{Chapter: 86 - West Coast Island And Raina}
Chan Ho nodded and relayed the events of the past few days. "Nick Fury didn't object to us taking the island. No payment required. However…" His voice slowed slightly, "He made a small request. He wants access to study the spaceship. Not for SHIELD, though—for Tony Stark."
Aiden's eyes narrowed as his smirk deepened. "Tony, huh? So that's how they want to play it."
Chan Ho nodded solemnly. "Fury is trying to make it seem harmless. He claims SHIELD's tech isn't as advanced as Tony's anyway, and since Tony's part of the Avengers, he can just get whatever data he wants through him."
Aiden chuckled darkly and shook his head. "Trying to trick me through the backdoor? Fury's clever, I'll give him that."
He tapped his finger against the console, his smile cold. "Tell Blink, if Fury doesn't agree to a clean deal, we'll just buy the island outright. As for studying this ship…" He stepped forward and gently tapped the steel floor with his foot. A low, resonating hum responded to his presence.
"They can dream," Aiden said calmly. "Even if they had full access, they couldn't replicate it. This isn't just advanced science—it's a fusion of Dark Elf engineering and ancient rune magic. The core is powered by stabilized miniature black-hole reactors. There's nothing on Earth—or any other human system—that could mimic it."
Chan Ho nodded again and opened a secure channel to Blink.
—
At that moment, Blink was seated across from Director Nick Fury in a high-security conference room at SHIELD headquarters. A few holographic displays floated in the air, showing various global threat levels, energy readings from the spaceship, and satellite scans of the West Coast island Aiden was targeting.
Fury leaned forward, resting his elbows on the metal table. "Look, I'm not asking for much. Stark just wants to study the energy readings. We're not trying to reverse engineer the damn thing. We know better than that."
Blink's expression remained impassive, until her earpiece buzzed. She paused, listened for a moment, then abruptly stood up. "Sorry, Director. The boss is back. He says we'll just purchase the island ourselves."
Her sudden departure caught Fury off guard.
"Wait!" he barked, standing up and holding out his hand.
Blink turned to look at him, one brow raised slightly.
Fury sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Alright. I'll push the paperwork to get the island assigned to your people immediately. But in exchange—he owes me one favor. Just one. When the time comes and we need him, he doesn't say no."
Blink studied him for a moment, then nodded. "I'll tell him what you said."
With a flash of violet energy, a portal opened behind her. She stepped through and vanished, leaving Fury alone, watching the residual shimmer of magic with narrowed eyes.
"This Aiden kid's dangerous," Fury muttered to himself. "But damn if he isn't useful."
—
Back aboard the ship, Blink reappeared in front of Aiden and relayed the message.
Aiden leaned back in the captain's chair, one leg resting lazily over the other. His lips curled into a smirk. "That old fox knows this ship is worth more than the earth itself. He's not paying in cash—he's trying to buy a future favor. Smart."
His eyes sparkled with amusement. "It's fine. He won't get what he wants from the ship anyway. Let him think he won something."
He stood up, his cloak billowing behind him. "Besides… I'm still waiting for Hydra to make their move inside SHIELD. Once that happens, I'll 'help' the remaining good guys clean house. Earn some global goodwill and come out looking like a damn hero."
He turned to the Dark Elf. "Take me to the island."
Without a word, the Dark Elf strode to the console and pressed his hand against a glowing rune. The spaceship rumbled softly as it shifted course, speeding through the stratosphere toward the West Coast.
—
Within the hour, the ship descended silently onto the designated island. From above, it resembled a perfect crescent of land wrapped around a sparkling bay. Dense forests lined the interior, and tall cliffs protected the coastline. Remote, uninhabited, but beautiful—and more importantly, isolated.
The ramp lowered, and Aiden stepped out onto the soil, breathing in the salty air. Chan Ho followed closely behind.
"It's not huge, but for our needs, it's perfect," Aiden said.
He looked around thoughtfully. "Remote, off-grid, no neighbors for miles. That's not a drawback—that's an advantage. Especially with what we plan to build."
He turned back to the group gathered near the ramp—Blink, Marrow, and a few support agents he'd barrowed. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned gold out of inventory.
From seemingly nowhere, gold bars and stacks of cash materialized in a gleaming avalanche of wealth. They landed softly, forming a small hill at his feet. The group stared, slack-jawed.
"This is about $800 million," Aiden announced. "More than enough to finalize the island's purchase. I want the legal documentation handled through our offshore shell corporations—quietly, with no public notice. Make sure no governments can touch it later."
