Time to get back into it, I'm gonna admit this next chapter or two are gonna be weird.
Infinity Chapter XIV
Fetch Quest Part I
New York City, October 19th, 11:30 EDT
Ben raced through the East Bronx, a chilly wind whipping around him as he bolted down the abandoned streets. The Dome rose imperiously into the sky to his left, red energy roiling like a trapped sun. All around him, business's had been shuttered, cars abandoned, a stray dog bolted as he skidded around a corner and kept running.
"Got eyes on them?" Tony asked, his voice coming in over the comm in Ben's ear.
"Yep!" Ben cried, his voice taking on a squawking quality as he leaped over a downed trashcan, his talons clattering across the pavement as he kept running.
Kicking Hawk hadn't been his first choice, but it seemed like despite everything the Omnitrix still had its own sense of humor.
"They ducked into a back alley near the Social Security Admin," Ben continued.
"Understood, Tremors can you head'em off?" Tony asked.
"Yep be there in a sec." came her returned, followed by a low boom in the distance that Ben guessed was her taking to the air.
Their quarry was a short, oddly shaped individual who was racing ahead of Ben at a rather impressive pace. Hungover their back was a backpack bulging with stolen electronics, their body hidden beneath an overly sized green hoodie. The only thing visible was their vibrant red sneakers that looked slightly off but Ben couldn't quite place why.
Ben thought back to how this all started as leaped into the air, kicking off a dumpster and pushing off the wall of a shuttered restaurant to gain ground on the hooded figure.
"Morning," Daisy said, drawing his eyes up from his heaping pile of food just as he shoved a massive helping of sausage and egg into his mouth.
"Mornin," he muttered back, hastily swallowing the bite as she sat down across from him and slapped a folder down in front of him marked with the SHIELD sigil.
She was dressed in a gray t-shirt and comfortable looking jeans while he was still in his pajamas, his hair a raggedy mess.
"What's this?" he asked, tapping the folder with the back of his fork as he shoved a whole piece of toast into his mouth.
"SHIELD has asked me to add you to the Initiative Roster officially," she explained, opening it to reveal several pages with the Avengers 'A' emblazoned across them and a picture of him he didn't remember taking.
"Where'd you get this?" he asked, staring at her a bit cagily, he still wasn't ready to trust her and there was still a tension between them he didn't quite understand that went beyond that.
"AVA nabbed that on the Helicarrier," Daisy stated, rubbing the back of her neck, "Sorry, we can take another one if you like, after you get cleaned up of course.
She smirked slightly at his messy hair and slightly grease-stained lips.
"I have no idea what you mean." Ben snarked, drawing a small smile from her, "And if I don't want to be added to this 'Initiative'."
"Then, I go back to listening Wasp ramble about Hank while trying to get through Tony's firewall," she stated nonchalantly, "And then there's like a seventy-five percent chance Fury has someone else write up a document on you without your input."
"Well, we can't have that," Ben muttered, frowning as he placed a syrup-and-butter-drenched piece of waffle into his mouth, "Wha's the Initiative?"
"The Avengers Initiative, a list of current Avengers and their capabilities as well as profiles on possible recruits." Daisy explained, "I was one of the more recent additions, but everyone here is in it. It is a plan for defending Earth against threats that go beyond the conventional, both terrestrial and non."
"Alright." Ben stated, "Ask away I suppose."
"Full name and date of birth," she asked, pulling a pen from behind her ear, which had been hidden in her mane of golden-brown hair, and putting it to paper.
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson," he said, "And December 27th, 1995."
Daisy laughed a but as she wrote down his name.
"What's so funny?" Ben asked, giving her a pointed look.
"Sorry, I'm just imagining you turning into the video game character," she said with a grin.
He cracked a grin as he thought to himself, ("Well at least that's still the same.")
"What are your powers, where did they come from, how long have you had them?" she continued, still smiling.
"Shapeshifting into numerous alien life-forms, all of whom have their own abilities. They come from an alien device called the Omnitrix, which is now embedded into my body." Ben rattled off before turning truth into falsehood, "I don't remember how I got it, but I think I've had it since I was ten."
"Ten years old?" Daisy queried, "How did you keep your powers hidden for so long?"
Ben shrugged, "I-I don't know."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she shrugged it off and continued with her questions.
"Do you have any family?" she asked, looking up at him.
His appetite drained away as those words rang in his ears, thinking about his cousin, his family back at home, and what they must be going through. He'd even started dating again, the small miracle of convincing her to give him a second chance non-withstanding, he wondered what she must have been thinking right now.
"Ben?" Daisy asked, "Are you okay?"
