Boom--!
Before Wanda could even react, a thunderous explosion erupted above the Hydra base.
"What the hell was that?!" Baron Strucker snapped, grabbing a nearby soldier.
The soldier looked just as confused, eyes darting toward the ceiling.
Moments later, a panicked voice came through the comms.
"The base has been breached!"
"Who is it? SHIELD? The Avengers?" Strucker barked, seizing the messenger.
"Neither, sir!" the soldier stammered, pale. "It's him—the one we were ordered to eliminate!"
BOOM--!
The reinforced steel door—meant to withstand nuclear shockwaves—was smashed open like paper.
Luke stepped through the wreckage.
Once a Cold War nuclear bunker, the Sokovia base was built to survive annihilation.
But it couldn't withstand him.
He could've used a portal.
Or melted through with shadow energy. But instead—
"I just like breaking things the old-fashioned way," Luke muttered with a grin.
The Hydra soldiers on the other side froze.
For a split second, they didn't see a man—they saw something else.
A monster. A demon made flesh.
More terrifying than anything from the Battle of New York.
"Sound the alarm! Call in the Shadow soldiers!"
"It's the Demon Slayer! HE'S HERE!"
Laser fire erupted from their energy rifles—high-powered blue beams capable of melting steel.
But the blasts fizzled harmlessly against a glowing flame barrier around Luke, forged from demonic power.
"You guys make a lot of noise," Luke said casually. "Why not just throw a water balloon at me while you're at it?"
Without warning, he vanished into shadow.
Hydra soldiers barely had time to blink.
One moment they were scanning the hallway—
The next, darkness fell, pain exploded through their bodies—and silence.
Plop~ plop~
Bodies hit the floor like sacks of meat.
Blood pooled quickly, thick and metallic in the air.
Limbs torn. Heads crushed.
The stench stronger than anything in the demon summoning chambers below.
"He's in!"
"Move! Get the Shadow soldiers—NOW!"
Luke heard the cries as he strode deeper into the base.
From the dark corners, shadow soldiers emerged.
Hydra's summoned reinforcements.
"Oh, you wanna play summoner too?" Luke smirked, standing still.
He closed his eyes.
With a single thought, demonic energy surged through him.
Wave of shadows erupted from within him with a loud boom.
Darkness spread like wildfire.
An enormous shadow domain expanded outward, swallowing the entire base.
From the inky blackness, Luke's own shadow soldiers emerged—far more numerous, far more deadly.
They came from every corner, every wall, every shadow.
And unlike Hydra's puppets, these warriors were elite. Ancient. Brutal.
Hydra's soldiers barely had time to curse.
"Fuck!"
They were cut down before the word left their lips.
One by one.
Ripped apart. Crushed. Devoured by the darkness.
The base was drowning in shadow.
...
The same chaos unfolded on every floor of the base.
Room by room, level by level, the Hydra facility in Sokovia was cleared out in a flash—emptied like a haunted shell.
The only ones left were the children kept for experiments, Wanda and Pietro in the sacrifice chamber... and Baron Strucker.
Luke had spared his life.
For now.
But Strucker wasn't free. Two shadow soldiers stood at his sides, blades pressed against his neck. He didn't even flinch—not after what he'd just seen.
Moments earlier, he'd watched the men beside him get turned into meat chunks in seconds.
"That's it? And they called this place a fortress?" Luke's voice suddenly echoed as he stepped into the sacrifice room, black energy swirling in his hand.
He looked unimpressed, even a little annoyed.
"Talk about stingy."
As he spoke, the dark energy began to flow into his body, absorbed like fuel into a fire.
Baron Strucker turned, recognizing the intruder instantly.
No one in Hydra hadn't heard of Luke—the man marked for death by a force even Hydra feared.
"I warned them," Strucker muttered under his breath. "Putting all our hopes into one basket... A mistake."
Luke didn't care what he was babbling about.
"Go," he ordered calmly.
At his word, the shadow soldiers moved, fanning out to collect the blood of the fallen Hydra troops.
They brought it back to complete the summoning ritual etched into the center of the room.
Wanda, Pietro, and the rest of the imprisoned children sat frozen in fear.
It wasn't until they noticed the shadow soldiers ignoring them that Wanda found the courage to speak.
