Title: Incursio
Written By: Mr. Omelette
Disclaimer: I'm not smart, artistic, enlightened and awesome enough to make either of them
Spoilers: The Rebellion and Avengers (2012) movie
A/N: ...italicized conversations mean that it's spoken in Japanese. Question: what's stronger the brainwashing thingy that Loki did to Hawkeye or a Witch's Kiss? I'm leaning towards Witch's Kiss since the incubator race has been perfecting their craft for a pretty long time.
Summary: Homura observes all other possibilities with her new powers. And Madoka just wants cake.
CHAPTER 9
In retrospect, of course Nick Fury didn't need to look that far.
"What's the story upstairs?" Yuma grinned and ran for Steve just after a huge man descended from the sky.
"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Kyoko warily stepped closer to the group of Steve Rogers. Among his companions, only the tall redhead lady was recognizable. There was the huge man who descended from the sky. His long, silk-like blond hair, in her opinion, didn't fit well with his strong build and metal armor. He held a simple looking hammer, but Kyoko could sense that the hammer was something... powerful.
The other person was a young man with ashen brown hair. His lean build was accentuated by the tight suit he wore, but his most noticeable feature was how he preferred to use a bow as a weapon.
A bow...
Briefly, Kyoko saw a glimpse of a dark-haired girl. The girl raised an intricate bow made of gold into the sky as cherry blossom petals danced around them. Beside her, a pink-haired girl... and... and...
"Mr. Rogers!" Yuma now stood in front of the shield-carrying man.
"Yuma? Wha-?"
"Captain, communication seems to be down." Natasha touched her earpiece again, to check if it had been a glitch. She was a little bit winded with all the fighting, and she feels like a rib of hers got cracked, but her injuries weren't that severe as compared to that time in Budapest.
The bowman recognized the young woman who accompanied the two children. "Bobbi? What're you doing here?"
Kyoko looked at the the young blonde woman then at the bowman, "'Bobbi'?"
The young blonde woman deflected the inquiry with a wave of her hand, "I never liked the name Roberta." She turned to the brunet, "On a vacation. At least I was before this" she indicated to everything happening around, "happened."
Steve Rogers looked at Kyoko then to Yuma, then to Natasha, Clint and then to Thor.
"Captain?" Natasha asked, "How do we do this?"
Despite worrying over the fact that Kyoko and Yuma were here, Steve Rogers came here on a mission. A mission he was sure he needed to complete. "As a team."
Thor spoke up, "I have unfinished business with Loki." And Kyoko could see that he was wounded, from the blood pumping out from his abdomen. She could clearly see that he was loosing blood, a fatal thing for an ordinary person. Still, he descended from the sky, after raining down lightning, so maybe he was a superhero too. In fact, maybe this team were full of superheroes. Or something.
Mami would've loved to see such a shonen-esque team. That was her dream back then. To have a team of hers.
"Yeah?" the bowman, whose name Kyoko would learn as Clint, muttered, "Well, get in line."
Steve Rogers shook his head, "Save it. Loki's gonna keep the fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us..."
Kyoko heard the hum of a nearing motorcycle. She turned to the side, and saw a weathered man riding said motorcycle. Apparently he was pretty important because Steve and his team ran towards him.
"So," said the weathered man as he descended from the motorcycle, "this all seems horrible."
Out of the corner of Kyoko's eye, she saw Roberta tense and grab her bo staff upon seeing the man who looked like a gust of wind would break him.
"I've seen worse." replied the redhead lady.
"Sorry."
Natasha, the name that the redhead lady would introduce to Kyoko, shook her head, "No," oddly, a faint glow of a smile graced her face, "we could use a little worse."
"Dr. Banner's here. We now need Stark." Steve Rogers looked at everyone, "Are any of your comms working?"
The bowman checked his, "Nope."
So did Thor, "Mine is not working."
Natasha looked at Roberta, to which the blonde woman would shook her head, "Mine's down as well."
