Hey guys! Sorry for the extremely late update. I had a really busy month and it might get busier with school ending and all the final projects and stuff. You know school comes first.
IN OTHER NEWS! I JUST SAW IRON MAN 3 AND IT WAS BOSS! I am not even kidding! It was awesome!
One more thing. I need help trying to give Jupiter a super hero name. If you have any ideas don't be afraid to PM me or write it in the review. Thanks and as I introduce more characters, I will ask for more.
Chapter 3
Nick ran through the back alleyways of Hollywood knowing he should've stayed with the gang. The feds wouldn't have seen him if he did and he wouldn't be in this situation. But in the back of his mind the equations didn't lie. They were looking for him, not the gang.
He risked a glance back and cursed. If he was dumber than he actually was, he would be relieved. The feds were way behind him and he only saw one. He knew that meant one of them was going around the block.
He saw an open door of an old warehouse and quickly ran inside. He scanned the floor and saw steps heading to a top floor loft. He ran across the floor of the warehouse and climbed the stairs two at a time. He crouched in the shadows and crawled around the loft. He burrowed himself deep into the shadows but kept an eye on the floor below him. It took about fifteen seconds for the feds to realize that he had tricked them. He could hear them yelling at each other outside. Finally, someone realized that the warehouse door was open and they went in.
Thankfully, Nick wasn't dumb. He didn't move a muscle even when one of the agents climbed the loft stairs.
"Clear!" the agent on the floor yelled up to his partner. "Is he up there?"
Must be a newbie, Nick thought, no experienced agent would say anything else if their partner didn't say clear yet. He watched the agent on loft come closer and his muscles tensed. If the agent saw him then he was going to be introduced to a new piece of jewelry and he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it.
How did they find him? He was careful not to say something about his brains to other people besides his sister. And he was careful not to be directly involved with anything illegal that the gang did. He was just there to live.
The agent crept closer to Nick and swept the flashlight back forth. He prayed to everything good that the light wouldn't hit him. He really didn't want to be caught by something from the dollar store.
He prayed again that he wouldn't be seen and moved back a little into the shadow. The agent must have seen the movement because only a moment after Nick had moved, the agent jerked his flashlight in his direction. Nick ducked down and tried to keep to the shadows. The light didn't hit, thankfully, but the agent still seemed suspicious. He moved slowly towards Nick's hiding spot and shined his light on it. Nick was smart enough to choose a spot that wouldn't incriminate him if the agent pointed the flashlight at him. The agent crept close enough so that they were almost breathing on each other. After a few more seconds the man decided that Nick wasn't there and gave the signal to his partner. He went down the stairs to the floor where his partner was and they walked out of the warehouse, their heads put together trying to figure out where Nick had went. They went out the door and Nick had lost sight of them. He waited a little before coming down to the warehouse floor.
He needed to get back to the house or Juan might kill him. Literately. He'd been on edge lately from chatter going through the local groups. The feds were looking for someone. He had a stinking suspicion that it was him, given the nights events.
He crept through the shadows just incase there was someone watching the floor. Eventually he made his way to the door and looked out. The street was empty and there was no life on the streets, which was odd for L.A. but he wasn't thinking about that right now. Nick heard sirens in the distance but he ignored that also.
His muscle relaxed as the thought that he might be safe crossed his mind. He was relieved that the feds hadn't caught him. It meant that his sister, Rosa, would be safe from the gang. He worried night and day that something would happen to him and Rosa would be at the mercy of the gang and he wouldn't be able to protect her. Cute, young, and vulnerable was the perfect girl for a gang. The only reason they haven't gotten to her was out of respect for Nick. But with him gone, there are no obstacles between the gang and Rosa.
Deep in thought, Nick didn't notice the person sneaking up behind him and went down with a hard hit to the head.
-This is a line break-
Jupiter looked uncertainly at the doctor and when the doctor met her eyes, the fear was plain as day. Jupiter turned her head to the Captain and Thor, those two being the only ones of the Avengers she even slightly trusted. She would've felt better if Mark was in the room with her, but they had taken him to another room for his own testing.
