After completing their initial round of reports, S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel continued scouring Hydra's underground complex, gathering whatever research data remained. Unfortunately, there was little left concerning the zombie virus. What they did find appeared to focus primarily on alien Chitauri technology.
During the investigation, the team encountered several stray zombie test subjects — weak, shambling creatures that were quickly neutralized. None of the agents were harmed.
At least, not yet.
"Director, we've discovered something enormous beneath the fortress," one of the field agents reported urgently. "A massive steel-bodied creature — it matches the description of the Leviathan, one of the Chitauri's war beasts from the New York invasion."
Nick Fury's expression hardened. "So Hydra really did get their hands on something they shouldn't have. Check everything. I want to know exactly what else they've been experimenting on."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers spread out across the vast chamber, inspecting rows of alien weapons, metallic husks, and shattered machinery. They found pools of half-melted alien alloy and an empty high-security vault — its door torn apart from the inside.
Before they could report their findings, a low, rumbling growl echoed behind them.
A dreadful pressure filled the air — primal, suffocating, alive.
The agents turned as one… and froze.
From the far end of the chamber, a pair of colossal jaws opened, revealing rows of serrated, blade-like teeth.
The Zombie Leviathan had awakened.
With a bone-rattling roar, the monstrous creature lunged forward. Its jaws clamped shut with a thunderous CRUNCH, devouring steel, concrete, and soldiers alike. Blood and debris sprayed through the air as the creature tore through the underground complex. The ceiling split apart, concrete slabs raining down while twisted steel beams bent and snapped like twigs.
The empty vault — the one that once contained the scepter — was struck by the Leviathan's massive bulk and slammed deep into the ground, vanishing beneath tons of rubble.
"It's… it's alive! It's moving again!"
The surviving agents panicked, opening fire with assault rifles and rocket launchers. But their bullets and explosives barely left scratches on the Leviathan's iron-hard carapace. Not even their heaviest weaponry could breach the armor that had once withstood Iron Man's most advanced ordnance.
Their desperate resistance only enraged the creature further.
With a whip-like motion, its massive tail swept through the chamber, pulverizing concrete walls and sending fragments flying like shrapnel. The shards tore through armor and flesh alike, cutting down the remaining soldiers in an instant.
"Something just went active down there — what the hell happened!?" Fury demanded over the comms.
Static crackled through the channel. Then the feed went dead.
Moments later, the entire Hydra fortress shook violently. From beneath the earth, the Zombie Leviathan burst forth, its massive form tearing through the fortress foundation. Half the ancient castle collapsed as the creature's bulk erupted into the open air, throwing human bodies, stone, and debris skyward before all came crashing down in a storm of ruin.
Fury stared at the scene unfolding on the monitors, disbelief etched across his face.
"How is that thing moving? The Chitauri link was severed years ago. Has another portal opened?"
The question sent a chill through the command deck. If the Chitauri were somehow reestablishing contact, S.H.I.E.L.D. was in no position to handle a second invasion.
But Maria Hill quickly dismissed that fear. "Negative, sir. Our spectrum scans show no abnormal gamma signatures in the region. Unless we've got a nuclear-level interference field, there's no active portal."
Fury frowned. "Then what the hell brought that thing back to life?"
One unexplained crisis after another — the pattern was becoming all too clear.
The zombie virus had already drawn in multiple factions: Hydra, AIM, and now — somehow — the Chitauri. Fury's instincts screamed that they were chasing shadows, being led further and further from the truth. But by whom, and to what end, he still couldn't see.
Regardless, there was no time to dwell on it. The Zombie Leviathan was tearing what remained of the fortress apart. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford to lose what little data they'd managed to recover.
"Contain that thing!" Fury ordered. "Whatever it takes — keep it away from the ruins!"
Captain America led the surviving troops to the fortress's outer perimeter, manning the automated defense turrets that Hydra had left behind.
"Focus all fire on that thing!" he shouted.
The night sky lit up with streams of cannon fire and missile trails. Explosions rippled across the Leviathan's armored hide like fireworks bursting against a mountain. The air trembled with the sheer intensity of the bombardment — the creature's silhouette illuminated in flashes of white and gold.
But when the light faded, the Leviathan remained — unscathed.
Its armor was far thicker than any Earth-made alloy, designed to withstand even the Avengers' most advanced weaponry. The concentrated firepower of S.H.I.E.L.D. was little more than an annoyance.
With a guttural roar, the beast dived. Its massive form slammed into the ground, shattering what was left of the Hydra stronghold. Soldiers scattered — too slow. The shockwave threw bodies and debris into the air, crushing vehicles and artillery alike.
Captain America barely survived, his vibranium shield absorbing the brunt of the impact. He dragged Natasha Romanoff to safety behind a collapsed wall, both breathing heavily.
When they looked around, no one else was left standing.
In the blink of an eye, the once-victorious S.H.I.E.L.D. task force had been annihilated.
---
And from a nearby mountain cave, Marcus watched it all unfold.
Arms crossed, he gazed upon the devastation with quiet satisfaction. The Zombie Leviathan's power exceeded even his expectations. Against a world stripped of its gods and geniuses — Thor gone, Tony Stark vanished, Hulk lost to madness — the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. had no answer for such a creature.
It was the perfect distraction.
By the time Fury's agents finished sifting through the rubble, any trace of Loki's Scepter — or Marcus himself — would be long gone.
He smirked faintly.
'If one monster can cause this much chaos… imagine what an army could do.'
Opening another rift through the Tesseract's energy link was not impossible. The connection between Loki's Scepter and the Cube still pulsed faintly across the void. With the minds of Tony Stark, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, Green Goblin, and Whiplash all working under his command, reactivating that portal was only a matter of time.
And when that day came, the world would tremble once more — not before the Chitauri, but before the will of Marcus himself.
The only missing piece now…
Was the Cosmic Cube, resting deep within Asgard's vaults.
_____
T/N:
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