So, time to see the consequences of what happened last chapter.
Infinity Chapter XVII
Defying Gravity Part I
New York City, October 21st, 9:03 EDT
Ben stifled another yawn as he slumped in his chair in the Avengers meeting room. They had been planning on taking Fetch up to Xavier's School today, but something had crashed into the harbor late last night, which meant that took precedent.
Ben had slept clean through it, and as he looked around the room he realized he might have been the only one. Tony was fidgeting in his chair, deep bags under his eyes, Daisy was nursing an extra-large mug of coffee and Janet was even more bleary-eyed than the rest of them.
Hank and Banner seemed alert, the latter flipping through the morning newspaper while the former just sat silently waiting for the brief to begin.
Their guest slammed his hand on the table, nearly making Janet fall out of her chair in surprise while Ben felt his neck pop as his head jolted to look at him.
"Now that I have all of your attention," Fury snarked, as he impassively stared about the room, "I'm going to start this off by simply stating, if we don't get a handle on this in the next several hours, we are all in for a very bad time."
"I thought we were already up the creek without a paddle." Tony quipped, rubbing his eyes and blinking several times.
"Correct." Fury stated with a huff.
"So what are we up against this time?" Daisy asked as she guzzled down a good helping of her coffee.
Fury eyed Ben for a moment, "What I am about to tell all of you doesn't leave this room."
Ben's eyebrows raised and nodded quietly.
Nick tapped at the console set in next to the table for a moment, the lights dimming slightly as the glass darkened, and a holographic projection appeared.
"As you likely know, several months ago SHIELD facilities across the world came under siege from an unknown party." Fury stated, "Their main goal was to release meta-criminals of all stripes from their confinement. They were unable to crack the Cube or the Zoo, but the Asylum, the Vault, and the Raft had the vast majority of their occupants break containment."
He continued, "The Dome's sudden appearance lead some on the Council to believe that the prison breaks were actually a distraction and ordered us to engage whatever had just whipped a vast majority of the Bronx off the map. From what I can gather, however, the Dome and the Prison Break are a set eerily timed coincidences as with the Particle Accelerator Explosion."
"I am not certain I agree with that hypothesis, Director." Hank interjected, "I am of the mind that while the Dome is indeed an anomaly, there might be true correlation between the other two events."
Fury nodded, "Meaning someone had unexpected help getting a leg up on us all. Which is not something I am comfortable thinking about."
Ben shifted in his seat, "My help, in a really twisted fashion anyway."
"Regardless, our current problem lies with the Raft." Fury informed, a hologram of an octagonal steel building rising above crashing waves, "I reviewed the footage captured by the facilities security system, and it shows that it might have been a joint job, the unknown party that set up the prison break, and agents within SHIELD."
The footage began to fragment as a black Quinjet landed atop the rising Raft.
"However, the attackers and their help on the inside never managed to reach Subject G, thank whatever God you find comfort in." Fury stated, "But if they could do it once that meant they would like try and do it again. So I ordered that the Raft be moved just outside New York Harbor."
Tony swore.
Daisy blanched.
Janet grabbed her shoulder instinctively.
Hank let out a deflating sigh.
And Banner cracked off part of the table in his hands.
Meanwhile, Ben took in all of their reactions, "I'm guessing that's bad?"
Tony nodded mutely, whirling on Fury with a look of betrayed trust, "You didn't tell me."
"I needed you focused on the matter at hand." Fury returned calmly.
"You really thought hiding a proverbial nuke right under our noses while we're already neck-deep was a good idea, Nickie?!" Tony accused, getting to his feet.
"The Dome took precedent," Fury stated, his eye narrowing slightly, "But I was not going to stretch SHIELD forces out any more than they already are. Anyone trying to get the Subject out would have the whole hornet's nest to deal with."
"Meaning us." Banner stated evenly.
"That, and the Helicarrier." Nick amended.
"Lot of good that will do if G rips the damn thing out of the fucking sky." Tony fumed, "What were you thinking?!"
"That maybe, just maybe, whatever watches us wander through life would be on my side just this once." Fury snarked, "Seems like I was wrong."
"Several civilians told authorities they saw a falling star hit the harbor late last night." Fury continued, "Whatever that thing actually was punched clean through the Dome's outer plating, and I got reports from the few remaining personnel that the automated defenses powered back on and the techs have noted a continued build-up of power in one of the wings."
"Is it alien?" Ben asked, a smile spreading across his face a little too quickly, as Tony, Daisy, and Fury gave him a pointed look.
"It has been classified as non-terrestrial by Fitzsimmons, yes." Fury stated, "Regardless of who sent it, we need to stop it before the surge fries Subject G's containment procedures."
"Right, we're on it," Tony stated, getting to his feet suddenly and walking away muttering, "God I want a drink."
