The Golden Destroyer

Taskmaster leaped from the ruins of a gutted building, every fiber of his being strained by a primal instinct: survival. Around him, the city was an indescribable chaos. The transformation of the target into this monstrous creature had metamorphosed the neighborhood into an infernal war zone.

His heartbeats echoed in his ears. He wasn't one to panic, but the situation had crossed the line of comprehension. He had faced mutants, highly trained mercenaries, and cybernetic creatures, but never anything like this.

A deafening scream tore through the heavens. Taskmaster turned, just in time to see one of the creature's three heads sweep the debris of an entire building away with a single snap of its jaws. A shockwave shook the ground, causing the still-standing structures to collapse within a radius of several hundred meters.

"Holy shit, this isn't possible!" he thought.

He activated his communicator, hoping for instructions.

"Base, this is Taskmaster. I'm requesting immediate extraction! This thing… it… it's beyond anything we anticipated."

No response. The silence on the other end confirmed that the operation was a complete failure.

Bolts of energy shot from the creature's jaws, slicing through the air and pulverizing everything in their path. One of the bolts struck the ground a few meters from Taskmaster, sending a wave of flames and debris that threw him off balance. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a metal pillar that crashed where he had been a second earlier. However, he didn't escape unscathed. He had lost an arm in the process.

"Fuck!"

These thoughts looped in his head as he sprinted, dodging projectiles and falling debris. As he turned at yet another intersection, he felt and then saw a flash tear everything apart behind him.

"So this is it. This is how it ends, huh!" he said, weary and bitter.

"I'm afraid you have more living to do," said a foreign voice. Just as it teleported Taskmaster from the battlefield.

---

Captain Jason Rook, pilot of an F-35 Lightning II, received orders in real time via his helmet. The military had been mobilized urgently following reports of a massive creature in the city center. What he saw on his control screens far exceeded anything he could have imagined.

"Alpha Team, this is Rook. I have visual. Confirm, that's… that's what we're supposed to neutralize?" he asked, incredulous.

"Confirmed, Captain. Authorization to use armor-piercing missiles. Priority: protect civilians and contain the target."

Jason adjusted his controls and directed his aircraft towards the creature. Even from high altitude, the creature was imposing. Its three heads snaked through the air, projecting destructive energy bolts that illuminated the city below. Each flap of its wings sent gusts of wind so powerful that they lifted vehicles and debris.

The captain took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Alpha Team, V formation. Prepare missiles. On my mark."

The five fighters moved into position, their engines roaring in the sky. Jason locked onto his target, but before he could fire, one of the beast's heads turned sharply towards them. Its eyes gleamed with a golden light.

"Visual contact confirmed! It's spotted us!" he yelled, panic in his voice.

A lightning bolt shot out, piercing the sky at lightning speed. Jason pushed on his controls, performing a roll to dodge. Two of his wingmen weren't so lucky: their aircraft exploded in a fireball, illuminating the sky covered with dark clouds.

"Shit! It's shooting us down like flies!"

Jason turned back, preparing a new attack. There was no room for error.

---

"This is Sarah Klein, live from the vicinity of the city center, where the gigantic creature that appeared months ago is wreaking havoc." We have no official confirmation of its nature yet, but the damage it's causing is comparable to a nuclear disaster. "Indeed, it's firing super-powerful lightning bolts and generating a rather violent storm."

The reporter stood on the roof of a building away from the combat zone, the camera focused on the titan. On the screen, you could see it unleashing its power, its three heads spitting lightning at anything that dared to approach.

"The armed forces are deployed, but their intervention seems ineffective. We just saw two fighter jets shot down in a fraction of a second. The creature seems invulnerable to any attack."

The cameraman zoomed in on the titan, capturing every terrifying detail: the golden scales shimmering in the light of the flames, the immense wings beating the air with unimaginable power, the three heads that seemed to act independently but in coordination.

"Local authorities are urging civilians to evacuate immediately. However, the speed at which this creature moves makes any evacuation extremely dangerous. According to our estimates, it's nearly 150 meters tall and extremely fast, despite its more than absurd physical characteristics."

---

In a command post several kilometers away, SHIELD agents were in a crisis situation. Giant screens showed live images from drones and surveillance cameras.

"Status?" demanded Maria Hill, arms crossed, her face grim.

"The creature has caused damage extending over a radius of 10 kilometers, while it has barely traveled a kilometer since its appearance. Air forces are suffering heavy losses. Our drones are detecting a continuous increase in the energy released by the subject."

Hill gritted her teeth. "Deploy the Quinjets. Activate the containment protocols. And contact Fury. He's going to want to see this."

