Chapter 5: Sentiments, Egos, and a Explosive arrow.
Me: And heeeeres chapter five! Buckle up your seat-belts because it is going to be a bumpy ride for you readers.
Godzilla: For those who are confused so far just re-read the story so that you can understand most of it.
Me: I honestly couldn't have said it any better myself.
Godzilla:SKRRREEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNKKK!
Characters and their species:
Nick Fury-(Methanosian) Swamp Fury
Agent Hill-(Human)-
Agent Coulson-(Human)-
Hawkeye-(Classified) KickinHawkeye/Clint Barton
Black Widow-(Anodite) Natasha Romanov
Hulk-(Vaxasaurian) Hult/Bruce Banner
Thor-(Tetramand) Thor Boltson
Iron Man-(Pyronite) Tony Blast/Fire Man
Captain America-(Petrosapien) Steve Rogers/Diamond America
Loki-(Necrofriggian) Loki Chillson
Dr. Selvig-(Human)-
The Other-(Ectonurite)-
Chitauri-(DNAliens)-
Tesseract-(Alpha Rune) Alphax
Inside the massive Helicarrier, two of the world's most brilliant minds were at work inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. lab. Tony was on his laptop, shifting and solving as many algorithms and equations as efficent and fast as he could. Bruce was standing up, using a gamma detection scanner to scan the Chitauri scepter for the radiation.
The Vaxasaurian turned off the scanner and set it down on the table as he moved over to one of the monitors attached to the ceiling to analyze the data from the Alphax and compare it to the sceptre's.
Bruce looked over at Tony through the glass monitor and said, "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Alphax. But...It might take weeks to process all of it."
Tony didn't look up and said, "If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can finish this around...six hundred teraflops." The Pyronite typed in some commands and moved some objects around using his laptop's touchscreen.
Bruce smirked as he looked at Tony. "All I packed was a toothbrush."
Tony finished with his calculations and waited for the data to be uploaded on the monitor next to the door.
"You know, you should come visit Blast tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&R. You would love it, it's Narnia." Tony suggested as he moved over to the monitor, typing in some more commands. Bruce looked around sheepishly and continued on his data.
"Thanks, but last time I was in New York I kind of broke some of...Harlem." Replied the dinosaur-like scientist.
Tony walked over to Banner calmly and said, "Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises..."
Suddenly, Tony pokes Bruce with a small electrical prod made to penetrate Vaxasaurian skin.
"Ow!" Banner exclaimed.
Steve walks in the lab with a pissed off look as he glared at the billionaire Pyronite. Tony looks at Bruce closely and asked, "Nothing?"
"Hey! Are you crazy?" Steve asked as he stood in front of the two Alien descendants.
"Jury's out! You really have a lid on it, don't you?" Tony said as he prodded Banner for answers, "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you, Blast?" Steve asked with his arms crossed.
"Funny things are." Tony replied as he opened a small bag of blueberries to eat.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship is not funny. No offense, Doctor."
Banner smiled as he looked between Steve and Tony while typing some more equations for his data and said, "No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
Tony walked around the table near Steve and said, "You're tiptoeing, big man. It's time that you strut."
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Blast." Steve remarked. A hint of irritation in his voice.
"You really think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before all of this happened? What else is he not telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all of the variables." Tony said as he popped some blueberries in his mouth.
Steve gave Tony a quizzical look, "You think Fury's hiding something?"
"He's a spy. Captain, he is THE spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony then looked at Bruce and ate some more berries and asked, "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"
Bruce nervously looked between the two men before him and replied, "Uh...I just want to finish my work here and.."
Steve cut him off, "Doctor?"
Bruce removed his glasses and looked down at the super-soldier and the Pyronite. "'A warm light for all Residentkind', Loki's jab at Fury about the stone."
"I heard it."
Bruce patted Tony's shoulder, "Well, I believe that was meant for you."
Tony offered some of his blueberries, which Banner accepted as he continued, "Even if Barton didn't tell him, it is all over the news."
"Blast Tower? That big ugly.." Tony shot Steve a look. "...building in New York?"
"It's powered by Onmi reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what a year?" Banner said as he looked at Tony.
