Disclaimer: This one took me awhile. I've been dealing with some stuff lately that I'd rather not address. Fair warning: this might not be up to par with whatever standards are set.
Naturally, I don't own the rights to Marvel Comics or DC Comics.
Chapter VIII
Hawkeye awoke amid grass and bushes and righted himself to a seated position, shaking his head and brushing twigs off of his arms. He even had to pull a splinter on of his left and a small trickle of blood seeped through a tiny wound. It was hardly worth any note for Hawkeye as he was also making certain that his bow and quiver full of arrows was intact. His primary concern after the fact was the whereabouts of the other Avengers, so he stood up, dusted himself off and started moving out.
It didn't take long for Hawkeye to determine that he was in a forest and he could easily tell it wasn't an exotic place. This was more woodland territory, but Hawkeye had trained in places like it before. Bow in hand, he traverse along the grassy path toward lights far off into the distance, enough to tell him that it was a city. But it was a long walk from his current position to there and without a means of transportation, it wasn't likely he'd make it there.
Hawkeye sighed in frustration, "My kingdom for a motorcycle. Or an ATV or an 18-wheeler, or hell, I'll even take a horse. Why's all the bad stuff have to happen to me?"
Hawkeye continued on but instantly stopped at the sound of a rustling behind him. He gave initial reaction and assumed it was just the wind, but he then heard another sound. It sounded like a strange whooshing sound and it seemed to be around Hawkeye as he readied his bow and a trick arrow. He shot the arrow and it burst into a bright light that luckily didn't enflame the grass. The light illuminated the surrounding area while Hawkeye readied another arrow and scanned the area, eventually catching movement behind the trees.
He took aim and saw nothing into the trees or bushes. Moving closer to the scene, twigs cracking under his feet, Hawkeye had no idea that a figure was now appearing behind him. Hawkeye was close to the bushes to use the tip of his arrow to push them aside. Nothing was there but Hawkeye flexed his fingers around the handle of the bow, waiting for something to jump out of the bushes. Still there was nothing and Hawkeye finally lowered his bow.
Assuming he was just jumping at shadows, Hawkeye turned around and instantly backpedaled at the sight of a teenage girl in a midnight blue cloak and glowing eyes. Hawkeye dropped to the ground and fired an arrow, but the girl vanished into pitch-black nothingness. Hawkeye quickly got up and swerved around to get a full view of his surroundings. The girl reappeared to his right and he quickly shot an arrow. She raised her cloak and the arrow seemed to vanish and she reappeared. Hawkeye readied three more arrows and shot them out.
Raven raised one hand and aura of blackness appeared. The arrows were stopped in midflight and then snapped in half. She then raised her other hand and focused, bringing forth dark magic in the form of black tendrils. Hawkeye dodged out of the way of one tendril but he was caught by another by his ankle and hoisted up into the air. Raven approached Hawkeye and used his magic to hold him upside down and they came to face to face.
"You're not Green Arrow or Speedy. Neither one of them wears purple." Raven claimed.
"Yeah well, you're not Scarlet Witch. She doesn't wear blue… and she's not a teenager." Hawkeye rebutted.
"I'm not just a teenager… I'm a Teen Titan." Raven said and tossed Hawkeye into the bushes nearby.
Raven levitated to where Hawkeye was thrown and telepathically moved the bushes aside. Hawkeye wasn't there, and Raven dropped to the ground to walk. She focused her mind to see if she could locate Hawkeye through telepathy. The momentary distraction resulted in Raven suddenly being trapped under a net. Hawkeye was above her on a tree branch, and he'd launched a trap arrow to snag the empathic teenager and send her to the ground. He landed in front of her and approached, kneeling down in front her to meet her gaze.
"See? I got tricks too, kiddo. So how about you help me out here and tell how I can finds a couple friends of mine." Hawkeye said to her.
Raven's eyes suddenly glowed white and she instantly vanished from Hawkeye's view, leaving the net behind. Hawkeye immediately drew another arrow and readied it before he started stalking along the woods. He listened for the faintest sound of rustling shrubbery to pinpoint Raven's location, but he really hard heard anything out the ordinary save for a series of wisps. Those wisps were enough to send Hawkeye spinning to target the locations, but he saw nothing.
