Author's Note: Ready for some original content? I'll be sprinkling little chapters like this throughout as I cover Season 1 and 2. After that, it's full throttle original ideas! This particular chapter is inspired by the EMH minicomics, specifically Volume 1, Issue 3. Enjoy!
Approaching the Avengers with an uncanny request, Nick Fury is desperate for them to stop the Zodiac Cartel! Their target: the Zodiac Key, a device capable of spanning dimensions! Will the cartel wreak havoc on New York? Can they be stopped by our valiant heroes? Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime, true believers, and tell me-
Chapter 8: Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?
The sun was setting over New York City, bathing its glass and concrete jungles with a myriad of golden colours. For many it was the end of another day, a chance to relax and take things easy.
But it was not the case for everybody.
A man, cloaked in an old-style hooded cape stalked through alleys and stuck to the shadows cast by looming high-rises. Constantly looking over his shoulder, he was a wanted man, hunted and pursued by some of the deadliest beings Earth had to offer. He knew time was short, he knew the situation was dire, and he knew there was only one path to take. Pausing to check a piece of crumpled paper in his hands, he confirmed his direction.
The path he was taking led to Avengers Mansion.
"Breathe deeply… allow your mind to find a peaceful centre… exhale slowly…" T'Challa instructed. Sitting cross-legged, Connor did his best to follow his every command, eyes closed as he did his best to focus. Beside him, T'Challa did the same, leading by example as he meditated along with Connor.
But the technopath had a minor adjustment to his body that made finding 'inner peace' a lot harder.
A language, one only he could understand, continually filtered through his mind in a never-ending stream of constant information. Like voices, countless voices, the noise was positively relentless. No matter how hard he tried to shut them out, there was always so much more than he could account for. With a grimace and a nervous twitch, he gave away his internal conflict to the ever-perceptive T'Challa. "You are having trouble focusing."
"Yeah…" Connor sighed.
"Calming your mind is a difficult task, it seems." The Wakandan mused. "You have been through much, Connor. It is hard for your mind to settle."
"It's… not that." The technopath muttered, opening his eyes. "My abilities let me hear data transmissions like… like a language. It's… a constant for me."
"Tell me more." T'Challa pried.
"Well… it's like every device has a voice, and I can hear it." Connor described, running a hand through his ebony hair. "Each one is different, too. The harmonious choir of televisions in a shop window. The deafening scream of an electronic billboard. The helpless cry of a broken cellphone. I can hear it all, all the time, sometimes to a point where it drives me crazy. The only thing I can hope to do is focus on one at a time and drown out the rest." T'Challa nodded in understanding.
"Then your path to peace of mind will be longer than most. Attainable, but only after much effort is applied." He observed. "You are not the first to suffer through a barrage of the mind, Connor. I have seen this before. Yours is a journey that is very capable, despite your perception of it." Nodding slowly, the technopath felt little hope in spite of his words.
"If you say so." He muttered.
Elsewhere in the mansion, Tony was running a training simulation together with Janet and the Hulk. And it wasn't necessarily going according to his intended plan.
"Hulk! Wait! That turret is still shelling us!" He cried from above as the green giant promptly tore out a piece of pipe from the floor and hurled it towards a nearby generator with a roar, destroying the device and shutting down the energy turret firing on the three of them.
"Woohoo! Way to go big guy!" Wasp applauded as she hovered by his head. "Score one for us!" Hulk smirked with a grunt.
"Too easy."
"Yeah, sure, easy for you. But what about fliers like Thor, Connor and me? We'd all be getting shot at, we might be in trouble!" Iron Man chided as he touched down beside them.
"Thor's fine. So are you." Hulk rumbled with crossed arms. "You find the problem, you stop the problem."
"Eh, you're not wrong. But maybe start with the turret before you turn off the base power, okay?" Wasp suggested.
"Hmph. Trying to make your lives easier. Maybe you should just get good." Hulk remarked. Janet promptly laughed while Tony frowned and crossed his arms, looking somewhat unimpressed. At that moment, JARVIS' voice filled the room.
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but there is someone attempting to use the main entrance." Tony looked up with a raised brow.
"Define 'attempting'?" He pressed.
"They are seeking to-…" Suddenly the AI's voice fell to garbled static, confusing the Avengers before JARVIS returned to state "Warning; ID scanner compromised. Access granted to unknown user."
