A/N: Uber hard chapter to write, guys. First of all it's action and second of all, I was trying to depict all these things happening at once and that's incredibly difficult. I don't know if I've pulled it off and just ended up with a confusing mess, but if you can know going into it I was trying for that, maybe it'll help.
Good luck!
Chapter Forty
Thor stood to his feet, whirling the hammer above his head and destroying any of the metal beasts who dared to get close to him. Even as they were shattered, Thor could see the pieces of metal reforming, relentless in their need to continue their destruction.
"Ah, guys, we might have a new problem. Looks like we've got another variation on the insect theme,"
"Can you take it out?"
"Yes."
Thor heard the conversation between Steve and Clint and frowned. They needed no further trickery to deal with he concluded grimly. This was obviously a losing battle while these creatures could still reform. "Tony Stark, has thou found your magic signal yet?"
"Jarvis just gave me the co-ordinates," came Tony's reply in his ear. "I'm on my way there now."
Thor saw Steve and a group of SHIELD agents down the street from his vantage point on the roof. They were trying to hold off another swarm of the mantises which were attempting to get to an area which had been set up as a makeshift first aid area. The wounded were unable to be evacuated from the under siege streets and were being treated by emergency workers but the mantises had found where they hiding out and were now attacking. "Make haste, Tony Stark," said Thor grimly as he watched this new calamity unfold, "these mortals are in great peril."
"I was going to stop for a haircut and pedicure," came back Tony, "but now that I know the peril is great, I'll just have the pedi."
Thor's brow furrowed as he struggled to make sense of Tony's words. He sensed the other man was being sarcastic, but Thor often wasn't sure when it came to the fast talking billionaire. He'd never met anyone quite like him in Asgard and Thor used a lot of visual cues when it came to Tony, reading his expression rather than his words which often seemed to mean the opposite of what he was meaning. That was harder to do with only Tony's voice in his ear.
Thor took to the sky, racing over to help protect the makeshift hospital. Ahead of him two police men were firing on an advancing mantis and losing the battle. Thor immediately headed towards them, leaping in front of them and covering them as the mantis closed in on all three of them. Thor swung his hammer and shattered the creatures head, causing its legs to wobble and then the rest of it toppled over. Thor looked back over his shoulder at the two officers. "Run, mortals," he advised them, "I will hold the beasts at bay." The two cops knew they were outgunned against the mantises and took to their heels, running back towards the hospital area and helping others make it to safety along the way. Thor took down another two creatures but it was a losing battle as the insects continued to reform and swarm the area. He caught sight of Steve destroying his fair share of the creatures and couldn't help but be impressed by the other man's determination to not give in.
"Horny man make Hulk want to smash!"
The Hulk's surprising statement in Thor's ear caused him a lot of questions, but before he could ask any of them, out of the corner of his eye Thor caught a glimpse of something which drew his attention. Coming up behind Steve was a man dressed in black with purple boots and gloves with a similarly coloured cape completing the look. The top half of his face was covered in a purple mask from which a blonde pony tail protruded. In his hand he held a whip which crackled and sizzled with what looked like lightning to Thor. The purple man raised his whip and Thor was instantly concerned for Steve's safety. "Captain!" he called out. "Behind you!" Without waiting for Steve to respond, Thor picked up the nearest weapon he could find, which just happened to be a car, and threw it at the purple man. The man reacted in a split second, his whip lashing out and slicing the car in two just before it reached him. Steve whirled around in surprise as they both sized up the purple man.
"Tony Stark," said Thor urgently, "we too have a new villain, one with a whip."
Tony's voice in his ear was instantly concerned. "What kind of a whip?"
Thor took in the other man, his hand tightening on his hammer as the newcomer raised his whip above his head. "A lethal one," he said grimly.
oooOOOOooo
"Ah, guys, we might have a new problem. Looks like we've got another variation on the insect theme,"
"Can you take it out?"
"Yes."
