Chapter 24:
[Raijin POV]
[Weeks later, AVENGERS HQ, New York City, USA]
[Virtual-reality.] Cap has the whole team running training drills. Since our run-in with Zemo and CERBERUS, he has been pushing us hard. After doing our research on Zemo, we understand why. The guy is no joke and not the type of enemy to take on half-cocked. Skye falls on her ass, thanks to a simulated CERBERUS commando's hip-throw. "Ow!" she gets on her feet, pats herself off, "Don't you think this is a little overkill?" I shake my head, taking down three VR-enemies, "No. Karai and I took these guys on. CERBERUS is no pushover. We need to be ready for anything they throw at us. Expect the unexpected." Placing her hands on her hips, she lets out a sigh. We get back at it, running another simulation.
[Skye POV]
[Training-area.] After what feels like hours, we're finally pulled out. I let out a groan of discomfort. 'This phantom pain affect fucking sucks!' "Good work, everyone. Today's training drill was brutal, but you managed to pull through," Cap says to all of us proudly. Calling the simulations we ran brutal is a massive understatement. It was a gauntlet from hell. Raijin places an applauding hand on my shoulder, and I flash him a thankful smile. That had to be the most exhausting experience I had in my life; in a way, it made me stronger, though. Evident now, the gloves are off; that's how much Cap views Zemo as a threat. He isn't holding back anymore. There isn't much to do other than play the waiting game. As much as we want to be proactive about the situation, we didn't have anything to go on. Ward is being tight-lipped. Especially on the topic of Zemo. Going to him for info is a no go for the time being.
[Raijin POV]
[New York City]
[Hell's Kitchen.] Skye and I walk the street of Hell's Kitchen. The holidays are coming up; people are already trying to get their shopping done early. Skye giggles at the sight. "What are you planning to do for the holiday season?" she asks me, shoulder-bumping me. I smirk, "No idea. I normally don't really do anything." "Really?" Skye questions, surprised. Nod at her query, "Yeah. Been busy keeping the world spinning." The woman stops walking, "Do you even celebrate the holiday?" I shrug my shoulders, "More or less."
The two of us grab a slice of pizza. "Don't get me wrong; I'm not a scrooge. I do my part, just don't go overboard with it," I tell Skye, taking a bit of my slice, "You?" Skye shrugs her shoulders, "A mixed bag. Growing up in an orphanage lowered my expectations for the holidays. When it came rolling around, not many of us were not in the spirit, but we made due." I nod understandingly of the similar experience. Skye leans back in her chair, staring up at the night sky, "Can I ask you a personal question?" I incline my head, "Yeah. Shoot." "Why do you do it? This crusade?" she questions, glancing over to me. I consider her query long and hard. It's not the first time someone asked me a similar inquiry. Clamp my hands together, "Witnessed bad things going on in the world. Had two choices. Do something or do nothing. I choose to take action. It's as simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less." Reaching out, she intertwines my hand with hers.
[Steve Rogers POV]
[AVENGERS HQ, New York City]
[Living-area.] Wanda and I have AVENGERS Tower to ourselves; the rest of the team are doing their own thing. With little to do, we decide to make it a movie night. Wanda picked the Terminator movie for us to watch. A science-fiction classic based on what I've heard. It also happens to be one of the many pop culture movies I needed to watch from my list. The film was a full 2 hours long. Halfway near the end of the movie, Wanda places her head on my shoulder, falling asleep. I stay utterly still, not wanting to wake the Sokovian.
Once the movie comes to an end, Wanda stirs awake. I smile at the small drool leaking from the side of her mouth. After a few blinks of her eyes, she quickly realizes what she's lying on, or rather who. Face entirely crimson, Wanda jolts up straight, a little panicked, "I am very sorry, Steve!" The young woman straightens herself up. "No, it's fine. No harm, no foul," I reassure the brunette. 'The display was cute, though.' She glances at the tv screen and pouts slightly, "Aww, I missed the ending."