"It's going to be a stressful day." Banner stated, and for the first time Ben noticed that his eyes kept flickering from their regular color to a vibrant green, "Wonderful."
Daisy looked around at the others as the Quinjet carried them towards the Raft.
Hank was pensive as ever, triple-checking his gear for the third time since they'd got on board.
Janet seemed to finally be fully awake, though she is clearly nervous and kept grabbing her shoulder as if it was hurting her.
Tony was a bundle of anxiety even beneath all the armor, his foot bouncing to the tune of whatever song he was using to try and calm him down.
Banner was doing breathing exercises across from her, shooting her a quick smile when their eyes met.
Personally, Daisy was more than a little scared. If this went pear-shaped...well, she was fighting to keep her mind on the task at hand and not think about the last time Subject-G had been awake.
Ben had read the room and seemed on edge just because of their own nervousness, but other than that he didn't seem phased but what was weighting for them. In fact, he almost seemed excited.
"So…" he began, patting his knees and sitting forward, "Is anyone going to tell me who-slash-what Subject G is?"
"He is one of the strongest Metahumans that has ever been encountered." Hank offered.
"Good...to know," Ben stated flatly, leaning back in his chair and looking out the window as the approached.
"So where is it?" he asked, as they began to descend, "All I see is some old-fishing boat."
"Wait for it," Tony stated, as the door to the back of the Quinjet opened, the air shimmering as the boat disappeared and was replaced with the black steel monolith of the Raft.
"Whoa," Ben said, smirking slightly as the Quinjet set down.
Daisy followed after him as they stepped down onto the prison, several SHIELD guards milling about the top. Tony made a beeline for the damaged bulkhead, scanning the sundered metal.
"This thing was built to withstand anything short of well...you Bruce," Tony stated, ignoring the annoyed look the Doctor shot him.
"So, what-ever did this is going to give us a really tough time is what you're saying." Ben snarked.
"Yes." Tony stated, "We're going to need to take this slow. Bruce, I think it's best that you wait topside. If things go south you're our ace-in-the-hole."
"Yeah, enclosed spaces don't sound very good for me right now." Banner stated, as he wrung his hands nervously.
"Take a breather, feed some seagulls that should be relaxing." Tony agreed with a smile as Banner chuckled a bit.
"I'll be on my own." Tony stated, "Tremors you go with Jan, Ben you're with Pym. We're going to try and be as stealthy as we can manage. Report anything odd you find over comms, Jan, Pym look for places that you can get into that we can't. We're here to find what made the hole and keep G from waking up, but we could still find a clue to the original breakout."
Daisy and the others nodded.
"Stealthy huh," Ben muttered as he closed his eyes, "I've got the perfect guy for that.
His form changed, growing taller and sprouting orange and white hair. A low snarl filled his throat as he stretched. He had turned into a large tiger-like humanoid with two large black claws coming out of his wrists. He was dressed in green shorts, with black fingerless gloves and black toeless boots.
Ben smiled and then froze when he saw the others staring at him, before looking down at himself.
"Really?" he growled.
"That doesn't look very stealthy." Daisy quipped.
"Let me tell you something Daisy Johnson!" Ben yelled, pointing at her with a growl, "You're right!"
Janet started laughing as Tony put his head in his hands.
"Rath isn't sure why the Omnitrix is still giving him trouble." he stated, slapping himself in the chest, "But you're stuck with me!"
"No, he's stuck with you," Tony stated, pointing at Hank, before nodding for the SHIELD agents to open the way down into the prison and hovering down onto the helipad below.
Wasp followed, flitting through the air. Rath grabbed Pym by the arm.
"Let's go," he stated, unceremonious throwing Hank over one shoulder, who sent Daisy and Bruce a completely befuddled look as they disappeared into the prison.
"Good luck." Bruce called out, "You're going to need it, Hank."
Daisy snickered as she nodded to Banner and then stepped off, catching herself on the helipad with her powers.
"Remember," Tony stated, turning to look at them one last time before heading towards the north entrance into the prison, "We do this quietly."
"I don't think these things got Tony's memo!" Rath yelled, as he ripped what must have been the twentieth, sparking drone in half with his bare hands. Twitching robot parts were strewn about him in ankle-deep water, both halves thrashing like overturned beetles as he threw them to the ground with a splash.
"I would have to agree," Hank stated, as he avidly hunted through a dangerous sparking terminal, "The automated defenses shouldn't be able to produce drones this quickly."
"So something is building an army down here." Janet quipped across the comms, "That's just perfect!"
"It seems like Rath is drawing much of their attention," Daisy stated, "We haven't run into any resistance yet."
"You're welcome!" Rath cried as he punched through another drone.
Hank tapped away furiously, and found what he was looking for, "Tony according to the schematics I just pulled up, you're heading directly towards whatever is powering the automated defense."
