Mystery Man
*Updated - 11/03/2014
*Stark, Energy Power Plant, New York, the next morning
"Well this is a fine mess isn't it?" Viktor said as he inspected a dead body of one of the guards.
"This cut is clean…..very clean…almost cauterized" Viktor said as he inspected the cut on the guard's throat
"You need time alone with your new buddy?" a Shield agent in combat armour joked causing Viktor to glare at the man.
"Show a bit of respect at least" Viktor said as he brought a hand to the dead man's face and closed his eyes
It was a messy situation to say the least, after last night's fiasco it didn't take long for Tony to notice that the energy plant that he built for the city had been drained. At the moment Tony, Viktor, Jess, Natasha and Laura were scoping the area with a contingent of Shield troops. They were probably the only members of the team who were available to investigate what was going on, due to the blackout the previous night, there had been store lootings, riots and crime had run rampant for the night.
Sure they had managed to quell some of the issues with minor problems but something was telling Viktor that the way many of them handled the situation probably wasn't the best. Like Thor summoning a lighting storm to 'discourage' any rioters and looters. Needless to say it was a bit extreme yet effective.
"Did you manage to retrieve any surveillance footage?" Natasha asked a Shield trooper who was busy hacking into the system. The damage caused made it difficult yet not impossible to retrieve the data.
"Just a few images Ma'am, though they are a bit blurry" the trooper replied
"Better than nothing I guess" Jess sighed
"A few images of whoever the hell did this….not enough if you ask me" Tony huffed with his arms crossed, it wasn't the fact that someone came into one of his power plants and robbed the entire city of energy, Tony could fix something like that in no time. It was the fact that the person who did this killed 10 good men, 10 good men with families at that and whoever did this had to pay.
"It's something Tony, they aren't magicians" Viktor said as he stood up and walked over towards where the others were only to step on something with a crunch. He looked down to see that he had stepped in some yellow powder. He tilted his head before crouching down and picking some up in his fingers.
Viktor brought the powder to his nose and tried to take in the scent and immediately recognised it.
"Guys…..come over here" Viktor said looking up at the others who quickly came to his side.
"What is it Brimstone?" Jess asked as they crouched beside him.
"Do you know what this stuff is?" Viktor asked
"….i don't know, enlighten us" Natasha said
"This my friends is powdered Sulphur" Viktor said
"…why the hell would anyone put Sulphur on the floor like this?" Jess questioned not seeing any logic in these actions
"Do you know what the usual term for Sulphur is?" Viktor asked the others as he felt the texture of the powder
"What?" Laura asked
"Brimstone…..someone is taunting me" Viktor said
"That's kind of a skip don't you think? Aren't you jumping to conclusions here?" Tony's eyebrow rose
"Nope, because I have that to back my theory up" Viktor said pointing behind everyone, they all turned around and at the angle there were standing they saw that there as a message written in blood on the side of the energy plant.
'HOW DO YOU LIKE MY HANDIWORK BRIMSTONE?'
'WATCH YOUR BACKS, SHIELD!'
"Well…whoever it is, they are sure artistic" Laura commented
"Jones, do you have that footage up and ready yet?" Jessica asked the Shield trooper hacking into the mainframe.
"Yes Ma'am" Jones replied
"Good, let's see what we got" Jess smiled as the team stood around the computer monitor as the security file played.
The only image that they managed to recover however was that of the man who did this, flourishing his katana before stabbing the arc reactor. They were able to make out his silver hair, black coat and body armour, but not his face, glowing eyes or strange katana sheath.
"Great…now we got man to look for" Viktor smiled
"Uh…..Do you guys know who this guy is?" Laura asked as she couldn't recognise the man
"Never seen him before in my life" Natasha replied honestly
"Same" Jess replied as she had never seen this man in all her years
"JARVIS, run a recognition scan on his height, hair, stance and attire and see if you get any matches" Tony said trying to make sure.
"Sir I'm afraid I cannot find any matches in any of those fields from the Avengers mainframe nor the Shield archives" the AI replied
"Well…..it seems we have a new guy in town" Viktor said with a smirk
"I think that guy is the least of our problems, we have 10 dead civilians here, their families have to be notified and you can bet that will only help stir things up" Tony sighed
"Yeah…..make sure you break to them gently" Viktor said as he looked at the men's dead bodies.
"I have a feeling we will be getting a tonne of trouble soon" Viktor said as he looked at the man on the monitor again.
