AN: So i told you last time that i'd update once a week, yet here's another update... hahaha. Got excited. i guess.
A very lengthy update for you guys. I actually never expected it to be this long but the words and the ideas just kept pouring and pouring. This chapter packs more adjusting to the scenario and some much deserved Tike.
Reviews will be very appreciated folks~
Chapter 2: Power of Four
"Hurry up you sloppy babies! I've been expecting you dreadful duo a full hour ago. You think defeating a chunk of metal is hard, try suddenly waking up with only one eye, that's hard!" barked Sue Sylvester who was dressed up in her own S.H.I.E.L.D. Kevlar jumpsuit under a black trench coat designed with her signature track suit stripes.
"Coming right away Coach Sylvester!" Blaine asked as he ran in the Hellicarrier's runway to meet up with her coach turned commander. He and Artie would not have been late if the latter didn't make a shawarma detour.
"Oh no you don't Agent Overgelled! If your eyes are still fully functioning after your retinal rock salt attack and the chemicals that fornicate in your wild locks to rival your miserable excuse for a butt-chinned glee club adviser, you would have noticed the clear increase of melanin in my system and the fact that I'm wearing an eye patch like some weird drag queen pirate.
"To make up from this sudden makeover that brought my once perfect image into this deplorable state, I demand that you all rightfully call me as Commander Fury to match the anger that has had me seething the moment I peered into the mirror of this God forsaken ship filled with glee clubbers wearing weird armor and spandex!"Sue Fury ranted at the two individuals in front of her.
Blaine and Artie just nodded their heads to appease the furious cheerleading coach turned hero commander. They were saved from further unnecessary scolding when a very stressed out Maria Hill rushed towards them.
"Commander, we have some bad news." Blaine's former French teacher reported. "The pulse messed up some of the circuitry we need in this ship. We need someone to go fetch us replacement parts so the ship will be fully operational again."
"Then why don't you go find those parts yourself, whoever the heck you are!"
"I'm not qualified for that task commander but Agent Anderson can be of perfect assistance to us for this mission. It's part of his training after all." Maria Hill finished though it was obvious that she too was intimidated by Sue Fury.
Sue turned back towards Blaine and Artie and Blaine already anticipated that she was going to scream at him again just like every Cheerios practice they've had.
"What are you still standing there for Non-flaming gay agent? You're needed by Maria what's her name and hurry up! I need my cable TV back in my cabin!" and with that, she stormed out of the runway platform and onto the main building of the Hellicarrier.
"Well, we better get started Blaine, time for you to activate the Flight Decks." Miss Clearwater/ Maria Hill said.
They made their way to the south western part of their aircraft where a small blue and white jet was parked, an Mk I Sparrow.
"This is the most basic jet we have for the flight deck missions we have." Maria Hill explained. "Now I think you already know how these kinds of missions work?"
"You send a hero with the plane to a preselected location where they will resolve an unknown mission and come back with silver and some experience, am I correct?" Blaine answered in a manner that could rival Hermione Granger.
"Spot on, Agent Anderson. This is why you were my favorite student." Maria Hill beamed.
"Now Iron Man, could you please fetch Black Widow in Commander Fury's gymnasium? She's needed in this mission."
"Sure thing Maria, be back in a flash B." Artie said as he rocketed towards the main building.
"Now Black Widow will fly with this plane to fetch the parts needed, it will only take about…"
"Three minutes, yes I remember Miss Clearwater." Blaine finished. "I'm just wondering, why can't I just do it myself?"
"Well, it is part of the game's required plot but I assure you that a few more things in our list and you'll have more freedom to do whatever you want. And besides, you can't climb the jets."
"I can't?"
"Oui, Agent Anderson. Only the heroes you recruit on your side can board those. Try it out to see for yourself." Maria Hill instructed.
Blaine saw the smirk her former teacher had on her face. It's the same smirk she always wore when she was about to give a surprise French quiz and she knew that it was very difficult. Blaine carefully approached the parked plane and the moment he was about to take the first step on the stairs, some sort of force field zapped him away, eliciting a small screech of pain from him which made her instructor chuckle.
