Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Avengers May Cry
Chapter 2: Break Out
Helicarrier Lower Deck, Big House
He didn't know what he was doing.
Nero pulled himself into the burning/sinking vessel that was previously held aloft in the airspace above the Hudson Bay. A part of him just acted and another wanted to just leave it alone, he wasn't getting paid. No surprise which side won, but in all honesty, the teen couldn't really think of what prompted him to do this.
One moment, he's on a job looking around an old warehouse in Jersey; next thing he knows, he's in New York City, during the day, and was now boarding a crashed flying aircraft carrier. He really shouldn't be that surprised considering his job.
"I feel like I might regret this later on," muttered Nero as he pushed some debris aside and ducked under some cables that hung out of the wall.
Around him, the ship groaned as it took on water while the structure buckled under the extensive damage dealt when a building suddenly blew up. The hunter didn't really know what he would do when he found someone, especially if they saw Devil Bringer. But he snorted in disdain, it's not like he had anything to be ashamed of anymore.
Squeezing through a break in the wall, Nero entered a hallway where he spotted someone on the ground. The person was wearing some sort of suit, that was colored dark blue, with silver straps across the chest, shoulders, waist, and silver boots. The person appeared to be a young man and looked to be dazed. Nero was about to go over and ask if he was okay when a cable suddenly shot out through the smoke that filled the hallway. The cable wrapped around the man and lifted him into the air while also started squeezing the life out of him.
The source of the cable came out of the arm of a man wearing a blue and orange suit with a scale-like design. He was the Constrictor: a supervillain prisoner of the Big House. Somehow the prison had been shut down setting all the prisoners free. And not this villain was about to live up to his namesake.
"Payback Time," he hissed with sarcastic glee.
Nero was about to get involved as the guy was clearly intending on killing the agent. But something happened before the hunter could intervene. A yellow beam struck Constrictor in the chest, causing him to drop the agent before another was sent at him and knocked him into a wall.
"Back off ugly!" A young female voice rang out.
Nero looked at the source and found its owner was a woman about the age of twenty-five, with blue eyes and short auburn hair.
With a shapely figure, she wore a strapless black and yellow dress, black leggings, yellow gloves and boots, and a yellow headset that looked similar to antennas, over her ears. Janet Van Dyne, aka Wasp, was a partner to Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man, and at times a hero. Janet wants to be a full-time hero, but she is always busy scheduling for Hank and his appointments. She and Hank had both been inside the Helicarrier when the Big House returned to full size. Hank had wanted to check the Big House to see if there were any bugs in the system. Understatement of the day.
At the moment, Janet was in her hero mode, meaning her current height was only one inch and two yellow transparent insect-like wings. Janet was checking on the agent to make sure that he was alright. She was then, knocked away from the agent when a cable shot out at her and knocked her into a wall. Wasp fell to the ground as Constrictor stalked over to her and stood right above her, ready to crush Wasp under his boot.
"Time to crush the bug," taunted Constrictor as he prepared to bring his boot down.
"Hey, asshole!" Shouted Nero as he leaped into action and sent out Devil Bringer.
Constrictor looked up in time to see a massive glowing, semi-transparent hand heading right for him. The massive appendage collided with him, smashing the man into its palm as he was slammed into a wall. The ethereal hand vanished, allowing the orange and blue clad supervillain to fall to the ground, unconscious as an imprint of his body was left in the wall.
Wasp looked to where the villain was crushed into the wall before turning back to see what was responsible. She gasped in surprise when emerging through the smoke was a teenager. He was wearing a blue coat, red hoodie, blue jeans, and brown boots. He had his sleeves rolled up as a brown bracelet was strapped to his left wrist and had a ring on his pointer and ring finger. His right hand was outstretched and really caught Janet's attention as it looked...wrong.
He had claws, his skin glowed blue in his palm and part of his fingers while red and blue scales covered his forearm and the top of his hand. An azure glow broke through the top of his hand and trailed down his forearm where it ended in a spike at his elbow. Not to mention, he had platinum blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a stern expression.
Wasp raised her hands as she flew right up in front of the kid, hands glowing yellow as she hovered right in front of him. Her sudden appearance caused whoever it was, to look at her in surprise if his expression was any indicator.
"Alright, kid," she called out, "You've got three seconds to tell me who you are or I'm gonna put you down, hard." To add emphasis, she pointed her hands right at his face.
Nero just looked at her, his expression changing from surprise to annoyance as he scoffed and folded his arms, "Hell of a way to say thanks," he quipped before he glanced past her and to Constrictor who was still unconscious, "This guy a trouble or something? Would feel pretty embarrassed if I attacked a hero, but I would actually have to care if I did."
Wasp looked at him with some minor surprise at how lightly he was taking the situation, but she brushed it off, "I'm Wasp, a superhero and yeah, he was a bad guy. So, no need to worry," she answered the blonde teen.
Nero looked at her for a moment before he nodded and looked around, "Seems like we need to get this place under control," he stated before turning off into one corridor and entered a light jog as he made his way through. Wasp followed in a little surprise, but she was still confused about him. She'd met a few different heroes, even hearing about several of them in her brief career as a hero herself. She had even met Iron Man, but she hadn't heard of a teen with a demon arm that could create a ghost hand, or even a giant red sword for that matter now that she could see his back.
Her first thought was that he was a mutant, but he could also be an experiment gone wrong. Maybe Hank would know if they could find him. That's when the thought of Hank hit her. He was inside the Big House when it failed! Armed with this information, she flew right in front of the teen and hovered right in front of him.
"Wait!" shouted Wasp, halting the platinum blonde, "We have to get Ant-Man! He was in the Big House when the explosion happened!"
Nero recalled that name on the newspaper he found. He was some kind of hero in this world, however, the hunter was quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the heroine continued, "He was with all the super villains! We have to help him, now!"
"Right, right," he nodded, seeing the pleading look in her eyes and the desperation in her voice, "We'll get him and anyone off this boat."
With that, Wasp flew in the opposite direction, Nero following her as he ran through the hallway, vaulting and weaving through debris and around small fires and exposed electrical cables that were sparking madly. As she flew and he ran, the heroine glanced back to see Nero flip over a collapsed segment of a wall and continue his run.
She flew back slightly to fly next to him, figuring she might as well try to get to know her new ally, "So, you got a name?" asked Janet, glancing at Nero.
"Nero," he answered evenly.
"That you're hero name or actual cause most heroes have a secret identity," rambled Wasp, giving the teen a curious look.
"It's what you can call me," clarified Nero, glancing at her with a careful glance.
"Sorry, don't have to be rude," defended Wasp as she turned her entire body to face him and still maintain her forward momentum, even as she placed her hands on her hips in an offended manner.
"Had a rough day, not in the best of moods," he explained, sending her another glance, though it was small, she could see in his eyes he meant it.
"What happened?" pressed the small heroine as her offended look melted into curiosity. Now she was really interested as he was completely new to her. At this, Nero stopped as he brought Devil Bringer to his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out an annoyed sigh.
"Listen Tinkerbell," started Nero as he looked her in the eyes, "We can play twenty questions all you want after we save what's-his-name and all is said and done. Okay?" The brunette nodded, understanding the needed to focus on the task at hand, "Great, now if we're done here, let's go," with everything planned out, the miniature heroine and hunter continued down the hallway. Hoping to find Ant-Man before any of the villains found him.
Big House, S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
Inside the Big House, things were not going well for Ant-Man, alias Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym. He was currently running through the ruins of the former Big House. Being a man of an average build, wearing a red and black suit, with a special belt with two buttons on either side, a silver helmet that covered the majority of his face, save for his mouth. The helmet also had two antennas on top and white one-way lenses that shielded his eyes. Ant-Man was currently attempting to escape one of the villains that broke out, Whirlwind.
The tornado villain was able to knock Hank down onto his chest, allowing Whirlwind to flip him onto his back so he could grab his shirt and pull the scientist towards his face to glare into Ant-Man's eyes.
