Author Note(s): Sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted. But you can't fight when insperation will come to you.
A loud hiss escaped Ron's mouth as the tire fell from the axle and landed squarely on the top of his foot. Here they were, stuck on the side of the road with a flat and he was the one changing it. He didn't know the first thing about cars, so why did Bonnie and Kim force him to do this? What he wouldn't give for Kim's car right now. As he rolled the tire next to him, he leaned over and glanced at the two women he was traveling with. Both of them were leaning against the guardrail and looking at the scenery while Ron worked. So far, neither one had thrown the other over the edge, so that was good. Wasn't it?
Bonnie had a few arguments on this trip, but no big blow up yet. Ron was very thankful for that, but he knew it was coming. Bonnie and Kim were like the same side of a magnet, and he knew there was going to be a fight coming. He just didn't know when it would be. And since Bonnie could transform like him, the fight wouldn't be pretty. And the last thing he needed was SHIELD swooping in and dragging them back to New York. He just hoped that whoever this guy Bonnie knew in California could actually help. To not have to worry about transforming would be – perfect. What he wouldn't give just to relive one of the old days back in high school. Or even just a day of detention.
"How's it going?" Kim asked him.
"Jus great." Ron said before the lug wrench he was holding fell from his hand and hit his other foot.
"Are you sure that was such a smart idea? Making him change it?" Bonnie asked Kim.
"He needs to learn how to do this stuff." Kim said.
"What if he – you know?"
"It'll take a lot more for him to blow up than that. I've seen it." Kim said before an awkward silence fell between them. "How are you?"
"You mean besides the fact that I'm a mutant freak?" Bonnie asked bitterly.
"You're not a mutant, Bonnie."
"Then what the hell do you call it?" Bonnie asked her.
"It's a condition, Bonnie. There are ways to live with this until we can find a cure."
"Don't start that crap with me, Possible. You make it sound like I have cancer or AIDS. Right now, I don't know what the hell I have! I'm a freak of nature now, Kim. I might as well be put in a carnival side show!"
"But I'm just saying that there are ways of handling this. Wade's been trying to find a way to cure it. So we just have to be patient."
"I don't have patience, K. Do you honestly know many people that are out there that hate people like me? And the only reason why is because I'm different and I exist. Do you know how many Friends of Humanity rallies I saw when I was in school? It's almost like those old films they used to show us about World War II with those damn Nazi's." Bonnie said as a few tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Bonnie, this is nothing like that."
"BULL! The Government actually had a bill for a mutant registration act, K! This is exactly like that, and now I'm one of them! And it's easy for you to stand there and say that. You're not the one that changes into a damn freak at the drop of a hat!"
"I WISH I WAS!" Kim shouted, silencing Bonnie for a moment.
"Do what?" Bonnie asked her, dumbfounded.
"Damn it." Kim muttered as she bit her lip. "I-I try to understand what Ron's going through, but I can't. I see him when he's like that and what he's like afterward, and it kills me. I want to be there for him, but I feel like I'm not. And he's so scared of hurting me when he's the Hulk. And I – I just," Kim said and looked away.
"You want to protect him. Like you've had to do before." Bonnie said, causing her to look up.
"Yeah. I do." Kim said to her.
"Well, you never had to in the first place." Bonnie said and walked away.
"God, what is your problem?" Kim asked, following not too far behind her.
"My problem?!" Bonnie asked her, whirling back around to face her.
"Oh, crap." Ron said as he heard them arguing and quickly tried to hobble their way. "Come on, guys. I mean girls. Look, can't we,"
"STAY OUT OF THIS, RON!" Bonnie shouted at him. "You want to know what's wrong with me? Fine! It's you! You're my problem!"
"Why? Because I save the world?"
"No, because you're a thief."
"Like hell I am!" Kim said, being offended by what Bonnie was saying.
"No, you've always been a thief! You stole my friends, you stole the captain's spot off the cheer squad, you stole everything I busted my ass to work for while it just came easy to you."
"I wasn't trying to take those from you. That's no excuse for you being such a total bitch!" Kim said.
"Oh no, there's something else you stole from me!"
"Oh, really? What was that?"
"You stole my best friend." Bonnie growled.
"Do what?"
"You heard me, Possible."
"I didn't steal Tara,"
"I wasn't talking about her!"
"Really? Then who? Or are you lying out your snobby pampered ass?"
"It was," Bonnie started, but kept her mouth shut.
"I knew it. You were making it up."
"No, I wasn't." Bonnie growled as her breathing started getting heavier and she balled her fists.
"Then who? Huh? Tell me! TELL ME!"
"YOU STOLE RON!" Bonnie screamed, making both Kim and Ron freeze in place, and both were utterly confused. "In pre-K. Ron had been my best friend since I could remember. Then on the first day in pre-K, you stole him from me! You rotten, arrogant, cocky, smart mouth, BITCH!" Bonnie screamed as her eyes began to change into neon green.
Ron quickly ran to Bonnie and held her tightly. He could already feel her muscles starting to grow and expand as he tried to keep her from beating the living snot out of Kim.
"Let me go, Ron!" Bonnie screamed as her voice kept shifting from hers to the deeper one of the She-Hulk.
"Not until you calm down!" Ron said as he tried to pull her to the car, but found it harder and harder to do as he saw her jeans and shirt begin to rip.
"I AM CALM!" she shouted as he finally got her close to the vehicle.
"You call that calm?" Ron asked her as he turned her around, and forced her to look at her reflection in the glass of the passenger side window.
When Bonnie got a good look, a loud gasp escaped her lips. Her hair had already begun to change into a very dark, almost black shade of green as her eyes seemed to glow like neon headlights. Her shoulders had already begun to rip through her shirt, and the collar had begun to split and expose the first hints of her cleavage. Ron let her go as the shock of what she was seeing began to sink in, and her body slowly began shrinking back down to normal size. She kept touching her face as it shifted and shrank until everything looked normal again. Slowly, Bonnie sank to her knees and buried her face into her hands as she began to weep. Not knowing what else to do, Ron knelt down beside her and just held her as she continued to cry. Ron hated seeing people upset, no matter who it was. Even if it was Drakken, he would be trying to comfort him too.
