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Invaders create Avengers [An MCU Quest]
- Thread starter K1ng
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Modern
Chituari Invasion 5
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
You landed on the back of the chariot and kicked the Chitauri off, though not before taking its gun. A quick burst of energy made it your gun.
"Is that all you've got?" You taunted, using your new rifle to blow apart the chariots to your left and right before they could react.
The Chitauri driving turned around and roared, unslinging its rifle off its back, it turned around just in time for you to shoot it in the face instead of the back of the head.
Good riddance. Grandstanding was for idiots. Sometimes it'll earn you an energy blast to the face. Missing a large chunk of its head, the Chitauri collapsed. Surging forward, you rip the rifle from its grasp.
Tossing your old rifle away, you jumped into the air and watched the now pilotless chariot careen towards the ground.
Turning away, you searched for any further signs of Chitauri and relax when you see that for the moment, you're clear.
"Squad's gone Hawkeye, you got anything else for me?"
"Stark's got a squadron on his tail, and there's a group taking pot-shots at anything that moves down on Third."
The choice is easy to make. "Stark can take care of himself. I'll head down to third."
Hawkeye's response was drowned out by the whine of yet another squad of Chitauri coming from up the street.
"Hang on a sec Hawkeye. I need to call you back."
"Roger that."
Bringing your rifle up to aim, a shield with a small gap shimmered into existence around you.
With the surplus of energy from the Arc Reactor, you had taken the opportunity to make some improvements to your armour. The biggest one, was the option to project a shield from any part of your body instead of just your arms.
Cost a ton of energy to use though.
But in this case, you take a moment to line up the shot as the chariots get closer – it's worth it. Safety first.
The explosion is less spectacular than you're used to, but it gets the job done.
Traces of energy trickled into your limbs as you held the rifle in a white-knuckle grip, its purpose served. A moment later, you tossed the now useless weapon aside.
The rifle wasn't as powerful as your own blasters, but since it didn't take up your own reserves you would use them whenever you can.
"Traveller," Stark's voice was remarkedly breezy considering he was dealing with a squad of Chitauri all by his lonesome. "My area's clear," oh never mind. "I'm moving onto Third street."
"Alright, I'll meet you there."
"How's your reserves?"
"Holding steady," it was hard to keep track of time while fighting for your life but you guessed it has been around fifteen minutes since you stuck the reactor in your chest. The amount of power you could sense wasn't as overwhelming as before but it was still significant. "I've got a few hours left."
"Good. Watch your back out there. That portal's still open, and when Thor stops bottlenecking it were gonna get swarmed."
"Roger that."
You glanced at the sky. You watched, transfixed, as tendrils of lightning converged on a distant skyscraper and struck out against the portal in a concentrated bolt.
Every time one of those bolts were unleashed Chitauri died by the hundreds.
But even from this far away you could tell that the lightning, while still incredibly powerful, was starting to lag.
Someone would have to give, soon.
"Hopefully it isn't us," you muttered. After all, how many Chitauri could there be?
Chitauri came and stayed down. Between you and Stark every Chitauri that tried to break the perimeter was hunted down with extreme prejudice.
"Damnit!"
That did not mean that it was all fun and games however.
Stark crashed into a nearby building, the momentum from a lucky shot barrelling him through glass and concrete of the nearby skyscraper's sixtieth story.
At the same time, you flew forward towards the remaining chariot that had just shot Stark, ignoring his plight for the moment. He'd already taken a lot worse than that today and walked it off.
The chariot adjusted its aim and fired several blasts to force you to veer off but you ploughed through. Your shield materialising and the shots either fizzling out or ricocheting away. You would think they'd have learned by now.
You landed on the chariot and lashed out with a quick punch. The alien tried to dodge but the lack of floor room worked against it and your punch collided with its stomach. Capitalizing on its weakness you grabbed the back of its head and smashed it against the console three times before stopping. You wanted to keep this chariot in somewhat working condition.
Dazed and confused the Chitauri didn't put up much of a fight when you then grabbed it by its shoulders and tossed it over the edge.
Watching the alien go splat left a warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest. Turning away from your handiwork you looked down at the dashboard, a little banged up but thankfully made of tougher stuff than that Chitauri's skull. "Now let's see if this works…"
Placing both your hands on the console, you sent a trickle of power into the alien circuity and tried to coax it to your way of thinking.
It didn't work out so well.