The Hulk shook his head in annoyance, the buzzing noises of the voices in his head frustrating him as always. To make himself feel better, he crushed two mantises into a mangled mess and tore the legs off another to beat yet another one into pieces. The creatures were all around him, darting back and forth, firing painful flashes of light at him and the Hulk's limited brain capacity knew only rage. He stood in the middle of the street and threw back his head, emitting an ear splitting roar which rattled windows in nearby buildings and sent the people around him running for cover.
A tank rolled in from the other end of the street and the Hulk immediately had memories of being fired on in the past. His fists balled as he ran towards the tank and picked it up by the cannon mounted on the front. He threw it down the street before it could open fire on him. Abruptly the tank stopped in mid-flight and the Hulk gave a puzzled grunt. His large feet stomped along the concrete, intent on finding out what had happened. The tank was being lowered to the ground and then something emerged from behind it. The Hulk's eyes narrowed in anger as he took in the new figure walking towards him. "Horny man make Hulk want to smash!" he snarled, the blood pumping through his veins as a new rage overtook him at being thwarted.
oooOOOOooo
Tony hovered above the beautifully kept lawn of the White House, looking all around. "I can't see any signal device," he said urgently. "Jarvis, check your co-ordinates."
"I have, sir, and you are directly on the signal."
"There is nothing here," Tony argued as all that was around him was perfectly manicured grass. His jaw hardened as he saw the first mantis breach the White House fence despite the military opening fire on it. Others were coming up behind it, the onslaught all but inevitable now, as the mantises couldn't be held back any longer. "I'm telling you I don't see anything!" he snapped, adrenaline pumping through Tony's body as he knew finding and destroying the signal was the only chance they had.
"I have re-checked my data time and time again," responded Jarvis. "My information is correct."
"They can't be-"Tony began and then had a sudden thought. He cut his thrusters and dropped to the ground. Going down on one knee, he pressed an armoured hand to the grass. Even through his suit Tony could feel the ground vibrating. "Underground," he muttered, cursing himself for wasting precious seconds realising it. Whatever the underground device containing the signal was, it must have some kind of drilling capacity and it was making a beeline for the President's underground bunker. Clearly the intent was to drill through the bunker to get to the leader of the free world and Tony was having none of that, not on his watch. He stood up, immediately directing both of his repulsors at the ground. Great clods of singed green grass and dirt flew up in the air as Tony drilled his way through the earth.
Suddenly the Hulk's guttural voice was in Tony's ear. "Horny man make Hulk want to smash!" he growled.
Tony grimaced even as he kept his focus on the task at hand. "Guys, anyone got an eyeball on the big guy? I didn't like the sound of that."
"New-attack-Hawk-rescue-hear me?" Natasha's comms delivered a garbled message.
"Natasha, you're breaking up," said Tony quickly. "Say again."
"Suit-hurt-now," her comms crackled.
"Damnit," muttered Tony, "what the hell is going on?"
"Tony Stark, we have a new villain, one with a whip," came Thor.
Thor instantly had his attention even as he continued to blast away at the ground. "What kind of a whip?"
"A lethal one," came the grim rejoinder.
"It's some kind of electrical thing," filled in Steve. "And it's a man, definitely not a machine and he's using the whip to slice through cars like they were butter."
"It can't be," said Tony in disbelief, thinking instantly of Ivan Vanko's Whiplash technology. Before he could give anymore thought to the matter, Tony broke through to the tunnel being drilled by what appeared to be a capsule with a pointed drill attached to the front of it so that the device could plough through the earth. Inside the capsule Tony could see the figure of a man with a shock of white hair and very pale skin at the wheel of the device. "Noble Mantis, I presume," he said and moved to yank the man and drilling unit out of the ground. Before Tony could do that, he was suddenly blown forty feet to his left when a mantis' laser hit him full contact. His suit on board computer flickered at the assault and Tony was left trying to get his bearings as he lay on the ground but the mantises were already attacking. "Jarvis, full power!" he ordered his computer.
