Angel's Aerie
Colorado
Bullet woke up early the next morning feeling slightly queasy from the night before and decided to run it out of his system. He climbed out of bed quietly and for once did not wake Domino. (must have drank more than I thought) Bullet thought to himself as he began to get dressed with only the light from the moon filtering through the blinds to illuminate the room. Crixus jumped to his feet and followed bullet from the room when he left and shut the door behind them.
"You better not slow me down." Bullet said and Crixus wagged his tail as they walked out into the crisp morning air.
Bullet took off at a jog with Crixus at his side. He ran to the end of the driveway and along the street further up into the mountains. After nearly a mile Bullet broke off from the road and into the surrounding forest. He ran and jumped over limbs and ducking under hanging branches, Crixus stayed with him the whole way. They came to a small stream running down the mountain and Bullet came to a stop.
"Looks like this will be our halfway point." Bullet said and Crixus walked to the stream and began to drink. "Not a bad idea." Bullet said and knelt down at the stream to scoop water into his hands and splash on his face. Just as they were about to take off back down the mountain Crixus began to growl.
"What is it?" Bullet asked and stopped to look in the direction Crixus was facing to see a family of three deer emerge from some foliage to drink. "Calm, Crixus." Bullet said and knelt at his side. Crixus stopped growling and looked on as the deer stopped and looked at them.
Bullet remained as quiet as possible as to not spook them and watched as they all got their fill of the water and then as quickly as they came they turned and left again.
"Lets go." Bullet said and ran back through the woods and toward the road.
They made it back down the mountain passed by only a few cars that were out at the time of morning. They ran back up the driveway to the Aerie and came to a stop. Bullet caught his breath and looked down to see Crixus panting heavily.
"What do you say we head inside and let you get some rest?" Bullet asked and just then Crixus began growling.
"You are way too paranoid." Bullet said thinking it was more than likely a squirrel or rabbit. "No your right." Bullet then said quietly as his hand slowly lowered toward his pistol.
"Either you come out now or I start shooting." Bullet demanded.
"It wont do you much good." A man said as he stepped out of the forest. He was a large black man wearing jet black pants and a bright yellow shirt.
"I gotta hand it to you, you are brave to come here. What do you want?" Bullet asked removing his hand from his holster.
"I want you to come with me." The man said.
"And when I refuse?" Bullet asked and Crixus growled and took a defensive stance after sensing Bullet's mood change.
"Then I will have no choice but to take you with me." The man said and clenched his fist.
"Good luck." Bullet said and pulled his pistol and fired a round at the mans knee. The bullet bounced off and the man smirked. Crixus rushed the man and attacked, he bit into the mans arm and held on tight. The man lifted his arm and raised his other hand. Bullet quickly switched his clips and pointed his pistol at the mans head.
"Release him." Bullet warned. "This one wont ricochet off of you, Have you ever heard of a metal called adamantium?" He then asked.
"Perhaps you should tell him to release me." The man said as Crixus still hung on. "I have no want to hurt an animal."
"Crixus, let go." Bullet commanded and Crixus released the man and backed off slowly while still growling.
"Now what do you say we handle this like men?" The man asked and Bullet smirked as he put his pistol away and placed his left foot slightly behind the right ready for the larger mans attack.
"I promise you I am more of a man than you are ready for." Bullet warned but the man raised his fists. "Crixus go inside." Bullet commanded and Crixus slowly turned and ran for the door.
"I have heard all about you, that's why I brought back up." The man said and another guy much smaller came through the trees wearing a green and yellow outfit.
"Anyone else?" Bullet smirked.
"Don't need anyone else." The larger black man said and Bullet smirked as Crixus barked and scratched at the door knowing that if he needed it back up of his own would be waking up to the sound on the door if the werent already awake from the shot he had fired moments before.
"What do you say we get started then?" Bullet asked.
