Sorry for the delay, I just couldn't get writing these last few days. Here at last is the second half of the party! Get ready for some action! Also, in case you haven't seen it already, feel free to check out my other story, An Avengers Vacation, if you like Jurassic Park. It's a little crossover about the Avengers visiting Jurassic World! Now without further ado, the London Gathering Part 2...
In a rush of air and sound, the heavy oaken doors slammed shut behind Clint, Steve, and Thor. Clint had barely an instant to register the magnitude of their confinement before he looked ahead and regarded that they were not alone in the luxury suite.
Straight ahead, Natasha was bound and gagged, held in place by not one, but three enormous security guards. She bore several fresh scratches and her dress appeared battered. Nat seemed to be in some sort of daze- her eyes half glazed over- and she didn't seem to notice her teammates' appearance in the suite.
Natasha wasn't the only one, though. To her right, Pepper was similarly bound, and to her left Jane was held. The only difference was that Pepper and Jane required only one guard to be restrained, and they were more attentive. They noticed the rescue team's entrance and furiously tried to speak, but Pepper received another gag in her mouth for her efforts, and Jane a heavy punch in the gut.
As his girlfriend doubled over in pain, Thor clenched his jaw and made to go forward, but Steve stopped him. Clint noticed out of the corner of his eye that Thor had somehow gotten a hold of Mjolnir, and that his suit had disappeared- replaced by his battle armour.
Where'd he get that from...up his sleeve? Clint admonished in his head.
"What is the meaning of this?" Thor bellowed angrily, brandishing Mjolnir.
For a moment, no one responded, and Clint had enough time to pull out and assemble his bow, arrows, and quiver. He trained an arrow on one of Nat's captor's.
"I really don't think that's necessary." Echoed a throaty, smooth voice from the back of the suite. The man in the purple suit shouldered his way past the guards and captives, to stand before Steve, Clint, and Thor with a sickening smile.
Behind Pembroke, Natasha seemed to be waking up slowly, her eyes refocusing and her expression hardening as she realized what was going on.
"Mr. Pembroke." Steve muttered, observing the short, purple suited man.
"In the flesh." He answered with a devious chuckle.
Clint shifted his bow and adjusted his target to Mr. Pembroke's heart. "I don't know what you want, Barney, but I'll make this simple. Release the women or I'll drive an arrow through your heart."
The purple gremlin didn't react at all, merely continued talking.
"I still wish to make an agreement with you." He quipped calmly, hands clasped.
"You mean to sell us your energy source? If this is about money..." Steve called, brows furrowed.
Pembroke shook his head briskly. "No, no. This has nothing to do with that nonsense."
"What is it then?" Clint murmured irritably, bow still trained on the man's chest. "This wouldn't be a proper rescue without the cliché villain spiel."
Pembroke appeared insulted and frowned. "Fine then. Seize them!" the purple suited man screamed, summoning several more agents from the shadows of the room.
"Now you've done it, Barton!" Steve yelled, slightly panicked.
At that instant, Natasha managed to free her mouth to call out a warning.
"It's mind control, Clint! DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOU!" she screamed, before the captors jammed the gag back in her mouth.
At once, the room sprang into chaos. Clint was momentarily haunted by the notion of mind control, but he regained his senses and let the arrow he had notched minutes ago finally fly. It soared straight through Pembroke, who dissolved- apparently just a hologram. Clint swore under his breath and notched another arrow. Beside him, Steve was locked in combat with a tall suited guard, faring well despite his lack of shield. Cap knocked the man unconscious and stole his gun, before pointing the weapon at the oncoming guards.
Clint fired a dozen arrows over the course of a minute, rapidly taking out guards, but they kept on coming, appearing from the bowels of the room relentlessly.
"How many butlers can one guy have?" Clint shouted irritably, sending an arrow through a suited man's eye.
"Too many!" Thor answered quickly as he swung his hammer into a tall bookcase, causing it to crash down on top of a few guards.
Clint saw Steve making his way toward Nat, kicking and punching his way through the line of guards. The Captain managed to come within a few feet, before he was buried in a mound of attackers.
Clint ran over to help, but it was quickly deemed unnecessary, since Natasha had wormed her way out of the captors' grip. She appeared to be fully with it again, and had left the three guards who had restrained her in a bloody, unconscious pile.
Nat was working her way through the melee of guards surrounding Steve, and doing so without any weapons. Clint scanned the suite and noticed that her weapons band was lying on a table in the kitchen. He dashed over, firing arrows as he ran, and retrieved her little arsenal.
"Nat!" he called, before tossing the band over the fighting crowd. Natasha smiled gratefully and whipped out her gun, firing precisely in rapid succession.
Now Clint ran over to where Pepper was held, but the captor-guard caught him by surprise and landed a kick in his abdomen. Clint keeled over in shock, his bow clattering to the floor beside him. In the guard's grip, Pepper squirmed desperately, but the big man held on to her relentlessly, and was about to land a heavy kick on Clint's face when he was distracted by a commotion at the doors.
Clint scrambled to his feet in time to see the oak doors blasted aside to reveal Tony, donning his Iron Man suit. Darcy crouched in the doorframe, taking in the mid-party battle in astonishment.
Tony jetted forward, clearly scanning the room for Pepper. He flew somewhat erratically, obviously still suffering a bit from excessive alcohol. Tony flew immediately up to Pepper and didn't hesitate to blast her captor skyward, before grabbing her and hugging her somewhat dramatically.
In the midst of the fighting, Clint couldn't help but smile to himself, "Drunk Tony equals happy Tony, right Pepper?" he called out, to which Pepper nodded and smiled, unable to speak through being squeezed by the Iron Man armour.