"See what I mean? You can't interfere with the basic mechanics of the game. There would be too many consequences that would happen if you do."
"Wait Miss Clearwater, I just noticed. You're the only person so far to actually metion that we are in the game. So how did this all happen? How did you even get sucked into this mess? You don't even play the game." Blaine asked to clear up the confusion that's already giving him a migraine. Not the in-game debuff kind but the real life kind.
"Interesting question as always agent, but sad to say that I don't have the proper answer for that one. All I know is that I believe we're in the game because you are more inclined into believing that we are." She answered mysteriously.
"Wait, what? Do you mean that I control what you guys think?"
Before Blaine could even get an answer, Tina and Artie arrived to get the mission in hand started.
"Let's talk some other time then, right now; we have more important stuff to take care off. Black Widow, please board the MK I Sparrow now." Maria Hill ordered.
"You know how to fly a jet?" Blaine asked her co-Asian best friend
"There's a pilot in the planes before they come fully operational, remember? All I have to do is ride and enjoy the in-flight drinks." Tina replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"There are no alcoholic drinks in their Black Widow. We don't want our operatives to arrive drunk in their missions." Maria chided.
"Not even Vodka? What's the point of being Russian then?"
"We'll discuss your refreshment choice some other time. Right now, board and fly to Newark. We need those replacements now. Blaine, command the jet to take off."
"Errr, okay? How exactly do I do that?" Blaine asked. All he did in the game was to click random buttons and that didn't make sense right now.
"Easy. Like this. Sparrow, take off!" The engines came to life by the sound of Maria Hill's voice and Tina grabbed the door's handle for dear life as the plane took off at mach speed.
"My God! Tina! Artie, quick, go assist her! She might fall!"
"Relax hobbit, only one of us can go with the jet at a time. And besides, she's a freaking Russian spy. They've had tougher things to do than that." Artie said without a slight hint of worry for his ex-girlfriend.
Three minutes in and the jet was back to where it was parked. Blaine couldn't comprehend how that could have happen in real life but it did.
Tina jumped out of the jet; not even waiting for it to completely finishes its landing to meet up with Blaine and Artie.
"Mission complete and I have some silver we could use! Let's go shopping Blaine!"
Tina dragged Blaine towards the main building while Artie remained on deck, helping the crew on their post flight check.
The inside of the building was pretty hi-tech military standard and almost similar to the one in the Avengers movie. Tina led him into numerous halls that looked identical till they reached a room labeled STORE.
"Welcome to the Hellicarrier's built in mall! Just earn enough silver or gold so you could purchase some of the cool stuff they have here. And speaking of which, I have been meaning to try on that new gray outfit they have. See you in a bit Blaine!" And on that cheery not, Tina left him at the front of the store as she made her way out to go to wherever they kept the alternate uniforms in the aircraft.
Blaine now found himself alone in a huge multistory room filled with various weapons, gadgets and items that could help succeed in his missions and for once, the appeal of shopping for cool stuff did not make him all giddy.
Because I almost always had Kurt with me whenever we go shopping, he sadly remembered.
To distract himself, he quickly went through the first appealing aisle he saw, the melee weapons.
He saw a couple of knives, some tonfas and even a chainsaw (probably the Chain Blade or the Ripper) but what really caught his eye was the beautiful and stunning blade of a katana. He tried to grab it but that weird force field he felt back in the flight deck zapped him again. An electronic voice then told him that the item was locked due to 'insufficient level'. He tried it again with one of the earlier knives he saw but the force field still acted up.
"Is there anything in here that will not electrocute me?" Blaine complained to the computer activating the force fields or whoever can hear him in that room. As if his voice somehow summoned an electronic shopping aide, the floor of the store lighted up with matching arrow signs which lead him out of the melee weapon aisle and into the ranged weapons one, specifically the gun part. That's where he saw a familiar model and when he saw the name, he knew that it was the one he needed. It was a Spirit-76, a handy ranged gun to have in the early levels.
