Memories
Snap
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The Avengers landed and glanced around. The place was silent. The trees were stirring softly in the breeze. The fountain was tinkling gently. The other Iron Man looked around nervously.
"I don't like this."
And then all hell broke lose. The trees started moving towards him, an unearthly voice screaming.
"Who can impress the forest, bid the tree, Unfix his earthbound root?"
The Macbeth quote seemed absurd and yet at the same time, absolutely terrifying. At the same time, the fountain started spitting acid, the ground split open and shot lava and rocks started punching people.
That was when the X-Men made their move. The sky clouded over and the Avengers found themselves shrouded in fog. There was a sudden swish and by the time Thor had regained control from Storm, their numbers had dropped by three. Tony did a quick scan and swore softly. An impassible cave in the ground below them. Pryde! But no time to think, because now the temperature was dropping and they were standing in a puddle and…
"Everyone jump! Grab a flyer!"
Most got out in time but one of the newer Avengers was left iced in quite spectacularly. So this was what the X-Men were capable of when prepared and on home ground. But… How were they… How did they know…? And then they saw the figure coming out of the mist. A teenaged girl.
Tony had played with Eva. They all had. The girl was cheery and there was always a hint that she was going to take after her dad. But suddenly seeing the face that he was used to seeing in a child in that of a teenager and the expression was one of murderous intent still shocked him. She was pointing at the other Iron Man, her face twisted into something resembling a demonic mask.
"You filthy liars! You bring them in to kill her because you know she's too strong! You kill all of them and this is the first one I was able to get to in time! You're a murderer! You're going to kill every last one of them, just because you're scared! You murdered my mother right in front of my eyes when I was eight years old. She trusted you! And you killed her!"
Tony glanced over and saw the look passing between the other Cap and the other Iron Man. It quite clearly said 'Busted'. But Cap was still going to give it a try.
"Eva Logan, you are a wanted criminal, charged with treason and attempted murder…"
"What do you call what you did to my family then? You lobotomised Jamie! You murdered Laura! Maman spent her entire life determined to prevent us becoming experiments and you turned Curt into just that!"
And the girl suddenly threw her hands out and waves swirled around her and she moved forward, the Dragon materialising as her eyes glowed silver.
"You dared destroy the one who meant no harm and in doing so, brought about your own doom. For Dragon shalt destroy the Avengers, as foretold."
She looked terrifying and then the other Iron Man sighed and shot her. The girl screamed, dropping to her knees, and Tony could see the struggle and then the water was ripped from her and the other Iron Man landed in front of her, pulling her up by her hair.
"You never were the true Dragon. Now…"
And something barrelled into him. Tony saw a flash of blue and grey and then there was a crack. Tora… He heard Logan screaming at her to get back, get out of the way but the other Iron Man was not going to be attacking anyone seeing as Tora had managed with one headbutt to dent his chest plate to the point that the power source was broken. The look on the wiry woman's face was one of irrepressible anger.
"You kill all of them! You kill the others! Some are little more than children! You leap from world to world, killing them all, knowing that I know you will come for me one day! How dare you! How dare you!"
The other Cap lunged and Tora was displaced. The sight of the shield smashing up, knocking Tora's head back with the sort of force that would break the neck of a normal person snapped Tony out of his fugue.
"Avengers, Dragon is not the enemy here! Engage alternate Avengers!"
And then the whole thing descended into farce.
"Ouch… Oooh… That looked painful…"
Phoenix leant forward, lending her critical eye to proceedings.
"No, no, no! You don't punch like that, you're bound to break something!"
"Jean, considering he'd been punching like that for over a century, I don't think you can criticise. And there's the unbreakable bones."
"No, he's bound to break something, like his opponents jaw."
"Oh. You mean sensible breakages?"
Wanda and Steve teleported into the school grounds in time to see the whole place go to hell. The fighting was getting out of control –the more powerful, long-ranged attackers couldn't fire without risking damaging their allies. Steve managed to throw the shield, knocking the other Hawkeye off Gambit, getting a cheery "Merci, mon ami" as well as a jovial salute.
Wanda turned in time to see a child stagger out of the school's door, hugging a small Bamf doll to her chest. What the…?! But Eva would have been in her room, with its adamantium reinforced walls, its eye scan lock and… and its override command –and what was the betting that the other Avengers knew the code? Iron Man could easily hack the computers –Tora was good but she was better at getting in than making them 100% secure. And if you had the advantage of knowing your enemy…
And Wanda screamed as out of nowhere, the stray bullet fired from one of the few guns hit a target no one was aiming at. The Bamf sprayed out white stuffing and then it was stained red. Wanda screamed again but she was overridden by a sudden, inhuman screech. And everyone froze as Tora flung her arms out wide.
She stepped forward and moved her hands slightly so they were all released.
"Tora…?"
She turned and there was such a rage in her eyes that everyone there recoiled slightly. She stalked forward to the girl lying on the ground, knelt down and picked her up, cradling the tiny body in her arms. And then the explosion occurred.
"I HATE EVERY LAST STINKING ONE OF YOU! YOU AND YOUR 'HEROES' AND 'VILLAINS' AND ALL THAT TRASH! I HATE YOU ALL! I HATE YOU!"
She was cradling the child in her arms, tears streaking down her face.
"I HATE YOU AND YOUR PETTY FIGHTS AND YOUR STUPID POWERS AND I WISH I WAS JUST NORMAL! I WISH WE WERE ALL JUST NORMAL AND THESE STUPID WARS THAT WE START DIDN'T HAPPEN BECAUSE IT'S NEVER US WHO DIE! IT'S THE INNOCENTS AND I HATE YOU ALL!"
Wolverine stepped forward.
"Tora…"
"AND I HATE YOU THE MOST BECAUSE YOU ACT LIKE YOU CARE BUT WHEN IT COMES TO IT, YOU'LL SACRIFICE EVERYTHING TO TRY AND MAKE UP FOR PAST MISTAKES BUT YOU NEVER THINK OF THE DAMAGE YOU'RE CAUSING YOUR FAMILY!"
Her whole body was shining as she didn't quite realise what she was doing.
"OUR DAUGHTER IS DEAD, LOGAN! DEAD!"
He moved forward and could now smell that terrible scent.
"Eva…"
She wouldn't let him see the body, cradling it close to her chest and when she glanced up her eyes were burning.
"No more. No more fights. No more pain. No more memories…"
And then she looked up and only one person knew what was about to happen. The Scarlet Witch stretched out a hand.
"Tora, NO!"
And the eyes were no longer human.
"No more powers."
Wanda had enough time to fling up a shield around her and then Tora exploded into a huge flash flood, swamping all those unable to protect themselves like Wanda was doing. And when the waves died down, nothing was the same.
"Ooooh! Yay, fun!"
"No. not fun. Not fun at all."