Chapter 33: Home Invasion
Night at the Avengers Mansion was as peaceful as expected. Only about half the team was actually asleep, others keeping themselves busy with various activities. Tony was down in the sub-levels, working away on a ventilation system for his armor. The indignity of being reduced to his underwear by AIM fueled him, along with a steady supply of coffee.
Rick had decided to play some video games and had lost track of time. Hulk was asleep in the corner, having dozed off after watching him play for awhile. Clint was down in the training room, going through some archery drills. Sleep didn't come easily to him without Nat around, so it wasn't unusual for him to be found training in the middle of the night. Thor was pleasantly greeted by Jane's return from New Mexico and the two decided to spend the night enjoying each other's company.
Logan went out to enjoy a night to himself at a local bar. Cap had offered to go with him, but Logan had turned him down, stating that he just needed some time to himself. Steve respected that, and had retired to bed early. Unfortunately, rest did not come to him easily either. His mind was troubled by memories of the war, violent dreams that always ended the same way.
"Bucky!"
He snapped up in a sweat, reeling from the nightmare as he tried to regain composure. As he did, he heard an odd sound from the upper corner of his room. It sounded like a 'bamf', and a cloud of indigo smoke filled the corner for a brief second. When it cleared, the strangest creature Steve had ever seen was standing there.
It had blue skin and hair, glowing yellow eyes, and was wearing a red and blue uniform. A devil's tail whipped slightly as the thing smiled down at him.
"Excuse me, Herr captain." the creature greeted in a thick, german accent. "I did not mean to startle you."
On instinct, Cap reached for his shield and tossed it at the corner. It hit the creature square in the chest, dropping it onto the ground. It sat up, groaning in pain as Cap recovered his shield.
"I appear to have caught you at a bad time." He observed, slightly aching. "Perhaps I should take mein leave."
There was another bamf, followed by another cloud of smoke before the creature disappeared again.
"What the hell?" Cap let out.
…
Down in the lab, Tony was putting the finishing touches on his vent system when JARVIS spoke up.
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we appear to have an intruder."
"Eh, figures." Tony replied. "Who is it this time? Whiplash? That Enchantress chick? Hypno Hustler?"
"I'm not sure sir." JARVIS replied. "I think there may be something wrong with my tracking program. I cannot get a lock on their position."
"What do you mean 'can't get a lock'?" Tony questioned.
"The intruder appeared in Captain Rogers' room, then suddenly appeared in the kitchen." JARVIS explained. "Now he has appeared in the front hall. All in a matter of seconds."
"So you think we have a speedster?" Tony asked, beginning to suit up.
"Unlikely sir." JARVIS answered. "It seems that his signal vanishes and reappears in a manner of seconds."
"Teleportation then." Tony deduced.
"That would be my guess, sir." JARVIS replied before his system beeped. "Two more intruders detected."
"Well then," Tony responded as his helmet slipped on and faceplate closed. "Best not keep our new guests waiting."
He pulled out his ID card, turning it on.
"Avengers, Assemble!"
…
Out in the main hallway, a female figure slipped through the front doors, trying to keep towards the walls to remain out of sight. She made it a few steps before an arrow landed in the wall right in front of her. She froze, following the arrow's trajectory to see Hawkeye standing at the base of the stairs, bow at the ready.
"You know, we don't take kindly to people who sneak in here without an invitation." Hawkeye told her.
"Sorry, I left it at home." the girl snarked. "Now if you don't mind, I'm a little busy right now."
She took a step forward and Hawkeye fired another arrow at her. Again it landed in front of her, but this one started beeping before exploding in her face. She yelped in surprise, but as the dust cleared, Hawkeye was surprised to see sparks dancing across her eyes.
"Nice trick." she quipped. "Got anymore?"
Hawkeye just raised an eyebrow in response as she began walking towards him, cracking her knuckles.
"Too bad." she commented. "Here, have one of mine!"
She then went to punch him, but he quickly dodged. Her fist connected with the wall, a small explosion of stone and drywall filling the hall.
"Whoa, someone's been taking her vitamins." Hawkeye remarked.
She then turned and kicked him, a similar explosion sending him skidding down the hall. He gasped as he tried to refill his lungs, the girl walking towards him while stomping her feet, small sparks of energy gathering with each step.
