Chapter Fourteen:
It took two days before Vivian was fit for active duty again and that was by my standards she still had to pass a physical from Dr Banner,
"Honestly I'm fine" Vivian said, "I worked too hard and I had a bit of a breakdown" I'd told her the story I'd told everyone else so that when she did go back in no one would suspect anything
"Yes well you'll have to take it easier from now on. When everyone else goes home so do you" Banner said taking off his glasses and pronouncing her fit for duty again,
"I'll make her stick to it" I promised, "Thanks Doc"
"I don't buy it" Stark said, he seemed to be the only one. Everyone else was surprised it took Vivian as long as it did to have her 'breakdown'
"Well that's probably a first" Vivian joked making even Steve laugh
"You don't seem the type to have a sudden mental breakdown" Stark continued,
"What can I say? All these late nights not to mention being mind jacked by the butt hurt god and being shocked with three hundred thousand volts got to me. I'll try not to let it happen again" Vivian said snidely
"Speaking of the butt hurt god any news on that front?" I asked
"Our facial recognition software hasn't come up with anything yet but we did get word from Professor Xavier that neither of his students has come back, and there's more bad news on top of that" Steve said
"More bad news? A third horseman?" I asked
"It looks like another one of his people is missing. A Remy Le Beau, he was here when Xavier was last" Steve said
"Oh the Cajun man" I said immediately
"So should we assume Apocalypse has all four horsemen now?" Vivian asked
"I think it's safe to assume so" Banner agreed,
"So what do we do if we find or capture a horseman?" I asked, "I mean they used to be people so we can hardly kill them"
"We could hit them really hard in the head and see if that helps" Vivian said
"And you're the smart one" I scoffed
"Oh shut up you trollop"
"Nerd"
"Slag"
"Frigid bitch"
"Spread your legs for anyone recently?"
"Not that you'd know anything about that"
"Because I have morals"
"Oh is that what those are? I thought it was because you were a tease"
"I'll kill you"
"I welcome the challenge"
The rest of the men in the lab watched our exchange with a mixture of horror and concern. Were we actually fighting or was this just another thing in the Vivian and Alice show,
"Well I guess I better modify the facial recognition programme. Widen the parameters as it were" Vivian said grabbing her tablet and getting to work immediately
"Yeah I think I'll go punch something" I said, "See you later. Remember there is a quitting time now, don't make me come up here and drag you out by your hair" Vivian pulled a face and waved a hand dismissively at me so I left the lab with Steve on my heels, "You're like a puppy you know. You always seem to be around"
"I don't know how to respond to that"
"I wasn't saying it to gain a response I was just stating a fact"
"I see"
"So are you gonna come and watch me punch things?"
"I am. I've never seen you hit anything before" Steve said,
"Well I can't compare to you or the rest of the super best friends but for a normal human gal I do pack a pretty decent punch"
"Well I'd still like to see"
"Suit yourself"
Vivian delved back into the world of work, her head much clearer now and fully refreshed from her 'breakdown'. Though Stark didn't believe that and kept pestering her on where she had really been,
"What's your problem Stark?" she asked moving the screen out the way with the flick of a hand,
"I just don't believe you were having a breakdown...you were off with some guy weren't you?"
She slowly cracked up laughing
"That's ridiculous and within what time frame would I meet this man?" Though when she thought about it Tony wasn't far off.
"The internet? You're always on it"
Vivian couldn't stop laughing, her sides hurt so much
"Do you honestly think I'd meet up with someone off the internet?"
The computer bleared loudly, catching them off guard, pulling the screen back up Vivian noticed that one of the missing Xavier students had made an appearance,
"Looks like we better assemble"
"No wait! I'll go, I mean honestly you four will just scare him senseless and put him on edge. I'll go I'm the least intimidating don't you think?" Vivian explained, rushing out of the lab,
"Just don't do anything reckless."
"Can't guarantee that but get someone to notify the Xavier institute" she reminded.