At the same time, Raven was watching the archer with intent. She stayed in the shadows much in the way that Batman normally did, but she seemed to also be playing with Hawkeye like Garfield Logan, AKA Beast Boy, did with her and the other Titans. Raven rolled her eyes at the thought of Beast Boy's antic rubbing off on her, but they seemed to be working. She moved around the bushes, gently whipping passed them to draw Hawkeye's attention. All the while, she waited for Hawkeye to fire off an arrow knowing it would be her opening to strike.
That chance came when Raven made a sound, and Hawkeye spun and fired an arrow in her direction. Raven vanished into the shadow she created from her cloak, and the arrow sailed off into the distance. Hawkeye instantly moved forward but found nothing, and a force of black energy suddenly slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. As he quickly rose up, another force appeared on his right side and slammed into him and knocked him down. The momentum caused Hawkeye to drop his bow just as another force of energy rammed into him. Raven reappeared in front of him and projectile an orb of shadowy energy in his direction. Hawkeye moved back but was still caught by the impact of the orb and thrown to the ground, and Raven reappeared standing over him.
Hawkeye reacted faster than Raven expected, spinning his body around and using his own legs to trip her up. He then made a mad dash for his bow and retrieved, ready an arrow and fired it, but Raven used her powers to stop it in midair. She noticed a sly smirk on Hawkeye's face before the arrow suddenly burst and a faint vapor spread. Raven breathed in the gaseous fumes and collapsed to the ground where she struggled to catch her breath, while Hawkeye sent his bow onto his back and approached her.
"You'll be alright, kid. That tranquilizer spray is nonlethal but it'll make you queasy." Hawkeye explained to Raven.
Raven tried to respond and barely managed to reply, "This… isn't over… yet."
Hawkeye knelt beside Raven and pulled the hood back, looking at her pale face and midnight blue eyes. There was no fear in them and Hawkeye found it admirable. Although when he looked at the blood red gem on her forehead, he couldn't help but think the gem was staring back at him. Raven tried to regain some breathing ability, coughing up some saliva that dropped to the ground. Hawkeye helped her up and sat her down beside a tree before sitting beside her. Raven was starting to get some more control over her breathing, but the gas made her weak and almost unable to move.
"You got a lot of heart, kid, and a lot of skill to go along with it. It's just too bad experience usually wins out in the end." Hawkeye said.
"You've obviously never met Deathstroke." Raven replied weakly.
"With a name like Deathstroke, I hope I never do. But there's something else about you; something you're keeping locked away, something… dark. I've been there before, and it's not a lot of fun." Hawkeye said.
Raven managed a small smile before she said, "No, it's not."
Hawkeye smirked before he heard a loud bang in the city well into the distance. "Duty calls." he said before standing up and started on his way.
"Wait," Raven called out. "Metropolis is upwards of thirteen miles away. You'll never make it there on foot."
"What would you suggest?" Hawkeye asked.
Raven waved her hands, reciting, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Then a portal opened up right in front of Hawkeye.
"Not bad, kid. What's your name?" he asked.
"Raven."
"What's your real name?"
Thinking about the question again, she replied, "Rachel."
Smiling, he replied, "I'm Clint." Then he ventured into the portal as it closed.
Hawkeye reappeared on the other side of the portal and quickly realized the different surrounding. He knew instantly that he was in Metropolis, and he knew even more so that there was carnage happening somewhere in the city. He listened closely for anything that might remind him of one of his fellow Avengers. But when he heard the mighty roar of the Hulk, the blood suddenly drained from his face. Putting that trepidation aside, Hawkeye hopped into the nearest parked vehicle he could find, hot-wired it and took off toward the sounds of madness.
"Well, at least I got a ride." He snarled.
