Chapter 4: Fight
Setting up the equipment they were going to use at the location, the team had completely lost contact with Strange. "It's odd. We should go look for him." Clint said, nodding to Nat. "Good idea. Take Widow and get a good look inside. The rest of us will keep setting up out here and then move inside for the inner set up." Tony agreed. The duo set up turrets on the outside to shoot anything that has an extremely large gravitational pull, just as a precaution. The duo entered the building noiselessly, each drawing their weapon for good measure. A thick line of a dust-like substance lined the door frame, window sills, and entirety of the floor borders. The duo crept through the whole of the two floored complex, checking each ramp, box and possible hiding spot. Widow stumbled over a bunker hatch open on the floor, calling to Hawkeye. Together, they crept down the stairs, Clint covering the back and Nat covering their front. The stairs ended at a twenty food hallway and a mess of rooms branching off from the right and left. Splitting up, each took their own direction as they searched the rooms. While Widow found nothing but dust and grime, Hawkeye stumbled across a part of the dust trail that wasn't complete. He followed it into a room, where he found Strange. The sorcerer was on his knees, pouring a bag of the substance along the crack of the wall carefully. After he finished laying the dust, he placed his hands on his hips, standing up. Smiling, he seemed about to turn around when he swayed on his feet. Tipping over, the man landed on his hands and knees against the floor. He began to cough up a storm, pressing a hand to his mouth to stifle the noise. After the coughing subsided, Strange pulled his hand from his mouth, sitting back on his legs. A spattering of crimson was splashed against the white of the man's palm, the sorcerer wiping it against his pant leg to hide it. "Strange, are you okay?" Hawkeye asked, stepping forward from his position behind the man. "Yes, I'm fine." Strange replied, quickly getting to his feet. "You sure?" Hawkeye asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I am." Strange replied, his voice shaking slightly. The archer glanced down at the hand that had covered Strange's mouth, eyes widening at the smeared crimson against his skin. He walked Strange back up to the upper floors, calling Widow. The rest of the team had moved inside, the scientists laying the pulse points in strategic positions along the floor while others took up their positions on the upper floor. Twenty minutes later, Strange broke down into a series of coughing fits, falling from his perch on a wooden box and onto the floor. "What's going on down there?" Tony yelled from the top floor at the sound of the coughing. Clint rushed to the doctor, checking him quickly. "Strange's sick! He won't stop coughing!" he called to Iron Man. To their surprise, the sounds of the turrets shooting outside bled into the building for them to hear, on the side that Strange had fallen towards. "He's here." Strange gasped through his coughing, arms shaking on the ground beside him. The steel of the building broke and bent away as Kimeliton slashed through it with his three remaining swords, a wicked smile on his face. "A party? For me? You are too gracious with your guests!" he laughed crazily as Thor charged him. The stone man's body took the brunt of the impact, Kimeliton attempting to use his power to teleport out of range. He cried out as the powder along the edges of the building burst into yellow flame, blocking off his power and exit. "The Hycron Reverse? I'll kill you for that!" the man shouted, charging forward crazily. Iron Man, War Machine, and Widow open fired on him, sending a barrage of bullets, lasers and missiles raining down on the swordsman. "You think your petty weapons can harm me?" Kimeliton screamed, swinging wildly at Hawkeye. His sword barely missed the archer by an inch, from cutting off his left arm. Trying again, the stone swordsman missed once more, instead kicking the archer off his feet. Glaring up at the trio while they fired upon him, Kimeliton cracked another grin. "Catch!" he called, throwing two of his swords at them. One lodged itself in War Machine's missile launching unit, throwing him backwards and pinning him to the wall. Tony activated the pulse points stationed around the building, their gravitational charge preventing him from calling his swords back to his hands. "What have you done to me? I'll kill you all, you pitiful species!" the swordsman shouted, using his single sword to slice across Widow's face and stomach. Nat hit the floor with a small thud, a small amount of blood oozing between her fingers from the wound on her stomach. "Natasha!" Clint yelled, his attention drawn to the woman so much to allow Kimeliton to slice across his shoulder and leg. Yelping, he fell beside her, using his hands to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. The only people that remained between Kimeliton and Strange were Thor, Captain America and Iron Man. And Kimeliton only had one sword left. 