Sy
"This framework is incompatible." Sy's eyes widened as she picked up conversation from inside the lab. And it was not the kind of conversation she wanted to hear.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." She muttered, picking up her pace.
"Really?" Steve huffed out behind her, disappointment clouding his tone. She nodded once sharply. No matter what Steve had said, she knew that they'd both been holding on to the fragment of hope that Tony would not repeat his mistakes. No matter how great a hero he is, Tony was far too prone to abusing his intellect; falling prey to his own hubris and unable to see fault in his thinking. The burden of genius, seemed to be a fairly spectacular lack of sense, common or otherwise. Bruce also tended to fall in that same category, case in point; the Hulk. Sy prayed this was one of those days where Bruce's level head won out over Tony's wheedling and his own dangerous curiosity.
"The genetic coding tower is at ninety seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes." Sy let out a defeated moan at the sound of the second voice.
"Bruce too?" She whined. Something inside her tore a little at the sound of her friend's voices. Of everyone in the world, the team were who she should be able to trust the most. And yet, here they were walking into a confrontation she doubted any of them would be willing to back down from.
It's one thing to play at being a mad scientist; it's another thing entirely to actually become one. Tony and Bruce already created one monster, Sy was not about to let them build another. Especially using her blood.
"What did I tell you?" The witch muttered behind her. Sy gritted her teeth. She is so not in the mood for an I told you so from someone who had sided with the same monsters who had tortured her for months on end.
The four of them burst into the lab, and quickly crossed the floor to the blue lit platform where their resident idiots with massive brains were working.
"I'm only going to say this once." Steve started, a low growl punctuating his words.
"How about nonce?" Tony quipped, glaring at Steve.
"Shut it down."
"Nope. Not going to happen." Tony shot back in the same tone of voice five year olds use when saying you're not the boss of me.
"Tony, how could you?" Her voice cracked on his name. She was dangerously close to tears, and Sy clenched her hands tightly to prevent them from shaking. The overwhelming hurt of betrayal was rushing in, her body flushing hot even as a cold sweat broke out on top of her skin.
"You don't know what's coming kid." He said callously, derision filling his tone. Sy physically recoiled at the truth in his voice. The one he believed in with every fiber of his being. Rage clouded her vision and she crossed the lab, getting into Stark's face. She couldn't recall the last time she'd ever been this angry with anyone. Her whole body vibrated with the force of her emotions, and music curled under her skin. Sy might be a musician at heart but she is a demigod to the core. A demigod who has fought in wars against beings more terrifying than the great Ironman could even imagine. She has battled monsters from myth and survived torture at the hands of HYDRA.
Tony Stark couldn't even conceive the power she has at her fingertips, can't understand the battles she's fought. Comprehend the wars she's won. He couldn't even understand how dangerous she is, not flinching back as he stands in front of her. An arrogant expression plastered across his face, looking down his nose at her. The temptation to fight him was strong, to swing her fists at this mortal man until he bowed beneath the weight of her power rather than allow him to belittle her to sooth his own anxieties. He has never carried the weight of the world on his shoulders; she's seen the strain that leaves on a person. She's seen the strain in Percy Jackson's eyes on days when the camp shudders from his nightmares, the tension in Annabeth's voice after something startles her in just the wrong way. Other major players at camp were the same way. Thalia, the huntress, Piper from Cabin 10 and a few others. The Roman demigods hide it better, but Sy's hearing is really good. She can hear and taste the pain and stress and trauma destiny has left on her fellow demigods.
The Avenger's have protected people, even fended off an invasion. But that doesn't even come close to touching the basic everyday struggle of survival demigods fight. The battles they win and lose to protect the world without thanks, without recognition. Battles that get them labeled as troublemakers, criminals and terrorists. She hardly noticed that her hands began to glow with the power of Tony and Bruce's combined inspiration; white gathered around her fingertips, repulsor energy filling her palms.
"And you have no idea what you're doing. The power you play with. That's my power you're using. My blood. My trauma. Ultron was born the last time you thought divine power was something you could understand." She snarled at him. A blast of energy was released from her hand, scorching the floor. A little bit of fear seemed to have wormed its way through his mind at the reminder of her power. Stark took a half step back, his hands raised in a placating manner. The expression in his face belied the gesture, his forehead creased stubbornly the same way it always when he plans to do whatever he wants regardless of what anyone else says. Not even Pepper can get through to him in this state.
Sy stalked forward, not willing to let him run away. He couldn't just walk all over her, abuse her power for his purposes. There are consequences to actions; and she was going to force Stark to face his if she had too.
"How do you know she's not in your head." Bruce asked harshly, glaring at the witch. Disgust was etched into every line in his face.
"She can't get in." Sy snapped, still glaring at Stark, the two of them standing off in front of the cradle. She ignored the surprise that crossed several of her teammates expressions at that statement.
"I know you're angry." Wanda said cautiously, her anxiety leaving a sour taste in Sy's mouth. She took a half step away from Tony, turning away from him.
"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Bruce went on bitterly, his own truth flaring across Sy's taste buds.
"Banner, after everything that's happened-" Steve tried to reason with Bruce again, but Tony interrupted him, pushing past Sy to confront Steve; the object of his anger and mistrust for months.
"You don't know what's coming." He snarled.
"Then tell us!" Steve roared back. "Tell us, instead of hiding away preparing in secret for an outcome none of us can imagine. We're on your team just as much as you're on ours. Tell us so we can help you. So we can all be ready."
"So help me. We need this Steve. This will keep us safe."
"No Stark. You need this. The rest of us are in the dark; we don't know what we need." Tony just turned away from Steve, his expression dark.
