Hey all, Lefyty here. Just some explanatory things to start. If you ignored the summary, which I doubt you did, this starts in the original avengers movie, not Age of Ultron, and this will contain no spoilers from the new Civil War movie, so no worries there. I'll stop dilly dallying now, but just to be careful, I own nothing but one character that you'll see later. If it seems Marvel-y you can be safe to assume that Marvel owns it, not me.
The video started, focusing on a chair that was empty, turned to the right. All in one moment, a man with dark chocolate brown hair wearing a black tee shirt threw himself into the chair. "I thought we were done with Avengers stuff," the man complained, looking somewhere off camera.
"Fury wants everyone to do this. Once this is done the Avengers are over. Just do this so he will get off of my back, please," A woman said from off camera. The man in the chair sighed, his whole body sagging with the noise.
"This doesn't even make any sense. I'm not even sure this technology will work – it's never been tested, and I didn't make it. It's probably a dud," the man protested, frowning at the device he held in his hand.
"What did you say to me once before, sir?" a British man, also off camera asked, "'Sometimes you have to learn to run before you can walk?'" the person quoted.
"You're paraphrasing," the brown haired man in the seat declared, but turned to face the camera all the same. His brown eyes were stunning, and his entire face had small cuts and bruises all over it. Light shone through his Black Sabbath tee shirt. He gave the camera a look before he frowned at it. "Great, it's already recording."
He sighed, "My name is Tony Stark also known as Iron Man, I was involved in…"he stopped, looking behind him, pushing the chair away from the desk, "this is really stupid, Bruce is waiting for me in the lab –"
"Oh no," the woman walked into frame and pushed Tony's chair back towards the camera, "You're here now, and Fury said it would only take a few minutes. Do it," she insisted, brushing her fiery red hair out of her face.
Tony grumbled, but looked back into the camera. "Fine. The Avengers Initiative was created by the pirate, and was originally made to have seven members, myself, the Capiscle, Doctor Banner, Thor'eal, Legolas, and Natashalie – ow!" Tony grunted as Pepper smacked the back of his head, "Fine, Doctor Banner, Captain America, Thor Odinson, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow, happy?" He asked, swiveling to look at the woman behind him.
"Not yet," the woman persisted, nodding her head to the camera. Tony swiveled back to look at the camera, eyebrows furrowed accompanied by a pout.
"We were assembled to protect the Earth, yadda yadda yadda. Then a new person joined our ranks, and without her there is no way Loki - Reindeer Games – whatever you want to call him - and his army would have been defeated. Some of us were asked to record our memories into this device," he held up a small black, sleek looking box, "for reference purposes. I don't know, maybe there will be some sort of documentary made on us. All I know is if this box zaps me, I might sprout green eyes and start throwing balls of fire."
The woman behind him slapped the back of his head again. "Help I'm being abused by my sexy CEO slash girlfriend!" Tony shouted to seemingly no one.
"So I'm your girlfriend now?" The woman asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the man. She fought to hide a smile that was growing at her lips.
Tony swiveled around to look at her, "Yes," he said sincerely.
The woman grinned at him before leaning over to press her lips to his forehead, "Finish that up and meet Bruce in the lab," she ordered before walking away, sashaying her hips as she walked to an elevator.
Tony turned back to the camera, waggling his eyebrows. He then attached two electrodes that came from the box to his temples and looked straight into the camera. "Establishing connection," he announced, looking both bored and annoyed by the process.
Tony pressed a small button on the top of the device. The box lit up bright white, and the screen went blank, then there was static, like the CPU was picking up some sort of interference.
҉҉҉
Connection Established
Subject: Tony Stark
Memory: Located in the Helicarrier during the Avengers Initiative. Memory begins in Lab while Stark's hacking bug broke into SHIELD's files. He finds Subject E and breaks E out before it is ready. The Memory is of what follows.
Well that certainly was a failed attempt at making us act friendly. Bruce and I stood in the lab, silence had fallen between us, although it was more companionable than awkward. Bruce was working on locating the tesseract, keeping his eyes on the locating screens. It seemed as though he didn't know what to make of me, which was probably about par for the course considering I just tried to shock him to see if I could make the Jolly Green Giant come out. If anything his reaction was more interesting than concerning. His eyes hadn't flashed green as I had expected, which meant something fascinating. Banner can control his powers – to a degree at least. I highly doubt a man of Banner's… temperament would actually want to go out and destroy Manhattan, so he might not have control over it all the time… interesting. I'll have to pay more attention to that in the future.
I stared at the door, where Cap had stormed out only moments before. He was another interesting part of our group. Was he meant to be the leader? It made enough sense, I guess, even if I don't like it. How they thought it was a good idea for the two of us to be in the same room is beyond my comprehension. As far as I am concerned it's his fault my father didn't give a damn about me. But how could a man out of time lead all of us, especially when I can't stand to be in the same room as him. He's lucky I haven't gotten my suit on and attacked him yet.
I took a deep breath, and in the same moment my Stark phone beeped. Bruce looked up from his work, but I ignored him and pulled the sleek phone from my front pocket. It was a message from Jarvis.
