Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Marvel; all rights belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 8
Grand Theft America Part 3
Louvre Pyramid, France, 3 Months Ago
Underneath the glass pyramid, inside a secret bunker, the conspiracy to overthrow the greatest power in the world was being concluded.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that all our planning, funding, and sacrifices have paid off in spades!"
The lead speaker said standing in front of a large table filled with foreign leaders and military personnel. The many individuals scrolled through the meetings agendas on the tablets that had been provided to them.
"Our initial attack will consist of the joint-efforts of our newly designed warships, and super-soldiers."
Two images appeared behind the speaker, displaying a blueprint and finished image of the red and white warships.
"These are our own versions of the SHIELD's Helicarrier, outfitted with numerous mortar cannons and missiles. Machine guns and anti-aircraft guns have been mounted across its hull. But its main purpose is to act as a command fleet for the bulk of our forces."
The screen behind him changed again to show an army of thousands of black-scale suited super-soldiers.
"We have made tremendous strides in perfecting the super-suits for our ground forces. The suits grant the wearers class-3 strength. This makes them on par with Captain America's strength while also granting flight. Unfortunately, the suits devour the wearer within a month. Despite this, they'll be enormously affective in the initial strike."
The people around the table didn't look impressed.
The speaker turned around to look at two individuals hidden behind the shadows. One of the two stepped out of the shadows to reveal a green-haired woman in a form-fitting green combat suit.
Viper, aka, Madam Hydra stepped out into the light, drawing the attention to her. The Speaker reluctantly stepped back and gave the remote to Viper.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry if you are not thrilled by the strides we have taken in your feeble military forces, but I-"
"Feeble?!" A North Korean man screamed standing up. The Outburst had startled most of the board members who looked at their fellow conspirator in surprise.
"We agreed to help you to squash America! But we will not tolerate insults from a snake of an organization like yours! Hydra is no—"
BANG!
The man's head exploded as a bullet burrowed through his skull. The body toppled over with the chair, flinging blood onto the table.
The members of the table turned to look at the shadows where a large man exited from the darkness. He sported a skull like helmet fitted with gas-filters while an armored vest was rested over his broad chest. Dark cargos and thick black boots adorned his feet, but the smoking gun grafted into his right hand indicated that he had fired the shot.
"Crossbones." Viper scolded, giving her subordinate a disapproving look.
"Hmph." Crossbones grunted as his gun retracted into his mechanical limb and was replaced by a mechanical hand.
"I apologize for my colleague." Viper said with a small grin. "But let this be a reminder that without Hydra, none of these achievements would've been possible. But you didn't come her to look at fancy new ships, or expendable foot soldiers. No, you came for our own team of Avengers, and we have delivered in spades."
The screen behind her changed once again to show several new images. A woman clad in a white combat suit with yellow goggles, and a woman who's body was covered in a black scale substance with two horns protruding from the from the side of her head.
"The codename for our own Utimates has been aptly named, The Liberators. The members seen above are our North Korean and Russian members, Hurricane and Swarm, respectively."
The image changed to show Hurricane running at super-speeds while Swarm commanded a horde of insects that rampaged across a group of soldiers.
"Hurricane, for all extensive purpose, is our very own Quicksilver. She has improved homeostasis and an accelerated metabolism. Swarm on the other hand has been genetically modified to be able to store and command the insects under her skin. Now before any of you scoff at this notion, imagine the chaos that could be dealt with a million bees or mosquitos descending on our enemies."
Viper pressed the remote to reveal the next two members of their super-human task force.
"Next are the Crimson Dynamo and the Abomination, or as he like's to be called, A-Bomb."
Images of a blue-scaled monster and an armored man appeared on the screen.
"Anton Vanko is the son of Ivan Vanko, a former business partner of America's Howard Stark. For those who do not know, he is the father of America's Iron Man, Tony Stark. His VR-War suit was grafted into his body, giving him far more weapons and abilities that the Armored Ultimate. A-Bomb on the other hand is our personal Hulk. He possesses massive levels of strength and insane levels of durability. With Bruce Banner dead, and Thor imprisoned, they have no one who could combat him."
"What guarantee do we have that we can control him? The reports on file have placed his intellect on par with America's Hulk."
"True. But his hatred for the Ultimates and SHIELD is his driving force. He'll do as he's told as long as we promise him their deaths."
"What about Perun?" a woman asked.
Viper smirked and flipped the image again to display a man wearing a metallic grey and blue harness. The bald Russian wore a pair of goggles and wielded a gavel like hammer and a large sickle.
"Our Soviet Thor has proven to be one of our most powerful and versatile members, we consider him the right hand of the team. Next is the Schizoid Man."
An image of an orange-haired Frenchmen with green and grey eyes appeared on the screening, surround by dozens of copies of himself.
"Stealing the stem-cells of Jamie Madrox has allowed us to grant the Schizoid Man the ability to create over twenty duplicates."
"We know about the Schizoid Man, we gave him to you Viper." A man said. "I hope you excuse my tone, but I think I speak for everyone when I ask this, what about the boy?"
Viper grinned ecstatically before showing them the final super-soldier. "Abdul Al-Rahman. Our very own Captain America, and the leader of the Liberators. Although we were unable to create the exact copy of the super-soldier serum that pumps through the veins of Captain America, the substitutes we used for Al-Rahman is plenty affective. Crossbones has personally trained the boy and the results surpass anything we have ever seen. His youth puts him on par with Captain America!"
Viper's grin grew as she saw the looks of approval from the eager men and women in their chairs.
"My dear friends, America falls three months from now!"
London, The Academy of Tomorrow, Present
The students sat in shock as they watched the TV, eyes glued to the screen as picture of a devastated America flashed across the screen.
"Oh my god…" Wolfsbane gasped as she unconsciously gripped her boyfriend's hand tighter. Sunspot responded in kind, squeezing her hand in a reassuring manner, but deep down he was just as terrified.
"We can't just sit here…" Wind Dancer said looking towards Hellion for a response.
Hellion could say nothing as he sat in stunned horror at what they were seeing.
Above them sat Loki as he watched the TV from a distance with a frown.
"Sam I'm sure she's fine!"
Loki turned to see Madrox chasing after a distraught looking Cannonball.
"Fine?! They said even the X-Men got hit! My sister's with them! I swear if they've hurt her I will shoot them into the stratosphere!"
"Dude, they're the X-Men there's now way they got beat!"
Loki looked away from them and closed his eyes.
When he opened them he was in an entirely different room beneath the school.
He looked around the room to see he was in the center of the newly constructed Cerebra. In the center of the room sat Emma Frost and her five favorite students, the Stepford Cuckoos.
The six psychics were all linked together to the machine, focusing their amazing powers to see what was actually going on.
Behind the six, stood Northstar, a concerned look was plastered on his face.
After what seemed like forever, Emma disconnected the metal helmet from her brain, ending her psychic link with the device.
"Well?" Jean-Paul asked, concern lacing his voice.
"I'm sorry Jean-Paul…" Emma started as she gave her old friend a sympathetic look.
"Is Colossus…"
"They're all alive…but they've been captured. They plan to execute them."
Loki saw his teacher's hands ball up into fists.
"What the Hell is the EU doing?! They have the Excalibur Super-Soldiers! Why aren't we storming the country to free them?!"
"Mr. Beaubier, they have the nuclear launch codes." Esme of the Cuckoos said.
"They will retaliate if we attempt to interfere." Sophie continued.
"Goddammit!" He roared slamming his hands against the wall.
Loki faded from existence.
Loki opened his eyes as his conscious returned to his body. He quickly got up off the ground and moved past Cannonball and Multiple-Man.
"Hey!" Sam exclaimed as Loki barreled past them without a word.
"Loki?" Jamie asked as he saw his best friend walk away without so much as a glance.
Loki opened the door to his room before slamming it shut.
He slumped down on his bed and buried his head in his hands.
"Aren't you pathetic?" A snide feminine voice said.
Loki looked up to see a beautiful woman in a long green and gold dress sitting precariously on his desk, feet dangling inches off the ground.
"All your power…and you won't lift a finger to help him, will you?" she said.
"Shut up, Leah." Loki muttered looking down at the ground.
"No. You do not command me trickster. I will say what I wish."
Loki gave no response as he continued to stare at his own feet.
"The mighty Loki, God of Mischief, brought low by his own guilt and fear."
"Shut up." Loki said again, this time with less force.
Leah got off the desk and sashayed over to the teen. She sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around the teen's neck.
"You're still scared of big bad Odin, aren't you?" She purred blowing hot air into his ear.
"You'll never earn his love…" she continued.
"I know…"Loki said.
"But it's not love you crave…its respect…trust…from not just your father…"
"He's not my father."
"But from your brother." Leah continued with a malicious grin.
"Stop talking…" Loki said, this time with more force.
"You want wh—ah!" She cried out as Loki flipped her off of him and pinned her to the bed by the wrists.
"I'm sick of you!" he screamed.
"I'm sick of my guilt taunting me! Of you showing up as a constant reminder of what a monster I was! You won't destroy me…guilt alone has never stopped me."
He released her hands and got off the bed before storming over to his desk and pulling open a drawer.
Leah propped herself up by her elbows as a cat-like smile appeared on her face.
Loki took out an old worn shoebox and dumped its contents onto the ground. He arranged the old stones into a pentagram like shape before taking up a bottle that had also been in the box along with a dagger.