He blinked back to reality, staring at the seemingly genuine concern on her face.
"I-,"
"Sorry to interrupt," Tony stated, hanging off the side of the elevator, his whole body diagonal with the floor, "But I need to borrow the two of you."
"What's going on?" Ben asked, turning away from Daisy to look at him.
"There have been a series of Gunfights and thefts in East Bronx." Tony stated, "Coulson's crew would normally be investigating this, but he and his team are still preoccupied with Star City."
"What about the police?" Daisy asked.
"The East Bronx has been cleared out since the Dome, people moving to other parts of the city or just straight up leaving, police included," Tony remarked, "On top of that the claims from SHIELD personnel in the area make it seem like it could be Watchdogs and Morlocks expanding into territory outside the Dome."
"Just the three of us?" Ben asked, "What about the others."
"Hank left for the Zoo a few minutes ago, Wasp has a flight to San Fransokyo in an hour and Banner is meeting with an old friend of his." Tony remarked, "Besides, I think the three of us can handle a couple of Watchdogs and thieves don't you?"
"What have they been stealing?" Daisy asked as she got to her feet.
"Electronics mostly." Tony returned, turning to Ben, "Go wash your breakfast out of your hair and meet us in ten."
The figure whipped around a corner as Ben hit the ground behind him.
"Please, just stop running, I promise we're not going to hurt you." Ben called out, "We just want to know what you've been doing!"
The figure didn't answer, bending lower and seeming to pick up speed, Ben noticed a green vaguely reptilian tail appear from beneath the hoodie, though once again something about it didn't quite look right.
The figure bolted across the street just as Daisy hit the ground beside it and grabbed for them.
They ducked her swipe and swerved into another alley with her and Ben hot on their trail.
"He sure is quick," Ben remarked, Daisy nodded and then did a double-take when she looked at him.
"Why are you a giant chicken?!" she asked with a laugh.
"A giant alien chicken with razor-sharp arm talons." Ben returned with a slight grimace, "Don't ask."
She shook her head as they turned back to the chase, slowly gaining on the figure.
They looked back, and Ben spotted a bit of green skin poking out from under the blue bandana wrapped around their face.
"Stop!" Ben yelled, reaching out to grab hold of the backpack as they got closer than ever before.
The figure surged into the air leaping much higher than should have been normal, and landed atop a nearby roof and taking off again. Daisy and Ben followed, racing after them as they leaped from building to building.
"Alright kid, pull it over," Tony stated as he dropped out of the sky directly in front of the thief, who stuttered to a halt and began looking about in a slight panic.
"Just hand over what you stole, and then we can talk about what exactly you're doing here," Tony ordered, holding his hand out for the backpack.
The thief shook his head almost comically fast and began to back up, only to see Ben and Daisy approaching and began looking about frantically.
"You can trust us," Daisy stated, "We're not trying to hurt you. You've caused some trouble but I get the feeling you don't have any other choice. Am I right?"
The figure looked at her, still silent, and slowly cocked their head to the side.
She got a bit closer and the character backed up, directly into Tony who put a hand on their shoulder.
The figure immediately panicked and to Ben's surprise, a long vivid-red and oddly shaped tongue emerged from beneath the bandana and struct Tony directly in the face with enough force to knock him off the building and down into the alleyway below.
"Hey jerks!" a snarky voice called out, "Leave him alone!"
A figure spun past them high-lighted in blue light, their feet coming up to kick Ben and Daisy in the back of the knee sending them to the ground.
Ben looked up as the new hooded figure skidded to a halt, they wore a blue hoodie and black bandanna but Ben could make out two overly large eyes glaring at him from beneath the hood. The hood was stretched in weird angles, and the arms hung way past the character's hands, which seemed a bit oversized. Two oversized red-shoes were the most defining feature, ones that looked weirdly recognizable.
Another figure appeared, taller than others though not by much wearing a pink hoodie and black sweat pants. His jaw jutted out from beneath the hoodie, the same odd falses clinging to him like it had the original thief.
"Don't worry buddy." the one in the blue-hoodie stated, patting the backpack wearing figure on the shoulder, "We've got your back."
"You AIM folks just don't learn do you!" Blue called out, "We aren't letting you take her!"
"AIM?" Daisy asked, shooting him a confused look.
"Her who?" Ben queried.
The other figures turned to look at Blue, who rubbed the back of his head in an almost embarrassed fashion.
"Uh, none of your business!" he called out, pointing a finger at them. Ben stared at him for several seconds, he recognized their voice, and as he stared at the others things began to click into place.
"No way," Ben muttered, Daisy, sending him a questioning look.
