Chapter 12)
It had been comforting, despite the fact that Shayera had been a mindless hawk zombie, at least she had been one who would brutally assault AIM as well. One of the armored scientists found that out the hard way, when Shayera swung her axe and managed to cleave him in half the hard way.
"We have to take her down!" Black Widow yelled.
"Electricity did stun her for a little bit," Thor said. "Perhaps a bigger jolt should stun her even further."
Thor locked his eyes on Storm. Shuri, in the midst of the chaos, had found a way to bypass the AIM's armor security and was furiously coding a shutdown sequence to be unleashed at a moment's notice. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and She-Hulk played damage control.
"Listen, Thor, don't hold back, she's not the friend you knew, she's a puppet used by AIM!" Black Widow yelled.
"Unfortunately, I would have to agree," Thor said.
"There may be ways of bringing her back completely, but first we have to contain her body," Shuri said. "And we need to force all of the energy out of her that MODOK bombarded her with."
"No, you winged vermin!" MODOK howled. "I brought you back from the dead. I'm your master. You will obey everything I say, you will….ARGH!"
A furious Shayera swiped at MODOK and sent him crashing into the wall at a sickening velocity. Sparks flew out of the side of the mechanical abomination. Two of the AIM scientists tested their luck and found themselves cleaved in half.
"At least she's making my job a lot easier," Shuri said. "Alright, Ororo, Thor, it's now or never."
The top of the AIM facility ripped open and a huge storm erupted from high above. Thor's eyes glazed back as he channeled everything he could along with Storm.
"Alright, stand clear!" Thor yelled.
A huge blast of lightning erupted and struck Shayera down to the ground. The zombified hawk flipped head over heels and crashed down to the ground.
Shuri inputted the shut down sequence, just as MODOK and a few scientists scrambled their way to a sky platform and took off into the sky. Hawkeye fired a few arrows at them to try and slow them down, but they got away.
"Man, I hate it when the bad guys dine and dash," Hawkeye said.
"The good news is that AIM did not take any of their weapons here," Black Widow said. "But, the bad news…."
"Always has to be bad news," She-Hulk said.
"MODOK has studied the metal up close and he was able to replicate a synthetic version of it," Black Widow said. "And the even worse news is at our feet."
Shuri locked her eyes onto Shayera. It was almost a shame. She did not ask to be brought back in this way and she had been nothing but rage.
"We better contain her before she wakes up,' Shuri said.
"Yes, if I know Shayera, mindless beast now that she is, she's not going to be too happy about us striking her with lightning."
The reinforced restrains held the thrashing hawk warrior. She bit at the air, with all of the Avengers keeping a distance. Only Thor dared to get close enough to her and even Thor was not going to tempt fate any more than he could happen.
"Rest well, my friend," Thor said. "We will find a way to bring you back to clarity."
Shuri and Storm returned with a priestess of Wakanda. The Avengers gave her some room and silence to allow her some one-on-one time with Shayera.
"Rest easy, my child, I'm here to help ease you, not to hurt you."
Shayera looked about as tranquil as a fearsome hawk woman could be. The Priestess gently pressed her hands up against the head of the woman and her eyes rolled back for a second. Shuri shifted in concern, as the Priestess looked like she was thrashing about.
"Amata!" Shuri yelled.
"No, it's fine, your highness!" Amata yelled. "Yes, she's….Shayera, her soul is cursed. She is cursed to a never ending loop of reincarnation, alongside another. But, she's been trying to break free from the curse through several cycles. They both have, so they can properly move on and live their lives without the specter of fear."
"So, if she reincarnates, that must me she's still alive, and this is an abomination," Thor said.
"No, Shayera's soul is still fluttering around in the nether world, out of reach. It was preparing for reincarnation, but with one of her old bodies being reactivated, it's being pulled about. Confused, confused that it cannot return back to its body."
"So, if we kill the body, we cut the link," Black Widow said.
"It is not that simple, Black Widow," Shuri said.
"Yes, she's already dead, so all you can do is keep her subdued for short amounts of time," Amata said. "Unfortunately, her soul is far beyond my abilities to reach properly. It's struggling to return and every failed attempt to reconnect has caused her misery."
"So, we can't put her out of her misery," Hawkeye said. "She'll be trapped like that forever."
Hawkeye had seen a lot in his days, but this made him feel revolted. AIM had played god and it led to some very horrifying results.
"Yes," Thor grimly replied. "Until we get her soul back into this body, or she's reincarnated into another. But with her soul trapped in limbo between two states, I fear it is not easily done."
"Thor?" Natasha asked. "A moment please."
Thor tore his eyes away from Shayera at Natasha's instance and she followed him out of the room. Shuri made preparations to further secure Shayera.
"We have AIM's cache of weapons from their facility," Natasha said. "Some of the best minds SHIELD has are working on formulating countermeasures as we speak."
"Good, good,' Thor responded. "I'm glad you're making some headway in the matter."
"Yes," Natasha agreed. "We are moving through some uncharted territory though, so it may be some time before we fully get ahead of them. Although they have been trying to upgrade him. MODOK I mean."
"Great, he's enough as a nuisance as is without being enhanced,"Thor remarked.