He grabbed it warily; afraid that the force field would act up again but this time he succeeded in clutching the weapon he coveted.
He searched for the cashier so that he could pay for his gun but found out that there was no counter in the store nor did he have the physical silver to pay with. But the electronic aide came to the rescue again as a big screen flashed by the entrance of the store displaying the number of silver and gold he currently has under his name. The voice he heard awhile ago informing him of his insufficient level spoke up again giving him shopping instructions. The voice told him that he just had to walk out of the store with the desired object/s and it would automatically deduce itself from his current savings. If however, he did not have sufficient funds then the force field would once kick in and electrocute him for shoplifting.
Knowing that he had enough silver for the gun, Blaine bravely stepped out of the store. He didn't feel the sizzling shock the force field offered so he felt relieved. That was until Commander Fury found him and took him by the ear and dragged him away from the store's hall.
"Ouch, coach! What did I do?" Blaine complained after Sue let go of his ear.
"You should thank me for extending your unusually small ears so that you won't be considered a freak by your elf-like cousins back in Middle-Earth. And what you did is prance around in your shopping induced high as we received an urgent call for help in the Meatpacking District. Now I want you to report there and find out what's going on immediately before I push you out of this aircraft myself!"
"Yes Commander!" Blaine said before he dashed back to the flight deck with his new gun by his other holster.
He saw Artie and Tina already on deck near a different jet they used earlier.
"Hurry up B, Viper's already wrecking havoc there. Who knows how many workers she'd already incapacitate down there? We could have delays in shawarma production for weeks!"
"Your priorities are just amazing. No wonder I broke up with you." Tina commented as she stretched out to hoist Blaine up to the jet as they made their way to the Meatpacking District in Manhattan.
Though Blaine was still just getting the hang of what was happening to him. He had to admit that he was having the time of his life, minus the force field zaps and the killer robots of course. Dream or not, he never felt more alive in a long time since his break up, though he still wished that Kurt was here with him in this new realm he was in.
They arrived by the slaughterhouses and saw that a bunch of Hydra goons were causing mayhem. They were just about to properly land when Artie saw a Hydra Soldier blow up a shawarma cart.
"Oh no you didn't! You're going to pay for that!" Artie screamed as he flew off the jet with his boosters.
Blaine and Tina quickly followed suit as they battled their way through the streets. They shot, blasted and punched all the Hydra criminals they saw and now they were searching for the ringmaster, Viper.
"Hold up guys, I think I found her. HQ said that Hawkeye's entertaining her right now. Follow me" Artie said to the other two.
They made their way through the various market places and roads till they saw Hawkeye inside one of the slaughterhouses combating the Hydra leader herself.
Upon further inspection, Blaine noticed that Hawkeye had a slender yet muscular figure just like a dancer. Before he could even call the attention of one of his close friends in Mckinley, the dancer's ex-girlfriend beat him to the punch.
"Michael Robert Chang! How dare you show your face here?!" Tina screamed in all her Asian fury that would have made Coach err Commander Fury proud. She then ran towards the archer and quickly tackled him to the ground.
"Well this is an interesting turnout." Viper said as she tried to escape.
"Not so fast girl. Why don't you dance with me first?" Artie said as he blocked her way with his Repulsor Ray. "Blaine, control Tina before she unleashes her Asian vampire anger on Mike out there. I'll keep Lady Poison busy here first."
Blaine did as instructed without question and quickly lifted Tina out of Mike.
"Blaine, if you value your curls then let go of me right now!" Tina screamed as she struggled from Blaine's grasp.
"Would you just freaking let me explain first?" Mike screamed back with just as much intensity.
"No! You told me back when we we're doing Grease that we could talk things through but did I get a single call or text from you? None! And then you came back for Thanksgiving but you didn't even try to talk to me. I think you've had plenty of time to explain yourself!
"Blaine, I'm leaving, I can't stand being in the same room with him. You can only have two heroes at a time anyway when you're battling someone." Tina said through the tears that she was trying to fight. She quickly left after that, leaving the two of them behind to help Artie defeat the mistress of Hydra.
"Mike…" Blaine started.
"Later Blaine, right now I wanna shoot something." Mike said with obvious anger and hurt. He quickly fired an arrow that Blaine thought would hit Artie but with the skills of an expert marksman, managed to hit Viper instead.
Viper was quickly subdued after that but before she could actually be detained, she flickered out of the area and vanished like a hologram.
"Was that normal?" Blaine asked.
"Beats me, the important thing is she's gone for now but something tells me she'll be back soon." Artie answered.
Blaine then noticed that a small pouch appeared where Viper's body was not too long ago. Blaine picked it up and inside was five shining blue coins, Command Points.
"Oh cool, well guess you want to recruit me now, right? I only cost one of those anyway." Mike said as a matter of fact.
"Umm, yeah sure. Wait how do I recruit you? Do I just say 'I want to recruit Hawkeye' or something?"
Suddenly, one of the coins in Blaine's palm disappeared and he knew that Mike/Hawkeye was now officially on his team.
"Yeah, pretty much like that. C'mon, let's find Tina and get out of here." Mike said, clearly nervous about the prospect of seeing the Asian firecracker again.
Blaine placed the other four command points back at the pouch which he placed in his belt pack. He was concerned for Tina and Mike, no doubt about that. But he still couldn't help but smile at the situation.
They were now four people strong and he felt the same excitement he did when he started the game. That drive to recruit everyone on board in fighting evil and chaos.
The Learjet they rode back to the Hellicarrier was extremely fast. Yet with the clear tension between Tina and Mike, Blaine felt that the ride was just taking forever.
The silence in the cabin was just eerie and Blaine knew that he had to do something to fix Tina and Mike's relationship before they could continue on with this missions. Or else, it would just drive him nuts.
As they landed, they saw Maria Hill waiting for them. Tina hastily left the jet but Blaine grabbed her arm before she could get away.
"Blaine, let go of me." Tina hissed with venom.
"No, you two" Blaine pointed towards Mike's direction "come with me. You two will either talk this out or I will tell Commander Fury that you need to have a hint of ipecac in all your meals."
"You wouldn't dare! That thing is disgusting." Tina said as she remembered the first time Coach Sue made her drink her signature protein shake.
"I would! Now come on, let's find out what Miss Clearwater wants then you'll begin your Asians' couple counseling."
"Don't worry B. She's here for me. I leveled up as we battled Viper so I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I wanna work out in the training room." Artie said. "Now go get those two together before she tears him apart limb by limb."
"Okay, we're sitting down and we're not killing one another. What do you want us to do now, Agent Bossypants?" Tina whined in aggravation. All she wanted to do right now was hide and cry but no, Blaine had to drag him back to his quarters (which he just found out existed thanks the Maria Hill's instructions) and to top it off, he had to bring Mike in as well.
"Obviously, I want you to sort things out. You've been the longest couple glee club has ever had and now you're acting like none of that ever happened." Blaine reasoned.
Mike was about to pipe something out but Tina spoke up first at the top her lungs.
"You are such a hypocrite! You didn't want me to meddle and manipulate you into talking to Kurt before but now, you're basically blackmailing me into doing this. You know what? The ipecac shakes will be better than this. I'm out." She would have easily left the room but Mike grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in to a kiss.
Well that escalated quickly, Blaine thought as he looked away.
Tina pulled away from the arms of the archer to scream at him but Mike just pulled her back in to the kiss.
A few more moments later and Mike broke the kiss to catch some air. Blaine wanted to leave the room now because he now felt like he was intruding on his two best Asians.
"You always seem to cut as off whenever we're about to say things. So I just had to keep your lips busy for a while." Mike said with a clear smirk in his face.
"You are so full of yourself! Ugggh. Get your hands off of me." Tina screamed as she finally stormed out of the room since she didn't want any of them to notice that she was profusely blushing from the kisses she just had.