"Not this again!" Tony groaned as his helmet slid back down. "Last time that happened, Zemo and his goons showed up!"
"Been waitin' to smash someone again." Hulk remarked, cracking his knuckles and moving out with Janet and Tony as the armored hero put out a call.
"Avengers! Assemble in the main hall! We've got an intruder… again!" Branching out across the mansion, his words drew the other Avengers into action. Connor and T'Challa suited up and joined Captain America and Hawkeye in a mad sprint to the front hall, Thor flying through each winding corridor at breakneck speed to join them, while even Ant-Man left his lab to join in. Fully assembled, the Avengers grouped up in the main hall to confront a single figure dressed in a shoddy cloak. Armed and ready, Iron Man raised a palm towards the stranger and flashed a glowing repulsor. "Alright, buddy! We've had enough of unwelcome intruders lately, so tell us who you are and what you want or we'll kick you right back out that door." He stated firmly.
The stranger stayed silent, unmoving. The Avengers tensed, Cap priming his shield for a throw, Hawkeye pulling his bowstring taut, Thor spinning a fully-charged Mjolnir, Cybernaut spinning his irons in his palms, Wasp charging her stings, Iron Man diverting power to his repulsors. All of them were ready to move at a moments notice.
"I'm not here for a fight, Iron Man." The stranger stated in a voice very familiar to all of them. so familiar, in fact, that most of the team were downright shocked. It was then that he pulled back his hood, properly revealing his identity.
"Nick Fury?" Steve questioned in bewilderment. Sure enough, the director of SHIELD himself stood before the team, his uniform slightly visible beneath his cloak and his eyepatch a dead giveaway.
"Nick Fury?!" Wasp exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"
"This better be good, Fury." Iron Man snapped, stepping forward. "You put all of us on high alert and for what?"
"Trust me, this is a serious issue." Nick replied with a frown. "As a matter of fact, it's a life or death situation." He revealed.
Reconvening down in the sublevel meeting room, the Avengers paid close attention as Fury revealed the need for his unorthodox arrival. "Last night the SHIELD database servers were hacked from an unknown source. They were attempting to download grid coordinates for all of our safehouses where we keep objects and items that could be importance to super-criminals." He explained. "At the same time, a transport I was in was attacked by a trio of assailants. I managed to identify them as members of the Zodiac Cartel." Holding up a flash drive, he plugged it into the holotable.
"The who-now?" Connor wondered in a confused tone.
"The Zodiac Cartel is a criminal organization based around the Zodiac symbols," Fury said briefly as a trio of faces appeared in hologram before them all; two men in domino masks and one in a complete facemask split evenly between black and white. "These are the three that attacked me: Gemini, Stagittarius and Aquarius."
"Why do I get the feeling you're connected to them somehow?" Hank wondered, staring thoughtfully at the three faces.
"Before the breakout, SHIELD interrupted one of their attempted operations and took down several of their members." Fury told them. "We also confiscated this," the hologram changed to an ankh-shaped object, "they call it 'the Zodiac Key'. It's a piece of remarkably advanced technology wielded by the group's leader; Scorpio. When we took this from them, we moved the Key to one of our secure safehouses."
"That explains why they were attempting to hack the grid coordinates." T'Challa mused.
"So, did they get it?" Janet queried, leaning against the table.
"Not yet." Fury answered. "The trick is, that safehouse's information is not in our database. I memorized the coordinates… and I'm the only one who knows them."
"Huh… gets that's why they were after you." Tony determined.
"Clearly the matter of vengeance is on the minds of this… Zodiac Cartel." Thor noted. "Their course, then, is singular and predictable."
"Agreed. If they want Fury then they clearly want this Zodiac Key." Cap concurred. "We just need to stop them before they succeed, in any regard."
"Sounds like a trap… that could work both ways." Hawkeye chimed in. "Even if we set this up for them, they could turn it back on us. That's why you contacted us, isn't it Fury?" Fixing him with his good eye, Fury did not respond positively or negatively at first.
"SHIELD doesn't have what it takes to handle this group. I've seen them in action, they have powers, they have tech, some might even be mutants. Last time, we barely held our own against all twelve. It was a fluke that we managed to bag the six we did." He finally said. "That's why I came, Agent Barton."
"News flash, I don't work for SHIELD anymore, Fury. I go by Hawkeye full-stop these days." Clint told him with arms crossed.