"After I'm through with you," threatened the villain, "I'm gonna find that bug girl and tear her apart."
Ant-Man only groaned in pain as he had taken a lot of punishment from several villains he had tried to rehabilitate. Despite being a hero, Hank was also a pacifist, always trying to find a way to solve conflicts through reasoning and words, not violence and fighting. From behind Ant-Man came a low growl, thankfully Whirlwind did not hear it. Ant-Man looked behind himself to see another villain emerging from the rubble, the Griffin. The Griffin looked up at Ant-Man and then flew up to attack, giving Ant-Man an idea.
"I'd let you tell Wasp yourself, but you're about to get knocked out," quipped Ant-Man as he activated his suits Pym Particles, shrinking him down, leaving Whirlwind to get tackled by Griffin.
Ant-Man fell a few yards down until he was caught by Wasp, "So, how's your day been?" asked Wasp in a cheerful tone.
"Painful," groaned Ant-Man as he hung onto Wasp's arms.
Griffin suddenly appeared above them, having recovered from the accidental head-on crash with Whirlwind. Before he could crush them or even reach them, the villain was suddenly smashed into a wall by a figure. A powerful shout erupted from whoever it was as he flipped back and grabbed onto a wall, digging his right-hand fingertips into the wall as his left hand was busy holding a massive sword.
"Jan," started Hank, looking at their new arrival with curiosity, especially on his right arm which looked something otherworldly, "would you like to introduce your new friend to me?"
"Oh, right," realized Wasp, rolling her eyes as she almost forgot, "Ant-Man, Nero. Nero, Ant-Man."
"Should've guessed you'd be the size of an ant," snorted Nero, shaking his head as a small smirk formed before it vanished as quickly as it appeared, "There anyone else in here when this place went to hell?"
"No," answered Hank, shaking his head, "I was the only one inside the Big House when it malfunctioned. Right now, I think we should get out as well. The entire ship is sinking, everyone else should have been evacuated by now."
"No point in us sticking around here then," concluded the Hunter, earning a nod from Wasp as she carried Ant-Man while Nero jumped from wall to wall as the ship was taking on water very fast.
The trio escaped the sinking vessel through a hole in the hull. Nero flipped onto the side and leaped off with as much strength as he could muster. This launched him well over to the pier where he landed in a crouch while Wasp flew as quickly as she could after him.
"You could wait for us!" scolded Wasp as she set Ant-Man down on the dock, letting him grow to normal size with the press of a button.
"I would, but I can't fly," responded the teen as he folded his arms, giving her an uncaring look.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Jumpjet, Hudson Bay
Around the same time, Fury was heading towards a barge, aboard a helicopter with several other agents. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was concerned about the situation at the final of the four prisons designed to hold supervillains. He received reports from the first three about the containment failures, and now he was heading to the last to make sure containment was at full force.
The helicopter landed on the barge, Fury and the agents all disembarked from the helicopter. "Look alive, boys," Ordered Fury as he took point, "Shoot first, ask questions later."
With that, he and his men began to head for the elevator, only to stop in their tracks when they felt the deck beneath began shaking. Then with a sudden jolt, the barge lifted into the air, out of the water, revealing a long elevator shaft that was connected to the barge. At the opposite end of the barge was a large dome-like structure. In the sky, the Raft floated above the bay.
"Evac now!" yelled Fury to his men heading directly towards the helicopter, "Abort the mission! Everyone off this barge!"
Fury was one step away from the chopper some sort of invisible force stopped him in his tracks. He was then pulled up into the air, turning him towards the source of the invisible force. Around him, pieces of debris, chunks of rock and general scrap floated in the around what was causing the anomaly.
The source was a Caucasian man with black hair and a beard with some white streaks and black hair. He also wore a light blue and white suit, two white belts around his waist and white shoulder pads.
Trying to escape the villain's grasp, Fury pulled out his pistol and took aim, however, the villain merely moved his pointer finger and Fury's pistol was yanked from his grasp. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. glared up at the man, uttering one name.
"Graviton."
Approximately one decade prior to the current day, Franklin Hall, ingenious physicists, was asked by Fury to join S.H.I.E.L.D. to work on the super soldier project. Hall agreed and experimented with the use of Gravity, however, the experiment itself went sideways very fast. Ignoring Fury's order to shut the experiment down, Hall continued his work and nearly paid the price with his life when the experiment failed.
Hall woke up in a hospital, discovering he had the power to manipulate Gravity itself. Blaming Fury for the accident, Hall attempted to escape but was sedated using a powerful knockout gas that rendered him unconscious. Placed inside the Raft, Hall woke when the breakout occurred, ten years had passed, and Hall wanted payback for the imprisonment.
Now that he had his freedom, and in his control with the power of gravity, the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison and the director himself hung in his grasp. Hall glared down upon the man who imprisoned him for so long.
"What do you want, Hall?" demanded Fury, but a part of him could guess what the former physicist wanted.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I want," spat Hall, his eyes glowing thanks to the power he possessed, "I want to treat you with the same level of kindness you've shown me. I'm going to take years off your life."
With that, Hall began closing his right hand, the air around his hand became distorted, and Fury began to feel a tremendous amount of pain coursed through his body. Hall used his powers to compress the molecules within him, so he was literally crushing the director into nothing.
The pain subsided for a second, "On second thought, I think I'll take them all," Hall closed his hand all the way, the same pain and pressure coming back in full force.
Around the same time, Nero, Wasp, and Ant-Man had landed on the pier, the later at his normal height while Wasp hovered where she was. Just as the two insect-themed heroes were about to start questioning the teen, he saw the giant super prison being suspended in the air in the bay. His attention on the man being suspended in the air by another that looked to be the one responsible for the prison floating in the air.
A part of him told him not to get involved, but another told him to help the man. The later part won out as Nero sprinted to the end of the pier and leaped into the air. The Hunter saw pieces of debris floating around which gave him an idea to get to the man. Lashing out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer flew towards an I beam that likely came from the ship sinking, the ethereal appendage wrapped its fingers around it and yanked him towards it.
The teen used the beam to vault to a piece of debris to make his way to villain. However, before he could make another leap, an object shot past Nero. The teen stopped on a section of stone as what appeared to be a hammer heading right for the gravity villain. Nero narrowed his eyes carefully; initially, he did not really think the hammer would do that much but the most dangerous things can be the most unassuming in appearance. And that was proven when the hammer collided with Graviton, both hammer and villain were cascading back.
Without Graviton's concentration holding up the Raft, the debris, or Fury; the facility, debris, and director began falling down towards the bay. The aforementioned objects had just barely started falling when Nero leaped into action. Lashing out Spectral Bringer once more, he yanked himself passed a large pipe and right towards the man. Catching him and slinging him over his left shoulder. Nero landed on a falling boulder and launched himself back to the pier, all the while the objects fell.
"What the... Who are you?" demanded Fury as he noticed he wasn't falling anymore.
"Save your ass now, identity later," replied the hunter, before he noticed the debris wasn't falling anymore as he leaped between the pieces and glanced back long enough to see Graviton regain himself and his concentration, halting the object's descent and that he was now coming after them, "Your buddy's coming after us."
As Nero leaped between chunks of debris, he saw someone else flying in the direction of the hammer and Graviton. He was a large and heavily built man with enormous muscular arms with long legs. Wearing black armor with silver disks on the chest, a long red cape, silver helmet, blue leggings, red wristbands, a golden belt, and golden shoes. The man held out his hand, the hammer from earlier returning to him.
This was Thor, Prince of Asgard, and his hammer, Mjolnir, the source of his godly power. At first, Nero had been skeptical that this was the actual Thor, but after seeing him in person, those thoughts were still skeptical, but open to being proven wrong.
"Your power is impressive for a mortal," said Thor, using old English dialect and grammar. "Stand down now before anyone is hurt, and you may yet walk away from this."
