Dial (Ben10/Marvel Cinematic Universe SI)
- Thread starter DesertChocolate
- Start date
- Location
- Brazil
Days before?
It shows them coming back from arresting Whitehall, then "days before" they arrive at the Helicarrier while Dial asks about the convoy carrying Whitehall?
I'll fix it to be more clear. It's saying that it's before the 20th, which would ve the 'present'.
29
January 16th, 2014
"Please, sit," Pepper said gently, gesturing to the chairs at the table.
"Oh, thank you," Matt said politely, Foggy leading him to a chair.
The two sat down, followed by Pepper and me.
"So, um," Foggy started. "You said you wanted to hire us for a case?"
"No," I said simply. "I want both of you on retainer. Working for me."
Matt raised an eyebrow at that. "And what exactly would that entail?"
"Well, let's see," I let out a breath. "You both left Landman and Zack recently right? Can I ask why?"
"Um," Foggy seemed nervous. "Well, it was more of a mutual agreement to leave, you understand."
"We had philosophical differences," Matt said, leaning forward in his seat.
"They were helping scumbag companies get away with killing people," I said simply.
Foggy and Matt seemed surprised at that.
"Stark Industries made some inquiries," Pepper said with a smile.
"Look, here's the thing," I rubbed at my nose, leaning forward. "I got some money while taking down HYDRA. Enough to set me up for the rest of my life. And I want to use it to do some good. So I'd like to share it with you. All I ask is that you use the money I give you to help people pro bono. Any expenses paid by me, from real estate, assistants, whatever you need. In return, you guys help the helpless, make sure people stay safe."
Matt seemed to raise an eyebrow at that. I wondered what the man who would one day become, or maybe already was, Daredevil was hearing in my heartbeat.
"What," Foggy seemed focused on something else. "What sort of retainer are we talking about?"
Pepper smiled, opening a folder and passing it to Foggy. She opened another, this one in braille, and passed it to Matt.
"One hundred thousand a month," I told them. "All I ask is that you guys do your work, keep Hell's Kitchen safe. Get me?"
Matt was surprised, his eyebrows high. Foggy looked like all his Christmas' had come at once.
"Why us?" Matt asked.
"Matt!" Foggy said, smiling nervously. "Should we really be asking this very nice man why he's willing to pay us so much?" Foggy chuckled, and I grinned.
"I simply wish to know," Matt said with a smile. "Why you want us, specifically? For that kind of money, you can hire far more experienced lawyers."
"Don't tell him that," Foggy mumbled.
"...When I first started doing the hero thing, I started in Hell's Kitchen," I said, leaning back in my seat. "Taking down drug dealers, pimps, thugs, thieves, anyone who had a reason to attack a person in the area, then I expanded to do the same for New York City. I did a lot of work there. And not just me, there's someone else, a vigilante who recently started doing the same thing."
Matt didn't bat an eye at that.
"I want Hell's Kitchen to be safe. And you two want to go to work there. I think, that in many ways, our interests align, Mr. Murdock. I think we can help each other."
Matt rubbed his chin for a moment. I think, for just a moment, he was considering saying no. Just for the hell of it, or cause it sounded suspicious as hell. I was leaning towards the later. In which case I would have simply put the money into something else.
Instead, he moved his hands across the contract, reading the braille for a moment, before nodding. "Very well, Mr. Schahed. I think we'd like some time to read this over?"
"Yes, we can, uh," I rose up. "We can meet again whenever you're available. Who knows, you might see me in Hell's Kitchen one night?"
Matt laughed. "Yes, I'm sure I will."
"Thank you again," Foggy said, grinning as he shook my hand, then Pepper's. Once done with that, the pair left, with Foggy's voice slightly echoing after the door closed behind him.
"I'm still not sure what you see in them," Pepper said. "I mean, they're both clearly smart, at least according to their grades and their work at Landman and Zack. But we do have more experienced lawyers."
"Just trust me," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Meantime, you should get ready."
Pepper smiled, then raised a hand. A second later, a purple gauntlet flew through the window to wrap around her arm. More armor pieces flew to land on her form until she was in the full armor of the Rescue unit.
"You changed the color," I noted.
"Red and black wasn't doing it for me," she said, as her helmet landed in her hands. She placed it on her head, the now purple and silver headpiece moving around to enshroud her. "Tony," she said, voice slightly altered. "You ready?"
"Since this morning!" Tony's voice said through our comms. A loud roaring sound came from the window, and Iron Man dropped into view to float in front of the window.
"Pepper, Dial," Tony said. "Shall we?"
I grinned and ran towards the open window next to Pepper. I leaped out of the open window and into the skies over New York. I fell for a while, passing windows and rooftops, the chilly morning winds rushing past me as the city streets came closer and closer. Then I tapped the Omnitrix and changed in a flash of bright green light.
"Astrodactyl!"
I pulled up at the last minute, about a foot over a yellow cab as people watched, and flew upwards in a quick burst of green star power. Pepper joined me, and we flew through the streets.
"Cutting it close, aren't you?" Iron Man asked as he flew down to join me.
"I've always wanted to do a Wronski Feint, now I can do it whenever I want, squawk!" I said with a grin.
"That really does look scary," Pepper noted as she twirled in the air, looking very graceful in her purple armor. The three of us went deeper into New York City, Tony and I on patrol, Pepper simply flying alongside her boyfriend.
A good way to start off the day.
------
Director Maria Hill of BRIDGE
Maria walked into the interrogation room with Fury on her right side, and her new Deputy Director, Victoria Hand on the left. Sitting at the table was one Brigadier General Hale, a member of the United States Air Force who had defected from HYDRA in return for several stipulations.
Maria sat down in front of her, and Hale blinked in surprise. "Huh. Things must have changed if you're Maria's lackey, Fury."
Fury smirked. "Oh, quite a bit has changed. After all, you gave yourself up with barely a fight, didn't you?"
"With none at all, if I remember," Victoria said, flipping her trademark pink stripped hair back.
Hale smiled a bit, looking chagrinned. "Point. I suppose a lot has changed."
Maria held a hand out, and Victoria passed her a tablet. "We've been looking at the conditions you gave us in return for information on HYDRA. You understand some of it will have to be negotiated and the information will have to be confirmed. Some stuff you asked for just won't be possible."
"Like what?" Hale's eye narrowed, her posture stiffened.
"Well, you won't be getting off scot-free. We will have to give you some jail time," Maria said. "Even with the information you've given, those in the world's governments will want to come after you purely for your association with HYDRA."
Hale clenched her hands together, but she only nodded tightly rather than contesting that. Not what she was worried about then. Maria had a guess as to Hale's true priorities.
"And then there is your daughter, Ruby Hale," Maria watched the fire rise in Hale's eyes. Jackpot.
"Ruby is innocent," Hale said harshly. "She's just a child."
"A child raised to be a killer," Fury replied, resting his hands flat on the table. "She's got skills, that can't be denied. Not many fourteen-year-old girls who can fight my best," Fury winced, looking at Maria. "Sorry, force of habit. Our best."
Maria nodded gracefully, acknowledging the slip. "She's been trained, no doubt about it, but she's still a young girl. Quite frankly, it's hard to tell what we should do with her."
"Train her further," Hale said, imploring. "Keep her safe. I'll give every bit of information I have, I'll do whatever it takes. Just please, don't hurt Ruby."
Maria scoffed. "Hale, did you think for a second we were planning on hurting your daughter? Dissecting her the way Whitehall was planning?" Maria tutted, shaking her head from side to side. "No. But we can't exactly make a brainwashed-"
"She wasn't brainwashed!" Hale protested.
"Raised in a HYDRA facility while being told over and over to obey, kill, and worship the chain of command?" Victoria strode around to look down at Hale, her high heels clicking with each step. "Brainwashing doesn't just mean chemistry and technology. Ruby will need serious deprogramming to be seen as anywhere close to normal."
"But she can be useful," Hale glared at Victoria. "Ruby just wants to fulfill her purpose. To be a hero. Yes, she's been raised to be a warrior-"
"A killer," Fury interrupted, shrugging at the glare Hale gave him.
"She's still a young girl," Hale said softly. "She can be a good SHIELD agent. She won't be able to integrate into society, I know that. I just... I want my daughter to have a home. To be safe, and to live her life..."
Maria leaned back in her chair, resting her hand against her fingers. "So you want us to... what? Take Ruby and groom her to become an agent?"
"She's already got the training," Hale said. "You take care of her, make her strong, and I promise she can be an asset. In return, I'll give you everything I have. Every base, everyone who is still active. This information is current. But not for long. HYDRA will move everything the second you give them a chance. You've already attacked Whitehall, haven't you?"
None of the three answered, and Hale nodded.
"Protect my daughter. Train her. And I'll give you anything you want," Hale said.
"No attempt to make things easier on you?" Victoria asked curiously.
"Just Ruby, I went into this knowing I made my bed," Hale said, clenching her hands together.
Maria smiled slightly and slid the tablet towards Hale. "I think we might be able to work something out."
As Hale read the tablet, Maria looking at Fury, who nodded.
Maria was still getting used to being Director. In some ways, nothing had changed. The paperwork had increased, and she had to manage not only the organization, but also Tony, Dial, and the other Avengers, all of whom needed to be kept under watch, simply so she wouldn't be left surprised the next time they suggested something crazy.
But this was part of her old work. Convincing someone to do something she'd already planned on.