"Fine."
"Okay, let's get down to business," Tony cut in, "which members does SHIELD have in custody?"
"We took down half of the cartel in a surprise attack. It was costly but we managed with the help of two Hulkbuster units. Right now we have Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Libra, Pisces and Virgo locked up."
"Leaving Aquarius, Gemini, Leo, Sagittarius, Taurus, and Scorpio. All twelve signs." Connor finished.
"You memorized all of those? I can't even wrap my head around names like Pisces." Janet remarked with a slight grin.
"When the newspaper's all you have to read for months on end, you tend to start remembering the things you see most often." The technopath replied with a slight smile of his own.
"Curious," T'Challa said thoughtfully, "the Wakandan Zodiac has seventeen signs instead of twelve."
"Don't make this any harder than it is!" Clint groaned.
"I'm just surprised they didn't escape during the breakout." Hank mused.
"We held them at a different location." Fury stated.
"So what's the draw of this Key? Sounds to me like they'd have more strength if they just broke out their other members." Tony pried.
"We don't know. All we do know is that it's extremely powerful. Energy readings and radiation checks were off the scales." Fury told him. "Whatever its secret is, only the Cartel knows."
"So we smash this key. Break it so they can't use it." Hulk rumbled.
"We can't. We don't know what it's capable of." Fury countered.
"Is this a case of 'find out so we can use it instead' or 'find out and then break it because we know how bad it is'?" Tony pointedly questioned. Fury said nothing and simply glared at him. "Well, if it's tech, you've come to the right people. Cybernaut? Think you can handle it?" He asked of the resident rookie who was truly pulling his weight thanks to his unique power set.
"I can try, for sure. But we won't know until I try." Connor answered.
"Alright, next stop: secret warehouse!" Wasp declared, shrinking down and taking flight.
Outside…
From a distant rooftop, a pair of eyes watched Avengers Mansion like a hawk, ever vigilant and piercing. They were not alone, joined by several others, an entire cast of shadowy figures watching the mansion with sinister intent in mind.
"We storm them now, we can force their hand easily." One suggested.
"Fury's smart. He's avoided us this long, it won't be easy to remove him from the Avengers' company." Another countered.
"Once we have the Key, the Avengers won't matter." One more stated.
"Storm the mansion and force them to lead us/Ask them to take us to it." Yet another urged.
"No, we wait. Nicholas will learn we are patient and that no matter how far ahead he thinks he is, we are not far behind. He will pay for what he's done to us. His past has bidden the future to come and pay an unpleasant visit."
"And the Avengers?"
"Mere casualties in this war. Fury's greatest hope will become his greatest regret… and the Zodiac will reign supreme!"
Later that night…
Taking every precaution imaginable, Nick Fury led the Avengers to New York's east side and straight to an old antique store. Pausing outside, the heroes couldn't help but tilt their heads in mild bewilderment.
"I mean… I get it, it's where the old stuff is. But still… seriously?" Wasp said aloud.
"Aye. The deceptive nature of these measures is rather unsettling." Thor agreed.
"We're not all gonna fit." Hulk grumbled.
"You'll have to stay out here then, keep an eye out for the Zodiac," Nick told him, "the rest of you come with me."
"I shall remain here with you, friend Hulk." Thor offered. The green giant grunted.
"I don't need any help." He muttered. As the two biggest members remained outside, Nick Fury pulled an old skeleton key from his belt and held it to the door lock. From the tip, a thin wire shot out and triggered the actually locking mechanism. Fury then put the key away and grabbed the handle, its internal fingerprint reader scanning the tips of his digits before allowing him access as he opened the door and lead the Avengers inside.
The team followed him inside, Wasp and Ant-Man flying around to check the place out. "Well, it's definitely got all the usual old junk you'd expect this place to have. I'm gonna guess that Key is definitely buried in it around here somewhere." Wasp mused as she checked out old tools, candlesticks, vases and cups.
"On the contrary," Fury cut in, "this is the kind of place that goes on for miles." Pressing a hidden button on his skeleton key, the rear wall pulled away as a series of lights turned on, revealing the beginning of a spiral staircase.
"I shudder to think just how many of these SHIELD has set up around the city." Cybernaut remarked as he and the others followed Fury down into the hidden bowels built beneath the antique shop. The halls eventually opened up, and what was revealed to the Avengers caused several to gasp while others merely gaped in awe.