"That is just the prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now, That is what he is getting at." Tony explained.
"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Alphax project? I mean, what are they doinng in the energy business anyway?" Banner continued.
"I should probably look into that, once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files." Tony mused out loud.
Steve looked at Tony, "I'm sorry, did you say..."
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every sneaky secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." Tony holds out his bag of blueberries and offered one to Steve, "Blueberry?"
"And yet you are stil confused about why they didn't call you in?" Steve said snarkly as he glared at Tony with his blue eyes.
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony said defensively with a blank look.
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who wants to start a war, and if we do not stay focused, He will succeed. We have orders, we should follow them." Steve said.
"Following isn't really my style." Tony replied as he popped a blueberry in his mouth.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve asked with a smirk, striking a nerve in the Pyronite.
"Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?" Tony growled.
Bruce tried to be the mediator as he said, "Steve, tell me that none of this smells a little funky to you?"
Steve considers the possibility, however he decides to shake it off. "Just find the stone."
The Petrosapien walks out of the lab. Torn apart by the theory and possibility that Fury may be hiding something and walks towards the hull of the ship.
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I am starting to wonder why they didn't just keep him in the freezer when the found him." Tony said after the super-soldier left.
Banner smirks as he continues typing and replied, "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."
"What he has is a dynamite kit. It is going to blow up in his face, and I will be there to watch while I am laughing my ass off." said Tony.
"And I will read all about it." Bruce responded.
"Or you could suit up like the rest of us." said Tony as he sent Bruce some data to his computer.
Bruce continued analyzing the data, frowning as he corrected, "No, see. I don't have super hot, dense natural armor. My skin is tough but even still, I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare.."
"You know, I have a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to reach my heartcore. This stops it." Tony taps the mini Omni reactor in his chest and continued, "...This little circle of light. It is a part of me now, not just armor. It is a...terrible privilege."
Bruce stopped for a second and looked next to him and removed his glasses again, "But you can control it."
"Because I learned how."
"In my case it's different."
Banner tries to read the computer screen, but Tony slides the data aside with his finger so that the two can see face to face.
"Hey, I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you." Tony said.
"So you're saying that the Hult...the Other Guy...saved my life? That's nice. It's a good sentiment. Reserved for what exactly?" Bruce asks while replacing the glasses back on his head again.
"I gues we will find out soon." Tony replied.
Both Avengers got back to work on searching for the Alphax. Steve walks to the Hull Hangar of the Helicarrier and stops at the heavy iron door. With all of his might, the Petrosapien super-soldier forced the door open and stepped inside. The secure storage room was filled with countless crates and secure files locked up in special safe looked around for a few minutes before he continued forward.
Inside a large black van, a ragged looking doctor Selvig and some of Loki's soldiers were driving inside a dimly lit tunnel. A CMS device was in the back as Selvig started his delicate work, Selvig used large metal tongs as picked up the Corrodium, which was cut to a cylindrical shape. Selvig carefully places the Corrodium into a slot inside of the CMS. The device starts lighting up and started whirring, Selvig smiles at his accomplishment.
Back in the Helicarrier briefing room, A S.H.I.E.L.D. monitor lit up with a record of Jane Foster. Thor admires the photo recalling certain events as Agent Coulson stood next to the Tetramand respectfully when he said, "As soon as Loki took the Doctor we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Bellwood. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, Private plane, very remote. She will be safe there."
"Thank you. It is no accident that Loki took Erik Selvig. I dread for what he has planned for him when he is done. Erik is a good man, he is innocent in all of this." Thor replied.
"He talks about you a lot. You changed his life. You changed a lot around here."
"Things were better as it was. We pretend on Asgard that we are more advanced, but we...we come here battling like Crabdozers."
Agent Coulson looked at Thor in slight confusion, "Like what?"
"Crabdozer? You know; huge, rocky, crab like, and huge horns. You don't have those?" Thor asked as he waved his hands out to describe the creature. Thor looked at Coulson.
"Don't think so."
"Well, they are repulsive, and trample everything in their path." Thor said as he walked over to the side of the ship both pairs of arms behind his back and looked out of the window. A saddened expression appeared on his normally stoic face as he thought about his past.