Ruby Hale could be an asset. Not now. But in four years, a former ticking time bomb could become something very, very useful. Natasha already had thoughts on that. They'd help her, and if Ruby wanted a normal life, they would let her. Until then, she'd be kept out of the fight, but continue being groomed for it.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Later, we got bad news. Sharon and Trip had been kidnapped.
"Any news?" I asked as I walked into the Avengers Tower briefing room. Every Avenger, Coulson's team, Director Maria Hill, and Deputy Director Victoria Hand were all there. Tony and I had arrived as soon as we heard.
"Nothing yet," Coulson said, his voice tight with anger. "We have video footage of it though. Tony-"
"On it," Tony waved his hands, and the new hologram tech we'd made sprouted in the middle of the room. It was extremely clear, made to mimic physical objects as perfectly as possible. "Jarvi-"
"Actually sir," X's southern tone interrupted. "I was involved, I believe I have the most pertinent information."
Tony frowned, thrown at the sudden interruption.
"Go ahead, X," I said. "Roll the footage, give us 3D."
"Sure, go ahead," Tony grumbled. "Not like it's my lab."
"Sorry," I said, chagrined.
Tony waved it off and soon X brought up a scale model of the streets of Washington.
"As you can see, we registered the presence of an unknown Quinjet flying towards Agent Carter and Agent Triplett shortly after they left the newly bought home of Margaret Elizabeth 'Peggy' Carter," Steve and Bucky's jaws tightened in unison at that. "I attempted to warn them, and HYDRA made their move. The Quinjet dropped an unidentified Enhanced individual."
The view zoomed in on the streets until Sharon and Trip were sitting in a car in front of us, as though they had appeared out of thin air. As we watched, a woman dropped out of the sky to land in front of them. X paused the footage, and Tony, Steve, Maria, and I walked over to look at her.
She was wearing a tank top and military pants, the boots she was wearing stretched out by clawed feet. Tall, even taller than Creel or Steve. Built with incredible muscles, from her eight-pack abs to her enormous biceps, all in a feminine form. Her skin was dark green and covered with what seemed like scales, spikes in her elbows, her fingers clawed, and her eyes glowing a pale yellow, her green hair pulled into a ponytail.
"I really hope that isn't what I think it is," Bruce said grimly as he looked upon the individual in question.
"...Gamma enhanced," I said after a moment. Silently I thought of her as a She-Abomination.
"Crime scene forensics did find some high levels of gamma radiation," X confirmed.
"Sterns," Bruce said, sounding disappointed.
"Not necessarily," Simmons replied. "The Centipede serum has gamma radiation, maybe-"
"No," Bruce removed his glasses. "No one has been able to make a true monster like me or Blonsky. This is Sterns."
"Forget how she got her powers," Maria said, crossing her arms. "X, show us the rest."
"Of course, Director," X continued the footage. We watched Sharon and Trip try to escape, only to get chased by the woman in question.
I tried to remember who she was in particular, but nothing came to mind. Maybe the Abominatrix? She didn't look as bulky as her though. Whoever she was, she had standard Hulk set of strength, including the ability to jump massive distances and the fact she could outrun cars on foot.
She had used it to catch up to Trip and Sharon, who tried to fight back as the HYDRA Quinjet flew overhead. She stopped them by pulling the engine out of the car, catching and injecting Trip with something, then doing the same to Sharon. She picked them both up, then leaped into the HYDRA Quinjet with the pair. X followed the Quinjet until it crashed into a barn, then the footage got grainy.
"This is bad," I said, crossing my arms. "And not just because they have two of ours."
"Trip and Sharon have information on a lot of what we've been doing," Coulson said grimly. "We need to move on our current operations, and get them back."
"You really think they took them for information?" Steve asked. He looked... apocalyptic. He wasn't angry, but there was a chill in his eyes.
"Maybe," Maria sat down in a chair, rubbing her eyes. "HYDRA has been in hiding for all this time, why attack now?"
"Maybe they need something?" Skye asked. "Something Sharon and Trip have?"
"Well, they're clearly making super-soldiers," Bobbi said. "She was powerful. If they have more like her, they might be able to take the fight to us."
"I wouldn't want to fight her alone," Sam noted, looking over the tall monstrous looking and buxom superhuman. "Let alone if they've got more like her."
"They'd need the gene," Bruce said. "People who have the gamma gene are rare."
"Even then, we're not exactly playing catch up," Tony said. "They're the ones hiding from us, we might as well start hunting."
"Agreed," Maria walked over to the center of the room. "HYDRA made an attack on us. We need to find Trip and Sharon and take down HYDRA in general. General Hale has given us another group of targets, in return for the protection of her daughter. I'm sending in Sam and his team to one, Steve's to another, and Coulson will go with Hand to the last."
Victoria Hand, who had been simply watching, stepped forward. "Each team has one goal that supersedes all others. Find the main ones behind all of this. Whoever is making new super-soldiers, wherever they are, we need to get them. You have the approval of the Council. Now get to work."
------
Tony, Fitz, and I stood watching as the Claytronics Object Creator did its work. The arms inside shifted back and forth, forming a chestplate. The plate was striped red, blue, and white, with a star in the center.
"I wish we had more time," Fitz said, rubbing his chin. "To run tests, make sure they work, let alone for the specialized gear," Fitz put his hands on his hips and moved around as the chest plate dissolved into dust. A pair of arm gauntlets were being created next.
"It'll work, Ross," Tony said. "The tech is sound, and I made sure everything was made the way the gang wanted them."
"Including mine," I said as the COC... oh god, that is a terrible acronym. I need to come up with something else.
I focused on what popped out from a port in the machine, a small backpack, the kind people used on long hikes or rock climbing. Fitz took the backpack, only to yelp as it almost pulled him to the floor.
"Careful, Ross," Tony said, taking the backpack from Fitz with a chuckle. "It's Cap's, remember? He wears the heavy gear because he likes emasculating lesser men like us."
"How heavy? Because that felt like it was made from rocks!" Fitz said rubbing his arms. "Good lord!"
"It's Cap," I said. "He thinks five hundred pounds is a light workout. Even that," I pointed at the backpack. "Is going to be lightweight."
"Yeah well, he still didn't let me put in the cool stuff," Tony said, sighing. "No repulsors, no cool guns, no flight, just some small enhancements, and jumpjets. Surprised he actually wanted it bulletproof at this point."
"It'll do the job," I watched Tony put the backpack away. "Bucky asked for the same sort of set up, Creel and Bruce didn't want anything at all."
"Well, at least Sam let me fix him up," Tony said, still grumbling. "Anyways, we've got everyone's new designs all good to go."
"Hell of a test run," Fitz said, grumbling. "At least we know the guns work."
I looked over at an armory rack that was filled with weapons. After some thought, I walked over to the rack and picked up three things. A black handle to a sword with a hole where the blade would usually be, and a handgun and rifle that both looked very scifi in style, big and boxy.
"Whoa," Fitz said as I placed the weapons to the side, replacing my Glock 19 with the handgun. "You really need all those? I mean, with the Omnitrix-"
"If it times out, I might need the BCW's, even with the armor," I said.
"I still like that name, by the way," Tony said with a grin as I looked over my new weapons. "Becuzitswrong. Kinda funny."
I smiled sadly. "Yeah well... I wanted something to, um, memorialize someone I respected greatly. So, the BCW's, weapons of the future. Model 1, Model 2, Model 3," I patted the handgun, rifle, and handle in sequence.
"Well, let's get the gear to the others," Tony said. "Time to party."
------
The Reserve Avengers, the team I was on, got into my Quinjet, the Defiant, and headed out. Sam went through the run down as X flew us there.
There were seven of us. Sam, aka Falcon, stood in the center, Rhodey next to him with the War Machine armor hanging behind him. Bobbi and Hartley sat next to each other. Bucky was in the back, his arms crossed. I moved from the cockpit to the back, and Creel, who was leaning next to the door to the cockpit, flickered his eyes to me before looking back at Falcon. Once we were together, Sam began.
"Here's what we got," Sam said, a holographic image of the complex we were attacking appearing in the center of the Defiant's cargo bay, all of us gathering around it. "In the desert of Texas, HYDRA has maintained a facility where they keep their rejects. The experiments that failed, were unstable, or just not as powerful as they hoped. This includes corpses, but they also hold prisoners," Sam said, the Falcon crossing his arms. "They call it the Graveyard."
"Why does HYDRA always go for the obviously evil names?" I asked, growling. Bucky nodded from the back.
"Okay, here's what we know," Sam twisted the hologram for a moment, then furrowed his brow when it twisted into a ball.
"Here, let me," I said, moving forward and putting the complex back to normal then zooming in on it.
"Thanks," Sam said. "Okay, the complex is in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, resting to the east. This place has a hanger and a bunch of tanks and heavy machine guns, so Dial, War Machine and I will work on taking out those. Creel, Barnes, Hartley, and Morse, you four will go in and take out the base personnel. Remember, the priority is taking the base commander. The Avengers and BRIDGE have the same mission for their targets. We'll also try to help the prisoners if we can, but that's a secondary objective," Sam frowned at that, clearly displeased.
I couldn't say I was happy either. Any failed experiments HYDRA had would be down there, both people and animals. Whatever we found could be innocent. But they could also be insane killers.
I reached for my sidearm and took it out, looking it over for a moment. "Okay, everyone has the new gear?"