*Shield Helicarrier, Hovering 30,000 feet over Washington, 5pm
"I told you the situation is under control Councillors, Shield forces and the Avengers have managed to stop the riots and power will be restored to the city momentarily" Fury told the world security council who were on display on the monitor in front of him.
"That isn't important Colonel, what we want to know is if the Avengers' reputation is still intact" the English councilman said
"…I'm sorry councilman?" Fury asked
"Fury, we need to make sure that no matter what situation the Avengers or any other Superhumans are in, that they don't get into trouble with the American public, especially during this time" the French councilwoman spoke up
"I'm sorry but I still fail to see the point here" Fury said
"Considering what the new American president announced a few days ago, the American people are on edge with the actions of Superhumans, Mutants and Vigilante's in general" the Japanese councilman said
"Therefore it is very likely that their government will attempt to pass a registration law in order to control them…..needless to say this is not good for the rest of the world" the Russian Councilmen continued
"If the American government controls an army of Superhumans you can bet that the rest of the world will not like it and will most likely retaliate by doing the same….you can guess what would happen next if someone says one wrong word" the English councilman said
"World war 3" Fury said in realization
For once Fury found himself agreeing with the World Security Council, it was his duty to the world as the director of Shield to make sure that a registration act wouldn't happen. Shield had to make sure that didn't happen.
"Don't worry Council members, you can count on me to make sure that doesn't come to pass" Fury said
"It had better not Fury, or else it will be your head" The Japanese councilman said as they all turned off their monitors. Fury sighed and left the room and walked straight back onto the deck of the Helicarrier with his hands behind his back.
"How did it go sir?" Commander Maria Hill asked as she and Agent Coulson approached Fury from behind.
"Better than usual…we actually agreed on something" Fury responded
"….I'm sorry sir? Did I just hear that right?" Coulson asked flabbergasted at what Fury had just said
"It's the end of the world Coulson" Hill joked
"It's to do with the superhuman situation we find ourselves in. I'm afraid that the American people are getting more and more unsettled the presence of having masked vigilantes roaming the streets, things are getting so tense and even the world council know what is happening from across the other side of the world" Fury said as he gazed out of the Helicarrier window and out onto the clouds.
"The Superhumans will have to be careful sir, if something goes wrong I'm afraid that they are going to have to pay the price" Hill said
"Then we have to make sure that doesn't happen Ma'am" Coulson interjected
"Coulson's right Hill, it's our duty as Shield agents to keep order in the world, and right now that means making sure that we can keep the peace in this country" Fury said
"Sir…..SIR! DIRECTOR FURY!" an agent shouted as he ran up towards he colonel
"Spit it out man! What is it?" the African American asked
"We just received word back from Agents Drew and Romanoff" the Agent gasped out of breath
"And?" Fury asked with a bit of force
"We may have a problem sir"
"Fuck you bug! And fuck your whore too"
*WHACK*
"Don't…call her….a whore" Peter panted as he knocked the looter unconscious for insulting his girlfriend who was busy handing over a few more unconscious looters to the police.
"Thanks Ms Marvel, without you guys around I don't think we could handle all the riots and looting" the officer thanked Carol as he took the looters to the back of the police truck.
"Don't mention it, we're happy to help" Carol smiled as the officer closed the doors of the truck.
"Well, how many looters is that now?" Peter asked scratching the back of his head
"Including those 10?" Carol asked back
"Yeah"
"At least 50"
"Dam….that blackout really was something huh?" Carol said, surprised that things had gotten this bad in a single night. Sure the robberies had eased down a little and there weren't any riots going on in the streets.
"Yeah…so much for a peaceful morning huh?" Peter mused. He may have seemed mildly ticked off at the moment but he did at least have something to smile about. He figured that tomorrow was going to be the day; he couldn't take the tension anymore so he had finally come to a decision. He was going to ask Carol the question tomorrow, but then a thought rushed into his head.
He had a good evening planned for it
He knew how to say it but
He didn't have a ring
He had put so much thought into how he was going to propose to the love of his life that he never went out and got a ring. It was only the most important part of proposing and he couldn't believe that….no…it was just like him to forget this one crucial detail, the Parker sense of bad luck had kicked in once again.
"Pete…are you ok?" Carol whispered to him
"Huh? Oh I'm fine" Pete smiled back
"Ok, whatever you say, do you want to go back to the mansion?" Carol asked as she knew that stressed out look even behind the mask.