Havoc was tall lad for his age almost hitting six foot; he looked nothing like his older brother and had more controllable powers too. He was waiting in an alley way constantly staring at the charcoal grey sky, "Alexander Summers?" a voice asked meekly from behind him, he jumped and instantly when into a fighting stance,
"Who are you? And what do you want?" he frowned eyeing up his opponent which was a girl much shorter than himself,
"Vivian. Professor Xavier requested our help to find you"
"I don't finding. I need to find-"
"Polaris? Lorna Dane or Pestilence as I think she's called now" Vivian interrupted abruptly,
"You're with them aren't you. That Shield group. You won't help her! You'll end up killing her!" Havock shouted ready to fight Vivian if he needed to,
"Okay first calm down kid, I'm not looking for a fight." Vivian said holding her hands up in defence "Second we don't plan to kill, I'm part of the science division we've already got things in the works to reverse whatever Apocalypse has done to her." she explained,
Havok shot a blast near her feet "I don't believe you! You could be hiding weapons anywhere"
Vivian sighed she had no patient for stubborn children; she grabbed the hem of her knee length red skirt
"Want to see if I'm hiding guns under here? Cause it's the only place I could, if you've not noticed I'm not carrying a bag or coat" she reminded,
"No no ..." his cheeks flushed red "I'm sorry it's just I want to save Polaris"
Vivian smiled "no sweat, now come on Professor Xavier is waiting back at our base" she noticed how Havok looked like he was going to make a run for it when they reached the open street,
'We'll have to do this the hard way' she thought waiting till his back was turned, using her rarely used athletic knowhow to run and leap into the air striking the back of his head just at the start of his neck with a well aimed palm-heel strike, knocking him out cold. "Sorry kid I just don't fancy having to hunt you down again" she apologized straightening her skirt back out before calling Stark "I've got Havok" she noticed a lot of people stopped in the street then ran in the opposite direction screaming
"Sounds like you're at a party and you didn't invite me I'm hurt" Stark joked over the phone,
Vivian ran to the street and saw a huge red monster with fire leaping from his fists smashing a lot of chairs and buildings and Loki was stood nearby, "Okay, I've located Loki and one large red monster-y thing with fiery fists...and he's looking this way" Vivian retreated back towards Havok "Ah Christ I shouldn't have knocked you out" she cursed,
"Who did you knock out?"
"Havoc"
"Why?"
"He was going to make a run for it" she retorted, trying to pick him up looking behind her to see Loki staring at her with a smug grin on his face
"So carry him"
"ARE YOU INSANSE? This kid is like half a foot taller than me and probably weighs twice as much, I'm not an ant!" she snapped back resorting to dragging Havok by his feet down the alley.
"War, fetch" the hulking great red thing charged towards her, she gave up with Havok and left him behind a bin before running in her five inch platforms down the alley
"Help would be great!" she shouted down the phone as War literally swept her off her feet, hanging her upside like a doll, "great day to wear a skirt" she grumbled trying desperately to keep it up.
"Jeez Viv I leave you alone for five minutes and you get yourself into a big ol mess" I laughed. As soon as she called Stark he told Banner who told me and I set off to find her with Steve ever at my side,
"You're not helping!" Vivian yelled desperatly trying both to wiggle free of what looked like a giant red hulk and to keep her skirt down,
"Alright alright keep your panties on" I loaded my gun with some of the explosive rounds Vivian had made me and fired them at the Rulk not that they did much damage all they did was annoy him and prompt him to drop Vivian. Thankfully Steve was on hand to catch her,
"Thanks Cap" she said patting him once on the chest
"So what's our next move?" I asked, "I mean you've got the kid but he's unconcious and probably won't be much help. And of course we owe the butthurt god for taking you last time"
"You guys need to get out of here" Steve said, "if this guy is anything like the Doc when he's angry then no offence but you girls don't stand a chance"
"Alright well let's get the kid and get out of here" I said grabbing Vivian
"Agreed. But if you guys get Loki I have unfinished business with him!" Vivian yelled.
We got Havoc or Alexander from behind the dumpster and headed back to base where Professor Xavier and a handful of his students were waiting,
"Alex!" A tall man with coppery hair who was wearing sunglasses indoors ran towards us when we dragged the kid into the base with it,
"He'll be ok. I said. She only knocked him out a little bit. We're going to take him to the Doc and he'll look the kid over and then you can see him"
"Alright then let's go" Vivian said shifting the kids weight on her shoulders as we dragged him to the lab where Doctor Banner would give the kid a once over to asses any damage Vivian had done
The girls watched Doctor Banner check the teen over, no permanent was damage just a few cuts and he would probably wake up with a very sore head. Fifteen minutes passed before Havok finally woke up, he sat up rubbing the back of his head slowly taking note of his surroundings though he took one glimpse at Vivian and jumped out of the bed with every intent to turn her into a punching bag, Bruce stood in his way forcing him back onto the bed,
"You sneaky bitch!"