Sparks of electricity erupted from the console and seared your hands.
"Ah, fuck!" You frantically waved your hands. The suit blocked most of the damage but that still stung like a bitch.
"Goddammit!" Your fists crashed against the console. It didn't help. The second time didn't help either, though it was much more satisfying.
The sky was blue. Water is wet. Technology is yours to command. It was a tenant, you don't know how, but you knew this down to the bottom of your soul. So why wasn't it fucking working.
"I don't think that's how you activate cruise control."
You rolled your eyes but a grin tugged at your lips. "Shut up Stark."
"You know, you could always call tech support."
You snorted. "Right. I'm sure there's a sticker on the back, 'Chitauri helpline – we'll fix your problem in thirty minutes or less or sic a giant space-whale on you.'"
You deliberately turned away from the console. If you spent another second staring at it you would probably smash it again. Which while satisfying, wasn't very productive.
Stark looked as pristine as ever, maybe one or two new scuff marks from his involuntary trip through a building but no worse for wear.
"Still no luck?"
"No," you said. "I can get a connection, but the moment I try to push it past that it just… fizzles out."
There hadn't exactly been much downtime between taking down dozens of Chitauri squadrons but you'd been able to fill in Stark on the basics of what you could do.
"I thought it would be different now that I have power to spare, but it's not." And if you try to push any further, you shivered. Feels like your blood is boiling. "If I could just push past it then maybe…"
"Traveller, I get that you're all kinds of stubborn but I don't think that's going to work. You want some advice?"
"Please."
"It hasn't worked the last ten times you tried it, its not going to work now."
Goddammit. The rails started to buckle under the force of your grip. "I know. I should take what I can get. I've had these powers for what… three hours? That I can do anything at all with them is a fucking miracle."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think it's a safeguard. An inbuilt defence mechanism to keep you from blowing yourself up."
"Where'd you get that idea from?"
"I'll tell you later. How's your reserves?"
You blinked at the sudden topic change but went along with it. That was the most you would get out of him for now. "About thirty percent. Actually, hang on…" You put your hand on the console again and pulled. Least it could be useful for something. "Thirty-five. Yours?"
Stark shook his head. "I still got a few hours."
That's something at least.
"I don't suppose you have another spare reactor hanging around?"
Stark guffawed. "Greedy aren't you." His tone sobered. "Unfortunately, no. What you've got is all I have."
Well shit.
The next minute was a long, drawn out silence. Both of you watching as Chitauri poured out of the portal unopposed.
"We can't keep this up Stark," you looked at his mostly undamaged armour and compared it to yours. "Well, maybe you can, but I can't. We need to close that portal."
"Nat's working on it. She's almost at the tower."
"Should we head over? You know, try to help."
He shook his head. "Trust her to do her part. We need to do ours."
"I know, keep attention focused on us." You watched another space-whale fly by. Nothing you had could scratch that thing, the armour was too thick. "Speaking of…"
He sighed. "Oh boy. I'll handle this one."
You nodded. "I'll head groundside, save some power." Maybe link up with Captain America. Having someone to watch your back sounded better then not.
"Keep your comms open."
Will do."
Not wasting time to watch Stark go you head straight towards the ground, the chariot behind you free-falling as the last bit of your presence keeping it airborne flickered away.
You staggered as you land, the weight of your armour pressing down on you. When this was all over you were going to take the longest nap.
Taking a deep breath, you slowly move forward, your senses constantly scanning the surroundings for any sign of Chitauri ambush.
Luckily, the only alien opposition you ran into was a lone squad that were quickly overwhelmed and smashed by a green blur. At least the Hulk is still going strong.
You made good time, and soon found yourself back at Grand Central.
There was a giant hole where the entrance of Grand Central used to be.
You rolled underneath the swing of a spear and kicked the offending Chitauri legs out from under it. You took the chance to grab the falling spear. A quick stomp to the face took it out of commission.
You know you shouldn't really be focusing on it. But it was there before and now it's gone.
Two more Chitauri – identical to the first – charged towards you. You slashed the spear out in a wide arc to separate them, your enhanced strength allowing you to wield the heavy weapon one handed.
It bothered you.
Jumping back to avoid your swing, you lunged at the one on the left. You unleashed a low powered blast to stagger it and pushed it into a car. You brought your spear up to stab it but before you could finish it off, the other Chitauri wrapped its arms around you in a bear hug.