"I don't think that…."
"Hey, you're tired I can see that, the others can take care of things around here ok?" Carol said sternly
"…..Alright" Peter sighed before Carol wrapped her arms around him and shot into the sky
*Avengers Mansion, 10 minutes later
In the longue of the mansion Viktor and Peter were sat opposite each other on the couch. Carol had left a few minutes ago to continue to bring order to the city accompanied by Laura, Thor and Tony while Natasha and Jessica said they had some Shield business to attend to.
Viktor stared at Peter for a full 5 minutes blankly as possible; the wall crawler was sat in front of the 900 year old Avenger simply waiting for a reaction. Viktor had his hands in a Sherlock pose with them clasped together under his chin and simply took a deep breath before he finally replied.
"….Are you kidding me?" Viktor said
"I'm not kidding man….I love her and this is what I want to do" Peter replied, worried that one of his best friends didn't approve of what he had planned. Viktor's hands dropped in between his lap and he glared at Peter.
"Peter….I have been your friend for at least 8 years now, you know that?" Viktor said as Peter nodded in reponse
"I have heard you say a lot of stupid and retarded things in those 8 years…some things you say make me want to make you go get your head checked" Viktor replied with a serious tone, Peter was getting more and more fearful with every word Viktor spoke
"You and Carol are complete and utter opposites….you are almost nothing alike….not to mention she has a past of being emotionally unstable" Viktor continued as Peter found himself astounded at what Viktor was saying.
Didn't he approve of their relationship at all?
"So hearing you say that you want to spend your life with her….has to be…" Viktor said and Peter's thought changed with every word he said
"The Dumbest…" Peter's heart fell
"Most Ill planned…" Peter's self-esteem dropped
"ill conceived…" Peter's face saddened
"Senseless…" Peter felt he didn't know Viktor at all
"And probably the GREATEST FUCKING PLAN YOU HAVE HAD IN YOUR LIFE! COME HERE YOU CRAZY LITTLE BASTERD!" Viktor shouted in joy as he sprung to life and wrapped his arms around Peter and spun around the room hugging him tightly with cheering. Peter then felt really dam confused and could not comprehend what the hell was happening
"…wha…bu….you…wha?" Peter stuttered as Viktor put him down
"My god I never thought you would build up the guts to ask her man! I'm so happy for you!" Viktor shouted in joy as he patted Peter on the back with pride
"But…but you said that…" Peter stuttered but Viktor interrupted
"I meant it…But Fuck! LOVE ISN'T SUPPOSED TO MAKE SENSE! I AM 949 YEARS OLD AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT!" Viktor shouted with a huge grin
"What!?" Peter asked
"Mate listen, what you and Carol have may not make sense, it may be bizarre and you aren't at all alike….but goddammit what you two have is special! God I'm so happy for you!" Viktor smiled with glee, Peter smiled as he realized Viktor was pulling his leg and sat down.
"What the hell was with the face and the whole disappointment act?" Peter asked
"Just some good old British humour, we are kind of sick that way! But seriously man! The look on your face HAHAHA!" Viktor laughed as he sat down.
"So…you really think we are a bizarre couple?" Peter asked
"Pete, all the best couples in the world are bizarre, plus you were bound to be in a bizarre relationship the moment that spider bit you" Viktor replied
"You got a point" Peter chuckled
"So how do you plan on asking her?" Viktor asked
"The works Vik, a romantic dinner, a movie, a walk round Central Park and a few other surprises along the way" Pete smiled
"Very nice, I'm sure she is gonna love it" Viktor smiled
"There is just one problem"
"Really? And what is that?" Viktor asked
"I don't have a ring to give her" Peter sighed
"…ok….that's a pretty big problem there" Viktor agreed with Peter.
"Good thing that you have me as a friend" Viktor smiled as he reached into his coat and pulled a small box out.
"…Noooo….Vik….are those?" Peter gasped with his mouth wide open
"Well they aren't cuff links" Viktor grinned as Pete took the box from him
"Dude…I….How did?" Peter stuttered in disbelief as he held the box
"Shut up and open it will ya?" Viktor smiled and Peter did as he was told.
Two gold wedding rings were in the box and needless to say they looked amazing. The first one was encrusted with rubies and few sapphires while the other had a stone that looked like it was made of obsidian and a few yellow gemstones encrusted into it. Peter could tell by the colour which one was meant for who.