He popped the bottle and sprinkled the powdered substance within it around the stones to make a circle. He then held his hand out over the stones, knife pressed against the palm of his hand.
He began to chant quietly as the stones began to glow green.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
Loki was distracted briefly by the sound, but quickly went back to chanting softly.
"Loki? It's Jamie, come on man open up!" his friend called out.
Loki ignored him as he took a deep breath, and stabbed himself in the hand.
Blood spurted from the wound as splattered itself all over the stone before they erupted into a flash of light.
When the green light faded, no one was there.
Madrox saw the flash of light from under the door and broke it down with the help of two dupes.
The trio tumbled into the room to find it empty, the only thing they saw was a pile of smoking stones.
"Oh no…" Jamie muttered.
New York City
Dozens of warships hovered over the demolished city as super-soldier flew through the skies, blanketing the sunny sky with dark shadows.
"This is insane…" Peter Parker said. He stayed hidden beneath the shadow of a gargoyle watching as a warship passed him by.
Spider-Man looked out over his demolished city with a snarl.
"I'm gonna break these bastards in two…"
He quickly back flipped off the skyscraper and swung towards the alleys. He kept to the shadows, avoiding as many patrols as possible.
He landed on the ground in the seemingly deserted area before dropping a single penny from his pocket. The quiet ping of the metal coin hitting the ground was nearly silent.
Peter waited a few seconds and dropped another coin. Soon several shadows joined him in the alley.
Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Bombshell all gathered out of the wrecked buildings.
"What's going on webs?" Cage asked. His clothes were mostly torn and burned.
"The fucking city is burning!" Laura screamed back at the giant of a man.
She herself was in a similar state as her jacket was scorched and sported several vicious looking cuts.
"What happened to you?" Peter asked eyeing her disheveled appearance.
"The fuck do you think dumbass?!" she snapped back.
"One of those robots dropped a building on us." Jessica said.
Her appearance was in a bad state as well. Her blue jean jacket was almost nonexistent, leaving a torn purple shirt and black jeans.
Spider-Man looked at Daredevil, whose armor was scratched and dirty, but no worse for ware.
"Just tell us what you saw."
"It's fucking chaos out there." Peter said.
"Anything new?" Iron Fist asked. His green and yellow gi was torn near the waist and was missing a sleeve.
"No. But it looks like a lot of their forces are moving back to the Triskelion. Probably to round up anybody important, like the Ultimates."
"If they're down where the Hell are the FF?! Or the X-Men?!" Bombshell ranted.
"The Baxter Building is wrecked. I have no idea what's going on with Xavier and his guys, but I'm pretty sure we're it."
"Not all of us." Daredevil said.
"Believe it or not, I've got ties to one of SHIELD's Ultimates. She went underground so I'm hoping she might actually have a plan."
"How do you know that?" Cage asked.
"And who is it?" Spider-Man added.
"First, she contacted me and asked that I keep her up to date, despite my objections, two, it's Black Widow."
"The hot redhead?" Spider-Man asked. "You know, I'm not even surprised."
"I'm not gonna dignify that with a response." Daredevil muttered.
"Anyway, we need to get as many people out of the street as possible. These super-soldiers aren't invincible, just tough."
"Yeah, I saw a cop get off a lucky shot." Jessica said.
"Then stick to the shadows and take down who you can when you can." Daredevil said, drawing his Billy clubs.
"You're the boss." Spider-Man chuckled before a massive throbbing took hold of his head.
"GAH!" he screamed.
"Spider-sense! We've got incoming!" Peter yelled, whirling around to see a horde of insects raining down on them.
"Scatter!" Daredevil ordered, firing off his grapple.
Cage and Iron Fist shot off down the alley while Jessica grabbed Bombshell and took to the skies.
Spider-Man leapt onto the alley wall before scaling it at an inhuman speed. He leapt onto the roof and broke into a mad dash, hurling two web-grenades behind him.
The device exploded, releasing a torrent of webbing that swatted any bugs unlucky enough to be caught in the attack.
Above the rooftops, Jessica and Bombshell saw Spider-Man launch into the air with his webs, steering clear of the unnatural swarm.
"Laura! Think you can zap the suckers?"
"Hell yes!" Bombshell roared thrusting out her hand.
A blast of intense energy erupted from her hand and sailed towards the cloud of insects, vaporizing them on contact.
"Damn!" Jessica said with a smile.
Before any more congratulations could be made. A black clad figure smashed into the super-heroine.
The impact sent both Jess and Laura spiraling out of the air.
FABOOM!
Spider-Man stopped his swinging and clung to the edge of a building to see an entire building collapse as two flyers smashed into it.
"Oh fuck." Peter muttered as he realized this would attract more attention than they needed.
He looked to the sky to see more super-soldiers descending on them like flies. And if that wasn't enough, a full-sized mech stomped around the side of a building, its mounted turrets locking onto the red and black vigilante.
Spider-Man back flipped off the wall just before it exploded under the hail of shrapnel.
Spider-Man flipped and twisted through the air, slashing one terrorist with his talons before all four of his waldoes extended from his backpack. The red scythe-like blades slashed through the air, cutting through more and more of the terrorists.
He bounded off their falling bodies and leapt onto the top of the mech's cockpit. The pilot looked up from his seat to see the terrifying visage of the enraged Spider-Man.
Peter slammed his hands through the glass, grabbing the terrified pilot and hoisting him into the air.
"I'm a take your robot now." He declared before throwing the man down to the streets blow, with a web net to catch his fall.
Spider-Man hopped into the pilot's seat and took hold of the controls. He tested the joystick and saw the arms of the mech move, smashing into the side of a building.
"OOF!" Peter grunted as he saw the damage he had accidentally caused.
"Oops. Well…just like Uncle Ben said, it's like riding a bike…but instead of a bike it's a giant fucking robot!"
Peter turned his head to see a horde of super-soldiers and two more robots moving towards their location.
"Dammit, move!" Peter shouted pushing one of the pedals on the floor.
The red mech lurched forward, its giant foot smashing a car beneath its foot.
"Hope they have insurance…" he muttered before moving the machine's arm, leveling the massive cannons with the two incoming drones.
Spider-Man heard a crackling above him and looked up to see the speaker was blaring out orders in a mix of Russian and Korean.
"Sorry, I don't speak Russian, comrade." Peter muttered before squeezing the trigger on the control stick.
BABABAAAM!
Bullets erupted from the cannon and devastated the first mech to land. The red armor was torn apart, much to the surprise of the other forces.
Peter continued to squeeze the trigger, watching as the cannon popped off a barrage of burning metal into the metal hide, dropping the steel behemoth onto the demolished city streets.
"WHOOO-HOOO!" Spider-Man screamed as he unleashed another stream of bullets into the second robot.
The drone defended itself with its left arm; the limb was blasted apart before the mounted guns on its torso opened fire.
Spider-Man's eyes widened as his spider-sense blared. He moved the arms of the robot to shield itself from the hail of gunfire.
Warning lights flashed all along the cockpit as damage reports flooded the targeting screen in Korean.
"Shitshitshit!" Peter screamed.
He leapt from the seat and dived out of the open cockpit seconds before it erupted in flames, exploding in a shower of shrapnel and flame.
Spider-Man clung to the wall of a building as he saw the remaining drones stomp towards him, turrets swerving towards his position.
"Oh fuck me."
KABOOM!
The front of the mech exploded at a blast of yellow energy erupted from the robot and piece-by-piece fell from the sky like rain.
Peter turned his head to see Bombshell perched on top of a roof, hand burning with mutant power.
Peter grinned before his eyes caught six incoming terrorist rocketing forward with the use of their super-suits. They soared towards Laura before a single figure plowed through them like a missile, grabbing two of them and hurling them into the ground where they smashed into the ground.
Jessica Jones circled back around, shooting back toward the remaining flyers and barreled into them, smashing one in the stomach before grabbing another and hurling him into the remaining two.
Bombshell continued to bombard the flyers with blasts of energy before another robot landed just a few blocks from them. The red mech leveled its cannon at the array of buildings.
The pilot grinned as he prepared to fire, until a car smashed into the cockpit, crushing him.
The robot shut down as its command center burned between its legs.
Luke Cage brushed his hands, grinning at his handiwork.
"You know that car wasn't yours right?" Iron Fist asked as he stood next to his best friend.
"Does it look like I give a shit?" he responded before several shadows emerged above them.
"Incoming." Danny said.
"I see 'em"
KRSSH!
Iron Fist flipped back to avoid the five super-soldiers that had just body slammed his friend into the ground, creating a crater in the middle of the street.
"GET OFF!" Cage roared before another crater emerged.
Cage leapt out of the hole while slamming two men into the ground, cracking their necks in the process.
Three more emerged from the crater, ready to pummel the Harlem street fighter, but they were quickly taken down by the flurry of kick and chi infused punches from the heir to Kunlun.
Each blow shattered their bones as the Iron Fist beat them senseless.
"Who are these guys?!" Spider-Man shouted as he leapt down to aid the street fighters.
His spider-sense roared to life, causing him to spin around to see three incoming soldiers.
Before they could reach the wall-crawler, a red lad figure leapt off a rooftop and stomped kicked the center flyer before using a thin metal cord to wrap around the other's neck, pulling them down with him.
Daredevil landed gracefully on the ground while the terrorists smashed into the ground and a parked car, demolishing it roof. Daredevil retracted the wire back into his Billy club before turning back to his younger partner.