"Well that was interesting." Blaine piped in.
"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. But I just had to do it you know and she just wouldn't stop screaming." Mike reasoned as he leaned by the wall, staring into nothingness, still remembering the kisses he and Tina just shared.
"So, why exactly did you not talk to her at all? It's that longing for the person you love that screws up people you know." Blaine said as he remembered the loneliness he felt when Kurt wasn't replying to his calls properly.
"Plenty of reasons actually. Basically, I was conflicted if I still wanted to get back together with her. "Mike said which earned him a large triangular eyebrow way up from Blaine. "For her sake of course." He added.
"And how exactly is that for her sake?"
"Because I feel like I'm only bringing her down." Mike admitted and Blaine could easily tell that he was telling the truth.
"I don't understand. Why would you even think that?"
"Because Tina is a very talented and special person and I feel like she's always stooping down to my level when we were together. She never sang a solo ever in glee the whole time we were together except for that one time where the hecklers just booed her out of the stage. But look at her now without me. She's confident and strong and you'd think twice before you cross her path. She even got a solo in the competition. And that's a major achievement since you've never even gotten that honor yet in ND and you're a solo hog. No offense." Mike awkwardly smiled as he said the last part.
"I'll try not to take offense with that." Blaine smiled though he was obviously hurt by the statement, especially since he remembered Kurt almost saying the exact thing to him before.
"But you're also talented yourself Mike. I mean, you're the best dancer I've ever seen in my life! And now, the best archer too. "
"I highly doubt that Blaine. I won't even be in dance school if it wasn't for her and I just want to return the favor. I love her a lot Blaine and I want her to shine like the star she really is and if being without her is the key to that then I have to do it.
Blaine wanted to counter his flawed logic but they were suddenly interrupted by Artie barging into the room.
"Training's done and we're needed at the Empire State University. My old buddy Whiplash is causing some unwanted shocks down there. Let's go guys! I'll race you there!" Artie darted out of the room the moment he finished his announcement.
"He's enjoying the use of his legs way too much." Blaine said as he got up from his bed and stretched.
"I second that. C'mon, those students need us."
They quickly arrived at their intended destination and pretty soon, they were beating up the A.I.M. scientists and researchers attacking the university.
"Blaine, Maria Hill actually ordered me to teach you about the different classes and which class works better against who but 'm sure you still know that." Artie said as he blasted one of the physicists carrying a rocket launcher.
"Yep, pretty much. How do you find out what their classes are though?"
"Well, they have that weird glow to them, like those physicists. They have this faint blue glow to them so I know that they're bruisers."
"How come I don't see it?" Blaine asked as he fired four more rounds of his new gun.
"Look closer, you'll notice it with practice."
Blaine focused more as he shot another bioterrorist trashing a laboratory. He then noticed that the guy Iron Man blasted with his missiles had a faint blue glow to him.
"Okay I can see it now. Thanks"
"That's cool now wait B. This just in, Maria sent us a report that one of the Hydra soldiers from the meat packing district escaped with a weird ore form the meteorite that crashed near the area. We need someone to chase that criminal down." Artie explained.
"I'll do it. I have the best eye for searching out of the four of us anyway." Mike declared.
Blaine agreed and soon enough, Mike ran away to another side of the building.
"So how are you doing Tina? And don't pretend that you didn't like that kiss. Your rosacea's still acting up from the blushing." Blaine teased as they made their way up the stairs, after taking down all the A.I.M. goons on the first floor.
"Not in the mood right now Blaine." Tina said as she climbed the stairs faster, just to avoid Blaine's badgering.
"Just give her the space for now B. She'll just erupt again if you push too hard." Artie said.
"And this is why I decided to be gay. Women are so complicated…"
"And Kurt wasn't?"
Blaine just gave Artie a death glare that could have given Ghost Rider's Penance Stare a run for its money.
"I was just kidding bro! Don't go shooting daggers at me." Artie defended himself.
Blaine just ran up the stairs following Tina, leaving Artie by the stairwell.
