Chapter twenty-seven
Black Widow kicked at the man in front of her, hitting him in the stomach, then again in the face. He went down quickly, but more took his place, leading her to think that Weapon X was being backed by HYDRA, which was not good. She drew her two hand guns, and shot at the armoured men coming at her. Each shot wasn't exactly a kill shot, but if left with no medical attention, the men would bleed out and die and there had definitely been enough death already. She looked around quickly before fighting her next opponent. Bodies littered the ground and blood stained the snow red. Deadpool had cut himself a path into the mountain, a path that was mainly made out of bodies. Black Widow knew that he was doing all of this for Ink, but she didn't like it. She didn't like the part of him that could kill so easily without mercy.
But then again, Black Widow though as she shot at another soldier, that was her once.
The Avengers kept fighting, even though Deadpool and Wolverine had already gone inside the facility this find Ink. Black Widow wasn't sure what the small army defending the facility would gain from keeping the Avengers out here. Yes, they were fighting an army, but these soldiers were put down so easily it was almost a joke. This wasn't anywhere near a "Code Green" situation, there were just so many soldiers, Black Widow didn't believe if she and the team had enough energy in them to defeat them all.
Nevertheless, Black Widow kept fighting the men that came at her. Captain America threw his shield, which flew past Black Widow and bounced off various different soldiers before rebounding to come back to the captain's hands. Iron Man then flew past him, shooting his repulsor rays, dodging gunfire and leaving a litter of unconscious troops in his wake.
Drakki swooped down low, her front paws shooting out and snagging a soldier. She beat her wings once and she was above the forest's tree line. She circled in the sky for a few seconds before letting the soldier drop, his body hitting the ground with a thud. He did not get up. Drakki dived low, a high pitched whistling noise piercing the air, and sent out a blue fire ball that exploded. The ranks were sent flying into the air, and then landed in the snow.
With a roar, Hissing Soul slithered past, rotating her teeth before coming to a stop in front of a small grouped of armoured men. They shot at her in a panic, her teeth already stained red, but they failed to even hit her tail as she rose up and then plunged into the earth, leaving a deep dark hole behind her. Unable to see the oncoming attack, the soldiers gathered into a circle, their backs to each other and their eyes on the ground around them, but not on the ground beneath their feet.
The tunnel Hissing Soul had burrowed into the soil underneath the unsuspecting soldiers collapsed, the ground giving way. The troops tumbled into the hole and were picked off, one by one, by the nightmarish dragon.
Above ground, Hawkeye shot his arrows, seeming to miss a group of soldiers ahead of him. The soldiers shot their weapons, but Hawkeye had already dived behind a fallen tree. But he wasn't taking cover from the armed men, but rather from his own arrow. It exploded, scattering the men, sending some of them flying back a few feet. They then landed in a ditch of Hiss' own making.
Thor continued to swing his hammer, the sheer force of which knocked out soldiers instantly despite their protective armour. He threw Mjolnir into the ranks of the soldiers. The hammer flew straight, knocking down every person that happened to be in the way of it. It then stopped in mid air and returned to Thor's hand, so he could swing it at another troop, and block several lines of gunfire.
This repeated over and over for each Avenger, fighting off the men little by little. The dragons continued their frightfully efficient work, decimating the ranks as Drakki flew past and as Hiss tunnelled underground.
Then, there were no more soldiers. Those of who could retreat retreated, pulling unconscious and fallen troops with them. The Avengers stopped and looked around confused. Iron Man landed, as did Drakki, who landed next to where Hissing Soul happened to surface. Drakki sent her a look of confusion, and barked. Hissing Soul replied with a long, drawn out hiss, and a whir of her teeth.
