Here comes the collar chase

The title of this chapter is from Shakira 'She Wolf'

I only own my characters

Chapter Nine

There's a she-wolf in your closet

I stare blankly at the collar. It's thick, grey, and looks very high tech. Wait, scratch out the grey part. There's flecks of dark purple and little fake diamonds on it. And, much to my displeasure, the tags are in the shape of bones.

Fury really thinks that I'm willingly going to wear this?

I might as well just flush my dignity down a toilet!

I give Fury a 'seriously' look and walk around him. Suddenly, I feel strong arms wrap around my shoulders and press down. The one-eyed man slips the collar over my muzzle, but I quickly back up and worm out of his grip.

He stumbles and I yip with excitement. Running around him in a circle, I rear up on my hind legs before taking off across the warm metal. Fury scrambles to his feet and chases after me. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as he yells, "Just wear the stupid collar or I'll put a chip in your neck!"

Stupid one-eye llama!

Whoa….where'd that come from?

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah- that's only going to make me run faster, idiot!

I dash towards the maze of jets and planes, Fury following a few feet behind me. Huh, he's surprisingly fast.

Narrowing my eyes, I zip in between multiple hovercrafts, trying to get him off my tail. A particularly large one suddenly gets in my way, but I surprise myself by dropping down and sliding underneath it.

Wow….I wonder why Bruce doesn't get along with the Other Guy when I the Wolf and I work so well together?

Immediately, I hop to my paws again and continue running like nothing happened. For a moment, I think I lost the director, but then I hear his footsteps behind me again. Gee, that guy's got speed and stamina.

My sides are beginning to ache and I'm slowing down. Ahh, no no no! I don't want to wear that collar!

Suddenly, a low, growl-like voice enters my head, Curve your spine.

I almost stumble in surprise. What was that? It didn't sound like Madison at all! The voice speaks again, and I realize it's in wolf, Curve your spine. Stretch your paws out further and then tuck them in. Spring with your back legs.

I'm too shocked to say anything, but suddenly I start curving and arching my spine more. Instinctively, my forepaws stretch out further each time and dig their claws into the metal. My hind legs push off harder from the ground, and soon I'm only aware of the beat of my running. Things pass by me in a blur as I run faster than I've ever ran before. My paws barely touch the ground as I skim over-

CRASH!

Suddenly, I feel something hard collide with my face and I fall, rolling over and over until I stop. Groaning, I look up to see a fallen Thor getting to his feet. He looks at me and asks, "Lady Zoey, what-"

"Thor!" Fury yells loudly and I see him far back in the distance, "GRAB HER!"

Thor looks at me.

Crap.

I try to scramble out of the way, but Thor manages to grab my lower half. Using his god-like strength, he lifts me into the air. Meanwhile, I buck, wriggle, squirm, and kick, trying desperately to get out. A few moments later, a winded Fury catches up to us and together they tackle me.

He flips me onto my back and I punch him with a paw that's nearly as big as his face. He grunts but proceeds to push all of his weight onto me, not to mention Thor's, and pins my forepaws down with his elbows.

In a last attempt, I snarl, but he abruptly shuts my muzzle with a hand.

Ouch! He made me bite my tongue!

I whine as he once again slips the collar over my clamped muzzle. My eyes widen and I thrash my head. I feel the collar slip over my ears, then onto my neck.

No!

Inside my head, I hear a wolf let out a vicious snarl, confusing me even more.

I would've howled in despair of my defeat, but Fury's still fired up and yanks on the rope to tighten my collar. Then, he and Thor climb off me as I gasp for breath.

*cough*

*hack*

*gasp*

The collar naturally loosens up enough for me to breathe, but I still hack a bit from the pain. Ugh, I am going to be soooo sore tomorrow. First I fight with an assassin, then I go all turbo fast, then I crash into a god, and now I just got tackled by a god and an agent and almost got choked to death.

Growling, I shake out my mane and growl at Fury, who is now holding onto my collar. He's smirking and I scowl, "You're good, and definitely fast," he breathes heavily from the struggle, "But some training couldn't hurt."

No

Never in my entire life will I go to obedience school!

I jerk forward, out of his grip, and run to where the Avengers are gathering outside a jet. The sudden movement causes Fury to fall face-first onto the floor.

"How much energy do you have?!"

My collar shrinks as I morph back into my human form. Dang, Fury is clever.

I rub it, feeling the thick and slightly rough material, and walk towards the Avengers, who are waiting for me in the jet. Hopefully, no one will notice.

Quietly, I take a seat next to Tony and Clint. Everybody stares at me. I blink. They see the collar, don't they? Hmm….I wonder who will be the first to say something about it?

And it issss…..

"Um, the collar?" Clint. I should've known, "Did you play, like, pets or something with the agents?"

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Do you really think any of the agents would do that?"

Uncle Tony grabs my collar, "Probably not. But there's a SHIELD logo on this." Then, he lifts the bone-shaped tags with a finger, "Zoey Colt. Wolf mutant, Property of SHIELD-"

"PROPERTY OF SHIELD?!" I exclaim, interrupting him, "Excuse me, but I am not property of anyone."

Uncle Tony huffs and says sarcastically, "But then how will people know where you belong if SHIELD loses their little puppy?" I glare at him and he smirks, looking back down at the tags, "There's more. Hmm... press ON button on remote to activate collar. Tracking device and….emergency shock?"

He gives me a confused look and I shrug, "I guess it's just in case I take off. Or go crazy. I can see both of those happening, actually. The tracking thing is so they can find me, but I'm not sure what the shock is…"

Natasha and Clint exchange a glance but say nothing.

