I'm guessing headaches are a side effect of all those injections earlier. Carter thought to herself when she woke up.
Looking around from the table she laid out on, he saw Parks scurrying about his lab. "What's going on?" Carter asked quietly.
Parks jumped slightly. "Oh, you're awake."
"What's going on?" Carter repeated forcefully. She could see the obvious panic on his face.
"It seems Hammer bit off a little more than he could chew." He relented. "And now, we must leave."
"I don't understand."
"Hammer is dead and one of the Avengers is coming. I don't have the time or the means to find another test subject. That being said, we're leaving and I'm taking you with me."
"What?!" Carter gasped. Her sudden panic had an unexpected effect, she suddenly fell through the table she was strapped to and landed on the floor with a thud.
"Ow." She moaned.
"Hm, seems it's already started to take effect." Parks mused, "Anyhow, no time to think about that." He quickly slapped a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists.
"Wh-what did you do to me?" She whimpered.
He pushed her into a nearby chair and handcuffed her ankles to the legs of the chairs. "Can't have you going anywhere, can we?"
"Please just let me go home, please." Carter begged.
"I can't do that." He said coldly.
"Why not? You could just leave, run away. You wouldn't have to get caught." Carter suggested.
Parks turned and knelt in front of her. "Oh dear girl, I can't do that."
Pressing a few buttons on his computer, a camera feed appeared. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be right back. I just have to pick up one thing from Natasha and then we can leave."
He picked up a small vial and quickly left the room.
Natasha had just pulled in front of the building where Carter was when she saw Parks and a couple of thugs exiting the building.
Natasha sighed, she was hoping Bruce would have been here by the time any real action took place. Knowing she couldn't wait for him, she stepped out of the car.
"Parks, where is she? Where is Carter?" She called to him.
"There's no need for you to know as you won't be taking her from me."
Natasha sighed, wanting nothing more than to punch him in the face. She took a glance at each thug, there were four of them and each had a gun.
"Either you give her to me or I take her my force," Natasha told him. "This is your only chance to hand her over, and maybe I won't kill you."
Parks laughed, "You honestly expect me to give my precious experiment to you?"
"She's more than an experiment to me." Whipping out her guns, she fired every round in each pistol in Parks's direction.
The thugs stepped in to form a human wall, and fired back.
While Natasha was distracted, Parks managed to get to the trunk of the car. Prying it open, he rummaged through all the supplies until he found what he was looking for.
Nanobots.
The tube was small, only four or five inches tall, and half filled with a grey-green sludge. This would be the defining aspect of his serum, the piece that would finish the puzzle.
Parks scrambled to open the tube and the vial, mixing them together in a syringe.
He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but Natasha stood only feet from him with her pistol trained on his head.
"Tell me where Carter is, Parks."
Parks gave her a tired smile, then thrust the needle into his leg.
He knew that the nanobots would accelerate the spread of the serum through his system and bind to his cells must quicker, but the results were beyond what he expected.
Parks felt the serum spread throughout his blood stream, all in a huge and powerful rush. A huge grin broke out across his face. "It's working," he laughed happily.
Natasha sneered, and fired a single bullet through his skull. It went through him alright, but not like Natasha had expected. It phased right through his body, leaving behind no evidence of harm.
"I'm afraid that's not going to work, Miss Romanoff." Parks said boldly.
Natasha grit her teeth together and pulled out her second gun and fired a barrage of bullets at him. Each passed through his body with no effect on him whatsoever.
He laughed loudly. "It works flawlessly!"
Natasha, realizing the guns would do nothing to him, charged at the man.
She never expected to go straight through him.
Parks smirked when she crashed into the ground behind him. "You're going to have to try harder than that, my dear."
Natasha watched him from the ground. She wished she better understood the workings of the serum so that she could strategize an attack quicker.
While Parks was distracted, Natasha whipped out a foot and kicked his legs from underneath him.
He hit the ground, wind knocked out of him. After recovering his breath a bit he sank into the asphalt.
Natasha leapt to her feet and sprinted toward the warehouse. Her number one priority was Carter, not this maniac.
Right in front of the warehouse, a hand wrapped around her ankle and caused her to fall into the metal siding of the building.
Parks rose from out of the asphalt and looked down at his own body.
"It really works," he said breathlessly.
Parks turned when he heard the screeching of tires. He saw a car had pulled up next to the one Natasha brought.
Bruce stepped out of the car, a fierce expression on his face.
"Oh you're in for it now," Natasha muttered.
"Where's Carter?" Bruce shouted as he approached Parks.
Parks snorted, "As if I'd just tell you."
"You really don't want to make me any angrier than I already am."
