To JeremyRennerLover- yeah, a lot happened in that chapter, and yes, she probably should've called for backup, but let's face it, she's a Stark. Do you really expect a Stark to call for help?
To Aqua468- yup, you figured me out, my superpower is superspeed fanfic updates.
Disclaimer- I do not own the Avengers, rights go to their proper owners.
~~~~~With the team, minus Shay~~~~~
Belle's ears were still ringing from the explosion. She was on the ground next to Ethan, Alek and Iris were on the other side of the smoking crater that had formed in the center of the field.
That had been an arrow.
But the only one at Cyclone who could actually use a bow and arrow well was...
A displeased sigh from the shadows, and then a familiar sarcastic voice rang out from the side of the courtyard. "You know, that's why I tried to get rid of you first, Iris, your survival instincts are too good." That's when Archer stepped out of the shadows.
"Archer? What are you-" Belle got cut out by another arrow coming in her direction, and Ethan barely managed to push her out of the way in time, luckily that arrow was just a normal one, no explosives or anything.
She could hear Ethan breathing roughly, and then a low growl came out of his throat. She knew why he was fighting Junior back, he didn't want Archer to get hurt, even if he was slightly crazy at the moment. However, she knew it wouldn't matter if it was Ethan or Junior, neither would want him to get hurt.
"Brother Archer!" Alek started, trying to get his friend's attention. "We do not want to hurt you!"
"I'm sorry, but I have no such restrictions." Archer started, and pulled another arrow out of his quiver.
Iris jumped at him, but if there was anybody who could stand up to Iris in hand-to-hand combat, it was Archer. She couldn't land an attack, and neither could he, but Archer had the advantage, Iris was trying to knock him out, Archer was aiming to actually hurt her, or worse.
He finally managed to shove his bow into her chest, and send her flying backward, that's when Junior came out.
A loud growl followed by the ripping noise of Ethan's clothes, and then Junior was catching Iris and putting her gently on the ground.
"Junior no wanna hurt arrow boy. Arrow boy nice to Junior." He growled lowly, sounding almost upset.
"You don't need to hurt him badly, Junior, just try to knock him out so we can find out what's up." Belle told him, patting his arm.
Junior looked at her for a second, before letting out a loud roar and running at Archer, who didn't even flinch.
He just smirked, and pulled another arrow out of his quiver, and notching his bow. He pulled it back and released.
It hit Junior in the chest, and he gasped and slowed down. The tranquilizer arrow wasn't enough to fully knock him out, but it was enough to make him fall to his knees, breathing like he'd just run a long marathon.
Alek tried next, running up to Archer, screaming his signature battle cry. Archer pushed him back with his bow, and then kicked him hard in the chest, before shooting another explosive arrow at Belle, who was only a few feet behind Alek. She barely dodged and another small explosion went off next to her.
Iris was up again, and was on Archer like a bullet, but he still managed to counter every single one of her attacks.
She tried grabbing his bow from his hands, but he held on, and they ended up in a small game of tug-a-war, until a familiar sound of rockets came from behind him.
Then, Archer gasped, and wobbled, before crumpling to the ground. Shay stood behind him, her gauntlet raised from where she had just knocked it against the back of Archer's head.
"Sorry, Archer." She said, kneeling down next to him.
"Shay? What just happened." Belle asked, staring at her friend.
"I'll explain on the way, come on, the closest transporter is in the science lab, honestly, I don't know why I came through the one in the main building." She said, and made a move to grab Archer, but Alek stopped her, and swung the smaller boy into a fireman's carry.
"I will carry him, Shanelle." He offered, and she nodded, before going to help Ethan, who had slowly turned back from Junior after getting shot with the arrow.
"Come on, let's go." And they started sneaking over to the lab. They got in, and passed several doors before getting to the room with the transporter. But something froze them in their tracks outside the door. There was blood leaking into the hallway.
They all looked at each other, before slowly making their way into the room.