A building breaking in two caught their attention, and Kyoko would recognize the man in red armor. He was being followed by, essentially, a flying whale, in Kyoko's opinion.
Dr. Banner walked towards the direction of the flying whale. "Let me handle this."
"Are you sure?" Steve asked.
The man only nodded in reply before turning into...
"Is that the Hulk?" Yuma asked from beside Steve Rogers. Everyone watched as the Hulk simply jumped high up in the air and punched the flying whale's head.
The whale didn't stand a chance.
When it was down on the ground, the man in red armor descended to the ground. "What happened to the communication line?"
Everyone didn't know. Good thing JARVIS was installed manually on each suit that he owns, because while Tony Stark might not say it out loud, JARVIS does give him an extra boost in the Iron Man's overall capabilities.
"But we still have a mission to finish."
"Well, what do we do now?"
Steve Rogers looked at the hole in the sky. "Until we could close that portal, our priority is containment." Kyoko watched and listened to Steve Roger's plan. And she's gotta give it to the mild-mannered, blender-fearing Steve Rogers because that plan didn't sound bad. In fact, it was a pretty good one.
Give the bowman height to control the flying aliens. The red armored man would focus on containment. The man named Thor would try to do something to the portal and the aliens pouring from it.
"Wait!" Yuma called out to the man.
"What is it, little one?"
"You're wounded." And even if Kyoko expressed her disapprovement telepathically, Yuma did it anyway.
Yuma's hands glowed green, and she hovered it over where the injury of Thor.
"Sorcery?" The Asgardian wondered. In fact, all of them, save Kyoko, watched the miracle that this green-haired child was doing.
Yuma tilted her head, "What's that?"
"Are you a child of magic?"
Realization graced Yuma's face. "Yes, I guess I am." She smiled as she finished patching up his abdominal wound. "There, all better. Mister...?"
And while the setting was bizarre, Thor actually laughed - a good, heartfelt laugh - "Thor. Little one, I am known as Thor." And with that, he leapt forward and actually flew to the portal.
Those that remained were still trying to wrap their minds around the idea that this young girl used magic. Or simply, trying to wrap their minds around the idea that [Magic] even existed.
Good thing Stark had flown carrying Clint earlier, Steve thought, because he wasn't sure how he'd take it.
"Yuma? You-?"
"Sorry about not telling you, Mr. Rogers." Yuma looked at him full of remorse.
Steve looked at Kyoko, "Did you know about this?" He's not mad, actually. Just very, very, very surprised. "Are you like her?"
Kyoko merely crossed her arms, and tilted her head. "What's it to you?"
While Kyoko and Steve had a staring match, Natasha watched as the youngest stood in front of her, "You too, ma'am. You're hurt." And before the Black Widow could answer, she was enveloped by the same green glow from earlier. Looking at the floor, she could see a supernatural glowing magical circle filled with designs of carrots, pandas, bears and stars.
She's heard of a division of S.H.I.E.L.D. focused on the arcane and the strange, but she's never actually seen it. Watching this young girl do magic, well, she'll have to report that to the Colonel. And maybe she could finally ask him about the rumored division and not look crazy. And with freaken aliens, crazy might not be crazy after all.
The pain she felt on her chest subsided, even her minor injuries healed too, and she offered a simple 'thank you' as she finished.
"Captain?" She called out to the young man who was still staring at the redhead preteen. "Your orders, sir."
"This conversation isn't over." He told Kyoko. He turned to the Hulk, who looked at the Yuma in bewildered interest, and uttered one word, "Smash."
The green-skinned man grinned and leaped to the air and wreaked destruction to all aliens that stood on his way.
Looking over at Natasha, "We'll keep the fighting here." He then turned to Roberta, "And you, miss? Who're you?"
Natasha spoke up, "She's with S.H.I.E.L.D."
Roberta only smiled. If one were to tell her she'd meet a legend during an alien attack, she'd either tell that person he's either incredible stupid or punch him in the gut for taking the effort of being stupid. Alas, she's here, staring at one Steve Rogers.