"Ok… ow." Clint let out.
As the girl moved towards him, Iron Man came rocketing out of the sublevels, plowing right into her. He then threw her into a wall, causing her to crater into it.
"Well, you're clearly not the teleporter." he remarked. "Otherwise, you would have avoided that."
The girl them pulled herself from the crater, her body sparking wildly and her eyes glowing.
"Or maybe I didn't avoid it for a reason." she retorted.
"Like what?" Iron Man asked.
"Like she can absorb kinetic energy, shell head!" Hawkeye called out.
"Oh." Iron Man replied, turning back to the girl.
The girl grinned, then lunged forward, reeling her fist back. When it connected, a large shockwave sent Tony flying into the opposite wall, leaving the girl standing there in her now sleeveless shirt. She looked at it, letting out a groan.
"Again?" she moaned. "I thought Hank fixed this issue."
Just then, the blue creature from before ported in next to the girl.
"Blew off your sleeves again?" He asked.
"Yeah..." she lamented. "This is getting annoying. I'm running out of long-sleeved shirts!"
"At least zhat's all zhat's been blown off." He ribbed.
"Yeah, yeah." she sighed. "Don't remind me."
"Excuse me." Cap called out, getting their attention.
Both intruders turned to see Cap standing there in his pajamas, armed with his shield.
"I don't know what's going on, but I think some explanations are in order here." He told them
"Schiesse." The creature cursed. "Ve don't have time for this."
"You handle Captain America." The girl told it. "I'll deal with Tin Man and Robin Hood."
"Right." The creature replied.
It bamfed away, reappearing right in front of Cap.
"Apologies, Herr Captain." He said before going for a punch to the face.
Cap stumbled back as the creature ported behind him and punched him again. This went on for a bit, the creature teleporting in and out, decking Cap at every change. Eventually, Cap managed to bring his shield up, the creature punching it instead. The creature clenched his fist in pain as Cap managed to smack him in the face.
Meanwhile, the girl popped her neck, giving Iron Man a cocky grin. She crooked her finger in a "come at me" motion. Iron Man then rocketed at her, landing right in front of her and smacking her across the face. He swore he saw sparks when his hand connected, but she didn't move. In fact, she just turned her head back to him with a sparking grin.
"My turn." she told him before slapping him.
His entire helmet dented at the blow as he went stumbling backward. As Iron Man turned back around, the girl smacked him again, knocking him to the ground.
"JARVIS, give me a read on this girl." He ordered.
"Just finished the scan sir." JARVIS replied. "Oddly enough, she appears to be 100% human."
"She dented my helmet, JARVIS." Tony argued. "What exactly is human about that?"
"I'm sorry, sir." JARVIS replied. "But there's nothing out of the ordinary about her. No X-Gene or enhanced genetic structure."
"This doesn't make any sense!" Tony exclaimed.
"Sorry about that." She replied sarcastically. "But I don't have the time, nor the patience to explain it. Just need to find something real quick."
"Like I'm just gonna-"
Just then, a small blue creature that looked like a toddler version of the first intruder suddenly appeared in his face.
"Stealthy, let's play disassemble!" the girl shouted.
She then dashed towards the rooms as the creature began yanking off bits a pieces of Tony's armor, porting away with them before appearing to get more. While the little gremlin kept him busy, they girl went from door to door, checking them one by one.
"Empty..." she muttered. "Empty… Em- HOLY SHIT!"
She immediately slammed the door to the room shut, rubbing her eyes.
"Well that's an image I'm not going to get out of my head for awhile." she muttered.
…
Inside the room, Thor and Jane stared at the freshly slammed door. They were both covered in sheets, and from the large pile of clothing and armor on the floor, that was all that was covering them.
"What was that?" Thor asked.
"I don't know, but I've never seen her here before." Jane replied.
"Me neither." Thor responded, summoning Mjolnir to his hand. "I feel there is trouble afoot."
…
The girl continued her search, opening the next door. The second she did, Black Panther came lunging through.
"Yikes!" She let out, barely dodging his attack.
"You should not have come here." Panther told her.
"So everyone keeps saying." She retorted.
Just then, the blue creature ported behind her and grabbed her.