Thor lifted Mjolnir to back up his threat.
Graviton flew up to meet the thunderer, hovering a short distance from the thunder god, supposedly without fear.
"Fury called me Graviton," began Hall, a slight hint of madness laced in his words. "Fury, he knows I can control gravity. I can do anything."
Stated the physicist as he raised his arms, his eyes glowing with power, "I'll crush Fury, I'll crush you. And then I'll show the world the power I have!"
"I think not, villain," Thor then took Mjolnir by the strap and spun it around to gain momentum and launched himself at Graviton, "Have at thee!"
As Thor and Graviton began to fight, Nero leaped from one final piece of debris before he landed on the pier, his boots sliding against the wood as he crouched to slow down their momentum. The hunter straightened himself out before he set the director down on his feet while the teen folded his arms and looked back at the impending fight.
Fury gave Nero a long, hard look, not that the hunter cared as he was more focused on the fight.
"Anything you'd like to tell us Fury?" asked Ant-Man, making no attempt to try and conceal the sarcasm that was laced in his words as he looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. director. Narrowed eyes a somewhat annoyed expression crossed his face.
"Not really," retorted the director, glancing at Pym once more before he turned on his heel as Nero look back in time to see him use his earpiece to relay an order, "S.H.I.E.L.D. command. This Director Fury. I am declaring an Omega-level emergency. Every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Hulkbuster unit, the U.N. forces, they are all under my direct control."
"Wow," commented Wasp as she looked Ant-Man and Nero, who turned completely around, but kept his arms folded, "Nick Fury is actually worried."
"From what's going on, I'd guess that doesn't happen often," drawled Nero as he jabbed a thumb at the fight behind him between the possible Norse god of thunder and a man who can manipulate gravity like a god.
"Who is he?" demanded Ant-Man, trying to get some information as the situation was getting completely out of hand. Fury didn't say anything for a moment, as if he took an invisible before letting out a silent huff before he turned to look at the three heroes before him.
"Doctor Franklin Hall," said Fury finally and with no small amount of reluctance.
"The physicist? No one's heard from him in years. Not since he joined S.H.I.E.L.D.," Ant-Man's helmet retracted, revealing a man with light brown hair and soft brown eyes, ones filled with concern, "What happened to him?" His question also carried an amount of concern.
"That's classified," stated Fury sharply as looked at the scientist with his good eye.
"Well, keeping it classified isn't going to do anyone any favors so start talking, pal," demanded Nero, getting fed up with everything at this point and right now, this Fury guy was at the bottom of his favorite person list.
"You don't give me a lecture on putting people at risk," seethed Fury, his glare worsening through his remaining eye.
"Won't make any friends with that attitude," scoffed the teen as he gave a condescending smirk, though quickly narrowed his eyes as he lost his sense of humor, "But if you want to so bad, all you need to know is I'll help you settle this. Afterward, we'll have a chat and I'll tell you whatever it is you want to know. But if it's all the same to you," Nero then turned his back to them and started towards the end of the pier, "I've gotta do my job."
"Which is?" asked Ant-Man, watching cautiously as Nero made his way to the edge of the pier.
The hunter looked back as he stopped at the edge, giving them a small smirk, "Kicking ass and saving the day," was all he said before he leaped into the air and shot out Spectral Bringer. The ethereal appendage stretched far enough to latch onto a piece of debris that was caught in Graviton's gravitational field and pulled himself towards it before leaping off and hopped between objects.
The two part-time heroes watched a little stunned at the agility, strength, and acrobatics of the teen as he weaved through the debris while the super spy only remained neutral in his expression.
Above Hudson Bay, New York City
The battle between Thor and Graviton was not going well for the Thunderer, while his first attack caught the villain off guard, that changed dramatically as the battle raged on. Thor swung Mjolnir at Graviton multiple times, only to be stopped by an invisible shield each time. While Thor continued to attack Graviton head-on, the villain had actually left his rear flank exposed.
"Dumbass," muttered Nero as he perched himself on a beam before he leaped into the air towards a chunk of rock, flipping around so he could plant his feet against it, the hunter launched himself with all his might while drawing Red Queen.
"Hey, Asshole!" shouted the platinum blonde, drawing Graviton's attention as he swung right at the villain's chest. The blade impacted against him, the man too caught off guard to react fast enough was smashed away from Thor as the edge of the sword didn't slash him in two.
When he felt himself starting to fall, Nero swung out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appearing and grabbed a chunk of debris and pulled the hunter towards it where he flipped around and landed on top while Thor turned to see the teen rest Red Queen on his shoulder and roll his right wrist around.
"What manner of warrior are you?" asked Thor, looking at his new ally.
Nero snorted in amusement, 'Gotta give the guy credit for playing the part too,' he thought as he scratched the back of his head.
"Name's Nero. I'm only here, to make sure no one gets hurt," answered the hunter honestly.
Thor nodded, however, he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly when his gaze fell upon Devil Bringer. He could sense magic coming from this boy. Powerful, not unlike Asgardian magic, but something much different. It was dark and clouding, but strangely, it was also reassuring and true.
Before he could ponder over his arm any further, Graviton reappeared from when Nero slammed Red Queen into his back. His eyes blazing with anger as he did not appreciate being blindsided by a child. His sudden appearance caught the attention of both Thor and the teen who took his sword into his right hand and reached to his holster and drew Blue Rose, holding both of his signature weapons in each hand.
"Then let us do battle, Nero," announced Thor as he raised his hammer, "For this villain must know that we defend this realm!"
He then charged as Nero took aim with Blue Rose, and fired several bullets at the gravakinetic villain. Thor attacked first, swing his hammer against Graviton's shield, while the hunter leaped between chunks of debris, firing at any angle he could get at the man. Graviton didn't even move as the teen's bullets collided with his shield and bounced off in random directions, despite the angle Nero took.
Hall just scoffed at the feeble attempts to harm him. He wielded the power to shape the world to his liking. The physicist merely swung his hand out lazily, sending Thor flying back while Nero managed to escape the range of his control in time by leaping to another chunk and fire more at the villain. Suddenly, the teen leaped at Graviton with a shout as he drew Red Queen back and swung the blade at him. The scientist folded his arms as the sword impacted against it, the hunter gritting his teeth in anger as he pushed off. However, his attack did allow Thor to regain himself rejoin the fight.
On the pier, Wasp, Ant-Man, and Fury were watching the battle unfold. At this point, Wasp had lost her last shred of restraint, "We have to help," stated Wasp out loud to both me, causing both to turn towards her, "If they're going to risk their lives for our planet, then we have no right to do any less."
Ant-Man sent Wasp a worried look, while Fury remained passive. While Ant-Man did agree that they needed to help the two heroes, Janet was just way too inexperienced and way out of her depth to be taking on a villain that can control a fundamental force. She was suggesting on fighting someone who was leagues above their weight class in terms of raw power.
"Jan, be reasonable we can't-," Hank tried to reason with her, but whatever he was going to say was lost to the world as the woman cut him off.
"I can't just stand here and watch this," retorted Wasp, her words completely laced with determination, "We have to do something. If Thor and Nero can't stop him, he'll come after the city!"
Fury narrowed his one eye, "You think I don't know that?" asked the director sarcastically, as if it were obvious. If she thought she understood the gravity of the situation at hand, then she'd know this is far more serious than just New York City and the people.
"Jan," began Ant-Man as he placed a hand on Wasps' shoulder, but the hand was brushed off. The brunette heroine looked at her friend with eyes full of determination. She wasn't going to stand idly by while two people were risking their lives for everyone in the city.
"We're talking millions of people; I'm not going to let that happen," stated Wasp as she shrunk down and flew off to help Thor and Nero.
"Jan! Jan, wait!" called Ant-Man as he reached out a hand to try and stop her. Now Ant-Man stood on the pier to watch her fly right into battle.