Watching Green Lantern and Captain Marvel fight it out in space, Cyborg was unaware of the intruder phasing up through floor behind him. It didn't take long for Cyborg to realize it when the intruder alarm sounded. He quickly spun around, deploying his arm cannon and aiming at the intruded clad in green and yellow. The intruder merely stood in place with a certain grace that seemed almost angelic at the same time. That didn't stop Cyborg from asking the obvious question.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"I am Vision, a synthetic construct of the artificial intelligence system Ultron and a member of the Avengers. Who are you?" Vision asked in almost a polite tone.
"Uh, I'm Victor Stone and this my Watchtower. Well technically it's Bruce Wayne's Watchtower… you know what, forget it. What're you doing here? And what's an Ultron?" Cyborg said.
Vision looked at Cyborg as if examining him closely. "I am detecting cybernetic applications that have render you to be part machine."
"That tends to happen when a father fuses an alien portal device to his son's mangled remains." Cyborg coldly snapped.
"There is no need to resort to hostilities, Victor Stone. I and my fellow Avengers have merely come to this universe in search of missing allies." Vision explained while levitating off the floor and approaching Cyborg.
"Would one of those allies happen wear a metal mask and a green hood and cloak? I only ask 'cause, you know, he wasn't exactly friendly." Cyborg claimed.
Vision didn't provide Cyborg with a reply and he didn't stop moving toward him either. Cyborg readied his cannon and prepared to fire on Vision, but he was suddenly taken aback when Vision phased right through him. Vision continued on until he reached the console, while Cyborg stared in complete astonishment at what just happened. He quickly turned to see Vision using the console itself.
"Did you just fly in me? Man, that's just wrong."
Vision didn't turn to face Cyborg, instead working diligently on the console as if nothing happened. "I wish to determine the locations of my fellow Avengers so that we might reconvene and plan forthcoming attempts to recover our missing allies."
"Oh hell no," Cyborg stormed to Vision and grabbed his arm. "You don't just barge into someone's house and use their computer without permission. What are you? Beast Boy?"
Vision phased his arm free and suddenly blasted Cyborg backwards. "I do not wish to incite conflict, Victor Stone."
Cyborg recovered and blasted Vision backwards and into a wall panel. "Conflict incited."
Vision glanced at Cyborg before he phased through the floor and out of sight, leaving a bewildered Cyborg alone in the control room. Cyborg had his cannon ready and began a wild search for Vision, but he was distracted by the ongoing battle in space between Green Lantern and Captain Marvel. He tried to focus on finding Vision using his cybernetic eye, but his human eye kept shifting back the space fight. Vision reappeared right next to him, and Cyborg reacted too late to stop the android from throwing him to the floor.
Cyborg saw Vision's fist coming straight down at him and rolled out of the way, eventually returned to a standing position. He fired a series of shots from his arm cannon, but Vision took flight to avoid some of them. For others that were too close to be avoided, Vision let the shot phase through him before he launched himself right at Cyborg. Cyborg was ready this time and fired a shot, catching Vision in the chest, dropping him to the floor where he disappeared into the floor again. Cyborg stayed completely focused this time, ignoring Lantern and Marvel's fight in space and stalking through the room.
Vision reappeared behind Cyborg but Cyborg was ready this time. He immediately spun around and took his shot and Vision stepped to the side. Vision attempted to grab hold of Cyborg but Cyborg proved quicker on the exchange. He grabbed Vision and landed several strikes to the android's synthetic frame. Finishing with a straight kick to the sternum, Cyborg sent Vision staggering backward and dropping to a knee. Vision looked at Cyborg in surprise.
"What? You didn't think I was all tech and no style, did you?" Cyborg asked with a wry smile.
"As I hade previously stated, I have no desire to incite conflict. Our encounter, Victor Stone, is a gross misunderstanding and I would strongly advise that we find a means to end hostilities between our respective groups as quickly as possible." Vision explained.
"And if I refuse to believe you?" Cyborg said.
"Then as I believe Mr. Stark would say, 'we are one different wavelengths.'" Vision replied.
Cyborg got up and aimed his cannon at Vision, who made no move toward him. Lowering his cannon, Cyborg said, "Okay. Let's see where this goes."