"What do you think? Are the colours a bit much?" Viktor asked
"Man….I…..I don't know what to say…why?" Peter asked
"Well two reasons actually…one I knew you would be in such a daze that you would forget" Viktor said causing Pete to groan.
"And secondly….you two are more than just my friends, you are my family. You are like my brother and Carol is like my sister, I want you guys to be happy. Just consider these a thank you" Viktor smiled
"…Thanks man…..but…..Jesus how much did these things cost you?" Peter said in awe as he looked at the rings
"Well I had the custom made at the best jewellers in the world so…..about 50 grand" Viktor said nonchalantly
"50 GRAND! Vik I can't accept these" Pete exclaimed as he didn't know if Viktor cold afford things of this value.
"You are going to accept them! If you don't ill go with you when you propose and ill weld the dam things to your fingers!" Viktor said back sternly
"But….how can you afford these things?" Peter asked
"Tony isn't the only rich guy on the team, unlike him I have been saving up for 900 years and I don't feel the need to live in a tower" Viktor smiled as Peter gazed in awe at the beauty of these rings, Carol would be amazed.
"Dude….how….how can I repay you?" Peter asked
"You can let me organize your stag-do" Viktor said
"My….my what?"
"Your Stag-Do" Viktor replied only to get a black stare from Peter
"Oh for god's sake, your bachelor party!" Viktor exclaimed, he really got annoyed when he had to change the context of what he was saying so his American friends could understand him.
"….I….I don't think I want one" Peter admitted
"Hahaha, oh god, no, but seriously you are having one and I am going to organize it" Viktor said sternly
"But…"
"Pete…..Do you want me to tell Logan, Johnny and Thor that you don't want a bachelor party?" Viktor asked as Peter knew what their reactions would be like.
"….*sigh*…..ok" Peter gave up
"YEEEEEES!" Viktor stood up and fist pumped
"I guess I have a candidate for my best man then" Peter smiled
"…..wha…..really?" Viktor said almost breathlessly
"Dam straight" Peter said as Viktor grabbed him and pulled him into a tight and powerful bear hug.
"Vik…..my….my ribs" Peter strained as Viktor immediately put him down and chuckled while scratching the back of his head
6:30pm
"Yay, thou doth not know when to quit" Thor said as he slapped the looter across the face, knocking him out. The asgardian didn't need any substantial force to knock a human out and threw the Looter onto the floor so that the police could get to work arresting them.
"If I didn't know any better I would say you were enjoying this" Laura smirked sarcastically as she handed another man over to the cops.
"Nay X-23, tis not much enjoyment in batting mortals such as these" Thor replied
"I was…being sarcastic" Laura said as she realised she was getting more and more expressive as time went along. Viktor was defiantly having a good effect on her personality.
"I am really starting to wonder what the hell is happening to this city if we have already arrested about 100 guys today alone" Tony said as the police took the looters away.
"New York is a city with a population of 8.337 million people Tony….100 is nothing" Carol said as she ran a gloved hand through her golden hair
"Still….I doubt that….oh god" Tony sighed
"What is….oh dammit…..the press" Carol groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose
"Do you want me to take care of it?" Tony asked
"No, no I got it, you have enough problems with all the property damage" Carol said as she walked over to the crowd of people holding camera's, boom mikes, microphones and god knows what else to answer whatever questions they had.
"Alright people, one at a time, one at a time" Carol said
"Ms Marvel! How are the Avengers taking to the new president's standpoint on Masked Vigilantes?" one reporter shouted out first.
"The Avengers don't take orders from the American Government nor do any other super powered teams to my knowledge, our standpoint on the President's viewpoints are completely neutral as long as he doesn't interfere with how we do things" Carol responded with her arms crossed
"What if the government decides to control the heroes of the country? How would the Avengers respond?" a female reporter asked
"I don't speak for the whole team, but if such a thing did happen we would not stand for it, no government should control such power" Carol responded as she had heard these sorts of questions all the time.
"Any more questions?" Carol asked
"How are you and Spiderman?" a young reporter asked
"Ha….oh god….." Carol smiled and muttered under her breath as everyone waited for an answer in anticipation.
"Me and Spiderman are doing just fine" Carol responded with a smile
"How strong is your relationship? It has been 2 years so are you thinking about children or marriage yet?" the same reporter asked
"Our relationship has never been stronger, and no we don't have any plans for marriage, though if Children do become a factor I would have to warn the maternity ward in advance because I doubt I can promise won't get broke" Carol joked making the reporters chuckle as well.