Speaking of the battle, Nero was caught by Graviton in his gravitational pull and pulled the teen right towards him. The hunter grunted as he tried to break free before he was thrown into a large chunk of rock, smashing right through it. He tumbled through the air, colliding with an I-beam, wrapping an arm around it as he panted. Meanwhile, Thor tried to follow up where the Demon hunter failed and flew right towards Hall.
He met a similar result when the villain caught him, holding him in front of him with his power.
"Can't your feeble minds comprehend what I'M TELLING YOU?!" demanded Graviton insanely as his eyes blazed with power as he focused on the Norse God before him, I control one of the four fundamental forces of reality itself! I can remove gravity's effect on you and send you hurtling into space. OR, I could increase it a thousandfold, LIKE THIS!"
To show his power, Graviton lowered his left, sending Thor directly into the bay where he sunk to the bottom and into the muddy sand. Nero watched as the thunderer sank beneath the water and growled angrily. Mustering his strength, he flipped onto the I-beam, landing on his feet before he launched himself at Hall. The villain was so preoccupied with his musing and monologue he didn't notice the teen flying right towards him.
With a growl, Nero drew Red Queen back as he holstered Blue Rose in order to take the sword in both hands. With a shout, he revved the Exceed within the sword to the max, flames erupting from the weapon as he slashed at Hall from behind. The strength of the attack was enough to send the man flying into a chunk of rock. The chunk was as big as a stage in a small theatre, but it provided plenty of room.
During the fight, Nero figured out that this guy's powers were also passive. Which explained why sometimes when he was knocked back, debris wouldn't fall very far. Good for him because he can't fly.
The hunter landed on the stage-sized boulder and charged right towards Hall who was pulling himself to his feet. Wimonstroustrous shout, he swung with all his might, the blade not slicing the man in two thanks to his powers protecting him, but it still felt like he was being beaten with a hunk of iron.
The sword strike felt like a bus as Graviton was sent sliding back on his heels as he grunted in annoyance rather than pain. He glared at the teen who was charging right towards him. He swung out his right hand, the air distorting as he sent a blast of gravitation flux at him. The hunter easily dodged it by leaping into the air towards a girder that was flying overhead. He maneuvered himself in a way that allowed his heels to come into contact with the metal support and launched off of it right at the physicist.
Sword drawn back once more, Nero let out another shout as he brought the sword down, the blade impacted against Graviton's shield. Surprisingly, the shield warped just tiny bit, but that warp was enough to cause the villain to widen his eyes in surprise. This child was far stronger than he realized. And his lapse in attention was what allowed Nero to flip right over him, pushing off with his sword.
As the platinum blonde flipped over, he spun around and sent Spectral Bringer right at Graviton's back. The ethereal hand was not subject to the laws of gravity like he was so it passed right through the man's shield and grabbed him by his back. The glowing fingers tightened around his waist as Hall was yanked right off his feet and hurled at a large section of some wall.
The villain smashed right through the wall, letting out a surprised shout as his steadied himself in the air. He locked his eyes on Nero who leaped right after him, Red Queen drawn back once more, but the hunter's momentum came to a screeching halt as the teen froze in the air. All of his motion came to naught as he was trapped in his targets' grasp.
"Enough!" bellowed Hall as he thrust his right hand out, his eyes blazing bright blue.
The teen's body was sent flying back at the stage-sized slab of debris where he smashed right through it. Nero let out a grunt as he broke through the stone as he tumbled through the air. Despite the impact, he was able to regain himself quick enough to lash out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appearing to grab a piece of debris to catch himself and pull him up from the water. The young man flew towards a pipe and flip around so he was sitting on it.
With the 'god' disposed of and the brat out of his way, Graviton was free to direct his attention to the source of his pain. Looking around, he spotted Director Fury standing at the end of the pier.
"FURY!" roared Graviton as he sped towards the docks, his mind dead set on his vengeance against the man who locked him away for so long.
However, he only made it half the distance between his previous position and the dock when he felt a sharp sting on his face. He stopped in place immediately as he looked around for the source of his pain. His first thought was that brat who attacked him alongside that idiot with the hammer. However, his assumption was proven false when the one responsible started talking.
"Franklin Hall," said a female voice from somewhere, causing him to look around for the culprit, "you give Theoretical Physicists a bad name," stated the voice as Wasp flew around towards Graviton's face, "Now knock it off before I make you."
"Are you joking?" laughed the villain, as he kinda had the right to considering the power at his disposal and the fact that Wasp was only an inch tall, "With the power at my disposal, there's not-OW!"
Graviton was cut off when Wasp suddenly shot his nose with her Bio-Stings. The insect heroine flew around the villain, zapping whatever part of him she could. She knew she couldn't take him down by herself, but that didn't stop her from trying as she fired all she had at him. The villain let out surprised shouts as she stung him. He wasn't in any pain but was more surprised than anything.
"OW! OW! OW! AAH!" he shouted as Wasp stung him all over the place.
This distraction was all Nero needed as he jumped up from his sitting position and onto his feet on the narrow pipe. He knew that Wasp wasn't strong enough, but her actions did give him the opening he needed. Flipping back, he summoned Spectral Bringer and latched onto the pipe he was previously on. Flipping on the pipe, he launched himself with as much strength as he could.
Flying right towards Graviton who was still distracted, the teen growled as he pulled Devil Bringer back, his entire hand started shinning as he pushed as much power as he could into his forearm. Spectral Bringer also appeared, growing in size until it was almost five times its original size. Wasp was still currently attacking Graviton, causing him more and more annoyance, until he sent a wave of gravitational energy right at the heroine sending her flying back.
Noticing something in the corner of his eye, Graviton had only a second to widen his eyes as a massive, glowing fist smashed right into his body. The blow was strong enough to send him flying down to the water where he was just able to halt himself before he took a dip in the Hudson.
Wasp recovered herself in time to see Nero falling and flew down to grab the teen by the back of his coat, managing to hold him up in the air. The hunter, safe to say, was pretty surprised by how she was able to support his weight considering how much smaller she was. He looked up to see she was just able to hold him up.
"Surprised to see you can actually lift me," he commented humorously.
"Would be easier if weighed a little less," strained Wasp as she looked down with a smile.
"You saying I need to lose some weight?" he shot back, however, before she could respond, the heroine and hunter saw Graviton flying right towards them. But before either of them could react, a blur of gold and red slammed into his side. The two objects sped towards the water and once they were close enough, the blur shot a beam of blue energy that sent Graviton into the water.
When the blur stopped Nero got a good look at the new arrival. It was a man, well what looked like a man, in an advanced suit of armor. The armor was primarily red, with gold on parts of his arms, legs, and face, and had a blue light coming from his chest. This was Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
"Hey, Janet," greeted the billionaire, playboy as he flew closer as Wasp's movements were limited by Nero's weight, "I knew we traveled in some of the same social circles, but I didn't know you came to parties like this."
It was then the genius noticed Nero hanging by the scuff of his coat with a neutral expression though he did have a curious look in his eyes when he looked at the inventor wearing his, arguably, greatest achievement, "And who's the kid? You and Hank do the deed and decided to keep him a secret or something?"
"Jesus," muttered Nero while Wasp blushed bright crimson, "No, I'm not their kid. Name's Nero. I was in the area when everything went to hell. I'll explain more about myself later."
Iron Man blinked behind his faceplate, taking in the rapid-fire response the new hero just laid on him. He then gave the teen a thumbs up, but not before he noticed his right arm and stared at it for a second before he turned back to Wasp.
"So who was that guy?" asked Iron Man, "Some crazy physicist?"
Wasp shook her head, "Something to do with Nick Fury. Tony, am I glad to see you." She said with slight relief in her voice, "I wasn't sure how much longer we could keep this up after… Oh, no. Thor!" she screamed as she flew across the water.