And then, Belle leaned over and threw up, while Alek gasped, Iris let out a shocked cry, Ethan almost passed out, and Shay froze.
There were their guardians, their parents, and Geoff, their beloved uncle, were lying on the floor of the room, pools of blood surrounding their dead bodies.
~~~~~Later~~~~~
When Archer woke up, he had a killer headache.
He groaned and opened his eyes, he was laying down on a big, fluffy bed, looking up at a painted red ceiling littered with posters of the Avengers. He was in Shay's room.
Shay was leaning over him, her face alarmingly close to his.
"Whoa! Space-bubble!" He yelled, blushing bright red. If it was anybody else, he would have opened with a snarky, "Why, hello there," until they rolled their eyes and backed up, but it was Shay.
Shay, who he might've had a crush on since he was 12.
But, let's face it, there wasn't any possible way for him to get any deeper into the friend zone, so he was fine with nobody knowing, well, except Iris, but Iris knew everything.
Not to mention, a girl couldn't know that you wet the bed until you were seven and then want to be your girlfriend.
Currently, she just rolled her eyes. "Shut up and let me see your eyes." She said, checking to make sure that his eyes were clear. They were.
"It looks like it's worn off." She told the rest of the team, who were all standing further away from the bed. That's when Archer noticed something, she had tear tracks on her face, like she had been crying.
"What...what happened." He asked, looking around and wondering why the whole team looked so devastated.
"Archer, you were being mind-controlled by Dr. Lane." Belle told him gently.
That's when he remembered, Marking was hypnotized, Kelly and Lane knocking him out, then, everything had turned black.
"Marking was too!" Archer said shooting into a sitting position on the bed.
"We know, Shay hacked into some of Lane's files." Iris told him, she came up next to him and started rubbing his back.
"Well, that's nice, did I miss anything else?" He asked, sarcastically.
"Yup, Hawkeye is your father." Shay told him, blunt and casual.
"Oh that' nice-WHAT?!" He asked.
Alek chuckled, and almost everyone else cracked a smile.
"If it makes you feel any better, Iron Man is my father, Captain America is Belle's father, Hulk is Ethan's, Thor is Alek's, and Black Widow is Iris' mother." Shay continued.
"But...But...how!?" He asked, still in shock.
"We're science experiments." Iris said humorously.
"What?" He asked again, more confused than ever.
"The Avengers' blood was stolen from them without them ever knowing, even before the Chitauri attack on Manhattan. They used that blood to create sex cells, which were then implanted into surrogates, 9 months later..." Ethan let his sentence hang as he gestured to the team.
"Did...Who know about this?" Archer asked again, while he tried to process that his hero was also his father.
"Not many people, only Lane, Kelly, and a few of their lackeys." Iris said.
He sighed in relief. "I'm just glad that none of our guardians knew about this, or Geoff, that would suck." He said.
Everybody else exchanged a look, their facial expressions turning anguished.
"Okay...something else happened." Archer said, his eyes trailing over each of their faces.
"Archer...they are...dead." Alek told him gently.
Archer stared at him. "W-...what?" He muttered.
"Geoff, Mona, Monica, Nicholas, Allen, Henry, and Georgia...they're dead, Archer." Belle's voice broke.
Archer's heart stopped. "H-How did that..." He didn't need to finish.
"Geoff noticed that something was up with Marking, so he went snooping. Our foster parents were worried about us, so they came home early. T-They knew too much, Lane...Lane wouldn't let them live after they figured out his plan." Ethan could barely finish his sentence.
At first, Archer felt like he was about to start sobbing, but then, his emotions did a complete turn around, and he had never felt angrier in his life.
"Alright," He growled, "And what are we gonna do about it?" He asked.
Shay smirked. "We thought you'd never ask."
~~~~~End Chapter~~~~~
So...funny story, I was actually going to publish this one, and chapter 9, yesterday, but, I broke my wrist, while I was typing this. I was in my bedroom, finishing this chapter, and my mom called me downstairs, and I ended up falling down the stairs...Fun.