I'm Alexander Pierce's son

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***

In the jungles of an unknown country a man of short stature was running, pursued by innumerable fearsome monsters. Each of the pursuers had a humanoid appearance with four arms ending in long clawed fingers. Their faces had no eyes or other organs for orientation in space, only a huge maw full of razor-sharp fangs occupying the entire headspace. But they always knew exactly where Jim was hiding.

Though the monsters were humanoid in shape, their mode of locomotion always included all six limbs. That made them almost impossible to escape. And only a lot of pre-prepared mines and traps allowed Turn still alive. But today his luck had finally run out, and the number of creatures that had found his shelter had exceeded all imaginable limits. Jim couldn't remember when he and the boys had been in this hell, but he clearly remembered their faces and screams as the creatures tore his friends to pieces. Every day there were fewer and fewer of them and one day he was the only one left. Perhaps he was the luckiest or rather the unluckiest of the Strike. There was no point to his survival. He had never been able to find the end of this jungle and could only run every time he encountered a pack of these monsters.

-I'll at least leave on my own terms. - Said into the void Jim, preparing the biggest of his traps beneath him. He waited for the wave of creatures to get as close to him as possible so he could make a nice getaway, taking more monsters to the afterlife behind him. And here came the moment when he was surrounded and from all sides of the monsters rushed at him wanting to tear off a piece of fresh meat from Jim.

-"Guys, I'm coming to you. - Said Turn pressed the button and did not wait for the explosion so necessary to his soul. For some reason the charges he had prepared and tested many times before didn't work and now he was buried among the dark bodies of the creatures who wanted to take a bigger bite.

***

In a rather poor and dirty flat, a man sat on a wheelchair with a blank stare. He himself was going through an inner hell. His mind was trying to accept the reality of what had happened to his body. The man had no limbs and now he didn't know how to live. At first he had hope for his organisation, but when he tried to contact it he realised that no one needed him now and everyone had forgotten about him. He had become waste material, rubbish for Shield and Hydra. And now he saw no way out of his situation. All the ex-military man was capable of now was to claw at the throat of the enemy who leaned towards him out of pity. So he made a decision and since his jaw was still working and his teeth were strong enough he would do his last job.

***

The light returned a second later, but now there was only one of me standing at the fork. And it was shocking. With my hearing, I should have noticed any movement or how they were taken from here. Scouring my memory, I couldn't recall a single teleporter with silent movement. All of them had at least a flash of light, at most a light show, or left some kind of trace, but there was nothing here, and that was alarming. Especially why I was the only one left out. I decided not to take any chances, so I did a partial transformation and listened to my sixth sense and instincts as much as possible. And I didn't like what they were saying, if to give the most censored version, they were hinting at escape, preferably at the full speed available to me without turning round. And that's what I would have done if I'd been alone. But I couldn't leave the guys who had already become my friends for so many missions.

So I ignored the urge to run away and headed downstairs to the source of this green mist and the reason for my colleagues' disappearance. As I descended the stairs the fog grew thicker and thicker and at one point the lights went out again and I found myself completely engulfed in flames. All the stairs were on fire and there was no place free of flames. I immediately surrounded myself with coverings and started to go down faster, because given the amount of smoke I could have used up all my filters before I reached my goal. But after two floors I noticed that my veil was hardly using any energy, as if it had nothing to protect me from.

At that moment, I had an idea that was quite risky for a normal person and almost not dangerous for me. I removed the veil from my right hand and touched the fire and felt nothing. It was unreal and the moment I realised it all the flames on the floors and the smoke just disappeared.

After getting a few hints of the enemy's strength, I continued my descent downwards. After reaching the last floor, I found myself in a maze of corridors again. But this time the scope of the location was many times smaller. The most valuable research items were stored on this floor, so there was no need to build a lot of offices. Going to the largest place of fog accumulation I noticed a red glow from behind the door of one of the cabinets. Looking in, I caught the last phrases of someone's conversation.

-OKAY WITCH, YOUR WISH WILL BE GRANTED! - Said a red haze, coming out of a red ruby in the hands of a stunningly beautiful girl with black as obsidian hair and a green dress with a frank neckline up to the navel.

-I knew we'd come to an agreement. - The girl smiled charmingly, and then turned to Rain and waved to him and disappeared.Not knowing what he had witnessed, Pierce looked around the office and not finding any traces left by the stranger, he decided to deal with what he had seen later, now the return of his friends was the first priority.

Reaching the research room at the end of the corridor, Pierce prepared himself for an encounter with something extremely dangerous. As he reached for the doorknob to peek carefully inside, the door opened abruptly and he was confronted with an extremely mystical sight. In front of him was a man with sharp features wearing a suit of swamp-green armour, and his black fingernails were currently picking chips off the human skull in his hands. The man's face showed the amusement of his occupation. But it was the throne on which the stranger sat that made the greatest impression. It was made of a pile of different bones, clearly belonging to former humans.

-Hmmm, who are you? -Hmmm. - Losing all interest in the skull, Pierce was asked by a man with eyes blazing green fire.

-Agent of Strike, who came to find out what happened on this base. - Raen said with a gulp. He realised who was in front of him and knew that dealing with this enemy would be extremely difficult. The scowling man was none other than one of Marvel's most powerful demons called Nightmare.

The demon's main powers were drawn from the enemy's fears, and since he couldn't get inside Rain's head, most of his power was now useless. But considering that the entire staff of the base was probably already devoured by their own nightmares, its capabilities even without basic magical power are great.

