CH 42: Abomination
As Brise sped toward the Vault, the military installation surrounding the prison came into view long before the prison itself. What should have been a heavily fortified defensive perimeter had instead become another battlefield. Smoke rose from burning vehicles scattered across the snow-covered base while helicopters circled overhead, their machine guns hammering continuously at a single enormous figure striding through the chaos. Tanks fired from defensive positions, missiles streaked across the valley, and hundreds of soldiers maintained disciplined firing lines, yet none of it seemed capable of slowing the green monster rampaging through the facility. Every swing of his arms overturned armored vehicles, shattered bunkers and scattered soldiers in every direction as though they weighed nothing at all.
Angela instinctively eased off the accelerator as Brise approached the fighting.
"Cortana, can you identify that one?" she asked, angling the vehicle's cameras toward another individual tearing through military personnel on the opposite side of the battlefield.
<Identity confirmed,> Cortana answered almost immediately. <Unas the Untouchable. Despite appearances, the title does not refer to his physical unattractiveness. His mutant ability allows him to generate nearly impenetrable force barriers around himself. Conventional attacks are largely ineffective while the barriers remain active.>
Angela nodded thoughtfully before glancing toward the rear seats.
"Regan, your powers should be able to bypass something like that, right?"
"Probably," Regan replied after only a brief consideration. "As long as barriers only protect the body.”
"In that case you won't be fighting alone." Angela looked toward Ava. "Go with her. If something gets through those illusions or Regan needs someone to keep him occupied, you're the better choice."
Ava gave an eager nod before both girls stepped out of Brise, immediately breaking toward Unas as Angela pressed onward. There was no point lingering. Every second counted, and the Vault itself remained the primary objective.
Unfortunately, something else reached the entrance first.
The enormous blast doors burst apart from within.
A towering green creature emerged through the wreckage, his scaled skin streaked with fresh blood while fragments of reinforced steel still clung to his massive frame. He looked less like a man and more like a living weapon, every movement radiating savage strength. Without slowing down, the creature reached toward the approaching Hummer, wrapped both hands around its armored chassis and simply lifted it off the ground.
Inside Brise, both girls lurched violently as gravity abruptly disappeared.
"What the—"
Before anyone could finish speaking, Abomination hurled the several-ton vehicle across the military compound.
Brise spun violently through the air, crashing shoulder-first into the outer wall of the prison. Reinforced armor absorbed the overwhelming majority of the impact, internal stabilizers engaging just before collision to reduce the force transmitted into the passenger compartment, yet the crash still threw the girls hard against their restraints before the Hummer finally landed upright amidst a shower of concrete and twisted steel.
Angela immediately reached for the communicator.
"Requesting backup."
The reply came almost instantly.
"Hi girls."
Angela blinked before looking through the cracked windshield.
Kara hovered casually a few meters outside.
"...You okay?"
Angela stared at her.
"When did you get here?"
"When you requested backup."
She said it with such complete sincerity that nobody questioned it.
Beyond them, Abomination paid the newcomers almost no attention. Military personnel, escaping prisoners, remaining HYDRA operatives—it made little difference to him. Anyone unfortunate enough to enter his path was simply struck aside. A tank attempted to block his advance only for the monster to tear the entire turret free and hurl it through another defensive position, the explosion scattering soldiers across the snow.
Kara's expression gradually lost its usual playfulness.
This wasn't Hercules.
Back then she had overwhelmed her opponent before the fight had truly begun, never giving him the opportunity to demonstrate what he was actually capable of. Since arriving in this world, nobody had forced her to take a battle seriously. Yet simply watching the destruction unfolding before her, she already understood that the creature standing below belonged in an entirely different category from everyone else she had fought so far.
"Stay here," she said quietly.
The next instant she disappeared.
