I just finished writing the first chapter and wanted to get to this one.
Chapter 153: Doppel-Rogers Part Two
SHIELD Base, Kentucky - 8:29 AM
Angela was ready for a fight since she arrived on the base. Now standing in a stairwell surrounded by agents thinking of a new fight plan on the spot with her brother dealing with his own battle a few flights down, she's never been more excited. Once the stairs and railing start vibrating beneath their feet from Xavier's fight downstairs, agents charge towards Angela.
Angela, currently on the landing between two flights, kicks over an agent on the flight below her, creating a domino effect of agents. Once they're on the ground scrambling to get up, Angela heads over to the railing and climbs, launching herself up. She grabs the railing a floor above with one hand, dangling over the edge with agents coming after her. No biggie. Angela throws herself up another floor to catch that railing, creating more distance.
She swings herself over, landing higher up. With the little time she has before another fight, she rolls her shoulders back and strategizes something new.
-o-
Xavier jumps forwards. He wraps his arm around and agent's neck and barrel-rolls them down a flight of stairs. The agent grabs him in a chokehold. Xavier reaches back, smacking the agent's uniform all over as he kicks over other agents trying to get their hands on him. Xavier leaps back onto his feet, causing the agent who was choking him to lose his grip.
When the agent gets back up to throw a punch, Xavier turns around so the agent would contact his shield strapped on his back. It's a close fight with no evident fire so he doesn't need it. Besides, this should be a fair fight.
Xavier jumps down another flight, punching an agent down on the way. He leaps on another agent, swinging around their back and tossing them against the wall.
He takes his shield off his back and looks up the spiral spacing of the staircase.
"Catch!" He yells before whipping the shield up.
-o-
Angela catches the shield and holds it out as an agent tries to kick her. Angela swipes her leg underneath the shield to knock them over, bashing them with the shield to send them to the ground. Angela straps the shield on her back, over her hair, as an agent on a step above her tries to knock her over.
Angela quickly gets into a handstand on her stair step. She kicks her over, then flipping onto her feet to see a crowd of agents streaming in from the nearest floor. Without another thought, Angela leaps over the railing, securing herself with a grappling hook on her belt. She rappels down a few flights before she starts dropping. Someone must've cut her rope.
Angela grabs the closest railing, noticing that Xavier started climbing the railing like tree branches. When they make eye contact, Angela uses one hand to change her grappling rope. She fires it as high as she can, which is the ceiling at the top. Once it's secure, she calls herself up at top speed, Xavier grabbing onto her hand in time so they could both make the trip up.
Before they collide with the ceiling, Angela swings them over to the side before disconnecting from her rope. She calls it back to herself as she and Xavier hear the sounds of agents screaming orders at each other and running up the stairs at top speed. The twins made it to the rooftop entrance which was their original unsaid plan.
"We'll need a keycard," Angela says, glancing at the entrance keypad. She knows she and Xavier have been locked out of the system given the moment they were being hunted on the premise.
"I got this from being choked downstairs," Xavier says, swiping a keycard.
Once the door opens, Angela and Xavier step out. The bright and blazing sun hits them as they slam the door behind them. Angela uses her grappling rope to tie the handle to nearby pipes. The agents will break through it but it would buy her and Xavier at least a few seconds. The rooftop is empty with no quinjets or any vehicle to get them out of here.
"Why did you give me the shield?" Angela says as she runs across the rooftop, looking for anything to help them.
Xavier shrugs as he joins her. "I wasn't using it."
Angela shoves him.
"Just for that, I'm taking it back."
Xavier grabs the shield for himself. Angela grins for a moment before the wind picks up, blowing them back. Holding up their arms in front of their faces to block the dust, debris, and sunshine. Suddenly, the light is gone due to a quinjet flying up to cast a threatening shadow over them. That's not there to give them a ride.
"Captain and Agent Rogers, you're ordered to surrender or else you'll be subjected to an electromagnetic holding cell for further questioning!"
Angela and Xavier pause and the quinjet waits for their response, weapons pointed right at them. They could picture their faces on the screen in the quinjet because they've been on the other end many times before.
"An electromagnetic holding cell?" Angela mutters to Xavier. "Like in The Cube? I'm not dealing with those again. I've blocked those memories."
"What further questioning do they need?" Xavier asks back.
With no responses and no interest in getting any given the consequences, Angela and Xavier make a run for it. Across the rooftop, they sprint in different directions as the quinjet fires. Like running from a crocodile, Angela and Xavier sprint in a zig-zag pattern, not daring to look back. They glance at each other again, eyeing the same destination: the roof of the next building. It's a lower height which will make it easier for them given gravity.
Angela and Xavier pick up speed, running towards the edge of the roof. They tune out the sound of the quinjet's gunfire to concentrate. The faster they run, the more momentum they're building. At the same time, they reach the ledge and launch themselves, soaring across the sky like fighter jets. They flip forwards mid-air, rolling once, to build more energy for the impact. They break the landing by landing in a somersault, pushing it further with their arms so they could roll back on their feet.
With their new head start, once they have solid footing, they run over to that building's edge and rappel to the ground.
They don't have time to search for a vehicle to snag. There are agents on their tail who are in cars as well.
The twins use their advantage and run.
Besides, they run straight and faster than any of the SHIELD-grade vehicles. For years as children, they've raced each other to see who really runs the fastest. It was always a tie either a tie or they each won enough times to never reach a conclusion. Never in their entire life have they put that to the test until now.
Up ahead, to their luck, they're approaching a set of railroad tracks with a train coming. The 9 AM ride.
Angela and Xavier time their pace, keeping in sync with each other but still ahead of the agents chasing them. They need to pull this off or else it's going down memory lane with the electromagnetic holding cells. Way worse even than this moment. The closer they get to the train with no intention of stopping, the train blares its horn but they don't slow down. When they're one step away, they dive across the tracks, nearly missing the train.
SHIELD slams on their brakes, waiting, but once the train passes, Angela and Xavier are out of sight.
For those of you who are interested, I have a new WandaVision story out called A Magician Never Tells.