"Um... thank you for saving us."
Luke waved dismissively, glancing over at the red-haired girl.
"Don't mention it. Just cleaning house."
Then his eyes lingered on her for a second longer.
'Huh. She's actually kinda cute.'
"What's your name, woman?"
"Wanda Maximoff."
Luke's eyes widened, his head whipping toward her.
He then turned to the silver-haired boy next to her.
"And him?"
"He's my brother—Pietro Maximoff."
Luke froze for a second.
'Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver? No way...'
He snapped his fingers, summoning a swirling flame portal with demonic energy.
"I'm Luke Constantine, listen up. This thing looks intense, but it won't burn you. It's a portal. It'll take you somewhere safe. Just hang tight when you get there. I've got some loose ends to tie up here."
The kids hesitated, staring at the fire like it might bite.
But then Wanda stepped through.
Two seconds later, she returned through the flames.
"It's safe. This Mr. Constantine is telling the truth. Come on."
The others followed, still wary.
After all Hydra had done, trust didn't come easy.
Luke didn't mind.
'Caution's smart. Blind trust gets you killed.'
But...
"Mr?" he muttered to himself, grimacing.
Wanda's voice echoed in his head.
He wasn't that much older than her.
Maybe two, three years tops. Wanda looked around seventeen or eighteen—right at the edge of womanhood.
Mister? Really? That hurt.
"Do I look old?"
Luke wiped his face, finally noticing the blood splattered across it from the chaos earlier.
His reflection, distorted in the mess, looked more monster than man.
He smirked. "Alright. For the sake of your pretty face, I'll let it slide."
With a snap of his fingers, hellfire rose from his skin.
The infernal flames danced and vaporized away the blood into red mist.
Then he turned to Baron Strucker, who was still pinned down by two shadow soldiers, their pitch black blades inches from his throat.
"I'm feeling generous," Luke said. "So here's your chance."
He pointed toward the glowing summoning circle in the center of the sacrifice chamber.
"The ritual's set. Go summon your Shadow God. Tell him your sob story."
With a flick of his hand, the shadow soldiers backed off, stepping aside and giving Strucker a clear path.
"You want me to summon the Shadow God?" Strucker asked, stunned. "So I can power up… and then fight you again?"
Luke gave a slow nod, folding his arms.
"Exactly. It's all on you now. If you can beg hard enough, maybe you'll get a power boost bigger than mine. Then who knows—you might actually have a shot."
He stepped back, leaving the stage open. "Go on. Show me what you've got. Don't be shy~"
Strucker stared, silent, then took a deep breath and walked toward the sacrificial room.
His steps were heavy, every footfall laced with dread.
From outside the chamber, Luke felt the energy shift.
The summoning had begun.
A grin tugged at his lips. "We meet again, old friend."
Inside, Baron Strucker dropped to his knees.
A towering shadow loomed before him, swirling like smoke with glowing crimson eyes.
"Great Shadow God," Strucker said desperately. "We found the one you want dead! But the power you gave him—it's too much! We lost everything trying to stop him. We couldn't even scratch him."
Outside, Luke leaned casually against the doorway, trying not to laugh.
"Damn," he chuckled. "This guy sucks up harder than I ever did."
Back inside, Strucker pressed his forehead to the ground.
"Please! Just give me something stronger than him. I don't need much—just enough! I'll kill him, I swear it! I'll even stake my soul!"
The Shadow God—Shaco, didn't look impressed.
He'd handed out power to more people today than he cared to count—and none had delivered.
"Useless... every last one of you," he growled.
But after a moment, he relented.
Just in case Strucker tried to run with the power again, the demon took a chunk of his soul first.
Insurance.
Then everything went still.
And suddenly—wild laughter erupted from the chamber.
"Hahahahahaha… This power—it's stronger than his?! Really?! Hah! I still can't beat it! Hahahaha!"
Luke's eyes lit up.
"It worked," he muttered. "For real?!"
A second later, he felt it.
A massive surge of shadow energy.
It wasn't just equal to his—it was even greater.
"Well, well. Looks like the miser finally coughed up something real."
Luke's gaze locked onto the doorway.
Baron Strucker stepped out, his body cloaked in thick demonic energy, darker and heavier than anything he had carried before.
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