"You're too slow! Speed it up." Laughed the young twelve year old with rich lavender hair and true violet colored eyes that twinkled in the sunlight.
Iya shot up out of bed abruptly with a cry; a cold sweat causing the ringlets of her deep, almost scarlet, red hair to cling to her face. She sat frozen in time as the last of the groggy sleep slipped off of her. She finally relaxed; collapsing back against the mattress. That was the fourth time this week. There had to be something big coming. The dreams were like a sort of sixth sense in a way. Iya let out an angry, hissing, sigh as she rolled over onto her side in an attempt to go back to sleep.
"Screw it." Iya finally snapped after about an hour and a half of tossing and turning. She could never sleep after those dreams anyways. She rolled over to glanced briefly at the alarm clock and nearly choked on her spit at the sight of the digital lights flashing five o'clock at her happily.
"Oh christ, Kyra's gon-" Iya started before the door burst open violently, the woman on the other side yanking on the door with a vengeance, nearly tearing it off its hinges.
"It's five o'clock in the morning! What the Hell?!" Kyra screamed in a higher pitch of voice that was already giving Iya a serious headache. The waterfall of onyx, streaked with pale blue, hair swayed with the motion as her amber eyes, which at the moment were engulfed in hatred and anger, glared daggers at the redhead. Iya waited until her friend calmed down before dragging herself out of the cocoon of blankets and stretching. Kyra tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the redhead to perform her morning stretch before jumping on her, canines and sparkling silver nails bared.
"Explain yourself, demon!" Kyra demanded as Iya brushed her friend off with a wave and a yawn.
"You're the one who's always awake. I don't see why you're so pissed. Besides," She pointed out with a mischievous grin while getting dressed in her usual attire of black and silver. "You're gonna be late for your job if you keep complaining." Kyra faltered for a moment and Iya watched with satisfaction as Kyra panicked at the 'gentle' reminder, running out of the room in a frenzied state.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Kyra screamed as she raced through the living room to her own room, knocking into the couch suddenly and tipping the badly made furniture over to dump a body onto the floor.
"KYRA!" The terrified scream echoed through the house and the girl Kyra dumped onto the floor looked up at Iya as she sauntered over. The girl's tangled chocolate brown hair frizzled slightly causing her to resemble Medusa while her soft-looking, luminous cloud-gray eyes reflected her surprise at the abrupt attack on her sleep. A book laid a few feet away on the floor that she had been reading the night before. The heavy bound pages were something about gamma radiation.
"Really Brooklyn? Gamma radiation?" The redhead asked in a disapproving tone. She believed anything regarding that science was unnecessarily dangerous. The brunette shrugged as she stood up, still dressed in last nights attire.
"It's an interesting read. I should have majored in that instead." Brook responded as she picked the book up off the floor and set it carefully on the table. Iya shook her head as she fixed the couch and sat down, crossing her legs. Her eyes trained on her old friend as she set about making lunches and changing clothes at the same time; an acquired skill she had from years of taking care of all three women and herself.
"Maybe if you want an extra limb sticking out of your chest." The redhead said sarcastically and Brooklyn smiled slightly at a typical Iya comment as another woman stumbled into the room, dressed and half awake. She had a short, auburn colored, bob that framed her face while her bangs were swept to one side, threatening to cover her pale green eyes that were more of a jade color. She was taller then all the other girl's banking around six feet tall.
"At least I'd be able to fold all the laundry while reading." The brunette grinned and Iya laughed at the comeback.
"What about extra limbs sticking out of weird places?" The auburn asked gruffly as she pulled out a carton of orange juice, opening it and taking a drink. Brook glared at the newcomer and finished packing the last lunch before she decided to answer the question.
"Gamma radiation." She began shortly. "What did I tell you about drinking out of the carton, Riley?" She scowled and the auburn smirked at Brook over her drink.
"Whoops my bad." Riley said in false innocence as Kyra re-entered the room, dressed and ready to go.
"Grab a breakfast biscuit minions, we have places to be."
Kyra hummed softly as her heels clicked against the tiled floor; clipboard held against her chest. Stark tower was almost done being fixed and she was glad the commotion was almost over. Working for Stark had its' benefits but she was ready to be done with these construction workers.