Vivian shrugged sipping her coffee loudly "you should respect your elders"
Havoc scoffed "Like you're older than me"
She smiled eerily back at him
"I'm 24, little boy so shut up and behave" she ordered, rising to her feet "Well I best go inform your whiny brother that you're awake"
Scott had gone ballistic at Vivian for 'endangering his little brother', Vivian quite politely told him to 'shove it' she led him and the Professor back to the med bay.
Vivian, Alice and the doctor left the brothers alone when they started arguing like children, Barton walked up to them as they got half way down the corridor,
"Fury wants everyone in the command room; Cap and Stark are back with Loki"
"O this should be fun."
They gathered in the command room, Vivian sat on the chair and started spinning it round,
"Now we're all here, Loki has been apprehended by Stark and Rodgers. He is currently being held in a pressurized chamber, we need to extract information regarding Apocalypse's plans from him. I don't care how you do it but-"
Vivian stopped spinning the chair and raised her hand in the air like she was at school again "I humbly volunteer" she leapt up picking Loki's helmet that was sat in the middle of the table "Me and Loki have lots of catching up to do" Vivian grinned wickedly, placing the helmet on her head, humming cheerfully as she scuttled out the room
"She scares me sometimes" Steve admitted.
"She scares all of us" I laughed, "I'm gonna go with her make sure she doesn't kill him" I left the table and followed Vivian, "So what's the plan?"
"Well I and Mr Tazer are having a rematch with Loki and I figure we can annoy some information out of him. Actually you can help. He lives in the puny gods shadow and if we dangle you chosing him over Loki that should bug the shit out of him" Vivian cackled
"You my little friend are far too into this" I said
The two of us headed along the various corridors until we came to the large glass chamber Fury had built to house Dr Banner should he go Hulk on everyone instead it currently housed Loki,
"Shield thinks that by sending two girls to do a mans job I'll be sympathetic and give up any information" Loki scoffed
"Nah we just owe you for taking Viv so we're here to have some fun and if you give up any info then that'll be a bonus" I said shrugging my shoulders
"I even brought our old friend Mr Tazer!" Vivian said proudly displaying her tazer which I knew for a fact she'd added an extra charge to,
"But we'll save the violence for later. What I really want to know is - what's it like having sex with and giving birth to a horse?"
"I beg your pardon?" Loki said
"Yeah I'm wondering about that too" Vivian said, "I mean you don't have any natural holes to give birth through and an eight legged horse" Vivian took a sharp intake of breath "ow"
"You read something in a book and you think you know everything" Loki said with a sarcastic laugh
"Well I know one thing" I said because we clearly weren't getting anywhere with the horse "You. Are still a virgin" Loki flustered
"And what gives you that impression?"
"Well if I had to chose I'd chose Thor everytime"
"You are a puny human female what could you possibly know of my strife?"
"Well here's the thing men like to talk and men who think they're important talk more than most and your brother well he thinks he's super important and he talked and talked and talked and I mean it got kind of boring after a while kind of made me struggle to get through the sex" I said knowing full well everyone was watching. Now it wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't exactly the truth either
"Of course you would fall under my brothers charm" Loki said to me while Vivian worked on pouring some glitter she'd found somewhere into the air ducts
"It's like a pretty snow globe!" Vivian laughed as the glitter stuck to Loki's skin and hair
"And as for charms it was the other way around darlin. Men fall under my charms not the other way around. Vivian he's all yours, do what you do best" I turned on my heel leaving Vivian to do what she wanted unsupervised. One thing I knew for sure Vivian was small but she was damn scary when she needed to be
Loki stared at the small girl who just sat outside the cage with her tablet and still wearing his helmet,
"You know you and I are similar"
"How so?"
