The Avengers Whump & Bromance Anthology

Untitled Story Where Natasha's the Last One Standing

Whumptober 2020

PenPatronus

Thanos sat on his grand throne looking down at a trio of fanged, red-skinned, hairless humanoid brothers with golden eyes holding swords taller than they were. "We want to be your children, Great One," the eldest said. "Make us yours, and we will serve you forever."

Thanos scowled down at the Crimsons. "The children of Thanos," he said, "are formidable warriors and mystics. They are feared throughout the galaxy almost as much as I am. I handpick the trainees myself when they're just children. You think you can march in here and claim to be worthy of such a title?"

The three brothers bowed and laid down their swords. "Great One," the eldest continued, "we wish only to have the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy. Ask anything of us, and we will do it.

Thanos leaned forward and rested his elbow on his knee. "Fine," he grumbled. "There is a planet called Earth. On it is a famous man called Stark. You bring me his head, and I'll make you my children."

The three brothers bowed lower. "Thank you. We will return with the one named Stark."

Thanos rolled his eyes and gestured for the Crimsons to be escorted away.


The alien spaceship hovered over New York City like a red cloud. The Iron Man suit flew out of Avengers Tower, right up to the glass panes of the cockpit, and knocked.

"Really?" Natasha snorted from her copilot's seat beside Clint in the Quinjet, which was just a minute behind Stark.

Tony waved at the three red aliens sitting inside. "Hey Huey, Dewey and Louie, did you take a wrong turn at Saturn?"

Slowly, lowering like the jaw of some monster, a ramp extended and then angled downward. Before anyone, including Tony, could react, a wave of energy crashed over Iron Man, enveloping him like a net. It yanked him inside the ship. The ramp closed like a mouth.

Everyone in the Quinjet gasped. "After that ship!" Steve ordered, pointing over Clint's head. Barton was already on it.

The alien craft did a loop around the Empire State Building, and then went straight up towards the moon. Clint summoned all the jet's speed while Nat fired at it. She hit it with dozens of shots, and not one of those shots pierced the ship or slowed it down. Clint got closer – got right behind it – and Natasha tried shooting again. "They're shielded!" she reported.

"We're nearing the stratosphere!" said Clint. "I can go maybe 20 more kilometers, but that's it!"

Bruce rushed up behind Natasha. "We can't let that ship get away! We have no way of chasing it!"

Steve made the executive decision. "Ram it."

"What?" Clint sputtered.

"Iron Man is this planet's best defender," Steve said. "We can't let them take him… Take that ship out, Clint."

Barton and Romanoff shared a look. "Everybody strap in!" Clint advised. "Here we go!" He put everything the Quinjet had into the ascent and a moment later, slammed into the rear of the alien ship. The impact flipped the ship bow over stern. It stopped mid-air, jerked for a moment, and then keeled over on its side. One of its rear engine's blew up and it started spiraling towards the earth. The Quinjet's nose crumpled and the ship creaked and trembled. For a moment it seemed to be all right, and then the nose exploded in flames. They dropped. A moment later they were spiraling, too. Clint tried to direct their descent but not a single control worked. Nat and Barton held hands. Everyone held on for their lives.

They were ten kilometers from crashing in a field somewhere in upper New York state when, suddenly, the ship stopped spinning. They couldn't see out of the windows, but they could feel it slow. Before they knew it, the Quinjet landed gently on the ground. The four Avengers sprinted down the ramp to see what happened.

Iron Man was on his knees underneath the jet. The helmet disappeared into the collar and Tony sighed in relief at the sight of his teammates. "You all right?" he asked. "Thought I didn't catch you in time. Expected mashed potatoes."

"You got out!" Bruce exclaimed.

"Of course I did! You guys took a chunk out of the hull! Good thinking, Cap."

"How do you know it wasn't my idea?" Clint pouted.

Steve sprinted over to Stark and helped him out from under the ship. "You all right?"

Tony shrugged. "Better off than those red assholes."

"They were red?"

Tony held out his arm for a handshake. "Thanks for coming after me."

The team turned east. Smoke from the crashed alien spacecraft billowed into the air. Their backs were turned, so nobody saw that the Crimsons had stowed away on top of the jet. They'd jumped out of their ship and hung onto the roof, riding the jet all the way down. Well, two of them had. The third was stuck inside, and went down with the ship. Huey, sword in hand, jumped onto Tony's back and Dewey, sword in hand, jumped onto Cap's. Tony got his helmet up in time, but Cap wasn't so lucky, and the Crimson dug its teeth right into his throat. Cap yelped, got his arms around the thing's neck and flipped it over. He raised his shield to drive it into the Crimson's neck when the paralyzing poison kicked in. He froze, his shield in midair, then toppled backwards.