"I'm a freak." She said.
"No, you're not. Besides, you still have control when you change." Ron said and held her tighter.
"But I'm a mutant, and everyone hates – they," Bonnie said and only began to cry even harder. She kept remembering all the things those people at that FOH rally kept saying and shouting. What they thought of mutants and what they'd wanted to do to them. She couldn't understand why they hated people they didn't even know because they were different.
"At least you're a good looking mutant. Me? I'm a monster." Ron said as he remembered the video footage of the fight at SHIELD headquarters.
"No you're not, Ron." Kim said as she walked up behind them.
"She's right. You're not a monster." Bonnie said as she looked up and wiped her tears away.
"Bonnie, don't you remember what I did to those men?" he asked her, reminding her of the incident at Middleton hospital.
"They deserved that." Bonnie said to him. "But it was still you. I could see it."
"Same here. Ron, I'm never scared around the Hulk because I know its you." Kim said to him.
Ron let out a small laugh as he let Bonnie go. "I thought we were trying to comfort her." Ron said and pointed to Bonnie. "Bon-Bon, about what you said. Kim didn't steal me from you. I've always told you I was your friend. Why do you think I never said anything about you making fun of us?" Ron asked her.
"I thought you'd hate me for that." She said.
"Hate? No. I did get frustrated because I didn't know why you were so mad at me for so long. At least now I know." Ron said as he helped her stand up.
"I'm sorry, Ron." Bonnie said as she sniffled one last time.
"There's nothing to be sorry about." Ron said as he gave her a firm hug, trying to comfort her one last time. "I think we better get going before someone calls the police or something." Ron said as he noticed they were getting a few looks.
"Good idea." Kim said as they started walking around the car. As they did, both Kim and Bonnie noticed that Ron was frozen in place with his eyes wide open. "What's wrong, Ron?" Kim asked him.
"Um – it's just – Wow, Bonnie. I – uh – I didn't know you wore thongs." Ron said.
"How did you?" Bonnie asked while raising a questioning eyebrow. But she stopped when a lone thought hit her and she slowly started feeling the rear end of her jeans. When she did, her eyes shot wide open. "OH MY GOD!" Bonnie screamed and jumped into the back seat, showing Kim why Ron had said that.
"Couldn't you have been more tactful?" Kim asked him as she walked to the driver's side.
"I'm sorry, KP. It's just – wow." Ron said as he walked back to the passenger door.
"Then how come you don't say that about mine?" Kim asked him.
"Because I can't find any other words in any language to describe how beautiful yours is." Ron said to her truthfully.
"Thanks, Ron." Kim said as she began to blush madly as they climbed into the car.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Bonnie said from the back seat as they began to drive away. "Ron? You did put the new tire on, right?"
"Are there any new reports?" Dementor asked as he saw every single henchman in a stasis chamber return to their human forms. Until they were ready, he'd have to keep them in these chambers. But at least he knew that when they were free, all it would take is a small push in the right direction and he would have his army.
"Nothing yet, boss. Ever since that upset in Middleton, they've been keeping a low profile. Even SHIELD hasn't found anything."
"Damn." Dementor growled. He needed Ron in order to stabilize his army. If he didn't, they may only last an hour or so in battle, if he was lucky. "What about the men the target defeated?"
"Not so good. They're still in custody. But I do have some good news."
"Which is?"
"During the attack on SHIELD, one of your alien friends took a prisoner from their brig." The goon said as he stepped aside and let two guards drag in a very unshaven, and very shaky, Dr. Drakken.
"Drew? Vhat has happened to him?"
"According to what we could get, he's been like this since the kid first changed. Apparently, he got a swift kick in the butt. Literally." The goon said.
"How the pathetic have fallen." Dementor said with a smile. "Chain him in the lab for now. If he snaps out of it, he might be of some use." Dementor said as Drakken was hauled away. "Where are you Stoppable? Where?"
New York, 2000 Hours
Hank Pym kept looking at the newspaper in front of him as he gulped down the glass of Jack Daniel's. His face hadn't been shaven in a few days, and he was still wearing the same clothes he had on the previous morning. The newspaper he was looking at was showing a photograph of the Avengers after they had stopped an attempted terrorist attack, and their golden boy "leader" was on the front page again. When he signed on to Fury's piece of crap team, he thought that meant funding for his company. Better equipment and more time for his experiments. Maybe he would finally be getting a chance to see if he could go past fifty feet. But instead, nothing!
His company was coming close to the verge of Bankruptcy, and he was still stuck with his growing technology. There's hardly any mention of the others on the team except Stark. Oh, wait. He meant Stark's fake bodyguard, Iron Man. That slime made him sick. Almost as sick as that fraud Captain America. Rogers was too good to be true. There had to be something about that – that –
"Hank?" Janet asked as she came out of their bedroom. She had just taken a shower and was still in nothing but a towel. She saw how much stress Hank had been under and hoped things might change. She just wish she knew what to do to help him relax. "How are you feeling, hon?"
"How do you think I feel?" he asked, taking a gulp of alcohol from the bottle, not bothering with the glass.
"How about we go out tonight? Maybe to that Italian place we like and get some fresh air?" she asked, hoping the idea of a romantic evening might cheer him up. She missed the days when they would do so much together.
"We can't, Janet. We can't afford it, just like we can't even afford that damn rat's nest our labs are at." He said as he crumpled up the newspaper and threw it out the open window next to him.
"Hank, I know things are bad," she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Bad? No, things were bad before we joined Fury's little bowling league. Right now, everything's in the shit house." He said as he glanced at the small stack of bills.
"Well, maybe Nick can help us out. I'm sure he'd,"
"Screw the Cyclops! It'll be a cold day in hell before I get on my knees to kiss his ass!" Hank said as he broke away and walked into the kitchen, looking for the bottle of vodka he knew he kept in case of company.
"Hank, we don't really have a choice. With SHIELD funding, we can finally get somewhere with our research." Janet said to him, trying to reason with him and his attitude.