Sir, I found something… interesting. This was the least protected of SHEILD's files, so I managed to break into this one before the others. The file says there is something labeled 'Subject E' in room 14 – D on one of the lower levels. The file is very cryptic and doesn't state much. There is something that is labeled "extremely unstable, and highly dangerous," stored in the room, however it doesn't go on to say what is in the room. There are video cameras located in the room, but none of them are on a wifi connection, it is a closed circuit, and therefore I cannot break into it without a connection, or until I break into the whole system, which will take time. However I have managed to find on certain SHEILD agents comm. emails who have referenced Subject E say that it has been relocated multiple times. I suggest proceeding with caution.
I frowned at the message and re-read it. What would SHEILD be hiding that is highly dangerous that needed to be relocated multiple times?
"What did you find?" Bruce asked, approaching me with a look of curiosity.
I relayed the information to him as quickly as possible. Highly unstable and extremely dangerous sounded just like the thing I wanted to find in SHEILD's files.
"Maybe you should just wait until you get into the main base of SHEILD, Tony. This sounds a bit much, even for you," Bruce suggested cautiously.
I rolled my eyes, "No! Now is when we need to go look! You're telling me you don't want to go sniff this out at all?" I asked him incredulously. Does he have no sense of adventure? He's a scientist! He should want to figure out what this means.
Bruce shook his head with a small apologetic smile, "I'm sorry Tony, but 'dangerous' and 'unstable' sounds like a recipe for disaster for me."
I shook my head in disappointment, "You've got a cap on that Doc, you deserve some fun."
I turned to walk out of the lab, still determined to find out what exactly 'Subject E' was. "Sorry Tony," Bruce said as I opened the door, "but that just doesn't sound like 'fun' to me, unless you want the whole helicarrier to be torn apart."
"Now there's an idea," I said as the door shut behind me.
What could SHEILD possibly be trying to hide? The word could start with 'E', but there aren't very many words that start with 'E' that make sense. Unless it was a person – but that's absurd. SHEILD had to be above kidnapping. My aunt Peggy would never work for an organization that kidnaps at the very least. I had more trust in them than that. As I walked to the stairs I passed Natasha, who seemed to be loitering in the hall. Making sure I'm staying where I'm supposed to be, more like it.
"Hi agent," I said brightly as I continued my walk towards room 14 – D. I needed to say something. If I walked by her without acknowledging her it would look suspicious and she would start to wonder about things. She is a spy after all.
Natasha narrowed her eyes at me. Damn it. "Where are you going, Stark?" She asked, crossing her arms and cocking a hip. Damn it again.
"Bathroom," I said quickly, raising an eyebrow, "I felt an urge," I offered by way of explanation.
Natasha scowled at me, and studied every inch of me, probably waiting for me to crack, but I only gave her a goofy 'I really have to pee' look. "Bathroom's that way," Natasha said begrudgingly and gestured towards a hallway that was thankfully in the same direction as the stairwell.
"Great," I said to her, continuing on my quest to the room on the D level, which was right underneath the one I was on.
Once I turned the corner I saw the door to the stairwell. With one look to ensure no one was following me, I raced down the stairs, pushing away the breathless feeling I had in my chest due to the arc reactor. After they removed things in my chest cavity and squished my lungs it left me having difficulty breathing, but I would never admit it. Doctors were amazed I was even alive with that much metal disrupting my chest cavity. I was too, at first, I just try not to think about it now. Better not to focus on the then and just pay attention to the now.
I flung open the door to the D level, checking behind me to make sure Natasha hadn't followed me. I jogged down the hallway, checking around the hall to make sure no SHEILD agents were around, and surprisingly, there were none. Shitty security I thought to myself, humming the song Shoot to Thrill under my breath. It both calmed me down and made me feel like I was in some sort of awesome action movie. When I made it to the door I stopped. "What could SHIELD be hiding in their room and board area?" I asked aloud, staring at the door. This part of the carrier was meant to have extra rooms, for prisoners or civilians, take your pick. Either way, I was beginning to think that SHIELD might just be hiding a person after all.
I walked to the door and pulled the knob. It twisted, but it wouldn't budge. Locked. Should have figured that one. Nothing on this carrier could ever be easy. I peered into the crack between the door, and saw there were three bolts, and from the looks of it, they were coming from the wall not the door itself. An unmarked code panel confirmed my theory. The lock is wired. Dumbasses.
I got to work on the code panel, removing the wall panel around it quickly. After a few wires were cut with a pair of wire cutters from my back pocket and hotwired together with a pen sized blow torch I checked the door again and smirked when I saw the locks had slid back into the wall. Too easy. I didn't even hesitate when I pulled the door open. I didn't even have a second to process what was in the room, because I was pulled into the room by some force, and slammed against the wall. The door swung and shut with a bang. I swore colorfully.
A young girl with light blonde hair and bright green eyes standing in the center of the room glared at me, both of her hands were raised in the air and pointed at me. Was she holding me against the wall or was something else going on?
