Chapter 1: Woodpecker Part 1
Authors Note: Hello everyone this is something that's been kicking around my noodle for some time and I am gonna finally write it. This is a three-part story that will lead up to the Avenger's story. I couldn't decide whether or not if I wanted to do one character or not so I am doing all three. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers.
(Unknown Location)
Deep in an underground bunker unknown to the rest of the world a group of soldiers dressed head to toe in tactical armor and armed with high powered assault rifles were escorting a mobile cell down the halls of testing facility.
The guards moved the cell into an open training room and awaited further orders. After a few minutes of standing around a man dressed in an all-black suit and tie with a red under shirt approached the cell with no hint of fear or remorse.
"Is the subject ready?" He asked the head soldier.
"Yes sir," The soldier said. "The Woodpecker has been fitted with her collar and has been sedated as requested. She isn't immobile, but she is still aware and docile."
"Good, let her out." He said stepping back.
The guard was hesitant for a moment before nodding and retrieving a keycard from his belt. He approached the cell and held his card up against the scanner and waited for the beep. Once it beeps the locks on the cell shifted and the cell door slowly opened.
"Come out, Woodpecker." The man in the suit said.
The door opened wider, and the sound of little bare feet was all that was heard as an eleven-year-old girl stepped out. She was dressed in a light blue shirt and matching pants and around her neck was a black metallic collar with a little device attached to it. The girl nervously tugged at her messy red hair as she stood in the center of the room. She eyed the soldiers then the man in the suit waiting for her orders.
The man smiled at her before kneeling, so he was at eye level with her.
"And how are you today little bird?" He asked.
"I'm fine, Mr. Crow." The little girl mumbled.
"We both know that is a lie, your cell is cold, your bed is uncomfortable, and the guards have been less the gentlemanly." He chuckled. "But the reason for all this is to make you strong my beloved Woodpecker and you have gotten stronger."
Mr. Crow let out a deep chuckle as his red eyes narrowed at the little girl. Without warning or hesitation, he reached into his pocket and before anyone could blink, he pulled out and threw a knife at the little girl who instantly caught it, but not with her hands.
The guards stared in awe as the girl held her hands up and stopped the knife mid throw. The blade was floating still in midair between her and Crow.
"Good, very good, the last three were not so lucky." He chuckled, frightening the girl into dropping the knife. "Do you have a headache or any sort of tension in your head?"
"A little, but it's not as bad as yesterday." She managed to mumble out.
"Good, now let's see how you do in another situation." He snapped his fingers and before the girl could blink three assassins armed with kukri machetes.
One of the assassins leaped towards the young girl and swung it at her head, but the girl instantly dodged the blade, feeling a few strands of her hair being clipped away. The girl spotted an opening on the assassin's throat and threw a quick jab with her fist busting the assassin's windpipe.
The would-be killer let out a choked gasp as his grip loosened on his blade. Woodpecker reached out and grabbed his wrist and with one swift moved she dislocated it. The blade fell from his hand and the young girl caught it midair and immediately blocked an oncoming attack from the other assassin.
Woodpecker spotted the other assassin coming in for a swing, but she waited for the right moment to leap out of the way allowing the attack to kill the previous assassin she had just disarmed.
In the confusion, Woodpecker ducked low and without hesitating she swiped her blade across the assassin's throat. He choked on his blood as his machete fell from his hands, but Woodpecker caught it just as easily as the last one as she charged at the last assassin.
She swung her blades in blind furry as the assassin blocked the numerous attacks, but the young girl managed to get lucky and landed a cut across his knuckles, but it didn't seem to bother him as he ducked down and swept her legs from underneath her.
Woodpecker fell on her back and her eyes widened as the assassin raised his blade in a stabbing motion towards her chest. The young girl could do nothing except raise her hands and channel her telekinetic energy out towards the assassin.
Instantly, the blade turned on the assassin while he was still holding it, impaling him in the chest killing him instantly. The man fell dead while Woodpecker was still on the ground breathing heavily as her hands shook with horror.
Mr. Crow smirked at the young girl's accomplishment while the girl herself sat there stunned.
"Very good," Mr. Crow chuckled. "Very good my little bird. I would have preferred if you hadn't used your powers, but despite that last one being more resilient I think I can let it slide."
"I did good though, right?" Woodpecker asked.
"Very good, now do you want to make me happy?' He asked. Woodpecker nodded. "Pick up that machete will you."
Woodpecker picked up the machete and awaited further instructions. She remained still awaiting further instructions as Mr. Crow remained still. He snapped his fingers and all of a sudden, another man appeared out of nowhere behind one of the guards.
This one was different he was dressed in all black pants, boots and a leather vest with straps across his chest and a belt with a couple of handguns fastened at each side. He wore a pair of black goggles that fit perfectly over his face mask. His most noticeable features were his long brown hair and the shiny metal left arm.
With almost inhuman movements he disarmed the guard of his assault rifle and relived him of his sidearm before he could even make a reach for it and he instantly held him in a chokehold as Crow simply smirked.
"My Woodpecker, do you know this man?" Crow asked the scared girl.
"Yes, he is, Mr. Landon." She stated. "He sometimes reads to me and sneaks me some of those candies."
"Yeah, twizzlers and skittles." Mr. Crow chuckled as he pulled out a big bag of skittles from his pocket. "You really like these don't you." The little girl nodded. "I'll give you this whole bag if you take that blade of yours and plunge it into that traitors throat."
"Traitor?" She asked.
"This man has been feeding intel to the bad guys for about a year now, some task force called Strategic Homeland something or other, anyways he is trying to destroy everything that we are trying to do here and we cannot allow that and that is where you come in. The higher ups are worried about you. While your power and skills are improving, they are afraid your will is starting to weaken. So, in order to truly prove yourself, you need to kill the only person who was ever nice to you."
"Hmm…" Woodpecker grumbled as she dug her heel nervously into the ground. She jumped when Mr. Crow cleared his throat which quickly encouraged her to move towards the subdued soldier. "Sorry, Mr. Landon."
"It's Charlie kiddo, you know that." He chuckled nervously. "I'm just sorry this had to happen. I was hoping to take you outside in the sun and make you those burgers I promised."
"I'll never forget what you gave me though like the candy or the teddy," She stood before him now, hands shaking and eyes watering. She looked at Charlie then at the man with the metal arm. "And all the other stuff you gave me like longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car." Crow's eyes widened when he realized what she was doing.
"Stop her!"
"Release Landon and attack Crow and his men!"
The brainwashed soldier did as the young girl ordered and released Landon and pulled out his pistols. He gunned down Crow's body guards so fast that Woodpecker didn't even have time to blink. He aimed his pistol at Crow, but in a red flash Crow went from being in front of him to right next to him.
Crow grabbed the soldier by his metal wrist and crushed it like a tin can. The soldier aimed his free pistol at his head and fired, but Crow just managed to disappear right when he fired and swept his feet from beneath him. Woodpecker watched the two of them struggle as she reached into her collar and pulled out the key that Landon had given her before being transported to the training area.
Once the collar was off, she used her powers to shove both the soldier and Crow to the far end of the room. She turned to Landon who had armed himself and started running towards the main door.
"Come on, I hit the panic button, my team will be coming in to raid this facility and save all those kids!" Landon said as he led the girl away from Crow.
"Woodpecker, don't leave me!" Crow shouted from across the room.
The young girl paid him no mind and followed Landon out of the room. The two ran down the hallway and were jumped by a couple of guards, but Landon made short work of them with his assault rifle.
"They're down here!" A guard yelled from behind them.
"Dammit, we can't let them pin us." Landon grunted as he changed clips. Woodpecker nodded and looked around for something she could use. A lightbulb went off in her head when she spotted the sprinklers on the ceiling and a large cable running along the wall.
Raising her right hand, she used her powers to break the sprinklers while Landon aimed his rifle at the opposite end of the hallway. He glanced back at her as the water started to pool towards them, but stopped right at her feet. Now all they could do was wait.
"So, what happened back there with that soldier?"
"Who?" The girl asked.
"The guy with the metal arm, you said those words and he did what you said."
"Mr. Crow showed him to me one time, I put my hand on his and read his mind and numerous amounts of people said those words. I guess that's his kill phrase or something. Thanks for the key by the way."
"Yeah, no problem." He chuckled nervously, noticing that the little girl had completely dropped the frightened girl persona and was now as much a hardcore soldier like him. "Here they come get ready."
The young girl nodded and as the soldiers on her end entered the hallway, she used her powers to rip the live wires off the wall and into the water shocking and killing the guards easily. Landon opened fired on the guards on his end and managed to get one of them, but the other two were taking cover.
Woodpecker used her powers once again to tear the wire off the wall, so she could focus her power on the guards taking cover. Using both hands, she pulled the both of them from behind cover allowing Landon to finish them off.
The two quickly made their way passed the dead guards and were clear to make their exit. Which was a good thing as Woodpecker was starting to feel the pains of overusing her powers.
"Hang on kiddo, we are almost out of here." They felt a small tremor through the halls as they ran. "That's my team thing will be wrapping up in no ti—"
He was cut off when out of no where Crow appeared out of thin air and tackled Landon to the ground. Landon was lucky enough to pull his knife out from his belt and stab Crow in his leg, but it wasn't enough to break off his hold.
Woodpecker tried to use her powers on him, but her head felt like it was being crushed in a vice when she tried.
"You will not take my, Woodpecker!" Crow growled
"She's not yours." He growled as he pulled out a grenade. "RUN!"
"No, I can't leave you!"
"Yes, you can and will!" He let go of the knife he was using on Crow and pulled out his side arm. He aimed it at the door Woodpecker was standing by and fired at the electronic lock, the blast doors sliding down and sealing the entry way between her and Landon.
"No!" She shouted as the sound of the grenade went off on the other side. "Dammit!"
With no other choice she turned her back and ran as fast as she could and as hard as she could. She remembered crow telling her about this passage way being an emergency exit.
She saw the door at the end and quickly grabbed onto the red handle and with all her strength she lifted it up and unlocked the door, being greeted by the sunlight. When her eyes had adjusted, she looked up and she was in awe of the beautiful forest around her. The hour looked to be around afternoon, the sun was dim, but bright enough to illuminate through the green trees.
The world was beautiful outside of her cell and once she got her bearings, she vowed it was going to be a lot emptier. Vengeance would be hers no matter what.