Drakki turned to sniff the air, sensing something on the wind that the Avengers couldn't. With no warning she then whipped her head around to the sky, her eyes now wide and her pupils tight slits. She was very much aware of something, something that was coming ever closer. She barked, and Hissing Soul growled at her, questioning Drakki's behaviour. Drakki barked again, looking more and more panicked which ever passing seconded. Hissing Soul hissed again, but this time it was in understanding. She drew her tail around her, coiling it tightly, like a snake. She arched the upper half of her body in to a strike position. This fight wasn't over, not by a long shot. In fact, it only seemed to just be beginning.
A roar that came from neither Drakki nor Hiss rattled the sky.
Wolverine had been scanning the dark corridor for a while now. He was crouched in a corner of the shadows, lying in wait for the next soldiers to walk past. He hadn't found whatever was making the scent of death and decay yet, but Wolverine knew it was close.
Footsteps sounded, echoing down the hallway. Due to his heightened senses, Wolverine knew that the two men were a long way off. Then voices reverberated off the walls of the empty corridor and down the hall to where Wolverine lay in wait. A conversation, not coming from two soldiers, he could tell because the voices weren't muffled by the helmet and masks the troops wore, but from two men that worked here at the facility.
"I can't believe he actually made us do it," One of the voices, definitely male, said in annoyance.
"What did you expect?" The other replied, also male. "Were were told when we bought her in that we would have to expect an attack and therefore be ready to get rid of any evidence that we were ever here."
"Yes, but whole years were just wasted, all of that research gone, just like that." The first voice replied.
"You can replicate it can't you?" The second voice replied. The two men were coming closer to Wolverine with every step.
"Of course I can." The first voice snapped.
"But you were attached to the last one." The other voice stated, not asked.
"No, I wasn't. It was a bleeding nightmare to control." The first voice replied.
"So what's the point of complaining?" The second voice asked. They were both very close now. Just around the corner from Wolverine, in fact.
"I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it was a waste to kill every single subject and patient we've experimented on." The first voice said.
And in that moment, with that single sentence, Wolverine snapped. He jumped out of his hiding place, leaping out in front of the two white coated scientists. The two men gasped, but that was all they could do as Wolverine plunged his claws into their chests, their hearts stopping instantly. Wolverine retracted his claws and the bodies of the two scientists slumped to the floor, blood already pooling around them. Wolverine set off in the direction they came from, hoping that there was at least one of their experiments left to save.
The roar resonated out wards, echoing out into the new dawn. Drakki's large ears drooped, her blue markings flashing slightly before dimming and she whimpered, recoiling at the fearsome roar. Hissing Soul bridled, her spines bristled and she arched her body and her tail coiled tighter. The Avengers looked at the dragons, they hadn't known what the two creature's conversations had meant, still unsure of what they were doing and why they were doing it. The Avengers glanced at the sky before starting to exchange ideas on what was coming.
They didn't get much of a chance, however, as the air filled with a sudden chorus of roars, growls and screeches. From behind them mountain, a cloud flew out, filling the sky the flapping Jotun blue wings of Ice Beasts. A whole wave of large, scaly creatures started to descend upon the Avenger and the two dragons.
The Avengers gasped, some of the heroes took a step back, startled at the sheer size of the creatures that flew through the skies.
"Ice Beasts!?" Thor exclaimed above the sheer noise of the Ice Beasts.
"Thor, you know what these things are?" Captain America asked him.
"Yes, they are the Ice Beasts of Jotunheim." The wave was almost upon them. Drakki roared at the cloud of Ice Beasts, and launched herself into the sky, with Hissing Soul close behind her, in order to give the Avengers more time to sort themselves out. "They breath fire and are extremely dangerous, most Jotuns know to kill them on sight, but I have no idea as to why they are here... I fear..." Thor trailed off as Drakki soared through the cloud, her markings and black skin standing starkly out against the ice blue hide of the Ice Beasts. She flew into the thickest part of the cloud and then turned in mid air and dived bomb it, her blue fire ball exploding scattering a few Ice Beasts. Hiss zigzagged through the wave, dodging fire streams and sending rings of her own fire into the ranks. Despite their efforts, the two dragons were nothing compared to the sheer mass of the Ice Beasts. They averaged out at about 30 feet tall and 40 feet long.