Clint ran back into the fray, taking out several guards in procession. The attackers were thinning, only a half-dozen remained. Countless unconscious or dead bodies littered the suite's floor.
Thor had freed Jane, and held her close, protecting her as one of the remaining guards tried to attack. The god of thunder merely flung his hammer gently, and the man was sent crashing into the far wall, blood trickling from a wound on his head. Thor recalled Mjolnir and faced the few remaining opponents.
Natasha took out two of the guards with graceful kicks to the head, as Steve simultaneously punched another unconscious. Tony was till hugging Pepper, who appeared slightly concerned at Tony's condition. Clint took out the last two guards with well placed arrows in their backs, sending them crashing to the ground.
All at once, the room fell silent and the destruction and gore of the suite became evident. Natasha reattached her weapons band to her leg and wiped some stray hair from her face. Thor released Jane and seemed to check her over for damage, frantically ensuring that she was unharmed. Steve and Clint silently rendezvoused in the centre of the room, grimly wondering how a luxurious party had taken such a dark turn.
Darcy ran into the room from outside.
"Wow! That was...great, guys. Why were we fighting?" she called out ponderously, sidestepping the guards' bodies.
"Mr. Pembroke was a sneak... he never had an energy source to sell to Stark Industries, he was just looking for test subjects and the Avengers fit the bill." Natasha grumbled angrily, glaring at the unconscious guards on the floor.
"Test subjects- you mean he's a scientist?" Steve inquired quickly, looking slightly baffled.
Jane stepped forward. "A sort of mad neuroscientist, really." She said shakily.
"So that's what you meant by mind control." Clint piped.
Natasha looked at Darcy again. "Nice job retrieving Stark, by the way. Even though he's practically useless in his current state, he still helped a little" she said honestly, giving Darcy a nod of approval.
Darcy beamed at the compliment, looking extremely pleased with herself.
Pepper looked ashen. "This entire night was a waste of time. It's all my fault!" she wailed, putting her face in her hands.
"Not really, Pepper! The party was awesome before all this happened." Darcy pointed out, gesturing to the ruined suite.
Pepper didn't look convinced. Beside her, Tony seemed to have fallen asleep again with his head on her shoulder.
"I think we should be more worried about finding the real Mr. Pembroke- he's definitely hostile." Steve proclaimed, putting a comforting hand on Pepper's Tony-free shoulder. "Could the real guy be here, in this suite? Is that how he operated such an accurate hologram?" he added.
Clint shrugged. "Tony would know, but he's a bit out of sorts at the moment." He said, answered quickly by a couple obnoxiously loud drunken snores from Tony.
"Of course I'm here, you fools." Snarled an angry, throaty voice from behind where the Avengers stood.
The entire group suddenly turned to regard the destroyed oak doors, where a short figure in a purple suit blocked their exit. The real Mr. Pembroke was much less well-groomed. He had wild and ruffled hair, an unbuttoned purple suit jacket, blazing delusional eyes, and two sleek silver daggers in his hands.
"I extend my hospitality to your ridiculous group, invite you to the greatest party of the year, and offer you a deal...and in response you've levelled my home and dismantled my entire staff!" he wheezed, raising his right-hand dagger.
Clint raised his bow and trained it once again on Pembroke's heart. "Usually good hosts don't try to abduct their guests." He called out, pulling the string tight.
The purple suit man did not let up. He seemed to ignore Clint's statement. "You have betrayed me most, with your false words and...misleading actions." He hissed, fixing his gaze on Natasha.
The assassin gazed back at him, her eyes cold and unreadable. Clint saw Nat's hand move to her gun stealthily.
Suddenly, in less than a heartbeat, Clint saw a flash of movement as Pembroke moved to throw the knife- the right arm of his purple suit a blur as it wheeled around and sent the silver weapon into the air. Clint released the arrow and saw it find its target with a thump, boldly piercing Mr, Pembroke's chest and erupting in a pool of spreading crimson. Clint was alarmed to see that Pembroke was smiling as he fell- a malicious smile. He turned in time to see Natasha gasp as the sharp silver knife pierced her abdomen, lodging in the lower left side of her stomach area.
Natasha pulled the knife out, open-mouthed, and regarded the shiny red blade almost in confusion. As Pembroke's body fell over, dead; Natasha began to go deathly pale and a gaping pool of dark scarlet spread over her red dress with sickening speed. Suddenly the others seemed to realize what had happened, and several jumped forward to catch Natasha as she staggered, Clint included.
Steve frantically rushed forward and pressed a hand to her wound. He ripped off a long slice off of his shirt and pressed it on tightly. Natasha regarded him serenely, raising a hand to his for an instant. She seemed to be trying to speak, but couldn't form the words. Clint watched as her beautiful eyes closed and her hand fell dejectedly as she went unconscious.
Clint pressed a nervous hand to the underside of her jaw, and was relieved to still feel a slow beating there. "She's just blacked out, but if we don't get her back to the infirmary fast, she will die quickly." He announced solemnly.
The rest of the Avengers sprang into action, eager to get Nat back to the portal. Pepper was inconsolable, proclaiming that if Natasha died, she would never forgive herself. Thor led Tony along, who was now awake and emitting a deep, creepy, hysterical laugh. Jane and Darcy walked in front alongside Clint and Steve, their faces grim. Steve himself carried Natasha gently, his expression hardened as the ragged group searched for the exit.
Most of the party had dispersed, and the Avengers didn't care to regard the remaining guests as they gaped, open-mouthed at the battle-worn group passing by.