Thor could still feel something completely off. He understood while feeling the cave, but this followed him around. He closed his eyes, and he could feel Shayera's soul trying to scratch through an invisible barrier. But, every now and then, Thor could feel the disgusting clawed hand of Byth Rok taunting him. Almost as if he acted like some kind of gatekeeper to Shayera's speedy return.
"I'm sorry to hear about Shayera and the state she's in. We'll find a way."
Whether or not Black Widow meant to find a way to restore Shayera's soul to her body or find a way to sever the length so they could kill her body, Thor could not bring himself to ask it.
"I fear that as talented as you are, Natasha, and as talented as the many agents of SHIELD are, this would be well beyond your capacity," Thor said. "But, if I need further assistance, I will call upon you."
"Yes, and I must get back," Natasha said. "If we can find a way to counteract the synthetic Nth metal that AIM is using, we may be able to take them down. And before they could upgrade MODOK in any way."
Thor swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.
"Safe travel, Black Widow," Thor said.
"I'll check back in later once you return to Avengers tower."
"It may be a while, I still have some important business to attend to."
"Well, it's a situation where there appears to be no win."
Thor finished explaining the extremely dire situation he was in to Sif. Sif patiently waited for him to finish the explanation and could feel for Thor.
"Amata said that she was close to returning, but there had been some kind of barrier which pulled her back," Thor said. "And I feel like there may be some kind of barrier, which is preventing her from reincarnation. AIM's timing could not be even worse."
Thor almost punched a wall, but remembered he was a guest in Wakanda and it would serve well to remember etiquette. Sif, perhaps sensing the danger, held Thor's arm back. Thor took a calming breath and returned back to the conversation.
"Do you have any options?" Sif asked.
"Well, I suspect this could fall under the domain of Doctor Strange, but unfortunately, I have been unable to reach him so far," Thor said. "But, there is one other."
Sif understood immediately, although a small amount of trepidation could be felt through her. In fact, she understood what Thor was going to do.
"You're not talking about…."
"Yes," Thor said. "I am."
Deep consideration hit Thor. He had hit roadblock after roadblock and once all allies had been exercised and they had been unable to help, it was time to go through other means. Maybe not necessarily an enemy, but perhaps a wild card, and someone who Thor had no choice but to turn to at a time like this.
"She might be able to shed light on Shayera's soul drift," Thor mused. "But, her favor is not so easily acquired."
"Yes, and unless she has any motivation in helping you, you're back to the same problem," Sif said.
Thor, Thor vowed to find a way. He caught Shuri coming out of the corner of his eye.
"Thor," Shuri said. "Let me show you the containment box which I am keeping Shayera until we find a way to solve the issue."
The twenty-one year old Princess prodigy led Thor into the next room. Shayera had been caught in a containment field and she had been pounding furiously on it.
"It's powered by kinetic energy," Shuri said. "And given that she keeps pounding on it, and trying to break through, we will have no shortage of power."
Thor made the mistake of looking at the life signs and they had registered as all dead.
"If she returns, we'll know," Shuri said. "She should be kept safe here."
"When she returns," Thor said.
"And obviously, if she stops attacking the shield, then we'll know she's moved in the other direction," Shuri said. "Either way, this will monitor her until we find a way around it."
Shuri deeply sighed and Thor could understand what she was feeling. Because, he felt the same thing.
"I haven't found a way yet," Shuri said.
"Don't beat yourself up, there are some things that are beyond even the capacity of a brilliant woman such as yourself," Thor said. "T'Challa always spoke with such pride about you, and it was warranted."
Shuri nodded in agreement, although failure had not been something she was used to and thus it was eating away at her, slowly, but surely.
Monica Rappaccini casually tapped a finger to her clipboard and looked towards a blonde haired man who was busy prepping some of the metal.
"You couldn't get more."
"It should be sufficient for you, Doctor Hall," Monica said tensely. "SHIELD swiped a quantity from us. You told me you could create more."
"Yes, but without a sufficient example of the Nth metal to bond it to, it's useless," he said.
Carter Hall woke up in an AIM lab some time, drugged and taken by his lab. He had been told they were working to save the world from tyranny and SHIELD and the Avengers acted like heroes, but they were villains, keeping people down. Carter believed them over time, as the Avengers had caused more damage then they fixed in his opinion.
"But, I believe this will be enough, after closer inspection," Carter responded. "It should work."
"Then what are you waiting for, precede with the upgrades!" MODOK snapped. "I grow tired of getting struck in the face by that blasted hammer every time I fight the Avengers."
"I said it should work, not that it has been tested," Carter remarked.
"MODOK will adapt thanks to his programming," Monica explained. "And make sure the fail safes are in place when you upgrade."
Carter swallowed a lump in his throat. Yes, the failsafes. Which would turn MODOK into a mindless puppet if he had been ever compromised in any way. Carter could not help and think he might not be doing the right thing.
"Oh, trust me old friend, you are doing the right thing."
The zombified walking corpse of Byth Rok stood, only seen by Carter in the shadows. Carter had seen him as long as he could remember and he managed to nudge Carter into doing what needed to be done.
"Thor will pay for what he's taken from us."
The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter