Chapter 26
Through the golden portal walked Bucky, Okoye, Nakia, and Shuri, coming in from Wakanda and already geared up. Sam, T'Challa, and Strange walked forward to greet them.
"So this is space, huh?" Bucky looked around, slowly nodding, "Nice."
"Thank you all for coming" T'Challa said to the newcomers.
"You think we would pass up a chance to fight an alien army in space? I think not!" Shuri laughed.
"Plus, I think we all know you would not last five minutes without us by your side," Okoye joked.
"Nice to know you have your own Wong in your life," Strange commented.
"We are here to help however we can," Nakia smiled, "We will not stand by when we know we can help."
T'Challa grinned warmly before saying, "You know, if we have children, this will be a fun story to tell them about the days right before our wedding."
Nakia playfully punched his shoulder. Sam chuckled at the sight before noticing something Bucky was holding in his arm: a steel case.
"What you got there, hobo?", Wilson asked, "Something deadly I hope."
"Depends on who wears it," Bucky handed the case to him, "Open it up."
Sam raised an eyebrow before opening the case, his eyes widening in shock, "Are you for real?"
"I figured it would be better than running around in Captain Rogers' hand-me-downs," Shuri grinned, "Vibranium weaving, all new drone equipment, everything you will need if you plan on carrying the shield."
He was shocked. Sam could slowly feel the grin spreading across his face, the amazement stuck in his lungs, "I...I don't know what to say."
"Yeah, well, if you're gonna fight a war," Bucky placed a supportive hand on Sam's shoulder, "You're gonna need a uniform."
…
"I'm sorry, you're about to go fight a bunch of aliens and you stopped to call me?" Cassie asked, clearly bewildered on the phone.
Scott nodded, "Yeah, it's about to get cray-cray up in here."
"Okay, well, shouldn't you be getting ready to go out and kick some major alien a- I mean, butt?"
"Right, well, this is awkward, but I was thinking about a comment you mentioned last time we talked and, well, you know how I trust you and everything, right?"
She paused, "Um, yeah?"
"Yeah, well, you mentioned something about doing a job with X-Con at Oscorp and their crappy security and I was wondering what you meant by that since I talked with Luis-"
"Oh God", Cassie muttered to herself in a worried tone.
"He said you didn't do a job at Oscorp and I'm not calling you a liar here! I know that you would never-!"
Having run out of patience, Hope quickly snatched the phone from his hand and put it on speaker, "Cassie, I tracked your digital history. We know you've been doing some hacktivism on the side and that you got into the servers at Oscorp."
"Oh geez," Scott winced.
"We need to know if you saw anything on those servers about the Iron Patriot armor. What it's made of, any design flaws, weak points. Whatever info you found."
There was a tense silence on both ends of the phone call before slowly Cassie answered, "So I may know a thing or two."
"Tell us everything you know, Peanut," Scott quickly got up and leaned closer towards the phone, "And maybe you won't be as grounded when we get back."
…
The team loaded themselves onto the ship, Carol in the pilot's seat and Valkyrie right beside her.
"You ready for this, Danvers?" the Asgardian asked, flipping switches and adjusting herself in her seat.
"Flying back to the homeworld of the fascists who brainwashed me and turned me into a weapon?" Carol turned to her and smirked, "Bring it on."
Valkyrie rolled her eyes but she couldn't help herself but smile.
Wong clicked his seatbelt on and looked around, "So are we going to sit here or are we going to send ourselves into yet another intergalactic death battle?"
"We're still waiting on Mr. Wilson," Peter explained.
"Hey, has anyone seen our fearless leader?" Strange called out.
"Right here, Doc."
The crew all turned around as they saw Bucky and Shuri standing tall and proud, covering the speaker behind them.
"Ladies and gentleman…", Shuri grinned.
"We present you Captain America," Bucky smiled as he and Shuri moved out of the way.
Standing behind him was Sam, now in an all-new suit. Gone was Steve's uniform from his SHIELD days. Now, he was geared in a completely unique uniform, complete with a white cowl and shoulder padding, glistening blue vibranium, and bright red goggles. The shield was now proudly on his arm, now carried with more of a sense of confidence than before.
The team all stared in surprise, some of them even hanging their mouths open.