The massive room below was almost twenty feet in width and height and filled with several dozen wooden crates. "I feel like I've seen this in a movie before." Tony trailed off.
"How many SHIELD secrets are in those crates? Probably more than I was ever privy to," Hawkeye mused, "let's poke around and see dirt we can dig up." He suggested with a smug look. Nick shot him a look.
"The Zodiac Key is here, we're not looking for it." He sharply told them. "We're here to ward off the the Cartel if they show up tonight."
"What? Not even a peek at this thing?" Cybernaut wondered. "Sounds to me like we're playing with a lot of probabilities. We could be spending an all-nighter here for nothing."
"Yeah, I should've brought my sleeping bag." Wasp remarked.
"They've been hounding me ever since yesterday, they'll be here." Fury replied. They soon arrived on the ground and looked around the complex. Of all the places they expected to come, a SHIELD warehouse was the last thing on their minds. Spreading out, the Avengers poked around as Wasp and Ant-Man grew into their normal sizes to join in, Fury merely standing passive by an iron girder support strut. Connor allowed his senses to wander, picking up all manner of ambient data emissions from concealed technological devices. Truly, there was a lot hidden here, some of which was incredibly foreign to him… like data from another world…
"Anything, Cybernaut?" Tony wondered.
"More like, a lot of things." He replied, glancing around as he picked out as many objects as possible. "There's so many different objects here, all of them incredibly powerful. Not sure which one is the Zodiac Key, though."
"We are not looking for the Key." Fury growled with a frown.
"What's the matter, Fury? Not a fan of us browsing through your private weapons collection?" Tony teased.
"Not all of these are weapons. But that's not the case. We're here to keep the Zodiac from getting the Key." Fury told him sharply.
"You're awful hellbent on the Zodiac. Wouldn't the direct route be to go after them, instead of waiting for them to come to us?" Hawkeye questioned.
"Indeed. The chances of them discovering this place are low. You are not making sense, Fury." T'Challa agreed.
"For the last time, we are here to ensure the Zodiac does not get the Key!" Nick snapped.
"That's just it, Fury. They didn't know where this place was, until we showed up." Tony cut in. "Sounds to me like you're trying to lure them out, bring them into a fight with us… so you can use these weapons to deal with them." He determined. "Now what could possibly be the reason for that?"
"I don't know. Because you're wrong!" Fury retorted. All of a sudden, the ceiling shook in time with a distant crack of kinetic energy being exchanged, bits of debris cascading down from the ceiling. Suddenly tense and alert, the Avengers looked up as did Fury. "They're here…" He muttered under his breath.
"Duh! Because we've got a green giant and a freaking god of thunder up top!" Cybernaut remarked, drawing his irons and forming a pair of batons. "If there was ever a beacon that screamed 'hey! This is important' they would be it!" To emphasize his point, a second thunderous crash echoed from above, followed by a third that was much loud. Suddenly, the roof gave way and the Hulk came crashing down right above them. The heroes scattered, quickly darting out of the way just before Hulk slammed into the floor where they had been standing.
"Hulk!" Wasp cried in alarm, hovering over the groaning giant as he struggled to get up. Her gaze was immediately drawn to his entry hole as a cast of individuals descended from above. They were a strange bunch indeed, some of which we clad in colorful costumes while two were downright mutants of some degree; one a human-bull hybrid and the other a human-lion hybrid. But on each of their chests was branded individual Zodiac symbols.
"Your attempts to evade us were in vain, Nicholas." A man dressed in red and yellow declared, his frowning gaze fixed on Fury. "Now, bear witness to the ascension of the Zodiac!" At his word, a man in blue transformed the lower half of his body into water and unleashed twin high-pressure blasts from his fists that sent Iron Man tumbling as Captain America braced with his shield but was driven back across the compound by Aquarius.
Another in red and black drew a bow and arrow, unleashing a volley of shots towards Ant-Man as he shrunk to avoid them. "No no no! Arrows are my thing!" Hawkeye remarked, unleashing an explosive head that struck the incoming arrow from Sagittarius, detonating both.