"Can they be killed?" Iron Man asked.
"Yes, but I think these are the creations of Ink." Thor said. With that, the wave of Ice Beasts descended. Hiss and Drakki could do nothing to stop it.
The Avengers launched into the fight, fending off the teeth, talons and claws that snatched and snapped at them. Fire blasted the ground, melting the snow with a hiss and a sizzle. The wave of Ice Beast rose up again into the sky, being at least fifty Ice Beasts strong, all of them different species with different strengths.
"Code Green!" Iron Man shouted as he blasted at an Ice Beast that snarled and flew at him, its red eyes flashing with malice. "This is definitely a Code Green!"
"This isn't something we can keep fighting against." Captain America grunted as claws scraped against his iconic shield.
"No kidding!" Iron Man replied as he flew through the air with at least five Ice Beasts on his tail.
"Wolverine and Deadpool need to get back soon!" Hawkeye said and fired an arrow at an oncoming Ice Beast's eye.
"Banner!" Black Widow shouted into her com as she crouched behind a fallen tree. "This situation is a Code Green, we need you out here now!" She turned around, spying all of the different Ice Beasts. One landed on her log, its head arching down, teeth bearing and it snarled viciously. Its wings opened and its long neck drew back, readying for the kill. Natasha stared in horror. She had never seen anything like this before.
Drakki launched herself into the stomach of the Ice Beast, pushing it back away from Black Widow, and slamming it into the ground. Drakki slammed a paw onto its neck and she roared fiercely again. The Ice Beast threw her off easily, and Drakki flew backwards, but managed to land on her legs. Again the Ice Beast readied itself for the kill, but this time Black Widow shot at it with her hand guns, aiming for the head, throat and stomach. Drakki pelted it with fireballs similarly, and the Ice Beast went down, roaring in defeat. The Ice Beast disintegrated into strips of paper that floated away on the wind.
"They are Ink's!" Black Widow exclaimed. "But how could she do this?"
"The energy signature!" Iron Man said, shooting his repulsor rays at the Ice Beasts following him. They hit one square in the face, and it too disintegrated into shredded paper. "It must have been her. They used her to make an army of these things."
"Do you think there are more out there?" Hawkeye asked, grabbing a few arrows that he used earlier from the trunk of a tree.
"There must be, and an Alpha too." Thor said swinging his hammer at Ice Beast's heads. "These beasts cannot fight properly without an Alpha leading them." He summoned his lightening, striking several different Ice Beasts, all of which disintegrated.
Hiss and Drakki flew through the air, doing the best they could to keep the Ice Beasts' attention off the ground and on them, but they were tiring. No one had expected to have the fight become this tough.
Then, the Hulk, green and angry, smashed through the clouds of Ice Beasts, snagging a few along the way and squeezed them. They disintegrated in his hands. The Ice Beasts roared at him, and the Hulk roared back.
Now the Avengers had some chance of defeating the Ice Beasts.
Deadpool turned down a corner, coming to stop before a large door, larger than any of the other doors that he had passed, and with about triple time the security. Oddly, there were no guards. It seemed that every one of the soldiers the facility had was out fighting the Avengers. This was the door that held Ink. It had to be. So Deadpool brought out one last weapon in his explosive arsenal, magnetised thermite packs. These things detonated at a temperature of three thousand degrees.
Deadpool retreated quite a bit before he set them off, with good reason, as the thermite packs instantly melted part of the door. The rest of which blew apart leaving the door frame empty. As the smoke cleared, Deadpool saw clearly into the dark room.
He stepped through the empty door frame, gazing around the chamber. Monitors and computers flashed different kinds of information, but that was about it, apart from the long, deep metal container on a raised podium in the middle of the room. Deadpool ran to it, and there she was.