Superman was flung halfway across the street and crashed into a brick wall. He managed to recover enough to see the Hulk barreling straight toward him. Lunging forward, Superman slammed his fist into the Hulk's jaw and drove him back. Superman landed several more hard strikes that continued to rock the Hulk, but the Hulk eventually caught a punch and kicked Superman to the ground where Superman left a trailed of upturned asphalt. By the time Superman recovered, the Hulk was already on him and landed a huge uppercut that sent the Man of Steel flying straight up.
Superman spiraled all the way up the side of a building before managing to stop his ascent. The Hulk roared and bounded up after him, shredding up the side of the building. Superman flew straight back down toward the Hulk and the two of them collided. The shockwave destroyed the side of the building but the Hulk went flying in the opposite direction toward the top of an adjacent building under construction. Superman recovered and followed the Hulk into the site, but he'd somehow lost sight of him. It wasn't for long; the Hulk suddenly reappeared and landed a hard punch that sent Superman back first into a girder.
The Hulk picked Superman up and snarled in his face, "Puny blue man not the strongest. Hulk is strongest there is."
Superman opened his eyes and blasted the Hulk with his heat vision, forcing the Hulk to release him. "Something tells me you're not the smartest though."
Without hesitating, Superman lunged at the Hulk and landed more solid hits to his jaw to push him back. One particularly hard punch rocked the Hulk so hard that he spun and staggered back, and Superman though he had the edge. So he pressed his assault, landing more haymakers mixed with body shots to the Hulk's abdomen. He blasted the Hulk with more of his heat vision, driving the Hulk back again. But the Hulk was getting stronger… and angrier. He scowled at Superman, gritted his teeth.
The Hulk lunged forward and forced Superman to use his super breath to slow him down, but it wasn't enough. The Hulk broke through the breath and grasped Superman, hoisted him up and then slamming him into the flooring of the site repeatedly. Then the Hulk swung his arm with Superman in his grip only to release him. Superman was sent first through the steel girders and shattered them before flying uncontrollably across the sky.
As all this was happening, Hawkeye was driving through the war torn streets with heedless abandon. There were no civilians around to get in the way, so Hawkeye had no issue with looking up at the conflict at the top of the construction site. He saw a small figure in a red cape flying with no control. A larger, green object followed, and Hawkeye knew immediately that it was the Hulk. Hawkeye's attention was suddenly diverted to a portal opening in the path of his vehicle and he screeched the vehicle to a complete halt.
Raven emerged from the portal, fully recovered from Hawkeye's gas arrow. Hawkeye jumped out of the vehicle and readied his bow, setting up an arrow and aiming it at Raven. The portal closed and Raven brought down her hood so Hawkeye could see her face. Hawkeye, maybe against his own better judgment, lowered his bow but didn't take his eyes off of Raven.
"Rachel, wasn't it? Look, I'm really not interested in another fight. That big green guy that just sailed across the sky; that's my friend. At least I think he is since he's hasn't tried to eat me yet." Hawkeye said.
"I believe you," Raven replied, startling Hawkeye. "I believe there's much more going on here than a simple misunderstanding. The man in green hood has to be at the center."
"Doom. Yeah, he's pretty much at the center of all this weird stuff. I've got to get the team back together so we can find him… and Thor."
"Then I guess we should start by stopping Superman and your giant green monster friend from tearing Metropolis down. I know exactly where they're headed." Raven said.
She opened a new portal and went through it with Hawkeye following. Unbeknownst to them, Lois Lane had been watching the whole exchange and rushed for the portal as well. She managed to slip through just as it closed behind her.
After traveling across the city skyline with little to no control over his movement, Superman finally crashed through the roof of a warehouse by the bay that separated Metropolis from Gotham City. With the momentum that came with him, he first slammed into the asphalt, bouncing from it and into a parked forklift and finally skidding to a halt a few feet from the closed shutter. He rested there for a while before her started to rise up, just as the Hulk's roar was heard. Superman turned as the Hulk arrived, obliterating the ceiling as he came through.