"When I first came to earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. In my youth I courted war..."
"War hasn't started yet." Came Fury's voice as he walked towards the young God on a platform with railing, "You think you can make Loki tell us where the Alphax is?"
Thor looked at the Methanosian for a brief second before turning back to the window and replied, "I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield, It's not just power he craves, it is also vengeance upon me. There is no pain that would prize his need from him."
"A lot of guys think that, until the pain starts."
Thor turns around fully to look at Fury clearly with a furrowed brow and asked, "What are you asking me to do?"
Fury leans against the railing towards Thor focusing his piercing gaze on Thor as he stated, "I am asking, What are you prepared to do?"
"Loki is a prisoner." Thor defended.
"Then why do I feel like he is the only one who wants to be here?" Fury stated
This time Thor found himself unable to answer.
Inside of the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier detention section, Loki was pacing back and forth inside of his relatively large prison. Suddenly the Necrofriggian stops with a grin on his face and said, "There's not many people thatg can sneak up on me.."
Loki turns to see Natasha standing there with her arms crossed as she replied, "But you figured that I would come."
"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would of course, cooperate."
"I want to know what you did to Agent Barton." Natasha said narrowing her eyes at the imprisoned Asgardian in front of her.
"I would say that I have expanded his mind." Loki replied with a smirk on his face.
"And once you have won. Once you are king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"
"Is this Love, Agent Romanov?" Loki asked with amusement on his face.
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt." Natasha defended with a slight edge to her voice.
Loki takes a deep breath and blows out a frozen mini storm which creates a chair made of ice, he turns back to Natasha as he sat down.
"Tell me.." Loki said.
Natasha pulls up a chair as she spoke, "Before I worked for Fury, I uh...well, I made a name for myself. I had a very special skill set. I didn't care about who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.
"Not let you out."
Loki laughed, "No, but I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man."
"Regimes fall every day. I tend to not weep over that, I am Russian...or was." Natasha defended yet again.
Loki raised an eyebrow and asked, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drekov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital Fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's GUSHING RED, AND YOU THINK SAVING A MAN NO VIRTUOUS THAN YOURSELF WILL CHANGE ANYTHING?" Loki Stood furious, "this is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer...PATHETIC!"
Back in the lab, Tony and Bruce were working on their equations.
"You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers."
Agent Hill checks every viewscreen in the bridge as a Virus detected notification appears and Swamp Fury makes a face.
"You pretend to be separate, to have you own code, something that tries to make up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!" Loki continued.
Steve opens a steel crate. Angry, he looks behind him and looks back at the crate. Inside of the crate was a bunch of HYDRA weapons.
Loki slams his cell, making Natasha flinch.
"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In everyway he knows you fear. And then he will wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams I will split his skull!" Loki glared at Natasha before saying, "That is my bargain you mewling quim!"
Natasha turns away and makes weeping sounds. "You Monster.."
"Oh, no. You brought the monster." Loki says while smirking.
Natasha turns back to Loki but was not crying, "Banner? That is your play?"
Loki becomes visibly confused as the Anodite turns around and talks into her earpiece, "Loki means to unleash the Hult. Keep Banner in the lab, I am on my way." She then turns back to Loki, "Thank you...For your cooperation."
Natasha walks out of the room towards the Lab.
Fury walks into the Lab, "What are you doing, Mr. Blast?"
"Uh...Kind of been wondering about the same thing about you." Tony replied.
"You are supposed to be looking for the Alphax."
Bruce walked up and said, "We are, the models locked and we are sweeping for the signature now. we get a hit, we will have the location within half a mile."
Tony typed something on his laptop, "And you will get your stone back, no muss, no fuss. What is Phase two?"
Steve walks in the lab and places one of the weapons he found on the ship on the table and saud, "Phase two is using the Stone to make weapons." He then turns to Tony, "Sorry, the computer was a little slow for me."
Fury then tried to defend himself by saying, "Steve, we gathered everything related to the Alphax. This does not mean that.."