"Let go of me you piece of sh-" A fist impacted against your face.
Metal cracked, and shattered.
Your vision swam as shards of metal dug into your cheeks. Breathing in direct air for the first time in hours, you watched the second Chitauri stagger to its feet and grab its spear, holding it in a white-knuckled grip.
Guessed you pissed it off.
Licking your lips, you gave it your best mocking grin, and spit a big red loogie right on its ugly mug.
"Well?" You taunted. "Get on with it then."
Some clicking noise left its ugly face as it hefted the spear and stabbed right for your chest.
Now!
Pushing all the power you could spare into your suit; you overrode the strength limits. Twisting on your heel, you rotated 180 degrees. Flexing your shoulders, you snapped the Chitauri's arms like a twig and pushed it backwards.
Directly into the path of the other Chitauri's spear thrust.
Ignoring the screech of the alien as it accidently stabbed its comrade you completed your turn and raised up both your arms.
"Try and dodge this!"
What you had forgotten was that your suit was still overflowing with energy. Energy that now had nowhere else to go except what you were directing all your focus into.
The resulting blast took out both Chitauri, along with the car behind it, and the car behind that, and well, you get the picture.
Your back slammed against the concrete, the rebounded energy blowing you off your feet.
"Ow."
Panting, you stared up at the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun on your face. However, all to soon, reality reared its ugly head.
"Traveller!"
You tilted your head to the side your gaze landed on a pair of red boots. Looking further up revealed the maskless face of Steve Rogers.
"Ah Captain Rogers," you raised your hand in a wave. "Nice to see you."
The boots stopped next to your head. "Traveller," his eyes roamed over your blackened armour before stopping at your face. Something flashed behind his eyes but it was gone too fast for you to discern it. "You alright?"
Well, honestly, you felt like shit. But that probably wasn't the good Captain wanted to hear.
Instead you moved your hand in a so-so gesture. "Eh, I'm fine. A couple of minutes to repair my armour and I'll be right as rain."
Though after your little overcompensation your reserves were sitting at twelve percent. You didn't mean to blow up a road. Honest!
"Could you be a pal and drag me behind that car over there?" You asked.
Rogers snorted and dragged you to your feet. Putting your arm over his shoulder, he walked you over to the most intact looking car he could find.
"Stay down kid," he said, setting you down gently. "We'll cover you."
"Captain," called out another voice that you recognised as Thor's before you could respond. "More Chitauri approach."
You grinned ruefully. "Never a dull moment is there?"
"No." And then he was gone.
You made a face at his back. Kid? Seriously. Whatever, now was not the time.
Instead, you leaned back and took stock of your situation. Your blasters were gone. The beam had obliterated them from existence, you'd have to create them from scratch, and that would take more power than you could spare. Your armour was shit, your little manoeuvre had shattered the joints and overloaded the emitters on your shield. The flight pack was okay, surprisingly. The Chitauri parts just a bit tougher than what you'd scrounged up back in Stark Tower.
Overall, your situation was rather hopeless.
But that hadn't stopped you before, so why would it now?
As nice as it would be to sit back and watch Cap and Thor kick some ass, you weren't going to stay on the sidelines now.
If you were going to die, then you would die on your feet.
The Arc Reactor in your chest dimmed, and died. Its power trickled into your veins for the last time. You couldn't repair everything, so you didn't even try. Armour and flight would have to be enough.
You clipped the repaired mask to your belt; damn thing was stuffy anyway. Though not before you disconnected the communicator and put it in your ear.
Pushing yourself up, you grabbed the closest spear you could find and using it as a walking stick, moved towards Cap and Thor.
You arrived just in time to watch the Captain catch a blast in his stomach.
Thor responded instantly.
Turning around, he blocked the remaining shots, stepped forward, and smashed a car into the offending squad with his hammer.
Thor helped Cap to his feet. "You ready for another bout?"
Rogers gave him a grimace in return. "What, you getting sleepy?"
"And what of you, young Traveller?" Thor boomed.
You bared your teeth. "You guys can go take a nap if you want. I've got this one." Please don't.
Something deep escaped his throat. A rumbling noise that charged the air. It was only after your hair stood on end that you recognised it as laughter.
Before you could say something else that would definitely get you killed a voice came in through the comms.
"Can anyone copy? I can shut the portal down," said Natasha.
Rogers eyes widened. "DO IT!"
