The battle was over.
Victor Keene—Project Echo's prototype—lay unconscious, his body locked in a shutdown state. The remaining clones disintegrated, cut off from their neural source.
You stood in the silence, chest rising and falling, your body humming with newfound control. You weren't just stronger.
You were complete.
[SYSTEM NOTICE][Superior Adaptation has stabilised.]– Trait permanently bonded to the user's core– Adaptation no longer requires system permission– Passive evolution unlocked– Resistance, power replication, and evolution rate now scale with stress level
Your fists are unclenched.
You could feel it now — no more delays, no need for combat triggers or thresholds. Your body would learn and improve as a natural function.
Spider-Man walked over, mask pulled halfway up. "You good?" he asked, looking around at the wreckage.
You nodded, though your gaze stayed fixed on Victor.
"Yeah," you said. "I just became the one thing this place was never designed to contain."
Daredevil approached, too, his face grim. "We need to talk. About what happens next."
You sighed.
Right.
This wasn't the end. It was the beginning of the fallout.
The extraction took hours. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents — or what was left of them after Echo's infiltration — moved in, sweeping the complex. Director Hill arrived personally, flanked by loyal operatives.
"You took down a rogue asset," she said, watching Victor's unconscious body being loaded into an armoured stasis unit. "But you also exposed how deep Echo's roots were. You're going to draw attention."
You raised an eyebrow. "Good attention or bad?"
Hill didn't smile.
"Both."
You looked down at your hands. They didn't glow. They didn't spark. But you could feel every nerve tuned for change.
"Let them come."