Chapter Ten
"So they beat Doom, there's nothing to worry about, and we can all go home now?"
Rhodey let the phone hover near his ear, not wanting to turn around and face the new team - his new team. In the two or so hours they'd been together, they'd sort of elected him leader; asking him questions about their form while they were training, wanting to know what the general plan was. Sure, he'd lead people into battle before, but this was different. This was more personal. He knew these people, knew they had family (Lily was a mother, for crying out loud), and didn't want for them to have to place their lives on the line (Peter wasn't even old enough to drive).
Swallowing hard, the colonel slowly turned to face them. The clenching feeling in his gut tightened when he saw Peter, the one who had spoken, grinning hopefully at him. God, he was just a kid... Sure, he was Spiderman, and yes, he'd fought some bad guys, but this? Rhodey didn't want to put Peter through that. He didn't want to put any of them through that.
With a lot of effort, Rhodey shook his head. "No. No, it's not that, it's - "
"Did they find them?" Lily asked, her voice cracking. She put a delicate hand on Rhodey's arm, begging with him, pleading with him, and he wished he could look away. Why did her eyes have to fill with tears? Why couldn't this just be another squad he was leading into battle?
"They found Roan," he told her.
When she burst into tears (that were hopefully tears of joy), he patted her awkwardly on the back. Gasping slightly, she looked back up at him, eyes wide. He knew what she was asking: Did they find Loki? He shook his head slightly. At that, she gasped again, then bit her lip, trying not to cry.
"Is that it?" Coulson, who had been standing in the corner like the superspy he was, asked, raising his head questioningly. One eyebrow appeared from behind his dark sunglasses.
Figures that it would be Coulson who knew there was something else. The man worked for SHIELD, where there was always a catch. Like, The Avengers beat Loki's alien army, but sort of blew up half of Manhattan in the process. You're on clean-up duty. "No. There's more."
Rhodey started to pace back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. "We know for sure now that Magneto is one of Doom's accomplices. We also suspect that his army of mutants, known as Magneto's Brotherhood, could be here at any moment. From the files I've read on them, we may be in over our head. Most of them, if not all, are extremely powerful."
Peter just scoffed. "We can take 'em." He folded his arms over his chest and shurgged in a very Tony-esque manner. "I mean, come on, we're us. You're War Machine, I have no idea who the girls are, Coulson's scary, and I'm Spider-Man. Should we really be all that worried?"
"Yes," Coulson replied, taking a step forward from the shadows.
Rhodey internally tensed. Coulson was never that smooth when he walked - he was uptight and awkward, unless he was in the middle of kicking ass. There was also something different about his voice. It was more... feminine. And amplified, like he was speaking over a loudspeaker. It seemed to come at them from all angles.
Apparently, Veronica Parker sensed it, too. As Coulson moved past her, her brows furred and she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. "Coulson? Are you OK?"
With a snarl, a literal snarl, Coulson whipped around and backhanded her. Veronica, eyes wide in shock, toppled over, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Then, Coulson turned on them. Right before their eyes, his skin rippled, and blue scales crawled up his body and suit, turning him into a blue... woman.
Mystique. Tony had told Rhodey about how the mutant had tried to hurt Allie and Pepper in the hospital. But he'd also mentioned that Logan had killed her.
The rest of his team stared at him, waiting for him to act.
"You're supposed to be dead." Really, it wasn't necessary for Rhodey to mention that. He was just stalling, buying time. His eyes darted around the room, searching for something he could use. On his own, without the armor, there was no way he could beat her, and he knew that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a barbell, and a plan began to form. Slowly, he began to inch his way towards his weapon of choice.
Mystique didn't notice; she only laughed, a throaty sound that echoed off the walls. "Really, now. Logan stabbed me and left me to die - in the middle of a hospital. The doctors were treating me only seconds after your friends had left."
He was close now, only a few feet away. "Where's Coulson?"
"The small, government man who's form I took?" The mutant blinked her yellow eyes innocently. "He's fine. He's simply... tied up at the moment. Erik and I found his threats amusing; perhaps we'll keep him around so that he can continue to speak of 'tasing' us once the rest of your race has been put in its proper place."
The barbell was right beside him now. Rhodey shook his head in Mystique's direction. "You should know better than to have messed with Coulson."