Creel looked at his arm. While he was wearing his usual combination of a tank-top and jeans, he now also wore a large device wrapped around his arm in the shape of an arm guard one would see in a Greek or Roman army, colored a deep black. He focused, and his skin changed to a dark steel color. Then into granite, marble, blue cloth, rubber, and then the familiar shine of vibranium, black with lines of glowing blue for the raw version and the more steel-like version for the color of the processed stuff like Cap's shield. There was barely a sliver of either in the gauntlet, but they'd been taken from the piece we'd gotten when we'd captured him, enough to let him change.
"I'm good," Creel said.
The rest of the group picked up the small backpacks hanging along the wall. Bobbi seemed a bit nervous. "So, how does this work?" she asked while looking the pack over.
"You say, 'Moon Prism Power, Make Up!' And the armor will appear," I said, straight-faced.
Bobbi stared at me, looking horrified. "Are you serious?"
I grinned. "Nah, just say your codename."
"Oh thank god," Bobbi said, punching me in the arm. "You know I hate that show."
"You have no taste," Hartley, Rhodey, and I said in unison, sharing a grin.
Bobbi snorted. "Whatever. Okay," she took a deep breath, then slid her purple backpack on. "Mockingbird!"
------
Author's Note: So the next chapter is going to start off with a description of everyone's armor. They'll all have options specific to them, as well as helmets that can be put on and off. The exceptions are Rhodey, who has real armor, and Creel, who is armor.
Also, Murdock is in the same boat as T'Chaka, aka suspicious of Dial (It's his plan all along, muahahaha!)
Hale is trading for Ruby's protection.
The COC has finally been completed, is making armor, and needs a name that can't have an unfortunate 'K' spray-painted onto it. It'll be making most armor for this story until it can be mass produced and upgraded, with Tony soon to make his own armor based on the ultimate upgrades and some advice from Dial, who has read the comics.
And finally, the base they're attacking, the home of all the failed experiments HYDRA actually kept. I figured, with all the crap they've pulled, there had to be some crazy stuff they thought was worth holding onto, despite how much pain those beings may have been in. Animal, person, or plant, some stuff must have been kept. So, the Reserve Avengers are going in to fight it.
"Please, sit," Pepper said gently, gesturing to the chairs at the table.
"Oh, thank you," Matt said politely, Foggy leading him to a chair.
The two sat down, followed by Pepper and me.
"So, um," Foggy started. "You said you wanted to hire us for a case?"
"No," I said simply. "I want both of you on retainer. Working for me."
Matt raised an eyebrow at that. "And what exactly would that entail?"
"Well, let's see," I let out a breath. "You both left Landman and Zack recently right? Can I ask why?"
"Um," Foggy seemed nervous. "Well, it was more of a mutual agreement to leave, you understand."
"We had philosophical differences," Matt said, leaning forward in his seat.
"They were helping scumbag companies get away with killing people," I said simply.
Foggy and Matt seemed surprised at that.
"Stark Industries made some inquiries," Pepper said with a smile.
"Look, here's the thing," I rubbed at my nose, leaning forward. "I got some money while taking down HYDRA. Enough to set me up for the rest of my life. And I want to use it to do some good. So I'd like to share it with you. All I ask is that you use the money I give you to help people pro bono. Any expenses paid by me, from real estate, assistants, whatever you need. In return, you guys help the helpless, make sure people stay safe."
Matt seemed to raise an eyebrow at that. I wondered what the man who would one day become, or maybe already was, Daredevil was hearing in my heartbeat.
"What," Foggy seemed focused on something else. "What sort of retainer are we talking about?"
Pepper smiled, opening a folder and passing it to Foggy. She opened another, this one in braille, and passed it to Matt.
"One hundred thousand a month," I told them. "All I ask is that you guys do your work, keep Hell's Kitchen safe. Get me?"
Matt was surprised, his eyebrows high. Foggy looked like all his Christmas' had come at once.
"Why us?" Matt asked.
"Matt!" Foggy said, smiling nervously. "Should we really be asking this very nice man why he's willing to pay us so much?" Foggy chuckled, and I grinned.
"I simply wish to know," Matt said with a smile. "Why you want us, specifically? For that kind of money, you can hire far more experienced lawyers."
"Don't tell him that," Foggy mumbled.
"...When I first started doing the hero thing, I started in Hell's Kitchen," I said, leaning back in my seat. "Taking down drug dealers, pimps, thugs, thieves, anyone who had a reason to attack a person in the area, then I expanded to do the same for New York City. I did a lot of work there. And not just me, there's someone else, a vigilante who recently started doing the same thing."
Matt didn't bat an eye at that.
"I want Hell's Kitchen to be safe. And you two want to go to work there. I think, that in many ways, our interests align, Mr. Murdock. I think we can help each other."
Matt rubbed his chin for a moment. I think, for just a moment, he was considering saying no. Just for the hell of it, or cause it sounded suspicious as hell. I was leaning towards the later. In which case I would have simply put the money into something else.
Instead, he moved his hands across the contract, reading the braille for a moment, before nodding. "Very well, Mr. Schahed. I think we'd like some time to read this over?"
"Yes, we can, uh," I rose up. "We can meet again whenever you're available. Who knows, you might see me in Hell's Kitchen one night?"
Matt laughed. "Yes, I'm sure I will."
"Thank you again," Foggy said, grinning as he shook my hand, then Pepper's. Once done with that, the pair left, with Foggy's voice slightly echoing after the door closed behind him.
"I'm still not sure what you see in them," Pepper said. "I mean, they're both clearly smart, at least according to their grades and their work at Landman and Zack. But we do have more experienced lawyers."
"Just trust me," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Meantime, you should get ready."
Pepper smiled, then raised a hand. A second later, a purple gauntlet flew through the window to wrap around her arm. More armor pieces flew to land on her form until she was in the full armor of the Rescue unit.
"You changed the color," I noted.
"Red and black wasn't doing it for me," she said, as her helmet landed in her hands. She placed it on her head, the now purple and silver headpiece moving around to enshroud her. "Tony," she said, voice slightly altered. "You ready?"
"Since this morning!" Tony's voice said through our comms. A loud roaring sound came from the window, and Iron Man dropped into view to float in front of the window.
"Pepper, Dial," Tony said. "Shall we?"
I grinned and ran towards the open window next to Pepper. I leaped out of the open window and into the skies over New York. I fell for a while, passing windows and rooftops, the chilly morning winds rushing past me as the city streets came closer and closer. Then I tapped the Omnitrix and changed in a flash of bright green light.
"Astrodactyl!"
I pulled up at the last minute, about a foot over a yellow cab as people watched, and flew upwards in a quick burst of green star power. Pepper joined me, and we flew through the streets.
"Cutting it close, aren't you?" Iron Man asked as he flew down to join me.
"I've always wanted to do a Wronski Feint, now I can do it whenever I want, squawk!" I said with a grin.
"That really does look scary," Pepper noted as she twirled in the air, looking very graceful in her purple armor. The three of us went deeper into New York City, Tony and I on patrol, Pepper simply flying alongside her boyfriend.
A good way to start off the day.
------
Director Maria Hill of BRIDGE
Maria walked into the interrogation room with Fury on her right side, and her new Deputy Director, Victoria Hand on the left. Sitting at the table was one Brigadier General Hale, a member of the United States Air Force who had defected from HYDRA in return for several stipulations.
Maria sat down in front of her, and Hale blinked in surprise. "Huh. Things must have changed if you're Maria's lackey, Fury."
Fury smirked. "Oh, quite a bit has changed. After all, you gave yourself up with barely a fight, didn't you?"
"With none at all, if I remember," Victoria said, flipping her trademark pink stripped hair back.
Hale smiled a bit, looking chagrinned. "Point. I suppose a lot has changed."
Maria held a hand out, and Victoria passed her a tablet. "We've been looking at the conditions you gave us in return for information on HYDRA. You understand some of it will have to be negotiated and the information will have to be confirmed. Some stuff you asked for just won't be possible."
"Like what?" Hale's eye narrowed, her posture stiffened.
"Well, you won't be getting off scot-free. We will have to give you some jail time," Maria said. "Even with the information you've given, those in the world's governments will want to come after you purely for your association with HYDRA."
Hale clenched her hands together, but she only nodded tightly rather than contesting that. Not what she was worried about then. Maria had a guess as to Hale's true priorities.
"And then there is your daughter, Ruby Hale," Maria watched the fire rise in Hale's eyes. Jackpot.
"Ruby is innocent," Hale said harshly. "She's just a child."
"A child raised to be a killer," Fury replied, resting his hands flat on the table. "She's got skills, that can't be denied. Not many fourteen-year-old girls who can fight my best," Fury winced, looking at Maria. "Sorry, force of habit. Our best."
Maria nodded gracefully, acknowledging the slip. "She's been trained, no doubt about it, but she's still a young girl. Quite frankly, it's hard to tell what we should do with her."
"Train her further," Hale said, imploring. "Keep her safe. I'll give every bit of information I have, I'll do whatever it takes. Just please, don't hurt Ruby."
Maria scoffed. "Hale, did you think for a second we were planning on hurting your daughter? Dissecting her the way Whitehall was planning?" Maria tutted, shaking her head from side to side. "No. But we can't exactly make a brainwashed-"
"She wasn't brainwashed!" Hale protested.
"Raised in a HYDRA facility while being told over and over to obey, kill, and worship the chain of command?" Victoria strode around to look down at Hale, her high heels clicking with each step. "Brainwashing doesn't just mean chemistry and technology. Ruby will need serious deprogramming to be seen as anywhere close to normal."