"We can rewind it," I tell her. She shakes her head, waving it off, "No, it is alright. I already know. The miracles of the internet." I laugh a little at that, "Yeah. It does help." Wanda slides herself closer to me, "This is nice. It has been a long time since I had a moment of peace." I drop my head, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. We both witnessed the horrors of war." She moves a strand of hair behind her ear, "A shared life experience." I nod, "Yeah." Wanda drops herself onto my chest, "I hope you do not mind." "No, not at all," I tell her. The Sokovian woman gets herself more comfortable, "The nightmares don't haunt as much anymore, but there are a few nights they slip through. But since joining the AVENGERS, I found a sense of peace and acceptance. Even purpose."
My brow knit, "I feel there's a but coming on." Wanda giggles lightly then quickly turns serious, "But I still do not know who I am as a person. I spent so long focusing solely on survival; I barely know how to function outside of that." Unconsciously, I wrap my arms around Wanda, "If you let me. I'll do everything in my power to help you." She takes my embrace and follows up with her own, "Thank you, Steve." She leans up and places a kiss on my lips. It catches me by surprise but not unwelcome.
[Drake POV]
[Days later, Warehouse District, New York City]
I enter the building, invading the conclave of the city's major gang leaders, or rather the maggots scrounging for scraps left over after the Kingpin was taken down. Not a single one of them is aware of my presence; they're too busy conversating among themselves. I spy over them from above, blending within the darkness. A bold man in his 40s strides around the table, reminiscing on the old ways to the other gangsters, "This is the night for celebration. A night to discuss the future of our syndicate, a sober reflection. There was a time when we owned NYC. Wasn't a fucker who could make a move without giving us our due, and the sorry shit dull enough to cross us paid a heavy price. We had the cops, judges, councilman at our beck and call." His gaze drifts off, "Somewhere down the road; we got complacent. Lost our edge. Enough for Wilson Fisk to kick us in the balls and dump us to the curve. But the masked freak has taken him down, and that provided us an opportunity to take back what's ours!"
Emerging out of the shadows, I fire shots, killing the gang leaders' bodyguards. "OH SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?!" someone yells. Those who I didn't aim at duck for cover. When the shooting stops, the leaders slowly get to their feet. One of them catches sight of me, pointing. "You have no fucking idea who you're messing with! You're dead, you fuck!" the fatass on the far right yells to me. I roll my eyes, "Says the dumb-ass who hasn't realized there are multiple guns trained on him and the others." The man's face displays a confused expression. Out of the blue, a myriad of laser beams appear, all aim at the gangsters. A near-invisible shadow flickers into existence at my right, taking a female form. Skeith. "The hell do you freaks want?!" the same man yells, now sweating in fear. We flash a slasher grin. They quickly get the picture to their horror.
[Raijin POV]
[New York City]
[Soho.] On the search for a man named Quesada. Weeks ago, the man violently raped a woman and escaped justice by buying off a corrupted Judge. It took some time, but I managed to track down the scumbag to a sleazy dive bar deep in Soho. [Rooftop.] I peer inside via window. Saw Quesada bragging to his fellow lowlifes that he's untouchable. 'Oh, how fucking wrong he is.'
[Bar.] [Inside.] I prowl my way through the skyline window and station myself on one of the ceiling pillars, sticking to the shadow, entirely unnoticed by the patrons. The HUD runs a scan of the area. Count 50 people. Only 5 of them are armed. Quesada makes way to a female bartender. She looks at the man in disgust, "You got a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did." Quesada cracks a grin, "Didn't you hear? I was acquitted of all charges." The bartender sneers, "Like hell you are." Quesada's grin turns into a rageful glower. He shoots a hand out, grabs the woman roughly by the arm, "Watch your tone with me, Alex. You don't want another trip to the ER, don't you? Remember who writes your check." Not wasting any time, I drop onto Quesada's table. "What the fuck?!" Quesada yells, falling back on his ass. Everyone's eyes are on me, jaws hanging. There's a long dragged out silence. A person could hear a pin drop. A few of the patrons begin to back away.
