Author's note: So, here's the second chapter, and I'd love for some reviews to know how I'm doing.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Avengers, but I do own Ray and Lily.
Chapter Two
Iron Man was the first to react, shooting a blue blast of energy at Living Laser, sending him flying and landing with a dull THUD!. Captain America threw his star emblazed shield at Zemo, who quickly dodged it. He completely forgot about Ray at the sight of his nemesis, eyes narrowing, sword pointed:
"So, ve meet again, Captain. Although this time, it will be your last battle!" he cried, as he and the Captain began to fight.
Wasp groaned as she shot several stings at Wonder Man:
"You always say that! Seriously, give it up already. And taking hostages? So not cool."
Ray agreed with her, and she noticed Abomination had set down Lily at the foot of a large tree, several meters away. Ray wished she could have her collar off so she could join the fight, although no particular fan of fighting herself, she would if it involved her sister's safety. She stood up and ran towards her limp form, but was stopped by Thor and the ax man who stepped to battle in front of her. There's no way I'm coming between those two! she thought as she saw the sharpened ax and mighty hammer fly at their opponents.
Ant Man and Wasp were busy with Wonder Man, and the Captain and Zemo were engaged in their battle. Panther was slowly besting Abomination by sheer skill and agility, and Thor was busy too. The Enchantress simply battled almost lazily, providing herself with a green shield every time a blast from Iron Man came too close for comfort, which seemed to be quite often. Stuck, Ray had to run around the large battle of heroes and villains to get to Lily. She shook her lightly, pleading:
"C'mon sis, wake up!"
She barely heard Enchantress give Abomination an order to grab them when his large green hand grabbed her and Lily. Ray screamed, kicking out at his ugly, beast-like face. By luck, her foot made contact with his yellow eyes, and he dropped her. Ray quickly jumped up, noticing Black Panther coming up from behind. Suddenly, the villains were all envelopped in a familiar green smoke, Zemo's laughter the only sound before they dissapeared, along with her unconcsious sister.
"NO!" Ray yelled.
The Avengers came to stand beside her as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She angrily wiped it off, her fists bunched together: I'll find them, she thought, and they'll pay. A small voice inside her whispered back: But how? Wasp flitted up to her, perplexed:
"Hey, who was the woman they had with them?"
Ray stared at the place where she had been, already blaming herself for not stopping them before.
"She's my sister." She said, and hated the way her voice shook.
If her sister was gone, what would she do? Her sister was her only family, whithout her, life just wasn't really worth living.
" Do you have any family other than her?" Black Panther kindly asked, obviously trying to help. Ray sighed and answered:
"I don't have any anymore."
Thor stepped up, and spoke:
"Then, there is no one to provide you with a place to live? Come, you must stay with us then, until we find your sister."
Iron Man spoke up:
"Woa! Just wait a minute here! We don't even know who she is, we can't just bring a kid to the mansion like that!"
Captain America calmly said:
"She's a kid, Tony. Nothing to be afraid of."
Iron Man took off his helmet and rolled his eyes:
"I'm not afraid, just... Cautious." Wasp snorted at this:
"Right..."
Ray waited as they talked about her for a few minutes, a few meters or so away from where she stood. Maybe I should just leave while I still can, she thought, I don't want to burden them, and I work better on my own anyways. Secretly, she didn't want to have to depend on anyone ever again, like at the orphanage, and was used to being free. As she was about to quietly walk away, Iron Man spoke up:
" Hey, why did they want you two anyways?"
She thought about her answer for a moment, wondering if she could tell them, trust them enough. Deciding it might be a good step in finding her sister, which was more important to her than her privacy, she answered hesitantly:
"Well, we have powers: My sister can shoot red energy, make shields, etc. I'm what you'd more commonly call a shape-shifter."
"That's amazing! How?" Ant Man exclaimed. Wasp silenced him with a glare.
Iron Man seemed to think about it, and then shrugged.
"I've seen weirder. In that case, er... What is your name?"
"Sun Ray Carmody, 14 years old. But I'd prefer to be called Ray, it's just... More normal." She answered, uncomfortable with their stares.
"Right. Well then Ray, I'm afraid you'll have to stay with us for a while until we find your sister and find out how to stop them. From this point on, you're in danger." Iron Man said.
"Er... I don't really think that's a good idea. I mean," she hastily added, "I don't want to be a burden, and once I get this collar off, I'm pretty sure I can look after myself pretty well." Ha, she thought, like you just did? Captain America stepped up:
"Look, Miss, maybe you could take on one or two on your own, but this is a whole team of villains. I know Zemo better than anyone, and he won't stop until he gets what he wants. You're just fourteen, and can't live alone, and you need protection. The Avengers can help, if you'll just let us."
Wow, she thought, he knows what to say. She also realized they weren't really giving her a choice: They wouldn't let her go off alone, wether she wanted to or not. She sighed, glancing warily at them: She didn't like to relinquish her control.
"Okay, then. Thanks." She answered awkwardly.
"Well, that settles it. By the way, I'd just love to run some tests on you, find out how you got your powers..." Ant Man started, but Ray wasn't concentrating on him, or the others.
The only thing she noticed was the clenching in her stomach at the sight of the Avengers jet, fear engulfing her at the prospect of leaving her sister with a bunch of villains and coming to live with these strangers.
There are some things, she thought darkly, even the Avengers can't fix.