"No, wait," interjected Stark.
"Stark these things are still coming."
"I got a nuke coming in. Its gonna blow in less than a minute." A wave of nausea hit you. Frantically you looked to the sky and started to float. If you could get into the air maybe you could find it and shut it down before it blew you all to kingdom come. "And I know just where to put it."
A hand grabbed you by the arm and pulled you back down. Heart pounding in your ears you whirled around to meet Steve Rogers eyes. You couldn't hear what he was saying but you could see him mouth the words, 'trust him.'
Trust him.
"Stark…" Rogers said as you started to calm down. "you know that's a one-way trip."
No response.
"Come on Stark," you whispered, over and over again. "Come on."
You couldn't look away, not even to blink as you saw Stark push the missile up, over the streets, skidding against Stark Tower until he led it straight up. And through the portal.
"YES!"
A moment later the Chitauri around you collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Falling to the ground, you laughed and laughed some more. "He did it."
That laugher quickly turned sour as you watched the explosion within the portal get bigger, but no Iron Man. Where was he?
"Close it."
What? Your head whipped around to the Captain. "You can't!" You stand back up ready to tear into him, but the look on his face stopped you in your tracks, forced you to think through its immeasurable weight.
That explosion was getting bigger every second. If it got through the portal, Stark's sacrifice would've been for nothing.
Your fists clenched but you forced your eyes to stay on the portal. Damn it to hell, but you needed to watch this. To know it was over.
There was no last-minute surprise. No final 'fuck you' from the Chitauri. The portal that spit on the limits of space and time closed with a ripple.
But not before a small blip travelled through.
"Son of a gun." Rogers said.
Was that?
The blip become bigger and you could make out red and gold.
It was.
"He did it again."
"He's not slowing down," Thor rumbled, whirling his hammer.
You stepped forward, ready to fly. You couldn't do much compared to Thor, but maybe you could help break his fall.
Fortunately, before you needed to do anything, a green blur jumped from the nearby building and caught Stark before he could crash.
Holding onto the building, the Hulk bled off the momentum from Starks fall and made a controlled fall towards the ground. Giving Stark a soft landing instead of a hard one.
We all rushed forward. Thor ripped the plate off his face and Rogers kneed down, checking for a pulse.
Before you could even think of doing anything a roar froze you in place. A roar so loud, so strong that you felt it deep in your bones.
Stark did to, because he started awake with a gasp. "What the hell? What just happened?" His eyes dart to the four males surrounding him. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Rogers leaned back, and finally relaxed. "We won."
We did.
You took the mask off your belt. You moved to clip it back to your face, but hesitated. Stark was saying something but you couldn't focus on it.
You'd done it. You'd defeated an alien invasion.
The job's done. Time to go.
You turn away.
Hell of a trip.
"We're not finished yet." Thor said, looking at the tower. "There's still one thing we need to do."
"Fine," Stark agreed. "And then shawarma after."
You can't move. You open your mouth but the words don't come. What do you do? What do you say?
"How about it Traveller?" Stark asked, you heard the crunch of rubble as he got to his feet.
"You want some shawarma?"
[] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
[] You shook your head. "Sorry Stark, I'm tapped out." You toss the mask aside. With a shrug the rest of your armour followed. You hesitate but don't look back. "I'll see you around."
This chapter feels abrupt in some places but I wanted to post this before I had to get to work.
Next chapter will finish the arc and then we'll move onto the story proper.
As always. There will be a 2-hour MORATORIUM on Votes. DO NOT VOTE FOR 2 HOURS!
I'll be checking the thread. Feel free to discuss!
"Is that all you've got?" You taunted, using your new rifle to blow apart the chariots to your left and right before they could react.
The Chitauri driving turned around and roared, unslinging its rifle off its back, it turned around just in time for you to shoot it in the face instead of the back of the head.
Good riddance. Grandstanding was for idiots. Sometimes it'll earn you an energy blast to the face. Missing a large chunk of its head, the Chitauri collapsed. Surging forward, you rip the rifle from its grasp.
Tossing your old rifle away, you jumped into the air and watched the now pilotless chariot careen towards the ground.
Turning away, you searched for any further signs of Chitauri and relax when you see that for the moment, you're clear.
"Squad's gone Hawkeye, you got anything else for me?"
"Stark's got a squadron on his tail, and there's a group taking pot-shots at anything that moves down on Third."