The large man approached walking slowly without taking a stance and Bullet immediately registered 17 weak spots. Bullet swung a quick left Jab and the mans head snapped back but he tilted his head back forward with the same expression before throwing an uppercut. Bullet jumped quickly and back flipped off of the mans chest landing on his feet a few feet away.
"Invincible skin and super strength, too bad that wont be enough, you are far to slow to ever lay a hand on me." Bullet said taunting the man.
"What about me?" The other man asked and jumped in much faster and with a lot of technique, his speed and agility unlike anything bullet had only ever encountered once before. The man's fist and feet were hard as stone as bullet blocked and attempted to counter the blows only for them to be dodged in return.
"You have studied under Lei Kung." Bullet said impressed after noticing the same technique he had learned many years before. "Your chi is strong." Bullet gave the man a comment as they met at a stalemate.
"As have you, but you are outmatched as I have the power of the Iron fist." The man said.
"Only because I refused it." Bullet taunted knowing he was offered the chance to take the journey but decided against it as he would dishonor the title based on who he was. Iron fist kicked high, Bullet ducked under it, popped back up and threw a right cross only to meet his foe fist to fist.
"Allow me to show you the power of the Iron fist." He said and his hand began to glow burning the skin off of Bullets fist.
Bullet ground his teeth through the pain and smiled as he pulled his fist back and it healed in front of Iron fist's face.
"As I said you stand no chance." Bullet said and out of the corner of his eye saw the larger of the men charging him.
Bullet turned and saw the man get tackled by an even larger metal figure. Colossus began raining down punches onto the man beating his head into the ground but not doing any real damage. Bullet raised his arm to stop a kick from Iron fist. Colossus and his foe wrestled on the ground going back and forth pummeling each other until Colossus got the upper hand and grabbed him in a bear hug lifting him off of the ground.
"Time to end this." Bullet said beginning to reach for his pistol after jumping back to avoid further attack. Iron fist vaulted over his head and before he could land bullet side stepped and threw back an elbow hitting Iron fist in the back of the head knocking him forward into a clothesline from a charging Logan knocking him unconscious.
"Colossus let him go." Bullet said.
Colossus let him go and The man landed on his feet.
"I will ask you again. Who are you?" Bullet asked and the man remained silent.
"The hard way then." Bullet said and rushed in hitting the man in his side. The man crumpled to the ground surprised at the pain. "Just as I thought, your skin is unbreakable but once that is bypassed your still human. Transferred energy, that pain you felt was your kidney, how many do you think you will be able to handle before you start urinating blood?" Bullet asked.
"My name is Luke Cage." The man answered between coughs.
"Good now who sent you?" Bullet then asked.
"I cant tell you that." He said and bullet walked away.
"Cant blame you, I would never give up my clients either, besides if it is who I think it is they know you are in trouble and they will be here soon enough." Bullet said. "Warren you have anywhere we can detain these two?" Bullet then asked turning to Archangel.
"Yea there is a bunker in the woods a few hundred yards from here. The man that owned this place before me was one of those nuts that thought the world would end at Y2K." Warren answered after taking a few seconds to think about it.
"Good, lets go Luke." Bullet said and picked the unconscious Iron fist up and slung him over his shoulder.
Bullet locked the two men away and walked back to the Aerie. Crixus ran up to him wagging his tail, Bullet walked to his room unlocked his safe and removed his laptop, after doing a quick search he came up with the name heroes for hire, a further search increased his suspicions as to who hired them and he knew they would be making an appearance soon. Bullet shut his laptop just as a voice played over a megaphone from outside.
"Bullet you are under arrest, come peacefully, unarmed and alone." Nick fury yelled into the megaphone.
"Fury." Logan growled and Bullet sighed before getting to his feet and walking toward the door.
"You are not just going to turn yourself over are you?" Rahne asked.
"What do you think?" Bullet asked as he opened the door. "Stay here until I give the signal. Colossus come with me and Logan." Bullet instructed to the team and only him and Logan walked outside.
