Keep the PS coming : )
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Coulson's face immediately flushed, despite the fact that the temperature in this ice cave was somehow even colder than before.
Dante glanced at him out of reflex. This guy was running on pure fanboy adrenaline.
"Coulson, calm down. Your idol's still an ice pop! Even if you're Captain America's dream guy, you've gotta wait until we get back to HQ!"
"Cough, cough, cough!" Coulson coughed a few times, then shot back, "It's just hard to believe the most iconic hero in American history was frozen up here for nearly a century."
"The real shocker shouldn't be that he survived being frozen for that long! I mean, I'm not knocking your scientists, but we're talking tech from over a hundred years ago…"
If this were a pure Marvel Universe, Dante wouldn't question anything.
But in a mixed universe? Weird is normal.
"No need to worry about that," Coulson replied, like he was about to give a full science lecture. "Back when the Super Soldier Serum was developed, survival in extreme environments was factored in. It gives the subject high resistance to both heat and cold…"
Then he immediately betrayed himself.
"…And most importantly, the research guy who fell down there had scanning equipment. It picked up vital signs from Captain America."
Dante rolled his eyes.
You could've led with the part where you already confirmed he was alive!
Still, he wasn't gonna blame Coulson. The man was clearly overwhelmed. Honestly, it was impressive he remembered this much while riding a full-on emotional rollercoaster.
Whatever. First things first—dig him out.
Dante summoned more Will Green Light, materializing a whole rig of floating, glowing-green ice-breaking tools in midair. Under his control, they began chipping away at the permafrost surrounding Captain America.
After a series of clang clang clang, Cap—ice layer and all—was neatly carved out.
"Huh? That's it?" Harley looked visibly let down. "I was expecting the old ice pop to unfreeze and wake up like BAM, surprise revival."
"Revive your head," Dante muttered, wiping away imaginary sweat. "Yeah, he's alive, but his body's been hibernating for decades. He needs time to boot back up."
The tools made from Will Green Light were absurdly sharp. He'd intentionally left the ice around Cap thick, not just for medical reasons—but because he was afraid of accidentally nicking the guy.
They were going to be coworkers, after all. Would've looked bad.
Although, given Cap's legendary moral compass, even if Dante had accidentally dinged him during excavation, the guy probably would've thanked him anyway.
"Ada, notify the scientific expedition task force that we're done here. They can pack up and head out."
"You're too late," Ada replied smoothly. "Before we came down, I already ordered the expedition team to pull out via the Bureau's command channel. They're probably halfway through loading their gear by now."
Ada Wong, ladies and gentlemen. Queen of Predictive Logistics.
The moment Dante said he'd handle the digging, Ada had made the executive decision to get the regular staff out of here. No way they were sticking around to witness what was coming next.
This is why she was his adjutant. Not the strongest on the squad—but easily the best external brain in his entire orbit.
Dante had imagination and reckless impulse. Ada handled the clean-up and the details.
Seeing that everything was already taken care of, Dante nodded, opened a portal back to the Airbus, and said:
"Time to go."
"W-what kind of power is that!?" Coulson's jaw dropped. This one hadn't been in the dossier.
"Oh, this?" Dante waved casually. "Just a little teleportation magic. First time I'm using it in front of you. Newly acquired."
He tossed Cap's irregularly-shaped ice coffin, into the portal like a chunk of luggage and gestured for everyone else to go in.
Coulson, Ada, and Harley stepped through first.
Coulson and Ada immediately headed to the equipment bay to see if there was anything they could use to start the thawing process. The ice block was too bulky to move as-is.
Harley, maybe because the arctic chill had temporarily frozen her brain cells, actually didn't start bouncing off the walls. Instead, she wandered off to the medical area to grab some vital-sign scanning gear to double-check Cap's status.
Watching her go, Dante felt a little emotional.
Harley was doing something serious. It almost made him feel like all the neck bites and lipstick marks were worth it. Almost.
The price of being her emotional support chew toy. He couldn't remember the last time he left a room without looking like he'd walked through a kiss-themed warzone.
Once the three Agents—none of whom had surpassed human physical limits yet—were safely back aboard the Airbus, Dante turned to call his beloved Goddess of Death and her chaotic younger brother, the God of Mischief.
But the siblings were still standing at the edge of the pit where Cap had been.
Now, all that remained was a large hole.
And both of them were staring into it.
"Hela, Loki, let's roll."
"No. Come here," Hela said without looking up.
"Something's… wrong here."
"What's the issue?"
Dante shut the portal and made his way over.
If Hela—an actual Heavenly Father-tier deity—was bothered by something, it wasn't something to ignore.
She didn't answer right away.
Instead, she summoned a Nightsword from the void with a flick of her hand.
It was a move eerily similar to his own Will Green Light materialization. Dante used imagination. Hela used her divine power as a mold, compressed elemental forces around her, and solidified them into a weapon.
Sounded complicated, but it all happened in a blink.
"What did you find? Why'd you bust out your sword?"
Dante's expression grew more serious.
He hadn't forgotten the "other things" mentioned in the system mission brief.
Could it be… Hela's perception had picked up one of them?
She didn't answer his question.
Instead, she controlled the Nightsword to stab straight down into the pit's center—driving it deeper and deeper.
Then she finally spoke.
"Extend your light along the sword's path. Increase the brightness. Illuminate everything below."
Dante didn't hesitate.
He pushed the Will Green Light to max output and funneled it downward along the sword's path.
After around ten meters, the energy reached something beneath the ice.
Water.
Seawater, to be exact.
The light spread into the frozen depths, illuminating the glacier and the dark ocean below.
And then—
Right in the middle of the glowing green abyss…
An eye opened.
Massive.
Wide.
Staring.
An eye almost as big as the entire ice cavern.
Dante froze for half a second.
Then instantly snapped open his communicator and roared:
"TAKE OFF IMMEDIATELY! NOW!"
"Motherf**ker, there's a giant STARFISH down here!"
(To be continued.)
***
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