"I told you to always watch your back."
"Why do I need that when I got you guys?" Peter said with a grin before a monstrous roar echoed throughout the area.
"Uh…what was that?" Laura asked as Jess brought her down to the ground.
"Giant robots?" Spider-Man asked before the others gave him a deadpan stare.
"At least I'm trying to lighten the m—GURK!"
A blow of incredible force socked the hero right across the jaw sending him flying back as a gust of wind whipped past the remaining heroes.
"What the fuc—AK!" Bombshell scream as she was plowed through the stomach and sent hurtling back.
Jessica took to the sky to avoid whatever was on the ground, but found herself confronted by a swarm of insects.
"Oh shit!"
"Everyone! Fall back!" Matt screamed as she dashed towards Spider-Man. Cage ran through the encroaching swarm, grabbing Bombshell before leaping out of the cloud of insects.
"Hell of a time for her to go unconscious on us!" He roared.
"We don't all have unbreakable skin, Luke!" Iron Fist shouted back.
He ran alongside his friend. He broke from him to strike a fire hydrant, striking it in a way so that the water blasted towards the insets, swatting them out of the sky.
Daredevil helped Peter to his feet, whatever had hit him had been faster than his spider-sense and even Matt's own sonar-sight.
"S-speedster…" Spider-Man muttered as Daredevil helped his to his feet.
"What?"
"Speedster…you need to go, my spider-sense won't be much good, but I might be able to slow them down."
"I'm not leaving you behind! Neither of us can see them coming!"
"And they'll catch everyone if your not leading them! Get as many people into hiding as you can!"
Peter pushed Daredevil off of him and braced himself on a car.
"This is the most reckless plan you have ever come up with!" DD said as he pulled out his Billy Club.
"Come on, I fought off a giant scorpion-monster in my first year, I'm pretty sure I can do this."
"Good luck, Peter." Matt said before firing off his grapple, launching himself into the air.
"GRAAAHH!"
THRAKOOM!
Spider-Man turned around to see the massive form of the Abomination towering over him. Its orange eye burned with an unnatural hatred before it raised its massive fists.
"Well, you're big." Peter muttered.
"RAH!" A-Bomb roared bringing his fists down.
Spider-Man had just enough time to flip back, firing off a volley of impact webbing, bombarding the blue monster with gum-like cement.
"Gotcha!" he cheered landing on the hood of a car.
His joy ended when A-Bomb tore through the webbing with a monstrous roar. Gunks of silver goo coated the monster's body, but didn't deter the behemoth.
"Oh shit."
"GRAHH!"
A-Bomb leapt into the air, coming down with the force of a bomb. Spider-Man leapt back before the impact happened, just narrowly avoiding the shockwave that ripped apart the street.
The area shook like an earthquake had hit, and Spider-Man balanced himself on the broken end of a streetlamp. He eyed the monster as the smoke cleared.
The Hulk-like beast snarled up at the agile fighter and stood and popped his talons and his four red waldoes. The white lenses that outlined his eyes glared down at the monster, who gained an eerie grin.
Spider-Man felt the tingle; right after a blow had socked him in the jaw, sending him flying.
He crashed into a demolished car, the impact shaking his body like a ragdoll. Spider-Man grunted as he stood, weapons readied.
"Guess this bastard's back…" He muttered as he looked around.
"Gah!" he screamed as two blows found their way into his stomach and chin. He smashed into the car again, destroying what remained of its window.
"Grah!" he screamed taking a wild swing at a passing blur. His waldoes frantically slashed about trying and failing to clip his target.
"Stand still, dammit!" he screamed while firing off strands of webbing around the area.
The blur slowed slightly to bob and weave over the obstructions, gracefully leaping and ducking under the webs.
Spider-Man could make out a vibrating blur of white, but his attention was stolen by the thundering steps of A-Bomb.
Spider-Man leapt into the air, avoiding a massive fist that cleaved a car in two. The vehicle exploded in a flash of fire, bathing the creature in flames.
"Hrrrnn!" It growled as the speedster bolted towards the falling Spider-Man. Before his spider-sense could activate, he felt a powerful kick slam him in the gut, sending him careening into the side of a bus.
He smashed into the metal hull, tearing through the metal wall and reaching its other side.
Smashing into the concrete, his red waldoes pierced the ground in an effort to slow him down. The act worked, leaving a mess of scars in the concrete.
"Ah…" He moaned while gripping his now bleeding side. "Motherfucker that hurt…"
The teen looked up to see the looming shadow of a woman in a white speed suit smirking down at him.
"Not so tough now, are ya?" she sneered.
"F-fuck you…bitch!" Peter sneered back.
"Hmph!" Hurricane grunted before smashing her foot into the hero's skull, knocking him unconscious.
"Another 'hero' down. Colonel, this Hurricane, guess who I just caught?"
Time Square
"Roger thatHurricane. Drop him off with the other and report back. Send the monster back with you." The Colonel tapped the side of his communicator, ending the conversation.
He and the remaining Liberators stood in the center of the demolished Time Square. The once massive jumbo-trons now lay in shattered glass and burnt steel. Smoke and dust billowed up from their surroundings.
"Is it everything you hoped for mon ami?" The Schizoid man asked his Arabic leader.
The Colonel said nothing as he continued to watch the area around him burn and crumble.
"Have you're duplicates found anything?" He finally asked after a brief period of silence.
"No, nothing yet."
"Dynamo, anything from the Europeans?"
"No. My men have secured all the nuclear facilities and Hydra has gotten their hands on the nuclear codes. The EU won't risk sending in their super-soldiers now that we have America's nuclear arsenal."
"I say we round up as many civilians and cart them out of this rat-infested city." Swarm said. "We can nuke it after, just to show that we mean business."
"No." The Colonel said.
"Why not? As long as no innocents are hurt, this city can burn for all I care."
"La dame has a point monsieur." Schizoid Man said.
"Dah, but it wouldn't help us any." Perun said as he sat on and upturned piece of rubble, hammer resting by his side while his scythe dangled from his belt.
"If we nuke a city, even if there are no casualties, the world will still see us a lunatics. America is the only country to ever use a nuclear weapon, I think it best if history remembers that."
"Hmm, I guess so." Swarm said turning away from the group. "Brace yourselves, the monster's back."
The group looked up to see a massive blue figure hurtling down from the sky. It smashed into the remains of a building, bringing the structure down in a cacophony of steel, glass and concrete.
BRAKKOOM!
The Abomination came barreling out of the collapsing structure, sprinting towards the group before slamming his legs into the ground to slow himself. He skidded to a halt in front of the Colonel, snarling like a rabid dog.
The Colonel showed no sign of fear as he stared the orange-eyed monster down.
The group waited as the monster snarled at the defacto leader, fists shaking in rage, before it stepped down, backing up a step, but never losing its enraged look.
"Hurricane's coming." Swarm said as a gust of wind whipped past her face, kicking up dust and rubble.
"Dropped the brat off with the others. Kid had a mouth on him."
"He's an American." Dynamo scoffed stomping away from the group. "They always talk big, but never deliver."
"I'm pretty sure Tony Stark delivered." Schizoid Man said.
"Grah!" Dynamo nearly screamed, resisting the urge to obliterate the Frenchman, if only because he knew the Colonel and his 'team' would retaliate.
"Look what Stark has wrought them! This!" Dynamo gestured to the dozens of destroyed buildings and the burning streets.
"Stark destroys everything he touches! They are a curse upon this planet!"
"Funny, I'm pretty sure all that was done by you." Hurricane muttered as she looked at the destroyed city. "All our super-soldier's wrecked the buildings, but all the bloody bodies around the bullet holes came from you."
"They were collateral damage!" Dynamo sneered.
"Enough." The Colonel said as he walked over the destroyed streets.
"Hurricane, find the President. Once we have him, we'll be one step closer to our goal. Schizoid Man,"
The Frenchman looked up at his leader. "Wi?"
"Take a search party and dig up Captain America. I want to be notified as soon as you find him."
"Ah…" Enchantress mused as she strode over the destroyed landscape with Skurge the Executioner in tow.
"The moment we've all been waiting for. The public executions."
"This will be good. Maybe we should give them free elections." Hurricane suggested. "I understand there have been concerns about whether the votes actually count."
"Wi, I say we get rid of this 'electoral college'. It makes no sense now." Schizoid Man added.
"Enough talk. The people will get their freedom, only if we find and kill their current tyrant." The Colonel said as he turned to the team's speedster.
"Hurricane, go."
"Fine." The Korean shot off down the streets, tearing the ground as she did so.
Washington DC, The Whitehouse
Massive trails of debris flew into the air as Hurricane ripped across the city, sending cars and rubble flying.
Several Terrorists saw the approaching cloud and braced themselves as a massive gust of air barreled into them as Hurricane broke through the walls of the damaged building.
She tore across the mansion's grounds, searching every room at inhuman speeds. Every closet, every bed, every bookshelf was overturned, destroyed, or eradicated as she looked for the secret bunker.
She finally stopped in the Oval Office where several members of the cabinet were laying on the ground with their hands over their heads in a form of cooperation as numerous super-soldiers surrounded them.
Several other armed men in green masks and combat gear surrounded them, a multi-headed snake was emblazoned on their suit's shoulders like patches.
