Helloooooooooooooo everyone! Here is chapter six! Two apologies. Sorry for not having this up sooner. I intended to have this finished and uploaded days ago, but I just could not seem to concentrate. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It's really just a filler.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, only my OCs.
Sandford9687: In certain situations, yes. Troy himself can't take on Hulk. If you wish to see more fights where Troy takes on enemies without Chaos' assistance, I can gladly do that.
ENJOY!
Helicarrier
Steve, Troy, and Tony numbly sat at the conference table in the bridge, all three of them in the same state of shock over Coulson's death. None of them had said a word since arriving, not even Tony, who was sitting with his back turned to Steve and Troy. Chaos too had been quiet, and his host was thankful for that. Troy hardly knew Coulson, but he seemed like a good man, and the host couldn't help but feel affected by the agent's death.
The news only got worse. Loki had escaped with the scepter. Thor and Bruce were MIA. Tony's suit was badly damaged. The helicarrier was barely managing to stay airborne. The one good thing that did come out of this was that Natasha was able to break Loki's influence over Clint by hitting the archer hard enough in the head. The two of them were now in the medical bay.
Fury stood at the head of the table, looking through a deck of bloodied Captain America trading cards. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." The director said quietly, breaking the long, solemn silence. "Guess he never did get you to sign them." He said to Steve before he tossed the card deck onto the table. Silently, Steve reached over and gingerly picked up one of the cards.
Fury sighed before he went on. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." He paused for a few seconds. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." He finally confessed.
"Oh, so now he decides to come clean after being busted." Chaos spat bitterly.
"I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." Fury went on. "There was an idea, Stark and Winter know this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more." He paced around the trio as he carried on, "See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."
Tony abruptly stood up, not wanting to hear any more and wordlessly walked out of the bridge. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion." That was enough for Steve and the super soldier stood up and departed from the bridge. Not even five seconds later, Troy also rose to his feet and followed Steve out, leaving Fury alone to dwell in silence.
"Thank God we're leaving. I couldn't stand being near Fury any longer." Chaos said jovially.
"You and me both." Troy thought back in agreement. His and Chaos' anger for being recruited under false pretenses was still present, and it was now mixing with the sadness of Coulson's demise.
"What have I done?" Clint thought to himself over and over as he laid propped on the bed within the medical bay. The question itself was a plague, permeating every other thought within his recovering mind. The room seemed wrapped, twisting and twirling in very strange patterns. His forehead was drenched in sweat, and his arm muscles bulged as he pushed against the restraints.
Natasha was in the room, sitting in a chair across from Clint's right. "Clint. You're going to be all right." She assured him.
"You know that?" Clint asked before he chuckled humorlessly. "Is that what you know?" Natasha didn't answer. She rose to her feet and walked over to pour some water into a cup. "I got no window." Clint groaned as he rested his head back against the pillow. "I have to flush him out."
"You gotta level out. It's gonna take time." Natasha said.
"You don't understand." Clint countered. "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in?" He frowned at the memory. While under Loki's spell, the archer knew what he was doing, but he had no control of himself, as if he were a puppet whose strings were being pulled. "Do you know what it's like to be unmade?"
Natasha turned her head to look at Clint with cold eyes. "You know that I do." She replied.
Clint grimaced in pain and got himself under control. The room no longer seemed to be twisting or twirling. "Why am I back? How did you get him out?" He queried wearily.
"Cognitive recalibration." Natasha answered as she sat down on the bed with Clint. "I hit you really hard on the head."
"Thanks." Clint said gratefully as Natasha begins to undo the restraints. The archer hesitates before asking the question he really did not want the answer to, but at the same time, he had to know. "Natasha, how many agents did I-"
"Don't." Natasha cut him off sharply. "Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic, and nothing we were ever trained for."
"Loki, did he get away?" Clint questioned.
"Yeah." Natasha said. "I don't suppose you know where."
Clint shook his head regretfully. "I didn't need to know." He said before Natasha stood up from the bed. "I didn't ask." The archer added as the widow looked out the window of the doorway with her hands on her hips. "He's gonna make his play soon though. Today." He finished before he took a drink of water.
"We got to stop him." Natasha declared as she turned to face Clint.
Clint scoffed. "Yeah? Whose 'we'?" He asked sarcastically.
"I don't know. Whoever's left." Natasha said.
"Well, if I put an arrow through Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better, I suppose." Clint mumbled, sounding more like himself.
Natasha smiled briefly as she walked over and sat down next to Clint. "Now you sound like you."