"Sure. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Hank asked as he walked back into the living room as he gulped down the clear liquid. "That way, you can be closer to your golden boy."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't give me that. Rogers, the damn fake. I've seen how you've been drooling over Mr. G.I. Joe."
"He's a war hero, Hank. I respect him."
"Yeah, right. And I bet the respect you want to give him is conveniently located in between your legs, isn't it?" he asked her. He saw the hurt in her eyes and knew he had pissed her off, right before her hand made swift contact across the side of his face.
Not even thinking, Hank reached back and belted Janet as hard as he could across the face with his fist. Janet stumbled against the desk, regaining her footing as she pressed her hand against mouth and nose as a fresh trail of crimson began to flow and cover her hand. He never did that before, ever! He had his temper tantrums and bruised ego fits; but he had never raised a hand to her.
"Oh Christ! Janet, I'm so sorry! I – I wasn't even thinking." Hank said as he tried to see how bad she was hurt.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" she screamed as jammed her elbow into his face as hard as she could.
Hank recoiled in pain as he felt warm blood wash down his face like it was water. With so much of the alcohol clouding his mind, only pure anger seemed to be in control as he glared at his wife.
"You bitch! You make me bleed?" he asked as he belted her across the face again, before swiftly hitting her in her stomach.
He raised his hand again to strike, but he doubled over as Janet hit him in between the legs as hard as she could. Not caring that her towel had fallen off, she grabbed one of the inventions he had been toying with and quickly swung and bashed him in the side of the face. Hank crashed to the floor with a loud thud, breaking a small chair s he did so.
"YOU MUTANT BITCH!" Hank screamed as he tried to ram her, to shove her through the glass door that lead out to their balcony.
Instead, Hank found himself crashing through the glass door and tumble across the concrete and glass shards. He was covered in cuts all over his arms, scalp, and legs as he tried to shake the stars from his eyes. Pushing himself up, he saw his wife had shrunken her form and was darting around the apartment as she tried to find a place to either hide or escape.
"I don't think so." Hank growled as he ran back inside and followed her into the kitchen. A small sneer appeared on his face as he saw that he had backed her into a corner. He reached into the pantry and pulled out a can of Raid that was still half full. "Let's see you dodge this shit." Hank said and began spraying the poison directly at his miniaturized wife.
Janet's lungs felt as they were on fire as she flew away from the poison cloud, trying to escape. But Hank was relentless as he followed her, trying to drown her in the poison. Janet didn't know how much longer she could try and outrun the spray. It felt like she was fixing to vomit her organ out of her mouth with each hacking cough. Grabbing one of his magazines, Hank quickly rolled it up as Janet began flying about; not knowing where she was going. As hard as he could, Hank slapped his wife with the magazine. Janet flew across the room, bouncing across the surface of their coffee table, before flying off of it and fell to the floor.
Hank chuckled to himself as he saw his wife return to normal size, and her wings disappear. He walked over to her and just laughed a little more as he looked down at her.
"Not so tough now, huh?" he asked her, but stopped laughing when she didn't respond. "Janet?" he asked her, and saw how she wasn't moving. "Janet, are you all right?" he asked as his common sense began to return to him.
He knelt down to her still form and rolled her over onto her back. A loud gasp escaped his lips when he saw that not only was there blood escaping from her broken nose, but from her mouth and a small amount from her ears. Half of her face was begging to swell and turn purple from the bruises, and her chest barley rose as she drew in each breath.
"What have I done?" Hank moaned to himself as he realized that he may have just murdered the one person that was supposed to have been the most important woman to him.
Undisclosed Location
No matter how many times he read the information in this file, he just could not believe it. He knew SHIELD had been trying to reboot the Super Soldier program, but he never knew it had gotten so far. It was hard to believe some gangly kid that was fresh out of high school was the key to the Army's future. It would be hard to make him disappear. Hi and his girlfriend had friends all over the world. And it looked like in very high places. According to the file, even the President of the United States gave them a ride to a mission. They were even responsible for Team Impossible going out of business. That was good. Damn shyster's price gouged the hell out of anyone they supposedly helped.
As he kept browsing various information in front of him, he grasped the cigar that sat smoldering in an ash tray and took a good look at it. Before and after every mission he was assigned to, he would always smoke the same brand of cigar every time. He didn't know why anymore, or even how it had originally started. Too many missions were blurring together now. Maybe he should finally just give up the damn things all together. They had proof now that smoking gives people cancer. But then again, what doesn't these days? To heck with it. He enjoyed smoking them too much.
"Sir?" a young man asked as he entered the man's office.
"What do you have, soldier?"
"We've just intercepted security footage from the cameras at an ATM. The footage just revealed our targets location." He reported to his superior.
"Where are they?"
"California, sir. Not that far from San Francisco."
"Get the teams assembled and the gear locked and loaded. We're rolling out." General Ross said as he stood and grabbed his jacket.
"Yes, sir!" the kid said with enthusiasm as he saluted, turned, and left.
It wasn't hard to tell that he hadn't seen combat before, no real action. When you've been in this business as long as he has, you learned not to plan ahead when you were coming to a battle. Sometimes, you were wondering if you had your will updated or not. Or at least, a loved one you would never see again. As he slipped the jacket onto his shoulders, he saw the one photo that was sitting on his desk. In it was a much younger him, with his hair not so grey as it was now. And on his shoulders was a young little girl, about seven years old with her hair tied into a pigtail. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he reached over and placed the framed photo face down. Like so many times before, he had no time for family. The only thing that mattered right now was the mission.
New York
Frustrated wasn't a good word to describe his mood, and he wasn't angry enough to be considered pissed off yet. This search for Stoppable was growing more and more frustrating by the day, and he now had to deal with what looked like a She-Hulk. He had to find them, he absolutely had to. Dementor was still out there, and he most likely wanted Stoppable. But what about the threat they had over in Latveria? God help them if that tin plated megalomaniac decided he wanted a piece of Stoppable. All the havoc that kid alone can cause is bad enough. As he groaned to himself, he rubbed his head as he began to see too many threats and what if's playing out in his head all at once. He needed time to try and figure out where the hell they could be. As he sat into his chair and looked at the one photo on his desk, he chuckled a little bit. He remembered reading Betty Director's report about the so-called "Ron Factor" and how everyone was after Stoppable. He couldn't help but laugh at history repeating itself again. It looked like Betty had a right to be concerned after all.