Hurricane tore the rug from off the floor, reveal a circular vault door embedded in the floor. Hurricane looked to the soldiers around her. One of the men tapped his com-link to speak.
"Command, we'll need some thermite charges to get into the bunker."
"ETA 20-minutes. Secure any exits." Viper ordered.
"Don't bother." Hurricane responded as she placed her hands on top of the door. Grinning in excitement, she began to rapidly vibrate her hands on top of the vault door, super-heating its metal structure until it turned to liquid metal.
The ceiling door caved in, allowing the smirking Liberator to leap down into the bunker. Landing on the cement floor, Hurricane rapidly scanned the bunker with super-human speed, finding no trace of her target, or that the bunker had even been used.
Using her enhanced muscles, she leapt out of the manhole and landed on the carpeted floor.
"Command, this is Hurricane, target isn't here."
"See if any of the cabinet members know. The longer the President is missing, the more our operation remains at risk."
"Alright, I'll ask around." She responded. She turned to see several members of the cabinet glaring up at her, some in fear, and others in rage.
Hurricane smirked at the show of bravado but quickly silenced it by vibrating her hand to saw through the President's desk, cleaving it in two.
She grabbed a man by the back of his collar and slammed him on top of the broken desk.
"You gonna tell me where your boss is?" she asked in a sadistic tone, her hand hovering dangerously close to his neck.
"G-go to Hell!" he muttered, closing his eyes in fear.
"You first." She whispered into his ear before her hand carved through his neck.
Blood gushed out of the stump like a fountain, painting the room in crimson paint.
"GIAAAH!" a woman screamed in fear, scrambling from the floor. Two Hydra soldier grabbed her by the arms and threw her to the ground. A third soldier cocked his rifle and popped off a few rounds into the women's chest, ending her screams and releasing more blood onto the carpet.
Hurricane grinned. She tapped her com-piece and spoke.
"Sorry Colonel, none them are talking. They tried to resist to. Two are dead and I honestly don't think the others know. Unless you want me to be more…persuasive."
Al-Rahman sighed in barely held contempt for the speedster before he responded.
"Negative Hurricane. Scour the area again."
"You sure? There are still a few more members of staff that might know a thing. Shouldn't be too hard to make one of these pigs squeal."
"You have your orders. Follow them." He barked to her. He ended the conversation by tapping the earpiece again, ending the call.
"Ya know…we haven't found Air Force One yet." Perun muttered, catching his leader's attention.
"Really?" he asked, intrigued.
"Yeah. It wasn't in its hangar. You want me to take a search party?" he asked, knowing his leader's response.
"Do it. Tear it apart, as long as you get him, it won't matter what happens next. Dynamo, I want you to have your men move the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to Washington. They'll be first up for the executions."
The red suited man grunted before taking off into the sky, leaving a plume of smoke in his wake.
Perun raised his hammer and his sickle and floated off the ground and towards the sky. He signaled to a small platoon of soldier and the pair of giant robots around them to follow him.
The group took to the sky as Al-Rahman watched. "Swarm. You're with me. We'll meet back up with the others in Washington. A-Bomb."
The monster snarled in response, but followed begrudgingly.
"Ah, chaos, how I've missed you." Amora said as she admired the destruction her plan had wrought.
Triskelion
Hundreds of people bustled over the fallen bastion of SHIELD. The island was covered in smoke and fire with warships hovering over it like vultures.
Super-soldiers and Hydra foot soldiers marched across the island dragging out any survivor they could from the burning rubble.
On one part of the Island, two soldiers dragged Betty Ross out of the rubble; guns loaded, and pulled onto a gurney. Through her blurred vision, Betty could see Victoria Hand in a similar position.
"Get those two, and bring them with us." A doctor said as he leaned over his latest patient.
"They're both in the PR department and were responsible for promoting the Ultimates as heroes. They'll pay with their lives."
"What of their super-soldiers?"
"Kill on sight were the orders."
"This one might be hard to kill." A Super-soldier said as he and several more men dragged the beaten and bloodied form of She-Hulk out of the crater Skurge had put her in.
"Abomination and the Executioner really did a number on this bitch, didn't they?" one man said.
"Yeah…makes you wonder what else they did to her." Another said as he eyed the naked giant's curvy body.
"Keep it in your pants. We have orders to execute them all by tomorrow."
The lead doctor ignored the vulgar comments of his subordinates, as the subject in front of him deserved more attention. Below him lay the one-armed Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD.
"Isn't he quite the catch?" The doctor chuckled as he tied up the bloody stump that used to be Fury's right arm.
"We'll need to cauterize that wound. We can't have him dying when he's not on national TV."
"Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Giant-Man are all accounted for. The only Ultimate we're missing is the Wasp. Maybe we should send out a search party." A soldier suggested.
"Forget it. What's the point of killing her? She's a woman who can make herself smaller and weaker, what's she going to do?"
"What about Iron Man and Widow?"
"Stark is locked up in his tower with one of ours, and Widow is still off the grid. We'll find her."
Stark Tower, Penthouse
"Rumiko…" Tony whispered as he stood over the dead body of his once lovely girlfriend. The blood caked on the floor like a bad paint-job as the lifeless body rested on it.
"Oh please stop blubbering. You would've dumped her in a month."
"I loved her." He responded still not looking up from his ex-fiancée's body.
"Spare me. Now move." Han Yinsen muttered as his cybernetic arm sparked to life, its glowing core burned with energy, ready to fire on command.
Tony slowly moved away from his dead girlfriend and past the headless corpse of his life-long butler and friend, Jarvis.
"I'm sorry Jarvis. This was my fault."
"Your damn right it was. All of this" Han gestured to the dead bodies and the destruction outside. "is your fault."
"The name Stark may be loved here, but it's hated everywhere else! Your name alone is associated with the worst murderers, cartels, and warlords on the planet!"
"They were never meant for them…"
"Last I checked, it wasn't the road to heaven that was paved with good intentions."
"I changed." Stark said as they walked past the bar's counter and into his armory.
"That's what they all say, but have you? You built a suit of highly advanced armor to fight for America. Was that the promise you made to my father when you let him die?!" Han roared.
"I tried to save him!" Tony roared back, spinning around. "He died saving my life while I was trying to save us both!"
"You're a liar! You left him to die!" Han screamed.
"I tried to save him!"
"Shut up!" Han roared, backhanding him across the face.
"Oof!" he grunted as he hit the table, scattering the few silver canisters that were stacked on the table.
Unnoticed by Han, Tony grabbed a thin bullet-like cylinder from the table, gripping it in his fist.
"You're a liar and a butcher! The blood of millions is on your hands!"
"I know! Goddamn…do I know!"
"Do you?! When'd you realize that? Huh? Huh?!" Han screamed pointing his arm-cannon at the downed billionaire.
"When you're father gave his life to save mine! Do you even know what happened? Or did you just assume the worst?!"
"You left him to die while you got away in a fancy suit of armor!"
"That is not what happened!"
"Then why don't you tell me what happened!" Han yelled grabbing the man by the shoulder. The burning heat from the cannon seared the flesh from his arm.
"GIAH!" he screamed as Han threw him back onto the ground.
The enraged man pointed the cannon at the downed hero. "Explain it to me!"
East Asia, Three Years Ago
"Guh…" Tony grunted as he slowly opened his eyes. His ears were ringing and his eyes were blurry and his head throbbed. Every breath he took brought in hot dry air, making him cough which in turn made the pain in his chest even worse.
"Gah!" he screamed as he grabbed his chest in pain.
"Easy Mr. Stark!"
Tony's eyes turned to see an older man leaning over him. He quickly checked Tony's chest, seemingly searching for something. When he didn't find it, he sighed in relief.
"You're alright Mr. Stark. The wound hasn't opened again."
"W-what wound-!" Tony gasped, trying to sit up, only for a deep pain to surge through his chest.
"AGH!" he cried collapsing back on the bed.
"Stop! You can't move too much!"
"What wound?!" Tony screamed, trying to sit again.
"Mr. Stark, if you don't remain still I will sedate you!" the man yelled a she raised a needle with a clear fluid in it.
Tony reluctantly ceased his movements as the man helped him to sit up right with several folded blankets being used to support him.
"W-w-where…a-am I?"
"East Asia. In the mountains."
"M-mountains? I-no that cant be…I was in Beijing! At a conference!"
"I know. I spoke out against you, if you remember."
Tony squinted, trying to focus his eyes on the man in front of him. Slowly, the man came into focus. He knew him. The old man wearing a pair of thin glasses. He knew him.
"You—you're Ho Yinsen…you were at the conference!"
"Yes. Sadly I was abducted by these men just as you were."
"Ab-abducted?"
"They attacked your convoy…you were injured."
"I-is that why…" Tony muttered placing a hand on his chest. He felt the bandaged area, only to feel a cold metal plate.
"W-what is this-? What did you do to me?!" he screamed as he tore at the bandages.
"No Mr. Stark!" Yinsen yelled as Tony tore off the remaining bandages. Beneath the dirtied wrappings lay a thick steel plate with several wires stretching from the cent, connecting to a car battery resting on a nearby table.
"I don't…"
"Shrapnel. From a land mine. Your design, if that wasn't ironic enough."
"W-what?!"
"There's a magnetic harness contained in that chest-plate. We call your condition 'The Walking Death'. It takes days for the shrapnel to reach your heart, but this device will keep them in place."
"W-why…why are we here?" Tony asked, looking up from his chest.
