Red alarms bathed the HYDRA corridor as gunfire and shouted orders drew steadily closer, then fell silent one squad at a time. Katarina stood before the sealed blast door with her rifle raised, certain her destined rival had finally come for her. The doors burst inward.

“So, at last, you’ve come to face the Serpent’s-” A single strike hurled her into the wall before she could finish, leaving her crumpled beneath a smoking HYDRA emblem.