"One moment, please." He insisted before teleporting away.
Panther looked at the smoke, trying to search the area for his prey. As he did, the two appeared in the front lobby.
"I can't find him!" The girl exclaimed. "And we're causing too much of a scene!"
"Zhen perhaps ve should fall back and try something else." He suggested.
"Good idea." the girl agreed. "Let's-"
Just then, a green fist came out of nowhere, hitting the girl and sending her into a column. She rebounded hard, then crumbled to the ground. Hulk then stepped out of the living room, giving a sniff of derision.
"I was trying to sleep." he grumbled.
Upon seeing the girl fall, both the tiny creature and the big one ported of her side.
"Scheisse!" the big one cursed. "You overloaded her!"
"What does that mean?" Hulk asked.
"It means, she's going to turn zhis place into a crater if I don't get her out of here!" the creature shrieked.
Sure enough, energy was dancing madly around her as her entire body began to glow, accompanied by a low whine. The large creature grabbed her, turning to the Avengers.
"I suggest you find somezhing to take cover vith." he warned before porting off with her.
The tiny creature ported under a table, covering its head and whimpering. Tony managed to make it down stairs in what was left of his armor and was soon joined by Cap, Panther, and Hawkeye. Before they could make it any farther, a blinding light lit up the night sky as a shockwave ripped through the mansion. Just about every window was shattered, stuff was knocked off of shelves, and everyone was thrown off their feet. As the explosion died down, Thor and Jane ran out of their room and rushed downstairs to figure out what was going on.
"What was that?" Jane asked.
"Still unclear." Tony replied, getting back to his feet.
Tony looked over and saw Thor just had a sheet draped over him and Jane had thrown on an oversized dress shirt, covering her underwear underneath.
"Seems to have caught you in the middle of something." Tony noted.
Jane looked down and immediately went beet red. At that moment, Hank and Jan came running in as well, hearing the explosion.
"Ok, what the heck was that?" Jan asked.
"To put it bluntly, an exploding girl." Clint answered.
Before anyone could ask for clarification, the creature ported back in with the girl in tow. She was unconscious, and completely naked. Every male immediately turned around, even Thor.
"Please, I beg of you." The creature spoke up. "I need one of you to blast her. It vill restore her strength."
"Pal, I think we'd be more interested in restoring her pants." Tony commented.
"You don't understand!" The creature snapped. "She expended all of her energy! She has none left! If she does not get more immediately, she vill die!"
Still confused by all this, Tony just shrugged and fired a repulsor at her. The energy literally sank into her body before she coughed and gasped.
"I'm awake..." she croaked before feeling the chill in the air. "And… naked..."
"Sadly." the creature reported.
"Here." Thor offered, pulling off his sheet. "You may take this."
She went to take it, but went wide-eyed and looked away.
"Actually, you keep that." she insisted, trying hard to keep her eyes off him.
Jan held no such reservations, whistling in appreciation.
"I knew he was also the God of Fertility, but damn." she let out.
Jane just shot her a glare, causing her to back off.
"Thor, you hang onto that." Jane told him, slipping off her shirt. "I got this."
"Are you sure?" Thor asked.
"Trust me it's better this way." Jane insisted.
The girl took the shirt gratefully, slipping it on over herself. Once she was 'dressed', her companion helped her to her feet, the tiny one porting onto her head and hugging her.
"Ok, so… can someone explain what the hell just happened?" Tony questioned.
"Which part?" The girl asked.
"Pick one." Tony replied.
"Perhaps we should hold this conversation until we are all more collected." Panther suggested. "And dressed."
Cap glanced at the girl, Jane, and everyone else who were in their pajamas.
"Good idea Panther." he commended before looking at the three intruders. "And don't even think about trying to get out of this."
"Hey, I'm not in the mood to go streaking anytime soon." The girl commented. "Consider us… what's the phrase?"
"On a timeout?" the creature suggested.
She snapped, pointing at him.
"There."
"I'll see if I have something that'll fit you." Jan offered.
"That will be greatly appreciated." the girl told her.
Jan lead the girl towards her room walking past Jane.
"By the way, red is a good color on you." Jan teased, earning her a smack on the arm.