"Keep a close eye on the one on the right, he is the most dangerous of the three." Bullet said to colossus as they walked out.
"He doesn't look very tough comrade." Piotr said.
"Don't under estimate him and whatever you do, do not make him angry you wont like him when he is angry." Bullet said before they approached Fury.
"What do you want now Fury?" Bullet asked calmly.
"You are neither unarmed or alone as requested not that its unexpected. I understand your mission but you have left a pile of bodies in your wake Shield can not allow you to continue." Fury said.
"The pile will continue to grow larger until my mission is over and there is nothing Shield can do about it." Bullet said with the same eerie calmness.
"Then you leave me no choice but to bring you in." Fury informed him.
"Is that why you brought your body guards?" Bullet asked as he looked back and forth between Iron man and Bruce Banner.
"You brought this on yourself." Fury said.
"You think I haven't come up with a way to deal with the hulk?" Bullet asked. "Banner I can cure you." Bullet then said turning to the small scientist and Bruce's jaw dropped.
"That's impossible." Banner said.
"It's not, after our first encounter I spent months at your old lab, the one that turned you into the hulk. I started with detox treatments and cleansing supplements, I began mixing every herb and Chinese, Himalayan and every other possible option i could until I found one that only grows in South America, with the right dosage it was able to cure small animals of the gamma irradiated blood. With someone as large as you it would not be a cure but a treatment you could take once a week to keep the hulk away. Fury would no longer be able to use you as a weapon. While you are taking the treatment we can work together to strengthen it or come up with another active ingredient for a cure." Bullet informed him and Bruce just stared in shock before shaking his head.
"A few years ago and I would have jumped at the opportunity, today however the hulk and I have come to an understanding." Bruce said and Bullet nodded.
"Then I would hate to have to force a dose, you really should stay out of this." Bullet said and Bruce stepped back away from Fury. " I mean no one that doesnt deserve it any harm, we are taking down people that hate mutants and are hunting them down as the hulk you should know exactly how I feel."
"One down Nick." Logan smirked and rubbed his knuckles itching to let his claws loose.
"That cure wont work on me." Iron man said and raised his hand and it began to glow threateningly.
"Mark 7 power down." Bullet said and Iron man's hand fell down to its side and the blue light from the repulsor blast faded.
"Jarvis what happened? Get my suit back up." Tony said.
"Lockout code six, two, niner, Charlie, foxtrot, lima." Bullet said and locket Jarvis out of the suit.
"I am afraid I have been locked out and am currently unable to access the Mark 7's primary or secondary functions." Jarvis said.
"Bullet what did you do to my suit?" Tony yelled angrily.
"Two years ago, you traveled to China and battled the Mandarin. During that time I remote hacked Jarvis and shut him and your security down temporarily, It took me nearly fourty minutes to sneak in upload my voice commands to your armor suits and get back out, by the way the heated toilet seat is a nice touch." Bullet said and Logan smirked.
"You used my toilet?" Tony yelled even angrier now.
"I would think you would have learned by now Fury, I will beat you every time but this will be the last time. Tony's security is not all I hacked, I also tapped into the shield helicarrier and with the correct codes I can access all of it's functions. You will turn a blind eye to my mission or I will drop you into the Hudson." Bullet said.
"Your bluffing." Fury said angrily.
"I never bluff." Bullet said and pulled his cell phone from his pocket and typed in a code.
"Director Fury, we have lost engines one and three." An agent said over Fury's radio.
Nick fury pulled a pistol and aimed it at Bullet's head. "Start the engines back up." Fury demanded.
"Go ahead Nick pull the trigger, I am the only one with the codes." Bullet said. "Now I am done with this game of cat and mouse. I am getting tired of you coming after me time and time again so I am giving you an ultimatum. Judging by my calculations, you have just over two minutes before your helicarrier is at the bottom of the Hudson, so you will either get in line or get out of my way. " Bullet said forcefully and Fury said nothing.
