Chapter 543

"Someone is already going to rescue her. At this point, even jumping out a window won’t get you out of this."

Killian stared at Tony in surprise.

He’d expected anger. After revealing everything, he’d assumed Tony would lose control, curse him, and rage until his throat gave out.

Killian wouldn’t have minded.

In fact, he would have enjoyed it.

Tony’s fury would simply be proof that Killian had finally found the right leverage. The more desperate Tony became, the more satisfying Killian’s victory would feel.

But Tony wasn’t breaking.

He was angry, certainly.

Yet there was no despair in his eyes.

There was hope.

"Someone’s going to rescue her?" Killian’s eyes narrowed. "Who?"

He didn’t need long to guess.

"The Avenger who was with you. The Black Scythe Lord?"

"That’s right."

Tony glanced toward Maya Hansen. She had presumably been the one to tell Killian about Evenson.

It wasn’t particularly important anymore.

"He left a long time ago. Unless he decided to take the bus, he should already be there."

Killian gave a dismissive snort.

"You clearly don’t understand where you’re sending him."

He walked over and casually draped an arm around Tony’s shoulder.

"That place is my real headquarters. Most of the Extremis soldiers I’ve created are there right now, waiting for one hell of a party."

He pretended to think.

"Forty? Fifty? More than that, probably. I honestly stopped counting."

Killian smiled.

"You really think one Avenger can handle all of them?"

Tony smiled right back.

"You have no idea what he’s capable of."

"Is that so?"

Killian’s eyes widened theatrically.

Then he dropped the three glass-like orbs in his hand onto the floor.

This time, the projection wasn’t of Pepper.

It showed two men trapped inside containment chambers.

Sherlock and Watson.

Orange-red lights pulsed beneath their skin.

Tony’s expression hardened.

Killian smiled.

"I’m afraid I captured his friends too. Which means that, besides you, I now have another Avenger I can control."

He chuckled.

"And I have you to thank for that."

"I’ll say it again."

Tony didn’t even acknowledge the taunt.

He lifted his chin slightly.

"You have no idea what he’s capable of."

"Believe whatever you want."

Killian waved him off. He regarded Tony’s confidence as nothing more than the stubborn defiance of a man who hadn’t accepted that he’d already lost.

"Now, let’s discuss the price."

Killian wrapped one hand around Tony’s throat and pulled him closer. He seemed particularly pleased with the intimidation factor of the position.

"I was hoping there might be some additional benefits for me."

"Let him go."

Maya’s voice cut through the room.

Killian froze.

He slowly turned.

Maya was holding a syringe against her own neck.

His expression changed instantly.

"Maya?"

The needle was already pressing against her skin.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I said let him go."

Maya’s hand remained steady.

"One thousand two hundred milliliters. Half that dose is enough to kill me instantly."

She had gone too far down this road to turn back.

At least, that was what she’d always told herself.

Maybe the truth was simpler.

Maybe she’d never actually tried to turn around.

Now she was prepared to pay for every mistake she’d made with her own life.

Her sudden rebellion shocked everyone in the room.

But the person most alarmed wasn’t inside.

It was the man standing outside the door.

The instant Maya raised the syringe, Agent 47 knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

She was his primary target.

If she died for no reason, his mission failed.

"Target’s life is in extreme danger. I’m taking immediate action. Prepare to provide support, Lady Black Widow."

Dottie answered from her distant position.

Inside the room, Maya continued.

"What happens to your soldiers if I die? What about your research? What happens to you?"

Her voice remained controlled, but desperation lay beneath every word.

"What will you do when you overheat?"

Maya had placed every last piece of leverage she possessed on the table.

Killian stared at her.

Then, unexpectedly, he looked toward Tony.

"This is a test."

His expression hardened.

"She wants to see just how patient I am."

There had once been something resembling friendship between him and Maya.

But Killian’s personality had been warped years ago.

And Maya had long since lost much of the value she imagined she still possessed.

Would he really care about her life?

The answer was obvious.

No.

Killian reached toward the pistol at his waist.

He intended to shoot Maya right in front of Tony.

Then something metallic clattered from the corner of the room.

Clink.

Clink-clink.

Everyone turned.

Killian and the two guards immediately raised their weapons.

A coin bounced across the tabletop before falling onto the floor.

Killian frowned.

Where had that come from?

He never got the chance to find out.

The door opened.

A bald man stepped through.

Heightened Senses. Fourfold Speed.

Agent 47 had thrown the coin into the corner himself.

A simple distraction.

A split-second of confusion.

Then he struck.

The instant the door opened, the world changed.

Everyone inside the room seemed to slow down.

Their movements became sluggish and unnatural, like actors trapped inside a film running at a fraction of normal speed.

This was the ability 47 had developed under the twins’ instruction.

When activated, it dramatically heightened his senses while accelerating his reactions.

To him, everyone else might as well have been moving through molasses.

His silver suppressed pistol rose.

Three shots.

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

Two guards.

Killian.

Each received a bullet directly through the forehead.

They collapsed.

47 didn’t stop.

He crossed the room in an instant, slapped the syringe from Maya’s hand, then struck the back of her neck.

Maya immediately went limp.

47 caught her before she could fall.

At that exact moment, his heightened senses reached their limit.

The ability ended.

"Ungh..."

47 was about to carry Maya out when something moved behind him.

Killian.

The man he’d just shot in the head was getting back to his feet.

His entire face had turned orange-red.

The bullet hole in his forehead was slowly closing.

Worse, orange liquid seeped from the wound.

47 watched carefully.

The bullet itself was melting inside Killian’s body.

He’d seen enough.

Most people would probably have frozen at the sight.

47 didn’t.

Normal people were apparently in short supply wherever he went.

He simply set Maya down and drew two pistols.

He emptied both magazines into Killian.

The bullets struck again and again.

Killian staggered backward.

And kept standing.

Once both guns clicked empty, Killian lunged forward.

47’s hands flashed.

Two blades appeared.

Two strikes.

One knife buried itself in Killian’s throat.

The other drove straight into his heart.

Only the handles remained visible.

Killian staggered.

The repeated injuries finally brought out the monster beneath the man.

"I am immortal!"

He tore both knives from his body.

The blades melted into liquid metal in his hands.

He roared at 47.

"I am a god!"

"A god?"

47 remained completely calm.

"An idiot doesn’t deserve that title."

He reached inside his coat.

"Only those two deserve to be called gods."

He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

Then he produced a flashbang.

Killian’s eyes widened.

The grenade detonated.

A deafening crack and blinding flash overwhelmed even the enhanced senses of an Extremis soldier.

Killian staggered, momentarily blinded.

When his vision finally returned, the room was empty.

The bald man was gone.

So was Maya Hansen.

Killian stared at the empty doorway.

He’d just delivered a grand declaration of godhood.

And the bastard had simply run away.

"...He actually ran?"

For once, even Killian didn’t know what to make of it.