The bull hybrid, Taurus, immediately gave chase after Cybernaut, the technopath quickly using his magnets to take flight and stay well out of his limited range. "Down boy! Down!" He chided, sending his irons hurtling one after another to ricochet of the bull's nose. With a snarl, the beast tried to reach him, jumping and grasping at the ait with each swipe barely missing his boot. Spying the ring in his nose, Connor summoned his magnets and reached out with an invisible grasp, tugging the ring and forcing Taurus to look upright and struggle against him. He was then in a prime position to get bowled over by a revived Hulk, who tackled him angrily.
"Stupid man-bull!" He roared, throwing Taurus into the ground.
Meanwhile, Black Panther traded blows with the equally agile Leo, the human-lion hybrid sporting a series of claws along his knuckles to give each swing a deadly edge. Panther, however, remained in peak form and expertly dodged every one as Wasp buzzed around Leo raining down biostings from every angle. "Is this a case of 'cat got your tongue'? Or are you just speechless in the face of the real King of the jungle?" She teased.
"Wakanda is not a jungle!" Panther retorted, landing a lunge kick that struck Leo in the torso.
Surging into the mix, Gemini unleashed energy beams that struck multiple Avengers at once, paving the way for Scorpio to go head-to-head with Nick Fury and Captain America. "I want the Key, Nicholas. Give it to me!" He demanded.
"Over my dead body!" Nick retorted, firing his sidearm.
"That can be arranged/We wouldn't want that." Gemini mused, channeling twin bursts of energy towards the SHIELD director only to have them blocked by Cap's shield. As he did, Scorpio lunged, pouncing on Fury and sending the two rolling across the floor.
"If you won't give it up willingly, I'll just tear down everything you've built to keep me out. The Key will be mine, Nicholas, make no mistake!" Scorpio threatened. With a shout, Fury threw him off and rained down a volley of shots, only to have his pistol shot out of his hands by one of Sagittarius' arrows. In a flash, Cap was by his side, defending Nick from Sagittarius and Gemini. A prompt toss of his shield knocked the split-sided foe to the ground while Ant-Man grew large enough to land a concentrated punch that knocked Sagittarius sideways.
"What's Scorpio's deal, Fury?" Cap questioned. With a sigh, Fury gathered his bearings as Steve shielded him up against a stack of crates.
"We don't know for sure. Our intel is… limited; ties to Hydra, criminal madman, just when we think we know him, he robs us of every potential advantage we had by changing the game." He explained.
"So he's a strategist." Cap mused.
"That's one word for it." Fury agreed.
"He seems hellbent on getting to you." Cap mused, quickly taking the brunt of an axe-kick from Scorpio with his shield.
"Because I'm the one who stopped him last time." Nick remarked, whirling past him to land a cross-jab that smashed into Scorpio's face and sent him tumbling. By this point, the Avengers had managed to Gan the upperhand against their foes and backed the Zodiac into a corner, the team fully prepared to stop them here and now.
Then, with a boom of thunder, Thor descended from above, Mjolnir twirling above his head and charged with electrical energy. "Your evil ends here, villains! Behold the might of Asgard's thunder! For Midgard!" He shouted, directing a bolt of lightning straight down into the midst of the Zodiac. The blinding impact sent the six flying in multiple directions, slamming into walls, girders, the floor and piles of crates. Aquarius found himself pitched into a series of wooden boxes, each one splintering under his weight as he landed. It hurt and he groaned in pain, which suddenly receded from his mind as a glow from beneath him caught his eye.
Turning over, he swept pieces of debris aside as the green light shone ever brighter. It was curved, seemingly circular in shape, but even more intricate than that the more he dug. With a gleeful gasp, Aquarius finally pulled out the complete piece, warm in his hands and radiating with immense power. "I found it…!" He breathed. Standing up and looking around, he spied Scorpio across the way. "Scorpio, I found it!" He cried, his shout drawing the attention of the Avengers. They paused, eyes wide as they quickly pieced things together.
"Fury… is that…?" Iron Man wondered, trailing off.
"The Zodiac Key." Nick confirmed with a frown. Using his powers, Aquarius blasted the Key towards Scorpio on a jet of water, the cartel leader snagging it and holding it aloft as he tapped into its powers.
"Now, Avengers, your end has come!" He proclaimed, taking aim and unleashing a powerful blast of green energy that knocked every hero, Hulk and Thor included, across the room. Laid out by the immense power of the Zodiac Key, the heroes were incredibly stunned by its capabilities.
"Ugh! Anyone get the number of that disco ball that hit me?" Wasp groaned as she rubbed her head.
