Hey everyone! Just want to say thanks for the sudden burst in reviews! It was so funny I just went on to check my stats the other day and they had spiked within a few hours. Caught me off guard lol, but it was so amazing. I want to say thanks to a guest reviewer who left soooo many reviews on so many chapters. That was so sweet of you to take the time to do that, really appreciated. Anyway that's all, enjoy the chapter!
Screams rang out; ones of fear, but also ones of rage. Like a battle cry, yet so much more... inhuman.
Chaos raid through camp similar to the battle that had occurred not so very long ago. Only now, they were fighting their own.
"Piper look out!"
She turned just in time to see a nine-year-old boy lunging at her, teeth bared and hissing a growl. She dodged just in time.
The boy fell to the ground but quickly recovered, turning to face her. Before he could make a move, though, Will appeared and plunged a needle into the boy before he could react.
He struggled for a moment before going limp in Will's grip.
"You okay?" he asked her, looking up while still holding onto the child.
Piper blinked, still slightly in shock, but shook herself and replied. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, eyes still on the boy.
Will, who was still in his hazard suit, hauled the boy over his shoulder. "Stay back," he reminded her. She nodded, taking a few steps away. She waited for him to walk a safe distance away before following.
"How many?" she asked, after Will had returned the boy to the infirmary and strapped him down. They began heading over to the Big House, not wanting to be near the infected any longer.
"Thirty-three," he replied, sadly. "Thirty-three?!" Piper repeated, shocked.
"Yep. Thirty-three have now succumbed to the final stage of pure aggression. A few more went savage during the night, which brought up the number. That kid who attacked you slipped away while I was trying to control some of the others," he explained, apologetic.
"Woah," she whispered, wrapping her arms round her body in comfort and leaning against the building once they arrived.
As they stood in silence for a moment, the others appeared around the corner and headed their way.
Connor ran up the last few steps. "Well?" he asked, worriedly, concern filling his face.
Will grimaced. He hated to be the one to keep his worry there. "I' sorry, Connor, but he tested positive. Travis is sick."
Connor's face crumbled, and you could almost hear his heart breaking and shattering into little pieces. "No," he whimpered, sinking to the ground.
Piper placed a hand on his shoulder in condolence. "I'm so sorry," she said, feeling distraught herself.
"It's my fault," muttered Will, anger lacing his features. "If I hadn't have been reckless and gotten attacked, he wouldn't have had to come and save me."
"Hey," said Nico, gripping his shoulder. "This isn't on you, Will. Travis wasn't going to leave you in there no matter what. You know why? Because he is loyal and brave. You can't be angry that that's the kind of person he is."
Will looked at him, his gaze softening. "He's right."
They turned to Connor, who was staring down at the ground. "Travis doesn't leave anyone behind, especially a friend. So don't think for a second this is on you, Will."
He raised his head to look directly at Will when he said this last part, his gaze not wavering for a second.
Will took a deep breath. "Thanks. I appreciate that."
Connor nodded and went back to looking off into the distance absentmindedly.
They knew there was very slim chance Travis wouldn't have gotten sick after he had gone in unprotected to save Will when he was being attacked by the first savage victim. They still held out hope though, as slim as it was. Now, it all came crashing down.
"He's still in the early stages. We can't give up. Not yet," assured Will, trying to sound confident.
Connor nodded, but he didn't seem to be really listening, lost in thought.
"How long before they all go rogue?" asked Clarisse, speaking for the first time since she arrived, wanting to be respectful while Connor heard the news.
Will rubbed his forehead, leaning against the wall of the Big House. "Not long," he admitted. "Some have been sick longer than others, and those are the ones who have already become violent. But because the virus has mutated, it's symptoms have sped up, meaning people are now reaching the final much faster than previously."
"On top of all this," he continued, "it's getting harder to contain. Both the virus and the infected. We're running out of room and supplies to keep them down and under control."
He looked at them all seriously. "We may not be able to hold them all for much longer."