"Why do you think?"
Just then, the doors to their hut opened for several men carrying rifles. Yinsen stood up and put his hands in the air.
"Quickly! Do as I do!" he said to Tony.
Tony did his best to imitate the man, but he couldn't stand up on his own, all he could do was raise his hands in surrender.
The men barked commands in Chinese; a language Tony wasn't the best at speaking the language, one of the many flaws that went with his trip.
Yinsen responded to the commands as the men continued to point their weapons at the two. After a few more tense moments, a new man entered the hut.
He was dressed in green, worn, military fatigues. He had a large body and stubble growing across his face.
The apparent leader barked off some more Chinese, leading Tony to look at Yinsen for the translation.
"His name I Wong Chu. Leader of the Ten Rings."
"I've never heard of him." Tony whispered back.
"You should have. He's your client."
Later
Tony sat, slumped on the bed, while he tinkered with his new design. He was also nursing a newly given knife wound in the leg, courtesy of Wong Chu.
"I told you, you shouldn't have spoken." Yinsen said as he sipped his tea.
"I refuse to make weapons for that man."
"You didn't have a problem with it when you were half a world away."
"I didn't know he was getting my weapons!"
"Of course you wouldn't. You never cared who you sold your weapons to as long as you profited."
"I don't want to hear any one of your lectures. We're not at a conference." Tony snapped back.
Yinsen sighed. "Only now, in the depths of Hell itself, do you see the error of your ways."
Tony chuckled bitterly. "The error of my ways…ha. Well now that I've repented I can sit here and die in peace."
"You could resign to yourself to your fate, or we could try to escape."
"Escape…hehe…yeah I don't think so. Even if we had a suit of armor we'd still…" Tony trailed off.
"Mr. Stark?"
"What'd they give us?" he asked suddenly bolting from his seat and tearing through the pieces of equipment that Wong Chu had given them.
"Munitions and armor plating for rockets. He wanted you to design that new weapon for him. Your…Jericho Missile, was it?"
"Yeah…but maybe we can make a weapon."
"Tony, I appreciate you want to live…"
"Get me some paper…and pen!"
Yinsen sighed and handed the younger man a piece of parchment. A pencil followed soon after as Tony began to viciously tear into the paper with the ink-tool. Yinsen couldn't see what he was drawing but saw Tony's eyes were constantly darting to everything in the room.
"So you will make him a weapon." Yinsen sighed as he sat down in his chair.
"No." Tony declared. "I'm making us a weapon. I built one as a kid…Ugh!" He tried to stand but fell to his knee grasping his chest in pain.
Yinsen knelt next to him and helped him to stand, before placing him back down on the bed.
"You're pushing yourself Mr. Stark."
"D-doesn't matter…once…once we build…these…" Tony handed him the crumpled paper held in his fist. Yinsen took the dirtied parchment and unfolded it, smoothing out the wrinkles to see a crude drawing of what looked like a humanoid robot.
"Mr. Stark, this…we can't build this. We don't have the equipment or the parts to fabricate this robot."
"N-not…a robot." Tony gasped as he clutched his chest more tightly. "A suit!"
Yinsen looked at the design again. "An armored suit…an Exoskeleton. We can make a suit."
"N-no…we can make two." Tony said while grinning like crazy.
Three Days Later
"Yinsen!" Wong Chu screamed as he smashed his fist against the door to the hut. "Open up! It's been three days! Where are my weapons! Stark!"
The Asian general tried to open the door, but found it blocked. He swore in Chinese before screaming for his men.
Soon, several armed soldier were rushing towards him.
"Break this door down!" he ordered.
PEWT!
Wong Chu's head exploded from a single bullet bursting through the hut's door.
Blood splattered onto the faces of the men outside who stood in shock as their leader collapsed on his back, a large hole in his skull.
KABOOM!
The entire hut erupted into flames as the explosion killed all the men around it. Bodies flew as the flames leaped into the sky like a beacon to every member of the Ten Rings. The soldiers ran for their guns, ripping the rifles from their racks and rushing towards the source of the explosions.
The soldiers pointed their rifles at the burning hut as two large shadows stomped through the inferno.
The first was a large titan made of solid grey metal, making him look like a classic metal robot.
Beside the grey-man was a being of similar stature and design, but with a distinct red paint job added to its shoulder's and chest.
Wasting no time, Tony raised his right hand, sparking the match underneath his wrist, and squeezing the in-built palm trigger.
Instantly, a wave of fire flooded the air in front of him, crashing down on the militiamen, setting them all ablaze.
The red one raised his left wrist. Yinsen pulled the trigger inside his glove and watched as bullets spewed forth from his wrist-mounted machinegun, tearing through the men that surrounded them.
"Yinsen!" Tony shouted pointing towards a rapidly approaching jeep.
Mounted on the vehicles roof was a massive machine gun, cocked and loaded. The man on top gripped the trigger and squeezed. The muzzle flashed a bullets fired from the barrel.
Tony moved forward, pushing the hydraulics in his suit to move faster. The heavy thud of his boots was the only thing that alerted Yinsen as Tony grabbed him, pushing him beneath his suit as the bullets collided with the titanium alloy.
"GAH!" Tony screamed as he felt the impact of .50 Caliber rounds hammer against his back.
Yinsen moved his wrist out from his under his companion and began to blind fire his weapon.
The bullets whipped around the camp, striking any unfortunate man not taking cover and forcing the jeep to back up while the gunner ducked inside for cover.
Feeling the barrage of bullets weaken, Tony charged towards the retreating Humvee, pushing his mechanical muscles to the max.
"RAAAAH!" he screamed before slamming into the front of the jeep, shattering its radiator and killing the driver on impact.
Not wasting any time, he grabbed the underside of the vehicle and roared as he lifted it. He could feel his muscles straining as the hydraulics in his suit lifted the vehicle off the ground
He flipped the jeep onto its back, crushing the machine gun as it landed.
Tony fell to his knee as he felt is chest tighten. The magnet in his chest was training, drawing as much power from the suit's internal battery.
Tony turned to see Yinsen firing one of his two wrist mounted rockets from his right wrist, destroying another jeep and sending it flying.
"Yinsen! Keep moving!" Tony screamed. He trudged onward through ragged breaths. Spewing his flame-thrower when enemies drew near.
Yinsen grabbed Tony by the arm and dragged him up. "Don't stop Tony!" Yinsen yelled, pulling the struggling man to his feet.
"C-chest! Hurts to…breathe!" Tony wheezed out as Yinsen helped carry him.
"Not much farther! There's a helicopter near the edge of the base! They use it for supply runs, we can use it!"
"W-what are we…waiting for?" Tony gasped.
Yinsen smiled under his helmet and pulled Stark along towards the helipad.
The two stomped towards the awaiting chopper until a hail of gunfire pelted them from the side. The bullets ricocheted off their armor, but still served to annoy the two armored men.
"If those bullets hit the chopper then we're stranded!" Tony shouted.
"Start the chopper I'll get them!" Yinsen called out charging forward with inhuman speed. His heavy armor stomped the ground as he barreled towards the gunners. He shielded himself with his arms as the men peppered him with gunfire.
"AAAHHHH!" he screamed, crashing into one of the men, sending him flying.
Yinsen spun around, releasing a torrent of bullets into the soldiers attacking him. Blood erupted from their bodies as the ammunition tore away their flesh.
Yinsen fired off another rocket, blowing up a group of soldiers. He turned around to see a large stockpile of weapons ranging from machine guns to land mines and rocket launchers.
Yinsen looked at the stockpile and then towards the still parked helicopter. His eyes returned to the stores of weapons as he made his decision.
Tony could feel his heart pounding in his chest; his muscle ached as he felt the cold sting of shrapnel. Even with the harness, Tony knew even the slightest glitch could kill him. But as he ran through Hell itself, he knew it didn't matter.
Pushing his suit to go as fast as it could, he sprinted towards the chopper. He smashed through the two guards protecting it, hurling them away with his enhanced strength.
His suit's metal frame clanked against the chopper's metal floor, and he could feel the vehicle groan with his extra weight.
He moved towards the cockpit and flicked on the ignition. The slow hum of the helicopter's engine brought an ecstatic grin to the billionaire's face.
He looked outside, searching for Yinsen, and his smile fell as he saw the man head deeper into the camp.
Tony snarled under his helmet. 'What is that idiot doing?! Screw it I'm taking off without him.'
Tony primed all the rotors, a sense of relief washing over him as he heard them pick up speed.
He gripped the joysticks and prepared to lift off, only to find he couldn't. Tony looked between the clear sky and the burning camp. His mind screamed at him to go, fly away. But he couldn't.
"GRAH!" he screamed, slamming his hands into the dashboard. He looked up at the camp and finally came to a decision.
BABABABARAK!
Went the sound of machine guns as Yinsen mowed down two more men. He stomped toward a large crate of oil drums and used his fist to break them open, spilling the precious resource that was housed inside.
Yinsen aimed his wrist at the fuel and pressed the trigger, only to hear the churning of metal. He looked down at his wrist to see two bullets jammed in the firing chamber.
"No…nonono! Dammit work!" he screamed, failing to eject the jammed bullets.
He looked towards a small set of crate and broke it casing, spilling its contents onto the floor.
He picked up one of the dozens of hand grenades and slowly moved towards the exit of the supply dump. Once he reached its edge he tried to fit a finger through the pin.