"HEY! IRON PANTS!" Shego shouted as she stormed into Colonel Fury's office with a panicked private following.
"I'm sorry, sir! She,"
"It's all right, private. You can leave." Fury said as he watched the nervous young man exit. As soon as the door was closed, Fury turned his one eye onto his second in command. "Something I can help you with, Black Widow?"
"No, but I thought I'd give you the heads up. Nerd-linger out there just found massive orders coming from the military."
"If you hadn't noticed, we're still at war in the Middle-East."
"Nothing like that. This is heavy duty that's not for over seas." She said to him.
"What do you mean when you say 'Heavy Duty?'"
"Take a look for yourself." She said as she flung several sheets of paper onto his desk. Fury picked up one and began to read, and he immediately didn't like what he was reading.
"Sonic Cannons? Anti-tank weapons? State of the art choppers armed to the teeth?" Fury read out loud. When he read who had placed the orders, he began to crumple the paper as the veins in his neck began to make themselves known and threaten to pop. "Thunderbolt Ross." Fury growled.
"Ross? Any relation to Dr. Ross?" Shego asked him.
"It's her father. He's a four star general in the United States Army. If he's requesting all this firepower, it can't be good." Fury said as he threw the crumpled mass of paper into the garbage.
"How bad is it?"
"General Ross is well known for being placed in charge of mainly black-ops assignments. Or what you would call, suicide missions. He's also like a blood hound. If he's bent sent to retrieve anything or anyone, he doesn't stop until his orders are completed to the letter." Fury said.
"So why would an army general be – oh, Christ." Shego said as she thought of only a few reasons to order that much hardware and not take it over seas.
"This is why I wanted to keep Stoppable inside SHIELD. The United States Army just declared open season on the Hulk. Tell Wade to keep a tab on Ross' communications. We need to find Stoppable before he does, now!" Fury said as he glared at her. "Assemble the Avengers. I want all of them to try and find Stoppable and Possible as soon as you can." Fury said as he got up.
"That's the other problem."
"Other problem? What other problem?" Fury asked. He hated surprises, no matter what they were.
"Janet Pym's just been rushed into the ER at Memorial Medical."
"What happened?" Fury asked, automatically thinking it was an attack by the aliens they had fought off several weeks ago.
"Her husband beat the living shit out of her and poisoned her. They don't know if she'll make it through the night." Shego told him as her jaw began to tighten when she read how bad her husband had beat her.
"Where's Dr. Pym now?" Fury growled.
"Not with his wife. A neighbor heard the fight and called it in. Hank wasn't there when the police arrived. But Rogers is taking care of it as we speak." Shego said with a small smirk.
"YOU BRAINLESS BASTARD!" Captain Steven Rogers shouted as he grabbed Pym by his enlarged throat and tackled him to the ground, not too far from where Pym's lab was. After Steve had heard what Hank had done to Janet, he went out looking for him. He had guessed Hank might come to his lab, and he had been right. The one thing he hadn't counted on was that he was wearing his enlargement suit. When Rogers had tried to arrest him, calmly, Hank had resisted and fought back. The next thing he knew was that Hank was fifty feet tall and trying to step on Rogers like a bug.
"Didn't – Didn't mean – to." Hank chocked as he felt Rogers punch him in the throat.
"LIKE HELL!" Rogers shouted as he punched him in the chin and felt something break as soon as his fist made contact. He wished he had at least brought his shield with him, but he didn't. He had been so angry at Pym for hitting his wife that he hadn't been thinking clearly. But he had been well trained. But that was to go against Nazi's and other armed terrorists. Not against a fifty foot man.
Pym wrapped his enlarged hand around Roger's torso and flung him away like he were nothing more but a dead leaf. Rogers crashed through the windows of an old warehouse, long since abandoned and felt himself hit the hard wall. As he tumbled to the ground, he could hear the echo of the concrete cracking as he felt an enormous pain in his side. He looked down and saw a large shard of window glass jutting from his side and blood dripping from where it had pierced him. Gritting his teeth, he grasped the shard and pulled it free. A loud growl escaped through clench teeth as he dropped the shard and got back to his feet. After taking a few deep breaths to make the lingering pain fade, he broke into a full sprint and leapt through the window he had been thrown through. He tumbled across the concrete and righted himself in a crouch as he felt the wound scream with agony. He ignored it as he saw Pym stumble toward Manhattan. Pym was completely drunk; he didn't have any sense of balance. He could use that to his advantage.
Rogers began sprinting again and climbed the fire escape of another warehouse as fast and hard as he could. He could feel the wound protesting and feel his blood flowing down his side and stain his tattered shirt, but he ignored all of it. He was a soldier, and he did what he knew was the right thing to do. He didn't stop when Klizer put several slugs in his gut and hip, and he wasn't going to let a stab wound stopping him from bringing Pym into shield by the back of his scrawny neck. Rogers kept running and pushing himself, fighting the pain from the wound. As soon as he came to the ledge of the warehouse, he jumped and made it to the roof of the next one. One after another he ran across until he finally was coming up on the drunken bastard. Making sure he maintained his speed, Rogers leapt across two more roofs before he curved to the right and began aiming for the warehouse roof beside the one he was on. He was just hoping he had timed this just right. He was almost to the edge when he saw Hank's knee come down and block his path. Rogers leapt from the edge of the building, using his speed and himself as a weapon. The full force of his strength and speed slammed Rogers against Hank's knee that caused him to see it shatter underneath the skin. Pym screamed in pain as his leg buckled and gave way while Rogers grasped the ledge of a second story window and held on for dear life.
