The grotesque, rapidly evolving Xenomorph before them was a prize that S.H.I.E.L.D. had seized in a decisive raid while Duncan led his main forces away from New York to New Mexico.
The scientists, already well-versed in Xenomorph biology, were ecstatic. They dreamed of controlling this species.
"This Xenomorph is disturbingly intelligent. It burst out of a prisoner's chest and was immediately contained in an Adamantium cage. After being electrocuted and frozen, it became eerily docile," Hill said, flipping through a file.
Fury, eyes fixed ahead, responded, "That very docility is what makes it suspicious. If it were truly smart, it would pretend to be clever rather than actually being so."
At that moment, the Xenomorph finished molting, reaching a height of 2.7 meters.
Fury took one look and scoffed, his unease subsiding slightly. "Too small."
"The Queen needs time to mature. According to Blade's intel, the first time he saw Duncan, the Queen beside him was only two or three meters tall. But by the time it reappeared in New Mexico, it had grown to 4.5 meters," Hill explained.
"But that doesn't add up. Every Xenomorph around Duncan, except the Queen, matures rapidly within hours of emerging, then ceases further development."
"That's likely the Queen's unique trait," Hill continued, reading her report. "Xenomorphs appear to have a hive-based social structure, with the Queen leading the colony. We've managed to establish preliminary control over this newborn Queen using pheromones. Soon, we'll have an entire Xenomorph swarm under our command."
Duncan frequently used Xenomorphs to raid vampire populations, earning him a fearsome reputation in the underground world.
Many factions, through constant observation, had begun to understand the species' surface-level habits.
But now, Fury believed he was delving into the core of their biology—on the verge of total control.
"Look! The Queen is constructing a biological conduit! It might be about to lay eggs!" a scientist shouted.
The team quickly deployed pheromones extracted from Xenomorph secretions to communicate with it.
Their efforts bore fruit—they confirmed that even the Facehuggers it spawned could be controlled.
"It's time," Fury said, his one eye flashing with a sharp, calculating glint. "Send a senior agent to contact Duncan. Invite him to join S.H.I.E.L.D.! What he prides himself on most is now in our hands. He has no more secrets from us."
An unsheathed blade is the most terrifying. Fury understood this well. By stripping Duncan of his secrets and taking control of his greatest weapon—the Xenomorphs—Fury no longer felt the need to hold back.
Thor's hammer? That was only lifted because of Thor. And as far as Fury was concerned, Asgardians weren't gods, just an advanced and powerful race.
So the worth of Mjolnir? That was debatable. Besides, once Duncan was theirs, anything he could do, they could do better.
"What team should we assign him to? The Avengers? The Howling Commandos? The Thunderbolts? The Air Cavalry?" Hill listed off possibilities.
"The Howling Commandos."
"Excellent choice. With Blade there, we can keep an eye on him."
Fury glanced at Hill, his expression unreadable. "That's not why. I simply don't see him as human. A man who can implant and swap Xenomorph embryos in his chest at will? No matter how you look at it, that's not normal. He fits better among ghosts, mummies, and the undead."
The Avengers? Out of the question. That was Fury's elite squad—only the most trustworthy made the cut.
"But he lifted Mjolnir," Hill pointed out. "Thor left him but then returned of his own accord. That complicates our assessment of their standing in Asgard."
"I don't recognize him as Thor. Not long ago, he was just a man. And his greatest power? We have that now."
Fury turned and left the lab.
Elsewhere...
"It seems you've made some significant progress," Duncan said, studying the stunning woman before him. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have sent someone to invite me."
Natasha twirled a strand of her deep red hair, her lips curving into a practiced smile. While speaking to Duncan, her eyes discreetly flickered toward Thor. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global organization that welcomes all capable and ambitious individuals—"
"Let's cut to the chase," Duncan interrupted. "And look me in the eye when you talk. Thor isn't going anywhere with you."
"How direct," Natasha remarked. "But as a guest from Asgard, he does deserve diplomatic courtesy. A small misstep could lead to an international crisis..."
She stepped closer, her specially formulated perfume releasing a subtle fragrance, designed to subtly influence hormones.