"I am unable to give you full power, sir," said Jarvis apologetically. "Your suit was damaged by that last blast."
"Put all the power into my repulsors," said Tony tersely, managing to blast the nearest mantis before it could deliver another round of laser fire as Jarvis dutifully obeyed. With the power diverted to maintaining his weapons Tony could no longer fly and he needed to get back to Maniatis before he could make any more progress. Tony ran towards the mound of dirt he'd blasted out of the ground but was forced to dodge more laser fire from above and now the mantises on the ground were teeming over the fence and heading directly at Tony and the White House behind him. A laser strike caught his shoulder and sent him down onto one knee as he returned fire. As Tony pointed his repulsors at the latest oncoming mantis his attention was briefly caught by a silver figure sweeping in from the heavens. "Jarvis, what is that?" he barked. "Scan."
"Human," came Jarvis' answer as Tony watched the silver figure with highlights of blue swoop past him and head directly towards the hole he'd opened up in the earth. The man's metal suit was covered in what looked like icicles protruding from his armour and the whole look was a rather frosty one. The man hovered above the hole and held up his hands. An icy blast shot out of his hands and filled the hole and the mole machine inside. Almost instantly the hundreds of mantises around Tony began to disassemble and fall to the ground.
oooOOOOooo
Steve watched the caped man's whip split the car Thor had hurled at him effortlessly, his jaw hardening at this new threat.
Tony's voice was urgent. "What kind of a whip?"
"A lethal one."
"It's some kind of electrical thing," filled in Steve. "It's a man, definitely not a machine and he's using the whip to slice through cars like they were butter."
"It can't be." Steve heard definite shock in Tony's voice which was never a good thing seeing as Tony wasn't a man who was easily surprised about anything.
Steve put himself protectively in front of the group of medical staff he'd been trying to get past the mantises and took a tighter hold of his shield as the man raised up his whip. Steve's body tensed, ready to take the man down but instead of turning the whip on them, he used it to destroy a mantis as it flew over head, slicing through the creature and cleaving it in two. With a few cracks of his electrical whip he cleared the path directly in front of them. "This way," he urged the medical personal, pointing to the relative safety of a nearby building which was being fiercely protected by SHIELD agents.
Thor and Steve exchanged surprised looks at the realisation that this man seemed to be on their side. Before they could react, the mantises all abruptly dismantled. Metal pieces were raining downing on them from above and the ones on the ground collapsed as their multiple parts disassembled. "Tony did it," concluded Steve in relief, "he shut off the signal." There was a shout of joy from the surrounding people and wild clapping as the immediate threat was neutralised. However, Steve didn't have time for celebrations as he tried to assess if there was a new threat to be dealt with now. He strode up to the caped man, wanting answers. Steve looked at the newcomer suspiciously. "What is this, who are you?" The metal pieces at their feet were scrambling around, looking for new metal homes to dissolve into but Steve ignored them.
A voice behind him gave a triumphant answer. "We're the heroes who kicked butt and saved the day."
Steve turned around to see a man in a purple and green armoured suit, his face obscured by a purple metal helmet walking confidently toward them. Behind him Steve could see Natasha helping Clint, his arm around her shoulders as she supported him heavily as he limped along. Steve immediately moved to help them. "Are you alright?" he asked Clint, as he took hold of Clint's other arm and put it around his neck, sharing the support of his weight.
"He is now that I saved him," said the newcomer confidently. He looked over at the man with the whip. "I see you did your share of saving as well, buddy."
Steve shared concerned looks with the rest of the Avengers, his lips thinning as he grew impatient for answers.
oooOOOOooo
Tony looked around at the disassembled metal as it started to liquefy, searching for fresh metal to merge with. "Jarvis," he said quickly, "redirect power to my thrusters." Tony shot up in the air and away from where the molten metal was oozing all over, looking for a new home. He didn't want another suit contaminated. Tony jetted over to where the other man was hovering over the now ice-filled hole. He looked down at the frozen vehicle and its occupant. "Hey, Jumpin' Jack Frost," he said tightly, "you just killed a man."