"Woah, take it easy! You've got a passenger!" shouted Nero as he flinched a bit by the sudden movement and raised his legs and sword away from the water beneath him.
"What?" demanded Iron Man as he flew next to the two. Did he hear Janet correctly? Thor?
"Thor; Norse god of Thunder," said Nero, getting over his initial shock and turned to glance at the gold faceplate, "Big guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, carries a hammer, talks like he should be in a Shakespeare play. Graviton sent him to the bottom of the bay."
"We have to help him," Wasp stated as the two heroes and hunter flew to where she last saw the Asgardian.
Suddenly the water separated as Graviton emerged from the water, not looking very happy after getting a repulsor blast to the face. The three heroes turned as the Lord of Gravity glared daggers at them, specifically Iron Man and Nero.
"Warning gravitational field around the target is in flux. Extreme caution advised," Came the British voice of Iron Mans trusty on bored A.I, J.A.R.V.I.S. As it displayed the energy levels on the inside of Iron Mans helmet.
"Guys, the energy he's putting out the only comparison is a black hole," the Armored hero warned his comrades, "This guy is trouble."
"No shit," snapped Nero as he sheathed Red Queen across his back and drew Blue Rose and took aim at the villain. He gritted his teeth as he clenched Devil Bringer tightly. The demonic arm suddenly started glowing brightly, as did Blue Rose. Blue energy swirled around the barrel of the handgun as he concentrated demonic power into the firearm.
The heroes looked at the arm with interest as it started glowing a brighter, azure. The teen then spotted a nearby chunk of rock and looked back at Wasp.
"Drop me," ordered the hunter glancing at the rock. Seeing where he was looking, Wasp nodded as she set him down on the stone. With his feet on solid ground, he took Blue Rose with both hands and directed more energy into.
"Give it all you've got!" shouted the hunter as he fired a demonically charged round at Graviton. The round flew right towards the Lord of Gravity and collided with his shield, detonating on impact. Taken by surprise, Graviton stumbled back in the air. The other two heroes, after getting over their shock, attack with their own respective attacks of stingers and repulsor rays. Nero fired several more shots.
However, Graviton managed to create a force field to repel the combined attacks. He sneered as he flicked his wrist causing Iron Man to be sent hurtling into the sky, while Nero was sent flying back, a surprised shout escaping him as he flew right across the entire bay where he smashed into a building along the shore. Leaving Wasp to fly up and try to keep the gravity villain focused on her, so her two allies could come back to take him out.
Meanwhile, back at the docks, Ant-Man was watching as the battle took place. When he saw how easily Graviton took out Thor, Iron Man, and Nero, the scientist knew he couldn't stand by anymore. It was clear talking was out of the question and he had to step in.
"What are Graviton's upper limits?" the size-changing hero asked Nick Fury, who was still trying to coordinate an attack to contain the escaped villains.
"We've studied him for years, and as far as we could tell, he doesn't have any," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D responded as he realized what the hero had planned, "What do you think you're going to do, Pym? Talk him down?" he asked sarcastically.
"No, it's too late for that," And with that Ant-Man reached down to his belt and pressed the button on the right side. A blue aura then surrounded the hero. Nick Fury watched, with a neutral expression, as a shadow suddenly fell over the pier.
Wasp was stinging the gravity villain in every place she could find, doing everything to annoy him. It worked however as Graviton one again released a wave of energy to push the shrinking heroin back. But just before he could focus on crushing her, a pair of giant hands came out of nowhere and wrapped around the gravity villain, trapping him inside.
The person was revealed to be Hank Pym, now in his second alter ego, Giant-Man. He had the exact same suit as Ant-Man, only the part of the suit that was black was now glowing blue, and instead of a helmet, he wore a mask that covered his face and had appendages on top that resembled insect feelers. he had grown 60 feet and kept his hand tightly raped around Graviton.
"Hank, you went big," Wasp said in surprise. Hank had told her that he was capable of using his Pym Particles to grow in size and increase his strength, but he had never found a use for it until now that is.
"Janet, get out of here. I'll handle Graviton," The titan hero said, while knowing full well that he couldn't stop the gravity villain, Hank believed that he could at least slow him down, long enough for Janet to get to safety and for the S.H.I.E.L.D reinforcements to arrive.
"What? No, we're in this together," She responded stubbornly. Giant-Man looked like he was ready to argue but, suddenly Graviton increased his power to blow back the giants hands, and then released a gravity wave that sent both heroes crashing back into the dock. Giant-Man crushing most of it under his bulk.
At this moment Graviton was furious, he could have ended Nick Fury already if the heroes hadn't interfered. And now there was no sign of his target. Then the lord of Gravity had an idea. He knew Fury was still somewhere in the city, so what better way to kill him and show the world the power he wielded; two birds, one stone.
With a raise of his hand, the city began to shake. The heroes all felt the city begin to jerk when suddenly the ground began to rise. Graviton had used his powers to raise the section of the city they were in into the sky with the hundreds of other objects trapped in his gravitational field. Thousands of tons of rock and earth were lifted into the air with everyone on it. Graviton smiled with sickening glee as the city rose, the world will tremble at his power, and no one would ever stand against him again.
This however proved to be wrong, when the gravity villain heard a yell come from behind him. He turned to see Thor coming right at him, he had finally broken free of Graviton's field after Giant-Man's attack had distracted the villain long enough for him to escape from the ocean floor.
The Asgardian Prince raised his hammer to its zenith, magical lightning crackling around it, and slammed it into Graviton's force field. The strength and power behind the attack were enough to send the gravity villain flying into the side of the mesa he raised.
Without Graviton's power holding it up, the entire section on Manhattan began to rapidly decent back down to the ground. Knowing that the impact could kill all within the city, and possibly the surrounding area, Thor sped down under the falling mass. When he got into position, he used his godly strength to hold catch the city, even though he was nowhere near strong enough to stop it, he could at least slow its descent so there would be no damage.
Graviton, however, recovered from the Thunder Gods attack and was prepared to crush him, for interfering again. Before he could exact his revenge, he was interrupted when he felt what he could guess was a pair of boots slam into his face. The impact was enough to send him flying down to a large slab of rock here his back smashed into it before he tumbled across the surface. Nero landed on the edge of the slab, Red Queen drawn as a look of anger plastered his face.
The hunter had seen or rather felt what happened, the buildings and city being raised into the air. Using Spectral Bringer and his own natural strength, he leaped between pieces of debris to attack the villain from behind. He also saw Thor trying to save the city and he was dammed if he let this guy hurt anyone.
Charging at Graviton, Nero dragged the tip of Red Queen across the ground in his left hand as he closed the distance almost immediately. With a shout, he swung Red Queen low, sweeping at the villain's legs, taking them out from underneath the scientist turn power hungry villain. The man let out a surprised shout as he felt his world spin around, but his pain was just started as the teen grabbed his ankle with his right hand and began to smash him around.
Treating him as though he was a rag doll, Nero smashed him into the ground repeatedly. He then swung Graviton around, dragging him across the stone slab before he leaped into the air and threw the man down so hard, the slab shattered, injuring him further.
Lashing out Devil Bringer, the hunter sent Spectral Bringer towards a car, which likely came from the city and mounted the vehicle carefully as he halted his onslaught to find a solid surface to stand on. Nero let out a huff of annoyance when he saw that the gravity villain wasn't down, but rather was glaring at the demon hunter with glowing eyes full of hate. He then launched himself forward, creating a gravity field, which sent him and Nero flying into the city, around the same time Thor lowered the entire city back into its original resting place.
Stratosphere, Earth
In orbit above the Earth, Iron Man was fighting for his life to escape the gravity field Graviton had trapped him in.
"I need more power!" He shouted as he fired all his repulsors in his boots and palms, desperately trying to return to earth. However, his prayers were answered when J.A.R.V.I.S spoke through his internal speakers.
"Note: Gravitational effect has ceased," The A.I stated, with a sigh of relief, Iron Man rocketed back towards the city.
