Marvel: The Ultimate Superman
Chapter 192. Target: The Inhumans

Chapter 192 - 192. Target: The Inhumans

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Stark Tower, Manhattan.

Tony stood in the glass-walled command room, frowning. He was still contemplating what Steve Rogers had told him a few days ago.

Steve had reluctantly agreed to support Tony's plan to form a modern-day Illuminati. Tony didn't trust Rogers, not after the whole mess with Bucky, but Steve's endorsement would lend massive credibility.

After all, many of Earth's enhanced individuals grew up idolizing Captain America. His backing could tilt the power away from the military-industrial complex and toward Tony's ideal version of global defense.

There was only one catch.

Reed Richards had to be included.

Tony hesitated.

"Mr. Stark," FRIDAY chimed in. "High-energy units from Osborn Industries have departed from HQ. They're heading to various global locations. Also, Mr. Nolan just sent you a direct encrypted message. Shall I read it?"

Tony sighed. "Go ahead."

As the AI recited Nolan's message, Tony's expression turned grim. Then angry. He slammed his fist on the table.

"Nick Fury—that bastard's hiding things again!"

Words like Inhumans, Hive, and HYDRA's secret cult weren't new threats—they were just new to him.

And that meant one thing: Fury knew all along.

Back when the Avengers were still united, Fury had kept secrets from all of them. He always had. Compartmentalization was his doctrine. But now, with the stakes higher than ever, that approach was borderline betrayal.

"FRIDAY, pull every satellite stream we've got. Locate HYDRA installations under the Malick family name. Prioritize facilities tied to enhanced genetics."

Tony rubbed his forehead.

"...And assemble the team."

He wasn't talking about the old Avengers. His team now included Spider-Man, Vision, War Machine, Black Widow, and newer recruits like Shang-Chi and Moon Knight.

If HYDRA wanted war, Tony would deliver it.

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Elsewhere...

Nick Fury stared at the report Maria Hill had just handed him. His eyes narrowed.

"How the hell does Nolan know about the Inhumans?"

Even Fury had only uncovered pieces of that truth through classified backchannels. He'd quietly assigned Skye or Daisy Johnson to investigate.

And yet, Nolan had leapfrogged the entire investigation, uncovering Hive, the Inhuman king, and his ties to HYDRA's ancient lineage.

"It's like he's... predicting everything," Fury muttered.

More than once, he'd suspected Nolan possessed a form of precognition—or maybe his intelligence network simply ran deeper than SHIELD's own.

Fury didn't even know Hive had been HYDRA's founding entity. That was a shock.

"Send the data to Coulson," he finally said. "And patch it through to Rogers and the others."

He touched the rim of his eyepatch. "Kree tech... Jesus."

According to Nolan's files, the Inhumans had been created by the Kree Empire, ancient alien bioengineers who once experimented on early humanity. SHIELD's current form operated from the shadows, split between Hill and Coulson—one in the light, the other in the dark.

Fury now realized how little even he knew.

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At Osborn Tower...

Nolan calmly reviewed reports coming in from AEL, his personal AI. He didn't need to be on the front lines to orchestrate a global chess game.

He watched a surveillance video showing a woman mid-conversation in a New York diner... suddenly petrify into stone.

"Carl Creel. The Absorbing Man?" Nolan murmured, recognizing the signature effect. "Looks like we've entered Season Two..."

Yes, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 metaphorically speaking. With all the interference he'd caused altering timelines, derailing street-level arcs he wasn't surprised events were out of sync.

And if Carl was active... then Hive's emergence wasn't far off.

Nolan smirked.

"Find Carl Creel," he ordered AEL. "Alive."

The Absorbing Man's power fascinated him able to replicate the material properties of anything he touched. If he could absorb adamantium, for example...

Nolan's eyes gleamed.

He would become Nolan's first Inhuman specimen.

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The Inhuman Project had begun.

Unlike mutants, whose powers originated from the X-gene, Inhumans were artificially designed by the Kree. Their abilities weren't evolutionary they were engineered. Nolan had a theory:

The Kree's experimentation wasn't random. They had likely chosen Earth because its people possessed hidden X-gene variants the raw material needed for transformation. The Terrigen Mist was just the ignition switch.

Why Earth? Because only Earth had the right DNA to create bio-weapons like Black Bolt.

That confirmed something Nolan had long suspected:

Every human being carries latent potential.

Inhumans were just early prototypes.

Which meant Nolan could extract, refine, and weaponize those powers minus the flaws.

To do that, he needed subjects. Samples. Test cases.

Skye—Daisy—was one of them, but he wouldn't touch her. Not yet. Publicly, Nolan remained on good terms with both halves of the fractured Avengers. He couldn't move against them directly.

But others? Fair game.

"General Glenn Talbot..." Nolan whispered as the file popped up. That meant the Obelisk was gone, and the timeline was somewhere between Season 2 and 3.

In other words—it was time to act.

"If I want Kree tech..." he muttered, eyes narrowing, "I'll have to dissect the Inhumans to get it."

He no longer cared about offending their faction. If he wasn't afraid of the X-Men, why would he fear Inhumans?

"Carl Creel is target one," he said, voice sharp. "After that... any Inhuman worth harvesting becomes part of the project."

He would crack their biology.

Break their secrets.

And steal their future.

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