"Got it, hopefully, that means the bots will start coming my way, and you and Ben can continue checking on Subject-G," Tony stated, "If he's contained, make sure we can keep him that way?"
"And if he's not?" Hank asked.
"Then we get Banner and get ready for a very sour week ahead of us." Tony quipped, "And yep, here they come, good hunting people."
Hank turned and looked at Rath, who was sniffing the air curiously, "What is it?"
"This place reeks like Ozone," Rath stated, shrugging at Hank's confused expression.
"Noted, let's make sure that the bots are our only problem today," Hank stated, shrinking down and leaping onto Rath's shoulder as he took off down the hall.
Daisy took out a flashlight, wincing as she spotted what could only be a very old blood smear on the wall before her. They had found the Warden's room, and it looked like it had been ransacked long before the anomalous power source had cracked its way into the prison. The computer screens on the far wall were mostly smashed, a shattered bookshelf sat beneath the blood smear, it's contents now soggy imposters of their former selves. The desk had been left alone, though the computer terminal appeared to have been damaged in the scuffle. A circular door in the back of the room had been blown inward, the indent of a fist in the center, it's hinged most ripped clean off.
"Why would anyone want the people in here free?" Jan asked as she turned, taking in the carnage with a disgruntled expression.
"Let's see if we can find out," Daisy stated, drawing a USB cord from her new gauntlets and plugging it into the damaged computer terminal, "Thank you Tony Stark."
A holographic screen appeared as dug into the memory of the computer, hunting for any files that might have survived.
Several nebulous files flowed onto her screen, one being a prisoner manifest which she immediately moved to the side to look at later. Then an audio recording and a piece of CT footage appeared.
"Wasp," Daisy said, waving her over.
The CT Footage was very brief, several figures in unmarked black combats, being lead by a SHIELD Agent but the footage was spotty enough to not give a good look at them. They gunned down several guards, and then cracked the nearest cell, backing up quickly as a tall metallic figure emerged. The SHIELD Agent spotted the working camera a moment later and shot it out ending the footage.
Daisy then brought up the audio recording.
"Hello Warden, what an interesting night this has been hmm?" a silky-smooth female voice asked.
"You won't get away with this." the Warden stated.
"Maybe someday in the coming years, but tonight, I don't think so." the woman said again.
"We are wasting time." another voice stated, cold and direct, their accent placing them from somewhere Germany, "Kill him."
"Understood." a third voice stated, followed by a brief scuffle followed by a gunshot.
"W-" the Warden beginning, his voice ringing with recognition as another gunshot rang out followed by a body hitting the ground.
"Nothing personal." the person stated, the SHIELD traitor very likely.
"Such a mess," the woman stated, "Can you get the door dear?"
"Yep," a deep, mechanized voice said, followed by a wrenching of metal, "Have at it."
The recording ended with Daisy feeling a bit of a chill on her spine, she could almost make out the SHIELD Agent's voice, but there was some form of modulation they were using that was throwing her off.
"Guys, we've got something," Janet stated over the comms, "Daisy was able to find some info on the breakout, they definitely had inside help. Everything okay on your end, find anything?"
"Ben and I have continued towards Subject G's cell, one of the drones appears to have breached initial containment, we are in pursuit but at the moment it appears the other protocols are still in place."
"Great!" Wasp stated, "Tony? Find anything yet?
"Not yet Jan, I'm still working my way there, though I think this place finally ran out of Drones." Tony lied.
"Alright keep us posted." Janet stated, "We're going to keep looking around, and then Daisy thinks it would be best if we go back up Hank and Ben."
"Will do, and sounds good," Tony stated.
As the comm went quiet Tony deactivated them.
"Boss what are you-" FRIDAY began, only for Tony to cut her off.
"Friday, activate Blue Skies protocol," Tony commanded, the AI immediately shutting down, and another, alien interface emerging within his helmet.
"Been a while since you pulled me out of the mainframe." Blue stated cooly, "What's happened?"
"We've got another Temporal Deviation Blue," Tony remarked, "And for once I am definitely not pleased about it."
"Wha-Oh." Blue stated, her holographic form emerging beside them as they both took in the glowing, sparking shape of Mjolnir, "We're not going to be able to hide this one Tony."
"I know." Tony muttered, "I know."
Rath finally caught up to the Drone and smashed it to pieces with a laugh.
"Gotcha!" he cried, "So tell me something Hank Pym, are we still good on this Subject G thing? Who-ever that is."
Pym went to talk only for another voice to cut them off, as the doors in front of them began to crumple outward slowly without even a sound.
"I think that would be me." Glenn Talbot stated, his eyes glowing blue in the darkness, as the air seemed to warp and bend around him.
And scene!
Next time, Graviton vs the Avengers, and the Fate of Thor's Hammer!
As always any comments, questions, and critiques are appreciated.
This has been VerBeeker, signing off!