"Whoa, someone got an upgrade," Rhodey chuckled in surprise.
"How do I look?", Sam asked.
"Honestly?" Wanda stared in astonishment, "Like Captain America."
"That's what I like to hear," Sam grinned before looking over to Danvers, "Captain, will you do the honors?"
"On it, Captain," Carol nodded, "Everyone, hold onto your butts."
Slowly, the ship lifted itself off the ground as the airlock opened up. It launched forward into the depths of space as it passed straight through a jump point.
Now, there was no turning back for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
…
The golden beams of the sun spread across the surface of the planet Hala. Osborn stepped forward in his Iron Patriot suit as he looked over the troops of Kree being injected with his serum and gearing up in his armor. He smirked, knowing his formula would place them all under his control once the Kree were done conquering the galaxy. As he always told his boy, always make sure you're the smartest man in the world.
Yon-Rogg and his crew walked up towards him from behind, watching as their men become enhanced by the billionaire's work.
"All of these years seeking a way to improve upon our forces and it's a human that helps us reach our full potential."
"Well, you don't have to say it like that", Osborn chuckled, "Man, I never thought I'd be up in outer space. Would've thought there'd be more Jawas and men with pointy ears out here."
"So this is all safe, right?" Minn-Erva asked, "This green shit isn't gonna kill us or anything?"
"Would you like to see for yourself?" Osborn smiled in a sinister manner as he presented a vial of his serum to the members of Starforce.
Yon-Rogg carefully eyed the liquid as he took the vial from Osborn's hands, "...The Kree have always held themselves to a system of honor. One of principles."
"Oh yeah", the Iron Patriot raised an eyebrow, "And how's that been working out for you these past few decades?"
The commander glowered at Osborn before placing the serum in Minn-Erva's hands, "If I am to bring glory to my people, it will be by my own terms."
"Suit yourself, Rogg", Osborn shrugged before looking out at his future army, "Time for the fun to begin."
Suddenly, a huge blast crashed in front of the two as one of the Kree battleships exploded. Osborn quickly closed his helmet up as he and the others got into defense mode.
"What the hell?!" Yon yelled, rifle out and scoping the area.
"You got any clue what that was, space ranger?" asked Osborn, gauntlets up and ready to fire.
"Uh, how about you turn your heads up, genius?" Minn-Erva commented, pointing at the sky.
The villains all raised their heads and saw as a spaceship entered their airspace, firing down at them from above.
"It's them," Osborn groaned, "What is it with heroes and not knowing when to give up?"
In the ship, Valkyrie was firing at anyone she could see on the ground, cackling madly as she did so, "DIE, BLUE BLOODS, DIE!"
"You've got issues, man," Hope commented.
"Okay, remember the plan" Sam lifted himself up and grabbed a handle on the ceiling of the spacecraft, "Strike fast and strike hard. Danvers, Wanda, we can't let any of those ships take off. It lifts up, you take it down."
"On it", Wanda nodded.
"Now that I can do", Carol gave a quick thumbs-up as she fired a few more rounds at the enemy.
"If they get past you two, Tic-Tac, we're gonna need some Giant-Man action up in this."
"On it, Cap", Scott gave a thumbs-up, earning a look of humor from Hope, "What, he's Captain America now. Take the shield, you take the nickname."
"Van Dyne, Spider-Boy, focus on those Goblins. Web 'em, shoot him, blind 'em. Whatever you got, use it."
"Got it, Cap," Hope said before instantly cringing, "Oh God."
"Haha," Scott chuckled and pointed at her.
"We're on it, sir," Peter nodded to Sam.
"Your majesty, Barnes, Wakanda's angels, Wong. Foot soldiers, go for them. We're dealing with super-soldiers here so we can't hold back."
"Wears a costume for less than an hour and already giving orders, huh, chickadee?" Bucky joked.
"Strange, Rhodes, Valkyrie, we're going straight for Osborn. Lang's kid already told us his weak points and what he's capable of. We just gotta hit him where it hurts."
"Ohhhh, I have been waiting for this one," Rhodey rose out of his seat, the machine gun on his back clicking into place.
"Let's show 'em what we've got, fellas" Carol flashed a smile before pushing a button on the dashboard, the door of the back of the ship opening up. Her and Valkyrie set the ship on auto-pilot as they got out of their seats.
Sam moved to the front of the team, looking down at the army they're about to face from the back of the ship, feeling the bad ripple across his face. All his life, he's been the guy at the back. Now, he's the one at the front.
Everyone got behind Sam looked out. Weapons in hand, geared up, and ready for this.
Sam tightened the shield around his arm. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
"Avengers...Assemble."
"CHAAAAARGE!" Valkyrie yelled as everyone began moving forward and leaping out of the ship.
One by one, the heroes soared downwards in a free-fall. In mid-fall, Sam activated his wings as Carol's photon energy began lighting up around her. Wanda's powers and Strange's cloak lifted them up in mid-air as they activated their magic, Valkyrie readying her swords beside them. Hope shrunk down and began flapping her wings towards the enemy, as Rhodey began blasting forward in his suit, aiming his gun downwards.
"Okay. Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgolet'sgoLET'S GO!", Peter hyped himself up before jumping out last.
Before he could hit the ground, Scott enlargened himself as Peter quickly missed being hit by his giant elbow and, firing a couple web strands, pulled the Wakandans up so they could run along Scott's arm, leaping off with spears, claws, and blades ready.
Osborn and the Goblins blasted forward, cackling in the air as they and the Kree ships flew toward them.
And so the battle commenced. Everyone with their job and doing as Sam commanded. Carol and Wanda teamed up and blasted away at any ship coming their way, with Scott swinging his arms around and swatting attackers out of the air like gnats. Peter fired a web at a Goblin and another at Shuri and as he pulled down the Goblin off their glider, Shuri swung down like a pendulum and crashed into the Kree foot-soldiers.
"WOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!", the teens yelped.
Wong opened up a portal in the middle of the air as Bucky and the Wakandans fell through, going through another portal from behind the charging Kree army, catching the aliens in a sneak attack. T'Challa and his allies began attacking their opponents, as he and Bucky fought back to back, the king with his claws and the super-soldier with his gun. Okoye twirled her spear around and skewered any soldiers that came her way, while Nakia slashed with her rings.
Valkyrie flipped around, alternating between using her spear and swords. Okoye lept down beside her as the two even ended up switching weapons at one point, Okoye with Brunnhilde's uru spear and Brunnhilde with Okoye's vibranium spear.
Brunnhilde paused as she looked between their weapons and turned to Okoye, "Nah, nah, give me that."
She tossed the spear to Okoye, "You have the little one!"
Okoye rolled her eyes before charging off. Scott in his giant form was able to pluck spaceships out of the sky with ease. Hope flew around him as she made sure any oncoming Goblins were taken out, firing her blasters at them and even fighting them mid-air to kick them off their gliders. At one point, she made sure to blind one so it could even crash right into its allies!
The sky was lit up with cosmic energy as Wanda, Strange, and Carol made sure the skies stayed clear of Kree ships trying to take off. Burning gold and red engulfed the sky as enemies were met with either photon blasts or tendrils of magic.
Sam and Rhodey swooped around the battlefield, providing cover for the friends in the sky. The sound of Goblins cackling filled the air as Sam began showing off how much his training with the shield paid off.
Bucky looked up at his flying friend up in the sky, "Damn."
"Eyes on the field, Sergeant" Strange commented as he used all the spells he knew against his enemies. Opening portals, firing blasts of magic, whips, everything.
As Valkyrie skewered a super-soldier, Yon-Rogg appeared behind her, using his Magnitron gauntlets to lift her into the air against her will.
"Impudent Asgardian," he snarled, ready to toss her away, when Strange opened up a portal behind them.
"King Brunnhilde!", Strange yelled, earning Brunn's attention.
Suddenly, a gleaming white pegasus soared straight out of it, flying toward its rider.
Brunnhilde's eyes widened with glee, "ARAGORN! TO ME!"
"What the-?" Yon-Rogg couldn't even finish his sentence as the beast crashed right into him and sent him flying to the ground.
The winged horse galloped to her as she fell out of the air and onto her steed's back, attacking Goblins with her spear and making sure her friends were guarded in the sky.
Minn-Erva, Bron-Charr, and Att-Lass tried their best to ward off the heroes, but a blast from above from Shuri knocked them down.
"HAHAHAHA!" she laughed as she hung onto Peter's web, "Did you see the looks on their faces!"
"YEAH! WOOOOOO!" Peter cheered as he swung around with her in his arms, blinding Goblins with his webs and taking them down off their gliders.
"Don't give up now, y'all! We're doing great!" Sam yelled out as he caught his shield in the air, "Anyone got eyes on Osborn?!"
Right as he said that, a repulsor blast flew past his head. He instinctively ducked as Osborn came soaring right at him. Sam was able to dodge as he held his shield over his body, blocking any blasts from hitting him.
"Welcome to the party, Wilson! But I don't remember you getting an invite!" Osborn yelled as he flew straight at Sam, firing several rounds of artillery from his shoulder blades at the new captain.
Rhodey turned to see his friend down below facing the patriot, "Sam!"
He blasted heat-seeking missiles at Osborn, watching as the projectiles exploded next to the Patriot and knocked him off course away from Sam. Both Sam and Rhodey dove down towards him as Strange opened up a portal underneath Osborn.
The billionaire fell through it and ended up falling through another on the ground, his armored body skidding across the ground on his side. He quickly rose to his feet before a red floating cloak wrapped around his body, trying to hold him down.
Strange opened a portal in front of Osborn's struggling body as Sam's shield launched through it, nailing Osborn right in the head. Overhead behind Osborn, Sam swooped down and grabbed the shield in mid-air, lifting his legs up to kick Osborn right in the back, knocking him to the ground.
"Hang on, guys!" Peter fired webs at Osborn's knocked down body, pinning him to the ground by his hands and feet. He was forced to go right back to the Goblins right after.
"Oh come on!" Osborn yelled under his faceplate, lights and alerts flashing before him inside his helmet, "Dick move, Parker!"
Rhodey, Sam, and Strange began to converge on their opponent when the sound of Goblin laughter filled the air around them. They looked up as Goblin soldiers began tossing pumpkin bombs in their direction.
Rhodey quickly rushed to cover Sam as Wong pushed Strange out of the way. Unfortunately, in the chaos, Osborn was able to loosen up the Cloak's grip on him and toss it away.
He charged up his suit, arms raised out in front of him, aimed at Sam and lighting up with bright energy, "Alright. Bye bye, birdy-"
Before he could do anything, the feeling of horse hooves trampling onto his back sent him right into the ground. Valkyrie rode her pegasus right onto Osborn, crushing him under her steed as she ran across him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SUFFER, YOU IRON-CLAD MORON!" Brunnhilde whooped as her winged horse swooped around and soared back at Osborn from behind, her spear stretched forward.
Osborn flipped around and fired at the oncoming Asgardian. Brunnhilde quickly pushed her horse out of the way and dove to the ground, missing the repulsor blast. Rhodey crashed to the ground and drove a quick metal punch into Osborn's face, followed by an attempt to repulsor blast Osborn's chest. However, Osborn was fast and managed to blast him away, flying into the air and raining fire.
Peter spotted the battle from up above a skyscraper and saw his friends were in trouble, "Oh no. Guys!"
Shuri, still in his arms, spotted a fleet of Goblins chasing after them. Quickly, an idea popped into her head, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Peter looked over and realized what she had in mind, "Oh, crap."
Holding her tight, he began to swing downwards towards Osborn, the Goblins in pursuit. Shuri and Peter fired their respective weapons down at the billionaire, with Osborn blocking each attack: just the distraction he needed.
Rather than crash into him, Peter and Shuri leaped over Osborn's head.
"Hey!" Osborn yelled, "If you're gonna launched an attack on a man, you might as well-!"
He was interrupted by the horde of Goblin soldiers crashing right into him, their dropped pumpkin bombs scattering around and exploding around them.
...
Scott grabbed two battleships and smashed them together with his own giant hands. Before the debris could crash onto the city of Hala, Wong suddenly pulled out a Mirror Dimension spell, causing it to disappear into crystalline nothingness.
"Awwwwesome," he muttered, as Carol sped past him, annihilating any ships firing at her giant-sized ally.
"I think that's nearly all of them!" she yelled out before feeling someone firing right at her.
She turned to see a Kree ship soaring right at her, piloted by Yon-Rogg himself.