But before she could continue, Thor scowled. "I have no interest in your organization. And whatever scent you're wearing—it's awful. I feel like sneezing."
Natasha's expression stiffened. Thor was utterly unfazed by her charms.
Not because she wasn't attractive—far from it. But because Thor's attention was locked onto the newly emerged Xenomorphs, especially those that had parasitized the bio-engineered creatures developed by Mr. Blue. He kept touching them, memorizing their features, already strategizing how to command them against the Frost Giants once he returned to Asgard.
The hulking Xenomorphs, reminiscent of the Abomination, naturally caught Natasha's attention. She quickly looked away, but she had already memorized every detail.
Duncan smirked. "It seems your charms don't work on a thousand-year-old deity. My instincts tell me you understand men well, but if I truly wanted company, I'd have better options."
Natasha's smile faded. Her muscles tensed as she instinctively prepared for a fight, her sharp gaze locking onto Mystique—Raven—who was approaching.
With each step, Raven morphed into a different stunning woman—each more alluring than the last—before finally settling into Natasha's own form.
"Fury sent me to invite you to the Howling Commandos. Blade is on the team; you'd make great partners. If you agree, you start as a Level 9 agent. That's an incredibly high rank on a global scale," Natasha said, her tone professional but wary.
Her face stiffened slightly as she continued, "We'll provide you with a dedicated scientific team to assist your biological research. Rare knowledge and resources will be at your disposal."
"And in exchange?" Duncan asked.
"You follow S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders, relinquish any control over Thor, and classify your Xenomorphs as an official asset. Also, Mjolnir—"
"Listen to this nonsense, Thor," Duncan scoffed. "They actually think I control you. And she didn't even bother calling me 'Lord of Thunder.'"
Thor, on the verge of an outburst, blinked in surprise as Duncan's words sank in. He sighed in exasperation.
Duncan turned back to Natasha, his tone serious. "I don't join thieves. You know exactly what I mean. You stole something very important from me. And I promise you, no matter how hard you try, what you've created will always be a pale imitation. You will never match me."
Natasha's brows furrowed. "Are you sure about this? You risk being classified as a rogue super-criminal. Uncontrolled power will never be tolerated."
"Like the Brotherhood? The Hand? The Hellfire Club? K'un-Lun? The Ten Rings? The Inhumans? Atlantis?" Duncan counted them off on his fingers. "I've struck a new deal with the Asgardian prince here. If you disagree, that would be a direct provocation against Asgard's new God of Thunder. Think carefully about the consequences."
Natasha's mind raced. "A deal? With the Asgardian prince?" She masked her doubt, but the implications unsettled her.
She realized she wouldn't get more answers. Without another word, she turned and left.
Before she did, she threw one last glance at Raven and said, "I never expected you'd be interested in a shapeshifting sixty-year-old woman."
"I'll see her off," Raven said, immediately following Natasha—clearly not for a friendly chat.
Duncan estimated that with the addition of the Xenomorph embryos and her top-tier combat skills, Raven would have no trouble taking down Natasha, who had undergone genetic modification.
Duncan wasn't interested in the fate of the bus. He was focused on fulfilling his promise.
"Dr. Stern, you need to accelerate the breeding process. A hundred of them is nowhere near enough," Duncan sent a directive to Mr. Blue, who was in the underground facility.
Mr. Blue rubbed his large head, still not fully accustomed to the mental communication coming from his chest. The thought of the Xenomorphs dwelling in his chest and the potential for secretly studying them when Duncan wasn't looking gave him a certain sense of satisfaction, and the task of creating biotechnical monsters seemed to flow more smoothly.
"Those were difficult for me to stockpile; they were a gift for joining you. You can't assume I can just casually create that kind of number..." Mr. Blue tried to explain to Duncan, again using the Xenomorphs in his chest to communicate.
But Duncan clearly wasn't listening.
"A week. I want five hundred. Otherwise, you're of no real value to me. Prepare for a chest burst—your life will continue in the form of a Xenomorph," Duncan said, coldly.