Twin beams of crimson heat vision erupted across the battlefield, carving molten trenches through the frozen ground before slamming directly into Abomination's back. The blast staggered the giant several steps forward, burning through layers of his thick hide and drawing the first genuine roar of pain he had released since escaping the Vault.
His head snapped upward.
The moment he found Kara hovering overhead, he leapt.
The sheer force behind the jump shattered the ground beneath his feet as his enormous body shot skyward with terrifying speed. Kara answered by diving to meet him, her fist colliding head-on with his own high above the battlefield.
The shockwave rolled across the military base like thunder.
For the first time since arriving on Earth, Kara found herself being forced backward.
She crossed hundreds of meters almost instantly before crashing through the side of the prison complex, tearing through reinforced walls and leaving a jagged tunnel through multiple floors before finally coming to a stop amidst collapsing concrete.
"...Okay."
She wiped dust from her shoulder as a faint smile tugged at her lips.
"So that's how strong you are."
Abomination didn't wait.
He crashed through the ruined wall an instant later.
Kara burst forward to meet him.
This time she refused to contest his strength directly. Instead she relied on speed, weaving around every swing while driving rapid punches into his ribs, shoulders and abdomen. Each impact carried enough force to flatten buildings, yet the monster simply absorbed the punishment and continued swinging. Gradually he began adjusting, no longer chasing her movements but predicting where she would appear next. His attacks became broader, abandoning precision in favor of controlling space until one enormous hand suddenly closed around her ankle.
"Oh."
Kara barely had time to react before Abomination slammed her through the frozen ground.
The impact sent cracks racing across the valley floor like spiderwebs while snow erupted hundreds of meters into the air. Before he could strike again she twisted violently, breaking free from his grip and blasting backward into the sky. Cold mist immediately poured from her lungs, engulfing Abomination in a torrent of freezing breath. The already frigid air plummeted even further as layers of ice rapidly spread across his body, locking his legs in place and encasing his torso beneath several meters of solid frost.
For a brief moment the battlefield fell quiet.
Then the ice exploded.
Abomination tore free with a roar, fragments of frozen earth scattering in every direction as he launched himself forward once again. Kara answered with another blast of heat vision, no longer holding back. Twin scarlet beams carved across his chest, burning through scales and flesh alike before leaving behind a deep smoking wound that refused to close immediately.
It wasn't enough.
Despite the injury, Abomination barreled straight through the attack.
His fist connected.
Pain exploded across Kara's face.
Her head snapped sideways as the impact launched her across the battlefield, and before she had fully regained her bearings she felt something warm running across her lips.
She reached up almost absentmindedly.
Her fingertips came away stained red.
Blood.
For a single quiet heartbeat she simply looked at it.
Then her expression changed.
The easygoing smile disappeared.
The restraint vanished with it.
By the time Abomination charged again, Kara had already moved.
She vanished so completely that everyone watching lost sight of her.
The first punch folded Abomination's torso inward before the sound of impact had even reached the ground. The second launched him through one mountain ridge. Kara caught up before he emerged from the collapsing rock, driving him straight through another peak before grabbing him by the throat. Her eyes blazed like miniature suns as another burst of heat vision erupted point-blank into his chest, widening the already burning wound before she accelerated upward, carrying the struggling monster high above the battlefield.
Far below, amidst the shattered snow where Kara's blood had fallen, space distorted almost imperceptibly.
A gloved hand emerged for only the briefest instant.
One crimson drop vanished.
The distortion closed.
Meanwhile, Angela and Alison were still climbing out of Brise after the violent crash. Even with the Hummer's absurd suspension and reinforced interior absorbing most of the impact, neither woman had escaped entirely unscathed. Angela rubbed the side of her head where it had struck the window while Alison steadied herself against the vehicle, still trying to regain her bearings after being thrown around the cabin.
The faint crunch of snow behind her was all the warning Angela needed.
Training took over before conscious thought had the chance to. She dropped her center of gravity, pivoted sharply and swept a powerful low kick behind her. Her boot connected solidly just above someone's ankle, forcing the would-be ambusher to stumble sideways with a pained grunt instead of catching her off guard.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Alison.