Blink immediately set to work, already opening new portals to secure channels.
The others glanced between each other, wondering how in the world he summoned such a fortune without even breaking a sweat. But no one dared ask.
Then Aiden turned to Chan Ho.
"You're coming with me."
He raised his hand once more, and the Reality Ring flared. A dome of iridescent energy enveloped Chan Ho, lifting him into the air. Aiden himself rose a moment later, his eyes glowing faintly with otherworldly power as they both shot into the sky.
The rest watched in silent awe as their leader disappeared into the clouds—an enigmatic force, powerful beyond imagination, and now setting the stage for something far bigger than any of them could predict.
---
Aiden descended slowly from the sky like a shadow stretching across the ground, carried by an unseen force. The winds swirled gently around him as his black shirt billowed behind him, casting a domineering silhouette under the mid-afternoon sun. In his hand, he was with Chan Ho.
They landed with a quiet thud, Chan Ho stumbling forward and catching himself on a patch of gravel. He looked up, blinking away dust and surprise. Before them stood a massive underground facility carved into the side of a rocky hill. The entrance was metallic, camouflaged to blend with its arid surroundings, and lined with mounted security cameras and hidden defense systems. The surrounding area looked barren—no civilians, no roads, just dry earth and scattered rock.
Chan Ho pulled himself to his feet and took a deep breath. "Where… where are we?" he asked, his voice edged with curiosity and the faintest tremor of unease.
"This," Aiden replied calmly, his eyes fixated on the structure ahead, "is the place that can make you stronger."
His words weren't dramatic—they were a simple truth. But to Chan Ho, they sounded like a prophecy.
As he spoke, the Reality Ring on Aiden's finger glowed with a subtle but intense crimson light. Energy pulsed through it like a heartbeat. In an instant, his attire transformed before Chan Ho's eyes. Gone was his casual wear; now Aiden stood tall in a tight, obsidian-black combat suit with crimson accents lining the edges. Over his shoulders, a sleek cloak fluttered, etched with glowing runes and the word 'WAR' embossed in a language both ancient and modern. The word shimmered with a faint dark green light, as though alive.
"Whoa…" Chan Ho whispered, awestruck. "That's so cool!"
"This design will serve as the standard for our War Legion uniforms," Aiden said, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve. "Practical. Durable. Symbolic. And most importantly—people will know it."
He smiled faintly. The Reality Ring's ability to fabricate armor and clothing on command was something even the most advanced Earth technology couldn't replicate. This was magic and science fused together. A product of knowledge lost in entirely different multiverses.
"Let's move," he said simply.
They began walking forward, Aiden with slow, deliberate steps while Chan Ho followed a bit more anxiously, eyes darting around.
As they approached the entrance, the facility came to life. Hidden turrets deployed from concealed compartments, locking onto them with a low mechanical hum. Infrared lasers swept the ground. Red lights pulsed across security consoles embedded in the steel frame.
Then came the sounds—marching boots. Dozens of armed guards poured out of the side doors. Each one wore dark uniforms, faces concealed behind tactical visors. Their rifles were raised, each one humming with a charged kanetic energy.
Chan Ho flinched instinctively, hands raised halfway, but Aiden didn't even slow his pace. His eyes narrowed, and his expression remained serene. The very presence of his confidence caused the guards to hesitate, fingers twitching near the triggers of their weapons.
Then, a new sound echoed through the tense atmosphere. The sharp clicking of high heels on concrete.
Out from the shadows of the inner hallway walked a woman, her form elegant, her stride confident. She wore a flowery summer dress, utterly out of place amid the armed security. Her raven-black hair was tied into a sleek braid, and her red lipstick was applied with surgical precision. Her entire presence screamed charisma and danger—someone who smiled as easily as she killed.
"Raina," Aiden greeted coolly, not even blinking.
She stopped a few meters in front of him, folding her arms under her chest. Her eyes flicked briefly to Chan Ho, then returned to Aiden with forced amusement. "I didn't expect to see you here," she said, though her voice carried an edge of wariness.
She was trying to sound confident, but Aiden could sense her inner turmoil. He could practically feel her heartbeat increasing. She knew who he was. Everyone in her field did. Aiden wasn't just powerful—he was the anomaly. The man who absorbed the Extremis virus and remained stable. No fever, no overload, no self-destruction. He became stronger instead.
Scientists wanted to study him. Secret organizations wanted to dissect him. Governments wanted to monitor him. But none had succeeded.
*****
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