She opened her mouth. "Natasha," the name felt like wool in her mouth, "told me that you guys wouldn't do any tests on me," she continued. "If this isn't a test, what is it?"
Another man in the room, whose name Jupiter had learned was Coulson, spoke up. "It isn't really testing," he said. "We're just having the doctor hook you up to a heart rate monitor and blood pressure meter, then we are going to have you create as much electricity as you can while we monitor you. We're just trying to find your limit."
Jupiter's fear slowly melted to anxiety. Then confusion. "If you are hooking me up to machines, wouldn't the electricity short them out before you can get a reading?" she asked.
Agent Coulson shook his head. "The equipment we have is state of the art. The cuff around your bicep," Jupiter looked down at the metal ring. It was seriously bothering her, "sends to the meter we have here," he pointed to an odd looking machine and Jupiter decided not to ask, "Which in turn tells us what we need to know."
All this seemed fine and dandy, but Jupiter was still confused. "Okay, that makes sense, I guess, but if the cuff is still run by electricity or batteries and I'm making more powerful surges wouldn't it still short out?"
"The cuff has a band of rubber around the wires that send the signals to protect the cuff so you don't make it explode," Agent Coulson said. Jupiter suddenly knew why the band was bothering her so much. She hated rubber for obvious reasons and her stomach twisted. She had to resist the urge to rip the cuff off and throw it as far away from her as possible with the fact that she also wanted to know what her limit was. She had never really gotten the chance to actually find out. Most of her time was devoted to either trying not to reveal her powers or running from the authorities. Even when Matt found out about her powers she really didn't have a chance to find out how much voltage she could generate on her own. She didn't want to find out how much she could make when she was connected to a huge power plant. Like the one in New Jersey. She didn't want to ever be in that situation again, seeing where she ended up.
She swallowed. It was now or never and she entered the huge chamber testing chamber.
-This is a line break-
Mark looked at the archer's bow that Barton offered to him. He looked back at the agent, his eyebrow raised. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked. He had shot a gun before, but a bow was a little out there.
"Shoot it," Barton replied nonchalantly. Mark took the bow and put it in his right hand. Almost immediately Barton tried to correct him.
"I'm a lefty," he told the agent when he was about to criticize Mark's choice of which hand to hold the bow. Barton backed down and Mark took a deep breath. He grabbed an arrow from the small quiver attached to the floor. He scratched his arm under the arm guard on his right forearm then nocked the arrow on the bowstring.
He wasn't really sure what would happen when he released the string. The arrow whizzed through the air and hit the target in the middle. Everyone in the room, including Mark, stared in shock.
"Again," someone said and Mark looked to Agent Barton, who nodded. Mark grabbed arrow after arrow each one hitting either in the middle or close to it. When Mark had run out of arrows, there was a shocked silence throughout the entire room. Mark was just as taken aback. He had never used a bow in his life and here he was shooting perfect bulls-eyes. How the heck did that happen?!
Clint was even more surprised. He hadn't really thought that Mark would be that close to the middle of the target. He knew that the boy would be able to hit the target and maybe even a few ones that would hit close to the middle but not this many. He guessed he really shouldn't be surprised. This was the reason why they didn't just leave him at The Cloisters. They knew that he was also special. They just didn't realize how much they had underestimated him.
He took the bow out of Mark's hands. The boy was still shocked at his accomplishments that he didn't even notice. He put the bow away then led Mark over to the shooting range. For guns. Mark looked a little bit more comfortable at the gun range than at the archery range. He went straight to the wall display of weapons.
Mark's eyes completely dismissed the assault weapons at the top of the display and were instead scrutinizing the small handguns and pistols at the bottom. He picked up a SIG pro series handgun and a bullet cartridge. He remembered his father shooting one at the shooting range they went to and he remembered his uncle, who was an FBI agent, carrying one as well. They were often used by the officers of law.
He put the bullet cartridge in the firing chamber then charged the gun. It was obvious that he had done this before. He put on the goggles and ear protectors then aimed the gun. The sound of cannons fired through the room six times and Mark put the gun down. The silence returned to the room as the target moved forward. There were six holes straight in the target's chest. All within the heart area. All kill shots.