Angela's head snapped around just in time to see a compact pistol pressed firmly against the back of Alison's head. Alison had already frozen with both hands raised, wisely choosing not to struggle as the strange-looking man holding her at gunpoint smiled smugly. His head possessed an unmistakably egg-like shape, making him look almost ridiculous despite the very real danger he posed.
"Come on now," Egghead said casually. "You don't want your friend's head blown off over something silly, do you?"
Angela's expression remained calm.
Against someone standing that close, she was reasonably confident she could dodge the instant he pulled the trigger.
Alison couldn't.
"What do you want?" she asked evenly, carefully keeping her hands where he could see them.
The second man, still rubbing the leg Angela had kicked moments earlier, flicked the mechanical tail extending behind him with visible irritation before answering.
"What everyone wants."
"Freedom."
Angela recognized him immediately.
Scorpion.
"As you can probably tell," Angela replied without taking her eyes off Egghead's pistol, "I'm not exactly in a position to grant pardons."
Egghead chuckled.
"No, but you can certainly help us get a little farther away from here." He gestured toward Brise with the barrel of his gun. "Hand over the vehicle."
Angela looked at Alison for a brief moment before letting out a small sigh.
"...Fine."
She took a slow step backward.
"It's yours. Just don't hurt my partner. The key's still inside."
The simplicity of the answer actually caught both escaped prisoners slightly off guard. They exchanged a quick glance, each clearly expecting at least some resistance before receiving the armored vehicle so easily.
"See?" Egghead grinned. "Now that's a sensible decision."
Keeping the gun trained on Alison until the very last second, both criminals cautiously climbed inside Brise before immediately slamming the heavy doors shut behind them.
Several seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Egghead frowned.
"The engine's already running..."
He reached for the controls.
Nothing responded.
The steering wheel refused to unlock.
The pedals remained completely lifeless.
Even the gear selector wouldn't move no matter how much force he applied.
"What..."
He immediately began pulling apart the dashboard with surprising familiarity, convinced some hidden security system had locked him out. Yet no matter what wires he disconnected or panels he removed, Brise simply ignored every attempt to seize control. The vehicle acknowledged only its authorized owners, leaving him staring at technology he couldn't even begin to override.
Outside, Angela calmly produced a second key from her pocket.
"I was wondering how long it'd take them."
She pressed a single button.
Inside Brise, hidden vents silently opened.
A thin stream of pale smoke began pouring into the cabin.
At almost the same moment, one of the interior displays flickered to life before large white letters appeared across the screen.
A smoky Scorpion with omelette on the side seems to be ready.
"...What?" Egghead muttered.
Scorpion, meanwhile, had already abandoned subtlety.
With a furious roar he slammed both fists into the reinforced side window. The impact echoed throughout the cabin without leaving so much as a crack. He struck again, this time driving his mechanical tail into the glass with enough force to dent ordinary armored vehicles, yet Brise's window didn't even vibrate. Growling in frustration, he threw himself against the door, planted both feet and pulled with every ounce of his enhanced strength.
Nothing moved.
The smoke continued to rise.
Egghead's breathing gradually became heavier as his vision began to blur around the edges. He reached once more for the dashboard, fingers no longer responding with the same precision they had only moments earlier.
"...Open..."
Scorpion fared little better.
His punches became slower.
His tail drooped.
Even standing upright was becoming unexpectedly difficult.
"...This... isn't..."
Neither man managed to finish the sentence.
Almost simultaneously, both criminals slumped unconscious inside the sealed Hummer, leaving only the faint hiss of the ventilation system as the knockout gas continued circulating through the cabin.
Angela looked through the window at the two unconscious prisoners before giving a satisfied nod.
"Well..."
She slipped the second key back into her pocket.
"That was easier than I expected.”