"Yinsen!"
The older man turned to see Tony running towards him.
"Tony? What are you doing? I told you to start the chopper!"
"I couldn't just leave you here! The chopper s primed, what the Hell are you waiting for?!"
"I can't leave! Not with these weapons still here! More of them will come and they'll just start all over again! I need to end it!"
Tony saw what his companion was trying to do and pushed him back, stepping closer towards the ammo dump.
" I got this! Stand back!" he exclaimed as he held out his wright wrist. Squeezing the trigger, a jet of flames erupted from his wrist, igniting the fuel-stained floor.
"It's done! Now move!" Tony screamed a she pushed the older man along with him.
The two men dashed across the burning camp before the silo exploded in a massive fireball that sent shrapnel and fire raining down.
The metal fragments bounced off the two men as they struggled to make it to a helicopter.
"GAH!" Tony screamed as his chest throbbed again. He fell to his knees, hand grasping at his chest plate.
"Tony!" Yinsen cried as he helped the young genius along.
"Battery! It can't take much more!" he screamed as Yinsen pulled him towards the chopper.
"Just a little more! I promise we'll get of of this!"
Unbeknownst to the two men, a surviving soldier hefted a large object over his shoulder. The man took aim at the two armored individuals with the RPG and snarled, pulling the trigger.
The boom of the ignition was the only sound that alerted the two men to the incoming rocket.
"Tony look out!" Yinsen screamed pushing the man out of the way.
FAKOOM!
The missile exploded against Yinsen's chest plate, destroying the armor and sending the frail scientist flying back with smoke billowing from his chest.
"YINSEN!" Tony screamed before wheeling around to see the insurgent loading another rocket.
"No you don't you son of a bitch!" he screamed before firing off one of his own arm-mounted rockets.
The man's eyes widened in terror before the projectile struck home, incinerating him a blazing inferno.
Tony rushed towards his downed friend. Wrenching his own helmet off, Tony fell to his knees as he kneeled over the downed doctor.
Tony tore off Yinsen's helmet to see the doctor breathing hard, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Oh my god…" Tony muttered in shock as he looked down at the massive burns on his friend's torn chest. The flesh was filled with metal fragments and bloodied tissue.
"T-T-Tony…!" Yinsen coughed out, blood spurting from his mouth.
"God Yinsen! Just stay still! I'm gonna bring you to the chopper, we're gonna get out of here!"
"N-no…leave…get out…"
"Just give m a second! I can get you out of here!"
"T-too…l-la—"
"Stop talking!" Tony's creamed as he began to drag Yinsen towards the chopper.
"I can do this! We can both make it out of here!"
"N-no…listen to me…please…I can't make it…I won't."
"Just stop talking!" Tony yelled as they made it to the chopper. He lifted Yinsen up from under the arms and dragged him onto the chopper.
"Tony!" Yinsen gasped, grabbing Tony by the back of the neck.
"J-just listen! Please!" Yinen begged as more blood pooled on the chopper's floor.
"Yinsen just hold on! I can get you out of this! I can get you home! Please! Just lay still and I can save you!"
"D-don't…don't save me…save the world…" Yinsen gasped as his grip weakened.
"What?" Tony asked, baffled by the man's words.
"Y-your weapons…they killed so many…now you see it…don't you…you see what you've d-done…fix it…fix the world…"
"Yinsen…I…" Tony started.
"I-I don't care what you live for…just live for something more! L-live for more than yourself…promise me…you'll do t-that…"
"Yinsen?" Tony asked as the man's grip fell slack.
"Yinsen? Yinsen no!" Tony screamed as he shook the man, hoping. Preying for a response.
"Yinsen…" Tony cried as he saw his friend die.
"I promise…I promise I'll fix the world…I promise I'll live for you…and all of those I've hurt…thank you…thank you for saving my life…"
Tony just sat there, kneeling over the dead friend he now cradled in his arms.
Present
"Liar…" Han muttered as he kept the cannon pressed against Tony's back.
"You're lying!" Han screamed increasing the energy output in his hand.
"GAH!" Tony screamed as the burning became worse.
"It's the truth!" He roared out.
"No! NO! You twisted it! Tell me what happened! I want to hear how you let my father die!"
"I tried to save him! That's what happened!"
"Shut up!" Han screamed grabbing the man by the neck and hurling him across the room.
Tony smashed through a glass case, landing painfully on the floor.
"Gah!"
"It doesn't matter…you turned Iron Man into a weapon for America…it was suppose to be for the world!" Han screamed as he marched closer to the downed hero.
"Now you die for your sins!" Han said with a sneer.
Tony didn't look up, but he spoke. "Jarvis…are you online?"
"Affirmative."
Han spun around, only to be met with a cold metal fist that sent him flying across the armory and into a metal workbench.
Tony looked up to see the glowing blue eyes of one of his Iron Man suits. The older model was a bit bulkier, and the color a much darker grey and red than his new suit, but the design was roughly the same.
The suit offered its hand to Tony who gladly took it and moved behind the armored weapon.
"Are you alright sir?" Jarvis asked.
"Fine…" Tony responded.
"Not for long!" Han roared as he fired off a blast from his hand, striking Jarvis across the chest. The armor melted under the attack, but Jarvis didn't fall, he raised his right palm and fired off a blast of blue repulsor energy.
Han ducked, letting the blast destroy the table behind him as he fired off another blast striking Jarvis across the Helmet, melting half of it.
Tony dashed across the room, sliding under a table as the two continued to battle.
Jarvis rocket off the floor and slammed Han into a wall, grabbing his mechanical hand he squeezed, shattering the metal prosthetic with a sickening crunch.
"GAH!" Han screamed before slamming his left palm into what remained of Jarvis's helmet. With a sadistic grin, his palm opened to reveal another cannon, blasting the remaining portion of the helmet into dust.
Han fell forward on his one good arm, panting from the pain.
Before he could recover, Tony jumped him, tackling him to the ground face first.
"Ugh!" Han grunted as Tony sat on his back, pinning him. Not wasting a second, Tony slammed the metal bullet into Han's neck, releasing its contents straight into his bloodstream.
"Gah!" he screamed a she felt the syringe pierce his neck.
Using his hand, Han fired off a blast at the ground, throwing both himself and Tony into the air before painfully landing back down.
Han rolled onto his side and stood, aiming his weapon at Tony's skull.
"The Liberators wanted you alive for the execution! But I think they'll accept a corpse either way!"
Han commanded his arm to fire, but it didn't.
"W-what!?" he screamed in confusion as his weapon refused to fire.
"Hehehe…" Tony chuckled as he slumped against a wall, a knowing grin on his face.
"What did you do to me Stark?!" Han roared in anger.
Tony simply tossed the metal casing onto the ground in front of Han, allowing him to see a number and letter etched into the metal case.
"That's a nanite payload." Tony said as he slowly stood up.
"They're the same nanites that let me control the Iron Man armor. And guess who control's them."
Han tried to respond but found his jaw tightening.
"No guess? Really? I'm a little disappointed." Tony said as he walked towards the demolished workbench.
"I control them. Now, if you were a normal person, I would only be able to freeze up your nervous system. But since you integrated yourself with biomechanical parts…I can do this. Choke yourself."
Han's eyes widened in terror as he felt his hand move against his will and wrap itself around his own throat. His hand began to tighten, squeezing around the flesh of his neck until Han felt his air supply begin to run dry.
"Gak!" he cried out at his eyes bulged.
"Y'know people say that you can't choke yourself. I'm wondering if that's true." Tony said as he picked up a large metal wrench.
He watched Han thrash about in agony until he sighed.
"Stop." He ordered.
Instantly Han released himself and greedily gasped for air.
Tony walked over to the panting terrorist and kicked him in the back, flooring him.
"Jarvis? You good buddy?" He asked out loud.
"Affirmative, sir. I've take control of the building's security and have dispatched multiples armors to free any hostages in the building."
"Awesome." Tony responded.
"H-he was an AI?" Han gasped as his body continued to fight him.
"No. He was just using an LMD body. Jarvis is as alive and real as you and me. But terminal brain-cancer isn't good for your health so his body is being stored here until I can find a cure. I ambitious like that. But in the meantime I didn't want him sleeping ten years of his life away so I mapped his brain patterns onto my systems and voila, a soul in the machine as it were."
"T-Tony wait…I can help you!"
"Help me? Nah. You think I was explaining Jarvis's condition for kicks? First rule of being a businessman, learn to multi-task. I've been downloading every thought in that head of yours into mine. All your plans, battleship designs, and even the number of troops you have here in New York, let alone all your other troops across America."
Tony lifted the wrench over his shoulder as he glared down at the murderous sociopath beneath him.
"T-Tony wait!" he cried out as he realized what was about to happen.
"You shamed your father and everything he stood for, you selfish son of a bitch!"
Tony brought the wrench down hard, swatting Han across the jaw, breaking it in one fell swoop. He lifted the wrench again and brought it down, cracking the man's back.
Again and again he pummeled Han, blood spurted from the man's wounds as Tony wailed on him. Every shrill cry, every muffled sound of agony spurred Tony on until he finally ended it, bringing the wrench down on Han's skull.
THWACK!
Blood splattered onto Tony's face and chest. But he didn't care. He looked down at the beaten corpse, but he didn't smile. He felt no satisfaction from this death.