Quinjets equipped with energy cannons quickly flew over the zone, but even they seemed insignificant compared to the monster's size. The titan swept the sky with a cry that made windows tremble for miles around.

---

Fury and the World Security Council

In the dim light of a virtual meeting room, the holograms of the World Security Council members appeared in a semicircle around Nick Fury. The SHIELD director stood straight, hands clasped behind his back, but his eyes betrayed the inner tension.

"Fury, what is this circus?" launched one of the members, a stern-faced man with a distinct European accent.

"A creature of unprecedented scale," Fury replied in an even tone. "We have designated the target as Golden Terror. It is classified as an Omega-level threat."

An Asian woman, with a stern voice, retorted on the alert. "Omega-level threat? That exceeds even the most pessimistic scenarios. Explain to me why your agents were not able to contain this before it escalated?"

Fury took a deep breath before answering. "This creature came out of nowhere. The first images captured, in the middle of the night, underestimated its size. But today, our analyses have revealed that it is much more massive and dangerous than we had imagined. It seemed to be fighting something… or looking for something. It is likely that Golden Terror was awakened from its lair by a disturbance. But we still don't know if this was accidental or intentional."

Another member, an American, slammed his fist on the virtual table. "I want results, Fury! No excuses. Tell me you have a plan!"

"SHIELD is deploying all its resources," Fury replied. "Our drones are on the ground, and we have activated containment protocols. But let's be realistic: we need more than a conventional arsenal. This creature is not a simple biological or technological threat. It acts with a clear intention, whatever its objective."

The Asian woman crossed her arms. "What are you implying? That this thing is sent by someone? By whom?"

Fury raised an eyebrow, his one good eye piercing the Council. "Nothing is ruled out. But for now, our priority is to avoid a total collapse. The initial impact zone is already uninhabitable, and Golden Terror seems to be moving randomly. To limit losses, we have agreed to follow it remotely. We have contingency plans for each type of area where it could land."

A heavy silence settled in.

The European member finally spoke. "If SHIELD fails to contain this threat, we will have to consider extreme measures."

Fury frowned. "By extreme measures, you mean… nuclear strikes?"

"If necessary, yes," the man replied coldly. "But we would prefer to avoid such a scenario. Find a solution, Fury. You have 24 hours. And don't disappear. We don't want him to give us another scene in six months."

The holograms went out one by one, leaving Fury alone in the dark room. He turned to the main screen which showed a live feed of the destruction caused by the Golden Terror.

He murmured to himself: "24 hours, huh? Very well… You want miracles, then prepare for me to pull out my best cards."

He pressed his earpiece.

"Hill, convene an immediate meeting with all our weapons experts and Level 7 agents. And find me that bastard Stark. Have him come up with every idea he has."

---

Ashes swirl around me as I rise into the sky, my wings slicing through the air with unparalleled force. Below, the city was nothing more than a field of smoking ruins. Admittedly, it was regrettable, but at this point, I could only accept the consequences and live with them.

"It was magnificent."

The voice of the destructive bastard oozed with satisfaction, a kind of morbid pleasure that I found both irritating and disgusting.

"That's all you have to say?" I retorted, annoyed. "Lives were lost down there. You're the one who destroyed this city by spamming lightning bolts like a madman!"

"So what? We are made for this. To dominate, to crush. It was exhilarating."

A sigh escaped me as I continued to fly. Those damn voices understood nothing. They reveled in the chaos like children playing with a magnifying glass in the sun, incapable of seeing beyond immediate gratification.

"You're pathetic," I retorted dryly. "No vision, no purpose. Just violence for the sake of violence."

A laugh echoed in my mind, mocking, provocative. "And you, great philosopher, what is your purpose?" Reason asked me.

I didn't answer. Not because I didn't have an answer, but because it didn't matter. I saw no need to justify myself to fragments of my own psyche.

My gaze settled on the horizon. I had no destination, and that was perfectly fine. Why burden myself with a plan when all I could do was fly, be free, dominate the sky? For a few moments.

The flames and rubble were far behind now, almost insignificant from here. It wasn't that I had no regrets; I did, but I wasn't going to dwell on them, or I risked becoming even more insane. I am what I am: a predator, yes, but not a mindless beast.

"You're running away."

"No, I'm choosing," I murmured, almost to myself. "I'm choosing not to listen to you."

The wind whistled in my ears as I climbed higher, the stars revealing themselves in the night sky. I wasn't here to wallow. That time was over. I had to move forward, whether I wanted to or not. Deluding myself with a normal life was no longer an option.

Now, that was all that mattered. And of course, finding the bastard who was after me and making him pay for all of this.