"What?" she asked as she got to her feet, vibrations beginning to rattle up her body.
Ben didn't answer, instead, he pinched himself, "Nope, not dreaming."
"Ben?" Daisy asked, staring at him like he'd gone crazy.
"Humor me." he returned, getting to his feet and falling into a fighting stance.
"Go take care of the other guy." Blue stated, squaring up against Daisy and Ben, "And you get going."
The other figures nodded, the thief turning and leaping from the rooftop and hitting the ground running while Pink leaped down into the alleyway Tony had fallen down.
"Let's dance!" Blue yelled, darting forward them at break-neck speed.
Tony shook his head, slightly dazed.
"FRIDAY did you get that plates on that truck?" he asked, as he pushed himself up to a sitting position and realized he was resting within the ruins of a loaded dumpster.
"Not yet boss, but they appear to be getting away." his hud lit up as the thief appeared at the end of the alleyway and began racing away from him.
"I wanted to do this the easy way," he muttered as he activated his stun-repulsors, "But I guess not."
He aimed, targeting the thief's back when another figure dropped into his line of sight.
Refocusing he looked down to see around five foot tall built guy dressed in a pink hoodie and black sweatpants.
"Can I help you?" Tony snarked.
The figure rolled his shoulders and then launched a punch that sent Tony stumbling backward as he felt the armor around his gut dent in a little.
"FRIDAY, what's this guy made of!" Tony demanded, dodging out of the way of another punch that cracked concrete, and looking down at his dented armor in amazement.
"I don't know boss," FRIDAY returned, an image appearing of an x-ray of the figure, "I can't get an x-ray of him, but he's not breathing and I can't detect a pulse.
Tony's eye flicked to the readings and then back to the actual fight, as he ducked a blow.
"Alright Pinkie what's your deal?" Tony asked, powering up his repulsors.
Pink said nothing, just gritted his teeth, and fell into a tight boxing stance as he closed in on Tony.
He fired off a punch, that caused the air to ripple around it from the very force of the strike but left him open for Tony.
He fired his stunners into the guy's chest and expected to see some kind of reaction from him, but the guy just stared down at the dissipating energy and then up at Tony.
"Crap," Tony muttered, as Pink lunged again, slamming Tony into the air with a harsh uppercut. The metal dented again and Tony let out a fearful gasp before catching himself in the air.
Tony gritted his teeth as the figure leaped into the air and aimed another punch, Tony reacted first his robotic arm snapping forward his armor changing and molding slightly as the nanite wrapped around Pink's arm like a vice and then Tony jetted into the air.
"You're going to have to try harder than that," Tony remarked.
They rocketed into the air and Tony caught sight of Daisy and Ben fighting a blue-wreathed speedster, who was literally running circles around the both of them.
Tony aimed a repulsor and fired, catching the speedster by surprise as the ground next to his feet turned into a crater. He tripped and rolled across the top of the building, hitting the top of a ventilation system with a loud clang.
Tony turned to hunt for the original thief when a metallic tearing sound caught his attention.
Pink's body was steaming, a snarl evident on his face as he grabbed hold of Tony's neck, finished tearing himself free of the nanites, and reared back as he pulled himself up.
Tony's vision darkened as the enraged man headbutted Tony, cracking his visor and sending his senors scrambling.
"FRIDAY, I can't see," he said, panicking slightly as he felt himself pitch forward, Pink fighting to tug them off balance.
"Working on it!" the AI cried, his vision flaring back fully as he saw Pink going in for another headbutt.
He swung his hands up, the enraged man catching a repulsor blast to the face sending him falling to the roof beneath him. Pink landed hard but stayed standing the steam dissipating from his body as he put out a hand to lift his accomplice to his feet.
Tony teetered in midair as his vision fully came back, clattering to the ground next to Daisy as Ben stalked towards the pair.
"We not backing down!" Blue shouted, falling into a fighting stance, while Pink immediately snapped into boxing mode.
"I know," Ben stated, darting forward, his talons extended.
Daisy raced in to help him, sending two blasts at Pink who weathered the blows and bolted towards her.
Ben made to grab him and got a kick to the face from Blue in return.
"I'm not getting a pulse on that one either boss," Friday stated.
"Right," Tony stated, as the precision bolts popped up from his shoulders.
They fired out weaving between Ben and Daisy, catching their attackers in the limbs.
Blue ducked and dodged, his hoodie ripping to shreds, but not appearing to actually take any hits, revealing hints of blue fur that began to emerge from the holes.
Pink meanwhile took every hit and fell to his knees, teetering slightly before falling to the ground.