He could tolerate their ambitions and any attempts to betray him, but he absolutely couldn't tolerate incompetence.
If they didn't work hard for him, what was the point of them being parasites?
Duncan himself began to accelerate his own plans. He sent out Xenomorphs in teams of five, systematically cleansing New York and surrounding areas of all vampires.
Including the human traitors who had allied with the vampires were all considered hunting targets.
New York, the headquarters of the Vampires, was a place where these beings, benefiting from generations of accumulated wealth, could indulge in the pleasures of life in this lavish city.
Even though it had been cleared by Blade and Duncan in recent times, a considerable population still remained, even as it dwindled rapidly.
Many vampires weren't afraid of Blade; no matter how strong he was, he was still just one person. But they feared Duncan. The power in Duncan's hands grew stronger with each battle, and the numbers of Xenomorphs only continued to increase. This made Duncan their natural enemy.
During the day, Duncan even remotely controlled dozens of Xenomorph teams to scour the streets, searching for vampires. Occasionally, this attracted the attention of some citizens.
The vampires cried out in fear, even using RPGs and other weapons to try to fight off the Xenomorphs. But they quickly realized that the Xenomorph force was rapidly expanding.
The next time, there wouldn't be just five; it would be dozens!
The Xenomorph population was expanding at an incredible rate, and Duncan's actions finally enraged S.H.I.E.L.D. Even if he was hunting vampires, he was doing so with private armed violence, disturbing the previously stable public order, and openly challenging S.H.I.E.L.D.'s maintenance of public order.
With a pale face and still recovering from her injuries, Natasha submitted the report, pushing Fury to the edge of his patience.
"Duncan is getting bolder. Those Xenomorphs now number in the hundreds. If this continues, will he take control of all of New York with these creatures?"
"Right now, he's targeting vampires. Soon it will be super criminals, then ordinary humans. By the end, even stray cats and dogs might find Xenomorphs inside them!"
Fury looked at the reports stacked in front of him, his face darkened with frustration. He couldn't understand what Duncan was trying to achieve. Was he planning to start a war? Why did he have to be so blatantly reckless, not even bothering to keep up appearances?
What truly terrified Fury, however, was the Xenomorphs' reproductive mechanism.
Initially, Fury hadn't thought much of the Xenomorph Queen's reproductive abilities. After all, with only one mother, no matter how many eggs she laid, the species' numbers should still be limited.
But after observing the Queen in the Adamantium cage, a troubling thought crossed his mind: What if Duncan couldn't control too many Xenomorphs, and a few slipped out of control?
Birds could be parasitized, migrating far; parasitized fish could enter oceans that humans couldn't reach…
And then, under certain principles, they could all transform into Queens...
If that happened, would the whole planet be filled with uncontrollable Xenomorphs?
The more Fury understood, the more he favored and believed in the Xenomorphs, but he also understood the terrifying risks of them getting out of control.
This wasn't about assessing Duncan's "talent"—it was about safety!
Right now, it was still under control, only a few hundred Xenomorphs. But what about when...
"To stop Duncan, we'll have to pay a heavy price. Our agents and heroes will suffer casualties when facing Duncan with both the Hammer and the Xenomorph army!"
Fury thought of the Queen he held, rapidly laying eggs under their pheromone instructions and unrelenting nutritional supply. In just a few days, a significant number had already accumulated.
Scientists speculated that this particular Queen's mutation was likely to expand the species, causing her to drastically speed up egg-laying.
But Duncan's own Queen didn't seem to have this ability.
Xenomorphs were creatures that evolved through the fusion of different genes, so such a deviation made sense logically. Of course, it was also possible that Duncan intentionally suppressed his Queen's egg-laying capacity.
A spark of determination and heat flashed in Fury's eyes: "...We'll act as well. We'll use Xenomorphs to defeat Xenomorphs. Duncan will see in despair that we far exceed him in breeding and using Xenomorphs. He's just a lucky fool who accidentally developed Xenomorphs. Only when Xenomorphs are in our hands can they become the perfect, controllable biological weapons that will defend Earth's safety!"
...
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