…
Later, the girl was dressed in some of Jan's clothes sitting next to her companion on the couch. Tony had his suit out in front of him, trying to reassemble it. He occasionally shot glares at the tiny creature in the girl's lap, who was curled up like a cat.
"So first question," Cap began, standing in front of the two. "Who are you? Second question, why are you here?"
"My name is Alexis Ryder, though these days, I go by X-Gene." the girl explained. "This is my boyfriend, Kurt Wagner."
"But you can call me Nightcrawler." Kurt insisted.
"And this is Stealthy." X-Gene added. "He's my… can you really call him a pet?"
"It iz zhe best vay to describe him." Nightcrawler replied.
"Right, Stealthy is my pet Bamf." X-Gene went on. "A subspecies of demon that are akin to imps."
"O… kay." Tony let out. "So why did you two and your… bamf, wanna break into our house?"
"We were looking for our friend." X-Gene answered.
"His name is Logan." Nightcrawler explained. "Ve vere sent by zhe X-Men to bring him back."
"Logan?" Clint repeated. "You mean Wolverine?"
X-Gene gave a nod.
"Yeah, we need his help." she told him.
"Well why didn't you say so?" Hank asked. "We could've called him."
"Ve vere hoping to discreetly get to him vithout alerting you." Nightcrawler admitted.
"But somebody didn't listen when I said third room on the right." X-Gene let out, glaring at her boyfriend.
"I thought you meant the inward right." Kurt admitted.
"How could I-?" she cut off, rubbing her head. "It's a good thing you're cute."
"You flatter me." Kurt replied, wrapping his tail around her.
"Hey, Bonnie and Clyde, focus." Tony told them. "You want Wolverine, you'll get him."
Tony then pulled out his ID card and called him up.
"I'm busy, Stark." Logan muttered into his ID. "I'll be back in the morning."
"Got some friends here looking for you." Tony told him.
"Tell Cap I'll be back by morning." Logan reiterated. "This is my solo night."
"Ok, but Nightcrawler and X-Gene are gonna be pretty upset they missed you." Tony egged.
There was a brief pause on Wolverine's end.
"The elf and the kid are there?" He asked
Tony held up the ID card so the two could speak.
"Hey Logan." X-Gene greeted.
"... I'll be right there." Logan told them before hanging up.
…
Not long after that, Logan's motorcycle came screetching up to the front doors of the mansion. When he saw the broken glass in all the windows, as well as the severely decimated lawn, he sighed.
"Kid overloaded again." He remarked, heading inside.
He barely got in the door before being tackled into a hug by X-Gene.
"Logan!" she cried out, clinging to him tightly. "Oh you have no idea how much I missed you!"
"Missed you too, kid." Logan replied, returning the hug and seeing Nightcrawler. "How ya doin elf?"
"Better now that your here." He replied.
Cap saw the hug and couldn't help but smile.
"Guess some things do change." He remarked. "Never thought I'd ever see you accept a hug from anyone."
"I didn't think you knew what a hug was." Clint joked.
"Keep laughin cupid." Logan replied before turning back to the two X-Men. "What are you two doing here, anyway?"
X-Gene released Logan, putting on a solemn face.
"It's Rogue." she explained. "The Brotherhood took her."
"What?!" Logan let out. "What happened?!"
"She and Gambit vere coming up to see you." Nightcrawler explained. "Zhere train vas hijacked by the Maxioff siblings. Zhey took Rogue and disappeared."
"The Professor tried to find her using Cerebro, but Magneto's found a way to block it entirely." Alexis went on. "Meaning we need an old fashion tracker to find her."
"And ve could zhink of no better candidate zhen you, Logan."
"If Rogue's in trouble, you can count on me." Logan reassured.
"Great." Cap spoke up. "Where do we start?"
That made X-Gene perk up.
"Whoa there, we?" she asked. "No offense, but this is X-Men business. We came for Logan only."
"Logan's an Avenger." Cap reasoned. "If it concerns him, it concerns all of us."
"Steve's right." Logan told her. "Besides, without any solid leads on where to start, we're going to need all the help we can get."
"Zhat is true." Kurt admitted. "Magneto could be anywhere."
"Sir," JARVIS spoke up. "I apologize for the interruption, but there seems to be a break in at Stark Tower. Right now."