Blue looked at his fallen companion, as Ben froze, a weirdly excited grin crossing his face.
Daisy meanwhile darted for Blue, who ducked beneath her legs and went to grab Pink only to skid to a stop and stare off into the middle distance as if he heard something.
Tony could see the shorter figures hands clench slightly, before nodding, ducking another blase by Daisy, rolling out of Tony's next repulsor blast and then shooting off like a rocket.
Ben meanwhile was staring down at Pink with a gleefully befuddled expression.
"Earth to Tennyson, Earth to Tennyson," Tony stated as he landed, tapping the younger man on the side of the head, "Did this form give you birdbrain or something?"
"No, I sorry, it's just…" Ben began, shaking his head and letting out a soft laugh, "Hold on."
He reached down and pulled off Pink's hoodie, revealing a teenage Asian-American man with spiked blue hair, and deeply tanned skin. The oddest bit about him was that he didn't look real, there was an almost rubber or plastic-like quality to him, a sheen that a normal person wouldn't have.
"So it is the Morlocks," Daisy muttered, as she knelt down and felt the side of the kid's face, "He's oddly warm."
"Morlocks? Wait, you don't recognize him?" Ben asked incredulously, staring at her wide-eyed and then turning to look at Tony, "I thought you knew Nintendo?"
"I'm sorry?" Daisy queried, staring up at him flatly.
"That's Little Mac!" Ben cried, gesturing down at the unconscious teen wildly.
Daisy stared at him for several seconds before turning to Tony, who was staring at Ben with his head tilted to the side.
"Did, did you hit your head?" Tony asked.
"No, guys I know that sounds insane but I'm serious!" Ben cried.
Quake made to interject when the teen suddenly surged to his feet, his whole body glowing red, steam hissing into the air, and launched a punch directly at Tony's face.
Tony's vision blurred instantly, blackness enveloping him as his face-mask broke even further.
Daisy stared in shock as Tony went rocketing backward and bashed clean through the roof-top generator, which shattered violently, shrapnel flying everywhere.
The man then whirled on her, only for Ben to grab him from behind, and heft him over his shoulder, chucking him off the side of the building and into the alleyway beneath them.
They both turned, and Daisy stared in confusion as instead of seeing him lying there, there was nothing. He'd vanished as if into thin air.
Ben was still smiling oddly, and Daisy wasn't exactly sure what to do with him so she instead turned and ran to check on Tony.
She skidded to a halt before him as he struggled to sit up.
"Are you okay?" she asked, a bit worried by the stilted movement of his limbs.
"Again, Truck, Plates, anybody get them?" he snarked, as he began pawing at his ruined face-plate, "Help me get this off?"
Quake obliged, pulling the dented plate free with a bit of effort and some help from her powers, revealing a very bruised and confused Tony Stark.
"Right so, note to self, from no one I avoid fighting anyone wearing pink." he snarked, as he rubbed his bruised jaw, "God, I'm going to be feeling that for a week!"
Daisy handed him the face-plate which he looked over critically, marveling at the knuckle-indents that marred the metal.
"Tennyson, you still cracked, or have you come back down to earth?" Tony cried out.
Daisy turned, looking at Ben as he turned back into a human, still wearing his befuddled grin and shaking his head.
"Yeah, I'm good." he returned, walking over and joining them, but the smile didn't fade.
"FRIDAY, can we track them down?" Tony asked as Ben and Daisy pulled him to his feet.
"I'm not exactly sure how boss, I need to know what they're made for that," FRIDAY responded.
"Video," Ben stated, Daisy sent him another worried look, while Tony just looked up at him flatly.
"I-what?" Tony asked.
"Again, this is crazy, but I'm like pretty sure we were just fighting video game characters," Ben stated.
The look Tony shot Ben was such a mixture of befuddled and pissed that Daisy couldn't help but laugh.
"You think I just got my ass kicked by a video game character?" Tony stated, "That is what you are saying to me right now."
"Well yeah, Little Mac," Ben stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"How sure are you of that fact?" Daisy asked, fighting a smile as she crossed her arms.
"Eight-five percent." Ben returned honestly, "Maybe ninety."
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, winced as he exacerbated a bruise, and then looked back up at Ben with a worried expression.
"I'm going to be sitting you down with Pym for a long conversation when we get done here," Daisy remarked.
"Why?" Ben asked, fighting a smile.
"Because you sound insane!" Daisy returned, "And he's the closest thing we have to a therapist."
Ben laughed, "Look is sentient video games really that hard to accept?"
"I'm ignoring you both now." Tony remarked, turning to face the way the first culprit had disappeared, "They were stealing electronics right? FRIDAY, scan for any unusual power draws, hell most of this place is shut down so any power surge should be our thieves."
