Fury led them deep. Past the floors they knew. Past the doors they’d cleared. Through security gates that scanned his palm, his eye, his voice. The corridors grew darker. Colder. The air changed. This wasn’t part of headquarters. This was beneath it.

They stopped before a reinforced blast door marked only with a faded black designation.

SIMULATION CHAMBER 07.

The door split open with a hydraulic hiss. Lights flickered to life inside, drowning the room in crimson. The Avengers stepped through the threshold and stopped.

Floor-to-ceiling observation glass overlooked an arena the size of an aircraft hangar. Inside—

An army.

Dozens became hundreds. Armed soldiers poured into the simulation from every direction. Rifles raised. Drones circling overhead. Automated turrets locking onto a single target.

A timer began counting upward.

Not quickly. Efficiently. A dagger flashed through the red light before anyone registered she’d drawn it. One body fell. Then another. A pistol appeared in her hand as though it had always belonged there. Each shot precise. Each round finding its mark without hesitation.

She never stopped moving. Every step flowed into the next. Every strike ended exactly where the following one began.

An attacker reached her blind side. He hit the floor before he understood he’d been countered. Another lunged. A blade spun through the air, embedding itself perfectly before returning to silence.

Gunfire filled the chamber. None of it touched her. She slipped through the battlefield like smoke. Dismantling formations before they could surround her. Turning the enemy’s momentum against itself until soldiers began falling over one another trying to keep up.

The simulation escalated. More enemies. Heavier weapons. Armoured units. She adapted without breaking rhythm.

Within minutes, the battlefield was still.

Bodies lay scattered across the arena. Smoke curled from automated turrets. The timer stopped.

MISSION COMPLETE.

ENEMY CASUALTIES: 187

OPERATOR CASUALTIES: 0

The crimson lights reflected across the observation glass. Fury folded his arms.