"Or he could be at my office building." Tony replied.
…
At Stark Tower, security mobilized at the front entrance as a group of four individuals entered inside.
"Freeze!" A guard ordered.
One of the individuals, a young man with white hair dressed in blue, dashed forward at breakneck speed, grabbing each of the guards weapons and dropping them all in one pile. Once they were disarmed, a woman in green clothes and matching hair held out her hand and the metal panelling on the wall ripped off, wrapping around the men and trapping them. The men were then thrown into the wall, keeping them suspended as the four of them continued moving forward.
"You'd think Stark would keep better staff on the payroll." the third figure, a woman in red with auburn hair spoke up.
"That is his concern." the fourth, an elderly man in red and purple armor, a purple cape, and a red and purple helmet replied. "For now, let us continue with our work."
"What we seek is down below." The white-haired boy in blue reported. "Though we apparently triggered some sort of silent alarm. No doubt the Avengers will be here soon."
"Let them try." the elderly man replied.
…
Sometime later, the Quinjet landed in front of Stark Tower, and the Avengers piled out, X-Gene and Nightcrawler right by their side. Stealthy let out a small growl at the open doors of the tower, his tail twitching.
"It seems your hunch vas right, Herr Stark." Nightcrawler noted. "Zhese guards vere taken down at nearly impossible speeds."
"Meaning Magneto and his cronies are here." Iron Man rationalized.
"Children, not cronies." X-Gene corrected. "They're his kids."
"That doesn't make our situation any better." Hawkeye remarked, notching an arrow.
As they prepared to head inside, someone landed behind them. Everyone turned, Logan instantly unsheathing his claws as he did.
"Whoa!" Spider-Man cried out, narrowly avoiding the deadly claws. "Easy there! I came to help with Mr. Stark's distress call."
Wolverine retracted his claws as Spidey took a breath.
"Sorry to call so late, kid." Tony told him. "But we needed all hands on deck."
"Not a problem." Spidey reassured before seeing the new additions to the group. "Nightcrawler? What brings you here?"
"X-Men business." Nightcrawler sighed. "Rogue's been kidnapped."
"Hang on, since when do we know this guy?" X-Gene questioned, pointing at Spidey.
"It was before you came." Nightcrawler told her. "I'll explain later."
"Just call me Spider-Man." Spidey told her, offering a hand.
"X-Gene." she replied, taking it.
"So, who's the loser trying to break into this place?" Spidey asked, turning towards the tower.
"Magneto." Cap informed.
"Fun." Spidey remarked, shooting out a web. "Race ya inside."
Spider-Man swung towards the building as the others followed after. Once inside, they caught sight of the trapped guards, as well as the light for the elevator indicating it was going down.
"Well, either Magneto's been through here, or these guys have very weird ideas of coffee breaks." Spidey quipped.
X-Gene turned to Nightcrawler.
"Think you can-?"
Nightcrawler ported up to each of the trapped men, porting them out of their metallic prisons and dropping them safely on the ground. Ant-Man gave them a quick look over, giving a thumbs up to their condition.
"Let's keep moving." Cap told them. "Magneto couldn't've-"
Before Cap could finish, a blue blur came dashing up and knocked him off his feet. Everyone quickly got into defensive stances.
"It's Quicksilver!" X-Gene let out. "He's-!"
She got a quick punch to the mouth, one she couldn't possibly prepare for. It knocked her flat on her back, no sparking energy to be seen. Hawkeye swerved around and aimed his bow. Before he could fire, Quicksilver zoomed past and knocked Hawkeye to the ground. He shook his head in pain as he saw Quicksilver standing over him.
"You didn't see that coming?" He remarked before running off.
Seeing him sprint away, Thor threw his hammer at him, hoping to catch the speedster. Quicksilver easily dodged, then tried to grab the hammer. His unworthiness was instantly proven when Mjolnir suddenly yanked him off his feet and into a wall. Thor smirked as he recalled the hammer, unaware of the woman in red lurking in the shadows with red energy surging through her hands.
She slipped up behind Thor, her hands glowing red as she sent small tendrils of red energy into his mind. They gathered in his eyes, turning them red for a moment before they settled back to their sky blue. She then retreated into her shadows, seeking her next target. Thor shook his head to try and clear his vision, grasping his hammer.