"That was for Rumiko." He said before tossing the bloodstained wrench aside. He walked past the bloodied corpse and approached a locked case that contained a plug suit.
"Jarvis…prep my armor."
"Affirmative, Sir."
The doors to the penthouse burst opened as four Iron Man suits marched through the doors, repulsor's ready for a fight. Pepper and Happy jogged in after them, both armed with guns when several more security officers marched in holding their own weapons.
The group paused when they saw the two dead bodies on the marble floor.
"Oh my god! Rumiko!" Pepper screamed before rushing over to her dead friend. She kneeled down and saw the massive hole in her stomach.
"Oh Rumiko…"
Happy cringed at the sight of his boss's dead lover and turned to look down at the headless corpse of Jarvis's LMD.
He looked up to see that the door to the armory was wide open and the armors had ceased moving.
Happy slowly walked towards the open vault, followed closely by Pepper and the remaining security guards.
They entered to find the bloodied corpse of one Han Yinsen lying prone on the ground. The group looked up to see Tony wiping off the blood from his face. He was wearing the blue-circuited plug-suit that he usually wore under his armor.
"Tony!" Pepper cried out.
"Good to see you all…" he said half-heartedly.
"Is the building secure?"
"Yeah, Jarvis cleared the lower floors…" Happy said. "Tony, Rumiko is d—"
"Contact Stark Satellite command. Tell them to prep Iron-Man Six. I don't care if it's not finished as long as it flies and shoots. Jarvis, my suit."
"Prepped and readied sir." Jarvis responded.
"Good. Pepper, Happy, stay here and hold down the fort. I'm going to need every form of communication we still have.
Happy reluctantly nodded. "You got it boss."
Hel
Fire, smoke and ash billowed round the burning and charred landscape that was the land of the dead. Pits of fire roared as lava pooled over like water.
In the center of the horrific domain was a massive tower. The jagged spire seemed to stretch on forever, but inside was a massive throne room.
Torches of fire were the only source of light that illuminated the massive throne that was built into the balcony like structure.
On the throne sat a tall beautiful woman adorned with a spiked crown and a green dress that was slit up the sides and the middle. The woman's eyes glowed an eerie red.
Hela, Goddess of the Dead, smiled at the scene of her domain.
The pale spirits of the deceased walked towards the tower that Hela ruled, ushering themselves into the next stage of their lives.
Hela's frown dropped as she felt a familiar, yet odd, presence enter her domain.
"Loki." Hela said as she turned away from her throne to see the young trickster walking into her chambers.
"How pleasant of you to come visit me." Hela said as she sat down on her throne.
"Lady Hela." Loki said with a bow.
"I need your help."
Hela said nothing as she gazed down at the young god.
Loki remained calm, but deep down he knew one wrong word could mean his death.
"Why come to me?" Hela asked as she leaned back in her throne, casually playing with the strap of her dress.
Loki willed his eyes away from her actions, avoiding the peaks of flesh he could glean if he stared.
"You're the only person who might've possibly listened to my request without incinerating me."
A rare smile graced the goddess's lips.
"Very well…humor me."
"I want you to send me to Asgard."
"HA!" Hela laughed.
"Truly you are a mad god!" Hela continued as she tried to stifle her laughter.
"I'm being serious!" Loki growled.
"Watch your tone, Trickster."
Loki gritted his teeth, shutting his mouth for once.
"Now…what would make you want to return the home you burned?"
"I need Odin's help."
"Hmm…" Hela mused as she smirked down at the god-made-mortal.
"I would like you to explain why you think Odin would help you? If he saw you, he'd flay you alive."
"Which is why I need another favor…"
"A favor? With another favor? You'll put yourself into debt."
"I know…that's why…I'm willing to offer up something you may want."
"What is that?" Hela asked.
"I'll grant you any one request from me in the future."
"Haha…" Hela laughed. "You value yourself more than you should. Why would you think that a favor from you is worth two from me?"
"I would offer you my soul but…"
"You erased it from the Book of the Dead. Thus ending your eternal stay in any realm. And why you appear to me in this form."
"What do you mean?" Loki asked, now confused.
Hela's smile widened.
"Ah…you don't know…foolish Loki, oh how foolish you are."
"What?" Loki asked now growing more irritated.
Hela stepped down from her throne, and in a blur of smoke, appeared right in front of Loki, hand under his chin.
It took all the teen's willpower not to retreat. If he did she would take it as an insult.
"Please…lady Hela…" Loki finally muttered. "Please tell me…what you mean."
"Hmm…when you erased your name from the book, you destroyed your fate, leaving it forever uncharted. However, what your past self didn't realize at the time, was that by doing so, you destroyed any chance of him coming back."
"But…I thought he…I did that to keep my soul free from rest."
"So you would reincarnate any time you were killed. And 'he' was right. Loki would never die, but he would never be the same."
"I don't understand…I'm here." Loki said pointing to himself.
"But you're not the Loki that was known. When he erased his name, he erased that version of himself. Now, that Loki will never return."
"So I…" Loki muttered as a realization set in. "I'm free." He muttered with a shocked look.
Hela grinned at his realization.
"And the payment is done." Hela said.
"What?"
"You have my blessing, and I will send you to Asgard. Odin will not be able to harm you."
"Wait! You said payment, what payment?"
"I will keep you to your favors. But that is not the payment." Hela said as she raised Loki's face to her own
"W-what's the payment? What did you take?" Loki asked, now fearful of the cost he had just paid.
"A moment…" Hela whispered before she smashed her lips against Loki's.
The trickster's eyes widened at the action before a surge of heat erupted through his throat.
Hela broke the kiss as Loki recoiled in pain.
"GAH!" he screamed as smoke billowed from his mouth.
"WHA-?!" he screamed as his body began to burn.
"H-Hela!" he cried as his hands caught fire, spreading the magical flames further up his body.
"I've kept my deal Loki. I look forward to our next meeting."
"ARGHH!" Loki screamed as his body erupted into flames, exploding in a burst of smoke and fire.
Hela simply waved her hand to brush aside the smoke with her hand.
"Why'd you do that?" a younger voice said.
Hela turned to see Leah walking into the room, her bare feet barely making a sound on the black marble floor.
"Because a favor from him is quite valuable. Never underestimate the God of Mischief."
"But that wasn't the payment. The moment you stole…you meant the kiss."
"It was. Partially. The rest was the shocked look he held. That was priceless. It's not often that you see Loki in a shocked state of happiness. Realizing that he would never be the monster that haunt's his nightmares…"
"But his nightmares will continue, correct?"
"Yes…his guilt will drive him to be better than he was…imagine how powerful he will become, and how much more those favors will be worth. But, if it troubles you so, I will not lock my lips with his again, my dear handmaiden."
"What?" Leah asked in surprise.
"Oh? I was afraid that you were jealous that I had stolen a kiss from the young god."
Leah looked taken aback by what he queen had just said and quickly responded.
"Lady Hela, I-I think you misinterpreted my tone, if I may be so bold." She said respectfully.
"Really, so you were not disappointed when he didn't ravish you on his bed?"
"Wha-?! Of course not! I would never wish for that miserable whelp to share my bed!"
"Hmm…" Hela mused with a smile.
"Ah!" Leah exclaimed as she saw her form begin to fade.
"It seems my visit must be cut short." She said in disappointment.
"Yes…you are still bound to him by my will, so where he goes, so must you."
"He doesn't realize that I am real. He believes me a figment of his guilt, a construct of the mind. Why you bound me to him escapes me. I do not like him."
"You will come to understand him…and respect him. You will learn to deal with people like Loki."
"Are you certain, my lady?" she asked as her body faded completely.
Hela sat alone once again in her throne room.
"I am certain, for we, my dear Leah, are constructs of his mind."
Triskelion, Lower Levels, The Vault
Schizoid man walked past the many sealed doors in the Triskelion's prison, his eyes absently roamed over the names inscribed on the doors.
"Why don't we free all those imprisoned?" A soldier asked from behind him. Four more trailed behind him.
"They're all criminals. We are here to liberate the ignorant masses not murderers and psychopaths. A majority of these criminals deserve to be here."
"What about Thor?" Another soldier asked.
"What about him?" Schizoid man replied.
"We gonna execute him? Or set him loose?"
"Neither. The Enchantress has something in mind for him. I don't care so I don't ask. Ah, here we go." He muttered as they finally stopped in front of their designated cell.
"Bring the tool." Schizoid Man said.
One of the soldiers walked up to the door carrying what looked like a heavy scanner.
The soldier placed the device on top of the doors lock and waited until he heard a click noise. He then pressed a series of button before the device went to work deciphering the doors code.
After a few seconds the machine finally stopped with a responding beep, it red screen turning to a light green.
"It's open now." The soldier said as he removed the device.
"Let's get him."
Schizoid Man grinned as he saw Captain America being suspended off the ground by four mechanical restraints.
"Poor Captain. He must be so drugged out that he doesn't even realize what's going on!" He laughed.
"It funny really." Another soldier said.
"Captain America betrayed and captured by his own country."
"That's life for you." Schizoid Man said. "Let's get him down and put him in the new restraints. The Colonel want's his head on a platter."
"Sir?" Another soldier asked as he looked at his scanner, a puzzled expression on his face.
"What?"
"I've got two meta-human signatures other than ours."
"Hmm…" Schizoid Man mused before three dupes emerged from his body.
"It's the Wasp!" he screamed shooting towards a barely visible woman flying around the room.