"Sure would've been nice to know it could do that," Cybernaut grumbled.
"We coulde've known, but someone decided not to tell us!" Iron Man cuttingly remarked, shooting a helmeted glare towards Nick Fury. The Zodiac regrouped in front of them, Scorpio pointing the glowing Key towards them.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time, Nicholas," he said, landing a swift kick that caught Fury on the jaw, "you stopped me once, but that track record ends today." He promised.
"You wanna tell me what you hope to accomplish, Scorpio? What's that key do?" Cap demanded. Regarding him with a simple smirk, Scorpio chuckled.
"Captain America. Super soldier. Hero of World War Two. Your job is to save the world…" he mused, levelling the Key at the Captain, "mine is to destroy it."
"Nay, villain. Thou wilt know the fervor of Earth's mightiest heroes!" Thor declared, unleashing a bolt of lighting from his hammer. Swiftly turning on the Asgardian, Scorpio unleashed a power bolt that struck his lightning and negated it, nullifying its powers and saving him from the blow.
"I think not, thunder god. Today Earth's mightiest heroes meet their end. It is over, finished!" Scorpio declared.
"You think that's the first time we've heard that?" Cap retorted, slowly rising to his feet. "I know men like you, Scorpio. If you truly meant to kill us, you would've done so already. You didn't, because you like an audience."
"Indeed, Captain. I kept you alive because I wanted to show that the Zodiac is not all talk. We intend to show as well." Scorpio affirmed in reply. Keeping him talking was enough to buy the Avengers time to plan, Iron Man scanning the Key and drawing a surprising conclusion.
"Fury was right, the energy is off the charts. Whatever that Key is, it's not of this world." He told everyone.
"You're correct, Iron Man." Scorpio agreed. "What this is, is power. Power the likes of which this world has never seen. Power that will make the Zodiac rulers of the world!" Pointing the key at the ground, a green beam struck the floor and slowly began to generate a portal. "The Key does exactly what it should; it opens the door to another dimension! And once that door is open, nothing can stop what's coming through it." Scorpio promised.
"Rejoice/Tremble in fear!" Gemini proclaimed. Despite the severity of the situation, even Nick Fury was losing his calm composure, Iron Man had developed a plan.
"Connor, despite its alien nature, that Key is still some form of technology." He whispered to Cybernaut. "If we can get it to you, can you shut down that portal?"
"I'll have to learn the tech first." Connor answered. "The moment I get my hands on it, you have to keep every one of them away from me."
"Got it." Iron Man promised. Picking himself up, he stood next to Captain America as the other Avengers rose. "I'll have you know, Scorpio, we're really good at stopping things. So that portal, and you lot, are next on our list. Avengers, attack!" He cried, shooting forward and driving repulsor-first into Scorpio. The rest of the team followed suit, pursuing the rest of the Zodiac. Outnumbering the Cartel by four, equal powers clashed as the Avengers battled each one as best they could.
Hulk grappled with Leo, slamming him into the wall as Hawkeye loosed a taser arrow to strike him right in the forehead.
Black Panther sprinted ahead of Sagittarius' arrows, retaliating with Vibranium throwing knives as Cap rushed the archer, plowing into him with his shield.
Wasp flew circles around Aquarius, narrowly avoiding jets of water as Thor used the situation to his advantage by having Mjolnir run an electric current straight through the villain, shocking him into submission.
Using his magnets, Cybernaut spun his staff around as quickly as possible, deflecting each incoming bolt from Gemini as Ant-Man took advantage and pounced on him from behind, growing just large enough to tackle him to the ground. "You cannot stop me/Someone help!" The twin-shaded man cried.
"I'd like to offer you some, after you're behind bars." Hank remarked as he pinned him.
Taurus found himself attacked by Iron Man, chasing his crimson armor in a furious stampede. Using his jets to vault over the charging Minotaur, Iron Man snapped up his gauntlet and unleashed a burst of electrostatic energy that struck the hybrid bull in the back, dropping him to his knees. A single unibeam blast was enough to bowl him over, knocking him into a pile of crates. "Been a while since I've been to Spain, I'd say my bullfighting is rusty. Ole, I guess." He commented.
Fury and Scorpio grappled with such intensity and energy the fight seemed almost personal to both. Doing his best to avoid getting blasted by the Key, Fury drove Scorpio's arm high as blasts struck the ceiling and walls. The balance of power shifting back and forth, neither seemed to hold an edge over the other. "It's over, Nicholas! I've won!" Scorpio growled, cuffing him upside the head.