"Is that guy for real?" a man says. Quesada holds himself up by his elbows, "Who the hell are you?" I smirked under my mask, "A crusader." One of Quesada's men draws a pistol and aims it at my hand. In a blink of an eye, I take control of the gun, yank it away, then shoot a fist to the goon's face, breaking his nose. The guy on the left comes at me next, slashing his knife horizontally. I dock low, shoot in close, upper-cut-elbow his face, then hip-throw him to the floor. I push-kick bad-guy-3 in the gut, sending him flying to the wall. The others are frozen in place. A few of them had crossed paths with me at one point or another. They're fully aware of what I was capable of. Quesada shouts for them to attack. They instead run off with the patrons. It's just Quesada and me.
The man is shaking in complete terror. Quesada starts to dash for the exit, but I pull him back with the grapple-line. "You can't do this! I was acquitted!" he tries, struggling desperately to get free. "No, you paid off a corrupted Judge," I growl, lean in close to the man's face. Quesada's eyes go wide in horror. As I'm exiting the dive bar, leaving a tied up Quesada behind, the police hit the scene. Once he sees them, the man starts screaming, confessing his many other crimes. I slip away unnoticed.
[Hell's Kitchen.] Patrolling the city, EPYON tags a 9-1-1 call, reporting a shootout. Taking a sharp turn, I grapple-line toward the waypoint. [On-site.] [Rooftop.] Street-level's clogged with police and other emergency responders, lights blazing. The Kitchen Irish got tagged hard. Club's riddled with bullet holes. It's a massacre. No survivors. The latest of gang-related hits. Massive gang-on-gang overkill. Speculation of new players in town. Paramilitary types. Since DD took down Wilson Fisk, it left a vacuum; the city's gangs have been executing a power grab for the Kingpin's throne. Over on the neighboring rooftop, DD watches the scene below play out. I make my way over toward him.
Without showing any signs, he indicates my presence. I crouch down next to him, "Got any ideas who wiped the Kitchen-Irish out?" The masked vigilante sighs, "No. But judging by their tactics and weapons. They're skilled and well-equipped. The same thing happened to the Dogs-Of-Hell a few days ago." "Good to know," I remark. Circle my head to the man, "Might want to sit this out. It's over your league." DD shoots me a sharp gaze. "These guys are not standard street thugs. They're trained killers. And going by the evidence, they're well-connected," I explain my reasoning. DD remains steadfast, not deterred in the slightest. Under the mask, I smirk admiringly at his resolve and determination.
[Warehouse, New York City]
Traveling the city via rooftops, DD stops suddenly. [Rooftop.] "What is it?" I ask the masked vigilante. "Something smells toxic," he tells me. Under my mask, I raise a brow in confusion but don't argue. We make our way toward the edge of the roof, peering at the street below. A black van speeds down the street and into a warehouse. The HUD runs a scan, tagging a gang of armed goons. The punks dismount the vehicle. I count 6 targets in all. Moving toward the van's back, two men pull out a large container and drop it onto the floor off to the side. The HUD switches to recon-mode. "Watch it, morons! We're being paid to deliver that package in pristine condition," one of the goons yells, then points to another man, "Call the client and tell him we got the cargo." The two of us grapple to the building and make entry.
[Inside.] It was obvious to me that these guys were new to the game. Green as they come. Low-level hired-guns. Adhering to the shadows, DD tosses his baton to the power-box, cutting the lights' power. The whole warehouse goes completely dark. "What the hell? Shit. Someone go check the breaker." From above, I trail the thug until he's isolated from the gang. Once alone, I strike, dropping down on him. 'One out of play. Five to go.' Staging a trap, DD grapple-lines a goon by the leg and drags him off into the shadows. Becoming suspicious, a few of the gang members go searching for their missing people. Leaping out of the darkness, drop them all with stun-bolts. Keeping the pistol aim, I scan the surrounding for more threats. "Clear," I call out. DD and I move quickly to cuff them. Suddenly a beeping sound coming from the cargo container grabs our notice. The cargo box pops open. A humanoid figure unfolds itself. "The hell is that?!" one of the goons exclaims in fear. "Your cargo," DD deadpans. The two of us set into a fight stance.