"Thank you, that will be all" Carol said as her mood brightened as she thought of what had just been said
'2 years….my god it feel like yesterday was that night on the roof' Carl thought as her thoughts went back to that night on the roof of the Avengers mansion when their relationship first began to grow into something more.
"Come on guys, we got more work to do" Carol said as she shot into the sky followed by Tony and Thor who grabbed a hold of Laura as he did.
*The Raft, 10pm
The Quinjet roared as it touched down on the landing platform of the massive island/prison. As the Quinjet landed the ramp opened and once it had powered down, 4 Avengers emerged from it. all of them of course where also active Shield agents.
Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow
Jessica Drew, Spiderwoman
Clint Barton, Hawkeye
And finally Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird
The four shield agents were not used to being called out at such strange times and to the Raft at that. The only time when they would ever come to the raft was when they had to escort an especially dangerous Supervillan there.
"Well….I can't say I'm surprised that Fury had to drag us here" Clint groaned as he hated being dragged around like this.
"Clint, baby please, can we go through one day without you moaning about Fury?" Bobbi asked her boyfriend
"Bobbi is right, it's starting to get annoying" Jess chipped in as they proceeded to walk
"I agree with Jess" Natasha said without even glancing back at her Ex
"If I didn't know better I would say you girls are ganging up on me….I like it" Clint joked with a smirk as Bobbi punched him in the arm. It was a known fact amongst the team that Clint had relationships with Bobbi, Natasha and even Jess in the past due to their employment within shield, but of course times had changed and Natasha and Jess had steady relationships of their own now.
"Clint do you want a venom blast in the face?" Jess asked
"I'll be quite" Clint sighed
"Good boy" Natasha said as all three female agents smiled
The four agents were then approached by a contingent of armoured Shield Troops and Jess was the first to approach the man who was dressed the highest ranking among them.
"Where is Fury? We have to speak with him" the British Arachnid asked
"I'm afraid Colonel Fury is not here Ma'am, though he did send another two Agents here on his behalf" the trooper responded
"I didn't realize we were coming to an Agent convention" Clint muttered under his breath causing Bobbi to yet again elbow him in the arm.
"And who are these Agents? Anyone we know?" Natasha asked
"I should hope so Agent Romanoff" came a familiar voice. Natasha smiled and turned to see two familiar shapes, the first of which being the form of Agent Coulson whom everyone there was familiar with and the second being the man who the voice belonged to.
James Barnes, The Winter Soldier, Natasha's present boyfriend
"Great to see you Natasha" James greeted her with a loving hug.
"All we need is Stark to be here and we will have ourselves a triple date" Clint said as Bobbi was so tempted to elbow him only to get beaten to the punch line (haha get it?) by Jess.
"One more and you get the Venom Blast Barton" Jess warned him
"Ok Phil, why are we here? And for that matter why isn't Nick here?" Bobbi asked
"Director Fury isn't here because he had some serious business that needed his attention. And we are here because of the man that Agent Drew and Romanoff found on the footage they had managed to salvage from the Stark energy plant" Coulson explained.
"We sent you that footage this morning, why is it such a big deal right now?" Jess asked
"Because we picked up images of the same man entering the Raft at 5pm today" Coulson explained
"What did he come for? Where there any casualties?" Bobbi asked with concern
"We don't know" James said with a shrug
"What, why?" Natasha asked her boyfriend
"Because as far as we know….he is still in there" James said causing the others to pause and think.
"Let me guess….You brought us here to take care of it?" Clint asked
"Precisely Agent Barton" Coulson replied
"Why not ask some of the more powerful Avengers to come and help deal with it. we have no idea what this guy is capable of, I mean Thor, Hulk, Brimstone and Ms Marvel could probably take care of this guy easily enough" Bobbi said
"Because of the state this country is in right now, Shield can't afford to let the Avengers or any other superhuman groups make any mistakes or large miscalculations. That's why you are here" Coulson explained
"Us? But aren't we Avengers?" Clint asked
"Yes but you are also special Agents of Shield, this gives you immunity in certain areas, plus I happen to think that you guys are more than enough for whoever this is" Coulson said
"Thanks Phil….not sure it really means much but thanks anyway" Clint said before Bobbi once again elbowed him in the arm. Clint's arm was gonna bruise.