Rogers watched as Hank fell over backwards and crashed on top of several warehouses, crushing them from his increased weight. Pym was still crying in pain and moaning from his shattered knee, not even noticing the various pieces of debris that had punctured him in various places in his arms, legs, and his back. While Hank whimpered in pain, Rogers let go of the ledge and let himself drop to the ground. He landed on his feet, and stumbled onto his butt as he felt the adrenaline in his system begin to fade. Convinced that Hank was probably down for the count, Rogers reached into his pocket and took out the communicator that Wade Load had made for the rest of the Avengers. From what he understood, all he had to do was press a button and it would connect to SHIELD HQ. But which button was it?
"To hell with it." Rogers said and just hit any button on the remote.
"Rogers?" Wade asked on the other end.
"What do you know. First try." Rogers said and chuckled.
"Rogers, where are you? Fury is throwing a fit!" Wade said.
"Tell him to get a team down to Pym's lab ASAP. I've got him waiting for you." Rogers said as he took a deep breath and hissed. "Tell them to bring a needle and thread to." He said before putting the device back in his pocket.
"You rotten old fart!" Pym shouted at him.
Looking around himself, Rogers found several trash cans had been knocked over when Pym had fallen. Grabbing one of the lids, Steve looked to where Pym was crying and moaning. Taking careful aim, Steve hurled the trash can lid as hard as he could and smile when it made contact with the side of Hank's head. After a few seconds of being dazed, Hank's head crashed onto the ground as slipped into unconsciousness.
"Would just shut up?" Rogers said.
A very relieved Bonnie exited the women's room as she felt the new pair of jeans hug her frame in the right places. She had to remind herself to never drink a Route 44 drink in under half an hour. Especially when you're bored out of your mind and drinking it was a race against the man with the bottomless stomach. As Bonnie stepped inside the convenience store that was apart of the gas station, she took a brief glance at a near by rack that had several ball caps decorated all over it. Her attention caught one ball cap that was a dark blue that had the picture of a cartoon bulldog that was drooling foam at the corners of its mouth. A small smirk appeared as she reached over and took a quick look at the price tag.
"Perfect." She said to herself as she quickly paid for the cap and wondered over to where Kim and Ron were looking for something to drink. Noticing that they weren't paying attention to anything else behind them, Bonnie snuck up behind Ron as quietly as she could and pushed the cap on his head.
""AGH! I'VE GONE BLIND!" Ron shouted as Bonnie giggled and Kim looked at her in confusion.
"You said the same thing at my fifth birthday." Bonnie giggled.
"Oh, yeah. I remember that. That was when you dumped your birthday cake on my head." Ron said as he removed the cap.
"You deserved it for making fun of my princess hat. Just be glad I didn't stab you in the neck with a nut pick like my sister wanted." Bonnie said to him.
"Princess Bonnie. Why am I not surprised?" Kim asked herself as she looked at the ball cap. "What's this for?" Kim asked her.
"It looks a lot like our High School mascot. And I figured since Ron's trying to keep a low profile, it might help." Bonnie said.
"Cool. Thanks, Bon-Bon!" Ron said with a grin as h looked at the bulldog design on it.
"Would you please quit calling me that?" the young brunette asked as she reached over and grabbed a diet soda. "I'll wait for you two in the car." Bonnie said as she walked off.
"How weird is that?" Kim asked her boyfriend.
"What's weird?"
"Bonnie. One minute, she's her normal self and then she's – she's like someone completely different." Kim said to him.
"Well, think about it KP. In high school, she had to act like a snob to keep her popularity and friends. Now that we aren't in high school anymore, she can be herself." Ron said to her like it was a no brainer.
"Except she still hates my guts." Kim growled to herself.
"Come on, Kim. She doesn't hate you."
"Prove it." Kim challenged.
"Maybe she – oh, crap."
"Ron?" Kim asked as she looked at him staring at the glass of the cooler door. Kim glanced and noticed something. Something in the parking lot that was moving. Whatever it was, it had been wearing army fatigues and armed with a heavy duty rifle. "That doesn't look like SHIELD." Kim said to him.
"We got to get out of here now!" Ron said as they turned to leave.
"Captain, I need a sit rep right now." General Ross said as he along with three techs sat inside an armored van across the street from the gas station. They had found the trio earlier when they had stopped at a Wal-Mart and had followed them ever since. Now looked to be a good a time as ever to try and capture the target. There weren't that many civilians at the gas station, which meant a low casualty percentage if it came down to a fight. The one thing they needed to do was neutralize Stoppable before he had a chance to change and fight back. That's why he had several snipers move into key positions that would give them the best chance of getting the kid in their crosshairs. But Ross knew that things rarely went according to plan. So just in case, he had his team ready to be deployed.
"We're in place, sir. We have the target within visual range now." One of the snipers reported back.
"As soon as you have a clear shot, I want you to take it." Ross said to his men.
"I've got a shot, sir. Wait a minute." Another sniper said, making Ross tense up. Something in his gut was telling him that this was fixing to go south. "He's seen us, sir!"
"Damn it to hell. All teams are to move in at once! Take him down now!" Ross ordered as the van and the team was deployed.
"EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Kim shouted to everyone.
"Are you crazy, lady?" one of the cashiers behind the counter asked.
"I just saw someone with a gun. You can stay here or you can GET OUT NOW!" Ron shouted, making everyone leave.
Just as the last few costumers and employees, including Kim, exited the building, part of the plexi-glass shattered in a hail of bullets as Ron ducked behind a shelf. Several packages of various chips, candies, and drinks were exploding or leaking as the wall began to become decorated with numerous bullet holes. Ron tried to move, but it seemed every movement was rewarded with several bullets ricocheting off the ground. Who the hell was doing this? Ron barley had time to move when a bullet punctures the shelf and almost grazed the tip off his nose, causing him to fall backwards on his backside. As far as he knew, he was the only one left in the store. That meant whoever was out there was targeting him, and Ron could only think of one thing at that moment. Whoever was in charge of this attack had to be completely nuts!
"Kim, what the hell's going on?!" Bonnie asked as Kim ducked when the gunfire began. As soon as Kim reached Bonnie's car, several uniformed soldiers, Hummers, and what looked to be two strange vehicles. Mounted on the top of these vehicles looked to be a strange devices that were an odd combination of a speaker woofer and a satellite dish. "Kim, where's Ron?" Bonnie asked her.
