Madame Hydra stood on the rooftop opposite Stark Tower, looking down at the city she was about to conquer.
Her plan was simple: use Sandman to create massive chaos, have Grim Reaper infiltrate and assassinate key figures, while she commanded the Hydra army from the rear to occupy strategic locations.
As for Baron Zemo, Madame Hydra could not command him; his target was merely the rumored, newly awakened Captain America, and he had little interest in the other superheroes.
Madame Hydra didn't care. Although most of the Hydra agents embedded within SHIELD had been weeded out by Hawkeye and Black Widow, those spies had still managed to relay critical intelligence to her at the final hour:
SHIELD was currently in the midst of internal strife, making this the perfect opportunity for Hydra to gradually take over the city.
Madame Hydra felt a faint surge of excitement, a slight flush even rising to her face.
Since Red Skull went missing after World War II, the true leader of Hydra had always been Madame Hydra.
Although there was no shortage of individuals like Baron Zemo who joined Hydra but had shallow ties to it—essentially operating as mere partners—Madame Hydra didn't care.
"Begin," she whispered, her voice transmitting into the ears of every Hydra soldier via the communicator.
Instantly, thousands of Hydra soldiers, with vacant gazes like the walking dead, dispersed. One faction, led by Grim Reaper, stealthily made their way toward the residences of government officials living in Manhattan.
Another faction began committing indiscriminate acts of destruction, aimed at drawing the attention of the New York military and government.
Madame Hydra believed that Iron Man and the others would certainly not sit idly by. On the contrary, every command she handed down was designed to divert the superheroes' attention.
Receiving the execution orders were not just the Hydra soldiers, but also Sandman.
His body swelled in size once more, transforming into a massive sandstorm that swept across Manhattan, swallowing up vehicles and buildings along its path.
It was still nighttime. Although Manhattan had already experienced two explosions at Hell's Kitchen and City Hall, most people were still fast asleep.
Thus, the destruction caused by Sandman was mostly superficial for now; there were no scenes of swirling grit peeling away the skin and muscle of pedestrians layer by layer yet.
Just as Sandman began his move, Daredevil suddenly tilted his ear:
"I detect a wave of seismic activity. It feels like a sandstorm."
Iron Man, Tony, immediately stood up and walked to the window, watching the swirling yellow sand flash in the distance.
"Jarvis, analyze the sandstorm pattern and trajectory," Tony said.
"Confirmed to be the Sandman you encountered in the Adirondack Mountains. Trajectory analysis indicates his target is Times Square, sir," the Jarvis AI quickly responded.
"I'll handle him," Electro, Max Dillon, said. "The high temperature from my electrical currents should be able to gradually crystallize the sand grains making up Sandman's body. Besides, no one here has a better countermeasure than me."
Iron Man nodded:
"No problem. Aside from Sandman, there are three others: Grim Reaper, Baron Zemo, and Madame Hydra. I'll go after Grim Reaper."
"I'll take care of Baron Zemo," Hawkeye stood up.
Black Widow and Jessica Jones exchanged a glance. Jessica Jones, who had been despondent until now because her boyfriend, Luke Cage, had been knocked unconscious in an explosion, spoke up first:
"I'll go take down Madame Hydra."
Daredevil turned to face Black Widow:
"Looks like our job is to handle those Hydra soldiers."
"I infiltrated the Adirondack Mountains base for a while; there were over three thousand Hydra soldiers there." Black Widow raised an eyebrow. "This won't be an easy job."
Just as they were about to joke around to ease the current tension, Daredevil suddenly stood up:
"No time to chat. I sense someone is already fighting."
"Who? Batman?" The first person Iron Man thought of was Peter Parker.
"No. I've never met him, yet he feels somewhat familiar," Daredevil shook his head. "Six steel claws have extended from his knuckles."
"It's Wolverine," Hawkeye said. He was the first to push open the glass door, standing on the helipad before leaping straight down.
Mid-air, Hawkeye twisted his body, drew his bow, and notched an arrow. He fired a shot that anchored itself firmly into the wall of Stark Tower while deploying a cable connected to his belt.
A few seconds later, Hawkeye landed on the ground below and quickly melted into the pitch-black night.
Iron Man glanced at the time. It was already 3:00 AM.
Without saying anything more, Iron Man closed his metal faceplate with a metallic clank and began searching the city for Grim Reaper.
He recalled that a portion of the guy's body had undergone cybernetic modification—specifically, his entire right arm had been replaced by a high-tech scythe.
Madame Hydra's abilities were unknown. Baron Zemo seemed to be an ordinary man wearing a purple cowl. Sandman was being handled by Electro.
Iron Man was confident he could handle Grim Reaper alone.
However, even as he flew into the sky, Tony Stark was still puzzled by one question:
What exactly caused Hydra to suddenly choose tonight to launch an attack on New York?
This was a question that not even Electro, whose brain could interface with the network, could understand.
On the top floor of Stark Tower, Daredevil, Black Widow, and Electro exchanged looks.
The first two immediately turned and walked toward the elevator.
Halfway there, seeing that Electro, Max Dillon, was still standing still, Black Widow couldn't help but urge him:
"Hey, what are you waiting for?"
Electro seemed to have been lost in thought just now. Seeing Black Widow call out to him, he smiled somewhat apologetically:
"Sorry, I was wondering why Hydra concentrated their attack tonight."
"The elevator is here," Daredevil noted, hearing the chime of the elevator reaching the top floor.
"Get in," Black Widow continued to urge Electro.
Electro, Max Dillon, waved his hand, signaling that he didn't need it.
Under Black Widow's puzzled gaze, the yellow windbreaker he wore was rapidly burned to ashes, and streaks of golden electricity crackled across the surface of his body.
In the blink of an eye, Max Dillon transformed into a humanoid being of pure energy.
This was the first time Black Widow had truly seen Electro's true form, and she finally understood why Iron Man had said Sandman needed to be left to Max Dillon.
Electro vanished into a bolt of lightning, chasing after Sandman in the direction of Times Square.
Black Widow and Daredevil took the elevator, arriving downstairs a few minutes later.
The moment she stepped out of Stark Tower's main entrance, Black Widow immediately entered a combat stance.
The scent of blood on the street outside was so thick it could barely dissipate. Blood pooled into small rivers on the ground, and mangled corpses were scattered here and there.
Looking along the trail of these Hydra corpses, Wolverine was using his steel claws to frantically slaughter every Hydra soldier in sight.
The moonlight tonight was quite dim, but fortunately, there were streetlights.
However, when the light from the streetlamps fell upon the blood-drenched Wolverine, it added an extra layer of terror to his already frightening appearance.
A normal person, even a well-trained soldier, would instinctively recoil upon seeing this scene. Yet those Hydra soldiers acted as if they had no senses; even if they were sliced into several pieces upon the first encounter, they unhesitatingly used their numbers to fill the gap.
Daredevil lacked sight, but his super-senses allowed him to notice all of this.
The two hesitated for a moment, then simultaneously drew their batons from their lower backs and thighs, joining the battle.
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