-You don't get it, I don't care where you work or who your bosses are. I want to know why I can't feel your fears. All creatures have something they fear, and no matter how they hide it, I can still smell at least a whiff of their terror. But not from you. So I'll ask you again, who are you?" The Nightmare jumped down from his throne and walked towards Pierce.

-And what do I get for my answer? - Ryan asked, trying to bargain.

-A painless death. - The demon answered, circling around Pierce and examining him like an unknown animal.

Realising that his friends' lives were in greater danger with each passing second. Pierce decided to take action. First, he took his full form under Nightmare's slightly surprised look, and then, attacked him with his claws, releasing five fiery sickles in the direction of the dodging enemy. While the demon dodged the claws with frightening ease and a smile on his face, the hellfire already made him frown and summoned some monster in front of him.

The creature let out a terrifying scream full of pain before turning into a pile of ashes.

-Where did you get that kind of power? - Nightmare asked unhappily.

-I again did not hear a worthy payment for my answer. - Preparing a new attack of flame said the guy, then put forward his hand, on which was a sphere of fire, which was strongly sprawled from the energy invested inside.

-And this is no joke. - Nightmare said with a completely serious face and then opened a portal in front of Rain's hand, which swept towards Pierce, and then closed around his arm with the orb on his elbow. Rain tried to pull his arm out, but the hole in space slammed shut earlier and Pierce lost his arm, letting out a cry of pain Rain lit a flame on his left hand and put his palm to the wound.

You are too dangerous a toy, so let your secrets continue to be so in the other world. - Said the Nightmare and then a creature made of many parts of human bodies appeared behind Pierce and a bunch of arms growing out of its carcass grabbed Rain. Long claws were placed at his throat with one of the monster's arms not at all resembling a human's. Pierce couldn't even move in the monster's grip and just watched as the demon slowly walked towards him. As he approached Rain, a dagger with a skull on the edge appeared in the Nightmare's hand. And swinging the blade headed for the guy's heart and only a millimetre away from Pierce's skin the weapon stopped. The demon was attracted by the light from beneath Rain's body armour. Tearing off the armour plate and ripping the clothes off the guy's chest, Nightmare noticed a mark that glowed with a snow-white light. He grimaced and then the dagger in his hand disappeared, and he stepped away from Pierce and turned to the void.

-His life in return for his debt, agreed? - Nightmare said into the void.

-It's coming. - As if from every part of the room, a voice familiar to Raina spoke at the same time.

-Rejoice, luck is on your side today, mortal. - Said the demon, returning to his throne and no longer paying any attention to Pierce.

-That I'll agree to go play cards with Mephisto one more time. - Pierce heard the wails of Nightmare.

-Hey, what happened to the other members of the Strike? - Pierce asked, turning his head towards Nightmare.

-Who? -And your friends... well they are now, like all the staff of this base before, working as living batteries for me. Each of them is immersed in their worst fears and will suffer until their psyche is completely broken. After that, their own nightmares will devour their souls and they will become part of my forces. - With a bloodthirsty smile the demon said.

Grinning at the news, I tried to get out, but it was pretty bad. The only option left was to call down fire, but the creature would definitely get the claw back before it burned.

-Trying to get out? I have no debts to the beyond, and the next time you attack, I'll be able to... Damn it, she noticed. - Interrupting his speech, Nightmare grimaced and stared sullenly at the door.

A moment later, a portal began to form in the middle of the room, and the ancient woman stepped out of it.

-It seemed to me that you and I made a pact for the last time and you will not invade this world for another ten years. - The woman frowned.

-Well, who's invading? I've been summoned. - Nightmare said with a smile.

-And where is your guide then? I do not feel from you any threads of connection? - Asked the ancient with interest.

-I have no idea. I was summoned and asked only to wait in this room for the next three hours after the summoning. No one wanted to introduce themselves. Though I didn't care much at the time, it's rare to be surrounded by such juicy souls with so many fears. - The demon licked his lips.

-But I wasn't the only one my guide was addressing. - Nightmare said with a smirk.

-And why do you tell me so calmly about the affairs of your guide? - Asked the ancient scanning the area for traces of auras of other demons.

-It's simple, I got screwed. My guide already in half an hour, somehow threw off the thread of feeding, and I was left in this world without an anchor and energy. So instead of completely absorbing souls with the help of their nightmares, I had to let most of the people to fuel my breakthrough. - Nightmare said sadly.

-Sittorak. - Frowning heavily said the Ancient One the name of one of the seven. The most powerful demon god.

-It seems you felt the echoes of his gaze here too. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I was only used as an umbrella to hide from you. And since I have nothing more to do here, I think I'll leave this inhospitable place. - Moving towards the rift in space leading to his dimension Nightmare said. After that he waved his hand and waited for something, but the Ancient was not happy about the demon's departure and stomped her foot and emitted energy fluctuations around, which for a moment made visible six threads connecting to something outside the room. After appearing, they were immediately severed and with a disgruntled hum, Nightmare jumped inside the rift, which immediately began to overgrow after the return of its master, pulling the green mist inside itself at an insane speed.

With the nightmare gone, the monster behind me dispelled and I fell to the floor of the room. Turning her attention back to me the Ancient One hesitated.

-Today you have faced something that the average person should not know about. This is not your battle and you and your superiors are better off not remembering it. Sleep! - The Ancient One said, and then she swept her hand in my direction, and I passed out.

-When you wake up, everything you saw on this base will be forgotten like a bad dream. - Said the Ancient One then opened the portal again and disappeared.

***

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