"He's still inside!" Kim gasped as they saw the soldiers turning the store into Swiss cheese. "STOP!" Kim said as she rushed one soldier and planted a firm kick into the side of his knee before giving a swift karate shop the side of his neck and knocking him out. Bonnie was able to grab one of the garbage cans by the gas pump and dunked it on top of another soldier before kicking him in the balls and pushing him to the ground. However, their actions did not go unnoticed.
"General Ross, we have a problem." One soldier said into his comm. Link before Kim's fist bashed his nose flat.
Ross took his eyes away from their target long enough to see what the soldier was talking about. He was fairly surprised when he saw Kim take out three of his men that tried to detain her.
"So that's Kim Possible." General Ross said.
"Orders, sir?" another soldier asked.
"Detain her and her friend, but don't kill. Our main target is still inside. Keep him alive if you can. But if he fights back, you put a bullet in his head." Ross ordered.
Ron had to get out of there as soon as he could. If he stayed here, he was going to end up dead. There was a momentary break in the gunfire. Maybe they were reloading their weapons. Using his window of opportunity, Ron quickly ran from his current hiding spot and ducked behind the coffee counter that was now covered in hot java and various forms of creamer. After taking a few deep breaths, Ron carefully peaked around the corner and gazed outside. There were several soldiers out there along with several vehicles. But what caught his attention the most was the sight of Kim and Bonnie as they were fighting several soldiers.
One soldier came up behind Bonnie and soon retrained her while Kim was giving them an even harder time. A smile formed on his face as she saw her take down several soldiers in under two minutes, and she wasn't even breaking a sweat. His smile disappeared when he saw several dog pile her at once and force her to the ground. She was trying to fight back, but not having any success. His heart began beating faster as his breath began to quicken. He had to control himself. He didn't want to hulk out, but he needed to save his girlfriend. If they were willing to shoot at him in broad daylight, who knows what they'd do to Kim and Bonnie.
"No!" Ron shouted as his mind came to a decision on its own.
Ron quickly jumped back onto to his feet and began running to the shattered door. His heart was beating loudly in his ears as everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. He was half way to the door when he heard flying through the air and getting louder before he felt something burning and incredibly hot tear into the top of his left leg. Ron screamed in pain as he felt pure heat burrow deep into his flesh in muscle before he felt another piece of led rip through his right shoulder and knocking him off of his feet. As he hit the linoleum floor, his brain and entire sense of sensation was flooded with nothing but burning pain. He wanted to cry as he tried to scream, but it came out as painful and agonized moans. His eyes were closed so tight that it felt like his eyelids were fixing to rip free from his face as he clenched his teeth so hard that he could have sworn he was making his wisdom teeth sink deeper into his jaw. When he forced his eyes open again, began to glow bright neon green.
Bonnie struggled as the soldier behind her held her tightly. The more she struggled, it seemed the tighter the soldier kept her in place. All this didn't make any sense to her at all. Why would the army dispatch their own soldiers to attack in broad daylight? And why would they put so many innocent people at risk? The answer came to her mind in less than a second. Ron. Somehow, the army had found out about him. And they were sent to eliminate what they saw as a threat. As she struggled, she saw several of the armed soldiers tackle Kim to the ground and stayed there so she wouldn't hurt anyone else. This was ridiculous. She was so glad that she was studying to become a lawyer, because she was going to slap the army with suck a tremendous lawsuit that they'd have to shut down over half the armed forces by the time she was done with them.
As she struggled to break free from her captor, Bonnie saw Ron had started running toward the door of the convenience store. He must have seen Kim get into trouble. Her eye widened in horror when she saw a bullet pierce into his leg and another rip through his shoulder. Panic was beginning to take over her mind as she saw Ron fall to the floor and stop moving.
"NO!" she screamed as loud as she could.
"RON!" Kim screamed as she saw her boyfriend go down hard.
Bonnie could feel her hear rate increase as she tried to break free even more. Why wasn't she changing? Was it only temporary? Damn it, what did she have to do to help him? She soon saw a very smelly soldier limp his way toward her with a sneer on his face. It didn't take her long to figure out that it was the soldier she had tried to neutralize.
"I bet you thought that was very funny. Didn't you?" he asked her.
"Actually, I wasn't expecting you to go down so easily. Who knew you actually had a dick?" she sneered in response.
The air rushed out of her lungs as the soldier struck her in her stomach with the butt of his rifle as hard as he could, causing her to go partially limp. As she heard her captor and her attacker argue, she felt her heart rate increase as her anger began to increase again. As she balled her fists, she began to feel a new rush of energy flow through her. A small chuckle escaped her throat as it soon grew in volume and began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" her attacker asked her.
"You just did the dumbest thing imaginable." She said as she felt that energy grow and her body begin to hurt.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the soldier asked her.
"Guess." She said as she looked up at him with a smile and glared at him with her now neon green eyes.
"What the hell?" the man asked as she flung her captor into a gas pump like he were a mere rag doll.
She groaned in pain as she felt her body start to grow and her muscles expand. Her jeans and shirt felt suddenly tight as her hair darkened and her skin began to change. She felt the jeans finally rip and give way at her hips and calves as the front of her shirt began to tear at the collar and travel downward. Her bra straps ripped from her expanding body apart and her shoes split open, as her feet grew too large for them to cover. When she glared back at the soldier that had struck her, he had his gun raised while he shivered in place.
"Go ahead and make my day." She growled at him as her skin tone changed to a dark shade of green.
"Y-y-you're a – y-you're a,"
"I'm a bitch." She said as she firmly kicked him in between his legs, sending him hurtling upward and striking the awning covering the pump before landing onto the hard pavement face first. The pain the soldier was in was beyond any comprehension he knew of as he clutched himself between his legs and curled himself into a fetal position.
"If you did have a dick, you don't anymore." Bonnie said to herself as she made her way toward the men that were holding Kim down.
"Sir!" the tech said as he patted Ross on the shoulder.
