Avengers: Unbreakable
The Avengers and all related characters and settings are the property of Marvel Inc. and their respective affiliates. All rights reserved (by them, not me).
Episode 1: Confluence
Chapter 44
The Bronx, New York
Janet van Dyne sagged against a concrete column and tried to get control of her frantic breathing. Sweat beaded on her upper lip; she wiped it off with a rugged swipe of the back of her arm. She leaned her head against the column and closed her eyes.
Thank God! I made it!
She looked down at Henry Pym, lying – normal sized – in the street below the shattered window on the third-floor where she stood. He was unconscious. But he was alive. She knew because she'd had the same thing done to her.
She looked over at the Particle Device sitting on the floor next to her. Exhaustion starting to make her limbs heavy now that the adrenaline was draining away, she shuffled over, keyed in the commands to shut down the device, and closed the laptop.
She'd done it.
The rampage was over.
She could scarcely believe it herself. Gathering up Pym's Particle Device and throwing it in the back seat of her car, careening through the streets of suburban New York, lurching onto the sidewalk and brazenly rocketing past the police barricade. Then screeching to a halt outside the building and racing up three flights of stairs carrying the Device in both arms, setting it up, and frantically typing commands she'd only just learned. Then hoping against hope that she was close enough, that she was in the right position, that Pym wouldn't run away before she could use the Device. It was all much more than she'd bargained for when she'd decided to help Henry Pym. She breathed deeply as her body continued to calm itself.
It wasn't until she started disconnecting the Device from the laptop that she noticed the two DragonCon characters walking toward Pym's limp form down below. Then one of them – the Tin Man – looked up and saw her. She dropped to her knees and leaned out the broken window.
"Hey! You two stay away from him! He's not well!"
Suddenly, a flash of some kind of energy ignited from the feet of the armored man, and to Janet's terror, she saw him dart straight at her, flying through the air! She felt adrenaline flood her body again, and she scuttered backwards on her hands and feet across broken glass, trying to get away.
The man slowed to a hover outside the window, then negotiated a landing inside. "Janet?"
Janet stopped dead. "You know me?"
"It's me, Tony!"
"Tony who?"
"Tony Stark, who do you think?"
She eyed him suspiciously. "Tony?" She looked him up and down. "If you're Tony, show me your face."
"I can't. This mask is bolted on. I gotta redesign that. But it really is me. You just called me a little while ago. You told me about this, remember?"
Janet struggled to her feet. Her hands were cut and bleeding. Stark clomped toward her, holding his hands extended outward, palms forward, trying to strike as non-threatening a gesture as possible.
"We met at the party a few nights ago," Stark continued convincing her. "I gave you a grant."
Janet was finally starting to believe the armored stranger. "So you're . . . one of those Storm Trooper costume players or something?"
Stark laughed – a bizarre sound through his mechanized voice processor. "No. I designed this. This is real sweetheart."
Janet edged back toward the window. "And who's Thor down there?"
"He's a friend. You can trust him."
Stark looked at the device. Then he turned to Janet, pointing with one armored hand toward Pym, lying in the street below. "Did you do that?"
Janet nodded.
"Holy smokes. A gold star for you."
Just then they heard sirens approaching. Janet hurriedly starting packing up the Particle Device again.
"Tony, we've got to get out of here."
"Why?"
"Are you kidding me? Hank's gonna spend the rest of his life in jail for all the damage he's done. And I'm wanted by the U.S. military."
"The military? You?"
"I can explain later. But right now, I've got to get Hank out of here. Get somewhere that we can make a plan, figure out what we're gonna do. We're in a lot of trouble Tony."
Stark clomped over to the window and looked down. Pym was still unconscious; Blake the warrior stood vigil over him. But the residents of the condos Pym had almost annihilated were already starting to peek out of windows and doors to get a look at things.
Stark turned back to Janet. "Alright, I've got an idea. But you're going to have to trust me."
Janet studied him a moment before answering. "Okay."
Stark turned toward the shattered window. "Hey Doc!" The warrior looked up. "We're gonna have to get out of here! Same way we came! Can you carry him?" Blake nodded.
"Okay Janet. I said you were gonna have to trust me. But I'm not sure you have any idea how much I meant it." He gestured toward the Particle Device. "Can you carry that thing?" Janet nodded. "Alright, get it." Janet did.
"Now come over here and stand on the tops of my boots."
Janet immediately narrowed her eyes. "Seriously?"
"Janet, I'm not kidding. We've got to hurry."
Reluctantly, Janet eased over, turned her back to Stark so the Device was in front of them both, then stepped up onto his boots. Stark immediately wrapped her and the device with one armored arm.
"Alright kiddo. You might want to close your eyes for this."
There was a rising scream like a jet engine powering up inside a soup can. Then Janet felt a lurch in her stomach as they launched skyward from the window ledge. She screamed and nearly dropped the Particle Device. Then she clinched her eyes tightly shut.
She dared to open them again a few seconds later, and was astonished to see the Thor character flying through the air right behind them, holding his massive hammer out in front of him and carrying Hank's still-limp body. Beneath their feet, the earth was receding like on a steep jet take-off. Janet closed her eyes again and felt like she would faint.
This can't be happening! This can't be happening! This can't be happening!
She tried to bury her face in the Particle Device, and she clutched the laptop tightly to her chest. The wind whipped her hair so hard it felt like it would tear loose from the roots. She glanced once at the armor casing of Stark's arm and took some small comfort from the fact that it looked invincible. She even had a split-second to appreciate the irony of the fact that she was thankful to have Tony Stark's arm around her. She only prayed that his legendary brilliance carried through to this flying suit of armor. Because that armor-clad arm was the only thing holding her back from falling to her death.
The wind became too much for her after that, and she clinched her eyes tightly shut again. The next time she dared open them, they were already far out over the Atlantic.