The choice is easy to make. "Stark can take care of himself. I'll head down to third."
Hawkeye's response was drowned out by the whine of yet another squad of Chitauri coming from up the street.
"Hang on a sec Hawkeye. I need to call you back."
"Roger that."
Bringing your rifle up to aim, a shield with a small gap shimmered into existence around you.
With the surplus of energy from the Arc Reactor, you had taken the opportunity to make some improvements to your armour. The biggest one, was the option to project a shield from any part of your body instead of just your arms.
Cost a ton of energy to use though.
But in this case, you take a moment to line up the shot as the chariots get closer – it's worth it. Safety first.
The explosion is less spectacular than you're used to, but it gets the job done.
Traces of energy trickled into your limbs as you held the rifle in a white-knuckle grip, its purpose served. A moment later, you tossed the now useless weapon aside.
The rifle wasn't as powerful as your own blasters, but since it didn't take up your own reserves you would use them whenever you can.
"Traveller," Stark's voice was remarkedly breezy considering he was dealing with a squad of Chitauri all by his lonesome. "My area's clear," oh never mind. "I'm moving onto Third street."
"Alright, I'll meet you there."
"How's your reserves?"
"Holding steady," it was hard to keep track of time while fighting for your life but you guessed it has been around fifteen minutes since you stuck the reactor in your chest. The amount of power you could sense wasn't as overwhelming as before but it was still significant. "I've got a few hours left."
"Good. Watch your back out there. That portal's still open, and when Thor stops bottlenecking it were gonna get swarmed."
"Roger that."
You glanced at the sky. You watched, transfixed, as tendrils of lightning converged on a distant skyscraper and struck out against the portal in a concentrated bolt.
Every time one of those bolts were unleashed Chitauri died by the hundreds.
But even from this far away you could tell that the lightning, while still incredibly powerful, was starting to lag.
Someone would have to give, soon.
"Hopefully it isn't us," you muttered. After all, how many Chitauri could there be?
**
Chitauri came and stayed down. Between you and Stark every Chitauri that tried to break the perimeter was hunted down with extreme prejudice.
"Damnit!"
That did not mean that it was all fun and games however.
Stark crashed into a nearby building, the momentum from a lucky shot barrelling him through glass and concrete of the nearby skyscraper's sixtieth story.
At the same time, you flew forward towards the remaining chariot that had just shot Stark, ignoring his plight for the moment. He'd already taken a lot worse than that today and walked it off.
The chariot adjusted its aim and fired several blasts to force you to veer off but you ploughed through. Your shield materialising and the shots either fizzling out or ricocheting away. You would think they'd have learned by now.
You landed on the chariot and lashed out with a quick punch. The alien tried to dodge but the lack of floor room worked against it and your punch collided with its stomach. Capitalizing on its weakness you grabbed the back of its head and smashed it against the console three times before stopping. You wanted to keep this chariot in somewhat working condition.
Dazed and confused the Chitauri didn't put up much of a fight when you then grabbed it by its shoulders and tossed it over the edge.
Watching the alien go splat left a warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest. Turning away from your handiwork you looked down at the dashboard, a little banged up but thankfully made of tougher stuff than that Chitauri's skull. "Now let's see if this works…"
Placing both your hands on the console, you sent a trickle of power into the alien circuity and tried to coax it to your way of thinking.
It didn't work out so well.
Sparks of electricity erupted from the console and seared your hands.
"Ah, fuck!" You frantically waved your hands. The suit blocked most of the damage but that still stung like a bitch.
"Goddammit!" Your fists crashed against the console. It didn't help. The second time didn't help either, though it was much more satisfying.
The sky was blue. Water is wet. Technology is yours to command. It was a tenant, you don't know how, but you knew this down to the bottom of your soul. So why wasn't it fucking working.
"I don't think that's how you activate cruise control."
You rolled your eyes but a grin tugged at your lips. "Shut up Stark."
"You know, you could always call tech support."
You snorted. "Right. I'm sure there's a sticker on the back, 'Chitauri helpline – we'll fix your problem in thirty minutes or less or sic a giant space-whale on you.'"
You deliberately turned away from the console. If you spent another second staring at it you would probably smash it again. Which while satisfying, wasn't very productive.
Stark looked as pristine as ever, maybe one or two new scuff marks from his involuntary trip through a building but no worse for wear.
"Still no luck?"