New York City, New York
Things weren't going well for him. Nero was just slammed into the street by Graviton with enough force to create a rather large crater. Then lifted him up along with several cars, loose debris and other objects, making them all orbit around him. The hunter didn't know if fighting this guy was worth it anymore, but he couldn't quit now.
Nero tried to find a way out of the orbit created by the villain, but his strength with was much stronger than he could effectively deal with. He thought of a few solutions, but this guy could easily counter them, however, one idea did come to mind. He just wasn't sure if it would work, but what's life without a little risk? Flipping Red Queen, the hunter gripped the throttle to the exceed tightly in his left hand.
Revving the mechanism, he gunned it as much as he could. The resulting discharge of flames was enough to send Nero flying forward, spinning around Graviton faster. He did this for a short time before he angled his sword slightly which sent him flying right towards the gravity villain, taking him by surprise.
Spinning around in the air, Nero threw Devil Bringer right at the man, slugging him in the jaw hard enough to send the Lord of Gravity flying into the crater he created when he smashed the hunter into the ground a second ago. The demon hunter landed on the street and sprinted towards the edge of the crater, coming to a stop just at the rim of the crater where he saw Graviton rise again, eyes glowing with pure hatred.
"You know, you'd save us a lot of trouble if you just gave up," suggested Nero in a sassy tone.
"Insolent brat!" snapped Graviton as he glared at the teen, "Your interference is over! I'll crush you, like the bug you are!"
"I'd be careful," cautioned Nero as a taunting grin spread across his face, "I hear some bugs are lethal."
Graviton then raised his hands intending to attack the demon hunter. When suddenly, a mystically charged hammer, courtesy of Thor who was now floating down towards the battle, struck him and sent him right back into the crater.
"I recommend you stay down, mortal," He said as Mjolnir flew back into his hand.
The Lord of Gravity rose again from the ground again, "You think you can stop me?" He said to the god and hunter, "I've beaten you before. I can do it again!" He then tried to attack the two, but once again he was interrupted as a giant beam of energy struck him and sent him, for the third time back into the crater.
The beam came from Iron Man's uni-beam as he rejoined the other heroes in surrounding the gravity villain, "You really should listen to them," he warned.
Graviton was about to rise again when a giant foot stomped down behind him. He turned to see Giant Man staring down at him.
"You're sick, Franklin," The size-changing hero tried to reason with the villain once more, "You need help."
"Or possibly more zapping," Wasp quipped as she flew in close to Graviton's face, her hands glowing with energy to back up her threat.
Surrounded on all sides, Graviton stared at each hero and hunter, his mind swirling with rage and annoyance. Slipping deeper and deeper into the void of letting his power get to his mind. All of them stopped him from getting his revenge, his justice he deserves.
It's Fury's fault he lost ten years of his life, ten years he could never get back. No. NO, this will not be allowed, he won't allow this, "No, No, the power I wield-I-YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" Roared Graviton as he sent a huge wave of gravity outwards, colliding with every hero and hunter present.
They were all then pinned against the surrounding buildings, Graviton rising into the air, eyes ablaze with power and his hands raised into the air.
"I'M STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU! I'M THE STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!"
Just as he finished that sentence, a loud crash sounded behind him. Whipping around, Graviton saw someone that made his eyes widen with surprise.
Standing on the roof of the building behind him, a ten-foot tall, six-foot wide creature with green skin, green eyes, green-black hair, and purple pants, that barely fit as the creature had muscles far more powerful than any other being on record. This was the Hulk, the most dangerous man alive.
"You sure about that?" asked Hulk with a smirk.
Before he could even respond, Hulk leaped off the building, tackling Graviton across the entire bay towards the opposite side. While in the air, gamma giant grabbed the villain by his waist and threw a brutal punch right in his face. The two then crash landed in an abandoned shipping yard, causing a large shockwave that sent several containers flying.
With his focus now on the Hulk, the trapped heroes were able to fly towards the site of the battle against the green behemoth and the lord of gravity. Wasp giving Nero a helping hand by carrying him.
Between the two powerhouses, Hulk using his unrivaled strength and Graviton using his powers, the two collided in a fight that easily ranked as something truly out of a movie. Graviton was actually struggling to hold the Hulk back, the onslaught of the gamma-infused man was proving more of a challenge than he realized and was paying dearly by being sent across the shipping yard like a ball.
Getting distracted for a split second, Hulk punched Graviton into a crane, then proceeded to attempt and smash the gravity villain, destroying the crane in the process. Graviton tried raising his shield yet again to hold the Hulk off, but Hulk punched right through like it was brittle. The force sent him flying back, and Hulk leaping right after him, roaring at the top of his lungs.
"Holy shit," commented Nero as he watched the giant go to work, taking on Graviton single-handedly. Wasp set Nero down onto the ground while she hovered right next to him. She, Giant-Man, Thor, and Iron Man watched as the Hulk duked it out with the villain.
The teen would admit, he doubts he would last long against something this strong, despite taking blows from demons like Berial, Bael, the Savior, and many others just as powerful. Graviton, getting tired of being used like a rag doll, furiously unleashed his powers to the fullest to stop the Hulk in his tracks. The amount of force was enough to cause the ground around him to sink down.
Seeing this, the other heroes moved in, "Take him down!" Iron Man yelled to the others, as they charged towards the villain.
"Alright!" shouted Nero as he drew Red Queen and charged, keeping up with both Thor and Iron Man as they flew overhead while Wasp flew next to Giant Man
However that proved to be the wrong move, as with a wave of his hand, the gravity increased causing the other heroes and hunter to collapse on the ground pinned down by unimaginable amounts of pressure.
"Look at you fools!" Graviton taunted as he looked down at the fallen heroes, "I possess the power of the universe itself. I AM POWER!"
His eyes glowing with power and madness. The Lord of Gravity rose into the air and as he did, cargo crates, chunks of rock and other debris, began to flow around him like a tornado. The heroes tried to move, but the amount of gravity being forced upon them, kept them pinned.
Nero gritted his teeth as he tried to push himself to his feet, or at least to his hands and knees, but he couldn't get up.
"Can't... move...," strained Nero as he felt as though his entire body was being crushed into the ground, "Can... any of you?"
"Nay," responded Thor, "The others?"
The Norse God received no response since Iron Man, Giant-Man, and Wasp was pinned to the ground. Each trying their hardest to stand, but the pressure the villain was exerting was above anything they could deal with.
However, there was one hero that had the strength needed to combat Graviton. It is a known fact that the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets, and right now he was so mad, Graviton would have been safer on the moon, away from the Hulk. In the crater, the aforementioned gamma giant began to move, pushing his fists and legs underneath him, Hulk began to rise. His muscles bulged and strained themselves as he pushed them to their limits. The ground cracked and buckled under the pressure the gamma hero was putting out to even stand against the gravitational force from Graviton.
This action actually caught the attention of the scientist who noticed Hulk had actually made it far enough that he was standing at the edge of the crater. With a sneer, he sent even more pressure down onto the Hulk, causing the crater he was in to deepen. The initial attempt may have been effective for a second, but in a few seconds, Hulk was back to his feet, pushing up to bring the pain to Graviton. The anger, the rage, all of this was directed right at the man who was formerly known as Dr. Franklin Hall.
To say that the villain was shocked wouldn't even begin to describe the emotions that were running through the man. He couldn't understand: how was this possible?! Shock and confusion turned into blind rage as he sent even more power towards keeping Hulk pinned, anything within the crater was crushed into paper thin pieces, except he had one thing that the villain sorely lacked in spades: Anger.
The Hulk felt even more anger, and his strength increasing even more as he was back to his feet in a few seconds. Pushing his hands underneath him, Hulk pushed himself to his feet and began the incredible walk towards Graviton as the villain tried to stop him. He was focusing as much of his power as he could, trying to stop him, but the giant kept coming.