"Not now." Ross growled, hopping that they hadn't killed their target
"SIR!"
"What is it?" Ross demanded as he turned to the tech.
"We've got a problem." The tech said as he pointed to a monitor.
Ross looked at the monitor in time to see the She-Hulk throw several soldiers away from Kim and help her back onto her feet. Ross' mouth fell open in surprise and shock. There was nothing in the reports about another one. Ross quickly exited the van and saw for himself as the She-Hulk began guarding Kim as the soldiers opened fire at her. The bullets looked more like they were hitting a powerful airbag as they bounced off of her skin like they were pellets. She-Hulk glared at all of them a small growl began to escape her lips and her muscles began to tense. Everyone around her was beginning to get nervous.
"Bonnie, don't do anything stupid." Kim said to her.
"Don't worry, K. I'm just gonna have a little fun." Bonnie said as her eyes seemed to become more intense.
Before anyone could move, everyone's attention was drawn to the store as the front of it was completely shattered and debris covered everyone. The soldiers were frozen in fear, as Ross' eyes grew wide in surprise. He had seen the photos and read the reports over and over again, but he had no idea of that what was before him would be so – massive.
"Holy Mary, mother of God." He said as all of them gazed at a very large, and very, very pissed off Hulk.
Everyone covered their ears as Hulk screamed a roar of pure anger that seemed to vibrate the very ground they were standing on. When the his scream ended, all the soldiers saw a large sneer on the Hulk's face as he saw that several still had their weapons trained on Kim and She-Hulk.
"Puny humans." Hulk growled.
"Bring in the heavy artillery." Ross said as he began to come out of his state of shock.
"S-sir?" the tech asked him.
"BRING IN THE BIG GUNS! GET THE FIFTY CALIBER IN HERE!" Ross screamed.
Three H1 assault vehicles came barreling down the street and toward the gas station. Each of them had a large caliber machine gun and began opening fire at the two Hulks while the soldiers were doing their best to get to a safer position. Both were covering their faces as they felt the impact from the bullets and winced at the pain. The bullets bounced off Hulk and Bonnie's tough skin, but the force of them was causing them to sting like a small punch.
"Didn't your mothers ever tell you not to play with guns?" Bonnie said as one Hummer roared toward her.
When the vehicle was close enough, Bonnie stomped her foot down on the Hummer's front end, destroying the engine and making the car flip like a skateboard. With a hard jab, her fist went through the open hole in the car's rook and went through the floorboard and let it hang on her arm. With a sadistic grin, Bonnie glanced to where Ross was standing and turned to face him while the soldiers inside the vehicle were struggling to get out.
"General, what's she doing?" another tech asked.
"Men, get out of the van and run like hell." Ross said as she got a better grip on the crippled vehicle.
"HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE THIS AND SHOVE IT!" Bonnie shouted as she hurled the assault vehicle at the van while it's occupants scattered.
With very little effort, Bonnie hurled the Hummer at the van Ross and the techs had been sitting in with seditious glee. The massive assault vehicle crashed into the van, causing both to tumble and slam against the side of a near by building and almost bringing the wall down. Gas began pouring from both of their crumpled and torn fuel tanks and soaking the ground beneath the heaps. The wiring from the computers that were in the van were still sparking from the damage they had sustained and were dangerously close to where the gas was beginning to pool. With one small spark, both heaps exploded in one single massive fireball, covering the near by people in a wave of heat.
While Bonnie went for the next Hummer, the Hulk let out another rage of pure rage as leapt into the air and preformed a flying pile driver onto the hood of the other Hummer, crushing the engine and metal frame of the car completely. Out of mainly pure fear, the soldier behind the large fifty caliber gun opened fire and watched as the bullets bounced off the Hulk's head and shoulders and heard him growling louder and louder. When one bullet struck the Hulk in the eye, Hulk staggered to his feet as he covered his face and tried to shake the pain away. When Hulk glared at them again, the pure hateful stare the armed soldier received seemed to chill him to his very core as the rest of the men in the Hummer ran away. Fear gripped the poor soldier as the Hulk stood to his full height and began panting, as the veins in his skin looked ready to pop. He didn't know what this green behemoth would do next, but he knew it wasn't going to be good.
The Hulk spread his arms wide apart, almost like he was trying to stretch his arms out. With a tremendous force, the Hulk brought his hands together in a massive clap that almost sounded like a sonic boom. The force of the blow send the soldier falling out of the assault vehicle as he grasped his ears in pain while the vehicle itself was almost toppled over. When the soldier looked up, he saw the Hulk smashing and crushing the vehicle with its massive fists. Each blow to it warped the metal further and further until it was unrecognizable. Grasping it firmly in his hands and with one more roar, the Hulk lifted the destroyed vehicle into the air and flung far, far off into the distance until it was just a distant speck flying through the air.
"Incredible." Ross said as he saw the display of strength before him.
"Sir, what do you want us to do?" one of his soldiers asked him.
"Deploy the sonic cannons." Ross said to him.
The two parked vehicles with the strange speakers roared to life as they repositioned themselves in front of the gas station. As soon as they had come to a stop, two soldiers came out and immediately mounted each device. As the devices came online, a strange hum began to sound from them. Both She-Hulk and Hulk turned their gaze toward the strange machines as small vibration began to travel through the cars.
"Why aren't they firing?" Ross asked.
"The devices have to reach full power first, sir."
"By then, it'll be too late. Fire them now."
"But, sir!"
"I SAID FIRE!" Ross screamed.
"Bonnie! Ron! Run!" Kim screamed to them as she saw the devices begin to charge.
"Don't worry, K. We'll handle this." Bonnie said as her and Hulk began walking toward them. Kim knew what those devices were. When they were still at SHIELD, she had read that Stark had developed them as a weapon against the Chitauri. But if those things were at full power, they could collapse an entire building. And Hulk state or not, she knew that both of her friends were going to get hurt. "NO!" Kim shouted as she jumped in front of them to stop them.
"OPEN FIRE!" the soldiers inside the vehicles shouted.