"No," you said. "I can get a connection, but the moment I try to push it past that it just… fizzles out."
There hadn't exactly been much downtime between taking down dozens of Chitauri squadrons but you'd been able to fill in Stark on the basics of what you could do.
"I thought it would be different now that I have power to spare, but it's not." And if you try to push any further, you shivered. Feels like your blood is boiling. "If I could just push past it then maybe…"
"Traveller, I get that you're all kinds of stubborn but I don't think that's going to work. You want some advice?"
"Please."
"It hasn't worked the last ten times you tried it, its not going to work now."
Goddammit. The rails started to buckle under the force of your grip. "I know. I should take what I can get. I've had these powers for what… three hours? That I can do anything at all with them is a fucking miracle."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think it's a safeguard. An inbuilt defence mechanism to keep you from blowing yourself up."
"Where'd you get that idea from?"
"I'll tell you later. How's your reserves?"
You blinked at the sudden topic change but went along with it. That was the most you would get out of him for now. "About thirty percent. Actually, hang on…" You put your hand on the console again and pulled. Least it could be useful for something. "Thirty-five. Yours?"
Stark shook his head. "I still got a few hours."
That's something at least.
"I don't suppose you have another spare reactor hanging around?"
Stark guffawed. "Greedy aren't you." His tone sobered. "Unfortunately, no. What you've got is all I have."
Well shit.
The next minute was a long, drawn out silence. Both of you watching as Chitauri poured out of the portal unopposed.
"We can't keep this up Stark," you looked at his mostly undamaged armour and compared it to yours. "Well, maybe you can, but I can't. We need to close that portal."
"Nat's working on it. She's almost at the tower."
"Should we head over? You know, try to help."
He shook his head. "Trust her to do her part. We need to do ours."
"I know, keep attention focused on us." You watched another space-whale fly by. Nothing you had could scratch that thing, the armour was too thick. "Speaking of…"
He sighed. "Oh boy. I'll handle this one."
You nodded. "I'll head groundside, save some power." Maybe link up with Captain America. Having someone to watch your back sounded better then not.
"Keep your comms open."
Will do."
Not wasting time to watch Stark go you head straight towards the ground, the chariot behind you free-falling as the last bit of your presence keeping it airborne flickered away.
You staggered as you land, the weight of your armour pressing down on you. When this was all over you were going to take the longest nap.
Taking a deep breath, you slowly move forward, your senses constantly scanning the surroundings for any sign of Chitauri ambush.
Luckily, the only alien opposition you ran into was a lone squad that were quickly overwhelmed and smashed by a green blur. At least the Hulk is still going strong.
You made good time, and soon found yourself back at Grand Central.
**
There was a giant hole where the entrance of Grand Central used to be.
You rolled underneath the swing of a spear and kicked the offending Chitauri legs out from under it. You took the chance to grab the falling spear. A quick stomp to the face took it out of commission.
You know you shouldn't really be focusing on it. But it was there before and now it's gone.
Two more Chitauri – identical to the first – charged towards you. You slashed the spear out in a wide arc to separate them, your enhanced strength allowing you to wield the heavy weapon one handed.
It bothered you.
Jumping back to avoid your swing, you lunged at the one on the left. You unleashed a low powered blast to stagger it and pushed it into a car. You brought your spear up to stab it but before you could finish it off, the other Chitauri wrapped its arms around you in a bear hug.
"Let go of me you piece of sh-" A fist impacted against your face.
Metal cracked, and shattered.
Your vision swam as shards of metal dug into your cheeks. Breathing in direct air for the first time in hours, you watched the second Chitauri stagger to its feet and grab its spear, holding it in a white-knuckled grip.
Guessed you pissed it off.
Licking your lips, you gave it your best mocking grin, and spit a big red loogie right on its ugly mug.
"Well?" You taunted. "Get on with it then."
Some clicking noise left its ugly face as it hefted the spear and stabbed right for your chest.
Now!
Pushing all the power you could spare into your suit; you overrode the strength limits. Twisting on your heel, you rotated 180 degrees. Flexing your shoulders, you snapped the Chitauri's arms like a twig and pushed it backwards.
Directly into the path of the other Chitauri's spear thrust.
Ignoring the screech of the alien as it accidently stabbed its comrade you completed your turn and raised up both your arms.
"Try and dodge this!"
What you had forgotten was that your suit was still overflowing with energy. Energy that now had nowhere else to go except what you were directing all your focus into.
