Chapter 145: The Hive (Part 2)
"Peter Quill, Missouri. You've worked hard," Ada said, handing over the information. Daniel had tasked her with investigating Star-Lord, and with his provided clues, she managed to find him. It was a combination of his mother dying of a brain tumor and a missing child that led her to the right path. Even though the individual clues were hard to track, combining them made the search feasible. Given the era of big data, even long-unsolved cases left traces. With the right effort and resources, finding Peter Quill was just a matter of time. S.H.I.E.L.D. likely would have found him much sooner.
As for what to do next, Daniel hadn't thought that far ahead. The Guardians of the Galaxy and Ego were far beyond his current reach, much like the Power Stone and the Soul Stone. Even if he knew where they were, he wouldn't pursue them now. The Soul Stone's acquisition required a sacrifice he couldn't make, and he lacked a vessel to wield all six Infinity Stones. The Infinity Gauntlet in Asgard's vault was a fake, and creating one himself was out of the question given the immense power of the Stones. Even Tony Stark wasn't yet capable of making such a gauntlet.
"I'll let fake Ada handle her own problems." After considering it for a while, Daniel decided not to tell Ada about her fake counterpart. As for Star-Lord's hometown, he planned to visit later to see if he could find anything left by Ego. He was curious about Ego, the celestial planet, but he knew Ego's actual planet form was well-hidden and dangerous. For now, the seed Ego left on Earth was safe enough, especially with Odin and the Ancient One still around.
"Could throwing the Power Stone at Ego's planet destroy him? From Star-Lord's actions, it doesn't seem likely. That route seems unfeasible."
If there was a chance to eliminate Ego, Daniel wouldn't hesitate. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any viable method. "Looks like I'll have to rely on the idiot."
Ego wasn't just powerful; his planetary form was also well-hidden. Unless Ego himself brought someone like Star-Lord to it, finding it would be nearly impossible.
"Forget it. These issues are too far off for now. I'll deal with them later." With Ada here, Daniel set aside these thoughts and started chatting with her.
Daniel was curious about Ada's activities, but she seemed reluctant to discuss her personal life. Nonetheless, Daniel knew she had shifted from agent work to exploring unknown ruins. Despite the advanced technology in the Marvel world, many hidden ruins still existed on Earth, undetectable by satellites.
"Time to deal with Hive." A few days after Ada left, Daniel prepared for action.
To reach the alien planet, he needed the large black stone in Malik's possession. He hadn't acted earlier due to the risks. Malik wasn't a minor figure; he was a member of the World Security Council and his family's enterprise ranked among the top ten global companies. He wielded considerable influence in the Western world.
HYDRA's resilience, growing back heads like the mythical Hydra, was largely due to Malik's family's support. After the Red Skull's defeat, their backing allowed HYDRA to infiltrate the Strategic Scientific Reserve swiftly, outmaneuvering even Peggy Carter. As long as the Malik family remained, HYDRA could regenerate. In the original timeline, Coulson and his team only managed to eliminate the Maliks due to Hive's influence.
Even the President of the United States had to rely on Coulson to deal with Malik covertly, unable to confront him directly.
Such a figure was too risky to eliminate prematurely.
The Malik family had a vault containing vast wealth, heavily guarded. However, these defenses were meaningless to Daniel. With a mirror dimension, all defenses became irrelevant.
"Hmm, it's not here. Did I remember wrong?" After searching the vault twice, Daniel frowned, not finding the peculiar black stone.
"Is it not here? I guess I'll have to confront Malik directly." Failing to find the stone, Daniel decided to question Malik. With his numerous properties worldwide, searching them all would be time-consuming. Instead, he'd hypnotize Malik for answers. The telekinetic Inhuman protecting Malik wasn't a concern, far inferior to a certain green-haired loli.
"Speak of the devil." Just as Daniel planned to act, the vault door opened, and Malik entered.
"Is this the black stone?" Watching Malik ignore other treasures and head straight to a reinforced glass case, Daniel saw him retrieve a small box. When the box opened to reveal an ordinary-looking stone pillar, Daniel realized this must be it.
Malik's singular focus on this stone suggested it wasn't ordinary. While others might not deduce its significance, Daniel knew better.
"Strange, I remember it being a large stone that swallowed Simmons. Why is it so small now? Did I forget something?" Daniel pondered, confused by the stone's size.