The three dupes quickly cornered her with the main dupe grabbing her in his hand.
He held the miniature woman up to his face.
"Hello Mrs. Pym. I think your husband will be happy to know that we've found you." He grinned before squeezing his hand.
Wasp had no choice but to resume her normal size, and that's when they grabbed her and slammed her into the wall, pinning her face up against the wall.
"Get her up." Schizoid Man said as one soldier grabbed her by her hair, wrenching her up.
"Why they let a pathetic woman like you onto the team is beyond me. You've must've been great in the bed if you were able to convince your husband to let you on."
"HA!" Wasp laughed, spitting in the Frenchman's face.
"You think its funny, huh?" the man asked wiping the spit off his face.
"Nah…what you dumbasses don't realize is…I freed Cap five minutes ago!"
A look of horror crossed the Liberator's face as he spun around to find Captain America standing up straight, a look of sheer rage in his eyes.
"Get the Hell away from my friend."
Thor sat against the side of his cell. The sound of the battle being raged just outside of his cell's door meant little to him.
He looked up at the ceiling of his cell.
"Father…" he muttered before closing his eyes.
"Why? Why did you abandon this world? You swore to protect them once…why now do you abandon them? Please father…give me a sign."
Thor grasped his hands together in prayer.
"Father…just show me that you still here my voice."
Thor's eyes opened as a blinding light encompassed the cell.
Captain America slammed a dupe in the face, breaking its jaw before stomp kicking another one.
Wasp was still held by the four super-soldiers who hauled her out into the hall where the battle was raging.
"Halt Captain!" one soldier screamed.
Cap broke another dupes' neck before he turned to see the men holding the Wasp.
"Surrender now! Or she dies!"
Cap glared at the men as several dupes began rise off the ground behind him.
"Janet…you good?" he asked.
The super-soldiers looked at the man as if he had grown a second head.
"Are you fucking blind American?! You make one more move and we tear her apart!"
Cap ignored them as he glanced back at the Schizoid Man's army of doppelgangers.
"Wasp, you good?" he asked again.
"Sorry Cap…" Wasp said as she looked up. "Just had to get my bearings!"
KAZZZAPP!
A massive burst of yellow energy erupted from Wasp's hands, blasting her captors back.
All four hit the ground hard, all dead.
"How-?!" Schizoid Man screamed as he saw four of his men get killed by the weakest of the Ultimates.
"My sting aren't lethal when I'm five-hundred times smaller, but when I'm this size, they'll kill even super-human knockoffs!"
"You whore!" he screamed as dozens of dupes erupted from his body, swarming the two.
Cap quickly went to work beating and kicking the hordes of Frenchmen down, each blow broke something, a rib, a leg, a jaw, after a while he stopped counting.
Wasp fired off blast after blast of her bio-stingers; each shot dropped a dupe as the energy cut through their bodies.
Cap grabbed a double by the collar and hurled him into the group of Schizoid clones. They toppled over like bowling pins.
"How many of him are there?!" Wasp screamed as she shrunk down and zipped through the air, blasting the clones in the face as the tried to dog pile Cap.
"I can make as many as I want!" Schizoid Man roared as he got in a lucky left-hook that struck Cap across the Jaw.
Cap shrugged off the blow as he broke the dupes arm, leaping over him and bringing him down like a hammer, smashing into another set of dupes.
"I'm a living army!" The Frenchmen screamed as another dupe's face as struck by the Wasp's energy blast.
"You'll never beat me!"
Schizoid Man pushed himself harder, willing his body to duplicate more than it ever had before. And it worked.
When before the room had been filled with a little over a dozen dupes, now there was over forty, each one grabbed Cap as he struggled to use his strength to throw them aside.
Wasp was force to resume her normal size, needing the higher power that her blasts would need to combat so many.
Taking advantage of her sudden size alteration, the clones pounced on her like animals.
They grabbed her by the neck, the hair, arms, legs, anything they could get to cease her movements as her blasts ripped through them.
"GET! OFF!" Cap roared as he more dupes surround him, cracking him across the jaw, back and stomach.
"We can learn Captain!" The Liberator screamed as one duped doged an albow strike and tackled the Avenger.
"We've seen your moves now! Victory is ou—GURK!"
Cap looked up to see the man's head explode din a shower of blood, shocking everyone in the hall.
BABABABABAAAM!
A hail of gunfire erupted from out of nowhere as dozens of the bullets tore through the horde of clones, ripping them apart like ground meat.
The shots were accurate, each one found their target while Cap and Wasp remained unscathed.
Wasp and Cap struggled against the last few captors that tried to weigh them down, until a set of deep cuts slashed through the clones, spilling blood all over the floor.
Cap felt a weight pivot over his shoulder, taking two more dupes with it before the clones that held Wasp were slashed across the face.
The clones fell to the ground dead.
Cap and Wasp panted as they felt exhaustion pass over them.
They looked up at the empty hallway but still saw no sign of their rescuers.
"Who the Hell?" Janet muttered as Cap helped her to her feet.
"What happened?" Wasp asked Cap as he looked over the body-covered floor.
"We did." A Russian voice chimed in.
The air in front of them shimmered as two humanoid shapes took its place. The figures wore all white suit with white masks that had no openings. A pair of smoking Uzis rested in one's hands.
The gun-wielder of the two removed her mask to let her red hair free. Black Widow smiled as she saw the shocked faces of her teammates.
"Did you miss us comrades?" she asked.
"Nat!" Cap exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the super-spy.
The Russian quickly returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm.
"Nat, you're here!" Jan exclaimed.
She then turned to the second figure who also pulled off his mask to reveal the Black Panther.
"T'Challa?"Cap asked as he turned to the younger man.
"It's good to see you Captain." The man said.
"What's happening? Where were you Nat?" Cap asked as he pulled back from the redhead.
"Underground. Clint…I don't know what happened, but his family…they didn't…" She said closing her eyes to block out the sight of Laura's dead body.
"They said that you did it." T'Challa said. "The lies were spread to weaken the team, separate us."
"And it worked. Hank and I figured it out just after the invasion. This whole attack, turning Thor against us, having us take him down, then this whole Cap killed Hawkeye bullshit, it was a plan."
"By who? Who would be capable of this? And on such a scale?"
"It's Hydra, Panther." Widow said.
"What?!" Cap screamed.
He turned back to Widow who reluctantly nodded.
"They're back Steve."
"No…" he muttered as he stepped away from the group, head in his hands.
"Seventy years…and they're back…in my lifetime…they're back."
"Captain." Panther said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Cap looked back at the man and to his remaining teammates.
"Your right. We need to regroup. Nat, what do we know about the enemy?"
"It's Hydra, they have a large amount of resources and they've teamed with renegade generals and politicians of multiple nations. We need to assume that their resources are nearly limitless."
"And they have post-humans. A lot of them." Janet chimed in.
"Their super-soldiers are strong, but not invulnerable. It's their strike team that concerns us." Panther added.
"What strike team?" Cap asked as the group moved over the bodies and out of the hallway.
"They call themselves the Liberators. They have some hitters too. From what we saw from recon, they have the rest of the team, except Stark."
"Where's Tony?"
"Cap, last we heard from him was from Stark Tower, he was leaving to meet us when we got attacked."
"So, no idea where Stark is, and most of the team is scheduled to be executed in Washington by tomorrow afternoon." Widow muttered running a hand through her hair.
"We'll need a plan. And some weapons." Cap said.
"I can help with that." A speaker muttered from Widow's ear-piece.
"Coulson?" Cap asked.
"Good to know everyone's still alive, for now. I've got partial access to the armory but they'll know about it soon. Satelitte surveillance places most of thir forces on the areas above sea-level but I can't keep track of their speedster."
"They have a speedster?" Cap asked.
"Yep. Coulson, think we can get some help opening up the locks?"
"I already told you, the armory is clear."
"I don't mean the armory, I mean the Vault. Can you open the cells."
"Natasha, what are you doing? We can't let these people out!"
"I'm not letting them out, but we need muscles and I know someone who can help us. Open Holding cell 42!"
"Alright. I'll deactivate her collar."
The group stood in front of a large cell, sealed shut by a thick blast door. The door opened, retracting into the wall as the blue force field behind it cut out.
Carol Danvers got off her bed to look at her would-be visitors.
"Rominoff?!" She exclaimed as she saw Widow standing next to the other Avengers.
"Why is he here?!" she exclaimed with glowing fists as she glared daggers at Captain America.
"Easy Carol, he's not the one who did Hawkeye in. He was framed, I was there." Widow assured.
"Okay…what's going on up there? Coms went down and power nearly cut off."
"We were invaded." Cap said as the blonde walked past him.
"We'll fill you in on the way. We need to get to the armory. Is my shield there?"
"It should be." Carol said as the group jogged down the hallway.
"Wait!" Cap shouted before he sprinted back.
"Steve!"
"We need Thor! He was framed just like me! We we're tricked into this fight! We'll need all our fighters in this war!"
Cap burst into the room and stopped wide eyed.
The cell was empty.
The remaining Avengers and Carol jogged into the room, only to see it was absent of Thor's presence.
"What the Hell…" Widow muttered.
"Where's Thor?" Wasp asked.
Panther turned to glance at her, then back to the empty cell.
"Good question."
This was a long one, I'm hoping that I can has out the rest of this story so I can start the next volume!
Next Chapter: Liberation Part 1