Mark didn't seem as shocked as he was with trying archery. It was more like he was kind-of expecting it. Barton looked at him and when Mark noticed his gaze, he shrugged. "My father's been taking me the shooting range he practices at since I was ten. My mother doesn't really approve but Dad says it's necessary, given his profession."
Barton nodded now knowing why there was an almost bored expression on Mark's face. The boy was obviously gifted with long range weapons, he just needed some practice. But now was not the time. "C'mon," he said to Mark. "Let's watch Jupiter's test."
Clint led Mark to a bigger room near the wishbone of the Helicarrier. There was first a small antechamber where the Captain and the God were. There was also the agent named Coulson as well as a woman who looked like a nurse or a doctor. Mark wondered where Jupiter was. She wasn't in the room but when Mark looked through the large bay type windows he noticed her.
The set of clothes they gave her consisted of a white t-shirt and gray pants matching the clothes they gave Mark. Around her arm there was a metal band and it was clear that it was bothering her. She kept rubbing it with her hand and looking at it like she wanted to take it off. She turned around and saw Mark. He gave her a small smile that she tentatively returned. She mouthed something that Mark could not catch and when she realized that he couldn't hear her she just waved her hand in a motion that said, "I'll tell you later." Mark nodded and she turned back around. Mark turned back to the others in the room.
"What's going to happen now?" he asked. The door opened and the two women stepped into the room. Mark was slightly angry at the sight of them but he calmed himself down when he realized that it wouldn't do any good to hold resentment. He turned back to the window, his question completely ignored.
"How did it go?" he heard the red-head, Natasha, ask Clint. Mark didn't turn around but he knew that they were talking about him. He perked his ears and turned slightly so he could hear them better.
"We slightly underestimated him," Mark heard Barton say softly. "Let's hope we don't make the same mistake with her."
Mark got even angrier at that comment. Jupiter wasn't just some laboratory experiment that they could study for a while then throw away. And judging from the words, they had already known that Mark was extremely good with archery. Even he didn't know!
The door opened and Banner, Stark, and Fury walked in, completing the full Avengers. Fury walked up to the doctor by the machines, who shrunk back at the imposing man. "Have you started the testing yet?" he asked her. She shook her head, "Not yet, Director."
Fury nodded. "Get Doctor Selvig down here so we can monitor her energy levels."
The nurse dipped her head and pressed the ear piece to mumble something into it.
On the other side of the glass Jupiter had turned to see what was going on in the other room. When Fury had walked into the room she had tensed. There was something about him that set her off. It seemed like he almost knew something about her that she didn't know. But her entire past, who her parents were and who had coincidently named her after the Roman god of lightning when she could control electricity, was a mystery. No one knew where she had come from. She just showed up one day on the door step of some orphanage in L.A.
But was almost like Fury knew. Or maybe he knew so many other secrets that he acted that way anyway. That was more probable than knowing her parents.
Another man walked in a few minutes after Fury had talked to the nurse. He was a dumpy looking man with blond hair and from Jupiter could see bright blue eyes. He seemed to know all of the Avengers, especially Thor. Jupiter still couldn't believe that the tall man was the Norse god of thunder. But then again, she wasn't that surprised. When she had first met him his accent didn't seem like an accent from earth and his clothes certainly weren't from earth.
The door to the large room opened and Thor and the balding man stepped in. The balding man held out his hand and Jupiter hesitantly shook it.
"Hello," the man said, "My name is Doctor Erik Selvig. I'm an astrophysicist and Director Fury asked me to monitor the energy levels that you create. I just have to watch the machine that Nurse Amelia hooked you up to. All you have to do is make as much electricity as you can."
Jupiter nodded and watched the doctor go back into the antechamber. She then dipped her head to Thor. "Are you going to be with the rest of your team?" she asked.
The god shook his head. "No, I have decided to stay with you to direct you."
