Sitting in the truck, Andy suddenly spoke up. "Father, I think I hear something above us."
His sister, Lauren, nodded. "I hear it too."
"Stop the vehicle," Baron Strucker ordered. He had also caught the low rumble overhead and knew their convoy had been discovered.
As they stepped out of the truck, a massive warship decloaked, its sheer size casting a looming shadow over the road ahead, blocking their path.
Baron Strucker immediately recognized it—this was Garus' Legion warship.
"Whoa, that's so cool!" Andy exclaimed, his mouth agape.
Lauren smacked him on the head. "Cool? That's the enemy's ship! We need to take it down."
"Right..." Andy quickly adjusted his mindset, realizing the danger they were in. Their opponent was clearly not here for a friendly chat.
They weren't sure if their powers could affect a warship of this scale, but they activated them nonetheless. Their eyes began to glow with a golden light.
The Legion warship hovered above them, unmoving. From the ship, Garus leapt down.
"Baron Strucker, I assume you're the one who captured that idiot Tony?"
"Garus, Headmaster of the Mutant Academy," Strucker responded cautiously. The Extremis virus coursing through his veins filled him with confidence, but his instincts told him he was outmatched. "I believe we can talk this out. I have no intention of being your enemy."
Andy and Lauren, still focusing their powers, were baffled when nothing seemed to change—the ship remained stable in the air, and Garus stood unaffected.
What they didn't know was that the Legion warship wasn't powered by conventional technology. Their abilities had no effect—well, aside from disrupting the ship's cloaking device.
"Are those two mutants?" Garus eyed Andy and Lauren with mild curiosity.
"Lauren, Andy, stand down," Baron Strucker ordered. Seeing his children activating their abilities, he quickly signaled Hydra soldiers to pull them back.
"Bring Stark forward." At Strucker's command, Hydra soldiers dragged Tony Stark out of the truck. "This has nothing to do with Hydra."
Tony, now face-to-face with Garus, looked sheepish. He had come to dismantle Hydra, only to end up their prisoner. Still, he reassured himself—Garus should be able to handle this.
"I know of your ties with the U.S. government. Why don't we negotiate?"
"Negotiate? I don't see the point," Garus said, unsheathing his weapon.
A searing ball of energy formed nearby, growing hotter by the second. Tony's eyes widened in alarm. "Hey, wait! Let's not be hasty, Garus! He's about to kill me!"
Baron Strucker smirked. "You don't want Iron Man to die, do you?"
"Go ahead," Garus replied, unfazed. "If anything, that'd make my acquisition of Stark Industries even easier."
Strucker hesitated, caught off guard by the response. In that instant, Garus unleashed an invisible wave of soul energy, disorienting him.
It was all the time Garus needed. With a flick of his wrist, he activated Death's Grasp, yanking Tony to safety in an instant.
Strucker snapped out of his daze just in time to see Stark freed from his clutches. His heart sank.
"Garus, that wasn't funny," Tony muttered, still rattled. The energy blast had come within inches of vaporizing him. "And that bit about buying my company—were you serious?"
"Nope. But seriously, how many times have I saved you now?" Garus asked, turning his attention to Strucker, whose body had begun radiating an ominous red glow. "You go on ahead. I'll deal with him."
Tony hesitated. "Garus, that guy's no joke. He injected himself with Extremis. My armor melted like butter against him."
Extremis, huh? Garus had already suspected as much, but something about Strucker's abilities felt... off.
Even before Strucker reached him, Garus could feel the blistering heat emanating from the man. Death Spores pulsed around him, forming explosive projectiles, while Strucker conjured orbs of molten energy, hurling them with deadly precision.
That wasn't a power normally associated with Extremis soldiers.
A green Anti-Magic Shield materialized around Garus, absorbing the incoming blasts. He had no love for extreme heat.
Strucker lunged, and Garus met him with a clean sword strike, severing his arm. The dismembered limb hit the ground, releasing a plume of smoke.
The battlefield, deep within the Russian Federation's frigid terrain, saw its ice and snow melting within a hundred-meter radius. Even the Hydra soldiers had retreated, unable to withstand the heat.
Within seconds, Strucker's severed arm regenerated entirely, as if it had never been cut. His regeneration was on par with Logan's—perhaps even superior.
Even Strucker himself was stunned by his rapid healing. The revelation only emboldened him.
"Garus, I'm not afraid of you," Strucker snarled, his body pulsating with the fusion of Death Spores and Extremis. He summoned another barrage of energy spheres.
The bombardment reduced the ground beneath Garus to molten lava, only for it to solidify again under a sudden blast of frost.
Then, shadowy hands erupted from the ground beneath Strucker, grasping his legs. Immobilized, he had no time to react before Garus surged forward, his blade wreathed in frost.
Fire and ice collided, shattering the terrain. Garus drove his sword into Strucker's chest.
"Goodbye."
Frostmourne's power activated. Strucker gasped as an irresistible force drained the very essence from his body.
Darkness consumed his vision.
His body collapsed, lifeless. His soul had been extracted, leaving nothing but an empty husk.
Most enhanced or mutated individuals lacked strong mental fortitude. Their spirits were of no use to Garus—they wouldn't strengthen him in any meaningful way.
"Father!" Andy and Lauren screamed. In their panic, they bolted from the truck before anyone could stop them.
"You monster! Why did you kill him? My father never did anything wrong!"
Dark energy coiled around them, lifting them off the ground.
"Your father was no saint," Garus said coldly. "You're coming with me to the Mutant Academy."
The sun was beginning to rise in the United States, and Garus still had unfinished business. The Undead Legion had yet to return to their world after purging Hydra's forces.
It was time to head back.
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