"Not. Yet." Fury retorted, driving a knee into Scorpio's gut before landing a judo chop to the hand holding the Key, forcing the villain to drop it.
"No!" Scorpio cried, only to receive the brunt of Fury's shoulder as the SHIELD director slammed into him. Spying the fallen Key, Iron Man acted quickly.
"Connor! Heads up!" He cried, unleashing a concussive beam that sent the Key flying through the air. Departing his battle with Gemini, Connor quickly sprinted ahead and caught the ankh-shaped device before it could hit the ground.
"Okay you, let's see what you're made of." He muttered, gripping the object and allowing his mind to intertwine with the data radiating off the key. It was incredibly foreign to him, so much so that he almost doubled over. But he kept his ground and did his best to focus, desperately trying to understand this strange programming and the alien nature of this technology.
Behind him, the portal began to froth and shimmer as something began to emerge.
A single tentacle began to wriggle and writhe its way into reality, followed by another and another as some thing began to crawl out. "Uh, guys! We got a problem! A big, scary, wriggling problem!" Wasp cried in alarm. Her words caused the Avengers to turn, the Zodiac following soon after.
"The door between dimensions is opening! There's no stopping us now!" Scorpio declared with a cackle.
"Connor! The Key!" Steve cried in alarm. Connor did not respond, determined to shut this down and focused hard on comprehending the alien technology. So far he was getting nowhere, but he had yet to explore every connection. He had to keep trying.
Feeling a resurgence of hopeful potential, the Zodiac renewed their attack, Leo and Taurus grappling with Thor and Hulk while Aquarius blasted Hawkeye with a drenching torrential burst of water. Sagittarius' arrows pierced Iron Man's armor as Gemini unleashed powerful energy bolts that took down Ant-Man and Black Panther.
"There is no hope/We hope for a new world." He declared.
"Man! Make up your mind, would you? So confusing!" Wasp remarked as she zapped him in the back of the head.
"Connor! Anytime now!" Tony cried as his armor fizzled. The technopath reached deeper with his mind, bypassing miles of alien data that he struggled to comprehend. But he didn't stop, not even when blood began to drip from his nose.
"Come on… Come on…!" He grunted, grimacing amid his struggle. The tentacles started crawling towards him, inching their way further and further into reality. Wasp hurriedly flew in, unleashing a volley of biostings to try and keep them at bay.
"Connor! Please hurry!" She begged him. Connor struggled, the blood from his nose now a river as sweat beaded along his forehead. There was nothing… nothing!
And then, suddenly, there was something.
A singular strand of understandable code, a data transmission that could only stem from one thing: Scorpio's control over the Key. Connor immediately latched onto it, everything slowly becoming clearer and clearer the more he dove into Scorpio's connection. His knowledge grew, his control grew, his power grew.
"I got it!" He gasped, coming back to reality as he promptly turned and unleashed a beam of light towards the portal. "Keys open doors, but they can close them too!" He announced. Ever so slowly, the portal began to close, the tentacles also beginning to retreat as their access closed around them. Scorpio looked on in horror.
"No! That creature promised me dominion over the Earth, and I intend to have it!" He roared, puching Nick Fury off him and rushing towards Connor. Captain America charged in and clocked him upside the head with his shield, taking Scorpio down one more time. The Avengers pressed their advantage over the Zodiac, taking down each member one at a time and buying Connor the space he needed to to use the Key's power to close the portal, slicing off a tentacle in the process.
By the time it was over, Connor fell to his knees and dropped the Key, mentally exhausted from his efforts. But he could take solace in the simple fact that he had helped save the world.
Nick Fury called in SHIELD to collect the villains as the Avengers collected the unconscious Zodiac. Piled up, the Cartel was all in a heap as the heroes tended to Connor, who sat on a crate with the head of one of Hawkeye's freeze arrows pressed to the side of his nose. Janet sat beside him, T'Challa and Thor standing around him.
"You've done well this day, friend Connor. Once again you have proven your worth as an Avenger." The Asgardian said heartily. Connor shrugged and offered him a grin.
"Eh, you know, I just did what any of you would've done." He replied.
"Indeed. But not with your finesse and power." T'Challa countered. "None of us could have done it as you did. You should be proud of your actions, Connor Peterson."