"But she can be useful," Hale glared at Victoria. "Ruby just wants to fulfill her purpose. To be a hero. Yes, she's been raised to be a warrior-"
"A killer," Fury interrupted, shrugging at the glare Hale gave him.
"She's still a young girl," Hale said softly. "She can be a good SHIELD agent. She won't be able to integrate into society, I know that. I just... I want my daughter to have a home. To be safe, and to live her life..."
Maria leaned back in her chair, resting her hand against her fingers. "So you want us to... what? Take Ruby and groom her to become an agent?"
"She's already got the training," Hale said. "You take care of her, make her strong, and I promise she can be an asset. In return, I'll give you everything I have. Every base, everyone who is still active. This information is current. But not for long. HYDRA will move everything the second you give them a chance. You've already attacked Whitehall, haven't you?"
None of the three answered, and Hale nodded.
"Protect my daughter. Train her. And I'll give you anything you want," Hale said.
"No attempt to make things easier on you?" Victoria asked curiously.
"Just Ruby, I went into this knowing I made my bed," Hale said, clenching her hands together.
Maria smiled slightly and slid the tablet towards Hale. "I think we might be able to work something out."
As Hale read the tablet, Maria looking at Fury, who nodded.
Maria was still getting used to being Director. In some ways, nothing had changed. The paperwork had increased, and she had to manage not only the organization, but also Tony, Dial, and the other Avengers, all of whom needed to be kept under watch, simply so she wouldn't be left surprised the next time they suggested something crazy.
But this was part of her old work. Convincing someone to do something she'd already planned on.
Ruby Hale could be an asset. Not now. But in four years, a former ticking time bomb could become something very, very useful. Natasha already had thoughts on that. They'd help her, and if Ruby wanted a normal life, they would let her. Until then, she'd be kept out of the fight, but continue being groomed for it.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Later, we got bad news. Sharon and Trip had been kidnapped.
"Any news?" I asked as I walked into the Avengers Tower briefing room. Every Avenger, Coulson's team, Director Maria Hill, and Deputy Director Victoria Hand were all there. Tony and I had arrived as soon as we heard.
"Nothing yet," Coulson said, his voice tight with anger. "We have video footage of it though. Tony-"
"On it," Tony waved his hands, and the new hologram tech we'd made sprouted in the middle of the room. It was extremely clear, made to mimic physical objects as perfectly as possible. "Jarvi-"
"Actually sir," X's southern tone interrupted. "I was involved, I believe I have the most pertinent information."
Tony frowned, thrown at the sudden interruption.
"Go ahead, X," I said. "Roll the footage, give us 3D."
"Sure, go ahead," Tony grumbled. "Not like it's my lab."
"Sorry," I said, chagrined.
Tony waved it off and soon X brought up a scale model of the streets of Washington.
"As you can see, we registered the presence of an unknown Quinjet flying towards Agent Carter and Agent Triplett shortly after they left the newly bought home of Margaret Elizabeth 'Peggy' Carter," Steve and Bucky's jaws tightened in unison at that. "I attempted to warn them, and HYDRA made their move. The Quinjet dropped an unidentified Enhanced individual."
The view zoomed in on the streets until Sharon and Trip were sitting in a car in front of us, as though they had appeared out of thin air. As we watched, a woman dropped out of the sky to land in front of them. X paused the footage, and Tony, Steve, Maria, and I walked over to look at her.
She was wearing a tank top and military pants, the boots she was wearing stretched out by clawed feet. Tall, even taller than Creel or Steve. Built with incredible muscles, from her eight-pack abs to her enormous biceps, all in a feminine form. Her skin was dark green and covered with what seemed like scales, spikes in her elbows, her fingers clawed, and her eyes glowing a pale yellow, her green hair pulled into a ponytail.
"I really hope that isn't what I think it is," Bruce said grimly as he looked upon the individual in question.
"...Gamma enhanced," I said after a moment. Silently I thought of her as a She-Abomination.
"Crime scene forensics did find some high levels of gamma radiation," X confirmed.
"Sterns," Bruce said, sounding disappointed.
"Not necessarily," Simmons replied. "The Centipede serum has gamma radiation, maybe-"
"No," Bruce removed his glasses. "No one has been able to make a true monster like me or Blonsky. This is Sterns."
"Forget how she got her powers," Maria said, crossing her arms. "X, show us the rest."
"Of course, Director," X continued the footage. We watched Sharon and Trip try to escape, only to get chased by the woman in question.
I tried to remember who she was in particular, but nothing came to mind. Maybe the Abominatrix? She didn't look as bulky as her though. Whoever she was, she had standard Hulk set of strength, including the ability to jump massive distances and the fact she could outrun cars on foot.
She had used it to catch up to Trip and Sharon, who tried to fight back as the HYDRA Quinjet flew overhead. She stopped them by pulling the engine out of the car, catching and injecting Trip with something, then doing the same to Sharon. She picked them both up, then leaped into the HYDRA Quinjet with the pair. X followed the Quinjet until it crashed into a barn, then the footage got grainy.
"This is bad," I said, crossing my arms. "And not just because they have two of ours."
"Trip and Sharon have information on a lot of what we've been doing," Coulson said grimly. "We need to move on our current operations, and get them back."
"You really think they took them for information?" Steve asked. He looked... apocalyptic. He wasn't angry, but there was a chill in his eyes.
"Maybe," Maria sat down in a chair, rubbing her eyes. "HYDRA has been in hiding for all this time, why attack now?"
"Maybe they need something?" Skye asked. "Something Sharon and Trip have?"
"Well, they're clearly making super-soldiers," Bobbi said. "She was powerful. If they have more like her, they might be able to take the fight to us."
"I wouldn't want to fight her alone," Sam noted, looking over the tall monstrous looking and buxom superhuman. "Let alone if they've got more like her."
"They'd need the gene," Bruce said. "People who have the gamma gene are rare."
"Even then, we're not exactly playing catch up," Tony said. "They're the ones hiding from us, we might as well start hunting."
"Agreed," Maria walked over to the center of the room. "HYDRA made an attack on us. We need to find Trip and Sharon and take down HYDRA in general. General Hale has given us another group of targets, in return for the protection of her daughter. I'm sending in Sam and his team to one, Steve's to another, and Coulson will go with Hand to the last."
Victoria Hand, who had been simply watching, stepped forward. "Each team has one goal that supersedes all others. Find the main ones behind all of this. Whoever is making new super-soldiers, wherever they are, we need to get them. You have the approval of the Council. Now get to work."
------
Tony, Fitz, and I stood watching as the Claytronics Object Creator did its work. The arms inside shifted back and forth, forming a chestplate. The plate was striped red, blue, and white, with a star in the center.
"I wish we had more time," Fitz said, rubbing his chin. "To run tests, make sure they work, let alone for the specialized gear," Fitz put his hands on his hips and moved around as the chest plate dissolved into dust. A pair of arm gauntlets were being created next.
"It'll work, Ross," Tony said. "The tech is sound, and I made sure everything was made the way the gang wanted them."
"Including mine," I said as the COC... oh god, that is a terrible acronym. I need to come up with something else.
I focused on what popped out from a port in the machine, a small backpack, the kind people used on long hikes or rock climbing. Fitz took the backpack, only to yelp as it almost pulled him to the floor.
"Careful, Ross," Tony said, taking the backpack from Fitz with a chuckle. "It's Cap's, remember? He wears the heavy gear because he likes emasculating lesser men like us."
"How heavy? Because that felt like it was made from rocks!" Fitz said rubbing his arms. "Good lord!"
"It's Cap," I said. "He thinks five hundred pounds is a light workout. Even that," I pointed at the backpack. "Is going to be lightweight."
"Yeah well, he still didn't let me put in the cool stuff," Tony said, sighing. "No repulsors, no cool guns, no flight, just some small enhancements, and jumpjets. Surprised he actually wanted it bulletproof at this point."
"It'll do the job," I watched Tony put the backpack away. "Bucky asked for the same sort of set up, Creel and Bruce didn't want anything at all."
"Well, at least Sam let me fix him up," Tony said, still grumbling. "Anyways, we've got everyone's new designs all good to go."
"Hell of a test run," Fitz said, grumbling. "At least we know the guns work."
I looked over at an armory rack that was filled with weapons. After some thought, I walked over to the rack and picked up three things. A black handle to a sword with a hole where the blade would usually be, and a handgun and rifle that both looked very scifi in style, big and boxy.
"Whoa," Fitz said as I placed the weapons to the side, replacing my Glock 19 with the handgun. "You really need all those? I mean, with the Omnitrix-"
"If it times out, I might need the BCW's, even with the armor," I said.
"I still like that name, by the way," Tony said with a grin as I looked over my new weapons. "Becuzitswrong. Kinda funny."
I smiled sadly. "Yeah well... I wanted something to, um, memorialize someone I respected greatly. So, the BCW's, weapons of the future. Model 1, Model 2, Model 3," I patted the handgun, rifle, and handle in sequence.
"Well, let's get the gear to the others," Tony said. "Time to party."
------
The Reserve Avengers, the team I was on, got into my Quinjet, the Defiant, and headed out. Sam went through the run down as X flew us there.