Forget women, everyone's just complicated. Artie thought.
They were about to track Whiplash using Artie's devices for tracking various energy signals when they encountered a slightly beaten up Mike Chang.
"Hey guys! got the package Maria needed." Mike smiled though it was obvious he was in pain.
"Mike what happened to you? Blaine, First Aid Kit now!" Tina ordered as she made her way to Mike.
"I just walked in on an ambush but I dealt with it. Nothing special. Ow, easy with that medicine Blaine." Mike said as he wince din pain as Blaine healed him.
Blaine tried his best to heal Mike as efficiently and painless as possible. Which was okay considering that he's only experience was really clicking those kits and placing them to the character on his computer screen.
When that was done, they again made their way towards the laboratory where Whiplash can be found.
"Okay Blaine, me and Artie will accompany in you in battling Whiplash. Tina, stay here since he could badly hurt you. You're an infiltrator after all." Mike reasoned.
"But Mike."
"No, Tina. Mike's right." Blaine countered, happy that he finally got a chance to interrupt Tina. "And besides, he's already more or less fully recovered. Don't worry about him; me and Artie have his back."
"Bu-..." Tina again got interrupted when Mike kissed her.
"No more buts, stay here and be safe." Mike firmly told her.
"Okay guys, let's go. The more time we waste, the more trouble Whiplash can create." Artie said.
Whiplash greeted them when they arrived in his makeshift lair. Mike didn't let him finish though as he quickly fired an arrow that connected through his armor.
"You will pay for that." Whiplash said with his thick Russian accent. He lashed his electric whips towards Mike in retaliation.
"Mike, he counters all attacks. We have to move tactically to defeat him." Blaine reminded.
He quickly took out the Frag grenade he picked up when he defeated the Power Armor and threw at Whiplash's direction. Artie then followed suit with his rays. Whiplash countered Artie and then made another attack towards Mike, further injuring the archer.
"Blaine, a little help here!" Mike shouted.
Blaine quickly gave him another First Aid Kit. Thankful that Miss Clearwater gave him a few stock. He didn't want to think about what would happen if one of them actually lost all of their hit points in this realm.
Blaine and Artie then shot Whiplash again with their respective ranged weapons and Whiplash finally fell and flickered just like what happened to Viper. Blaine then knelt down to pick up the loot that dropped from Whiplash as Artie went to Mike to make sure he was okay. Blaine found another pouch as loot which contained three command points.
"Da-imn Blaine, you're lucky here!" Artie said.
"Beginner's Luck I guess." Blaine replied.
Blaine quickly stood up and suddenly felt light-headed and woozy. He was about to fall back to the ground when Artie caught him.
"Thanks Artie. What happened? I kinda felt like passing out just a second ago."
"It's the after effects of losing all of your energy. You'll feel better in a while once you regain some of it." Artie said as he picked up Blaine bridal style.
"It's nice to be the one to catch and carry people for a change" Artie beamed.
"Is this really necessary?" Blaine said, feeling totally embarrassed.
"Nope, he just wants to show off." Mike teased.
Hey, it's not every day that I get to feel like a knight in actual shining armor." Artie countered
"Fine, fine. Carry me to safety my faithful prince." Blaine said in a mock damsel in distress tone just to ride along with the charade.
The three friends made their way out of the laboratory to meet up with Tina again. Tina was ecstatic to see them safe and even laughed when she saw Artie lifting Blaine.
"Never thought that I'd ship the two of you together. " Tina kidded.
They continued with their random friendly banter as they exited the university and made their way back to the ship.
Blaine was extremely exhausted by the back to back missions they just accomplished but at least this one ended on a better note than the last one.
AN: Well, there goes another chapter. Hope you guys liked it. There will be more Tike moments throughout the story.
Next chapter will feature the next two missions against Baron Zemo and M.O.D.O.K. And the return of Sammy as Captain America. Kurt on the other hand will appear on the fourth chapter, or at least we find out where he is in the game and what will his role be.
That's all for now. Percival Jones, logging off.