The resulting blast took out both Chitauri, along with the car behind it, and the car behind that, and well, you get the picture.
Your back slammed against the concrete, the rebounded energy blowing you off your feet.
"Ow."
Panting, you stared up at the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun on your face. However, all to soon, reality reared its ugly head.
"Traveller!"
You tilted your head to the side your gaze landed on a pair of red boots. Looking further up revealed the maskless face of Steve Rogers.
"Ah Captain Rogers," you raised your hand in a wave. "Nice to see you."
The boots stopped next to your head. "Traveller," his eyes roamed over your blackened armour before stopping at your face. Something flashed behind his eyes but it was gone too fast for you to discern it. "You alright?"
Well, honestly, you felt like shit. But that probably wasn't the good Captain wanted to hear.
Instead you moved your hand in a so-so gesture. "Eh, I'm fine. A couple of minutes to repair my armour and I'll be right as rain."
Though after your little overcompensation your reserves were sitting at twelve percent. You didn't mean to blow up a road. Honest!
"Could you be a pal and drag me behind that car over there?" You asked.
Rogers snorted and dragged you to your feet. Putting your arm over his shoulder, he walked you over to the most intact looking car he could find.
"Stay down kid," he said, setting you down gently. "We'll cover you."
"Captain," called out another voice that you recognised as Thor's before you could respond. "More Chitauri approach."
You grinned ruefully. "Never a dull moment is there?"
"No." And then he was gone.
You made a face at his back. Kid? Seriously. Whatever, now was not the time.
Instead, you leaned back and took stock of your situation. Your blasters were gone. The beam had obliterated them from existence, you'd have to create them from scratch, and that would take more power than you could spare. Your armour was shit, your little manoeuvre had shattered the joints and overloaded the emitters on your shield. The flight pack was okay, surprisingly. The Chitauri parts just a bit tougher than what you'd scrounged up back in Stark Tower.
Overall, your situation was rather hopeless.
But that hadn't stopped you before, so why would it now?
As nice as it would be to sit back and watch Cap and Thor kick some ass, you weren't going to stay on the sidelines now.
If you were going to die, then you would die on your feet.
The Arc Reactor in your chest dimmed, and died. Its power trickled into your veins for the last time. You couldn't repair everything, so you didn't even try. Armour and flight would have to be enough.
You clipped the repaired mask to your belt; damn thing was stuffy anyway. Though not before you disconnected the communicator and put it in your ear.
Pushing yourself up, you grabbed the closest spear you could find and using it as a walking stick, moved towards Cap and Thor.
You arrived just in time to watch the Captain catch a blast in his stomach.
Thor responded instantly.
Turning around, he blocked the remaining shots, stepped forward, and smashed a car into the offending squad with his hammer.
Thor helped Cap to his feet. "You ready for another bout?"
Rogers gave him a grimace in return. "What, you getting sleepy?"
"And what of you, young Traveller?" Thor boomed.
You bared your teeth. "You guys can go take a nap if you want. I've got this one." Please don't.
Something deep escaped his throat. A rumbling noise that charged the air. It was only after your hair stood on end that you recognised it as laughter.
Before you could say something else that would definitely get you killed a voice came in through the comms.
"Can anyone copy? I can shut the portal down," said Natasha.
Rogers eyes widened. "DO IT!"
"No, wait," interjected Stark.
"Stark these things are still coming."
"I got a nuke coming in. Its gonna blow in less than a minute." A wave of nausea hit you. Frantically you looked to the sky and started to float. If you could get into the air maybe you could find it and shut it down before it blew you all to kingdom come. "And I know just where to put it."
A hand grabbed you by the arm and pulled you back down. Heart pounding in your ears you whirled around to meet Steve Rogers eyes. You couldn't hear what he was saying but you could see him mouth the words, 'trust him.'
Trust him.
"Stark…" Rogers said as you started to calm down. "you know that's a one-way trip."
No response.
"Come on Stark," you whispered, over and over again. "Come on."
You couldn't look away, not even to blink as you saw Stark push the missile up, over the streets, skidding against Stark Tower until he led it straight up. And through the portal.
"YES!"
A moment later the Chitauri around you collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Falling to the ground, you laughed and laughed some more. "He did it."
That laugher quickly turned sour as you watched the explosion within the portal get bigger, but no Iron Man. Where was he?
"Close it."