Tony cuts him off by showing a screen with plans for a weapon powered by the Alphax, "I am sorry Swamp, what were you lying?"
"I was wrong, director. The world has not changed a bit." Steve commented.
Thor and Natasha walk in the Lab when Bruce asked, "Did you know about this?"
Natasha then asked, "Do you want to remove yourself from this environment, Doctor?"
"I was in Africa, I was pretty well removed." Bruce replied.
"Loki is manipulating you."
"And you have been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
Bruce then moves back to the monitor and replied, "And I am not going to leave every single time you get Twitchy. I would like to know why S.H. .D. is using the Alphax to build weapons of mass destruction."
Fury then points at Thor, "Because of him."
Thor looked confused and pointed to himself, "Me?"
Fury continued, "Last year, Earth got another visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only we are alone, but that we are hopelessly, Hilariously, outgunned."
Thor then said, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."
"But you are not the only people are you? And you are not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched. That cannot be controlled."
Steve remarked, "Like how you controlled the Stone?"
"Your work with the Alphax is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the reals that Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor said.
"Higher form?" Steve asked.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Fury defended.
"A nuclear deterrent, cause that always calms everything down." Tony said.
"Remind me again of how you made your fortune, Blast?" Fury asked.
Steve then said, "I am sure that if Blast had kept on making weapons, he would have been neck deep.."
Tony then asked, "Hold on! How is this now about me?"
"I am sorry, isn't everything?" Steve replied.
"I thought Residents were more evolved than this." Thor commented.
Fury then turns to the Tetramand and said, "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"
Suddenly everyone started arguing and talking over each other as the Scepter glowed.
"You talk about control, yet you court chaos." Thor said.
"That is his M.O. right? I mean, what are we a team? No, No, No. We are a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're...we're a time bomb." Bruce said.
Nick then turned to Banner, " You, need to step away."
Tony puts his arm on Steve's shoulder and asked, "Why shouldn't the guy blow off a little steam?"
Steve pushes the arm off, "You know damn well why! Now back off!"
"Oh, I am starting to want you make me." Tony said while narrowing his eyes.
"Yeah, Big man in a suit of molten armor. Take that away, what are you?" Steve asked.
"Billionaire, Genious, Playboy, Philanthropist." Tony replied.
"Well I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I have seen the footage. You always fight for yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
Tony interrupted while his flames turned white for a second, "I think I would just burn the wire."
Steve then looks at Bruce, "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero, like you? You are a lab experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
In a stolen Quinjet, Barton snuck up on the Helicarrier with a bunch of soldiers.
Steve walks up to Tony and narrowed his eyes, "Turn on the flames. Let's go a few rounds"
Thor then started laughing and said, "You people are so tiny, and petty."
"Yeah this is a team..." Banner said.
Fury then said, "Agent Romanov, would you ecort Dr. Banner back to his.."
"Where? You rented my room." Bruce interrupted.
"The cell was just in case..."
Bruce then interjected again, "In case you wanted to kill me, but you can't! I know I tried. I got low, I didn't see a way out, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the OtherGuy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping others. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanov? You wanna know how I stay calm?"
Everyone was now looking at Banner with suspicion, Fury's hands were sparking.
"Doctor Banner...Put the scepter down." Steve asked.
Bruce looks down and he realised that he was holding said weapon, he then puts it dwn and walks back over to a computer when it rang and said, "Sorry Kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all..."
Thor asked, "You have located the Alphax?"
"I can get there faster." Tony said.
"Not alone.." Steve said.
"The Alphax belongs on Asgard, no Resident is a match for it!" Thor stated.
Steve grabs Tony who shrugs him off and said, "You are not going alone!"
"Your going to stop me!?"
"Turn on the Flames, let us find out." Steve said.
" I am not afraid to hit an old Chandelier." Tony Remarked.
"Flame on candle."
Banner looks at the screen and his glasses fell off his face and said, "Oh, my god!"
Clint fired an explosive arrow, which exploded when it hit an engine. Bruce and Natasha fall to the engine room from the explosion.
Steve helps Tony up and said, "Turn up the Flames."
"Yep!" Tony replied before they ran out of the Lab.