Yasuo finished checking his system and sat down beside Sharon Carter. They both sat in silence, unsure of what to say. Every time Yasuo thought about Stephen, guilt washed over him. His recent victories had made him overconfident, and this enemy had given him a harsh lesson. The mysterious Marvel world had nearly tripped him up in its early stages; what would it become in a few years?
Sharon, seeing Yasuo’s somber expression, struggled to find words to comfort her young boyfriend. She knew that if Yasuo hadn’t been protecting her, the enemy wouldn’t have lasted a minute.
In the cave, Sharon gave Yasuo a warm hug and whispered in his ear, “It’s not your fault. You’ve done your best.”
Yasuo’s body stiffened slightly at her words. “Really, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t been tangled up with that enemy on the way and had instead come straight to you, maybe none of this would have happened.” Yasuo couldn’t bring himself to look at Sharon.
“Enough,” Sharon punched Yasuo in the abdomen, the blow precise enough to make even his superhuman body feel pain. Yasuo looked up at her.
“Remember that punch. I know you feel guilty about Stephen, but you couldn’t protect him forever. You don’t owe anyone anything. Be yourself.”
“Alright, let’s go out for a walk if you’re feeling bored. We’re stuck on this island, and while S.H.I.E.L.D. will send a rescue team, it won’t be easy for them to find us. I don’t want to survive the enemy only to starve here.” Sharon invited Yasuo to explore the island, hoping to distract him.
Leaving the cave, they found the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining brightly. Yasuo first led Sharon to the place where he had fought the Viper. The spot where she had been lying was now empty; she had clearly recovered and escaped.
At Sharon’s battleground, Yasuo saw Stephen’s body lying near a tree, a faint smile on his face. The large, ugly man, Koba, lay nearby in a camouflage uniform. Sharon picked up a large rock and smashed it repeatedly into Koba’s head, blood splattering everywhere. Yasuo, seeing the gruesome scene, silently prayed for his future, realizing his girlfriend was quite violent.
Sharon wiped her hands and explained, “This guy is strange. No matter how severe the injury, he can recover. So, I have to give him a few hits now and then. He’s a valuable captive.” She didn’t want her new boyfriend to think she had any perverse tendencies.
Yasuo removed his skin and changed clothes, giving his to Sharon. He tried using his new skill, “Magical Journey,” and found that as long as he could see the destination, he could create a portal, but it didn’t help their current predicament.
After a day of exploring, they concluded they were trapped. They had no choice but to wait for rescue.
In the three days that followed, Yasuo and Sharon grew closer, their relationship blossoming. Yasuo would light a large fire at the island’s highest point every day, hoping to attract rescuers.
On the third night, Yasuo, watching Sharon sleep, checked his system. After spending and fighting, he had over 8,000 system gold left. He could buy skills to escape the island, but none could carry another person. If the situation worsened, he’d buy the summoner skill “Teleport” to return home and notify S.H.I.E.L.D. to rescue Sharon.
Meanwhile, back in New York, two major events unfolded.
The first was public: Tony Stark, the kidnapped CEO of Stark Industries, was rescued after three months. A press conference was scheduled for the next day, causing Stark Industries’ stock to skyrocket. Investors didn’t realize this was just the beginning of their nightmare.
Obadiah Stane, Tony’s uncle and long-time supporter, was furious as he received emails incriminating him for orchestrating Tony’s kidnapping. The terrorists he hired had not only failed to kill Tony but were now threatening him. However, the steel suit that Tony had used to escape intrigued Obadiah, whose experience in the arms trade gave him a keen eye.
The second event took place in the shadows of New York. Reaper Chad Norma led thousands of reapers in an ambush against Blade and the Blood Pact squad in the sewers. Only Blade and Lisa escaped; the rest of the squad was wiped out. Seeing the insignia ring of Chad Norma, Blade knew something was amiss and tried to contact Yasuo, unaware that he was stranded on an island.
The U.S. government and vampire prince Eli Damaskinos were terrified. The government contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., hoping Nick Fury would intervene.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had also dissected a reaper’s body. Since the super-soldier serum’s success with Captain America, all nations had sought to replicate it, but without Dr. Erskine and his formula, they failed. The analysis of the reaper’s R-virus concluded it was a man-made super-serum for vampires, not a natural evolution. Combined with the reaper’s attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cube lab and Sharon’s intel, Fury saw a conspiracy.
Fury, officially, declined the government’s request but secretly provided Blade with information. His biggest headache was the missing plane. Sharon, Yasuo, and Stephen were MIA. Rescue teams had been searching for three days along the flight path, confirming the plane crash but still looking for survivors.
Fury, gazing over New York, rubbed his head, feeling this was his year of bad luck. Budget cuts, a series of incidents, and increasingly strange occurrences were troubling. Once-stable vampire organizations were becoming restless, the Hydra organization seemed to be resurfacing, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants was active, and General Ross had created a green monster with the super-soldier serum. The more he thought, the worse his headache grew.
“Maybe it’s time to start some things early,” Fury muttered to himself.
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