The container was filled with water. Floating in it, looking completely inhuman, her hair floating around her pale face like inky black oil, needles and wired sticking in and burrowing under her skin, and a mask covering the lower half of her face, was Ink.
"Ink!" Deadpool yelled and plunged his arms into the water, and dragged her up from the bottom. He slopped water all over the place. It splashed onto the floor and a great deal of it drenched him. Deadpool cradled Ink in his arms. She was deeply unconscious, so didn't flinch as he ripped the needles and wires out of her arms, the monitors and the computers that recorded her vital signs went blank as he did so. He then ripped the mask from her face, unable to think of anything specific.
"Ink!" Deadpool shouted at her, but she didn't wake up, although her eyes fluttered underneath her eyelids. She breathed slowly and deeply. As Deadpool studied her more, the more he noticed about how terrible she looked. Her cheek bones and law line were more pronounced than before and a black eye and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She was paler then Deadpool had ever seen her.
Purple bruises blossomed along her arms and around her ribs. Scratches and deep cuts covered her skin and there was a long stitched and healing cut that ran along her stomach. That was no fighting injury. That was from a surgical incision.
Deadpool almost lost it. Almost.
He gripped Ink tighter in his arms, turned and printed out of the room. No more. He was getting Ink out of here, once and for all.
On and on the battle in the sky carried. The two Ice Beasts were tiring, thoroughly worn out by the continued flying and fighting. Deep cuts and gashes covered their scales, but this fight wasn't over yet. Their riders, although in an even worse condition, still pushed the two Sky Chasers to fight on.
I stared on in horror. I didn't even know who had the upper hand, didn't want to know. I didn't even know who was winning. I squinted in the shadow of night time, unsure whether I was looking at Tritan and Windcutter or Drafilie and Bonecrusher.
I was so close to breaking down. My heart thundered on in my chest, every breath was painful as my throat had closed up ages ago, and there was a horrible, twisting, writhing feeling in my gut. I wanted this to end. I wanted this to be over.
Then, one of the Ice Beast paused. I knew instantly that this one had the disadvantage, it was more injured and more battered then the other one. This Ice Beast was Windcutter.
Tritan turned to me, his red eyes shining despite the shadows.
"No." I muttered, my hands clutched to my chest. My heart was about to burst.
Tritan held my gaze as Drafilie roared the kill order. Bonecrusher bellowed with an aching sadness and anguish as he was set on what he had to do. Windcutter replied to him. Do it, it was okay.
"No!" I sobbed, tears falling down my face.
Bonecrusher lunged forward, and clamped his jaws around Windcutter's throat. The Sky Chaser's roar of pain was cut off with a gurgle. Blood sprayed.
I started screaming.
Drafilie plunged the spear head into Tritan's gut.
Bonecrusher let go of Windcutter's throat, letting the Ice Beast and his rider fall. Bonecrusher hollered with regret and guilt as Drafilie screamed in victory.
"Tritan!" I screamed, my throat clogged with tears. I ran forward to the falling Jotun. He was falling to fast, and past the walls of the ice palace, past the side of the mountain. "NO!" I screamed, my broken cry echoing out into the gloom, my voiced cracked and broke and was cut off, but I was still screaming, still running. No. No, no, no, no...
Tritan.
Arms clenched around my chest and I was pulled to a stop. I kicked and I screamed. I fought so desperately to get away, to get to the Jotun and the Ice Beast that were falling through the sky.
"TRITAN!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face, once more as Tritan, the Jotun I had come to love fell into the mist surrounding the mountain.
I screamed and hollered and bellowed. I stopped fighting against the arms that bound me. I slumped down, and fell to the floor. I did nothing to stop the sobs that racked my body, or the tears that fell. I pressed my hands into my eyes, wishing to wake up.
Tritan.
I wished to wake up from this nightmare.
Tritan.