The other man turned towards him, the two men facing off mid-air. "I just saved a city and the President," he corrected him. "One life is a small price to pay."
"I wonder if your victim would agree with you," said Tony tightly. "Who the hell are you?"
oooOOOOooo
Steve tried not to look as confused as he felt.
"He did help us," Natasha confirmed. "He drew the mantises away so we could get the people who were trapped out."
"What did I tell you," said the stranger confidently, "a hero."
"After you knocked me out," said Clint in annoyance. "What the hell was that?"
"I call it an electrobite," came the proud reply. "This suit can generate electrostatic energy. I just gave you a little jolt. You were about to fire on me, I had to protect myself."
Clint didn't look appeased. "You could have just said you were on our side."
"No time," was the dismissive answer.
"Who are you people?" Steve repeated again.
The talkative one jabbed a finger at his chest. "You can call me the Beetle, and you've already met Backlash."
The rest of the Avengers looked over at the pony-tailed man who inclined his head slightly.
"And as for the rest of us-"
"There are more of you?" Thor interrupted him incredulously. "From whence have you come, little bug?"
"It's Beetle," he snapped back. The ground beneath their feet began to shake along with what sounded like distant thunder reached them. "And it sounds like you're about to meet another member of the team," he finished off blithely.
Down the other end of the street a grey dot appeared and it quickly was becoming bigger. A grey figure was literally charging up the street towards them and that description became even more apt as he got closer. Steve could make out that the large, highly muscled man who seemed to have thickened, grey skin all over his body. His face was clearly human, but the grey skin covered the back and top of his head where it was crowned with two horns of different sizes protruded from his head. It gave him a decidedly rhinoceros-like appearance which Steve suspected was the intent. The ground shook even more as he approached, but he didn't seem to be slowing his approach. The man was heading directly for a series of concrete barriers the army had erected to protect the hospital area from the bugs. He crashed into them, tumbling over and skidding along on his back until he came to a halt alongside them all.
"And this is Rhino," said Beetle, as the other man clambered to his feet. "He's not great at changing direction once he's got some speed up."
"You don't say," said Steve, giving the man the once over as the other man just stared back at him impassively.
Above their heads the sound of Tony's thrusters could be heard as he joined the party and he too was bringing a friend. The silver and blue man dropped from the sky alongside Tony.
"And this is Blizzard," reported Beetle, clearly pleased to be taking on the role of master of ceremonies. "I guess the gang's all here."
Steve looked at Tony. "Do you know what is going on?"
"Nothing good," concluded Tony tightly. "And just whose gang is this exactly, bug boy?"
A cool voice came from behind them. "Well, I guess that would be mine, Tony."
Steve recognised the voice without even turning around and knew Tony was right, nothing good was going on...
A/N: Okay guys, what are your thoughts on that little plot twist? Did you see it coming? Can you guess where this is going? :D This is one of those points in the story where it's a big turn in the story, so I'm curious to see your reaction to it.
Choosing to use already established characters at this juncture was something I considered long and hard. I could have made up a new super group from scratch, but there are so many great villains out there in the comic book world that I decided to borrow them, knowing I was taking a risk. .
Huge disclaimer time.
For those of you familiar with these characters, I ask you to forgive me as, while I'll attempt to marry up back story as best I can, I'm taking a movie-verse approach and using these great characters in my story, but not being quite true to comic book lore. I mean, I know the Beetle usually belongs with Spiderman and things like that, but I did try and pick ones which would fit in with the scenario I'm setting up. So I beg the forgiveness of the comic book purists and ask their indulgence. I'll try and honour the spirit of these characters as much as I can, even if I have to tweak a little of their back story to fit this one.
Also, for those of you not familiar with the characters, I encourage you to google them and check out their outfits rather than rely on my piss poor descriptions of them. A picture is worth a thousand words after all. ;)