"You don't understand-"
"And you don't understand what's in there! The creature that-" Pietro vanished into a blur as his sister stepped into the argument. The sound of his sudden movement startled Sy. She tried to cover the movement by turning to face the room, but she could still feel the burning gaze of Steve in her back, and see Stark monitoring her out the corner of her eyes. She swallowed down her panic, and studiously ignored them both.
In the span of a heartbeat he was on the other side of the room, a cable in his hand. Monitors began to flash wildly as the recently disconnected machines stopped transmitting information. Everyone's attention snapped to the Sokovian.
"No, no. Go on. You were saying?" He mocked. Sy wrinkled her forehead as she listened, there was a soft click that seemed out of place. Eyes widening she reacted a fraction of a second before it happened; stumbling back at the sound of the firing pin hitting the bullet. The ear shattering boom echoed through the room as glass shattered. Sy tucked into a backwards roll, stopping in a low crouch as she pinpointed the location of the gunman below them. Pietro fell through the floor, shock filling his face as he disappeared.
"Pietro!" Wanda cried out as Clint quipped an insult at the older Maximoff twin from the floor below.
"What, you didn't see that coming?" A monitor flashed and alarms blared, warning them of a critical power loss. But before Tony could reroute the power, Steve threw his shield, destroying several monitors. The room devolved into chaos, everyone lunging for something or someone. Bruce had vanished then reappeared behind Wanda, whispering a menacing threat into her ear. Sy took her own opportunity and lunged forward, her sword flashing towards the cradle when a shock wave of energy slammed into her. She was sent tumbling to the floor, sword clattering out of her hand. A flash of yellow appeared in the corner of her vision, but she ignored it, entirely focused on the machine in front of her.
"Stop, stop, STOP!" She screamed. The room froze. Sy reached out a trembling hand to the cradle and hummed. The warm metal pulsed against the pads of her fingers. Something was coming from the cradle, but she wasn't sure what it was. She pushed herself to her feet and knelt next to the metal contraption. Familiar energy was pouring out of the box, warm and comforting. Phantom music rose around her, and her hand twitched for a pen as sudden inspiration filled her.
Brilliant yellow white light poured into the room, glowing through every pore in her skin, lighting her up from the inside out. Her skin was translucent, every blood vessel held in red lines across her hands, weaving up her arms and her face. Bone created dark shadows in the light and she looked up at the ragtag dysfunctional mess of people scattered around the room.
"Reconnect it." Sy ordered softly. She could almost feel her mother's divine presence in the room. She got to her feet, one hand still planted firmly on the metal cradle. The world around her fell away, the light that was glowing under her skin filling the room, covering everything in her sight until there was nothing but her and the cradle. Yellow light poured into the room, swirling around them, as nebulous stars and worlds and galaxies exploded and formed and died, birds sang and a symphony of musicians played and a baby giggled while an old man crooned a lullaby, metal pinged as a hammer struck tin and wind rustled through the leaves of a tree and lighting struck, waves raged, thunder boomed and Sy stood in the eye of a storm, watching the cradle. Inside it carried something powerful and strong and innocent. Something unique and filled with potential. Something that felt part of her, inextricably linked to her soul.
"What?" Came four utterly bewildered voices behind her. The world that had swirled to life in her minds eyes cracked and collied and flickered and died. The dim blue light of Tony's lab lit everyone's face from below, like a kid holding up a flashlight under their chin to tell a scary story. It cast shadows across everyone's faces, outlining the various expressions of shock.
"Do it now!" She cried urgently. Sy couldn't explain it, but whatever it was that her mom had tried to show her, she knew it was important. Besides, Sy knew better than to refuse a goddess. She turned back to face the cradle and song both living and dying on her lips, music filling her mind and rising higher and higher as she reached to try and revive the flickering something in the cradle.
Ozone filled the air, and the room crackled with energy. A familiar godly presence collided with her senses as Thor slid into the room, his face a mask of determination. He leapt on top of the cradle and lifted his hammer. Lightning filled the room, the windows blowing out as streams of blue electricity streaked into the building, wreathing Mjolnir. He slammed the hammer down on top of the cradle. Sy screamed as she was blasted backwards, energy rippling out from her voice as she slammed into a wall. Her fingers twitched uncontrollably as electricity coursed through her body. She could smell something burning, and when she looked down, Sy noticed that the hair on her arms was singed and smoking lightly.
"SY!" Steve crashed to his knees next to her, his hands hovering over her body. Sparks of electricity jumped off her body, causing the super soldier to flinch back, even as blue eyes roved over her body in wide eyed horror.
"Wait!" Bruce cried out, releasing Wanda in his shock. Monitors flashed all sorts of warnings and both of their resident scientist sprinted to the machines. Sy's head spun as she shifted her weight, trying to sit up. She batted Steve's hands away from her, and she pushed her way up the wall until she was in a semi-sitting position. The warm presence was getting stronger. She turned her head, making eye contact with Loki as he strode into the room, green streams of power preceding him. The two sets of godly power cause the room to shake and Sy screamed, the painful pressure in her head combined with the electricity still popping on her skin overwhelmed her. White light began building, new light, pouring from the two gods. She slumped against the wall, relaxing as the warmth of her power expanded and changed. She closed her eyes against the divine power flowing into the room. She hoped the others had the sense to look away too.
The light glowed so brightly the red veins in her eyelids were seared into her vision. Music rose in her mind, reaching a soaring crescendo before falling away. The light faded away and the room was silent and still.
Sy cautiously opened her eyes. Nobody was vaporized and was silently watching the cradle. Thor stood up and took a small step back, even as both Sy and Loki tried to move closer. The energy that had been flowing though the room had vanished, leaving behind a gaping emptiness that could be felt like an aching hole.
Nobody dared to even move.
Sy shifted to stand, her eyes firmly fixed on the cradle.
Something yellow flashed in the corner of her eye.
The cradle exploded.