"Hello, Vers!" he grinned, continuing to fire right at her.
The captain rolled her eyes as she blocked his gunfire with her arm. She didn't move a single inch, not a single muscle, as the ship continued flying her way. Yon stared confused, but refused to stop his assault on his former ally. But before he could smash his ship right into her-
"Hiya" Hope enlargened right next to him, "Nice ship you've got here."
"WHAT THE-?!" Yon-Rogg yelled in shock as he lost control of his own vessel.
Carol watched as the ship spun out of control before BOOM! A massive blast of magical red energy bombarded Yon's ship and sent it flying off-course into the ground.
Wanda floated down next to Carol as Hope flapped her wings beside them as well.
"Nice one, Stone Sister. Good work, Stinger" Carol grinned.
"No prob" Wanda blushed.
"Stinger?" Hope raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, come on! Cap needs our help!"
…
Another kinetic blast rang out in the air as T'Challa blasted away even more Kree super-soldiers.
Before one of them could sneak up from behind and attack, a vibranium ring blade soared forward and struck them right in the back, taking them down. Nakia quickly dashed forward and dug it out.
T'Challa sighed, "Always saving me these days, aren't you?"
"Would make for a boring wedding if you are not around to see it," she quipped back.
Suddenly, a raging super-soldier prepared to bash them both down when a vibranium spear impaled them from behind.
Okoye pulled out her spear and looked at her two friends, "Save it for when we're not about to die!"
Bucky fired as many rounds as he could at the oncoming foes when suddenly, Minn-Erva jumped onto him and tried to stab at him.
"More blue people, great," Bucky sarcastically muttered before pushing her off of him, grabbing his dagger and flipping it in his hand.
"More super apes, perfect," Minn-Erva growled as the rest of her friends gathered around her, weapons ready.
"Your boss is lying to ya. Those flying green guys up there, the second you get in control, Osborn's gonna turn on you," Barnes explained, lifting himself up.
The Kree special-ops group faltered, confused by what the ex-assassin was saying.
Minn-Erva shook her head and charged forward, "Ignore him! He's trying to mess with us!"
They charged forward at him, but before they could do anything, a golden magical disk was tossed forward and bounced off of each of their heads, knocking them out and to the ground.
Bucky turned to see Wong walk forward, wiping his hands with a smirk on his face.
"I could've had them," Bucky commented.
"Sure," Wong chuckled.
...
Sam soared as he circled Osborn from above, Redwing popping out of his back and firing at the billionaire. Osborn blocked the attacks with one fist as he fired at Osborn with his other arm, knocking off the machine guns on Rhodey's shoulders.
"Shit, down to repulsor cannons," Rhodes growled as he launched himself at Osborn.
The Patriot dodged out of the way and let Rhodey crash into Valkyrie, knocking both off course. In a quick second, he flipped around and fired at Peter and Shuri, leading to the two teens falling to the ground.
Osborn yelled as he felt vibranium claws shred at his back, T'Challa slashing away with all of his fury.
In a swift move, Osborn grabbed T'Challa's neck and lifted him forward, "When I'm done with you, I'm gonna send a few Goblins after your backwards little coun-!"
Unfortunately, the foolish businessman forgot about T'Challa's kinetic energy attack as the Panther kicked with both legs and sent Osborn flying away in a bright violet blast.
"You talk too much" T'Challa commented, as Bucky, Nakia, and Okoye gathered around him.
Osborn flew through the air before a massive blast from Carol, Wanda, and Hope combined sent him flying forward.
The Patriot quickly used his blasters to set him into a standing position as he quickly dove his feet downwards and slowed himself to a halt, driving his feet right into the ground. He looked up and all around, there were heroes on every side, weapons ready and prepared to take him down.
"Wow, look at this," Osborn smirked under his faceplate, "Always knew I could draw a crowd but this is something."
"It's over, Osborn," Sam held his shield out in front of him, "Kree are down, Goblins are down, let's not make this any worse than it has to be."
"It's funny you think it's gonna be that easy. Do you realize who you're talking to, Wilson?" Osborn chuckled, "I am Norman. Osborn. CEO of Oscorp and the Iron Patriot. You take me down and what happens?
