Crisis of Faith
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 4: Confronting the Truth
Spider-man and the other Secret Avenges were all staring at Leon. Dr. Strange said,
"I am sure you have questions, Leon-."
The red-eyed hero glared,
"Yeah, like what kind of spell are you trying to manipulate me with? How do I know you're really who you say you are?"
Luke Cage shook his fist,
"Hey, man. We just saved you from Osborn's goon squad."
Leon glared,
"I don't trust Strange at the moment."
Spider-man folded his arms,
"Like you trusted any of us? You spied on us for four years!"
That was true; the revelation that Leon was on the Avengers solely to spy on them for Nick Fury did not sit well with a lot of former Avengers. Crisis sighed,
"Look, I'm sorry you felt I betrayed you, but I had a job to do."
Cage scowled,
"Sounds like Tony Stark."
Crisis shook his head,
"The difference was Tony was part of a conspiracy I was trying to expose, and of which Dr. Strange is a part of. I think you could cut me a little slack."
Luke sarcastically remarked,
"Oh, so you want a treat for using our trust and betraying it? Is that it?"
The red-eyed hero shook his head
"That's not what I meant."
Dr. Strange said,
"I have disavowed myself of Tony Stark and the other conspiracy members, Leon. I have no intention of going back to them."
Leon glared back,
"I don't believe you. For all I know, you could be the conspiracy members right here, in disguise, trying to confuse me into thinking that the conspiracy was dissolved, when you're just waiting, plotting to do something."
Spider-man blinked,
"Did anyone else understand what he just said?"
Echo, who had been following the conversation by reading the lips of everyone she could see, nodded,
"Even paranoids have enemies."
Jewel snapped,
"Just who the hell do you think you are? You die and then come back from the dead, it's not like you can just expect us to trust you again!"
Leon shook his head,
"I don't have to justify anything to any of you…"
He narrowed his eyes at Strange,
"Least of all, you."
The Sorcerer Supreme sighed,
"You are free to go, if you so wish to, Leon. But I am telling you the truth."
Leon glared,
"Like hell. You've been lying to everyone for years on what you've done!"
Spider-man snapped,
"Like you haven't, Leon? Like you haven't lied to us, about spying, about the whole secret mission Fury had you on behind our backs?"
Crisis looked at the web-slinger,
"What are you saying?"
Danny said,
"I think that what Spider-man is saying is…you are a hypocrite, Leon."
The red-eyed hero was surprised,
"What?"
Luke nodded,
"Yeah, Danny. You're right. Leon is a hypocrite. Sweet Christmas, Leon; you lied to all of us. You lied to everyone, including your girl Farrah."
Leon arched his eyebrow in anger,
"Don't bring her into this."
Luke shot back,
"Why not? I never did like you. Always so secretive and hesitant to fight when it really counts. You said you can't trust us. Well, I'm here to say…we don't trust YOU."
Crisis adjusted his glasses and glared right at the African-American powerhouse,
"I'm tempted to squash you like a bug, Luke, but that wouldn't do either one of us any good. If you can't trust me, fine. I'll handle Osborn with people that can trust me."
He began walking out the door. When he got to the doorway, he turned around and sighed,
"Just out of curiosity, doctor; why has War Machine agreed to help Osborn?"
Cage snarled,
"Now, you wanna know? You've got some nerve-!
Dr. Strange said,
"Luke, he should at least know."
The sorcerer explained,
"James Rhodes was caught in an accident after you're supposed death, Leon. He had to become a cyborg to survive, but Osborn put in a program that made War Machine loyal to him every time he donned the armor. Now, because of this, War Machine and Jim Rhodes are one being."
The red-eyed hero understood,
"I see. Thank you."
Luke glared,
"Is that all you have to say?"
Leon sped away. Luke Cage muttered,
"Mother&#(***!"
Meanwhile…
The Dark Avengers were waiting for their boss Iron Patriot to arrive for the meeting. Persiana was sitting in Daken's lap,
"So, honey? Warm?"
Moonstone rolled her eyes,
"You are unbelievable, you know that? I used to think I was the slutty one around here."
Persiana grinned,
"You are, Barbie. I just happen to have standards."
Karla blinked,
"This is coming from a woman who was carrying on a lesbian relationship with an Amazon warrior from another world?"
The were-lioness smirked,
"Not just any Amazon warrior, Karla. An Amazon princess."
Karla laughed,
"And people say I'm a gold digger. You were banging Xena for how long?"
Farrah snarled,
"Keep it up, and I'll bang your head after I shove it up your-."
Osborn walked in at that moment,
"Everyone take your seats."
Bullseye and Venom groaned out loud. The sharp-shooter said,
"And I wanted to see a good cat-fight."
The Iron Patriot held a tape,
"Someone left me critical information on Crisis. We're going to use this to work a strategy on how to stop him. Be warned; this footage is a bit graphic."
Captain Marvel quipped,
"So, in other words, it is worse than when Venom eats, is that it?"
Venom shook his head,
"Eat several human brains, and it follows you for the rest of your life."
Osborn played the tape.
In the next few moments, the looks on everyone's faces cringed in terror.
The tape playing was showing the back view of Crisis, his costume covered in blood. All around him, bodies were strewn and blood was dripping on the sword. From the looks of it, Crisis had single-handedly decimated a neo-Nazi group and was now torturing the leader, a man called Master Man.
Master Man was a minion of the Red Skull, and was busy recruiting more members to serve the Nazi villain from so long ago. He believed he and those that followed him were destined to be the 'master race', but you could never tell that with the condition he was in.
Leon glared at him,
"You're a monster."
Master Man glared back,
"Take a look at the destruction you've caused, and you dare call me a monster? Go to hell."
Leon raised his sword,
"You first."
He dropped the sword, the shrill sound of metal cutting through bone, muscle, and sinew could be heard.
Venom instantly drooled,
"I LIKE THIS KID!"
Farrah was a bit surprised, but shrugged it off,
"Huh, exactly what I would have done."
Daken asked,
"And the point of turning our stomachs was what again?"
Osborn removed his helmet,
"This kid wiped out Master Man's Nazis in under thirty seconds. He only toyed with Master Man long enough before he killed him. The point is...this is who we're dealing with."
Moonstone grinned,
"Nothing we can't handle."
Next Chapter:
As Leon tries to find former Avengers willing to help him fight, we learn who sent Osborn the tape. Find out the shocking secret next time.