"Can you fight, ma'am?"
"I'm not that old." The Mockingbird pouted, "And yes. I can."
"Can I trust you to lead these two," he mentioned to Kyoko and Yuma, "to safety?"
"We're not going anywhere." Yuma told him.
"It's not negotiable. You're civilians." He started, "You're not safe here."
"But... But I... I can fight." She said with a frown.
Steve Rogers knelt in front of her, "You don't have to."
"I want to."
"I don't want you to." He looked at her, "I want you to be safe."
"I can be safe around you." Yuma told him, voice soft.
"Please, Yuma." He looked at her, and Kyoko would see the Steve Rogers she's familiar with.
Kyoko would hear the inhumane screams of the foot soldiers, and by the time the adults would realize it, it would be too late.
Surrounded in all directions, Steve would strategize that they needed to break their formations and pierce through the enemy lines. He and the Black Widow would take the lead while the Mockingbird would watch their backs as the young girls would be ushered roughly between them.
It was all pretty overrated, Kyoko would think, and she'd summon her spear because she doesn't appreciate and doesn't like being thought of by Steve as weak.
"Are you kidding me?" And she'll break free from being sandwiched by the three adults. Making a sharp turn when Roberta wasn't looking, she'd leap just like the leap made by the Hulk, and land on the area where the foot soldiers were concentrated the most.
Faintly, she'd hear Steve Rogers scream her name, but she'll already be in the heat of battle. Slashing, stabbing and piercing the aliens with so much ease, the Taskmaster (should he see what Kyoko's capable of) would just weep with joy at seeing someone make fighting look like an art form.
Natasha definitely wasn't expecting the level of mastery Kyoko had over the spear. She also wasn't expecting to see her use magic as well. Well, she was more surprised with the spear more than the magic, but that's only because this kid is so good at fighting. The chains, and similar-looking spears that she summoned from the ground, from building walls, and from thin air added to the overall effect of deadly Kyoko had on the spear. Which, in turn, added to the surprise that Natasha felt.
She would never know, but the Incubator race have imparted [Puella Magi] with fighting prowess not just for fighting [Wraiths], but also to attract the audience. Audiences that, when shown to possess potential, could be recruited for their cause. While the banner 'fight for the good of mankind' have a definite ring to it for a homo sapien, centuries of research and refinement have given them knowledge that their target audience, young girls, are more likely to go into their fold if they are promised a sense of adventure and excitement.
And stylish fighting is always a good way to give that sense of adventure and excitement. Aside from the single miracle the Incubator race could grant with their [Wish], the appeal of being a magical girl also has its roots with fighting extravagantly.
Anyway, there were at least two dozen foot soldiers that had surrounded them earlier, but with Kyoko's superior fighting, they were quickly reduced to single digits. Single digits that the five of them easily dealt with. Twenty seconds. Tops.
When the enemies were downed, and unmoving, Kyoko swished her spear to get rid of all the oil-like liquids her spear's bladed tip accumulated from hacking and slashing alien limbs.
Yuma, who fought with her huge staff earlier, looked at the only male in the group with a grin, "Like I said, Mr. Rogers: we can fight."
Steve Rogers, however, still wouldn't budge. "Yuma." he knelt in one knee and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears, "Just because you could fight, doesn't mean you should." Seeing Kyoko and Yuma fight, and fight good, somehow made Steve let out a huge sigh of relief. Because that meant that they won't go down that easily.
But children aren't mean to fight wars. They aren't mean to fight. Period. Call it stubborn, foolish or anything else, but that is the moral code that he lived with. If he would lead a team, a team of... superheroes... then he would ensure that what they fought for was for the good of everyone. That they fight for the good.
He figured he'd have trouble convincing Yuma since Kyoko seems to want to fight too, but the young redhead would surprise him.
"Let's go Yuma."
"Onee-chan?" Yuma turned to Kyoko, face in disbelief.