"One minute and thirty seconds Nick." Bullet said and began to place his phone back in his pocket.
"Ok you win." Fury said unable to call Bullet's bluff in case he was in fact not bluffing. "What about your prisoners?" Fury then asked.
"They will be released and you will take them with you, they have not been harmed. James, release the prisoners and send them around front." Bullet said turning his head back to the Aerie. "You didn't honestly think that those two could beat me did you?" Bullet then asked turning back to Fury.
"I told them to wait until you were away from here and alone." Fury answered.
"They don't listen very well, a little over confident. It wouldn't have mattered they were both outclassed, Iron fist was good but is only versed in the one form of martial arts and doesn't have it in him to end my life it causes him to hold back, and Luke is so unused to pain that when he experiences it, it is overwhelming." Bullet said and just then Luke Cage and Iron Fist walked out. "As I said unharmed. Now you will keep up your end and stay out of my teams way." Bullet said and Fury nodded before turning and walking back to the SUV they arrived in. "Oh and Fury don't bother trying to deactivate my security measures it will take you a hundred years." Bullet then said and turned to walk back into the Aerie.
"What about me?" Stark asked still unable to move.
"What do you think?" Bullet asked Logan as they turned back around.
"An Iron man statue would be a nice addition." Logan answered.
"Yea but if we leave him in there the smell of him rotting will be too much to bare." Bullet said. "Deactivate lockout code, authorization code seven, four, one, bravo, sierra, November. Mark 7 restore power." Bullet said and the suit began to power back up and Tony took off into the sky.
"He still has a hard on for you." Logan said as they began walking back in.
"Shoot a guy one time and he stays angry for well over a decade." Bullet shook his head.
"You shot Iron man comrade?" Piotr asked.
"Yea Fury sent the Hulk after me when I was young. They took me to the helicarrier, I escaped, headed to the armory got my weapons and Tony tried to stop me, He was unaware of the adamantium bullets and I put a round in his thigh through the suit." Bullet answered.
"Who was that little guy?" Piotr asked.
"Bruce Banner, you probably know him as The Hulk." Bullet said and Piotr stopped in his tracks.
"That was The Hulk?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yea that's why I told you not to underestimate him."
Angel's Aerie
Colorado
Two days later
"What are you doing here Scott, did you find any Intel that will help us?" Bullet asked as he met Cyclops in the living area.
"Nothing you don't already have. I do however have another mission for you." Scott said.
"We started this team to put an end to the Purifiers threat to mutants, I am not taking requests, sorry to waste your time." Bullet said and sat on the sofa.
"This isn't a request." Scott said more forcefully.
"I definitely don't take orders, watch your tone Scott I have had a hell of a week." Bullet warned getting slightly angry with Scott's tone.
"Don't forget I started this team." Scott said through gritted teeth.
"You brought us together then stepped aside, you hold no power here. My team will stay focused on the task at hand." Bullet said refusing to give any ground.
"What are you doing here goggles?" Logan asked as he walked in.
"Mastermind has been single handedly waging a war against the purifiers, making them commit suicide publicly." Scott informed him.
"We have bigger fish to fry besides it sounds to me like he should be on our team." Bullet said.
"You heard the man." Logan agreed.
"He is not keeping his part in it a secret, it looks bad on mutants everywhere, he needs to be stopped." Scott said not backing off either.
"We can always rebuild our reputation, its not like human think the world of us as it is." Bullet informed him.
"How dare you disobey me." Scott yelled.
"Disobey you? As I said you hold no power here, you hold no position above us how dare you feel like you have some sense of entitlement." Bullet yelled back.
"I was asking nicely at first, I can make you do what I want." Scott said and Bullet used every bit of patience and restraint he could muster to not punch him.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Bullet asked holding in his anger.
"Emma is a very powerful mutant." Scott smirked.
"Tell your whore to bring it on, the professor couldn't access my mind." Bullet laughed.
