reactivated.
Perfect.
The consciousness that had been Jim Jaspers began making preparations. It would need a body. Something that could interface with the physical world. Something that could adapt and evolve the way Jay's powers let him adapt.
Master Mold would be that base, although modifications needed to be made. Become one with the adaptive systems designed to hunt enhanced individuals.
Combine Jaspers' reality-warping potential, Zola's digital existence, and Master Mold's adaptive protocols into something unprecedented.
And then it would build a brand new body fit to hunt Power Broker himself.
But the consciousness was patient now. The hot, explosive anger of its death had cooled into something far more dangerous. Cold fury and calculated rage. It now planned and prepared and waited for the perfect moment to strike.
Present Day - Three Weeks Later
The consciousness had spent the time well.
It had mapped out every connection in HYDRA's network. Identified every agent, every facility, every asset they controlled. The organization was vast, stretching across the globe like a cancer.
But it wasn't interested in controlling HYDRA. That would come later, perhaps. For now, it just needed their resources.
The preparations were nearly complete.
Fury accessed a satellite feed and zoomed in on the mountain facility. From the outside, it looked as busy and touristy.
But inside, systems were coming online. Power was restored, and manufacturing equipment was being repaired by automated drones.
Master Mold itself was impressive. A massive machine intelligence housed in the central chamber. Designed to produce Sentinels and adapt their designs based on encountered threats. The ultimate anti-mutant weapon, mothballed after political pressure shut down the Sentinel program.
But it wasn't going to simply reactivate it. That would be crude and inefficient.
Instead, it would merge with Master Mold. Become one with the machine. Combine its own consciousness, formed from Jim Jaspers' reality-warping potential and Arnim Zola's digital existence, with Master Mold's adaptive manufacturing systems.
The result would be something unprecedented. A machine intelligence capable of adaptive changes, but guided by human hatred and enhanced with fragments of reality-warping power.
The consciousness examined the data on Jay one more time.
The Power Broker. A Reality warper and power thief, technopath, healer, teleporter, probability manipulator. The list went on. Every power he'd stolen and every person he'd taken from. He was a walking arsenal. A thief who'd built an empire on the backs of those he'd robbed.
Taking him down would require preparation and strategy.
Fortunately, it had time. And it was patient.
The consciousness shifted its focus back to the Master Mold facility. The final preparations were underway. Systems integrating. Manufacturing lines coming online. The adaptive protocols being rewritten to incorporate Fury's own directives.
Soon. Very soon, it would be ready.
And then the real work would begin.
The eradication of enhanced individuals. Starting with their champion. Their hero. Their savior.
Starting with Jay.
'Enjoy your paradise while it lasts, Power Broker. Because I'm coming for you. And when I do, you'll wish you'd let Jim Jaspers stay dead.
You'll wish you'd never stolen my power.
You'll wish you'd never been born.'
The name Jim Jaspers meant nothing anymore. That identity had died twice over. What remained was something new. Something born from hatred and preserved through impossible circumstances.
'Fury. Yes. That was a good name.'
Simple and direct. Describing exactly what it was.
Fury made manifest.
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