"It isn't safe here." She told her, and he wouldn't be able to fight properly if he's worrying over our safety. She added through their telepathic link.
For a moment, Kyoko and Yuma shared a look. Luckily, Yuma would be the first one to fold, "Okay." She walked towards Steve Rogers and engulfed the young man in a hug, "Just be safe."
The hug caught Steve by surprise, and both the Black Widow and the Mockingbird would actually (inwardly) 'aw' at the cuteness of seeing a legend being hugged by a kid. But they hid it well.
An idea came to Yuma. Just because she couldn't be there with Mr. Rogers doesn't mean she couldn't protect him. She hastily broke free from the hug and smiled at him. "In that case, Mr. Rogers..." And Kyoko would feel a twitch forming on her forehead.
A green hue surrounded Steve Rogers, and he started to feel... more. Better. Faster. Stronger.
A power buff. And Kyoko would want nothing more than throttle Yuma. Knowing her, she'd keep the buff up for as long as this... whatever it is Steve was doing here. And that's a very strenuous thing Yuma's doing to her [Soul Gem]. She's stubborn - just like every other healer-support type - so there's no way she'll be able to be talked out keeping the buff up.
Knowing Yuma, she'd be stubborn with keeping the buff up for as long as she could. Hell, Yuma might even use all of her power, without regards to herself, just to keep Steve safe.
Natasha and Roberta watched as Steve's outfit change. His suit was still blue, but it looked more... extravagant. And less bulky-looking. Like it was his second skin. It also doesn't hurt that it isn't unpleasing in the eyes. Oh, and he had a cape. If Stark saw Steve Rogers now, he'll probably comment that he needed a sword to look like a knight.
"There." Yuma smiled and turned around. "Let's go onee-chan."
Before they left, however, Kyoko cornered Steve, "Do whatever it is you're doing quickly. Yuma's... suffering trying to keep you powered up."
Steve wasn't able to ask what she meant by that because Kyoko turned around and followed Yuma's lead.
Before they left, Natasha shared a glanced with Barbara "Roberta" Morse. No words were spoken, but they came to an understanding. Something only the two women knew about.
Elsewhere, while Iron Man was keeping busy a flying whale. The comm line pushed through.
"Stark?" It was Clint's voice.
"The line's on?" He sent an energy beam to a flying foot soldier, sending it crashing to the ground.
"I'm not sure." Clint was busy hitting on flying enemies. "Wait a sec..." he pressed a button from his ear piece that was directly to HQ.
"Agent Barton?"
"Maria?"
"What's going on? Why did the line got cut?"
"We're trying to find out about it too. Did you happen to meet with Agent 19?" If Maria was the one he's talking too, then the Colonel must be doing something even more important. Like politicking with the Council.
"Yes. And I think she's using an alias."
"Is she?" Maria motioned for Cotton, who was still looking at the surveillance that was focus on the Mockingbird. Agent Cotton needed to hear this.
"Yes."
"Tell me, Agent Barton. Who was she with when she came in contact with your team?" It might shed some light on the two blobs that they were seeing in their live feed.
"I'm not entirely sure. But she came with two kids. The captain apparently knows them."
Wait a second. "Did you say kids? And are you saying captain Steve Rogers know them?"
"Yes." Clint answered, "What is this about?"
Maria Hill leaned forward, "Did one of the two kids have green hair?"
Clint raised a brow, curious and interested. Simultaneously, he sent an arrow that pierced a flying foot soldier straight in its forehead. "Yes."
"Agent Barton. What happened to-wait."
Agent Cotton looked over the screen Maria was looking at and saw that the comm lines of both the captain and Agent Romanoff was back on.
"Agent Romanoff." Maria Hill said.
"Yes?"
"Are the two kids still with you?"
"Kids? No, they're with Agent 19."
"And Agent 19?"
"The captain sent her to take the two kids to safety."
Maria Hill had to groan. Still, she could still get some information regarding the two children. "Tell me all that you know about them."