"Be careful." He warned to his fellow Avengers. "There is a witch who tried to tamper with my mind."
"You good, Point Break?" Iron Man questioned.
"Fortunately, I am mighty." Thor replied, walking off.
As he walked forward though, his surroundings changed to that of Asgard. This wasn't the Asgard he knew however, instead it was in flames. A large blade easily the size of Stark Tower pierced through the Grand Palace, which crumbled as Thor watched. As he stumbled back in horror, he nearly tripped over something. He looked back, dropping Mjolnir in horror when he realized it was the prone form of Volstagg.
"Volstagg…" Thor let out in horror as he looked out towards the city.
Charred and burned bodies dotted the streets. Among the deceased were Fandral and Hogun, rounding out the warriors three, Lady Sif, Frigga, Odin, Loki, and even Jane. He dropped to his knees as tears filled his eyes. Ever so slowly, he gently picked up Jane's fallen body, sobbing heavily.
Unbeknownst to Thor, none of this was real. He was just kneeling on the ground, his eyes red from the woman's power.
"What's wrong with Thor?" Wasp asked.
"It's Scarlet Witch!" X-Gene answered, pulling herself up from off the ground. "If she gets in your head, she'll-"
Scarlet Witch cut her off, performing the same trick she pulled on Thor. X-Gene dropped to her knees as Scarlet Witch's power surged through her, her mind being pulled into the past. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in the middle of her hometown of Haven City. Everything was on fire, buildings crumbling all around her. A trio of Sentinels were stomping around, blasting at the screaming mutants trying to run for cover. Before her, a man in a Sheriff's uniform with pupiless eyes laid injured, if not dead.
"No..." she sobbed. "Dad… Not again..."
She ran towards him and fell to her knees, shaking him desperately.
"Please, wake up." she cried. "Wake up!"
Back in reality, Iron Man took one look at Scarlet Witch and rocketed towards her. Before he could reach her though, something seemed to stop him from moving.
"Sir, we appear to be caught in some sort of magnetic field." JARVIS reported.
"Yeah, got that JARVIS." Iron Man replied.
He was pulled backwards, his helmet suddenly dismantled and removed from his face. This brought him eye to eye with a girl with green hair that was hovering above the ground. She smirked at Iron Man with a cruel gleam in her eyes.
"I thought the X-Men would have warned you." she scoffed. "Don't bring a metal suit to a fight with masters of magnetism."
"I'll make a note of that for next time." Tony remarked.
"There will not be a next time.' The girl replied.
Scarlet Witch was behind him in a matter of seconds, giving him the mental treatment. Tony shook his head before hearing a low roaring sound above him. He looked up and saw one of the Chitauri Leviathans flying over him. He then looked in front of him and saw the Avengers lying battered and defeated on a stone staircase. Hulk had several spears lodged into his back, a bleeding Rick in his arms. Wolverine was reduced to nothing but a clawed arm sticking out beneath some large rocks. Thor laid dead on the ground, his hammer shattered into several pieces. Ant-Man and Wasp were strewn on the ground as if they had been holding onto one another, their suits badly damaged. Hawkeye's bow had been snapped and his arrows broken in half. Black Widow was right next to him with a bullet hole in her head. Black Panther had a blade running through his chest, his mask cracked and showing half of his face. Spider-Man was crushed under a pile of debris with the lenses of his mask cracked. Cap was just sprawled out on the ground with his shield broken in two.
"You..." Cap wheezed, blood running down the corner of his mouth. "You could have stopped this."
Tony stepped back in horror, seeing his teammates all dead in equally horrifying ways. In the real world, the green-haired girl dropped him, smirking at Scarlet Witch.
"What do you suppose he sees?" the green haired girl asked.
"His worst fears, Lorna." Scarlet Witch answered. "Whatever scares the Invincible Iron Man."
"I'm afraid that's far enough!" Ant-Man declared.
Both girls turned to him, Lorna smiling.
"Got enough energy for one more?" She asked.
"Always." Scarlet Witch replied.