"Gotcha boss," FRIDAY stated, the was quiet for a moment before speaking up again with the hint of a laugh in her voice, "There is a large building a block from here, that is drawing a copious amount of power, and not to give Tennyson's crazed idea more credence but it is very close to a video game store."
"See!" Ben cried.
Tony merely shook his head, while Daisy stared at him and let out another incredulous laugh.
"What is so crazy about my idea?" Ben asked for the fourth time as the trio made their way towards the building cautiously.
"You are claiming that the Dome brought video game characters to life!" Daisy hissed back, "Firstly we aren't in the Dome!"
"I'm not saying that." Ben interrupted, "I'm saying there's a Meta or an Inhuman that is doing it! We're right near the Dome, and there have to be people that got out that SHIELD missed."
"Or it could be a bunch of Metas, not a bunch of sentient video game characters!" Daisy fired back.
"How is this too weird for you, we met an eight-year-old that had godly transmutation powers!" Ben exclaimed, "Hank found a hive of giant, electricity eating ants!"
"A colony," Tony interjected, "But it's a fair point."
"You're agreeing with him now?" Daisy demanded.
Tony shrugged noncommittally as she turned back to Ben.
"Bet me," Ben stated, "If I'm wrong I buy you whatever food you want from where ever, and vice versa."
"Anywhere?" Daisy asked, eyeing him critically.
"Yep." Ben returned.
"Deal," she stated, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it.
"Alright cut the chatter," Tony said as they spotted the building before them, most of its windows were shattered or boarded up, the brick was marred by burn mark and bullet holes. Spent casings laid about the ground haphazardly.
"It looks like a war-zone," Ben remarked.
"How are we entering?" Daisy asked, eying the main entrance.
"They likely already know we're coming," Tony remarked, rubbing his swelling jaw, "And I honestly want payback too much to care about stealth."
"Loud and proud it is," Ben stated, closing his eyes his body shifting and changing until standing before them was a black and green-skinned, cyclopean creature with a square jaw, three-fingered hands topped with copper tubes, two long antennae, and a long tail. Several copper nodes emerged from his shoulders, forearms, and hips as he opened his singular eye.
Ben looked down at himself and grinned, "Oh this will definitely work."
Tony nodded and headed in first with Ben a step behind, Daisy took up the rear keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Her eyes fell on an apparently abandoned SUV painted yellow and black sitting in an alleyway facing the building, and after cataloging that she entered the building.
It was pitch black inside, except for a singular blue light that shown from somewhere above them, revealing the shadow of a staircase leading up.
Tony activated his repulsor bathing the room in light, dust, and cobwebs covered several stacked boxes, while the remains of numerous computers, keyboards, and gaming consoles sat strewn about the floor.
He shone his light upwards, catching a set of metal clad boots standing on first landing before them.
As the light rose higher it highlighted a suit of knight's armor, though it had a strange graininess to it.
"Talk about out of place," Tony muttered as his light caught the helmet, which appeared to be off-center, staring down at the ground.
Daisy looked around, hunting for any sign of the thieves and spotted several hoodies hanging on a teetering coat rack in the corner.
She pointed quietly, drawing Ben's attention who nodded and moved to examine the other side of the room.
The was a strange pulsing sound, and suddenly Daisy found herself weightless. Ben and Tony joined her floating weightlessly beside her in purple spheres of energy.
The set of armor moved, looking up as lines of fire spread across its form, wicking ash as if it was a still burning log. It drew a blade from its hip which immediately caught fire.
There was a whirring noise as suddenly every light in the room turned on, revealing a blue-haired woman with glowing purplish-blue tattoos on her bare arm dressed in a grey-hooded outfit, and holding an odd futuristic SMG in the other.
Daisy's eyes widened as the speedster skidded to a halt.
"So about that bet," Ben remarked, hanging upside down in his bubble.
Tony let out an incredulous laugh as she sent Ben a pointed glare.
She looked back at their captors and let out a soft confused laugh as staring back at her with a confident smirk on his face was Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Too easy," he stated with a smirk, as the Ashen One and the Siren stepped closer to the floating trio.
So...yeah, end scene and all that.
This has been kicking around in my head for days, this incredulous and goofy set of chapters that just wouldn't let go.
Firstly, you learn about what is going on here fully next chapter, and no this isn't some Bendy and the Ink Machine nonsense.
Secondly, the next chapter will end in a case of whip-lash, so prepare yourselves.
As always all comments, questions, and criticisms are appreciated, this has been VerBeeker, signing off!