"But you don't." Clint noted. "You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?"
"He didn't. I just-" Natasha didn't finish. She turned away and looked down at the floor.
"Natasha." Clint murmured softly.
"I've been compromised." Natasha said flatly. Her 'chat' with Loki reminded her of all the horrible deeds she committed before she joined SHIELD. "I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out." She added after she and Clint locked eyes, a somber atmosphere settling upon them.
Meanwhile, Tony stared blankly at the empty space where Loki's cell used to be. After leaving the bridge, he wondered through the ship until he arrived here. He did not know how much time had passed since he came into this area, but he could care less.
He wasn't alone for much longer when Steve and Troy entered the area, all three of them staring pensively at the closed shaft. A short but somber silence followed. "Was he married?" Steve was the first to break the silence.
"No." Tony answered without looking at the super soldier. "There was a cellist, I think." He added.
"I'm sorry." Steve said.
"He did seem like a good man." Troy said.
"He was an idiot." Tony stated.
"Why? For believing?" Steve demanded.
"For taking on Loki alone." Tony clarified as he made his way over.
"The man was just doing his job." Troy retorted.
Tony scoffed. "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have-"
"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve reminded.
"Right, I've heard that before." Tony quipped sarcastically as he walked past Steve and Troy.
"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Steve asked.
Tony whirled around with an angered expression plastered on his face. "We are not soldiers." He snapped. Steve and Troy eyed Tony as the man controlled himself. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."
"I'm not either." Troy agreed.
"The same goes for me." Steve piped. "Fury's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done." He paused briefly. "Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list-"
"He made it personal." Tony interrupted.
"That's not the point." Steve countered.
"That is the point." Tony shot back. "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"
"To rip us apart." Troy stated.
"Where's Tony going with this?" Chaos questioned curiously.
"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Tony pressed on. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." He walked passed Steve and Troy, the two men's eyes following Tony.
"Right. We caught his act in Stuttgart." Steve recalled.
"Yeah," Tony kicked off, "that's just previews. This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-" Tony suddenly trailed off as the realization dawned on him. Steve and Troy raised perplexed brows. "Son of a bitch." Tony swore as he walked down the small metallic stairs and once again passed his companions.
"Son of a bitch what?" Troy questioned. Tony didn't answer. "Tony, what is it?"
"I know where Loki's setting up shop." Tony answered. "Stark Tower."
"How's that for irony?" Chaos chuckled. Troy did not reply to the symbiote as the host and Steve followed Tony out.
Natasha glanced up when the infirmary door slid open, revealing Steve, clad in his Captain America outfit, on the other side. "Time to go." He informed firmly.
"Go where?" Natasha asked.
"I'll tell you on the way." Steve replied seriously. "Can you fly one of those jets?"
The bathroom door opened, and Clint walked out. "I can." He said.
Steve looked at the man, then at Natasha, who nodded reassuringly. Steve saw no further reason to question. "You got a suit?" Steve asked Clint, who nodded. "Then suit up." Natasha went to grab her weapons, and Clint went to retrieve his bow and quiver.
Steve, Troy, Natasha, and Clint were now walking the halls of the lower hangar, their eyes burning with fiery determination. Loki had made a grave mistake. He thought his actions had destroyed the Avengers, causing them to divide. He was wrong. His actions have given the heroes the motivation to rise up and meet his challenge. If Loki wants the Earth, he'll first have to go through the Avengers.
The heroes would do this. For Earth.
For Phil Coulson.
A technician working within one of the jets frowned when he spotted Steve leading the others up the loading ramp. The man rose to his feet to block them. "Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be in here."
"Son, just don't." Steve advised.
"You have two options." Troy began, and the technician's gaze went to the host. "You can walk out of this jet and act like nothing happened. Or, I can throw you out." He finished, eyes gleaming seriously. It made the technician gulp.
"Let's eat his brain." Chaos hissed, and Troy could feel the symbiote's tongue at the back of his head.
The host mentally sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you this? You can't just eat someone just because you want to. Restrict yourself to burgers, french fries, pizza, and bad guys. Nothing more, nothing less. Understand?"
"Humf." Chaos huffed.
The technician nervously made his way out of the air craft. Natasha and Clint wasted no time in seating themselves the pilot seats while Steve and Troy sat in the passenger seats. In just a few moments, they were in the air. Their destination? New York City. The city that never sleeps.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, and have an awesome day!
Next chapter will be the battle of New York!