Ant-Man quickly shrunk down and leapt towards them, but Scarlet Witch blasted at him, knocking him back. He collided with a nearby wall before dropping to the ground with a thud. He slowly picked himself up, opening up his helmets faceplate when his vision became clouded. When he could see again, he was greeted by a decimated New York. Building were inflamed, everyone was scattered, and there was rubble everywhere. As he looked around, he noticed a familiar gloved arm and a shattered wing sticking out under a piece of rubble.
"Jan!" Hank shouted, bolting towards the arm.
He shoved one piece of rubble away, revealing her still body.
"No…" He let out, horrified.
He picked up the body and held it close, tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Why…?" he sobbed. "Why?"
With yet another Avenger down, Scarlet Witch went in search of another victim. However, that's when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned, and was immediately punched in the face by Nightcrawler. She was down in an instant as the teleporter's tail twitched angrily.
"Zhat's for hurting Alexis." he declared.
"That's one down." Cap noted before turning to the others. "Will they be ok?"
"In time." Nightcrawler confirmed, porting over to Alexis. "But Quicksilver and Lorna are still a problem. Zhey must be stopped."
"And they will." Cap confirmed. "Spider-Man, think you can slow down the speedster?"
"I'll do what I can." Spidey confirmed before swinging off.
"I fear Lorna vill not be so easily bested." Nightcrawler lamented. "She inherited her father's magnetic powers, and almost all of the remaining Avengers require metal to fight."
"Wasp, Panther, Hulk, you three handle Lorna." Cap ordered. "Logan, you're with me. If someone's attacking this place, they gotta be after the arc reactor."
"Right." Logan nodded. "Been awhile since I faced Magneto."
The two old war buddies then took off down the hallway, leaving Hulk, Wasp, Panther, and Nightcrawler to handle Lorna.
"Wasp and I will occupy her, allowing Nightcrawler and Hulk to come at her from behind." Panther relayed.
"Sounds good to me." Hulk agreed.
"Yeah." Wasp confirmed, flying towards the green haired mutant.
Wasp immediately started flying around her and tried blasting at her. Unfortunately, they did little more than annoy her as she held out her hand and sent Wasp flying into a wall. Black Panther tried a swipe at her, but his claws stopped mid air.
"You were foolish to use metal to stop me." Lorna remarked.
"Not stop." Panther told her. "Just delay."
Before she could react, Kurt ported behind her with Hulk, who punched her in the face, knocking her out.
"Fist beats magnets." Hulk remarked.
…
In another part of the tower, Spider-Man swung through the hallways looking for Quicksilver.
"Now, if I were a super speedy mutant, where would I hide?" Spidey asked himself.
His spider senses went off seconds before he was clocked in the head.
"Who said I was hiding?" Quicksilver called out.
Spidey quickly leapt up and tried punching him,but Quicksilver zoomed out of the way before the blow could connect. Quicksilver ended up behind him and punched him again, knocking him down again. Spider-Man then tried to shoot a web at him, but Quicksilver easily dodged it.
"How do you intend to catch something you can't see?" Quicksilver taunted.
Spidey just kept shooting web after web in an effort to trap him, but all his attacks were dodged. Quicksilver eventually came to a stop, tsking.
"Your aim is awful, Spider-Man." he insulted.
"Who said I was aiming at you?" Spidey retorted.
Quicksilver raised an eyebrow before looking down at his feet. All around, large clumps of webbing were stuck to the ground, large webs blocking off all exits. To add insult to injury, Quicksilver was standing in the middle of a web.
"Got ya." Spidey remarked before clocking him on the jaw.
The impact knocked him into the web, which kept him detained as Spider-Man added extra webbing to his arms and legs for good measure.
"I'm gonna look for your friends, but don't go away." Spidey quipped before swinging off.
…
Meanwhile, Cap and Wolverine made their way towards the Arc Reactor, hoping that they could catch up with Magneto before he escaped. Once Wolverine reached the door, he immediately kicked it open and entered with claws drawn. Before he could make a move though, something stopped him in his tracks pulling him up off the ground.
"The Wolverine." Magneto's voice called from above them. "After so many battles, one would have learned not to send a man with metal bones to fight the master of magnetism,"
Cap looked up to see Magneto floating down towards them.
"Magneto, I presume." Cap deduced.
"Indeed." Magneto confirmed. "And you are the famed Captain America. I heard stories about you as a boy. They were quite inspiring."