"What the hell!" I shouted, more of an accusation than a question. Who in the hell was this girl, and how the hell was she holding me against the wall without touching me?
"Who the fuck are you?" The girl shouted.
"Who the fuck am I, who the fuck are you?" I shouted back almost as angrily as the girl had shouted at me. I mean seriously? Who does this girl think she is?
I flew from my spot on the wall and slammed on the ground. I grunted in pain, almost certain my back had popped in three areas. The blonde put her knee on my chest – just below the arc reactor – and put her face directly above my head. Her face was deathly pale and there were smears of dirt all over her face along with small red lines – cuts – all along her cheeks. What happened to her?
"Why am I stuck on this fucking flying ship," the girl shouted, spittle flying in my face. Even though she was lashing out it was easy to see how terrified the girl was. Her pupils were dilated and her lips were drawn back, baring her teeth as if she was some sort of wolf. Her teeth were perfect, small, even, and white, which was surprising. Given the condition she was in I was expecting yellow teeth, maybe even a few missing.
I tried to raise my arms to show my innocence, but I couldn't move, "I don't know," I stated. She gave me a skeptical look, "no honestly. I was brought on the helicarrier a few hours ago. I probably trust SHEILD as much as you do."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?" she asked. "Who is SHEILD?" She added almost as an afterthought.
Both my back and my chest ached from the girl throwing me around, but it was relieving that the girl wasn't accusing me anymore. I could handle this. "An agency meant to protect the world's security – though if their track record is anything to go by, I don't think they're doing such a great job."
I watched the girl's intense eyes studying me – trying to determine if what I said was true. "So why am I here?" She finally asked. She seemed to trust me more, even though she didn't let me go or move in any way. But her tone had changed from menacing to indifferent, which made all the difference. Electricity crackled in the air almost adding to the tension. The girl flinched.
"I honestly have no idea. I didn't even know you were a person, I went snooping. But now," I said decisively, "if you let me up, we're going to find out."
"Hell no am I going to let you up," the girl argued, electricity crackled through the air again, this time it seemed threatening. What the hell is going on? "You are my ticket out of here, I'm not going to just let you up."
"But that's exactly why you should let me up," I argued, struggling to push the girl off of me, but I still couldn't move. What. The. Hell. "I'm your ticket out of here, and I am what's going to keep you safe – especially because I want to help you and figure out what the hell is going on. SHEILD isn't going to be too happy when they found out their kidnapee is running around by herself, and they will not risk the integrity of their ship. It is worth more than you – unfortunately. That's where I step in. I am worth much more money than their ship, and I'm also very important to a few things running in here at the moment, so while they might risk you, they won't risk me. And what in the hell is this? Some kind of voodoo shit?" I yelled out of frustration. I couldn't move one damn muscle in my own body, and she was the only one who could possibly be doing any of it.
"So why don't I just take you as my hostage?" The girl finally asked. Her knee pressed harder into my chest and I wanted to cry out, but I only bit my lip.
"Because for one I know my way around the ship, so if you lead us around you'll eventually run into Captain America, a god, a spy who fights like a god, or dozens of agents with guns, or any combination of those options for that matter. And I'm a much better ally than an enemy, I am –"
"I know who you are," the girl said flippantly, rising to her feet, turning from me, and tossing a hand over her shoulder towards me in one fluid motion. The sleeve of her navy blue sweater moved just enough for something around her wrist to catch my eye. A grey and red Stark Industries bracelet.
"What is that?" I stood quickly and snatched her wrist, pulling her back towards me to get a better look at the bracelet. She cupped her hand, pulling away from me, and in the middle of her hand a ball of fire burst into life. I yelled in surprise, stumbling backwards and eventually falling on my ass. People's hands don't just catch on fire. What the fuck is going on?
"That is mine," the girl protested, turning to face me. Her hand went out as quickly as it lit. She put both palms on her waist and cocked a hip.
"My name on it," I retorted from my seat on the ground, ignoring the fact that her hand caught on fire. Probably not the best course of action, but she wasn't exactly pointing the fire at me.
"One of the many gifts given in the peace offering extended to the mutant fund. So it's mine," the blonde turned on her heel and strode toward the door.
"So you're a mutant?" I questioned.
"That's what they say."
"And what do you say?"
"They are wrong."
As you may have guessed the 'sleek black box' will be here to stay. Each chapter will be uploaded with an entry from a character who encounters the sleek black box, as you may guess characters will be repeated. As for Emily, she's a tough little emotional cookie who I will enjoy to reveal to you all as time goes on. Now for logistics of things, expect a chapter a week, you may get more or less depending on how scheduling works, but that should be about how things will be paced. I may update another chapter within the next few days just to get the ball rolling, but otherwise that will be the standard pace. Expect longer chapters too, I just liked the quick pace of this update. That being said, if you see any glaring grammatical flaws, or any flaws at all, feel free to point them out, I just ask that we don't be downright mean about those things, and also, please feel free to leave a review if you feel I deserve it, these things really make a writer feel good. I won't stall for too long though, I'll see you next time.