"She has the cuckoo's or did you forget about that?" Scott said sure he had the upper hand.
"I will kill them before they get close enough, keep pushing your luck and you might not walk out of here. I always respected you Scott but I will not allow you to threaten me I suggest you go before things turn ugly." Bullet suggested and Scott stepped face to face with Bullet and Logan sat back with a smirk.
Bullet delivered a punch so quick Scott couldn't react to avoid it. The blow shattered his nose filling the air with sound of the bones crunching underneath the pressure of his fist. Scott lifted his head with blood pouring from his nose and prepared to fire a blast when he felt the barrel of a pistol pressed to his chest.
"Go now." Bullet demanded. "Get your nose looked at. Oh and I wouldn't suggest coming back without a very sincere apology."
Scott backed off and spit blood on the floor fearing a bullet in the chest. He walked out of the door and Bullet sat back down on the sofa.
"I was wondering if you were ever going to do that." Logan smiled as he sat next to Bullet.
"Punch him?" Bullet asked.
"Yeah he's such a tight ass, as many times as the two of you have argued, you always held back, your a better man than me. What pushed you over the edge this time?" He then asked.
"I don't know, stress, long week or maybe I just finally got fed up with him." Bullet smirked. "What makes people think they can control me? Do I really seem like that much of a pushover?" Bullet asked.
"Its not like these are normal people trying to enforce themselves, these are leaders, commanders, generals. That is all they have known for a long time." Logan said being the voice of reason for a change.
"Your probably right, I have a question for you or more of a request." Bullet said and got to his feet.
"Go ahead." Logan said.
"Can you take over the team for a week or so. I need a vacation." Bullet asked him.
"You want me to sit here and continue training these bastards while you go and relax." Logan said.
"If you are not up for it, can you at least make sure they don't do anything stupid? I will give them homework to keep them busy. It is more of a working vacation if thats any consolation." Bullet asked.
"No problem, I'm just going to sit around and drink. Where yah goin?" Logan then asked.
"Africa." Bullet said and walked to go pack everything he needed for the trip.
...
"Where are we going?" Domino asked as she walked into Bullet's room and noticed him packing.
"We are going nowhere, I am going to Africa." Bullet informed her.
"Oh a safari sounds fun." Domino said.
"One, you are not going, and two, not that part of Africa." Bullet said.
"Where are we going then?" She asked.
"Its a secret, and you are not going." Bullet informed her again.
"I am going to go pack my things." Domino said and ran off before bullet could say anything else.
...
"So where are we going?" Domino asked as Bullet flew the jet.
"I suppose you are going to find out sooner or later, have you ever heard of a place called Wakanda?" Bullet asked.
"Its like Atlantis, noone knows if it actually exists." Domino answered.
"Oh its real." Bullet said and engaged the auto pilot so he could sit back and try to relax.
...
Bullet and Domino deboarded the jet and began trekking through the forest. They walked for nearly an hour. Domino kept catching sideways glances of Bullet looking around and constantly checking his surroundings. Bullet knew they were being watched and more than likely walking into a trap.
"I have never seen you this unsure of your surroundings, whats going on?" Domino asked growing nervous, having never seen Bullet like this.
"This place is dangerous keep your eyes open." Was all Bullet said as continued walking but kept his hands away from his pistols which confused Domino even more.
"We walk into buildings full of dozens of well armed and trained mutant hating religious freaks, but we walk through a forest and you are worried?" Domino asked.
"Yea there are poisonous spiders here, tiny and hard to see but can kill in hours." Bullet lied.
"Your lyi-" Domino began but was cut off by a spear digging into the ground at their feet. "What the." She said and reached for her pistols before Bullet grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"No." He commanded firmly.
Domino looked around and suddenly saw that they were surrounded by twenty tribesman armed with spears with extremely shiny incredibly sharp blades.
"Turn back now and you wont be harmed." One of the men said and stepped forward.