What? Your head whipped around to the Captain. "You can't!" You stand back up ready to tear into him, but the look on his face stopped you in your tracks, forced you to think through its immeasurable weight.
That explosion was getting bigger every second. If it got through the portal, Stark's sacrifice would've been for nothing.
Your fists clenched but you forced your eyes to stay on the portal. Damn it to hell, but you needed to watch this. To know it was over.
There was no last-minute surprise. No final 'fuck you' from the Chitauri. The portal that spit on the limits of space and time closed with a ripple.
But not before a small blip travelled through.
"Son of a gun." Rogers said.
Was that?
The blip become bigger and you could make out red and gold.
It was.
"He did it again."
"He's not slowing down," Thor rumbled, whirling his hammer.
You stepped forward, ready to fly. You couldn't do much compared to Thor, but maybe you could help break his fall.
Fortunately, before you needed to do anything, a green blur jumped from the nearby building and caught Stark before he could crash.
Holding onto the building, the Hulk bled off the momentum from Starks fall and made a controlled fall towards the ground. Giving Stark a soft landing instead of a hard one.
We all rushed forward. Thor ripped the plate off his face and Rogers kneed down, checking for a pulse.
Before you could even think of doing anything a roar froze you in place. A roar so loud, so strong that you felt it deep in your bones.
Stark did to, because he started awake with a gasp. "What the hell? What just happened?" His eyes dart to the four males surrounding him. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Rogers leaned back, and finally relaxed. "We won."
We did.
You took the mask off your belt. You moved to clip it back to your face, but hesitated. Stark was saying something but you couldn't focus on it.
You'd done it. You'd defeated an alien invasion.
The job's done. Time to go.
You turn away.
Hell of a trip.
"We're not finished yet." Thor said, looking at the tower. "There's still one thing we need to do."
"Fine," Stark agreed. "And then shawarma after."
You can't move. You open your mouth but the words don't come. What do you do? What do you say?
"How about it Traveller?" Stark asked, you heard the crunch of rubble as he got to his feet.
"You want some shawarma?"
[] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
[] You shook your head. "Sorry Stark, I'm tapped out." You toss the mask aside. With a shrug the rest of your armour followed. You hesitate but don't look back. "I'll see you around."
This chapter feels abrupt in some places but I wanted to post this before I had to get to work.
Next chapter will finish the arc and then we'll move onto the story proper.
As always. There will be a 2-hour MORATORIUM on Votes. DO NOT VOTE FOR 2 HOURS!
I'll be checking the thread. Feel free to discuss!
- Location
- Where I an right now
No voting yet, 2 hours moratorium
Shit, sorry.
But yeah, I see literally no downside to staying. It seems like the only reason to leave would be to indulge our character flaw.
- Location
- Where I an right now
You know, if we hang out with stark, think we could take over extremis since it is earth tech?
I see literally no reason why we wouldn't be able to.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
We should just join them because SHIELD is gonna hunt us if we go incognito. Better to join them early than to be muscled in.
- Location
- Illinoise
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
Yeah better to join them early.
Yeah better to join them early.
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- Location
- Florida
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
- Location
- The Void
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
- Location
- Pee Pee Poo Poo
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
Its definitely possible. But it is something you'd have to deliberately seek out. Interacting with biotech in general is something you can do yet but if you find a powerful enough example (ie a certain Kree Diviner, or like a 100 other things, this is marvel after all) then biotech manipulation is a skill that can be acquired in some form.
- Location
- Eldorado, Il
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit.
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
Alright it's been a day, current votes are at:
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit. - 48
[X] You shook your head. "Sorry Stark, I'm tapped out." You toss the mask aside. With a shrug the rest of your armour followed. You hesitate but don't look back. "I'll see you around." - 6
Normally i'd give it another day, but I think the winner is pretty clear at this point.
So, votes are closed.
Next chapter will end be the end of the prologue and choice for the next arc.
[X] You laughed. "You know what Stark, I would love some. I still want to hear that story." You turned back. "And its Jack." The mask slotted back on, now a perfect fit. - 48
[X] You shook your head. "Sorry Stark, I'm tapped out." You toss the mask aside. With a shrug the rest of your armour followed. You hesitate but don't look back. "I'll see you around." - 6
Normally i'd give it another day, but I think the winner is pretty clear at this point.
So, votes are closed.
Next chapter will end be the end of the prologue and choice for the next arc.