“Kyle.”
“Sir.”
Steve and Natasha greeted Kyle with smiles on their faces, and the gravity that was on their faces just moments ago had completely vanished.
“Are you okay?” Kyle nodded in response and casually dropped the piece of wreckage he was carrying in his right hand.
“It was a close call, but what’s that?” Steve’s gaze lowered to the oddly-shaped metal shell with a faint wisp of smoke rising from it.
“Could it be…” Natasha, realizing a possibility, had her mouth agape in surprise.
Kyle remained calm and explained, “It’s a missile. I happened to come across it on the way here, so I decided to disarm it.”
Steve: “…”
Natasha slapped her forehead as she spoke. “Just as I suspected… You found a missile on the way and casually disarmed it? Do you think it’s a paper airplane? It’s not that simple!”
Sorry, but in the presence of this young man, disarming a missile barehanded is indeed that easy.
*Beep, Beep…*
The computer monitor’s camera adjusted its direction. The Hydra scientist, who no longer had eyes and relied on the camera for “Sight,” initiated a face recognition procedure.
“Raina Carl, born in 1942 in Imperial Japan, originally created as the most perfect artificial person in Imperial Japan’s research lab, and is currently one of the Carl Family’s three leaders. Warning! This target is an extremely dangerous individual! Do not engage!”
The camera continued to rotate and focused on Lorna, who had just taken a step forward. The mechanical voice had become more human-like in its astonishment, “Lorna Dane, born in 1993 in Germany, an experimental subject for superhuman abilities in the lab. Her powers include controlling magnetic fields and gravity. Warning! This target is an extremely dangerous individual! Handle with care!”
Kyle raised an eyebrow and looked at Lorna, somewhat surprised. “Nineteen ninety-three? You were still a minor back then?”
It was only 2008 now, and this fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl had matured quickly, exuding a more mature demeanor. As if her age had been exposed, Lorna clenched her silver teeth and stared coldly at the computer.
The camera made one last adjustment, and the lens reflected Kyle’s figure. The digital face of the skull scrambled momentarily, and the mechanical voice staggered as it said, “Kyle Doffer, born in the United States, legendary hero, Symbol of Peace… it’s you!”
“Warning! This target is the number one most dangerous individual on the planet! Please evacuate the scene immediately or self-destruct!”
The rather ridiculous warning, which was based on the Hydra database’s judgment and identification, blared wildly in the basement.
The skull immediately followed the official assessment and deleted its internal data, initiating the self-destruct program.
In an instant, the situation took a dramatic turn. Several screens displayed interference and began a countdown to self-destruct. Some of the mainframes in the room started to smoke.
“Kyle, you scared it into self-destruct mode,” Steve remarked, feeling a bit incredulous.
“Vis,” Kyle nodded and called out softly.
“I know what to do, Master.”
From Kyle’s body, a small rocket shot out, transformed into a plug-shaped front end resembling a weapon, and plugged into one of the computer mainframes.
In just a second, the black smoke ceased spreading to the other mainframes, and the self-destruct program display on the screen closed.
From the loudspeaker came a cold, mechanical, and horrific scream, “Who are you? Don’t come any closer! Waaah! I don’t want to die!”
In the midst of it all, there was an eerie, amused laughter from Vis, “Do you wanna die? It’s not going to be that easy. Let me teach you a lesson!”
Kyle’s mouth twitched slightly when he heard Vis’s gentanmanly-like words.
This AI dog, named Vis, ever since it went to Tony’s workshop, had been developing a more “elderly gentleman” style.
But an evil artificial intelligence should be fought with an artificial intelligence. There was nothing wrong with that.
Kyle reminded Vis, “Don’t kill it. Extract the Hydra organization’s database before you finish it.”
“Of course, Master,” Vis replied quickly, enjoying the thrill of teaching the villain a lesson.
It wasn’t like Venom, which could symbiotically accompany Kyle and fight alongside him, even in Iron Man armor mode. Vis was only a system assistant.
This was a rare opportunity to demonstrate its skills, and Vis was not about to let it slip by.
Kyle looked at Steve and then at Natasha, saying, “Alright, leave this to me. You two need to go now.”
“Go?” Steve and Natasha exchanged glances and asked back with puzzled expressions on their faces. “Why?”
Lorna raised her stunning face and said coolly, “There are Hydra armed forces converging outside. We’ll provide cover and draw their fire. You non-combat personnel should evacuate the scene.”
Non-combat personnel?
Steve’s handsome face froze. This statement was a blatant irony to him! After all, he was Captain America, who had risen to fame during World War II.
Natasha’s face also changed slightly, her anger evident in her eyes as she stared at Lorna’s icy demeanor. She was the best of the best from the Soviet Red Room, a top-tier agent as Black Widow. How could she be considered non-combat personnel?
“Alright, young lady, you don’t understand,” Kyle said, extending his left hand to ruffle Lorna’s emerald hair, and pushing her stern little face behind.
Auroras appeared where their skin touched, and the usually rebellious Lorna buried her face in her hair, falling silent.
Kyle turned to Steve and reminded him, “I mean, both of you have something that you must do right now, don’t you?”
Steve was puzzled for a moment but quickly realized the situation in New York City was perilous. The Winter Soldier, Project Insight, and Hydra spies within SHIELD – all needed his attention.
“I get it. Natasha, let’s go!” Steve couldn’t stand still any longer when he thought about Bucky and rushed out of the basement, dragging Natasha with him.
“Kyle, we’re counting on you here,” Steve said, throwing these words behind as his footsteps receded.
Kyle shrugged and muttered inexplicably, “Do you think this would be a problem for me? It’s just a fight.”
Behind him, Raina smiled knowingly. Indeed, it was just a fight. When it came to combat, the Carl Family was a legend on Earth.
Especially now, with the fighting power they had in this place, anyone who came their way was in for trouble.
“It’s been a while since we battled the Hydra organization. I hope they’ve learned their lesson during that time. Let’s go, and we’ll face them on the ground,” Kyle said as he walked up to the roof with Lorna and Raina following his steps.
A little while later, the trio arrived at the rooftop of the building. They looked to the left and right and saw fighter jets and armored vehicles not far away. They were closing in, both in the air and on the ground, conducting a thorough search with their headlights on.
Slowly, they were closing in on the old base where Kyle and the others were.
Steve and Natasha had already left. They should have broken through Hydra’s encirclement with their skills.
Kyle contemplated for a moment, then drew a few items from the Card Space and placed them on the rooftop.
He snapped his fingers lightly, and a streak of flame leaped from his fingertip, accurately igniting the fuses of the items on the ground.
The next moment, the pull cords of the items were lit, and several miniature rockets were launched into the sky in a coordinated manner.
*Boom!*
Several brilliant fireworks burst in the sky, making the night as bright as day for a brief moment. This display momentarily lit up the old base below.
This, this is what it means to draw fire and hatred!
Under the fireworks, Kyle stood tall, facing the night wind, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.
(End of this chapter)
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