"Thank you." Cap replied, lifting his shield. "Now back off."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Captain." Magneto told him. "As it happens, I am in need of a massive power source, and this Arc Reactor is ideal for my plans."
"What about Rogue?!" Wolverine snapped. "Is she part of your 'plans'?!"
"Miss Rogue will serve her purpose well." Magneto assured him. "In fact, she will be the key to my greatest triumph."
"That's not gonna happen!" Cap declared, throwing his shield at Magneto.
Magneto simply used his powers to catch the shield and sighed.
"It seems you do not seem to grasp the concept of 'Master of Magnetism'." He remarked, sending the shield flying back at him. The impact, knocked Cap to the ground as Magneto slammed Wolverine into a wall. He then pulled out his claws and stabbed them into the wall, restraining him.
"That should hold you." he declared. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an arc reactor to take."
Magneto then turned towards the reactor and began using his powers on it. Slowly but surely, he began to tear the reactor out of its moorings. He then used his powers to tear away at the metal on the ceiling, creating a hole for him to use as an exit. Without a second glance backwards, he made his way out of the tower with the arc reactor. Once he was gone, Wolverine was able to retract his claws, allowing him to drop to the floor. He walked over to Cap, helping him to his feet.
"You alright, Cap?" he asked.
"Had worse." Cap replied. "Though with the Arc Reactor in the hands of that maniac, I don't know how much longer that'll stay true."
"Cap, we've got a situation out here." Hawkeye announced. "Thor, Tony, Hank, and the X-Gene girl are down. Don't know what that Scarlet Witch woman did to them, but they're not responding."
"Damn." Cap let out. "What about the others?"
"Bruised, but okay." Hawkeye answered. "We've got the three stooges in custody but-"
There was a snap on the other end of the line, then a yelp of surprise from Hawkeye.
"Hawkeye?" Cap called out. "Clint?!"
...
Quicksilver vibrated his hands and feet as fast as he could, eventually pulling himself free of the webbing holding him. He shook his hands free of the webbing, looking at his two downed sisters.
"I cannot carry them both." he whispered.
Looking between the two, he made his choice, zipping over to where Scarlet Witch lay unconscious. He sucker punched Spider-Man, Hawkeye, and the others before grabbing his sister, gathering her in his arms.
"This isn't over!" he promised before running out of the building.
Spider-Man slowly picked himself up and rubbed his face, groaning slightly.
"That's gonna leave a bruise..." he muttered. "Anyone else conscious?"
About that time, Cap and Logan came in, surveying the damage.
"Everyone ok?" Cap asked.
Jan cradled Hank, looking worried.
"Honestly, I don't know." she admitted.
Panther had his arm around Tony as he brought him in with the others. Hulk had Thor draped over his shoulder, and Kurt held Alexis in his arms. Spidey dragged a still unconscious Lorna into the fold, the mutant practically mummified in webbing.
"One the bright side, we got one of them." Spidey remarked.
"But Magneto and the twins still got away." Wolverine informed. "And with Stark's oversized battery."
"And we still have members under Scarlet Witch's spell." Cap added. "For now, let's get them back to the mansion. Hopefully we can figure out how to pull them out of it."
"Captain, if this Magneto is as dangerous as today's events showed, perhaps it is time we outsourced to those who know him best." Panther suggested.
"Ze X-Men." Nightcrawler declared. "Ve have fought Magneto before, him and his children. Ve can do it again."
"I know you wanted to keep this an X-Men thing, but Magneto pulled us in when he attacked Stark Tower and hurt our friends." Cap told him.
"Zhe name 'Avengers' is not just for show." Nightcrawler remarked. "Ve vill accept you aid. But for now, ve should get back to your mansion as you suggested. Ve have fallen to tend to."
"Right." Cap agreed. "I have a feeling things are about to get a whole lot worse."
Alright, the Avengers first team up with the X-Men is under way! just a heads up, this is technically a crossover with my co-author Author of the Insane's story, X-Gene. Be sure to check it out when you get the chance, especially in reference to the "Haven City" thing.
Next time, the rest of the X-Men come into play, and Magneto makes a master move that could change the fates of both human and mutant kind, FOREVER!
Sounds exciting, don't it?