"Well we're both adopted"
Loki frowned at her through the glass "thank you for reminding me"
"We both weren't exactly needed and that ended up with us rebelling. I turned to gang violence and pissing off the government whenever possible. Though your rebelling seems to require you to dominate everyone" Vivian looked up from her tablet pushing the helmet back so she could see since it fell down "and we both look retarded in this helmet"
Loki couldn't help but chuckle
"And here I thought you were going to interrogate me?" he asked
"And here I was making polite conversation, youngsters these days" she sighed acting like an old woman "fine have it your way. Who's the Red Hulk?" she enquired
Loki leant against the glass before answering
"Why should I tell you?"
Vivian entered a command into her tablet issuing a quick high voltage shock to Loki bringing him to his knees "that's why" she smiled opening a bag of marshmallows, "Simple questions, nothing difficult"
"I am no fool!" he snapped banging a fist against the glass, "Thaddeus Ross" he struggled back onto his feet
"O that guy, really? He seemed too nice to be that War Horsemen. So Apocalypse what's his master plan?" Loki was silent so Vivian turned on the sprinkler system inside the cage before sending another wave of volts coursing through his body. The electricity flowed through the water and into the circuits, something Vivian forgot about. The flash from the electricity was almost blinding, the power on the ship flickered off then back, including the cage. The doors opened then slowly closed thought they didn't close fully because a heavily dazed Loki had fallen out of the doors as they'd open and onto Vivian who had been blinded by the flash. This was an awkward situation, when Thor, Steve and Stark had arrived since there had been an alert in the command room that the pressurised cage door was open. Vivian trying desperately to lift Loki off her, her skirt half hitched up by the accident,
"Can someone please get this guy off me he's heavy"
Loki came too and just stared at Vivian "you're quite pretty up-close" Vivian's only response to that was a sharp knee to his groan, her faced flushed from being seen in such a state. Thor lifted his brother up and clapped him on the shoulders as he put him back in the cage,
"I didn't know you had it in you, brother." he approved seeing a new side to his brother, Vivian booted him in the shin again "nothing to be embarrassed about ferret"
Vivian trembled with anger, ready to find something to beat the arrogant god with but was dragged away by Steve before she could do so
"Maybe you should calm down"
"Shut up twinkle toes" she hissed, releasing herself from his grasp and finding a vent to brood in.
I found Vivian in a vent above the lab brooding about Loki falling on top of her and Thor thinking it was a sex thing,
"You here to laugh at me too?" She asked
"Well not right away" I said, "I came to ask how you didn't realise water conducted electricity, hello Pokemon?" Vivian laughed
"Yeah I made a rookie mistake" Vivian admitted
"Seriously though good looking dude - or a would be good looking dude if he washed his hair - falls on top of you, calls you pretty, and you knee him in the family jewels" I shook my head
"Yeah well he's the enemy right?"
"And you have your eye on someone else"
"Maybe" Vivian said quietly
"Come on. Let's get out of here this place is dusty and these are new jeans" I climbed out of the vent and lost my footing on a patch of green slime left by Famine on his last visit making me land on my head with my legs over my shoulders, "Ow" I groaned trying to pick myself up,
"Do I want to ask?" Banner asked as I flipped myself right side up again with my lesser known gymnastic ability - to be a camellia you had to take an interest in both ciricular and extra ciricular activites so I chose gymnastics which my mother greatly approved of since it would keep me slim and tonned
"Fell out of the vent" I explained dusting my jeans off, "There's some slime in there from our last unexpected house guest"
"How did you land on your head?" Banner asked
"She was a gymnast back in her day" Vivian said dropping gracefully from the vent, "I think we're gonna go. I'd rather not see Loki again today or I might take a leaf from Alice's book and retract a testicle" Banner flinched
"Come on then Pikachu" I said steering Vivian out of the base and back to the apartment stopping for take out and beer on the way.
I'd just gotten out of the tub when I heard Vivian laughing, "What's going on out there?" I called wrapping a towel around my body,
"I found something you're really gonna want to see!" Vivian called back. I walked out of the bathroom and headed over to Vivian on the couch,
"What have you got?"
"Just watch" Vivian hit play on the file and a black and white video started up.
It was a chorus line of girls wearing spangly outfits and lo and behold there was Steve talking about buying bonds to help buy bullets,
"Where did you find that?"
"Hacked Stark Industries. Made sure he knew it was me. This was from 1943. And yes I have the mp3 file"
"This is so going to be my ringtone from now on" I laughed watching the rest of the video, "Steve is never going to live this down"