Jupiter nodded. She was expecting this. She looked at the demigod again. "How do you know Dr. Selvig?" she asked. Thor look at the wall, his eyes glazed over like he was reliving old memories. "Two years ago I was banished from Asgard to here on Midgard. I landed in a desert in the state that you call New Mexico. It was there that I met Jane Foster and Erik Selvig along with their assistant Darcy Lewis. They helped me during my banishment and are good friends."
Jupiter nodded again. He seemed to have some special connection to these people. And by the way he said Jane Foster's name she wondered if she was more than just a good friend.
She heard the door airlock and she was about to run and check them but Thor grabbed her arm in an iron grip. She was about to shock him when she heard the speakers in the room turn on. She turned around to look at the windows. Fury was standing at the window and in his hand was a microphone.
"Do not worry Miss DeVinchio," Thor said, "they are just getting ready to start."
Fury raised the microphone to his mouth. "Whenever you're ready."
Jupiter nodded and turned her back to the windows. She raised her hands and let her defenses around her power fall. Almost immediately a blue ball if energy started growing in front of her. It grew bigger until it was bigger than Jupiter herself. The energy crackled and boomed also throwing off heat as well as light.
On the other side of the glass Mark and the Avengers watched on in amazement. Mark knew that Jupiter was powerful but this was not what he was expecting. It was unbelievable.
"Oh my God!" Mark heard the balding Dr. Selvig gasp. He tore his eyes away from the blue ball of energy in front of his friend and looked at the computer monitors that the scientist was studying. The things on the screen were gibberish to Mark but Selvig was staring at them like he couldn't believe his eyes.
"What is it Doctor?" Fury asked the astrophysicist. Selvig sat there for another thirty seconds with his mouth hanging wide open before answering the spy. "She's generating more than four billion volts of electricity and EMPs stronger than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. If anyone who wasn't her or Thor was in that room right now they would die from either immediate radiation poisoning or electric shock."
Mark's mouth dropped and turned his eyes back to the room. From the silence of the Avengers, Mark guess that they were just as shocked as he was. He heard movement behind him but his eyes stayed on the blue ball of energy in the other room.
"How can we not feel anything?" Mark heard Steve ask Selvig. He turned again and saw the other Avengers were looking at the doctor as well.
Selvig turned back to the monitors and pressed a few keys before answering. "The room that they are in is insulated so that the radiation and charges are kept in."
A cold swept up and down Mark's back. "What happens when the build up becomes too much?"
Selvig's eyes widened and he violently swung back to the computers. Mark turned to the others and by their looks they didn't know what was going to happen. But from the badly hidden fear in Stark and Banner's eyes they had a suspicion and it wasn't good.
Meanwhile, Jupiter was using all of her strength to keep her energy under control. The blue ball of electricity was almost as big as the room. The control she had was slipping quickly and the heat was almost unbearable. If it wasn't for her natural resistance to electric shocks she figured she would already be burned to a crisp.
"You are doing fine, Miss DeVinchio," Thor encouraged. She would've answered but she was still focused on making sure the energy didn't explode. She could already feel her control slipping even more A few more seconds and she would be in control by the skin of her teeth.
What happened next was hard to describe. It seemed like the energy exploded outward from the center of the ball. Jupiter was thrown violently backwards and she heard the roar of the electricity escaping and a yell just as loud that sounded like Thor. She hit the wall behind her with a sickening crack and a wall of heat and static rolled over her. For once she knew what it was like to get electrocuted. Pains swept up and down her in rolling numbness and her entire body tingled painfully spiking once and a while.
It was unbearable. Jupiter just wanted it to end. She could slightly make out a lumbering form coming slowly towards her but she couldn't see much through the pain. Already she could feel herself slowly losing consciousness.
"Keep your eyes open, Jupiter!" she heard Thor yell but he sounded far away, even for the God of Thunder. She had to force her eyes to stay open but was failing miserably. Oh, she was so tired. She just wanted to go to sleep.
She heard more yelling but already the darkness was closing in and Jupiter submitted.
HAHAHAHAHA! I'm so evil! Don't worry, she'll be okay. How did you guys like Nick? And Mark's skill in long range weapons?
Don't forget, I need a name for Jupiter. I already have something for Mark but I don't know what to name Jupiter.
I will try to update soon.
Bye!