With recklessness, the Hulk charged forward and tried to land a straight punch that Superman managed to duck below. Superman gained his footing fast and tackled the Hulk. He wailed on the Hulk's chest while pushing him back toward the shutter where they damaged it. The Hulk caught Superman and threw him across the warehouse before Superman quickly returned, slamming into the Hulk hard enough to completely destroy the shutter. They continued outside with Superman going back to landing heavy shots before the Hulk head butted Superman to the ground.
The Hulk grabbed Superman's cape before gripping his shoulders. He screamed in Superman's face just as Hawkeye and Raven arrived. "Hulk, stop." Hawkeye shouted.
The Hulk turned to Hawkeye and snarled at him, proving that he wasn't playing favorites in any way. But it gave Superman the opportunity to recover, using his heat vision to break free. Clasping his hands into one big fist, Superman hit the Hulk as hard as he could. The Hulk was literally catapulted into the air and sailed above the water of the bay. Then like a small meteor, the Hulk splashed down into the bay and disappeared under the water. Hawkeye and Raven looked on in shock while Lois appeared behind them and the portal closed behind her. It didn't take too long for Superman to notice her.
"Lois," he called out and flew to her, landing in front of her. "What are you doing here?"
"Following my next big story. What are you doing here, and who's the Green Arrow wannabe?" Lois replied while address Hawkeye.
"I'm about to find that out." Superman said.
Hawkeye ignored Superman and Lois and studied the bay. "He does realize a dip in the water's not going to do any good, right?" he asked Raven.
But Raven knew better. "You have no idea."
The Hulk sank far below the surface of the bay before he eventually awoke. He roared, sending a garbled sound through the water where nobody could hear him. But he wasn't alone in the depths. Something moved in the distance, too fast for him to see it. In fact, it was impossibly fast and all that the Hulk could see were the faintest signs of bubbles. He only grew angrier, not knowing who or what was moving so quickly so as to not be seen. Then without warning, the Hulk was suddenly waylaid by something with the force of a torpedo. It was gone before the Hulk knew what hit him.
A moment later, the same object returned and struck the Hulk again before disappearing in the darkness. It returned once more and struck again, over and over and over. The Hulk tried to fight back but his strength was rendered almost useless while underwater. The object continued pummeling the Hulk repeatedly before the Hulk was finally able to get the briefest glimpse of a man moving through the water like lightning. But it was still too fast and eventually, it collided with the Hulk and carried him straight back up toward the surface.
Superman heard the sound and he knew instantly what was about to happen. Giving Lois a nod, he took flight once more, while Raven and Hawkeye looked on with baited breath. In that instance, a wall of water burst from the bay and the Hulk came flying and screaming out. Superman made his move and flew high enough to meet the Hulk face to face. Then he hammer fisted him as hard as possible, sending the Hulk crashing to the dock. Hawkeye rushed toward the newly made crater, heedless of Raven's attempts to stop him, and examined the site. He saw the Hulk stirring slower than normal, while Superman floated over the two Avengers. Hawkeye readied his bow but his attention was diverted by something unexpected.
Something burst out of the bay faster than Hawkeye would've been able follow, and it landed at the very of the dock. Superman and Raven both knew the man in the orange and green bodysuit and holding a trident. Hawkeye could only look wide-eyed at the newcomer.
Aquaman had arrived.
Author's Note: Well, I finally finish the latest chapter and personally, I think it came out fine. It's not the best, really, but it's fine.
I have a couple points to make out; first, the Hawkeye/Raven and Cyborg/Vision fights were less action-oriented since I wanted to convey some rationality to offset the fisticuffs.
The Hawkeye/Raven exchange was particularly telling in that it was time for cooler heads to prevail. Besides, I look at Hawkeye as being the conscience of the Avengers. Meanwhile, Vision has no real interest in fighting Cyborg as he only want to regroup with the other Avengers. I'm not sure if I did right by making Raven the voice of reason, but she knows there's more going down.
The Superman/Hulk fight raged on as planned and finally led to the first official appearance of Aquaman. I'm not sure if I made his grand entrance like I wanted, but I can hope at least. Anyway, give me a review and I'll be back soon. Peace out!