There were seven of us. Sam, aka Falcon, stood in the center, Rhodey next to him with the War Machine armor hanging behind him. Bobbi and Hartley sat next to each other. Bucky was in the back, his arms crossed. I moved from the cockpit to the back, and Creel, who was leaning next to the door to the cockpit, flickered his eyes to me before looking back at Falcon. Once we were together, Sam began.
"Here's what we got," Sam said, a holographic image of the complex we were attacking appearing in the center of the Defiant's cargo bay, all of us gathering around it. "In the desert of Texas, HYDRA has maintained a facility where they keep their rejects. The experiments that failed, were unstable, or just not as powerful as they hoped. This includes corpses, but they also hold prisoners," Sam said, the Falcon crossing his arms. "They call it the Graveyard."
"Why does HYDRA always go for the obviously evil names?" I asked, growling. Bucky nodded from the back.
"Okay, here's what we know," Sam twisted the hologram for a moment, then furrowed his brow when it twisted into a ball.
"Here, let me," I said, moving forward and putting the complex back to normal then zooming in on it.
"Thanks," Sam said. "Okay, the complex is in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, resting to the east. This place has a hanger and a bunch of tanks and heavy machine guns, so Dial, War Machine and I will work on taking out those. Creel, Barnes, Hartley, and Morse, you four will go in and take out the base personnel. Remember, the priority is taking the base commander. The Avengers and BRIDGE have the same mission for their targets. We'll also try to help the prisoners if we can, but that's a secondary objective," Sam frowned at that, clearly displeased.
I couldn't say I was happy either. Any failed experiments HYDRA had would be down there, both people and animals. Whatever we found could be innocent. But they could also be insane killers.
I reached for my sidearm and took it out, looking it over for a moment. "Okay, everyone has the new gear?"
Creel looked at his arm. While he was wearing his usual combination of a tank-top and jeans, he now also wore a large device wrapped around his arm in the shape of an arm guard one would see in a Greek or Roman army, colored a deep black. He focused, and his skin changed to a dark steel color. Then into granite, marble, blue cloth, rubber, and then the familiar shine of vibranium, black with lines of glowing blue for the raw version and the more steel-like version for the color of the processed stuff like Cap's shield. There was barely a sliver of either in the gauntlet, but they'd been taken from the piece we'd gotten when we'd captured him, enough to let him change.
"I'm good," Creel said.
The rest of the group picked up the small backpacks hanging along the wall. Bobbi seemed a bit nervous. "So, how does this work?" she asked while looking the pack over.
"You say, 'Moon Prism Power, Make Up!' And the armor will appear," I said, straight-faced.
Bobbi stared at me, looking horrified. "Are you serious?"
I grinned. "Nah, just say your codename."
"Oh thank god," Bobbi said, punching me in the arm. "You know I hate that show."
"You have no taste," Hartley, Rhodey, and I said in unison, sharing a grin.
Bobbi snorted. "Whatever. Okay," she took a deep breath, then slid her purple backpack on. "Mockingbird!"
------
Author's Note: So the next chapter is going to start off with a description of everyone's armor. They'll all have options specific to them, as well as helmets that can be put on and off. The exceptions are Rhodey, who has real armor, and Creel, who is armor.
Also, Murdock is in the same boat as T'Chaka, aka suspicious of Dial (It's his plan all along, muahahaha!)
Hale is trading for Ruby's protection.
The COC has finally been completed, is making armor, and needs a name that can't have an unfortunate 'K' spray-painted onto it. It'll be making most armor for this story until it can be mass produced and upgraded, with Tony soon to make his own armor based on the ultimate upgrades and some advice from Dial, who has read the comics.
And finally, the base they're attacking, the home of all the failed experiments HYDRA actually kept. I figured, with all the crap they've pulled, there had to be some crazy stuff they thought was worth holding onto, despite how much pain those beings may have been in. Animal, person, or plant, some stuff must have been kept. So, the Reserve Avengers are going in to fight it.
Last edited:
Almost forgot, I changed the font color to white for phone readers. Sorry about that.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Brilliant as always!
and kinda tame some...
To be fair, it has its fair share of flaws...
I kinda hope they find some deathclaws.....
and kinda tame some...
TheLurker
Random Omnipotent Lazy-As-Fuck Being
- Location
- The space beyond the stars
...dammit man I didn't need these feels this late at night.
I'm sorry man. I just... I was naming things, and I couldn't stop thinking about him. I'd like to think he'd be happy to hear about it? I don't know, I just felt like I had to do it. I'm sorry.
Yeah, but I still love it to death. Usagi being a big badass, hungry crybaby still makes me smile.
Lol, Deathclaws wouldn't be a failed experiment though! They'd be a success if you ask me. Deathclaws are badass!
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
True...although there might be a few eggs and babies around...
...ooh! Gatorclaw Naval force...
- Location
- Philippines
Why do you have to remind me of Becuzitswrong? Now I feel sad all of a sudden.
Just a tribute to a legend. BCW's were the least I could do.Why do you have to remind me of Becuzitswrong? Now I feel sad all of a sudden.
And hey, every time a bad guy is taken down, it'll be with weapons named after a legend. At least, that was my logic.
- Location
- A land of Dreams, Nightmares, and Fairytales.
Hrm how about Claytronics Nano-Forge: CNF?
That's really good! I'll use it!
nmWarden
Webcomic Glutton
- Location
- Texas
Link to source of the weapon names for anyone new to the fanfic community.
Another fine chapter! Although I'm strongly recommend you stop describing Aberration as buxom, supermodel, etc. for the rest of the story. Seems like every other sentence is like that since she was empowered. It sort of feels like that is the only sort of physical descriptor you give female characters (not that it is unwarranted for Bobbi). I'm definitely a fan of this story, but if you have any plans for hints of romance or teasing then you'll get a very repetetive chapter based on the last few sections. Romanov's scenes are usually much better and I'm neutral about the ways you paint a picture of her outfits. I definitely like how you've handled Pepper now that I think about it.
Another fine chapter! Although I'm strongly recommend you stop describing Aberration as buxom, supermodel, etc. for the rest of the story. Seems like every other sentence is like that since she was empowered. It sort of feels like that is the only sort of physical descriptor you give female characters (not that it is unwarranted for Bobbi). I'm definitely a fan of this story, but if you have any plans for hints of romance or teasing then you'll get a very repetetive chapter based on the last few sections. Romanov's scenes are usually much better and I'm neutral about the ways you paint a picture of her outfits. I definitely like how you've handled Pepper now that I think about it.
I did not realize I had that tendency. I wasn't teasing a romance, but I'll be more careful about the use of such descriptors in the future.
30
The backpack on Bobbi's back shifted around to surround her body. The small catoms moved around like purple liquid, surrounding her chest, across her abdomen, then down to her legs. Then they solidified in a single moment. Bobbi gasped, looking down at herself.
She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers.
"Whoa. This is cool," Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. "Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?"
She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow.
"It's a, uh," I coughed before lying. "A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good."
"Huh... I like it."
"Good to know," I said with a grin. "How about you guys?"
The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor.
Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket.
"Thanks, handsome," Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. "Warrior!" With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor.
She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers.
Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material.
"Whoa!" Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. "Careful!"
"Oh, sorry!" Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors.
And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings.
Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename.
"Nomad," he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had.
The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor.
"Geeze!" Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged.
"Bucky," I said with a scowl. "Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here."
Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. "You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too."
"It's over five hundred pounds," I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together.
Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename.
"Dial/Falcon."
Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black.
Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. "Okay, we're good to go."
My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving.
"Whoa, can mine do that?" Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets.
Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. "Okay, kids, how about we get down to business."
"He's right," Sam put his wings away. "Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?"
"We'll be there in one minute," X responded.
I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist.
"Okay, you all look pretty now," Creel grumbled. "Can we do this already?"
"Jealous?" Hartley asked mischievously.
"More like anxious," Creel smirked. "You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably an Alien situation."
"What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?" Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin.
"Well, we ain't Marines," Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. "So we should be okay."
"In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies," I said weakly.
"Hollywood?" Bucky frowned. "Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?"
"Pop culture night's going to get full," Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look.
"If we ever have time for a pop culture night," Bobbi sighed sadly.
Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling.
"Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies," he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door.
X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial.
"In three...two...one," X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop. "Drop!"
The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on.
------
Director Maria Hill
As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of the Enterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier.
"Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?"
"They're going well," Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. "Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?"
Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. "You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it."
"And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job," Gonzales grumbled.
"Robert," Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily.
"They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms," Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. "Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life."
"I wouldn't do any less," Maria said warmly.
Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. "I suppose I will see you both later?"
"No doubt about it," Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well.
With that, Gonzales turned and walked away.
"...He's kind of intense," May said.
Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door.
Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled.
"Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend," she said in joking tones.
Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. "Boyfriend?"
"What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?" Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. "My girls. Are they safe?"
"They are," Maria took out a tablet. "You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night."
"Got to say, kinda clever of you," Coulson added. "Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages."
"Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done," Davida leaned forward. "Are they safe? Tell me that."
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders."
Davida's fist tightened. "Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-"
"I promised that they would be safe for traded information," Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully.
In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get.
But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect.
Maria was still grateful for the information of course. Thanks to them, they now knew more about the structure of Strucker's organization then they ever had. Including that Wolfgang Von Strucker was in charge of anything substantial.
But Davida needed to know the truth.
"Strucker and Sterns are playing games, and we think your girls are being played like pieces on the board," Maria said simply.
"We'll work to protect them," May added. "The Avengers will do their best to save them. But they need to keep playing along."