Their eyes widened as they traded worried and fearful glances.
"So, what do we do?" asked Piper, hesitantly.
There was a pause, increasing the already high levels of tension.
"I don't know," admitted Will. "Hope we can keep them from them escaping, and hope nobody comes back."
...
The ringing is all anyone could hear, each person desperately covering their eyes and ears, cringing at the piercing noise and blinding light.
Once the light had subsided, Tony ripped his helmet off to get more air in, coughing as he freed his head that was now drenched in sweat. Steve was kneeling on the ground, trying to regain his bearings, and Natasha was trying to pull herself up but stumbling, likely from a concussion. In the worst condition, however, were Bruce and Clint, who were out cold.
Steve crawled forward to the pair, shaking his teammates gently to try and stir them. Clint groaned and Bruce's eyes fluttered open slightly before closing again, his head drooping to the side.
Steve knew they would probably be alright, but just to be sure he checked their pulse and breathing. Both were strong and steady, so he let himself breathe a sigh of relief.
They'll wake up in a minute.
Steve looked back round to see Tony standing up as well, with Natasha giving him a hand.
"You guys alright?" Steve asked, hauling himself to his feet.
"I feel like Hulk just Lokid me while also getting struck by lightning at the same time, but apart from that, totally fine," said Tony, shaking his head to rid his vision of black dots.
Natasha nodded in confirmation which Steve returned, before they both turned around and gasped.
"Oh. My. God," muttered Tony, dumbfounded. "It's... destroyed," he said, bluntly. And honestly they couldn't have put it any other way.
The top of the tower was completely gone. They were basically standing outside.
The roof had been blown off, the walls had been demolished. It looked like a construction site, but without any construction, and more destruction.
The windows were gone, although they had been basically destroyed before the explosion anyway. Now, you could just walk right out onto the balcony, which was barely holding together in and of itself.
Tony suddenly lifted off the floor and flew out, stopping and turning to look at the tower, scanning for the extent of damage. By this point, it was already morning, and the sun had already begun to shine through the sky, the light hitting the tower at just the right angle.
"Well, the side for about half of the building is basically gone, and all the windows and glass has been shattered," Tony explained when he flew back in.
"Sorry Tony," sympathised Steve, giving him an apologetic look. Tony shrugged. "Eh, it's just a building. I'll just buy another one."
Natasha smirked at him before refocusing her expression and scanning the room. She gasped.
They followed her gaze, landing on the two boys laying sprawled out on the floor.
They ran over to Jason, who was raising his head and attempting to move his arms underneath him to push himself up.
They skidded to a halt beside him, kneeling down to help him up.
"Jason, are you okay?" asked Natasha, panicked.
He blinked and scrunched up his face, grunting slightly in pain. "Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"What the hell just happened?" Tony asked, getting right to the point.
"It was a collision of our powers combined together causing an extreme burst and release of pure energy," explained Jason, not even looking up at them.
Tony blinked, surprised. "Oh, I was not expecting you to actually answer that with a decent explanation."
"Guys, watch out," Clint called from behind them, him and Bruce finally having awoken fully and cautiously walking towards them, staring passed them with firm expressions. They were bruised, covered in grim, and had blood splattered in various areas, but they were walking, so that was definitely something. They would check everyone out later.
Steve, Natasha and Tony turned to where they were looking and saw Percy laying across the room, a dent in the wall above him. It looked as though the blow had shot him right into the wall, from which he then slid down and fell to the floor.
He was beginning to stir.
"How the heck is he still conscious? Actually, now that I think about it, how are you still conscious?" asked Clint, turning to Jason. "You both were right in the middle of that blast. How are ethier of you even alive?"
"How about fight now, questions later," suggested Jason, eyes still locked on Percy, clearly avoiding the topic.
Before anyone could say anything, a loud noise sounded from outside, like wind whirling rapidly around.
They all looked to Jason who raised his hands. "Not me," he said, looking as confused as they were.
Just then, a helicopter rose into their view. Ropes fell down and agents began to slide down and land in what was left of the building.