He took a step forward, "You take me to court, try to say I attempted an 'alien invasion'? You think anyone's gonna believe that nonsense?!"
He shook his head and laughed, "No. Even if you take me down, I still win. Don't you get it already? In the end, it's not the Avengers or the Kree or any other super-powered moron who's gonna be on top. In the end, it's the Iron Patriot."
Peter walked forward, lenses on his mask glaring with anger and fists clenching with rage.
But rather than yell or attack, the teen calmly said, "Thanks for that!"
Osborn's head tilted in confusion, "Pardon?"
"Droney!" Peter called out.
Norman looked down to see the boy's mechanical spider drone pop off of his own armored shoulder and fly back to its master.
"What the-?"
"You know, I really wanted to believe you, Osborn. Hoped for once, we weren't dealing with another Mysterio," Peter explained, "But after Beck, I wasn't gonna take any more chances. Thankfully, Droney came in time when he did."
"What?" Osborn asked, confused out of his mind as to what was going on.
"Kid had a good idea when you first arrived," Sam spoke up, "I pointed out my concerns about trusting you and he calm up with a plan."
…
A few days ago after the battle in Kamar-Taj…
Osborn crashed back to the ground, his helmet collapsing back into his suit, "So, does this count as my first Avengers mission, because that was a badass way to invite me on."
"How the hell did you do that?," Carol asked.
As Osborn began his showboating, Sam got up, prepared to give a stern talking to to this random civilian, when Peter grabbed his arm and quickly put something in his hand: his spider-drone.
Peter quickly whispered, "Put this on him."
"What?" Sam asked.
"If he's on our side, we've got nothing to worry about," Peter quickly explained, "If not...this could help us."
Sam paused before quickly figuring out what the boy was saying. He nodded as the two walked over to Osborn, Peter with enthusiasm and Sam with careful analysis.
"As far as I'm concerned" Sam held out his hand, "Welcome to the Avengers."
Norman grinned and took Sam's hand with his own, shaking it, "Thank you, Captain."
Unbeknownst to the billionaire, the drone quickly skittered off of Sam's hand and onto Osborn's armor, finding a careful place where it could stay hidden.
…
"You've gotta be kidding me" Rhodey spoke in surprise.
"Wait, I'm confused," Scott shrunk down next to the colonel, "So Peter fangasming over him, that was all fake?"
"Oh for sure!" Peter smiled under his mask.
Sam shook his head, calling the kid's bluff.
"I wasn't able to hear the recordings until after Droney came off during the Oscorp struggle," the Spider-Man continued, "But once I did…"
He held the drone out in his gloved hand as recordings of Norman's voice began to emit out of it.
"I upgrade your tech. I help you get inside Wakanda and Strange's place, and, if I recall, provided you with a plethora of soldiers -zz- I told them to launch the attacks. Make a big show of it. Fire a few rounds at us and everything. Make us look great for all the world to see! -zz- In the end, it's not the Avengers or the Kree or any other super-powered moron who's gonna be on top. In the end, it's the Iron Patriot."
Peter allowed his tiny robotic friend to return to its place on his chest as he beamed with pride, "So, what was that about the world not believing us."
"Wow, nice work, sport," Carol smiled.
"Oh my God, he's like a mini-me," Hope muttered in surprise.
And then there was Osborn, his mask emotionless and staring right at Peter. He dropped to the ground and hunched over, face looking down in silence before...
"...Heh..Heheheh...HehehehehehehahahahahahHAHAHAHAHA!"
"What the hell?" Wanda asked.
"Get behind me," Okoye said as she and Bucky stood before Peter and Shuri, both of whom stared in horror.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Osborn continued laughing maniacally as slowly, all around him, the sound of horrifying laughter increased.
As slowly, the fallen Goblins rose up into the air and encircled our heroes.
And as he lifted himself up, Osborn pushed a few buttons on his suit. The bright red and blue colors of the Iron Patriot shifted to an ugly green and purple. The mouth-like slit on his helmet and the seal where the newly-green faceplate opens up morphed into a bright yellow. Gears and metal plating shifted until the back of the now-purple helmet was sharp and poking out.
The faceplate opened and underneath it was the green-eyed, emerald-tinged, cackling face of Norman Osborn.
"...Now you've done it."