I narrow my eyes suspiciously, but before I can ask what the shock thing is, Thor walks in. As he takes a seat, he hands something to Natasha. "Director Fury inquired that I give this contraption to you." he says in his Asgardian accent.

She looks at the thing in her hand and I see that it's a remote. The assassin presses a button and suddenly my collar beeps twice and starts humming.

"What the-"

"Testing." Fury's voice comes through the collar. Clint leans over and presses a button on it, "We can hear you, over."

Immediately, I put a hand to my collar and try to find that clip thingamajig to take it off.

Ugh

Too many buttons

And too little brain power

Fury's voice comes again, "Don't bother trying to take it off, Zoey." I growl and he says, "It's no ordinary collar."

I roll my eyes and press a button. "No, really?" I say sarcastically, "I thought you stopped by PetCo and thought of me."

Fury grumbles on the other end and I smirk. "So, what's the plan?"

"You, me, Steve, Bruce, and Clint will go into the lab, pretending we're from the same company. You'll be my apprentice, so it won't seem weird to them if you're there." Natasha begins.

I nod and say cautiously, "Okay, but don't expect me to say something smart."

"Don't worry," Clint assures, "We don't."

I frown and stick my tongue out at him.

Natasha raises an eyebrow and continues, "While we distract them, you'll go talk to your wolf friends and try to gather some information. Meanwhile, Clint will plant a bug on their computers. Tony, who will stay behind with Thor, seeing as they could be recognized more easily, is going to use his computer and hack into their computers. Through the bug."

"Yeah, I got that." I say, and then look around, "And if there's trouble-"

"-your Uncle Tony and Thor will come in and blow up everything!" Uncle Tony interrupts and pats a case, in which I assume is his suit. His Iron Man suit (jerks eyebrows).

Clint, Natasha, and Steve roll their eyes, and the ride goes on in silence. About thirty seconds later, I notice Madison isn't here. Ya, I know, kinda late. They've must've told her to stay behind. Wait, why would they do that if she is basically a Jabberjay? Well, it's probably best if she didn't come anyways so she doesn't get hurt. And they're probably going to record it anyway.

Suddenly, my phone buzzes and the Nyan Cat song plays. Don't judge me- I like rainbows and poptarts.

I take out my iPhone and tap the screen. It's Chelsea. Smiling, I answer, "Hey, Chel."

"Zoey, I need your help."

"Okay. Shoot."

"You know your cat that just hangs around everywhere?"

"Ya. Fat Whiskers."

"Um, okay. Well...Whiskers keeps giving me and your mom dead mice."

"So throw them away."

"I do, but she won't stop."

"He. Fat Whisker's a he. I think you can see that pretty clearly when he turns around."

All of the Avengers' heads snap up and look at me with deer-caught-in-headlights expressions. Well, minus Natasha. She's just covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

"Eww, okay, I didn't need to know that, Zoey. Anyway, what should I do?"

"Hmm…" I think, and then shrug, "I dunno, get rid of him. I never liked that cat. Or cats in general. We should get a mouse-hunting dog."

"...you know what? I think I'll just call the vet."

"Fine. I see how it is."

"Have fun at camp, Zoey. Bye."

I roll my eyes and hang up. My step-mom told all the workers that Madison and I were going to a winter camp.

A few moments later, all the male Avengers stop staring and Uncle Tony speaks up, "If you don't like cats, why is your ringtone Nyan Cat?"

I blink and stare blankly at the wall. "Wow." I mutter loudly, "I did not think of that."

Clint snickers and then says, "Fat Whiskers? Really?"

I huff and lean back, tapping my iPhone. In a sing-song voice, I reply, "It could've been Captain Bobo..."

We all fall back into a silence. During this time, I play CandyCrushSaga on my phone, occasionally breaking the silence with a loud curse when I lose. Each time, Steve gives me a disapproving look, but thankfully says nothing. As we get closer and closer to the mountains, the wind starts howling outside. Howling….

I suddenly remember that wolf voice in my head from earlier.

What was that thing? It was so weird, and….and it kind of sounded like me when I am a wolf. Could...could that have been the Wolf talking to me? Do things like that talk to people? Maybe the Other Guy talks to Bruce? I should ask him.

Exiting CandyCrush (after losing all my lives), I look for Bruce in my contacts. Yeah, I got all their numbers. Uncle Tony wants me to have a StarkPhone. But I like my iPhone! It is my precious!

Finding the scientist's name, I text:

'hey bruce, just out of curiosity does the other guy talk to u sometimes?"

I patiently wait for an answer. A few seconds later, Bruce's phone buzzes. He picks it up and taps it a few times. For a moment, he stares at it, and then glances at me quickly before replying.

'Yes, sometimes. Why? Is there a wolf talking to you?'

I hesitate, then reply,

'I think so. I was just wondering cuz it freaked me out.'

Bruce pauses for a while, then texts,

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'...a bit. its just...I felt so awesome and powerful when it spoke. I was running away from Fury so he wouldnt put the collar on me, but then my sides started aching cuz I was tired. The Wolf taught me how to run faster without getting too tired, and it worked. It felt so good, but so weird at the same time. I dont know if I should listen to it or not'

For a while, we both just stare at our phones. Then,

'If it's helping you, then I think you can listen. But if it tells you to do something you don't want to do, then ignore it.'

'...ok. Thanks, Uncle Bruce.'

'I'm not your uncle….but you're welcome.'

I sigh, feeling much better. So….Wolf, I think, Got anything to say to me?

No reply

Okay, then, I think, You're going to have to sign a contract, though, because I've already got Madison in my head. If you want to join the party, I'm going to have to get something in return.

Nothing

I'm talking to myself in my head. Wonderful.

R&R!

Guys, don't forget to watch California Chrome go for the Triple Crown!

-Flaming Crow