The doors that led to the stairs across the room burst open, and more Shield agents filed in, guns already trained on Percy and Jason.
"Don't move!" one man shouted at them as they moved closer.
Before they knew it, they were surrounded.
"Hey wait-" started Steve, ready to argue, but another form entering the room silenced him quickly.
"Quiet, Rodgers. And that goes for all of you," ordered Fury, casting them all an angry glare as he swept into the room.
"Sir, wait, this is all just a misun-" tried Natasha as Jason, who still had his hands raised but now in surrender, was forced back to his knees as cuffs were placed on a still mostly unconscious Percy.
Fury simply raised a hand, silencing her, before beckoning them to follow him.
They all shared a glance between each other, the two boys, before begrudgingly following the director.
He led them down the stairs, seeing as the lifts were still broken from the power outage and all the fighting, and into probably one of the only rooms that was still in one piece.
He turned to face them, his arms folded, glaring harshly at the group, waiting.
"Okay, so I know this looks pretty bad," started Tony. "'Pretty bad'? It's awful! The top of Avengers Tower was blown off! In the middle of the night by some most definitely unnatural explosion. How do you think people are going to take that?" questioned Fury, really living up to his name in this moment.
"I'm going to say not good," suggested Tony, looking away when Fury shot him a look. "No, Stark, most definitely not good."
"Fury, you don't understand. It wasn't their fault," tried Steve, hoping to appease him.
"So it wasn't them that caused all this," clarified Fury, raising an eyebrow as he leaned forward onto the table in the meeting room. Steve stammered. "Well, yes, but-"
"And you all knew that they possessed this kind of power," he continued. They all looked between each other guiltily. "We did, yes, but-"
"Well then, it's a good thing I came when I did," said Fury, straightening.
"How did you know to come? We weren't able to get a message out," asked Bruce, brow furrowed.
"When the power cut out, so did the power-dampening bracelets we placed on them both. The loss of connection sent out a signal, which we then responded to accordingly," explained Fury.
"The helicopter and mini army of agents was 'responding accordingly'?" deadpanned Clint. "From the looks of the building, yes I would say so," said Fury, firmly. "And I'm afraid this was the last straw."
Their heads all whipped up to look quizzically at the man. "What do you mean?" asked Clint, looking worried.
"You asked to take them here instead of keeping them locked up. I allowed it. You then asked to take them out of the security of the tower for a... 'fun day', despite that right beforehand, some monster obviously connected with them had shown up and attacked them and the city. I allowed it. Then, with all the trouble caused, them fighting each other as well as us, refusing to disclose any information, you asked to be given more time to get through to them. I. Allowed. It. Now your time is up, and we can't wait any longer," finished Fury, walking right up to them.
There was a pause, then, "What exactly are you implying?" asked Natasha, folding her arms.
He looked at all of them in turn before his gaze fell on her. "We know where their base of operations is, and with what has just happened, we can't afford to waste any more time. They could move from their location, or they could both act out again, and this time you all might not make it out alive. With that being said..." He paused to make sure he had their full attention. "I'm sending in a battalion of agents into this camp and taking them down once and for all."
Their eyes widened in shock. "You're what?" asked Bruce, astonished.
"You're just going to send an army of agents into this summer camp?" questioned Steve, looking at the director in disgust.
"We don't have any other options," said Fury, sounding frustrated but holding firm. "As far as we know, there is a large number of powerful, sick children just like the ones we have. You saw the result first-hand of the damage only two could enact. Imagine an entire camp of them!"
They all went quiet, thinking about the reality surrounding Fury's words. It was true.
They wanted to help these kids, needed to help them. Going directly into this camp may be the only way to finally rid the world of another child enslavement, soldier-based operation.
On top of this, if they really were as powerful and well-trained as they fought, they had to act fast before this organisation decided to kidnap more children and release them into the world. Who knows what horrors might occur then.
