Scorch Marks
(Author's note- I'm back, and freaking out about the Infinity War trailer, which reminded me I should probably clear a few things up. This story takes place in an AU where Thor Ragnarok and everything afterwords didn't happen. Thanos came and they defeated him, but no one died. Everyone continued crime fighting, raised a family, and then passed away from causes yet to be revealed. Hope that makes things more clear. Thanks for reading!)
"No! Thomas!" Thalia screeched. At first, all she saw was the remaining shadow of her childhood friend. Then as Sinful bent down to pick up the shield and examine it, all she saw was red.
Giving a cry of no words in particular, just pain and fury, she zoomed forward, firing missiles out of the arms of the suit.
The figure who had...who had killed Tom scrunched up his face in concentration. The target bound missiles hit an invisible force field and exploded. The newly discovered telepath gasped but other than that, the pair of villains were unharmed.
Upon further inspection, Thalia realized she knew who the man was. He was a deformed monstrosity. His head was huge, barely being held up by the levitating chair's support system. On his arms and legs were mechanical enhancement concealing his real limbs. The skin on his face was peeling and burned, folds of skin encompassing his head. The patches of hair he did have were greasy and covered by the suit that supported his body. Huh, so now MODOK was working with Hydra.
Landing on the ground twenty feet in front of the crime scene, Thalia's voice was thick with anger as she growled, "Let go of the shield, you animal."
"Ah, I was wondering when one of Super Soldier's allies would heed his call for help." Sinful drawled. Though he seemed the picture of confidence, the paling of his skin and wheezing of his breathe said otherwise.
MODOK had apparently also noticed this. Turning to Stein, he mumbled, "We should retreat, we have have done what we came to do."
At that, Thalia raised her gauntlet, the repulsor already starting up. "You aren't going anywhere."
A startling laugh rang through the air, this time from MODOK. He shared a side glance with Sinful, and when the Hydra general gave a subtle nod, he reacted. A deformed hand reached up to touch his forehead.
Thalia had planned to stop him before that, already prepared to shoot his arm, then charge forward to secure Stein, but before she could she felt a slight pressure being pressed all along her.
Her hand was forced back to her side, and she began to struggle as she felt the Iron Maiden armour bend at the legs, forcing her on her knees. The joints in the armour locked up, trapping her in place. A panicked sense of claustrophobia overcame her as the pressure on her head and chest increased. Her breathing quickened and her heart rate skyrocketed, which the rational part of her brain reasoned wasn't exactly the best reaction to have at the moment.
As she fought and struggled, Thalia gasped out "Friday, what's happening?"
"Sy-sy-system fail-ail-ail-ailure. System-system-system compromised," was the response in a glitchy voice. The screens and numbers in front of Thalia flashed warnings, but a second later all was black. Friday and all the other armor systems had shut down.
"Should I finish her off?" asked MODOK, the voice barely penetrating through the thick metal alloy of the helmet. A memory of reading the SHIELD files on MODOk hit her. Suddenly the "how" of the attack became painfully clear. MODOK was a technopath, created by AIM. The organization had come back with a vengeance after Hydra started funding it.
Fear shot through Thalia's heart, and she continued to struggle even harder against the now painful pressure. But soon panic would be replaced by confusion when she heard Sinful answer, "No, she deserves to see the fruits of our labor more than anyone else. It will be a fate more cruel than death."
A sharp ringing was heard and then silence. The violent force on the armour ceased, though Thalia was still locked in. She exhaled a shaky breathe, then quietly whispered, "Unlock protocol." Long ago the Stark had expected to possibly be in a situation like the current one, so she had designed an emergency system to maintain energy after a power drain in case of a lockdown.
The front facing plates of the suit opened up, letting Thalia step out into the rubble. She inhaled fresh air greedily, dispersing the panic that had been building up in her chest. Looking around frantically, it was clear that the two villains had teleported out. All that was left in the area was the Stark and the shadowed remains of Thomas. The bastards had even taken the shield.
For the first time the true meaning of what had happened to Tom hit her like a freight train.
He was gone? Gone? Just like that? No, someone like Thomas, someone as revolutionary, can't be gone? The evidence said otherwise.
Tears flooded her eyes and a muffled sob escaped her throat. She hadn't even realized she was kneeling beside his imprint. Slowly she reached out and touched the ground where her friend had stood.
Her friend who was now with their parents. Dead.
"Oh Tom."
Like breaking a dam, those words let loose all her emotions. And that's where Thalia stayed mourning. Weeping for her lost childhood family, alone like always.