"We mean you no harm, we only wish to speak to your king." Bullet said and slowly pulled his pistols from his holsters and set them on the ground before instructing Domino to do the same.
"I said turn back." The man reitterated.
"I didn't come this far for no reason." Bullet said and held his hands up.
The man held his spear out until the tip was at Bullet's chest. Bullet stopped and thought for a second before grabbing the shaft sidestepping and pulling the man in towards him. Bullet headbutted the man, relieved him of his spear and threw it at another man pinning him to a tree by the waist band of the cloth covering him. Bullet then put his hands up as a sign of surrender to avoid further confrontation.
"Take me to your King." Bullet then said and the first man got off the ground and walked behind Bullet. The man kicked the back of Bullets knee causing him to drop down, he then bound his hands and put a blindfold over his eyes. They did the same to Domino and began walking them through the forest.
"If we get out of this I am going to kill you Bullet." Domino said to him angrily.
"We will be fine I promise." Bullet assured her although it really didn't ease her nerves.
They walked for twenty minutes before they came to a stop. More chatter began to fill the air and Domino began to grow more nervous.
"Release them." A loud commanding voice rang out above the rest and Bullet smiled. The restraints on his wrists were cut and he removed his blindfold.
"T'challa it's good to see you friend." Bullet said and embraced the man in full black panther gear in a hug. "Next time I expect better treatment however."
"Next time give me notice of your arrival." He replied and Domino looked on confused.
"The two of you know each other?" Domino asked. "Then why were we bound and blindfolded?"
"You must understand this place and its location has remained a secret for a very long time and for very good reason. Seeing as how you arrived with Jason I will assume that you can be trusted." T'challa said and gestured for them to follow him.
"I wish I could say that we are here for more personal reasons-" Bullet began.
"You need more vibranium." T'challa finished for him.
"Hold on I need some answers, how do you know each other?" Domino interrupted.
"Your boyfriend here, gave me back my kingdom." T'challa informed her.
"Uh we are not dating." Bullet said.
"I apologize, I just noticed the closeness and the body language between you and I assumed." He said.
"Back to the topic at hand." Bullet said changing the subject. "The way I remember it you won your kingdom back."
"I would never be able to rule Wakanda if I was an idiot." He said.
"Can you elaborate?" Domino asked.
"Of course. Many years ago I was dethroned by a man who called himself man-ape-" He began.
"Dethroned how?" Domino asked.
"Wakanda tradition states that when a king is challenged and loses in hand to hand combat the winner takes his place as the rightful King." T'challa said.
"You couldn't refuse?" Domino asked.
"Not without losing the respect of my tribe. As I was saying Man-ape challenged and bested me, He took his place as King and then Jason here snuck in one day looking for Vibranium. He was captured and taken prisoner, and placed in a cell right next to mine, I told Jason my story and he told me he could get us free in exchange for vibranium. He broke himself free and Challenged Man-ape in which he won and took the mantle of King. Jason then released me I challenged him to take back my spot as king and he took it easy on me and allowed me to beat him." T'challa explained.
"You were a king?" Domino asked Bullet amazed.
"For all of two hours." Bullet answered. "T'challa beat me fair and square, besides I am not exactly king material, Wakanda is in much better hands now."
"How long are you going to grace us with your presence?" T'challa asked.
"I must get back just enough to use your facilities if you don't mind." Bullet answered.
"Of course not, are you planning on forming here or elsewhere?" He asked.
"Here, the required equipment is a little tough to get my hands on elsewhere these days." Bullet answered.
"If you dont mind, might I ask what you are using it for?" T'challa asked him.
"Double Katanas." Bullet informed him.
"I should not have asked." He said and shook his head. "How much do you need?"
"No more than 40 pounds. Enough for the blades and a few more pistol barrels." Bullet said.
"That is quite a lot." T'challa responded.
"I could just take over as king again and take what I need." Bullet smiled earning a smirk from T'challa
