You took away their fangs, so they found new ones. From the very beginning, your enemies have changed along with the shifts in actions and worldlines.
'Whoosh—!' A streak of fire descended from the sky.
'Boom—!' A silver-gray iron suit crashed onto the asphalt road, landing right in front of Nick Fury's car, cracking the pavement beneath it.
'Clang—!' The suit's silver-white mask illuminated with red glowing eyes, casting an ominous shadow over Nick Fury's already troubled expression.
"Is that… Rhodey?" Fury stared at the War Machine standing before him. "Friend or foe?"
"CTOS threat analysis confirmed. Target classification: Hostile. Immediate defensive action recommended."
Before Cortana could finish issuing her warning, War Machine raised both arms.
The repulsors in his palms hummed as they charged, locking onto Fury's car without hesitation.
"Holy shit! Motherfucker!" Fury cursed, yanking the steering wheel. "What the hell kind of day is this?!"
'Boom—!' A high-energy pulse blast fired from War Machine's hands, striking the armored SUV mid-turn.
The explosion's shockwave sent the vehicle flipping through the air.
"Fuck!" Fury let out another string of expletives, gripping the wheel tightly as the car tumbled in midair.
He did everything he could to avoid slamming his head into any of the vehicle's more inconveniently placed features.
'Crash—!' The armored car, nicknamed "Eggshell," landed on its side with a violent thud, smoke hissing from the impact.
"Cortana! Damage report!" Fury shook his head to clear the ringing, his gaze locked on War Machine through the car's holographic display.
"Did Kagura give me anything in this car that can take down Iron Man?"
"Weapons system offline. Energy shield failure. Arc reactor output at 36%."
Cortana's assessment continued. "Armor integrity at 54%. Immediate evacuation recommended."
"Evacuate?! Where the hell am I supposed to evacuate to? That's War Machine! The military's version of Iron Man!"
Fury's eyes widened. "Are you telling me to go out there and die?! Just get me out of here!"
"Propulsion system failure. Engine offline."
"WTF! I just said your gear was top-tier, and now it's completely trashed?!"
'Boom—!'
Before Fury could finish ranting, War Machine fired another blast at the overturned car.
"Dammit! Somebody at Rhodes Island Industries better think of something fast!"
"Communications system malfunction. Cloud data processing unavailable. Unable to formulate an effective response."
"Just MOVE!"
Fury unbuckled his seatbelt and chambered a round in his pistol. "Open the damn door!"
"Remote control system failure. Electronic locks unresponsive."
"Is there anything in this piece of junk that actually works?!"
"The air conditioning system is fully operational."
As Fury found himself completely out of options, War Machine approached, weapons primed.
He wasn't about to let Fury breathe a second longer.
The suit's entire arsenal deployed—a .50 caliber rotary cannon unfolded from his back, shoulder-mounted micro-missiles revealed their silver warheads, and repulsors whined with renewed energy.
"Cortana! Open the damn door!"
"System error. Hatch unresponsive."
Tch…
Fury pulled out his oddly shaped pager and started typing.
'If I die, the 'Insight Project' will likely continue. Avenge me and the others. Find out who's really behind this and take them all down.'
"External access detected. Activating hidden module."
Just as Fury was preparing to accept his grim fate, Cortana's voice delivered an unexpected message.
"External access? What do you mean? The communications system is fried. And what the hell do you mean by 'hidden module'?!"
"This is an independent subsystem. Mr. Fury, please remain seated, fasten your seatbelt, and keep your hands and head inside at all times."
"Do not touch anything, including the steering wheel."
"WTF?!"
Fury was utterly confused. "Cortana, what 'external access' are you talking about? Are you broken, or did I mishear? You're telling me to change my sitting posture while I wait to die?!"
"Please comply." With a final warning, Cortana activated the hidden system.
All holographic displays shut off, and every subsystem—including the still-functional air conditioning—went offline.
Energy from the car's systems converged beneath Fury's seat, and a bright blue glow ignited beneath him.
"Oh, hell no! Is this some kind of ejection seat?!"
"'Prism Eggshell' system activated. Please brace yourself."
Before Fury could react, a transparent membrane enveloped him, and suddenly—
"WTF? WTF? WTF?!"
A violent jolt rocked him.
"Eliminate him."
A cold voice crackled through War Machine's comms.
"Understood. Proceeding with complete eradication." Rhodey responded with a mechanical calmness, pressing the fire button on his HUD.
'BOOM BOOM BOOM—SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!'
War Machine unleashed hellfire.
The battlefield was consumed in explosions and fire, bullets and energy blasts hammering Fury's armored car until nothing remained of its once-impressive defenses.
'Zzzzt… BOOM!'
A brilliant blue flash erupted—the Arc Reactor went critical.
The resulting explosion incinerated everything in its radius, engulfing the entire area in a pillar of fire.
As the smoke settled, all that remained of "Eggshell" was charred debris. There was no trace of Nick Fury.
Not that it was surprising. An Arc Reactor meltdown was devastating—no organic matter would survive. Everything would be vaporized in an instant.
War Machine scanned the wreckage, ensuring there were no anomalies before opening a comm channel.
"Mission accomplished. Nick Fury is dead. The vehicle was completely destroyed. No chance of escape."
"Have you confirmed?"
"Yes. No one could survive an explosion of that magnitude—not even Captain America."
"Excellent. We're one step closer to bringing a new order to this world. Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra." Rhodey echoed the words, his voice devoid of emotion.
With that, War Machine took off, vanishing into the clouds…
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