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas With never a fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life, If you would marry me." Her phone rang and she dug into her purse frantically. Once Kyra's hand clenched around the phone she swiped it open and answered.
"Kyra Hall, speak quickly and concisely." She answered sharply and she could hear muffled cursing in the background of the callers environment.
"Kyra, it's Brooklyn." Kyra unconsciously straightened her back and her other hand tightened against the clipboard painfully. Brook never called unless it was...
"Is everything alright?" Came her panicked response. The last time Brook called was when Renee...Kyra shook her head at that line of thought and refocused her attention on the phone clutched in her hand.
"Riley is injured."
"Badly?"
"WHAT DO YOU FUCKIN THINK KYRA!?" Riley's voice echoed loudly through the speaker and Kyra had to jerk away from it violently to keep her hearing. She let out an annoyed sigh.
"It can't be that bad if she's still yelling." She started in agitation. "Why are you calling?"
"Because the thing that attacked us is headed towards Stark tower as we speak." Brook answered gravely and Kyra nearly dropped the cell in shock.
"It's what!?" Kyra screeched sharply, clipboard finally slipping from her grasp as she turned on her heel towards the main entrance in a small panic. She started sprinting towards the doors while pressing the phone over her chest briefly.
"JARVIS!"
"Yes, Ms. Hall?"
"Contact Mr. Stark! Tell him everything you just heard!" She snapped. "And put the tower on lock down now!"
"Immediately." JARVIS responded. Kyra brought the cell back up to her ear as she burst outside; thunder rumbling ominously above her. The soft click of the doors locking behind her echoed in her free ear and she squinted as she tried to see the attacker.
"What does it look like Brook?" She asked quietly and there was silence from the other end of the line for a moment.
"Frankly Kyra it looks like a Chitari, the predator, and a monster truck got freaky." Came the deadpanned response. Kyra shivered slightly at the thought of its' size before opening her mouth.
"I'm assuming you two are chasing after it. Call Iya, she's lurking around Holy Grounds, and tell her to help me intercept it." Kyra instructed before shutting off her phone. It wasn't long before Iya sprinted up to her friend.
"Any sign of it yet?" Kyra frowned at the question. She opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by a thunderous roar. Iya stiffened up as the noise was followed by the sound of something extremely heavy running towards them.
"That wasn't thunder..." She finally tagged on. Both women screeched in panic as a humongous beast rounded the corner, sliding into a building as its' traction against the asphalt slipped. Another crack of thunder preceded the strike of lightning that barreled into Iya. Electricity arched off her hands dangerously while Kyra summoned shards of ice in the air above her. Random patches of dirty black fur was missing from its' body. The bulk of it was built similar to a bear's and the claws were similar to that of a cougar's. Its' tail had been cut off and bled murky blue blood freely over the ground. It reared its' head towards the two woman and roared, it's mouth splitting open like the Predator's to reveal rows and rows of razor sharp teeth inside before it charged. Kyra squeaked in fear; causing her shards to melt away as she stood frozen. The beast was merely feet from her when Iya lunged forward with a scream; punching the monster in the face and sending it flying. The electricity that had been arching off her hands died down to nothing but sparks, almost all of it having been concentrated into the punch. The smell of singed skin and fur rent the air as Riley arrived on her motorcycle; Brooklyn behind her and holding on for dear life. The two jumped off as the beast lumbered to its' feet slowly and shaking its' head as if severely disoriented. The four could only stare at it.
"Are...are you fucking serious?" Riley started shakily; her mouth open in dumb shock. The sparks from Iya's hands died down to nothing. Kyra opened and closed her mouth like a fish; trying, and failing, to force words out. Brook stared wide eyed. Iya ground her teeth together while her hands clenched tightly.
"I literally pumped that thing full of a lightning bolt! It should be dead!" She shouted in outrage. The beast growled deeply at Iya's voice and swung around to face her. She gulped before turning towards the other girls.
"RUN!" Kyra screamed; sprinting away from Stark tower. The monster cut her off abruptly and swiped at her; sending her spiraling into Riley. Iya turned to look at Brook desperately.