"I know you have all grown fond of these boys, and while I disapprove, I also understand," consoled Fury, his expression softening ever so slightly. "They may not be the enemy we fought they were, but most definitely are as dangerous, if not more."
When he paused, they all looked up, making direct eye-contact with him. "We can't risk billions of lives across the entire world, based on emotions. That, as you all well know, will get you killed." He said this last part with his usual sternness which told the Avengers he would not be swayed.
The agents were the first to agree. After a moment of hesitation, Natasha exhaled slowly and nodded. "Understood, sir," she said, placing her hands behind her back.
"Affirmative," agreed Clint, standing up straighter.
"This still seems like an over-the-top decision," muttered Bruce, still not in full agreement.
"Maybe this will help convince you," said Fury. He tapped some com-like device attached to his wrist. "Bring it in," he said into it.
The Avengers frowned as an agent appeared through the door holding a tablet. She passed it to Fury before exiting the room.
"When Jackson was being treated in the medical bay," began Fury, "I ordered my agents to do a scan of him and his blood."
"You what?!" exclaimed Bruce. "That sounds like it violates a lot of human rights, and breaks a law or two," stated Tony, crossing his arms.
"You're one to talk, Stark," said Fury, shooting him a glare. Tony thought for a moment before conceding. "Fair enough," he agreed.
"Anyway, the type of equipment my team has been able to develop with the alien technology made available on earth from recent events," continued Fury. "Has allowed the construction of many new devices. The one used on Jackson was able to scan and detect for any hidden anomalies, markings, that sort of thing."
He tapped a few commands into the tablet before continuing. "His blood was still unreadable, unfortunately, but we did find something rather interesting on his skin. More specifically, his wrist."
He then turned the screen round to reveal an image. It showed an lower arm, Percy's apparently, with...
"Is that a tattoo?" asked Clint, squinting at the image.
Fury nodded. "We don't know what the symbols mean, but we've examined them closely and..."
He paused, thinking of how to word his next sentence. Bruce looked up and frowned at him. "And, what?"
"Let's just say, they weren't done the normal way you would receive a tattoo," he decided.
They looked at him for a moment, confused, before their eyes widened in realisation as they looked closer at the scan.
"They burned it onto his skin!?" exclaimed Clint, looking shocked.
"Seems to be, yes," affirmed Fury, nodding.
"But how did we not see this before?" asked Bruce, perplexed.
"Actually, now that I think about it, did any of you see them in a t-shirt?" asked Tony. They frowned in thought. "They always seemed to wear long sleeved shirts that would completely cover their arms," Tony voiced, thinking out loud.
"But there were definitely time when they didn't even have a shirt on, like at the beach. How did we not notice?" pressed Natasha, brow furrowed as she tried to think of a reason.
"I always feel like I never actually looked at his arm properly, as though my eyes just refused to look in that direction," realised Bruce. He shook his head. "It was probably nothing. It just seemed as though I would glaze over that area instead of actually focusing on what was there."
Fury grunted in response, thinking about what he said.
"So, this organisation...marked him? Burned him, like a calling card?" muttered Steve, still staring at the picture.
"That's what we believe," confirmed Fury.
"Do you think Jason has one too? And we just haven't noticed?" asked Clint, looking amongst the group.
"It is likely, yes. It seems to be a mark of ownership as a sign of warning for enemies, and a reminder of who they belong to. Both for enemies, and for the kids," said Fury, darkly.
There was a moment of silence as they all pondered what they had learnt, soaking in the reality of the horror these kids must have gone through.
"Okay," agreed Bruce, sighing. "You're right. Invading the camp seems like the only way to help these kids and finally put a stop to all of this." Tony and Steve looked at each other before slowly nodding as well. "We're in."
Fury nodded in return. "Good. Now-"
There was a sudden crash from upstairs, interrupting the director. This was followed by rounds of yelling.
"You have got to be kidding me. What now?" muttered Fury, angrily, before storming out of the room.
The Avengers, curious and confused about all the noise, exchanged looks before shrugging and going after the irritated director.