"Alright, I say the best course of action for us to split into groups each containing a contingent of Troopers just in case, when we come into contact with this guy turn on these trackers so we can all home in on where we all are" James said as he handed the four agents a tracker each which they clipped onto their costumes.
"Alright men, lets lock and load!" James said as he drew his assault rifle from his back and turned off the safety, as did the Shield troopers behind him. Clint took an arrow from his back and locked it to his bow, Bobbi extended her staff and Natasha drew her 45's, Jessica didn't have any weapons as she had her Venom blasts.
"Alright ladies and gents, let's give our mystery man a warm welcome
Meanwhile inside the containment units of the Raft laid the many confiscated weapons and costumes of the villains that were locked up within the prison. The room was dark and filled to the brim with all sorts of weapons, suits and other assorted items.
Then a shadowy figure dropped from the ceiling of the room and landed without making a sound. The man stood up and the room was slightly illuminated by the glowing light his red eyes gave off.
"Ooooh I feel like a child in a sweet shop" he chuckled under his breath as he walked by all the containers and shelves.
"Crap, crap, crap, mega crap….god where are the good things?" the Platinum Blonde groaned under his breath as he picked up certain weapons and costumes only to put them back or discard them like trash. He kept doing this for a full 5 minutes before he reached something….very interesting.
"Whoa…..niiiiice" he smiled as he reached just the kind of thing he was looking for
A crimson mechanical suit of armour, at least 9 foot high with bright red armour plating and plenty of sources of weaponry attached to it. The man observing it was at least 7 foot tall to his height reached around the chest plate area.
"Looks like I have found my man" he said before putting a finger to his ear
"I think I may have found someone fitting your descriptions" the man spoke into his earpiece
"Good…run a background scan…I don't want anyone with questionable sanity" the voice on the other end of the radio said
"Of course…over and out" he said before turning his radio off. The silver haired man then walked over to the closest security terminal and ripped the cover off with his bare hands like it was nothing.
The man then raised his left gauntlet and pulled a wire connection from the side before plugging it into the terminal. The man then typed a few controls into his wrist computer which caused the details of the user of the armoured suit to appear on the screen of the wrist computer.
Name: Anton Vanko
Alias: Crimson Dynamo
Place of arrest: Doomstadt Latveria
Details: Long history of animosity towards Tony Stark (Iron Man), Genius level intellect, Former Russian KGB agent.
Mental illnesses: negative
"Well…there is that sorted" he smiled as he unplugged the wire from the terminal.
"I think it's time Mr Vanko and I have a chat" he smiled before his visor clamped down on the lower part of his face.
"Stay tight men…and check those corners, we don't want this guy getting the drop on us" James said as he and the Shield troopers cautiously walked through the hallways.
"You are really enjoying this aren't you?" Natasha asked with a smile
"Nah, it just reminds me of the old times I had with Cap" James smiled as he remembered of the insane situations that both he and the star spangled hero found themselves in. Natasha really loved it when James got those looks of nostalgia on his face, it reminded her just what a seasoned veteran he was and it only served to make him more attractive to her.
But just as Natasha and James turned a corner they found their culprit who was standing in front of a recently freed Anton Vanko. Without his armour, Vanko wasn't that much of a threat but the other guy looked like trouble. His height and figure identified him as a fighter as he had lean muscle and a stance that screamed confidence, not to mention the way his hand rested on the hilt of the Katana he had. But what confused James and Natasha were the man's strange armour and even stranger sword sheathe.
"Well Vanko? Do we have a deal?" the man asked as he turned his head to meet eyes with Natasha and James.
"Of course, IF you can get me out of here" Vanko said with his thick Russian accent
"Your armour is just down that hallway, how long do you need to put it on and get out of here?"
"About 10 minutes"
"I'll give you 20" he smiled behind his visor. Vanko chuckled and sprinted down the hallway, the Shield agents would have ran after him but they still had yet to asses this man's abilities first.
"This is Agent Romanoff of Shield, put the sword on the ground and give yourself up peacefully" Natasha announced in a clear and loud voice as she turned on her tracker.
"And if I refuse?" he asked
"We will have to use force" she responded
"Force…I like that" he smiled as he wrapped his hand around his katana hilt
"Hey, don't you think about it! If I even see a glint of steel I'll put a bullet right between your eyes!" James ordered and the man didn't drop his smile but did as James said and took his hand off of his Katana hilt.