'That still gives him an advantage when it comes to combat.' Thor thought, charging the man with his hammer drawn. He pulled back, intent on damaging the man's side, when Kimeliton drew back his own sword. Using that as a distraction, the swordsman punched Thor roughly in the shoulder, slammed him into the floor and stabbed him in the side, kicking him backwards across the floor. The lightning god slid backwards on the ground, clutching his side and yelling Asgardian curses as he withdrew from range. Tony opened up his missile array on the swordsman, sending in his lasers as backup. Looking up at the eight missiles diving in his direction, Kimeliton grinned, launching himself out of the way at the last second. "Damn! He's good!" Tony called to Steve. A piece of shrapnel took to the air, embedding itself into Kimeliton's ankle, where it promptly decided to snap the entirety of the appendage off. Tony armed his final laser, aiming it directly at the swordsman's head. With a loud crash, the laser fired. Watching in shock as his powerful instrument only bounced off the man's single sword, he took to the air to avoid any damage. "Human technology is no match for magic of my level. I've encountered weapons like yours before, Man of Iron. You will have no effect on me." Kimeliton boasted as Tony stopped firing his laser. "And you expect me to believe you?" Tony asked, diving down with enough force to crack the floor. He drove the swordsman back, if only a few feet, while Steve countered with a shield punch to his face. Kimeliton stumbled backwards, surprised by their combined force. "It's just you and me." Steve said, nodding to Tony. "Yep, let's do this." Tony replied, flying higher into the air. Firing four different blasters at different power levels, Tony knocked the swordsman to the ground in a cloud of dust. While the man rose to his feet, Steve aimed a powerful flipping shield punch to the side of his head. The swordsman's head exploded in a burst of stone and dust, his body falling to the ground limp and lifeless. After waiting a few moments for Kimeliton to get back up again, Steve and Tony rushed to Strange's side. The man had collapsed to the floor in a fit of sickness, coughing erratically and painfully hard. "We got him, Strange. We got him." Steve said, helping the sorcerer sit up so he could breathe. "Did-did you sha-shatter his he-heart?" Strange asked through his ragged breaths. Steve slowly turned to look at Tony, who's head turned to look at Kimeliton's pieces as they rose up and began to reassemble themselves. "You've got to be kidding me." Tony said, raising his blasters as he placed himself between Strange and the swordsman. "Don't you see? There is no way to stop me. My venom will put him under soon enough, and I will have my revenge." Kimeliton laughed, standing up to his full height. "Revenge for what? The natural cycle of life? Creation has to be met with destruction, buddy, that's the balance." Tony replied, trying to stall. Kimeliton's expression twisted into a sickeningly dark one. "The merciless killing of my people was not the cycle. Believe me, human, I know much about life, and more about death. That monster must pay for what he did to me." the swordsman hissed back. "If you know so much about life, then you should know that all life is precious. Killing people like you have just doesn't count as an excuse for your mission." Tony shot back. "I want my home back: my family, my people, my world. That creature took it all away, did worse to many others, then called for forgiveness and peace. He does not deserve to live, after maiming half of the total universe and so much more." Kimeliton hissed, drawing his sword. Strange lifted his head, turning to the swordsman. "He didn't call for peace simply to escape what he's done: he did it to prevent more destruction, of both people and places. He's lived far longer than you, and knows more about death and life than you could have ever known." Strange interjected, his glare a threat like none other. Kimeliton paused, processing his words before grinning sickeningly wide. "I'm glad that a terran like you happens to think of him that way." he replied, launching his sword at Tony. The weapon embedded itself in the Iron Man's chest, frying several systems and leaving his body a disgruntled mess on the floor. Steve rose to his feet, barely dodging as Kimeliton withdrew his sword from Tony's chest, swinging towards his head. The swordsman lifted his foot, kicking Steve to the floor and adding a punch to the side of his head to take him out of the action. As Steve's limp form hit the floor, Kimeliton stepped over Tony, walking calmly to Strange's side. Strange sat on his hands and knees, coughing vigorously, blood seeping through his fingers onto the floor. "I can end all of this for you. Your friends are dying around you. You have no home anymore, and you are dying. I can end this suffering in a mere instant, if you'd let me." the swordsman taunted with a smile, reaching out a stone hand towards the sorcerer's shivering chest. Whipping his hand upwards, Strange smacked Kimeliton's hand away. "Don't touch me!" he snapped, kicking frantically at the man. Kimeliton simply pushed his legs aside, placing his sword beside Strange's head as he bent over the man. Blood leaked out the corner of Strange's mouth as the swordsman lifted two fingers to his forehead, muttering some words. In an instant, Strange went limp on the floor, his body suddenly rising horizontally to meet Kimeliton's waist. 'This is not good.' Thor thought as he struggled with his wound on the floor. "You made my life hell. Now, I'm going to make yours hell before I kill you." Kimeliton hissed, plunging his hands into Strange's chest.