Nat and Clint attacked. The Crimson swung his sword. Nat flipped over it and Clint slid under it. Tony tossed his Crimson aside, unfortunately, right at Bruce. Banner caught the alien in midair with green Hulk hands. Hulk almost came out – would have – if the Crimson hadn't shot its neck forward and clamped its fangs around Bruce's neck. "Oh, come on!" Bruce groaned as he collapsed.

Natasha somersaulted across the grass and picked up Cap's shield. She got it up just in time to protect him from the Crimson's sword. Steve's wide eyes – the only part of him not paralyzed – followed the action. Clint got a running start and tackled the Crimson from behind. The pair rolled over and over until Clint ended up on his back. He got his hands up to protect himself but in protecting his eyes and face, left his neck vulnerable. The Crimson bit down hard and Clint yelped.

Tony unleashed his repulsors. The Crimson flipped through the air – bouncing off the Quinjet. It opened up its poison mouth and spat something right at Tony's palms. The spit disintegrated the repulsors instantly. Tony shook his gauntlets loose and left them in the grass.

Nat, grunting, used the shield to protect herself from the Crimson's sword. It was so heavy, but its weight made it harder to aim, and when the Crimson took a big swing she jumped out of the way, and then scurried right up the sword like it was a flight of stairs. She flipped over the alien and when she landed, she stabbed her electrified widow's bite gauntlets into the places where his kidneys might be. The Crimson screeched in pain. The electricity drove it to its knees. Surprised, but pleased, Natasha unleashed the gauntlets' full powers and absolutely pounded the alien with electricity. The Crimson collapsed to its knees, shuddered for a moment, and then landed facedown, dead.

Natasha turned towards Tony. "Stark, use electricity!"

Tony was trying to wrestle the sword away from the last Crimson. The alien got the upper hand and slammed the broad side of the sword into Tony's chest. Stark groaned and folded forward. Right then the Crimson swung the sword like a baseball bat, aiming for Stark's neck to behead him. Tony ducked, but the sword hit his forehead and sent him flying. He hit the Quinjet head-first. Stark got up, stumbled for a moment, and then crashed back down on his knees. He tried again – even managed a step forward – then toppled over sideways. The helmet came off and Tony promptly vomited on his own bare hands.

"Tony!" Nat cried. "Electrify him!"

Tony stood, finally. He looked at his naked hands and realized in that second that if he electrified the alien, he'd electrify himself as well. Then he saw Bruce, Steve, and Clint lying as if dead on the ground, and a raw anger flared in his heart. He sprinted at the final Crimson and wrapped his arms around him like they were hugging. Then he unleashed the Iron Man armor's full compliment of power.

Nat had to cover her eyes, that's how bright the electricity was. When the light faded, she looked up to see Tony lying on top of the fricasseed alien, unmoving. She sprinted over to him and rolled him to the ground. He was breathing, but shallowly, and his hands and face were burnt. "Stark – Stark!" Nat patted his shoulders, then his temples, and then his cheeks. "Wake up, dammit, wake up!"

He didn't.

"Tony, wake up, please…" Nat kissed his forehead, his cheeks and then, very briefly, kissed his chapped lips. She moved onto Clint, then Bruce, and then Steve. None of them could move. So, Nat just sat down in the middle of her boys, sighed, and listened to the sound of the approaching ambulances.


Tony woke up in his own bed. He knew something was wrong because, first of all, Pepper wasn't there. Second of all, it was sunny outside. And, third of all, he'd actually woken up in bed, not in his workshop.

"Easy," a voice said. "Take it easy. You have a skull fracture."

"Hmm," Tony grunted. "What?"

"You broke your head." Natasha came into view after Tony saw hazy water. "And you almost killed yourself."

"I did?"

"Yes, you wonderful idiot." Nat almost smiled at him.

Tony suddenly sat up. "Cap. Bruce? Clint?"

"They're ok. Could use a few days off, but they're ok." Natasha looked at him. "Those aliens… They weren't on a joyride. They were here for a reason – to get you."

"Yeah, I got that impression, too." Tony leaned back into his pillows and folded his hands on his stomach. "Popular guy, aren't I?"

Natasha didn't return his smile. "If somebody's after you, Tony, this might just be the beginning…"

The End