"Are you going to be okay?" Janet asked, touching the side of his face to check on his nose. Connor paused, fighting back the urge to inhale sharply as her fingers ghosted across his skin. A shiver shot up and down his spine as the woman of his dreams touched him.
"I-I'll be fine." He replied with an unavoidable stammer. "I feel fine, better now actually."
"And here I thought that Key did a number on you." Tony mused as he strode over. "Did you learn anything about it?"
"You know… I did, actually." The technopath said slowly. "There's a lot more to that Key. It's alien, alright. But the power of that thing… it's like Scorpio was holding back." He replied in a thoughtful tone.
"What're you saying, Connor?" Tony pried.
"I'm saying that Scorpio could've done that the first time he had the Key in his possession." He explained. Fury, who had been standing by himself, watching the bodies of the Zodiac, suddenly chimed in,
"So why didn't he?" He asked.
"That's just it. Scorpio waited, he wanted an audience. He could've destroy us, the opposition, and fulfilled his plan unhindered. He wanted you around, Nick." Captain America stated as he arrived. The group focused on him and Nick, Fury staring back at Steve with his one eye. "Why would he do that?" Steve asked in a low, knowing tone. Fury said nothing at first, seemingly testing Cap's resolve to see if he would break and let this slide or remain steadfast and press the issue.
He should've known that Captain America never faltered.
"Because it was personal." Fury finally replied. "Scorpio wanted me to see it, he wanted me to see what he'd done. Because he hates me."
"Because you stopped him the first time?" Hawkeye wondered. "That's a lot because of one-"
"No. Not because of that." Fury said simply, striding towards Scorpio's body. "Our connection runs far deeper than that." Kneeling before him, Fury lifted his hood and pulled off the mask covering the upper half of his face. The Avengers slowly crowded around and were shocked by the face revealed beneath.
"Odin's beard!" Thor gasped.
"Is that…?" Tony trailed off.
"I think I can see the family resemblance from here." Clint remarked.
Before them, a dark-skinned man who shared many similarities to Nick Fury's own appearance was revealed to them. The true face of Scorpio.
"Scorpio is the alias assumed by my younger brother: Jacob Fury." Nick revealed.
Suffice to say, the Avengers were lost for words.
"Nick Fury… has a brother?" Janet said in disbelief.
"Apparently." Hank replied in equal surprise.
"I knew about his father, Sergeant Jack Fury. But a brother…" Steve mused.
"Of course… it all makes sense now." T'Challa realized. "The secrecy. The determination. The stubbornness. You knew Scorpio was your brother and you wanted to handle him your way." The team's emotions began to shift, Tony's most directly as he turned on Fury.
"You knew this. The whole time. And you never told us." He stated sharply.
"It wasn't important." Fury countered.
"It would've gone a long way in helping us understand things. Like you telling us the Zodiac Key was a portal to another world." Hawkeye said. "Now you've got a brother who's a terrorist. What other dirty little secrets are you keeping?"
"That's for me to know and you to wonder about." Nick retorted as he stood.
"So, what, you called us to handle your brother because you couldn't let SHIELD handle him?" Tony asked. "You know, for a man who runs an emotionless operation, you wore your heart on your sleeve this time."
"Such hypocrisy is the necessary ingredient to undermining proper functionality." T'Challa noted. "Your two-faced nature compromised this effort. We truly owe Connor our thanks for saving this mission." He stated pointedly.
"And if this is what SHIELD is made of, then count us out forever." Tony added. "Just when I thought that maybe we could cooperate a little more, you pull the wool over our eyes and rip the carpet out from under us." Fury frowned.
"You can't expect to know absolutely everything about an intelligence organization." He said in turn.
"Yeah, but secrets are the key to its undoing, too." Tony shot back, donning his helmet. "Avengers, we're done here. Let's go get something to drink, I need to clear my head." He told the team, turning around and making to leave. "We'll let SHIELD sort out their mess. I'm tired of getting dragged into their problems."
"Oooh, maybe some ice cream? I could use something to cool off." Wasp suggested.
"Aye. This 'iced cream' could soothe flared tempers." Thor agreed.
"So long as Tony's buying, I'm game." Cybernaut agreed. With that, the Avengers departed without another word, leaving Fury alone with the Zodiac, his thoughts, and his choices…