He smiled. "Give me your best, Mr. Banner."
"Bravo formation!" Steve shouted.
Bruce hit the ground right as Steve's shield flew into the body of the scientist. Natasha grabbed it and threw it back his way.
"Follow the Widow!"
Bruce gave Cap a nod as he ran after Natasha into the warehouse.
Clint jumped on top of Hammer's car and fired three arrows at Parks.
They went through his head as the scientist sank into the ground again.
Clint notched another arrow, sweeping the area for any signs of Parks.
Steve stood at his back, searching just as vigilantly.
"Call Tony. We need to know more about the guy."
"Right," Steve said, clicking on his Bluetooth. Tony had it equipped with the same JARVIS system that ran out of the hub in his armor months ago. "JARVIS, call Tony. It's urgent."
Natasha and Bruce ran through the building desperately searching each room.
Natasha slammed yet another door shut. "Not in there either."
"Carter!" Bruce shouted. Bruce started to open the door to a nearby room when he heard a small voice call his name. "Carter?!" He shouted again.
"Bruce!" He heard further down the hallway.
"Natasha," he started running toward the end of the hallway. "She's this way."
Pushing open a pair of double doors, they saw Carter handcuffed to a chair.
Quickly both Bruce and Natasha and set to work undoing the handcuffs.
"Bruce..." Carter whimpered.
"It's alright. I'm here." He soothed.
When the last pair of handcuffs were taken off, Carter launched herself into Bruce's arms.
Bruce sighed in relief and held the girl close. "It's gonna be alright."
Natasha allowed them their moment before interrupting. "Bruce, we need to get her out of here."
Bruce nodded and looked down at Carter. "Is there anyone else here?"
"Just me," Carter answered quietly.
With a grunt, he shifted the girl in his arms and made for the exit.
Looking out a shattered and dusty window in the entrance door, Natasha could see that Steve and Hawkeye were still fighting Parks. "We're gonna have to wait until they're finished out there. Which will hopefully be soon."
"You have Carter?" Tony whispered into the phone.
"Unfortunately not. We need your help."
Parks rose from the ground beneath the car, dislodging Clint from his perch and pushing the car over. It almost toppled over onto Steve.
"Whoa, Steve, what's going on?"
"Parks has apparently used his experiment on himself. It works Tony, he's phasing through asphalt."
There were mutters laced with swears. "Your shield should be able to hit him no matter what. Adamantium is like the metal version of diamond, combined with the Vibranium, it's a dense enough material that he shouldn't be able to get through it."
Steve caught sight of Hammer and threw his shield. Just like Tony said it would, it sent him sprawling.
Clint landed on top of him, sending a punch towards Arthur's face. He connected with asphalt, which doesn't quite give like a human nose.
Parks tucked his feet beneath Clint and threw him away, sinking into the ground once more.
"That's great Tony, but we need a way to stop him."
"Steve," he sighed. "I don't know. If the serum actually worked... He could be unstoppable. The nanobots didn't just mould to his cells, they're acting like a shield. They're-they're acting like you, Steve. He's replicating you."
"Doesn't everyone?" Steve cried.
"Hey, hey is Bruce there?"
"He's looking for Carter."
"Okay, okay, get this-"
Steve spun on his heel and blocked a punch from Parks with his shield.
"Of course," Parks muttered, teeth grinding together. "The adamantium and vibranium. Not even my serum stands a chance.
Steve pushed with his shield until as Parks pushed back.
Tony went on babbling in his ear. "The reason I wouldn't back this is because it's a terrible power to give someone, but also because the formulas surrounding the nanobot to serum ratio were completely whack. This guy's body, if I'm right, which is always-"
"Tony!" Steve shouted as Parks disappeared again. "Get to the point!"
"His cells are unstable! Get some kind of sound wave to disrupt them!"
Steve ducked as a metal pipe flew over his head. This guy really was getting strong.
"Clint! We need a big noise!"
Clint fiddled with his quiver, and fired a single arrow in the direction the pipe had come from.
Parks let out a strangled cry. The man clutched at his ears, and then went still for a moment. When he looked up to Clint, there was nothing but deadness in his eyes.
"I am Technovore. You will be decimated."
Steve blinked. "Tony, I believe Technovore has taken over Arthur's consciousness."
Tony sighed in exasperation. "I would come help-"
"No, you stay with Laynie. We'll handle this." Steve clicked his Bluetooth off as Parks, or Technovore, released a roar and charged Clint.
Author's Notes:
WayToDawn: Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. We've been pretty busy with other stuff and forgot to update. But, we're still here. Thanks for all the kind reviews we really appreciate it. :)