The HUD runs a scan; it shows it's some type of android. Displaying superhuman strength, the android seizes the nearby van and flings toward us. We jump out the way. I charge forward, firing my pistol. It hit its mark, but it did little to no effect. Switching tactic, I power up my shock-knuckle and whale him with a punch. The android staggers but still stands. It reaches out, grabs me, holds me up, slams a fist to my face, sending me flying toward the wall. DD moves in, he leaps into the air, delivers a double-kick to the face. The soulless machine takes a few swings, but DD manages to dodge it. From behind, I jump on its back, place some explosive charges. Putting some distance, I set it off. "Did that work?" DD asks. His question is quickly answered when the android steps out of the flames. "No, just piss it off," I remark.
It darts forward in blinding speed. 'Where the hell did this boost in speed come from?!' We jump-roll out of its path. The android comes to a dead-stop, turns around, fires a beam of energy from his hands. DD and I make a tactical retreat. The android gives chase. Glancing behind us, I saw the android take flight. We grapple-line to higher ground. "Assessing tactic. Target acquired. Commencing termination," the android states. It gains on DD and grabs on to the masked hero. DD struggles to get free but couldn't. Acting fast, I drop onto the android.
"LET HIM GO!" I shout, drawing out the pistol and unloading it onto the humanoid robot's head. All three of us crash to the ground. "Ow," I say, slowly recovering. Peer around, spot DD; I rush to him. "You broken?" I question, assessing him over. The man holds his side and arm in support, grunting in pain, "Arm's broke, and two ribs are cracked." The synthetic android emerges from the small crater in the ground. "Can you still fight?" I ask, gun set at the aim. "Don't think I got a choice," he murmurs, readying himself. The bot advances forward and fires an energy blast. We evade the shots. Getting in close, DD slides under the droid and attacks its leg with his baton, breaking its balance. From above, I slam down double-hammer-fists at the android, shock-knuckle at full power. It's enough to put the android permanently out of commission. The two of us stand over the downed droid. DD takes an exhausted breath. I kneel to inspect the android but pull back when I see it starts to disintegrate, leaving nothing left. "What the hell just happened?" DD queries, shocked. "I have no idea," I tell him. Picking up a faint noise in the distance, my and DD's head snaps up toward the source. A surveillance drone hovers in the air. It stays in the air for a moment then flies off. "A stealth-drone?" I question.
[George Tarleton POV]
[AIM HQ, New York City]
The entirety of CERBERUS watches the battle between the two masked heroes and the prototype SENTINEL via live footage from a stealth-drone. The android is defeated; I activate its built-in disintegration device. Arms crossed, Zemo lets out a controlled furious sigh, "You're robot failed its mission. I do not tolerate failure, Dr. Tarleton." I roll my eyes then whisper under my breath, "Reason why you would make a poor scientist." In an instant, Zemo's blade is at my throat, "Do not forget your place and never overestimate your value," he growls. Raise my hands in surrender, sweating, "The trial run was supposed to expose any design flaws. As a result, I already upgraded the Adaptoid. I assure you it'll perform at its optimum for the next phase of the operation." Zemo draws back the sword, eyes narrow, "For your sake, doctor, it better."
[Skye POV]
[AVENGERS HQ, New York City]
As Dr. Cho is patching up the Hell's Kitchen vigilante, Raijin is recounting his and Daredevil's venture to Cap and the rest of the team, the paramilitary death squad killing off rival gangs, the battle with a combat android, and the surveillance drone. There's a sneaking suspicion in the air that CERBERUS is tied.