"Hehehe…..so what is your name?" he asked
"….Agent James Barnes, the Winter Soldier, why the hell do you want to know?" James demanded
"I like to know the names of the worthy opponents before we fight….I just hope your name is worth remembering" the silver haired man said as his eyes shone red. Natasha couldn't help but notice his red eyes were just like Viktor's, old and experienced like that of an ancient warrior.
"How many men do you have behind you exactly?"
"Enough to give you trouble"
"Hehehehe…..I doubt it" the man chuckled before his eyes flared and red and suddenly he produced a few shuriken from his belt and threw them at extreme speeds at the troopers behind Natasha and James. The shuriken whizzed right past the both of them and hit their marks, killing the troopers' stone dead.
The man then ran at Brokeback speeds at James and Natasha as the two opened fire on the silver haired man who dodged the bullets like he was from the Matrix or something.
As soon as he got within range he kicked Natasha's guns out of her hands and grabbed James' gun and crushed it in his hands before grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against a wall.
Natasha on one hand was still flabbergasted at how this guys had just gotten the drop on two highly trained Shield agents such as themselves like they were underpaid mall cops. she saw how he had his hand around James' neck and she had to do something, so she leapt into action.
'Shit, this guy is good!' Natasha thought as she leapt onto the large man's back and put him a headlock. The man only growled and threw James to the floor before trying to shake Natasha off his back.
"Sleepy time!" Natasha shouted as she powered up her electrified gauntlets and drove them into the crook of his neck expecting the full voltage they carried to knock him out or at least do some damage. But as the electricity surged through his body it wasn't doing damage but rather empowering him further as his glowing red eyes flashed glowing blue.
"Thanks for the boost ma'am" he chuckled as his voice went slightly distorted before he ran backwards, bashing Natasha into the wall behind him. Natasha may have been stronger than a normal human but that was enough to put her on the ground.
The man turned only to get a few handgun bullets to the face, the bullets did nothing and simply bounced off of his strong skin. He turned to see James reloading what looked to be a high calibre desert eagle style gun.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" James shouted as Natasha painfully struggled on the floor.
"How are your hand to hand skills?" the man grinned, James didn't understand what he meant until the man ran at him and threw a palm strike at him. James just managed to leapt out of the way as the man's palm went straight through the wall like it was nothing.
'Jesus, if he lands a hit I'm done for' James thought as this guy was easily within a 50+ tonne class as a superhuman. It was no easy feat to simply go through solid steel like it was paper, but this guy did it without putting any real effort into it.
James took this chance to try and get a few hits in, he let loose with a flurry of mixed martial arts attacks as the Silver haired man's hand was still in the wall. As James tried to roundhouse him however the man's arm shot out of the wall and grabbed a hold of his leg.
"Good form, self-trained….and not half bad…but not good enough!" he growled as he lifted James into the air and threw him into the wall back and forth like he was a rag doll before kicking him away like he was nothing. James flew through the air and fell violently, he felt at least 3 of ribs broken and if he was mistaken a few concussions.
The man walked over to James at a steady non caring pace. James took this moment to leap up and right hook him in the face with his bionic arm, but as he did the man caught his fist in mid-air and smiled before he raised his leg and axe kicked him into the floor. The blow was so violent that James felt blood trickling down his face, not to mention the broken nose from the impact. This guy was way above him in terms of strength and speed, he just shook off every hit he sent his way and basically turned the Winter Soldier into a punching bag.
"Is that all you have to offer…huh….oh well, at least you tired" the Silver haired man said with a heavy voice, hoping to have had a better fight. He began to walk away until…
*BOOOM!
"AAAAAAAGH!" the man groaned as he fell to all fours, the explosive projectile that sent him reeling was fired by the bow of Hawkeye as both he, Mockingbird, Spiderwoman and Coulson had all arrived with troops of their own.
"Where do you think you're going?" Clint said as he locked another arrow.
"That….was a cheap shot" the silver haired man said he got back to his feet and dusted himself off, Clint's eyes widened as he saw that the arrow did next to nothing to harm the man.
"And I'm going to have to break your arms for that" the man growled as his eyes flared red, Clint, Bobbi and Jessica knew those eyes, they were the same as Viktor's no doubt about it. They had been on the same team as Viktor for 2 years so they knew eyes like them when they saw them.
