Chapter Thirty Five

Hoshi wheeled down the ramp as the quinn jet touched down, there was a small town in the distance. She was still good at working a wheel chair from when she was partially paralyzed. Luckily Stark had been smart enough to park near the road for her, she saw Wanda walk beside her quietly as Tony finished a call he was placing to Pepper. Hoshi looked at the woman, "so what are you?"

"Not quite sure, I think I fit under Oracle," she paused, "maybe psychic."

Hoshi heard Seiza snort mentally, "maybe?"

"I honestly don't fit one criteria," she said.

"Oh, you were a product of Baron Strucker," she asked.

She nodded quietly, "yes..."

"You're not the only person he messed with here," she said softly. "I don't talk much about my days in the gulf war...but Strucker was head of the Beserker program. There was a reason why I left." Hoshi paused and then yelled, "Stark, can we get a move on!"

Wanda walked with her towards the road as Tony came out, "this place looks really familiar..."

"I don't know where he lives, but you do Tony," Wanda said as they walked into town.

He looked around, "I do...Hoshi..."

The city was desolate and empty as they strolled in. Wanda couldn't feel anyone around, it was very similar to the event that occurred moments before Kunito appeared. She said, "everyone is gone."

Hoshi sighed heavily, "well, Tony?"

He looked around and saw a pickup truck at a bar that looked familiar, "wait..."

"Is that where we should go," Hoshi asked.

"Yeah, Hoshi...what do you know about this?"

She sighed as she wheeled along, "I know that Maria took Yuli with her when she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. There was a program called Tahiti, all I knew about it was that it was that one of my fellow beserkers was said to have been brain dead but a few weeks later we all saw Owl. He wasn't right in the head...Fury blamed lack of oxygen to his brain but Strucker...said he took a trip to Tahiti."

Tony crossed his arms, "well...I hope that's what you were expecting."

Hoshi watched him walk over and open the door for her and the wheel chair. Wanda walked after her and saw the man who had saved her months ago. He smiled at her and Tony, "good to see you all."

Tony then said to Wanda, "why didn't you just say Clint!"

"I had a feeling we should go rather than call," she replied.

Hoshi starred at the man quietly as the two bickered at which was more efficient. How did she not see it before? She had seen him in the news more than once. A heroic mortal who could keep up with super powered folks with only a bow and arrow. Of course it was him, "how long have you remembered?"

He smiled at her, he had aged unlike the rest of them. His skin was sun kissed but his smile and eyes were the same as they were she first met him. He popped open a beer, "Loki tried his hand at mind control and whatever Tahiti put in place was lodged free."

Tony frowned, "wait, what?"

Clint sipped his beer, "I was the kid in the photo."

Tony grabbed his phone from his pocket and brought up the glanced between it and Clint, "I see it but you never said anything?"

He snorted, "you think you would believe me if I said that the first twenty years of my life were implanted by a computer? That I was actually the adopted son of the woman we all know as Maria, who is somehow not aging, and I was brain damaged in a battle of mystical samurai and demons?"

Tony shrugged, "Thor might have believed you."

"That last twenty years have been amazing, I couldn't just give them up" he said with a smile. "I love Laura and my kids, I could never just walk away. It's not like being an Avenger changed anything."

"You have kids," Hoshi beamed.

"Two boys and a girl," he grinned.

Tony rubbed his head, "nope. Still don't get it."

Hoshi wheeled around to look at him, "during his days with us. Rowen was one of his many teachers. I'm not surprised you chose a bow."

Wanda asked, "is this another ghost event?"

"No," he said, "I pulled some strings to put a evacuation order in for this town. I remember what ghost events were like. Thank you, Wanda for bringing them."

She smiled as Hoshi asked, "why give them their armors back though?"

"I didn't plan it, I was asked to," he said glancing back into the dark bar.

They saw a woman move forward, she had long red hair and eyes like green emeralds. She wore a long mans trench coat over jeans and a tshirt. She smiled, "I didn't know who among them I could trust, Kitten."

Hoshi asked, "Raleigh, dammit, why didn't you just call me?"

"Like I said I didn't know who I could trust," she said, "I found an old friend of ours from the S.H.I.E.L.D days when Hydra over threw S.H.I.E.L.D. He wasn't right in the head, talking about something you had mentioned briefly when I asked where Mia went with Yuli. He kept talking about Tahiti..."

"It was just a little while before she contacted me," he said sipping his beer.

Raleigh smiled, "I had to make sure what I was doing was correct. I think I did the right thing..."

"Almost everyone is alive, so yeah," Hoshi paused.

Tony scowled at Clint, "so why are you the one who's old?"

"Gee, thanks Stark," he paused, "maybe because my head was scrambled by the black inferno? I don't know honestly."

Wanda had to ask, "why did you ask him to give the armors back in the first place?"

"We could always trust Yuli," Raleigh said with a smile at him. "We have met? I'm Raleigh Smith."

Wanda Maximoff she replied as she saw the woman hold out a hand, and she reached out to shake it but didn't see a thing, "its a pleasure."

"I'm sure it is," she said with a smile then turned to Hoshi. "Onto other business then, now that we have all met."

Tony crossed his arms in disapproval, "I still don't get why."

Clint looked at Hoshi, "you haven't said anything have you?"

Tony looked at the woman in the wheelchair, "what haven't you said?"

"Rowen wasn't dumb enough to make armor, unless he had a good reason," Clint laughed. "You know he was dumb but he was pationately dumb."

Tony glarred, "what is he talking about?"

"The Owari has side affects," she said touching the black orb on the necklace. "Rowen didn't make the armors to fight Nendo, he knew we could take them out in small amounts. He made them because the Owari is killing me."

Raleigh looked away as Tony asked, "what?"

"The armor that I bare is the sister armor to Raleigh's," she paused to glance at the red head. "The Izanagi and the Izanami are opposites like the infernos are. The Izanagi brings life to the armors, while the Izanami takes life. I figured it meant I could destroy the armors, but it comes at a cost. At first, the armor took away the damage from the war but...the last battle I noticed the the nerve damage in my leg was back. I fought a few Nendo and things got worse with every battle...I stopped fighting just a few years after the battle. Kayura was able to handle most of the battles that I couldn't."

"So its killing you," Tony said crossing his arms. He rubbed his head, "god, I knew Rowen wasn't so dumb but I didn't realize how much he loved you."

Hoshi scowled, "what does that mean?"

"I mean, I always thought with Kento around he might not be so loving," he paused. "Guess I was wrong."

Wanda rubbed her brow at his statement, "you're in a wheel chair, its only going to kill if you if you keep fighting."

"That's what the armors are for," Clint said. "I couldn't let my favorite teachers be a martyr like all her predecessors."

Hoshi held her chest all of a sudden, it felt like her heart was going to being ripped out of her chest. She felt like every nerve in her body was being ripped out. The world began to spin as she fell from her chair and to the floor. She looked up and saw a golden figure move through the room, 'hello, old friend.'