Okay, so, as of right now, I have all the chapters for this summer done and I am absolutely happy with where I decided to leave it off. Don't worry, it's still a long time for you guys.
Recap - Xavier was on Sergei's plane before it blew up while the others learned that what infected Daniel was specifically targeted for him.
Chapter Fifty-Two: Symbiosis Part Four
Above Birdsville, Australia - 7:16 AM
Angela looks at the sky ahead of her from the pilot's seat of her quinjet. She has a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that Xavier is in trouble. It's been there since she flew off but now it's worse than ever. She takes a breath before making the choice to force her troubled vehicle down like her father did during the war, abandon the quinjet completely, go save Xavier. Lucky for her she's flying over the middle of nowhere.
Angela unbuckles her seatbelt and gets up. She straps on a jetpack and kicks open the passenger window with all her might. The overwhelming wind-pressure entering the quinjet blows her back; but as she flies, she props herself on the wall with her knees bent and starts her jetpack. Air is notoriously uncooperative when it comes to breaking through the airlock of the quinjet. Angela soars out the window and hears her quinjet crash and explode behind her. She quickly makes a mental reminder to get a SHIELD team to take care of that.
Angela flies higher in the sky and increases her speed. She looks up and sees her brother falling from above. Angela holds out her hands and grasps Xavier's arms. The impact of catching him causes the two of them to spin mid-air. Once they've stopped spinning, Angela hears Xavier speak which brings a relieved smile to her face.
"That was close," Xavier says.
"How'd you know I'd make it in time?" Angela asks.
"Twin telepathy."
"What happened with Sergei?"
Xavier sighs disappointedly. "Blew up his jet and took himself with it."
Angela says nothing and neither does Xavier. If there was one person who they could interrogate about the experiment and laboratory in Antarctica, even if he was only the financier. He would've had to have at least the most basic idea of what was going on because as of right now, they're left in the dark.
"Angela," Xavier starts, "Sergei said that we were being betrayed and Daniel is just the first one to go."
"He was probably just getting in your head as a part of those famous last words."
Xavier shrugs, remembering his other teammates and needing a ride back since he doesn't want Angela carrying him across the world. He honors loyalty so any betrayal will feel worse than getting blown out of that plane.
"Barton," Xavier says in his earpiece, "where are you?"
-o-
Quinjet - 10:22 AM
"Kind of busy to check right now!" Merida yells back into her earpiece after hearing Xavier. "Give me five."
Daniel grunts in a cramping pain, resisting his transformation. Even though he knows that his organs won't burst our of his body, it severly feels like that. He tries rolling on his sides to see which is better but nothing works. It's at least better than sitting up because doing that makes him dizzy and nauseous. Emily and James, even with their combined intellect, have no idea what to do.
"We're over the South Pacific ocean!" Merida yells into her earpiece to Xavier. "Heading for SHIELD."
Xavier: Copy that.
"Maybe we should knock him out with an icer," Emily suggests as she holds Daniel's arm.
"That'll make it worse," James replies.
Daniel scream again, trying his hardest not to cry and failing at that. Instead, he copes with the pain by swearing like a sailor at full volume which surprises everyone.
"Worse than this?" Emily yells. "I didn't think Daniel knew those words!"
James shrugs even though Emily knows that he's right. Daniel already has a virus in him so mixing some knock-out formula in his system will not make it better.
"Open the hangar and let me out," Daniel pants to Merida. "I can't hold the Hulk in any longer."
"No!" Emily exclaims. "Merida, don't you dare!"
"Stark, we're above the ocean," James tries to reason, "it's better than Daniel landing on the mountains."
"All of you are talking nonsense!" Emily yells. "Especially you, Daniel!"
Daniel groans and rolls his eyes at her. "Sorry, dear, kind of dying!"
Emily frowns at him. "I hate you right now!"
"I hate me too!"
Emily has nothing left to say but there is no way in hell Daniel's going to jump into the ocean to turn into his Hulk. Daniel and James give each other a silent look, then Merida turns over from the pilot's seat and gives Daniel and James the same look. Emily straightens her shoulders, wondering what their sudden silence glances are about. It takes her longer than it should for her to realize that they're formulating how they're going to do this without words.
In one motion, James leaps on top of Emily and pins her arms and legs down with his own off to the side. She tries to wrangle herself free as Merida opens the hangar door. Daniel forces himself onto his feet and feels the wind from outside blow against him which blocks out Emily's screams and relaxes him as he jumps right out of the quinjet.
-o-
Merida: Angela! Xavier! Daniel just jumped out because he felt as if he was going to transform en route! How far are you?
Angela and Xavier look ahead and see a quinjet in the distance slowly becoming bigger the closer they get. They notice the hangar door open and someone come out of it.
"We see him!" Angela exclaims.
"Angela, throw me!" Xavier says.
Angela accelerates her speed to build up energy to increase the distance at which Xavier will be thrown so it would be as close to Daniel as possible. She adjusts her grip on Xavier's triceps as she winds him back and launches him, causing her to spin back as well. Angela stays in the air, watching it all take place as she flies toward the quinjet.
Xavier dives in the water and swims up to the surface. He swims for a little, calling Daniel's name and that's when he remembers that Merida said that Daniel jumped out because he felt like he was going to transform. Xavier treads water feeling uneasy about what would happen if he was alone in the ocean with a Hulk. He looks down at the water, wondering what is swimming up to him and he swims back, keeping his eyes on what is down there coming closer to him.
Daniel pops out, gasping for air and fixing the glasses that miraculously stayed on his face. He looks at Xavier and calms down a little.
"Aren't you supposed to be The Hulk?" Xavier asks.
Daniel looks at his hands and realizes that he's not big and green.
"That's what I thought..." Daniel mutters.
A roaring figure suddenly bursts out of the water, sending Xavier and Daniel drifting in a sudden wave. The two of them look and are face-to-face with Daniel's Hulk.
Stay Tuned - So Daniel and his hulk are now separated...will the team be able to figure this out or will they need some outside reinforcements?