"Can't recall, never mind." Unable to remember, Daniel dismissed the thought. He only remembered key events or particularly impressive scenes from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Simmons being swallowed by the stone was one such event.
"In this day and age, relying on an ancient Inhuman... truly pitiful." Watching Malik lovingly re-seal the stone, Daniel shook his head.
"Room: Slaughterhouse." After Malik left, Daniel exited the vault, left the mirror dimension, and used his Ope Ope no Mi powers to swap the black stone from the box with a slice he had taken from the pillar. For Daniel, just a piece of the black stone was enough to locate the alien world and didn't need the entire stone to open the portal.
"Got it." Using his powers, Daniel identified the frequency to liquefy the stone and sensed the other side's space. With hand signs, he opened a golden portal revealing a desolate landscape on the other side.
"The energy cost isn't high. Kamar-Taj's magic is the biggest hack in this world. No wonder Doctor Strange could return from Titan so quickly." The portal led to another planet, its distance from Earth unknown.
Comparing spatial teleportation, Apparition in the Harry Potter world was faster to cast but much more energy-consuming. Kamar-Taj's magic, though slower, required far less energy. Daniel could use it to traverse Earth's entire span, something Apparition couldn't manage due to its high energy demand.
"This place is truly barren." Stepping through the portal, Daniel surveyed the surroundings, sighing at the desolate landscape and distant sandstorms.
No greenery was in sight, making him marvel at Simmons' survival here, let alone the man who endured for over a decade.
Thinking of his goal, Daniel set down his supplies and activated the Pym Particles. Four large containers appeared, releasing forty Iron Man suits that flew out and hovered in a fan formation above him.
"Which direction to start searching?" The landscape was almost identical everywhere, making the search difficult without knowing where to start.
"These must be remnants from the far star project." Using detectors, Daniel quickly found buried bones and old equipment, remnants from the previous exploration team.
"Human presence detected. It must be Will." Finding Hive was easiest by locating Will, the man who survived here for years. Daniel had equipped the Iron Man suits with human-detection sensors for this purpose.
"Sorry, Will." Daniel had planned his approach to dealing with Will, who wasn't part of his rescue mission. Besides, in the original timeline, Will didn't survive.
"Who's there?" Ragged and gathering supplies, Will spotted the Iron Man suits and fled.
As an ordinary man, he couldn't outrun the suits, especially since Daniel had equipped them with Spider-Man's webbing.
"Imperius Curse." Daniel quickly caught up and cast the Imperius Curse on Will, not wanting any information about the alien world to leak. Unlike Fitz, Daniel had no intention of rescuing Will.
"Hive's playing cat and mouse, huh?" From Will, Daniel learned he survived by finding a natural underground hideout and using it as a base while scavenging nearby for supplies.
The alien world, though barren, still had water and some life, enough for Will to survive. Hive likely spared him to keep him as a reserve meal, playing a twisted game.
Hive wasn't just a mindless monster; he had intelligence and, through centuries of Malik family sacrifices, had some understanding of Earth's civilization. Hive could absorb the memories of those he consumed.
"I wonder how Hive escaped in the original story." Understanding Hive's resurrection through Ward's body was one thing, but Daniel couldn't fathom how he escaped the alien world. The portal should have been destroyed by then. If it were that easy, Hive would have returned long ago.
Unable to figure it out, Daniel focused on his current plan. To lure out Hive, he used the controlled Will as bait.
Hive was vulnerable. In the original story, he nearly died to Hellfire's surprise attack.
"So this is Hive. He looks like a zombie. If Malik's family hadn't kept feeding him, Hive might have starved over the centuries. Poor Malik." Besides playing cat and mouse, Hive likely kept Will as emergency rations, sensing the periodic sacrifices from the Malik family.
Watching Hive, more zombie-like than zombies themselves, emerge from the sand and rush at Will, Daniel activated his trap. As Hive attacked, flames engulfed Will, and Iron Man suits surrounded them, spraying intense fire.
"Room." Among the Iron Man suits, one contained Daniel. As flames engulfed Will, Daniel used his Ope Ope no Mi powers to scan Hive.
"A millennium of hope for the Malik family, reduced to this. If they knew their thousand-year hope was destroyed so easily, I wonder how they'd react."
Daniel's confidence stemmed from his knowledge of Hive's abilities and the fact that Hive was in a weakened state. It was a classic case of
striking when the enemy was down.
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