"Please tell me you have a plan Brook." She practically begged. Brook merely nodded as she stared down their foe.
"Riley! I'm going to throw you and Kyra onto the monster." She announced as the two stood up.
"Are you fucking nuts!?" Kyra shouted as Riley grabbed her, pulling her in close as vines closed around them. Kyra screeched as they soared through the air. At the last moment, Riley let go of Kyra, pushing her on top of the beast's throat while she hit it in the side, immediately summoning her fire to wrap around her hands as clawed gauntlets and latched onto it while Kyra immediately sunk her long nails into the beast like a terrified cat. The monster screeched in pain and began attempting to buck the two off violently. Iya winced as it crashed into a store. She glanced at Brook as the older woman began shouting instructions to the girls.
"Kyra! Shut that things mouth with your ice!" She ordered before turning to stare at Iya. "How much lightning can you handle?" Iya smirked cheekily.
"Enough for what you're planning." She reassured before stepping back from her as it began to pour. Brook spun back around to the others as Kyra was flung from the beast's back; landing harshly on her rear a few feet away. The glitter of ice in the pale light of the moon let Brook know that Kyra had accomplished her part. Brook raised her hands; vines the size and width of a telephone pole shot up from the asphalt, shattering it, before they wrapped themselves around the beast's legs. It screeched in rage as it was pinned down sharply.
"Riley, grabbed that metal support beam and jam it into that thing now!" Riley nodded as the fire dissipated as she shook her hands. Turning towards the currently half broken building from the monsters dramatic entrance. She grunted, pulling out the beam from under the rubble before spinning around. She started sprinting. The monster thrashed against Brook's vines when Riley jumped and plunged that beam through its' back and abdomen. She vaulted off the beam and landed before rolling.
"Iya! I can't hold it for much longer!" Brook warned. Iya felt a wicked grin spread across her face as she stood between Stark tower and another building with metal sticking out from it. Lightning struck Iya again. Once, twice, three, four separate times. Her eyes were practically glowing from the energy flowing through her. Electricity arched from her and connected to two buildings like she was a live Tesla coil. Her hands flexed ominously. An enraged roar erupted from the monster as the vines gave way, snapping apart and allowing it to jump to its' feet. The light emanating from Iya caught its' attention and it roared sharply before beginning to charge towards her.
"Hasta la vista bitch!" She laughed, throwing her hands forward. Lightning shot out of her palms and the monster couldn't veer out of the way of the voltage in time. The horrid stench of burning flesh and hair accompanied the death screams of one burning monster. The lightning disappeared as swiftly as it had arrived and Iya slowly lowered her hands. The four women and simply stared at the still smoking mound of burnt corpse in front of them. Kyra clasped a hand over her mouth in disgust and she had to turn away from the sight.
"That is so disgusting." She muttered in disdain and Iya let out a barking laugh barely audibly over the clap of thunder.
"Welcome to the horrors of 4 billion joules of electricity." She explained while brushing her soaked hair out of her eyes. "If it wasn't alien I guarantee that it would be either a pile of ash or vaporized."
"Lovely." Kyra snapped back; sending a glare her way that Iya completely ignored.
"That was impressive." A metallic voice added and all four women turned around while summoning their respective elements in preparation for an ambush. It was merely Tony. They relaxed; Riley grumbling in utter dislike for the man.
"Mr. Stark!" Kyra blurted out in shock before she looked down to take in her ragged appearance. Large angry red lines dribbled out blood across her thigh, abdomen, and arm from when the monster swatted her aside. The torn and tattered business clothes. Tony chuckled as she attempted to gather enough of the tattered material to cover her exposed lingerie. Iya and Riley tried to contain their laughter; Iya even going as far as stuffing her hand in her mouth.
"Call me Tony. Let's get you four inside out of the rain."
"What about the body?" Brook asked while sending a small glance sent towards the corpse. Riley nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Extra burnt chicken wing over there isn't just gonna disappear." That got a bit of a laugh out of Tony.