The silver haired man ran straight at them and as Clint fired another arrow he side stepped it causing it to explode behind him. The man leapt up and landed right in the midst of the Shield Troopers and began to take them apart. He grabbed two troopers and used them as shields (ironic) against the firepower of all the other troopers before throwing them as projectiles. The man's moves were almost impossible to follow as his agility seemed impossible for his size, his kicks and punches were landed in the style of a mixed form of martial arts as the power he put behind them smashed the trooper's visors and broke their bones like twigs.
Coulson drew his gun and fired on the man but they simply bounced off his armour and seemingly unbreakable hide. The man drew another shuriken and threw it at the Shield Agent, luckily it only hit in the leg sending to the floor.
Bobbi drew her battle staves and attacked as did Jessica, the two female Avengers tried to use their smaller size to their advantage to fight this man as they were much smaller than he was. Jessica had a much better chance of doing some damage due to her superhuman qualities and shot her venom blasts at his face, hoping to blind him, but unfortunately the venom blasts impacted on his visor and did nothing to stop the man as he threw a roundhouse at Jess. The Female arachnid couldn't move fast enough and got kicked full force in the side which sent her crashing into a wall.
Jessica coughed up a little bit of blood as that kick was within the realms of Hulk or Thor strength, sure enough this guy was either a 50-100+ tonne class like Viktor as Jessica felt the impact of that blow and it hurt like Banner had hit her.
Bobbi couldn't help but get concerned and get her eyes drawn away to Jess for just a second as Jess had been so violently swatted away, this was a mistake as she was distracted long enough for this man to grab her by her throat and lift her high into the air.
"Never take your eyes off an enemy, even if your friends are hurt" he said until another arrow hit in the chest and electrified him into dropping Bobbi to the floor where she ran over to Jess' side to help her.
"Hey asshole! Come and try me!" Clint threatened as he locked another arrow
The electric arrow did nothing but make the man's eyes flash blue for an instant before he ripped the arrow from his chest and snapped it in half. Clint shot another arrow at him but the man caught it and exploded it in his grip.
"Arrows? Is that the best you can do?" he asked before he ran up to Clint and wrapped an armoured hand around his face. He then raised Clint into the air and threw him against a wall before kicking him in the gut. Clint coughed up blood as the impact defiantly broke something.
"Consider yourself lucky I am in a good mood" the man growled as he threw Clint bow across the room. Just as the man went to walk away however…
"Stop! You don't think you can just walk away after that do you?" Natasha shouted as she pointed one of her guns at the man, Bobbi also had her staves out in a battle pose. The man looked at them blankly and put his hands on his hips in a 'really?' stance before replying.
"Do you two think you have any chance of beating me? Especially in your condition?" he said as Natasha was injured and Bobbi was obviously out of her league.
"I didn't even have to draw my sword…..do you really want to die so badly?" he asked as he put a hand on his katana. Natasha and Bobbi were trained Agents and they could properly asses were this would head if tried to attack this man. Natasha holstered her gun and Bobbi put her staves away.
"Good….now, I have a job for you lovely ladies to do for me, tell the one named Brimstone that he had better get ready for a fight….because he is next" the man smiled before he turned to walk away.
"Wait…..who….who are you?" Natasha asked
"…My name…..is Cyrus" the man smiled as he looked back and gave a look that was that of a predator. He chuckled and began to walk away, disappearing from sight leaving Natasha and Bobbi standing there.
Natasha faltered in her stance and fell, luckily Bobbi was there to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Natasha, are you ok?" Bobbi asked with concern
"Bobbi, call Fury and the team….we have to warn them" Natasha said as she gripped her side.
"Don't forget the medical attention" Clint said as he clenched his stomach in pain.
Things aren't looking good are they?
So we finally have a name for this mysterious man, Peter is ready to pop the question and why did Cyrus break Dynamo out?
Please let me know what you guys think, was it good? Was it bad? Let me know what you thought of this chapter?
What did you think of Viktor getting the rings?
What kind of villain do you think our guys are dealing with?
And will Peter be able to ask that important question?
And now for my big question:
WHAT WAS MOST AWESOME THING YOU SAW IN 'CIVIL WAR'? for me it had to be Herc hammering in that fake Thor's skull, man that was badass!
Now everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you next time! And don't forget to check out my new Spider/Marvel story 'Man or Spider?' and Reborn Dark Phoenix's 'Love and War' and Patrickthenobleman's 'The Spider, the Bird, the Law, and the Goblin'
See you guys next time!