Just as Mystique opened her mouth to respond, Rhodey reached out and grasped the barbell with both hands, staggering slightly under its weight. Thank God he was in good shape, or this would have been impossible. With a grunt, he whirled around, letting go of the training device. It sailed through the air.
It caught Mystique's chest, then sent her backwards with a surprised shriek. Taking that as his cue, Peter leapt across the room in a single bound, landing on top of the mutant. Though Rhodey couldn't quite see what was going on, he could hear Peter's fist meeting Mystique's face.
Things went sour for the teenager when blue legs reached up and wrapped around his neck (How did she do that?), strangling him. Peter let out a gurgling noise as he flailed about in a weak attempt to free himself.
Before Rhodey could even start to move forward to help, a bright, burning figure was there.
Through the flames, he could just make out a small, petite outline of a woman. The fire seemed to dance around Lily, never harming or really touching her, but always there. She hesitate awkwardly, then reached out and tapped one of Mystique's legs.
The blue skin was instantly replaced with a gleaming, red, charred patch. Wailing, Mystique's legs fell limp to the floor, giving Peter the perfect opportunity to get out of there. In less than a second, there was no movement in the room, and the only sound were Mystique's desperate sobs as she tried to clutch her burnt leg.
Lily's fire faded to reveal round blue eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt her, I just... I didn't know that would happen! I'm so sorry!"
"She just tried to kill me!" Peter pointed out, throwing his hands up in the air. "No need to apologize to her, really."
Veronica, who's face was already starting to bruise, staggered forward to join the group. "I think she's fine," she muttered, glaring daggers at the mutant, who hissed in response.
Standing tall, Rhodey moved so that he was right over Mystique. He took in a deep breath and made his face completely blank, like he did whenever he needed to be authoritative. Right now, he was sure he was screaming 'Lt. Colonel who will not hesitate to throw you into a cell at Leavenworth'. And that was just what he was going for.
"She may be fine now," Rhodey admitted slowly, leaning forward so that he was only inches away from her face. "But if she doesn't tell us what we need to know, that state may change very suddenly."
Mystique's eyes widened in fear.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
Coulson was doing something very un-Coulson-like: singing. Singing Disney.
But only because he was trying to mess with his captor's head.
"Let's get down to business... to defeat... the Huns! Did they send me daughters... when I asked... for sons? You're the saddest bunch I've ever met, but you can bet, before we're through - "
The chains around his neck tightened suddenly, causing him to stop and gasp for any breath that he could find. After a good ten seconds of choking for air, the chains loosened again, and he slumped back against the bars of his cage, rubbing his now sore neck.
"You're through," a familiar voice drawled/growled. It was old and full of passion at all times, but could go from being grandfatherly warm to deep-sea cold just like that. Right now, it was Antartica freezing.
Magneto was not happy with Coulson. Which was just what the SHIELD agent wanted.
"Are you not a fan of Mulan, then?" Coulson asked, calling up his inner (shudder) Tony Stark. "Was there a Disney movie that you enjoyed more? Did you like the Muppets? I could sing that for you. We went to see it as a team bondin - "
The cage began to rattle uncontrollably, even though Magneto was on the other side of the room. Oh, come on! Why wouldn't he just come and get in Coulson's face? "Be quiet. At first, you amused me, Mr. Coulson. Now, you getting on my last nerve. Mind your tongue, or I may have to remove it."
Should he rein in his behavior? Or push Magneto's buttons some more.
Push the buttons.
"I see." Coulson nodded sagely, mentally wincing about how ridiculous he was being. It's all part of the plan, it's all part of the plan, it's all part of the plan. "You didn't like that they added a new Muppet. Walter. You liked the original cast. I understand that. When I found out that Kermit was not going to be the main character, I was ready to - "
Magneto was their in a flash, gripping Coulson by his suit, hauling him up off the cold, metal cage floor. "I said silence. I am not an easily provoked man, Mr. Coulson, but you have managed to send me to the edge. I have seen you work - the event at the gas station was most impressive. It would be a shame to loose such a potential minion."
Coulson bristled at the word 'minion'. He was no one's minion, not even Fury's. But he kept calm. With that awkward, grin/grimace of his, he held his hands up in surrender, lightly brushing Magneto's shoulder as he went. "I'll be silent from now on. OK?"
Scoffing, Magneto threw him back down and stormed away. After lifting himself backup, Coulson allowed himself one small, genuine smile.
He could see Magneto's new tracker blinking from all the way over here.