"S.H.I.E.L.D is going to take care of it." He reassured before ushering them back into the Tower. Once inside they stepped into an elevator. The awkward silence was overwhelming. The moment the doors opened Kyra rushed inside to gather towels and first aid. Riley went to follow and smashed her face into the shorter woman's skull as she stopped abruptly. She cursed colorfully as Kyra found herself speechless once more. Iya peered around the cluster and frowned at the people in front of them.
"You assholes were here the whole time while we took on an alien that made Cerberus look adorable and just watched!?" Natasha cracked a tiny smile at her indignation before Tony responded casually; having finally taken the suit off.
"Think of it more like your interview." He responded easily as Brook walked around them to access the towels, first aid, and clothes laid out on the couch in front of them. Iya and Riley practically rolled their eyes in sync.
"Interview for what exactly?" Riley asked as she snatched a towel from Brook and began drying her hair roughly.
"How about you girls get cleaned up and dressed first and then I'll tell you whether you got the job or not." He responded back and everybody rolled their eyes at his dramatics before doing what was suggested. Iya emerged last. She hadn't been noticed by the others yet and so she just stood back and observed for a moment. Kyra grinned wickedly as she flicked Riley in the back of the head with another ice cube before the auburn woman turned around to shoot daggers of irritation at her.
"Kyra Hall I'm going to light your hair on fire if you flick me again." Riley warned, barely able to keep her frustration out of her rough voice. Kyra went to reply but Iya cut them off, noticing a sudden lack of Avengers in the room.
"Where in the hell did Stark and the others go?" Iya demanded, her patience finally running thin. They were all in clothes twice their size and she could only take the two in small doses at a time because when they were together they. never. stopped. arguing!
"Knowing Stark, he's probably getting it on with some random chick." Riley snarked. Tony Stark was practically a God to Kyra. Riley got the rise she had been looking for when Kyra bristled angrily and clenched her hands into fists, nails biting into the palms of her hands.
"He's in the other room having an impromptu meeting with the others. Besides," She gave a pointed glare at Riley. "He's dating Pepper Potts you low life degenerate." Riley rolled her eyes at the furious woman.
"Suuuuure he is." She responded. Kyra snapped and her horrible temper flared as she reached over and clocked Riley in the head. Riley retaliated with an astonishingly quick jab to the abdomen and before Brook and Iya could step in the two women were rolling along the floor, brawling and knocking things over. Brooklyn jumped up and grabbed Kyra, leaving Iya to somehow subdue Riley. The redhead charged her hands full of a very low level of electricity, akin to a stun gun, and grabbed Riley's shoulders. Riley let out a surprised yelp of pain as the electricity shocked her and Iya almost got crushed under Riley and all her muscles as her friend went slack in her hold. The two older woman dragged the cliche filled women away from each other before daring to let go of either. Iya huffed in exhaustion, already done and at her limit for the day when another voice cut into the air, causing all the labored breathing to suddenly stop.
"Pay up Capsicle. I called it." Tony's voice laughed in amusement as eight pairs of eyes turned to stare at the source of the voice. At the head of the group was Tony, followed by Steve Rogers, Thor, Loki, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff. Iya locked eyes with the muzzled and chained Loki and immediately tensed up as her face morphed into one of cold indifference and the other three friends immediately picked up on the sudden change in her demeanor.
"Iya...don't." Brooklyn warned quietly as Tony continued to say something about them passing their interview with flying colors. He stumbled to a stop as he glanced over at Iya, who in three steady steps, had crossed the little bit of room between them and carefully reached behind Loki's head. Loki's eyes widened marginally and he jerked back away from her loose grip before she grabbed him roughly and forced him to stand still without saying a single word while the others watched in a mixture of suspicion and worry. She finally found the latch for his muzzle, fingers fumbling for a moment on it before it came off and she tossed it to Thor without looking away from the Norse God in front of her.
"Iya no!" Kyra yelled as Brooklyn went to grab Iya's arm. But before either of them could restrain her, Iya had smacked him as hard as she could across his face. His head followed the movement before he turned it to look at her. Instead of the hate or rage Iya had been expecting; Loki's gaze was full of cruel amusement. It only ended up fueling Iya's darkest desires and inner rage and anguish. This bastard was the reason she didn't have a family anymore she was determined to make his life a living hellhole worse than Helheim.