"You can't guarantee that," Davida said viciously. "Tell me why I shouldn't just fight my way out and get them myself?"
The collar on her neck began to glow a brighter green along the lines of circuitry. A bead of sweat appeared on Davida's face as she fought the dampening effects of the collar. May shifted her feet and moved her hands slightly, face hardening. Davida and May eyed each other, and the tension rose.
Until Coulson stepped forward. "Actually, if I may interrupt the eminent catfight?" Davida and May glared at him. Coulson smiled genially in response. "We have two people who were kidnapped, friends who your team says are there. We have as much to gain from finding that castle as you do. Maybe we can make a deal. Something worth your while."
Davida frowned as Maria hid a smile.
Good old Coulson, the master of communication.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Rhodey and Sam took off as soon as they jumped out of the Defiant, flying into the air. The others and I landed on the ground with ease, and I reached for my back to flip my rifle into my hand, twisting my wrists to activate my helmet. My rounded helmet snapped into place around my head, and the augmented reality vision activated. It connected with my rifle, showing how much ammunition I had and providing me with a crosshairs like in a standard FPS. With a thought, I switched to ammo type I wanted, and looked around with my gun raised the way Natasha and Sam had taught me.
Damn, I felt badass. Yes, it would have been easier to simply change into an alien, but some part of me wanted to play with my new toys.
We'd landed in the middle of a tarmac, Sam and Rhodey taking off towards a hanger as planned. I ran to join them while the others headed towards the prison complex.
I almost stumbled as I ran. My speed had been massively enhanced, and it took a bit to how fast I was now moving. I tried to remember how Fasttrack ran, and soon strode across the asphalt at high speed. I tensed my legs for a moment, and leaped upwards. The jumpjets in the suit activated.
"Yeah!" I let out in excitement as I leaped forward a superhuman distance and height, propelled by the jets. I landed, then leaped again. "It's like Saints Row 4!"
I took a moment to realize what a giant nerd I was, then focused on the job.
The hanger Sam and Rhodey were headed towards was blocked by a group of soldiers in brown camo gear, tanks, and jeeps. Some helicopters rotors were spinning, about to take off. The Defiant flew over my head, and Rhodey and my Quinjet took off towards the helicopters, leaving Sam and me to take care of the soldiers in front of us.
The soldiers had seen us coming, and aimed their guns. I knelled down and brought a hand up. They started shooting at Sam, who simply twisted in the air to dodge their gunfire.
When they shot at me, I activated one of my suits abilities. A portion of my suits armor grew from my gauntlet to form a shield in front of me, and I took a moment to grin as bullets bounced off the shield in front of me.
"Eat your heart out Steve," I said. Granted, Steve's shield was much more invincible but it still felt cool to hold a shield as it vibrated under dozens of bullets slammed into it. The shield was tall and thick, with two prongs on the bottom. A quick bit of focus created cameras at the edges of the shield, and the side facing me became became clear, showing me that there were twenty-three men shooting at me, though some were aiming at Sam. None of their bullets would have been able to pierce my armor, but I decided to stick with the shield for now.
"You got this?" Sam asked, diving in the air.
"Got to use that time at the range for something," I brought my rifle up to a port on the side of my shield and remembered what I'd been taught. I took a deep breath, relaxed my body, aimed for the chest, and fired a single ICER, hitting a soldier in over his heart. He went down, and the other soldiers ducked. Deep breath, relax, fire. I missed that time, shaking a little, and focused again to hit a HYDRA soldier in the chest again. I fired again and again, missing a couple of times, but managing to do well enough to take six men down. Granted, my helmets enhanced vision, my shield, and the advanced weaponry gave me something similar to auto-aim in video games, but I felt pride nonetheless.
Sam was still flying towards the hanger. The big doors to the hanger were closed, so Sam raised his hands. He must have forgotten that his comms were on, because I heard his next muttered words.
"Hope these don't explode."
I took a moment to feel offended on behalf of Tony. Then Sam raised his hands up, and a familiar pair of energy blasts flew from his hands to slam into the doors of the hanger, blasting them apart with the repulsors on his arms.
"Yes!" Sam cried out, diving into the hanger. I felt a bit of pride in seeing the armor I'd contributed on work so well.
At least until the tank spun its turret to aim at me.
Yeah, new awesome armor or not, I wasn't going to test it against a tank shell no matter what Fitz and Tony said about it's durability and forcefields. I thought of changing the rifle to it's deadlier mode, but decided to simply reach for the Omnitrix and twist.
When the tank fired, I was already pressing down on the Omnitrix and leaping thirty feet in the air. I changed in a burst of green light as a shell exploded into the ground below.
"Swampfire!"
Sam flew towards the hanger as I landed from my jump. The soldiers fired on me, tearing through my form. I ignored the bullets to rip some seed pods out of my arms and toss them at the three tanks. They exploded, wrapping around the tanks with their powerful vines. The tanks struggled to move, turrets grinding and I allowed myself a grin at the sound of metal bending under the grip of my vines, the plant-life around me singing triumphantly.
The soldiers were still shooting at me. I raised my hands.
"Better run!" I yelled as flames came to like in my palms. The soldiers ducked behind the tanks and jeeps into cover, and I waited long enough to let them before unleashing hell.
"Woo!" I shouted triumphantly, letting two long plumes of flame out to ignite the air in front of me. I kept the flames up long enough to make sure the soldiers were pinned for the next step of my plan. I stopped releasing one of the streams with my right hand, using that hand to grab more seed pods out of me, throwing them like grenades where the vines wrapped around the soldiers and jeeps. By the time I was done, six soldiers had been ICER'd, seventeen were wrapped in vines, and more were blocked from leaving their vehicles by the vines growing over them.
I tapped the Omnitrix as soon as I knew the soldiers were captured.
"Astrodactyl!"
"This is Dial, squawk!" I cried out, blasting into the air and snapping my wings out. "Falcon, I'm coming to help!"
A loud explosion came from over where the helicopters had been about to take off.
"This is X, taking overwatch position," the Defiant rose into the air.
"War Machine, heading to rendezvous with Dial and Falcon," Rhodey flew alongside me as we headed to the hanger.
"Roger that," Sam responded. "Team B, how's it going?"
Rhodey and I flew into the hanger. The building was massive, filled with aircraft and vehicles of all kinds, the largest of which was a giant cargo plane. There were dozens of men inside, Sam fighting them. He hovered in the air and raised his hands, repulsors letting lose in his palms. He twirled out of the way of a burst from a machine gun, blasting the offending soldier into a jeep behind him.
"I feel less special now," Rhodey mused next to me, taking a spot at the doors Sam had blown apart. He started shooting his own repulsor blasts, the minigun on his shoulder roaring. I flew to the upper level of the hanger, twirling to kick one of the many soldiers scrambling on the upper level in the chest with my clawed feet before sliding to a stop on the floor, my wings pulling in. I let out a energy whip from my left arm and twirled it with instinctive expertise to grab another soldier, pulling him in for a clothesline, then released an energy blast from my right hand that sent another man to the ground. A HYDRA operative raised his gun to shoot me, and I sliced it in half with my energy whip, offhandedly shooting another soldier in the back as he tried to run.
"This is Mockingbird, we're facing some opposition," I heard the crack of ICER's being fired, followed by Creel roaring in rage and Hartley laughing over the comms. "Barnes, can you-" Some loud noises sounded out. "Thank you. Falcon, when you're done with the hanger, we could use some help over here."
"Squawk! Where does HYDRA get so many soldiers?" I grumbled. "No respect for the Conservation of Ninjutsu, I tell you."
Something hit me like a hammer, pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I squawked in surprise, stepping back from the sudden impact and pain. I looked at my shoulder to see that my scales had been slightly damaged by something, and looked up to see some soldiers on top of the cargo plane in the center of the hanger firing at me and Sam. I mean, they were shooting at Rhodey too, but he ignored their bullets to focus on the guys trying to escape, destroying a tank when they tried to get in. I leaped for the cargo plane at the same time Sam flew towards it. There must have been ten guys on top when Sam and I landed among them. I front kicked one guy, blocked a fist thrown at me, and ducked as Sam rolled over my back to punch another soldier. I uppercut a man into the air, and fired a blast into one other man's chest.
Sam blocked a HYDRA soldiers kick and punched him in the face with his gauntleted left hand. He twisted his hands when one of the HYDRA soldiers raised a pistol to his face. Sam's helmet snapped over his face when the HYDRA soldier shot him. The bullet bounced off, Sam stepping back from the impact, then stepping forward with a powerful front kick to the offending soldiers ribs.
With a bit more space to work, I snapped my arms to the side, my energy whips lashing out, and swung them outwards. I heard Sam firing his repulsors, both of us unleashing our wings to float upwards as we attacked, back to back all the while. Rhodey flew to join us.
For about thirty seconds, the three of us unleashed hell. I pulled in my energy whips to start firing blasts of green energy. Rhodey's minigun roared on his shoulder, his gauntlet guns joining in. Sam grabbed one of his new guns and fired it on automatic, yelling as the three of us flew back to back.
Just like that, it was over. Every HYDRA soldier in the hanger was either unconscious or dead.
"This is Falcon," Sam twisted in the air, Rhodey and I joining him, Sam at the front, Rhodey on his left, me on his right. "We're coming to join you, team B."
"See you then," Bucky replied calmly.
------
Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Sharon woke up gasping, taking massive gulps of air. She struggled to rise, only to feel something pulling at her arms and legs. She tried to move again, blearily looking down.