Graviton was absolutely stunned, right now, he was applying enough force to turn an entire city into a fine layer of rubble with the amount of pressure he is putting on the Hulk.
"Nothing is that powerful!" stammered Graviton as some sweat began to roll down his face, "I control gravity, itself!"
Despite that fact, the gamma giant still trudged on, each step making a small crater similar to when a person steps into the snow. So much gravitational force was being exerted that if it were applied to a city, it would've been flattened instantly. However, the Hulk was not a city, he was the strongest one there is.
Nero was completely shocked from what he was seeing. Here, a man who could control gravity, lift an entire city, was being beaten by the Hulk. And all that power was hardly phasing this guy. He honestly doubted that even Dante could stand up to this, even with his own crazy abilities.
However, Graviton finally got over his shock and bewilderment and gritted his teeth. He swung both his hands out, stretching them out as the gravitational tornado came to an abrupt halt. Every single crate and container that was caught within floated frozen in the air as Hall's eyes glowed brightly before he swung his arms forward. All the crates and containers flew right towards the Hulk.
Narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, the Hulk got ready for the incoming objects by raising his fists. Using both his hands, the gamma giant punched the boxes and containers as they came, knocking them aside. However, it soon became too much as hundreds of metal containers and boxes were piled on top of the jade giant.
While the Hulk was being bombarded at the bottom of the crater, Nero gritted his teeth as he tried as hard as he could stand or at the very least move. However, he couldn't and it infuriated him to no end. Here was, completely powerless, unable to move while this guy, who had a God-like complex rained down hell. The hunter's eyes flashed red as energy began to flicker across his body.
Devil Bringer began to flash brightly, pulsing as his rage was building. He beat the Savior! He beat Sanctus! He made three devils turn tail and run! He took on the hordes of the Demon World! He made a promise! He made a promise to fight for others! To protect the innocent from the evils of demons!
He made a promise to her!
And he would sooner cut off his right arm and hand it over to the worst demon to come out of hell than break his promise!
"I...! WON'T...! BREAK...! MY...!" growled Nero as his body inched up off the ground, azure energy dancing across his body while Devil Bringer shined and hummed brightly. His voice adopting a darker undertone, almost as if another being was speaking with him. The Hunter was soon on his feet, eyes glowing bright scarlet as energy flowed across his body and Devil Bringer glowed powerful, "PROMISE!"
With that yell, the teen's body erupted in a massive flash, catching the attention of Graviton who turned to look at the flash. It was the flash alone that caught his attention, but a dark aura that seemingly turned the entire area somewhat... colder. A massive cloud of dust had been kicked up before it rushed back to the floor due to the gravitational effects of his power, but when it did, Graviton's eyes widened as a feeling of fear washed over him.
Standing upright, Red Queen sheathed across his back, a silver katana in his right hand, was Nero. However, not him at the same time as this being who stood before the villain was not entirely alone. The boy's body was wreathed with azure energy, flickering like fire as Devil Bringer glowed brightly. But what had Hall's full attention was the creature floating behind him.
Behind Nero was a sort of ghost, almost a specter. It was translucent, glowing with an azure light similar to his arm, which was identical to its own right arm. The creature floated behind him at a height of seven feet, two large horns rose from its shoulders, the right being much larger than the left. Its skin appeared reptilian, small ram's horns rose from its head as its eyes glowed brightly. It's left arm had some sort of organic sheath attached to it.
"WHAT?!" shouted Graviton in shock, "I AM THE LORD OF GRAVITY ITSELF!"
"Shut up," snapped Nero, his voice grave as he swung Yamato at the man, the Specter mimicking his movements. From the sword, a wave of energy shot out and flew right towards Graviton. The villain hastily tried creating a shield, but the wave went right through it and exploded when it collided with him. The power of the slash was strong enough to send him flying into the air, shattering his concentration.
With his focus broken, the other heroes were able to get to their feet and take on the gravity villain. One especially that was trapped at the bottom of a crater, buried under hundreds of containers and debris. A powerful roar broke through the air as the pile of metal and rock erupted as the Hulk leaped right out and towards Graviton.
Hall was able to steady himself in the air from the force of the attack, his clothing scorched and burnt in a few places as he was still a little shocked that... whatever that boy was, was able to stand up to his power. Getting over his surprise had left him vulnerable to attack which the Hulk took full advantage of by tackling him out of the air and back to the Earth in a mighty impact that created a massive cloud of dust.
The cloud slowly disappeared, revealing Hulk was once again trying to break through Graviton's shield. That is until he got a sharp pain in the back of his neck, courtesy of several flying ants under the control of Ant-Man, who had shrunk after he was freed from Graviton's power, riding on one of the ants. This distraction allowed the Hulk to land several punches to the villain, sending him into the ground. The other heroes then surrounded Graviton, hoping to finally end this. However, that seemed to be an impossibility.
"This isn't possible!" Graviton exclaimed, as the released another wave of gravitational energy, sending the heroes and hunter flying and Hulk directly into the air.
The villain then took to the air once more, bringing numerous crates within the shipping yard with him as he used them as projectiles. Hurling them right towards the Hulk, Heroes, and hunter, trying to keep them off balance. It worked initially, however, Nero was able to deal with it just as easily.
"Alright, jackass," snarled Nero as he twirled Yamato around and locked his attention on Graviton, "Let's go!"
With that, the teen leaped right towards the villain. The containers coming at him traveled in slow motion for him as he leaped between container and container. His demonic heritage and Devil Trigger enhancing his speed, strength, durability, and reflexes. The hunter sliced through one container before he vaulted over another and used another as a springboard. However, a thought entered his mind.
Based on what he's seen so far, there wasn't much chance he had at beating this guy alone, and still cautious about some of the heroes here, he knew he needed their help. He was confident in his abilities, but he wasn't stupid. Glancing up, Nero saw that Graviton was focusing most of his attention on the Hulk. Given what was seen previously, it was obvious that Hall viewed the green giant as the biggest threat. Meaning if they were going to win, they needed him to get some good hits in.
He needed to act quickly, especially when Graviton started to send the crates in the Hulk's direction. Narrowing his eyes, the hunter turned to the others.
"Keep Beardsley's attention," shouted Nero, gaining the heroes' attention, "I'll get the big guy to help us."
With that, the heroes moved in. Iron Man and Wasp, blasting repulsors and stingers respectively, and Thor hurled Mjolnir directly at the Lord of Gravity. The combined attack was enough to distract Graviton and released his hold on the Hulk, the giant in question, then began to fall to the ground. But unfortunately, the crates were still on a collision course with the crates, which were still flying towards him.
Seeing this, Nero leaped into the air, using the crates and containers as footholds while they headed for the gamma brute. Leaping quickly, fast enough to cover the distance between them in the blink of an eye, the hunter was beside the Hulk just in time to use Yamato to slice a crate in half. He swung the legendary weapon at several others, sending arcs of azure waves at them, blowing the crates and containers to pieces. The Hulk looked at the demon-human with surprise and confusion.
Not because the teen had a glowing ghost with him, but because he was helping him. No one had ever helped Hulk.
"You…You're helping me?" said the Hulk in confusion.
"Duh," smirked Nero, the specter almost doing the same as the hunter looked at the gree bruiser, "You wanna kick this guy's teeth in, or am I going to have to do myself?"
Hulk only smirked as both he and Nero fell back down to the Earth. The Hulk let out a massive roar, bringing down both fists onto Graviton, sending the villain into the ground. A massive cloud of dust and rock erupted into the air when the impact happened.
However, that still wasn't enough to take him down, as Graviton used his powers to send a giant mass of earth against the Hulk, rising higher and higher. Wasp and Nero moved in next, the hunter using pieces of debris to vault towards the villain while Wasp flew in to zap whatever part she could. Nero flipped around, dismissing Yamato, but remained in his Devil Trigger and grabbed Hall with Spectral Bringer, drawing the villain towards him so that the hunter could smash his left fist into his stomach.