Two sonic blasts hit both Hulks and Kim at full force. Hulk and She-Hulk had to do their best not to be knocked over by the sheer force of the blasts while their ears felt like they were going to explode form the inside out. Kim however was propelled forward like she had been fired from a slingshot and hit one of the gas pumps face first before falling to the ground and remained still. Both Hulk and She-Hulk were covering their ears as they fell to their knees, barley able to stand the pain from what they were feeling. Bonnie wanted to scream while Hulk moaned.
"Now we've got them." Ross said as a smile curled on his face.
Hulk was now on his elbows and knees as the blasts began to overpower him and Bonnie. He didn't know how much more he could stand the beating they were being given. As he tried to turn away from the sonic blasts, his eyes saw Kim laying on the ground with blood falling from her hair and her nose while a large bruise began to form on her forehead. As he saw her laying still, laying hurt, a growl formed in his throat. It started out small before it grew in another roar of unparalleled rage. He bit through the pain and the noise and fought against the force of the sonic blasts. He pushed himself back into a defiant stance and slowly forced himself to move forward. Each step shook the ground and sunk the asphalt deep into the ground. His fists were balled and his teeth were bared in his sneer as his eyes seemed to glow even brighter. General Ross couldn't believe at what he was seeing. HE had seen these devices in action before, and his mind was telling him that it was impossible for anything to stand against them.
"Crank them up to full power." Ross ordered.
"They already at maximum, sir. We're risking them burning out, right now."
"Then burn them out! Just don't let that thing go free!" Ross ordered as he saw Hulk draw ever closer to the devices.
Both of the men focused the full power of the machines directly at the Hulk, but were terrified as they saw him still making his way toward them. It was unreal to see this – thing actually fight against their attack. Soon, the Hulk was too close for comfort for wither of them. As they felt the ground shake as he planted another foot closer, both abandoned their posts as they heard him scream in rage and hate. Hulk lashed out and grasped one of the large devices and crushed it in his hand like it were made out of cardboard. As the Hulk tried to rip it free from the vehicle, half of the vehicle came with it. With a rebel yell he used the half he had torn off and kept smashing it into what was left over, and over, and over again. Sparks flew as debris of metal and asphalt began to fly in all directions as he kept hammering it relentlessly. When there was barley anything left in his hand or in front of him, he threw the remains into the other vehicle and made it skid along the parking lot and almost tipping it over. The driver climbed out and quickly made his way to the sonic weapon. He began charging it again and re-aimed it at the Hulk once again before the device exploded from a massive energy blast. The Hulk stood confused for a moment, wondering what had just happened to make the machine explode. When he saw a metal figure of red and yellow land not too far in front of him, his anger began to rise again.
"Stark." He growled as he recognized the Iron Man armor.
"Easy, fella. I'm a friend." Iron Man said to him.
"No friend. Tried to take Kim." Hulk growled.
"Not again." Iron Man said to himself as he saw the Hulk begin to raise his fist in the air.
"NO RON! DON'T!" She-Hulk shouted and jumped in front of him, grasping his arm before he could attack. "He's a friend." She told him.
"Stark tried,"
"I know, Ron. But he's my friend. That means he's your friend." She said to him as she stroked the side of his face.
"Friend?"
"Yes. He's a friend." She said to him and let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his fists. "Go stay with Kim. Okay?" she asked him.
"KP!" Hulk said as he remembered the state Kim was in and quickly rushed backed to her.
"You better have a damn good reason for interfering with Army affairs." Ross said as he marched up to Iron Man's face.
"I'm here on SHIELD business, General. Both of the jolly green giants over there are under SHIELD protection." Iron Man said to him.
"Like hell they are! I have orders to capture those things and eliminate them if necessary." Ross said, his stone face showing no sign of any cracks.
"If you would like to take this up with the rest of the Avengers, they'll be here any minute." Iron Man said.
Ross looked into the smooth gold face of Iron Man and glared at the glaring eyes that showed no sign of emotion at all. He hated facing an opponent where he couldn't tell if they were bluffing or not. With the tin man in front of him, he couldn't tell if he was ling or not. He couldn't even tell if he was human or not.
"This isn't over." Ross said to him before turning to his men. "We're pulling out. That's an order." Ross said as he and his mean began to fall back.
Iron Man turned his attention toward the Hulk as he held an unconscious Kim in his arms while She-Hulk looked at her with her face full of concern.
"Is she all right?" Iron Man asked her.
"She's still breathing, so that's a good sign." She-Hulk said as the Hulk cradled her in his arms.
"We can help her at my lab. From there, we can find out how bad she's hurt." Iron Man said to her.
"I guess it was a good thing I gave you a call, hush?" She-Hulk asked him.
"You called?" Iron Man asked her, confused at what she was telling him.
"You don't recognize me, Tony?" she asked him with a smirk. She closed her eyes and began taking several steady deep breaths. In a few moments, she began groaning as her form began to shrink in size and her bones began to pop. Soon, her body was slender and her hair began to fade to a chestnut brown as her skin changed from green to tan. Instead of the athletic looking She-Hulk, there now stood a regular young woman in front of Iron Man. "How about now?" she asked as she tried to regain her breath.
"Bon-Bon?" he asked her, surprised at what he was seeing. Both looked at the Hulk when he growled in confusion.
"It's okay, Ron. Tony is my mom's ex-boyfriend." She said to him.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do." He said to her.
"First thing's first. We need help Kim."
Inside the gas station, or what was left of it, one soldier had stayed behind and remained hidden as the two creatures talked to the metal man. As he gazed at them one more time, a small his escaped his leps as he pulled out a small test tube from his pocket. Cautiously, he walked to where Ron had been laying when he had been shot, and scooped up a generous amount of blood that was still wet from the floor. The soldier smiled as he put a cork in the test tube and opened his shirt a bit. When he placed the tube closed to his skin, his chest opened and several small tentacles grasped the tube and pulled it within him before his skin sealed itself closed. As he left the area, he let out a small sinister laugh as his eyes began to glow with a blue inner light. What was that old saying? Never wound what you can't kill. And that went double for the Chitauri.