She'd been strapped to a bed by thick brown restrains. Sharon stared at them, uncomprehending.
"Sharon," she turned to see someone lying in a bed next to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. When she looked again, Trip was giving her a weak smile. "Hey, girl. How you feeling?"
The young man was wearing the same restraints she was. Sharon shook her head, looking down at the IV in her arm, then at the room.
"Trip? Where are we?"
"Hell if I know," Trip looked around as well. "I woke up a few seconds before you did."
The room was like a strange combination of ancient and new. The walls and floor were all made of stone, like that of a medieval castle. There was medical equipment, computers, and some people in lab coats roaming around. Wooden doors at the other side of the room were guarded by two men in black military gear.
"Hey!" Trip yelled at a man passing by in a lab coat. "Where are we!?"
The man ignored him.
"We must have been captured by HYDRA," Sharon concluded, her mind still muddled by whatever drug had been used to knock her out. "What was that thing?"
"Aberration," someone walked up to them. Sharon struggled to look at him, only to wonder if she was still drugged. The man before her had green skin and a massive head. He smiled down at them, stepping to stand between their beds. "I apologize for the restraints. I'm afraid you both would fight against us otherwise."
"Yeah, you're right," Trip said easily, smiling. "I'm probably going to punch you the second I can, Mr. Bobblehead."
The big headed man laughed. "I'm sure you would! But don't worry. Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be great friends."
Two men wheeled carts over to the beds, stopping them in front of Sharon and Trips. On the carts were large flatscreen tvs.
"Oh hey, you brought us entertainment?" Sharon asked, trying for bravado despite the sudden realization she was feeling.
"I might need headphones," Trip said. "I mean, I love Sharon, but her action movies are way too cheesy."
"You are both funny," the large headed man smiled. "I hope my improvements to this method allow you to keep that."
The televisions turned on. Blinking swirls of lights appeared on the screens, and Sharon and Trip both began to struggle as they began to realize what was happening.
"After all, brainwashing still isn't an exact science."
------
Author's Note: I'll try to make sure and post the armor I based the designs on soon enough. Some of it is pretty obvious I think, and there is a bit of overlap. But the colors are also important to remember. Maybe one day, when I'm talented or rich, I'll have art of the actual armor commisioned, but for now, posting pictures will have to do.
I tried not to go into too many details with the Facebook thing. It only works because either Sterns or Strucker are hoping to use the Grapplers as a weapon in some way aiming them at someone they're more worried about. Even then, whoever is letting them do it is still preventing Helen from finding out her own location. Because both Strucker and Sterns are capable of bullshit.
Anyways, I hope the action was fun to watch. If you're wondering about Jen, she gets kidnapped later that night.
She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers.
"Whoa. This is cool," Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. "Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?"
She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow.
"It's a, uh," I coughed before lying. "A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good."
"Huh... I like it."
"Good to know," I said with a grin. "How about you guys?"
The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor.
Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket.
"Thanks, handsome," Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. "Warrior!" With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor.
She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers.
Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material.
"Whoa!" Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. "Careful!"
"Oh, sorry!" Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors.
And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings.
Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename.
"Nomad," he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had.
The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor.
"Geeze!" Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged.
"Bucky," I said with a scowl. "Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here."
Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. "You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too."
"It's over five hundred pounds," I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together.
Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename.
"Dial/Falcon."
Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black.
Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. "Okay, we're good to go."
My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving.
"Whoa, can mine do that?" Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets.
Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. "Okay, kids, how about we get down to business."
"He's right," Sam put his wings away. "Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?"
"We'll be there in one minute," X responded.
I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist.
"Okay, you all look pretty now," Creel grumbled. "Can we do this already?"
"Jealous?" Hartley asked mischievously.
"More like anxious," Creel smirked. "You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably an Alien situation."
"What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?" Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin.
"Well, we ain't Marines," Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. "So we should be okay."
"In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies," I said weakly.
"Hollywood?" Bucky frowned. "Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?"
"Pop culture night's going to get full," Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look.
"If we ever have time for a pop culture night," Bobbi sighed sadly.
Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling.
"Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies," he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door.
X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial.
"In three...two...one," X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop. "Drop!"
The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on.
------
Director Maria Hill
As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of the Enterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier.
"Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?"
"They're going well," Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. "Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?"
Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. "You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it."
"And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job," Gonzales grumbled.
"Robert," Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily.
"They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms," Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. "Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life."
"I wouldn't do any less," Maria said warmly.
Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. "I suppose I will see you both later?"
"No doubt about it," Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well.
With that, Gonzales turned and walked away.
"...He's kind of intense," May said.
Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door.
Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled.
"Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend," she said in joking tones.
Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. "Boyfriend?"
"What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?" Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. "My girls. Are they safe?"
"They are," Maria took out a tablet. "You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night."
"Got to say, kinda clever of you," Coulson added. "Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages."
"Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done," Davida leaned forward. "Are they safe? Tell me that."
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders."
Davida's fist tightened. "Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-"
"I promised that they would be safe for traded information," Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully.
In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get.
But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect.
Maria was still grateful for the information of course. Thanks to them, they now knew more about the structure of Strucker's organization then they ever had. Including that Wolfgang Von Strucker was in charge of anything substantial.
But Davida needed to know the truth.
"Strucker and Sterns are playing games, and we think your girls are being played like pieces on the board," Maria said simply.
"We'll work to protect them," May added. "The Avengers will do their best to save them. But they need to keep playing along."
"You can't guarantee that," Davida said viciously. "Tell me why I shouldn't just fight my way out and get them myself?"
The collar on her neck began to glow a brighter green along the lines of circuitry. A bead of sweat appeared on Davida's face as she fought the dampening effects of the collar. May shifted her feet and moved her hands slightly, face hardening. Davida and May eyed each other, and the tension rose.
Until Coulson stepped forward. "Actually, if I may interrupt the eminent catfight?" Davida and May glared at him. Coulson smiled genially in response. "We have two people who were kidnapped, friends who your team says are there. We have as much to gain from finding that castle as you do. Maybe we can make a deal. Something worth your while."
Davida frowned as Maria hid a smile.
Good old Coulson, the master of communication.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Rhodey and Sam took off as soon as they jumped out of the Defiant, flying into the air. The others and I landed on the ground with ease, and I reached for my back to flip my rifle into my hand, twisting my wrists to activate my helmet. My rounded helmet snapped into place around my head, and the augmented reality vision activated. It connected with my rifle, showing how much ammunition I had and providing me with a crosshairs like in a standard FPS. With a thought, I switched to ammo type I wanted, and looked around with my gun raised the way Natasha and Sam had taught me.
Damn, I felt badass. Yes, it would have been easier to simply change into an alien, but some part of me wanted to play with my new toys.
We'd landed in the middle of a tarmac, Sam and Rhodey taking off towards a hanger as planned. I ran to join them while the others headed towards the prison complex.
I almost stumbled as I ran. My speed had been massively enhanced, and it took a bit to how fast I was now moving. I tried to remember how Fasttrack ran, and soon strode across the asphalt at high speed. I tensed my legs for a moment, and leaped upwards. The jumpjets in the suit activated.
"Yeah!" I let out in excitement as I leaped forward a superhuman distance and height, propelled by the jets. I landed, then leaped again. "It's like Saints Row 4!"
I took a moment to realize what a giant nerd I was, then focused on the job.
The hanger Sam and Rhodey were headed towards was blocked by a group of soldiers in brown camo gear, tanks, and jeeps. Some helicopters rotors were spinning, about to take off. The Defiant flew over my head, and Rhodey and my Quinjet took off towards the helicopters, leaving Sam and me to take care of the soldiers in front of us.
The soldiers had seen us coming, and aimed their guns. I knelled down and brought a hand up. They started shooting at Sam, who simply twisted in the air to dodge their gunfire.
When they shot at me, I activated one of my suits abilities. A portion of my suits armor grew from my gauntlet to form a shield in front of me, and I took a moment to grin as bullets bounced off the shield in front of me.
"Eat your heart out Steve," I said. Granted, Steve's shield was much more invincible but it still felt cool to hold a shield as it vibrated under dozens of bullets slammed into it. The shield was tall and thick, with two prongs on the bottom. A quick bit of focus created cameras at the edges of the shield, and the side facing me became became clear, showing me that there were twenty-three men shooting at me, though some were aiming at Sam. None of their bullets would have been able to pierce my armor, but I decided to stick with the shield for now.
"You got this?" Sam asked, diving in the air.
"Got to use that time at the range for something," I brought my rifle up to a port on the side of my shield and remembered what I'd been taught. I took a deep breath, relaxed my body, aimed for the chest, and fired a single ICER, hitting a soldier in over his heart. He went down, and the other soldiers ducked. Deep breath, relax, fire. I missed that time, shaking a little, and focused again to hit a HYDRA soldier in the chest again. I fired again and again, missing a couple of times, but managing to do well enough to take six men down. Granted, my helmets enhanced vision, my shield, and the advanced weaponry gave me something similar to auto-aim in video games, but I felt pride nonetheless.
Sam was still flying towards the hanger. The big doors to the hanger were closed, so Sam raised his hands. He must have forgotten that his comms were on, because I heard his next muttered words.
"Hope these don't explode."
I took a moment to feel offended on behalf of Tony. Then Sam raised his hands up, and a familiar pair of energy blasts flew from his hands to slam into the doors of the hanger, blasting them apart with the repulsors on his arms.