The Specter followed his movement, meaning two fists collided with Graviton. The impact sent him hurtling into the air. Iron Man flew overhead, who's chest light up before firing a massive Uni-Beam at Hall. Wasp grabbed Nero by his right hand and pulled him out of the way in time to avoid the beam as it sent Graviton into the ground. Contrary to what you might think, this didn't stop the gravity villain who moved the Earth in front of him to block the attack.
Nero landed on the ground and leaped at the villain as the beam stopped. Resummoning Yamato, he let out a powerful yell as he sliced the earth he used to block the beam in half, shattering it. Breaking through the stone, he pulled his left fist back and slugged him again, knocking Graviton back further. Leaping after him, Nero slashed at him, sending a powerful wave of energy at the villain which detonated on impact, creating a large cloud of smoke.
Graviton flew out the cloud and fell to the ground where he tumbled across but was getting back to his feet.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man flew of the ocean towards a cargo ship, which had been abandoned when Graviton began his attack, and leaped off his ant steed and dived into the water. A large flash of blue light appeared below the ship before Giant-Man lifted it out of the water. The giant hero then threw the ship towards Graviton.
The massive vessel crashed down onto the villain, exploding on impact, forcing Nero to shield himself with his arms, his coat flapping like a cape behind him as a massive explosion shook the ground. However, he still wasn't down. Through the debris, Graviton was back on his feet, though clearly exhausted. Taking the opportunity, Nero leaped into the air as high as he could. Yamato vanished in a flash of blue light as the hunter pulled his right hand back.
He let out a yell, Devil Bringer lighting up brightly. Behind him, the Specter mimicked his movements, except it was growing in size as energy flowing through its own right arm until it reached a size similar to Giant-Man. A powerful shout came from the hunter as he sent his fist right towards Graviton. The Specter doing the same as its giant fist slammed the man into the Earth, causing a massive shockwave.
This was enough to break Graviton's concentration, causing all the earth and rock to come back down where it belonged. However, it still wasn't enough to take down the man down. Nero was about to go in for another attack, however, the wind started to pick up. Looking up, the hunter saw Thor floating in the air, spinning his hammer by the straps, and the clouds gathering around him, thunder and lighting sounded and flowed into the hammer, as the Asgardian charged up his attack.
"FOR MIDGARD!" the Thunder God yelled, he then pointed his hammer down and unleashed the biggest bolt of lighting anyone had ever seen. It struck Graviton with thousands of volts of electricity; the Lord of Gravity gave out a scream of pain.
When the lightning subsided, Graviton was left at the base of a large crater looking very weak, the combined attacks from the heroes had left his body battered, bruised and now covered in soot. The barely conscious villain looked up to see the five heroes and hunter staring down at the villain.
"Who's strongest now?" the Hulk taunted.
"You had the power to do anything, and you used it to put millions of lives at risk," Giant-Man said before shrinking down to regular size.
"It's pathetic," said Nero as his Devil Trigger vanished, his voice returning to normal as the Specter disappeared along with Yamato.
"No kidding" Wasp added, as I final insult she fired one last stinger at Graviton, sending the defeated villain into unconsciousness.
The day was won.
The moment was the broken by Thor, "Come!" He exclaimed, with a huge grin, as he wrapped his arms around his new allies somehow managing to get the Hulk and Nero into his hug, "Let us celebrate!"
"Freeze." A familiar voice called out, the heroes looked to the other side of the crater, only to see Agent Coulson and an entire army of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, tanks and choppers, Coulson was holding a very large cannon and had it aimed at one particular individual.
"Step away from the Hulk," ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
Nero narrowed his eyes while the Hulk tensed and adopted a fighting stance. The green giant growling while the teen was considering raising his weapon. The guy just saved them all, so what was the problem? However, before either party could act. Iron Man suddenly stood in front of them, his arms stretched out, blocking the shot.
"You want him, you go through me," stated the billionaire with determination, "He saved us all. He's a hero. As sure as any of us are."
The other heroes then stood with the armored one, a determined look in all of their eyes. Nero raised an eyebrow but still, he stood with them. If only because he figured they'd have a better chance of winning.
Before he could process what is happening, another familiar voice spoke up.
"Stand down," Director Nick Fury commanded, the unites complied, "We've got bigger problems than the Hulk and a kid with a weird arm... although I want answers from that last one later."
"74 supervillains are now on the loose all across the country. Maybe the world by now."
"How did this happen, Fury?" Iron Man asked, with a bit of venom in his voice.
"I don't know, but we can find out together," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. offered to the heroes, "Come work for me. As S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, you can make a real difference."
Before anyone could respond, Ant-Man spoke up, "No, this is your fault, isn't it? S.H.I.E.L.D created Graviton. Whatever you had Hall doing, it changed him. You kept it under wraps, and this happened."
The heroes then glared at the Director, especially Nero who folded his arms and glared at the man harder. Disliking S.H.I.E.L.D. more so now than before. Knowing that none of them would ever work for him who created somebody like Graviton.
However, everything was brought into question when Iron Man spoke up, "Fury's right," stated the billionaire genius. Earning looks of shock and a little annoyance from the heroes and Nero.
"What?" Wasp said, equally as shocked "You of all people are going to work for S.H.I.E.L.D?" she questioned the armored hero.
"No, he's right about us making a difference together," He began facing the heroes in front of him, "One-on-one we can each take down a villain or two, but 74 none of us can do it alone. Together we have a chance. What we did here, it can change things. The world needs us, but not as S.H.I.E.L.D agents. As a team on our own, together we can avenge the wrongs caused by all these villains."
"We can be Avengers," Wasp finished.
"Huh, good name," Hulk agreed.
Nero snorted as he thought about this, if he was being honest, it sounded pretty cheesy. Besides, it didn't seem like they needed him. These heroes seemed to know what they were doing, the green guy and the blond with the hammer, seemed to be powerhouses by themselves. If they wanted to be a team, they wouldn't need someone like him.
After Iron Man's speech, Nero turned on his heel and started to walk away from the group, not certain where he was going, but he figured he wasn't needed. Besides, he wasn't really a team player. But he didn't get very far before he was stopped by Wasp who flew right in front of him.
"Hey, Nero," said the brunette heroine, "You, just gonna walk out on your team?"
She flew around him, as he turned back to face the other heroes, who were all looking at him.
"Never really planned on being a hero, not that I ever was one," he stated in a bored tone, getting some confused expressions from those gathered.
"You seemed to be pretty good at it to me," Iron Man said.
"Indeed, you are," Thor added, "A mighty warrior if ever I have seen."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," drawled the teen in a sarcastic tone, "Besides, I'm not good with teamwork."
He then tried to walk away again, before Fury stood in front of him.
"Then maybe you should come with me," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. asked, even though he didn't phrase it as a question, "We can't have someone like you wandering around our planet unsupervised. Especially one with the kind of power you have."
"You planning on babysitting me?" demanded the teen as he folded his arms and gave a hard look at Fury. But internally, Nero wasn't certain about what he would do. If he fought back, then these S.H.I.E.L.D guys would attack him, and maybe even the heroes as well. He looked back at the other heroes. They were all strangers to him, and yet they risked their lives for him and even stood up for him. He figured he at least owed them an explanation.
"But if you're looking for an explanation, fine, you got yourself one," stated the teen, giving in, "but you got a place without so many ears?"
He then gestured to the news reporters and civilians, which had gathered around the battle sight.
Nick Fury looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Nero rolled his eyes as he got ready to explain himself.
Watching the group from a safe distance was the same figure that had witnessed Nero charge right into the fray.
"Perhaps he does have what it takes," said the figure as his body glowed red before vanishing from sight.
To Be Continued...
And here we are, chapter 2. The Breakout rewrite. Minor changes as there was only so much I could reasonably change still be following the episode.