"Yes!" Sam cried out, diving into the hanger. I felt a bit of pride in seeing the armor I'd contributed on work so well.
At least until the tank spun its turret to aim at me.
Yeah, new awesome armor or not, I wasn't going to test it against a tank shell no matter what Fitz and Tony said about it's durability and forcefields. I thought of changing the rifle to it's deadlier mode, but decided to simply reach for the Omnitrix and twist.
When the tank fired, I was already pressing down on the Omnitrix and leaping thirty feet in the air. I changed in a burst of green light as a shell exploded into the ground below.
"Swampfire!"
Sam flew towards the hanger as I landed from my jump. The soldiers fired on me, tearing through my form. I ignored the bullets to rip some seed pods out of my arms and toss them at the three tanks. They exploded, wrapping around the tanks with their powerful vines. The tanks struggled to move, turrets grinding and I allowed myself a grin at the sound of metal bending under the grip of my vines, the plant-life around me singing triumphantly.
The soldiers were still shooting at me. I raised my hands.
"Better run!" I yelled as flames came to like in my palms. The soldiers ducked behind the tanks and jeeps into cover, and I waited long enough to let them before unleashing hell.
"Woo!" I shouted triumphantly, letting two long plumes of flame out to ignite the air in front of me. I kept the flames up long enough to make sure the soldiers were pinned for the next step of my plan. I stopped releasing one of the streams with my right hand, using that hand to grab more seed pods out of me, throwing them like grenades where the vines wrapped around the soldiers and jeeps. By the time I was done, six soldiers had been ICER'd, seventeen were wrapped in vines, and more were blocked from leaving their vehicles by the vines growing over them.
I tapped the Omnitrix as soon as I knew the soldiers were captured.
"Astrodactyl!"
"This is Dial, squawk!" I cried out, blasting into the air and snapping my wings out. "Falcon, I'm coming to help!"
A loud explosion came from over where the helicopters had been about to take off.
"This is X, taking overwatch position," the Defiant rose into the air.
"War Machine, heading to rendezvous with Dial and Falcon," Rhodey flew alongside me as we headed to the hanger.
"Roger that," Sam responded. "Team B, how's it going?"
Rhodey and I flew into the hanger. The building was massive, filled with aircraft and vehicles of all kinds, the largest of which was a giant cargo plane. There were dozens of men inside, Sam fighting them. He hovered in the air and raised his hands, repulsors letting lose in his palms. He twirled out of the way of a burst from a machine gun, blasting the offending soldier into a jeep behind him.
"I feel less special now," Rhodey mused next to me, taking a spot at the doors Sam had blown apart. He started shooting his own repulsor blasts, the minigun on his shoulder roaring. I flew to the upper level of the hanger, twirling to kick one of the many soldiers scrambling on the upper level in the chest with my clawed feet before sliding to a stop on the floor, my wings pulling in. I let out a energy whip from my left arm and twirled it with instinctive expertise to grab another soldier, pulling him in for a clothesline, then released an energy blast from my right hand that sent another man to the ground. A HYDRA operative raised his gun to shoot me, and I sliced it in half with my energy whip, offhandedly shooting another soldier in the back as he tried to run.
"This is Mockingbird, we're facing some opposition," I heard the crack of ICER's being fired, followed by Creel roaring in rage and Hartley laughing over the comms. "Barnes, can you-" Some loud noises sounded out. "Thank you. Falcon, when you're done with the hanger, we could use some help over here."
"Squawk! Where does HYDRA get so many soldiers?" I grumbled. "No respect for the Conservation of Ninjutsu, I tell you."
Something hit me like a hammer, pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I squawked in surprise, stepping back from the sudden impact and pain. I looked at my shoulder to see that my scales had been slightly damaged by something, and looked up to see some soldiers on top of the cargo plane in the center of the hanger firing at me and Sam. I mean, they were shooting at Rhodey too, but he ignored their bullets to focus on the guys trying to escape, destroying a tank when they tried to get in. I leaped for the cargo plane at the same time Sam flew towards it. There must have been ten guys on top when Sam and I landed among them. I front kicked one guy, blocked a fist thrown at me, and ducked as Sam rolled over my back to punch another soldier. I uppercut a man into the air, and fired a blast into one other man's chest.
Sam blocked a HYDRA soldiers kick and punched him in the face with his gauntleted left hand. He twisted his hands when one of the HYDRA soldiers raised a pistol to his face. Sam's helmet snapped over his face when the HYDRA soldier shot him. The bullet bounced off, Sam stepping back from the impact, then stepping forward with a powerful front kick to the offending soldiers ribs.
With a bit more space to work, I snapped my arms to the side, my energy whips lashing out, and swung them outwards. I heard Sam firing his repulsors, both of us unleashing our wings to float upwards as we attacked, back to back all the while. Rhodey flew to join us.
For about thirty seconds, the three of us unleashed hell. I pulled in my energy whips to start firing blasts of green energy. Rhodey's minigun roared on his shoulder, his gauntlet guns joining in. Sam grabbed one of his new guns and fired it on automatic, yelling as the three of us flew back to back.
Just like that, it was over. Every HYDRA soldier in the hanger was either unconscious or dead.
"This is Falcon," Sam twisted in the air, Rhodey and I joining him, Sam at the front, Rhodey on his left, me on his right. "We're coming to join you, team B."
"See you then," Bucky replied calmly.
------
Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Sharon woke up gasping, taking massive gulps of air. She struggled to rise, only to feel something pulling at her arms and legs. She tried to move again, blearily looking down.
She'd been strapped to a bed by thick brown restrains. Sharon stared at them, uncomprehending.
"Sharon," she turned to see someone lying in a bed next to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. When she looked again, Trip was giving her a weak smile. "Hey, girl. How you feeling?"
The young man was wearing the same restraints she was. Sharon shook her head, looking down at the IV in her arm, then at the room.
"Trip? Where are we?"
"Hell if I know," Trip looked around as well. "I woke up a few seconds before you did."
The room was like a strange combination of ancient and new. The walls and floor were all made of stone, like that of a medieval castle. There was medical equipment, computers, and some people in lab coats roaming around. Wooden doors at the other side of the room were guarded by two men in black military gear.
"Hey!" Trip yelled at a man passing by in a lab coat. "Where are we!?"
The man ignored him.
"We must have been captured by HYDRA," Sharon concluded, her mind still muddled by whatever drug had been used to knock her out. "What was that thing?"
"Aberration," someone walked up to them. Sharon struggled to look at him, only to wonder if she was still drugged. The man before her had green skin and a massive head. He smiled down at them, stepping to stand between their beds. "I apologize for the restraints. I'm afraid you both would fight against us otherwise."
"Yeah, you're right," Trip said easily, smiling. "I'm probably going to punch you the second I can, Mr. Bobblehead."
The big headed man laughed. "I'm sure you would! But don't worry. Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be great friends."
Two men wheeled carts over to the beds, stopping them in front of Sharon and Trips. On the carts were large flatscreen tvs.
"Oh hey, you brought us entertainment?" Sharon asked, trying for bravado despite the sudden realization she was feeling.
"I might need headphones," Trip said. "I mean, I love Sharon, but her action movies are way too cheesy."
"You are both funny," the large headed man smiled. "I hope my improvements to this method allow you to keep that."
The televisions turned on. Blinking swirls of lights appeared on the screens, and Sharon and Trip both began to struggle as they began to realize what was happening.
"After all, brainwashing still isn't an exact science."
------
Author's Note: I'll try to make sure and post the armor I based the designs on soon enough. Some of it is pretty obvious I think, and there is a bit of overlap. But the colors are also important to remember. Maybe one day, when I'm talented or rich, I'll have art of the actual armor commisioned, but for now, posting pictures will have to do.
I tried not to go into too many details with the Facebook thing. It only works because either Sterns or Strucker are hoping to use the Grapplers as a weapon in some way aiming them at someone they're more worried about. Even then, whoever is letting them do it is still preventing Helen from finding out her own location. Because both Strucker and Sterns are capable of bullshit.
Anyways, I hope the action was fun to watch. If you're wondering about Jen, she gets kidnapped later that night.
He could just absorb the gamma radiation with Feedback, forcing him to turn.
TimEd
Meteor maker
does that work?
serapheus
Eep~
Too good for him. I like Tripp and Bobblehead hasn't won any brownie points before now so he's definitely in the negative.
I want him Homer Simpson dumb.
It's worked in the comics at the very least.
- Location
- Australia
I'm prettty sure absorbing the Gamma radiation using Feedback will work. All the Gamma enhanced people are known to release radiation and the more they have the strongest they are. It's like draining a battery if we drain it they may become weaken and some may revert depending on the capabilities of thier gene.
However in cases like Abomanation who's DNA is heavily mutated to an extent that he no longer can turn back to human it may just weaken him severely. People who can transformed can be power downed back to human level but if they get more radiation it may revert them back.
I have a better solution to dealing with abomination can't you use the Omnitrix DNA repair feature. The one that Ben uses to cure the DN aliens and save the whole Highbreed race by mic matching DNA.
However in cases like Abomanation who's DNA is heavily mutated to an extent that he no longer can turn back to human it may just weaken him severely. People who can transformed can be power downed back to human level but if they get more radiation it may revert them back.
I have a better solution to dealing with abomination can't you use the Omnitrix DNA repair feature. The one that Ben uses to cure the DN aliens and save the whole Highbreed race by mic matching DNA.
Last edited: