Author's Note: Yes, I know this is technically out of order, but it'll make sense. Trust me. Enjoy!
Vision went down for a reboot, and when he came up, the world was NOT the same! Someway, somehow, the social orders have changed, with the Avengers ruling supreme! What is to be done, true believers? Can Vision discover the root and rip up this problem? If he can, then he'll have to contend with the nefarious, the notorious-
Chapter 45: Emperor Stark
"Do you really think you two can fix him, Tony?" Captain America asked.
"Cap, come on, it's us. The world's foremost technological industrialist and the world's number-one IT guy." Iron Man responded.
"Wow. You make my ability to control technology with my mind sound so lame." Cybernaut sarcastically remarked. "You do realize we're fixing him as quickly as we are because of me, right?"
Within the sublevel laboratories of Avengers Mansion, Tony and Connor had been busy piecing together the synthezoid known as Vision, stripping away the remnants of Ultron's programming while simultaneously repairing the extensive damage Vision had sustained rebelling against his creator. Nearly ready to welcome a new member into the fold, the industrialist and the technopath were dedicated to helping their newfound ally back to his feet.
"Don't pat yourself on the back too hard, you'll knock something loose." Tony replied, popping open his faceplate as he shut off the electro-welder. "How're you feeling, Vision?" On the table below, Visions sat largely disassembled; his head jutting away from his body and connected only via some wiring and an extended vertical support brace. Gone was his iconic green and yellow chassis, which had been stripped down to its grey skeletal structure for the overhaul.
"It is… an odd sensation." The synthezoid replied. "Am I being scanned as well?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Tony apologized.
"We needed to make sure that Ultron didn't leave any surprises inside you." Connor explained. "Your programming has come up clean so far, but we wanted to check for any sleeper protocols."
"I'm not worried. Vision's his own man now." Captain America stated confidently.
"I have to give Ultron credit. He did an amazing job designing you." Tony admitted. "I wish the world was as easy to fix. And trust me, I've been trying."
"One problem at a time, Stark old boy." Connor mused, his mind reaching out to access several systems within the lab. "JARVIS, begin auto-repair sequence now." He commanded.
"Activing." At once, Tony's AI came to life within the lab itself, taking control of the various subsystems and hard-wired devices needed to initiate repair on Vision's body. Robotic arms came to life, stitching Vision back together limb by limb and piece by piece, working with the efficiency of an automobile assembly line.
"We'll see you in thirty days, Vision. Rest easy." Cap proffered, saluting the synthezoid as Vision's head was reattached.
"Thank you, Captain." Vision responded. "Entering sleep mode." His photoreceptors slowly winked out as all non-essential computing function was closed off.
As his audio receptors faded, Vision caught a few snippets of dialogue from his new teammates before he went offline.
"If you guys wanna wrap this up, I'm gonna go help Jan move the rest of her things into my room." Connor stated before walking away and whistling to himself. Captain America loosed a concerned grunt as the technopath left them.
"We might have to talk about fraternizing within the team, Tony." Steve said aloud. The billionaire rolled his eyes.
"Cap, this isn't the military. We're all adults, we're all old enough and mature enough to make our own decisions. Connor and Janet have been longstanding members of the team, they know their duties. Just let them have their fun while their head-over-heels into each other right now." Tony replied. "That said, I refuse to have the mansion turn into the next setpiece for 'The Bachelor'…" He added under his breath.
30 days later…
When he became consciously aware of the darkness, Vision knew he was back. "Resuming normal function. I am complete." He said aloud, photoreceptors and audio receptors powering up to restore his functionality. The lab was empty, the lights off and all machinery save for himself had been switched offline. It seemed odd, since the Avengers would have known this was the time of his resuscitation. "Hello? Iron Man?" Vision called out curiously. "Cybernaut? Captain America?" No one answered. Stepping forward, the synthezoid scouted the lab and found he was well and truly alone down there.
He took flight, phasing through the roof of the lab towards the mansion above. From there Vision scouted the rooms of the mansion, phasing through walls and doors only to discover everything was deathly quiet. Not a single soul was on site, the mansion completely vacant. Growing more confused, Vision took to the roof of the mansion to survey the city.
What he found left him shocked.
Hulking Iron Man-like robots patrolled the streets, reaching up to twenty feet in height as spotlights from their chest-mounted variobeams swept across desolate avenues. Their massive footsteps caused ambient shudders to roll through Vision, trembles from street level cascading through every building and surface around. New York City was quiet, the citizenry forced indoors to obey curfew. Everywhere Vision looked, a billboard could be seen with Tony's smiling face attached to it while bearing the slogan 'a better world'.
Activating his optic scanners, Vision analyzed the rest of the city. More Iron Man drones, these ones smaller in size, patrolled open spaces like Central Park or soared over the city skyline in clusters of three. New York was totally covered by an Iron police force.
Vision took flight above Avengers Mansion, hovering in place as his optical units analyzed all the data he was taking in. Most notably, and of some concern, was the shift in Tony Stark's portrait on the billboards. Vision knew he had blue eyes… so why had they been depicted in purple?
A massive energy spike quickly drew Vision's attention to Stark Tower… shrouded in a purple aura that reached high into the sky, beyond the reaches of the atmosphere according to his scanners. Vision studied intently. The aura appeared to have some sort of biological relation, a kind of infrasound frequency that reached beyond human hearing with potential cerebral ramifications. The synthezoid could not deduce who or what was causing it…
Within Tony's personal office in Stark Tower, the Avenger had gathered with three of his colleagues, overseeing the silent crime-free New York City in its nightly glory. With Tony were Thor and Captain America. "Congratulations, Iron Man." Captain America praised. "You did it. You fixed the world."
Elsewhere in Stark Tower, within a brightly lit room filled with holographic displays, another Avenger was tending to his duties overseeing Iron Man's global peacekeeping initiative. Cybernaut sat idly watching data feeds coming in from across the globe, in tune with all Stark Industries technology within his private sanctum, isolated from the rest of Stark Tower. At the moment he was not entirely alone. With his data feeds pushed to the side, taking his attention was a video call from his beloved girlfriend; the Wasp.
"They are treating me like an empress here, you would not believe the absolute luxury I'm living in!" She giddily described. Connor smirked.
"I can only imagine." He said.
"Honestly! I think I'm gonna buy one of these penthouses for myself. You should see the view, the city looks soooo pretty at night!" Janet earnestly described. Her face fell suddenly and she leaned a little closer. "Bed's kinda cold though..." She admitted. Connor nodded slowly.
"You have no idea how much I wanna be there with you." He replied, meeting her gaze. "Our room feels so… lonely without you."
"Oh Conny…" Janet whispered, pressing her hand to the side of her screen. "You need to tell Tony you need a break. Or tell him something needs to be looked at over here. Something. Anything." She urged him. Connor paused, mulling over his options. Seemingly torn between his love for Janet and his loyalty to Tony's new world order, love won out.
"I'll do that." He promised. "A lot of the facilities can manage themselves, they won't need me for a day or two." Janet smiled faintly and nodded.
"Good. You do that." Then, she decided to add some incentive. "I found some special lingerie here… and I wanna model it for you." She said slyly. Connor grinned in response.
"I look forward to it." Suddenly a beep emanated from one of his terminals, a hardlight display quickly revealing an electronic alert routed to a use of technology not within the designated Stark perameters. Connor exhaled in sad annoyance. Duty called. "Sorry, gotta go." He didn't want to, but he was driven to. Closing the video screen, his powers filtered out all the excess details and revealed the source of the alarm code. Connor frowned. Given how this had interrupted his time with Janet, he wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood. The technopath keyed up his comms, a direct line open right to Tony's personal office. "Tony, it's Cybernaut. I've got an unauthorized activation within Avengers Mansion." He reported. "Better send someone to investigate…"
Meanwhile…
Perplexed beyond his faculties, Vision phased back into the mansion and down to the sublevel utility room where the vast mainframe for the mansion could be found. He needed help and he knew where to find it. "JARVIS, contact all Avengers via ID card." He swiftly ordered. The AI did not respond as Vision touched down and the synthezoid swiftly noted how everything he sensed was cold. Inoperative. "JARVIS?" He questioned again. Still nothing. Phasing his hand through the mainframe access, Vision touched circuits and programming in order to link the AI with himself. "Activating artificial intelligence, designation: JARVIS." His magic touch brought the AI back online, cycling JARVIS through a near-instantaneous reboot function.
"Resuming functions. Reboot complete." JARVIS announced as the glow of electric lights lit the room. "Hello, Vision. May I help you?" It cordially greeted.
"Why were you deactivated?" Vision inquired.
"All artificial intelligence systems were shut down by Iron Man fourteen days ago." JARVIS answered plainly, shocking he synthezoid.
"By Iron Man?" He repeated. "I do not understand. JARVIS, what happened while I was being repaired? When did everything change?" In response, JARVIS keyed up several display screens that began scrolling through a variety of news reports and live films revealing what had transpired, the AI narrating along the way.
"Twenty-five days ago, Tony Stark created and launched a prototype satellite he designed to generate and transmit free energy to the world, the Stark Energizer. Twenty-three days ago, Tony Stark addressed the United Nations. By the end of his speech, the organization voted to disband, leaving Mister Stark in charge. Within the week, Stark Industries took over all functions of the UN, and Iron Man began to send remote squadrons of remote-controlled Iron Man armor, along with members of the Avengers, all around the world. He referred to them as the 'Iron Legion'. Their mission was to end war. The majority of opponents surrendered. Additionally, Stark Industries facilities were opened across the globe. Any remaining resistance was crushed."
It was shocking news and a completely unexpected revelation. Vision filed the data away, taking it in stored as his internal algorithms planned what he was going to do. "Where are the Avengers now?" He questioned.
"Iron Man's friend and confident, James Rhodes or 'War Machine', is presently in London, supervising the European continent. Miss Marvel oversees South America, Wasp is in Asia, and Black Panther-"
"Who is in New York?" Vision interrupted, trying to narrow his focus to his immediate environment.
"Thor serves as Iron Man's bodyguard. Hawkeye oversees the Iron Legion. Cybernaut is responsible for data analysis from facilities across the globe. And Captain America is behind you."
Stunned by the final answer, Vision whirled around just in time to see red, white and blue as Captain America's shield slammed into his face and threw him across the room. The synthezoid slammed into an adjoining wall as the shield returned to its wielder's hand.
"What are you doing here, Vision?" The Captain demanded. "You're supposed to be shut down." Startled by his intensity, Vision made to defend himself,
"Captain… the repair program… it finished." He stated, only to be kicked to the floor again.
"Access to the Mansion is against the law!" Captain America vehemently retorted. "Use of artificial intelligence is against the law!"
"I do not understand, why are you doing this?" Vision questioned as he rose to his feet. "why has Iron Man taken these actions?" Floating, he sidestepped Cap's next punch and swung around him. "They are counter to everything I know about-" A sudden backhanded shut him up.
"Iron Man is not to be questioned!" Captain America growled, laying into the synthezoid with a haymaker that dislocated Vision's jaw and knocked him down another level to the server access room. "I follow orders, and you're getting shut down, mister!" The supersoldier proclaimed as he lept down in pursuit. Altering his density, Vision let Cap's blows phase through him as he righted himself and distanced himself, popping his jaw back into place as he did.
"No. This is not right." He said aloud. His optic sensors quickly scanned over his former ally and quickly noted the same purple hue clouding Captain America's eyes. "This is not what you believe." Ignoring him, Steve hurled his shield, and Vision let it pass through him to ricochet off the wall. Short-circuiting wires electrified the synthezoid long enough for Cap to close the distance. He landed a few good hits before Vision phased through him and trapped Captain America in an arm-lock. "JARVIS, I am transmitting audio and visual records from my internal memory. Project them." He commanded, holding Steve at bay.
At once, the visual terminals played back the moment Vision fought against Captain America while still under Ultron's control, the very moment Captain America had snapped him out of his loyalty to Ultron and revealed the truth Vision needed to become his own entity.
"Why do you keep fighting?" Vision questioned. "You are but flesh and bone. I am a machine. You cannot win. What do you have to gain?"
"You think I'm fighting for me? To save my own life?" Captain America responded between heaving breaths. He huffed a laugh. "That's why you'll never win. I'm not fighting for me," he revealed, gesturing to the trapped Avengers behind him, "I'm fighting for them! And that's something you'll never understand, machine!"
"It's the very thing that makes us human…" Captain America murmured, trailing off as his memories clicked together and something was broken within him. Shivering in Vision's grip, Steve slumped over and fell to the ground.
"Captain?" Vision asked worriedly. Before he could get a response, a repulsor blast struck his shoulder, revealing the three Iron Legion drones that had accompanied Captain America.
"AI designation 'Vision', you are to surrender by the order of Iron Man." The leading one commanded, speaking in a synthesized replication of Tony's own voice. Vision frowned.
"I. Will. Not." He replied, sternly and firmly.
All of a sudden, a blur of red lashed out to hammer the drones, knocking them off their feet as Captain America's shield returned to his arm. "Never surrender." He said, eyes bright blue again. "Not until we stop Stark." Lifting his shield, he warded off a volley of repulsor blasts as Vision let them phase through his body. Steve retaliated with a hard throw, the shield acting like a buzzsaw to behead one of the drones. Rolling away from another opening fire on him, Cap inadvertently wound up trapped between two Iron Men.
Thankfully, Vision phased his hand clean through its central ARC reactor and solidified, shattering the internal mechanics with a crackle of electricity before pulling his fist free.
Captain America lunged towards the final drone, landing a few solid hits before the drone charged up its central unibeam. Hiding behind his shield, Cap deflected the blast perfectly and destroyed the drone with its own weapon. "These things are tough, but still not the real deal." He remarked. "We got lucky."
Within his office in Stark Tower, Tony was able to observe Cap and Vision's open rebellion via the live feed from the Iron Legion units. He leaned forward at his desk, concerned, watching as a forgotten Avenger and one he called friend dismantled the Iron Legion units one by one until the feed fell to static. Their words rocked the armored Avenger. "I don't get it. This is live from Cap's Iron Men." He muttered to Thor, who observed ever-faithfully alongside him. "Why would he do this? It doesn't make sense."
"I agree." A new voice concurred, entering the office. "It doesn't make sense at all." Tony and Thor looked to the newcomer, a seemingly innocent man dressed in a suit and tie. "You've created the perfect world, Tony. People should just sit back and enjoy it." He mused with an innocent smile.
But he was far from innocent.
Zebediah Killgrave was once a simple Croatian spy whose life was forever changed when he was exposed to a cloud of unknown chemicals that gifted him the power of mind control via pheromones. His mutagenically-altered skin gained the ability to produce numerous psychoactive chemicals that sapped people of their will once inhaled or absorbed, it's new coloration what earned him the simple yet ominous moniker of 'the Purple Man'.
And the color of his skin matched the world perfectly, including the eyes of the Avengers.
"Attention. More Iron Legion units are approaching." JARVIS warned them. "Two of the omega-… Error! Remote shutdown in progress!" The AI's voice was filled with flickering static, evidence of its impending demise.
"It's Tony!" Cap realized with a gasp. His synthezoid friends acted quickly.
"JARVIS, begin upload into my mainframe." Vision ordered. A remote uplink connection was established and Vision's programming made room for a second passenger as the JARVIS programmed was added to his internal processors.
"Uploading." A few seconds passed. "Upload complete." JARVIS announced, using Vision's mouth to speak.
All of a sudden, a titanic red fist plunged into the floor between them, shattering through the uppermost levels of the mansion as one of Tony's omega-class Iron Legion drones attempted to route out the traitors. Vision and Captain America bolted for safety.
"We have to get to the Quinjets!" Cap decided.
"Ill advised, sir." JARVIS cautioned, speaking with Vision's voice. "The Quinjets have been moved off-site." The supersoldier soon discovered that grim truth when he barged into the sublevel hangar and found it empty. The roof above him was shorn open, revealing the towering mass of an omega-class unit bearing down on them. As Vision warded it off with a heat blast from his solar jewel, Steve spied one of Hawkeye's sky cycles and decided the one-man craft would have to do.
Taking flight, the two Avengers left the mansion behind as fast as they could, dodging massive repulsor blasts as the omega-class units tried to shoot them down. "How did this happen? It was like I was in a fog." Captain America wondered aloud.
"I am detecting an unknown energy throughout the city, possibly the world." Vision proffered. "You are being affected as well."
"What is it?"
"Analyzing." JARVIS piped up, making use of Vision's internal database as well as his sensory equipment. "Match found. The energy has the same effect on human biology as the power of Zebediah Killgrave, aka the Purple Man." The name caused Steve to furrow his brow and he tried to clear more of the remaining fog.
"Purple Man, that name," Cap muttered, trying to jog his memory, "it sounds…" Suddenly, something clicked and the realization struck Steve like a deadweight. "Oh no. The same day Tony and Connor were fixing you, Vision, an Avengers alert came in. It was Purple Man!" He exclaimed.
"The Purple Man was apprehended, with Mister Stark's usual flair." JARVIS continued. "He was handed over to SHIELD."
"I think we can safely assume that didn't last." Cap grunted. "What happened next?"
"Six hours later, Pepper Potts ordered all audio/video recording in Stark Tower shut down. She said that Mister Stark had a guest." JARVIS explained. "Within a small radius around him, the Purple Man can control the wills of other human beings. They will do anything and everything the Purple Man says without question."
"And the first thing he made Tony do was build a satellite that would transmit his power over the entire world." Steve concluded as they paused near the limits of New York's airspace. He turned and pointed towards the purple-shaded Stark Tower. "There's our problem."
"It would be prudent then to break Purple Man's hold by destroying the satellite." Vision mused.
"Easier said than done." Captain America replied. "He's got Thor, Miss Marvel, even Cybernaut under his control. Any viable Avenger capable of destroying a satellite is not on our side right now." He leaned back as the sky cycle hovered in the air. "We're going to need a plan. And a good one at that…"
"What do you mean, 'they got away'?" Killgrave demanded crossly. "Find them! Hunt them down and destroy them!" He ordered Tony, who sat quietly at his desk. A holographic readout of the report from the Iron Legion sat before him, including the command code to order the New York wing of the Legion to hunt down the two traitorous Avengers. Tony reached for it… then suddenly stopped.
His hand trembled as Tony grit his teeth, sweat forming on his brow as he strained to resist Killgrave's influence. He had brought his body to a standstill, but only just.
Purple Man noticed. "You're trying to resist me, aren't you?" With a smug chuckle, he strode right up and stood beside Tony, looking down with arrogant confidence. "No one can resist me at this range, satellite or not." He stated, stooping down to fix Tony with a glare. "Look at you, the noble hero." He sneered. "Don't pretend like all of this wasn't your idea in the first place. Everything I've made you do in the last few weeks, it all came from you. I just gave you the push you needed. For so long, I've been able to take anything I wanted. But it wasn't enough. I should have been able to rule the world with my power." He said, rounding the desk to gaze upon the silent, unmoving Thor, the Asgardian standing like a perfect statue. "And through you, Stark, that's exactly what I'm doing. You could have had it all any time you wanted. Everybody listens to Tony Stark. Everybody loves Iron Man." He snarled, leaning over the desk to get right up in the billionaire's struggling face. "You shouldn't have mocked me. You thought it'd be funny, that day in the restaurant, didn't you? To make fun of me, to make me look stupid. Do you feel smart now?" Killgrave asked, thoroughly enjoying his petty revenge.
Tony's terminal beeped, indicating an incoming transmission. "We've got a visual on Captain America and the Vision." Miss Marvel reported. "What are your orders?" Taking that as his cue, Purple Man straightened up and spoke calmly and confidently, just enough to distort Tony's will one more time.
"Eliminate Captain America and the Vision, now." His words registered, settling in Tony's mind and festering just long enough to regain control. Stark quit struggling and pressed the response toggle on his terminal.
"Take them down." He ordered Miss Marvel in a weary voice.
Captain America and Vision raced back into the city on a direct course for Stark Tower. They had a plan, it was just a question of succeeding. "We need to fight this on two fronts." Steve stated, only to be brought to a sudden pause as Miss Marvel rocketed up from below and landed a gut punch that sent Vision flying. "Vision!" He gasped, looking to watch as the two shot up several hundred feet in the span of a few seconds. Turning his sky cycle around, he was about to give chase when a soft thwunk of metal being pierced drew his attention to an arrow stabbing into his ride. He looked up, tracking it's arc to Hawkeye on another sky cycle.
"That was a freebie, old man." He called out, another arrow fitted into his bowstring. "I just wanted to make sure you knew it was me taking you down." With that, he loosed his explosive arrowhead and Cap manauevered out of the way in the nick of time. Gunning the thrusters, Steve took flight and Clint hurried to pursue.
Meanwhile, Vision remained trapped in Miss Marvel'S clutches as she propelled him higher into the atmosphere. "Sorry, robot. You break the law, I break you." Carol snarled unapologetically.
"Each statement you just made is incorrect." Vision responded. "I am not a robot, and you cannot break what you cannot touch." With that, he altered his density and phased through the heroine, coming to a stop in midair. Carol was quick to turn around and bolt back towards him, only to pass through Vision yet again. "For your own sake, please stop." He urged as her flying fists and feet passed harmlessly through his intangible form.
"Thanks for the concern." Miss Marvel growled. Unloading a pair of photon bolts, Vision was knocked back as the high-density energy scrambled his circuits. He promptly retorted with a solar beam that struck Carol hard, causing her to cry out in pain and halt her attack.
"My apologies. But your file indicates that my laser will not permanently harm you." He proffered. But Carol shook off the effects and charged back in with a raging uppercut.
Hawkeye continued to tail Captain America across the New York skyline, biding his time until He was sure he wouldn't miss his mark. His aim proved true, one arrow bouncing off Cap's shield while the second struck his aft and began to beep. A countdown. The two former colleagues exchanged looks, Hawkeye smirking sinisterly as he saluted Steve.
"Bye bye." He teased, gunning his thrusters forward. Wasting no time, Steve sprang to a crouch and jumped from his cycle to Hawkeye's moments before the explosive arrow detonated and turned his ride into a flaming wreck. The two Avengers grappled for control.
"Hawkeye! Clint! You can fight this!" Steve urged as the archer attacked him. A boot to his ribs knocked him off, but Cap managed to grab the tail of the cycle and cling on for dear life. With superhuman agility and strength, he swung underneath the vessel and flipped up to land in front of Hawkeye, taking the controls. The archer hammered him from behind, pinning Captain America against the controls and forcing the sky cycle into a nosedive.
"It's over, Cap! You lose!" Hawkeye growled.
"You're being used, Hawkeye! By the Purple Man!" Cap grunted in response.
"You think I'm going to listen to you?" The archer retorted, jamming him hard against the controls as the city rose up swiftly to meet them. "Stark said you were a traitor, so I'm taking you down!"
"You've never listened to anyone. Not me, and sure as heck not Iron Man." Cap said, looking Hawkeye in the eye. "And now you're just going to blindly follow orders? You've never done that in your life! And now you're going to get yourself killed because Tony Stark told you to? No one tells Hawkeye what to do!" He barked. New York loomed closer, buildings becoming more identifiable as rooftops and pavement rushed to meet them. Despite his posture, Cap could see the struggle in Clint's eyes, the twitch in his muscles as his brain fought through the fog of Purple Man's pheromones. "Come on, Clint!" Steve snapped.
Then, with a sudden flash, Hawkeye's eyes turned blue again.
Wth a pained shout as a fierce headache overtook him, the archer found the strength to grab Captain America and throw them both onto the nearest rooftop mere moments before their sky cycle crashed into another and burst into flame with a roar.
The impact and ensuing blaze was enough to disrupt the fight between Miss Marvel and Vision, both of which turning to view the carnage wrought from what seemed to be the demise of their two teammates. The grave possibility was enough to shake Carol to her core. "Cap? Hawkeye?" She whispered in a shaky voice, fearing her comrades to be dead. "No…" She breathed in horror. "No!" The shock was enough to break Purple Man's hold over her and her eyes also returned to their normal hue.
Down on the rooftops, Hawkeye and Captain America had picked themselves up after successfully surviving their crashlanding. A little bruised and beat up, the pair were at least standing. "You okay, soldier?" Steve wondered as Clint stared vacantly ahead at the wreck of his sky cycle. With his head cleared, the archer was forced to realize everything that had happened over the past month and what he'd done in that time. His resolve hardened.
"No." Hawkeye said, drawing his bow. "Not until I have Purple Man's head on my wall." He growled. "Even if we have to go through Stark to do it." His anger was understandable and Captain America nodded. The rush of air drew their attention up to the arrival of Vision and a relieved Miss Marvel.
"Cap, what are we going to do?" She asked. "The Purple Man, he's taken the whole world."
"We take it back." Cap stated stoically. "I need you, Hawkeye and Vision to find a Quinjet. There's a satellite up in space that needs to be taken down."
"And what of you, Captain?" Vision questioned. In response, Cap first looked towards the shrouded Stark Tower in the distance.
"I'm going to save Tony." He said.
With a plan in place, the Avengers split up to divide and conquer. As it turned out, the Quinjets were being housed at the newly-completed Hydrobase off the east coast, which meant Vision, Miss Marvel and Hawkeye would have to be quick if they wanted to abscond with the craft from such a densely-secure location.
Arriving off the scene, Hawkeye took down three Iron Legion drones with three separate arrows while being carried by Vision. A disruptor arrow generated a field which blew out the internal microconduits of one drone, a freeze arrow encased another in three inches of solid ice, and a third was subdued when an electric arrow overloaded its subsystems. Vision and Miss Marvel promptly dispatched the remaining three with their energy beams, destroying the troupe guarding a Quinjet and seemingly leaving it open to be taken.
"That was of minimal difficulty." Vision commented as they touched down. Carol and Clint whirled to give him shocked looks.
"Did you just say this was easy? You never say it was easy. Ever!" Hawkeye snapped.
"Why?" Vision wondered. In response, the wind picked up and clouds churned overhead, distant thunder rumbling as a storm brewed above them. Normally one would be inclined to think an ambient weather phenomenon was responsible. But the Avengers knew better, especially when they knew that one of their teammates just so happened to be a thunder god…
"That's why." Hawkeye grumbled as Thor appeared in the eye of the storm, lightning flashing and thunder crashing to herald his foreboding arrival.
"Your end has come, betrayers." He boomed from above, Mjolnir crackling with power. With it, he rained down sheet lightning from above, the three Avengers sprinting away to avoid getting struck. Thor made landfall and hurled Mjolnir with all his might, slamming Vision into the Quinjet's engines. He recalled his weapon as Miss Marvel fired upon him, batting away golden energy bolts as Hawkeye loosed a sonic arrow in his direction. A charged thunderbolt promptly disintegrated the projectile as Thor moved skyward.
"This is bad." Carol muttered. "What are we supposed to do?"
"We stick with the plan." Hawkeye decided. "Vision, keep him busy as long as you can. Keep him right here." He ordered the synthezoid. While his colleagues moved to get the Quinjet in the air, Vision took flight, passing through multiple lightning strikes as Thor bore down on him. Electrical energy passed through his intangible form and soon Thor did too. The thunder god landed on the steel platform below, momentarily confused and right where the synthezoid wanted him.
"Forgive me, Asgardian!" He called out apologetically as he dove down while simultaneously shifting his density to something far more substantial. Vision plowed into Thor and drove him into the platform, laying into his face with dense punches that could shatter metal with every blow.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Miss Marvel took to the controls, slipping into command seats as they prepped for launch. "Vision's not going to last long against blondie out there." He muttered. "Do me a favour and skip the pre-flight checks."
"Way ahead of you." Carol promised.
Vision continued to beat the snot out of Thor as dark, angry thunderclouds brewed overhead. At last, his next punch was caught as Thor pulled himself out of the crater in the deck, hoisting Vision up by his face before throwing him across the length of the landing pad. Summoning Mjolnir back into his grip, Vision had seconds to restructure his density to a diamond-like atomic matrix before the hammer bore down on him as Thor took a turn beating him into the deck. But a brilliant glow brought it to an abrupt end as the Quinjet's engines roared to life.
"Vision! Phase, now!" Hawkeye shouted and the synthezoid did so.
Thor was not so lucky, promptly blasted across the width of Hydrobase by the wash from the engines and he slammed into the command module. Vision picked himself up and gave chase as the Quinjet rocketed skyward… and Thor was not far behind.
The Quinjet soon reached orbit, gravity releasing its grip on the heroes as Vision boarded the cabin. Soon they set eyes on the 'Stark Energizer' satellite; the conduit for Purple Man's global domination. Hawkeye exhaled loudly, gripping his console just a little tighter. Miss Marvel also loosed a shaky breath, feeling the draw his Killgrave's control again. Her enhanced body meant it required more pheromones to control her and the lingering effects persisted even after she'd been freed for a time.
"I can't… I can't…" She panted, on the verge of hyperventilating. She needed to focus, divert her brain to something other than the whims of Purple Man. Finding a scrunchy tucked into her sash, she pulled her buoyant hair into a ponytail in a brief distraction.
"Warning. Sensors indicate multiple Iron Legion units are guarding the satellite." JARVIS cautioned, speaking through Vision.
"That's bad." Hawkeye remarked.
"Warning. Long range sensors indicate that Thor is in pursuit." JARVIS then added.
"That's worse." Hawkeye sighed. The Iron Legion noticed their imminent arrival and broke into two squadrons, the majority converging on the approaching Quinjet. Carol began to bob and weave around a hail of repulsor fire while Hawkeye shot back with the jet's roof-mounted quad-cannon. "JARVIS, where's Thor? How close is he?" The archer asked, fingers on the triggers.
"I will deal with Thor." Vision stated, turning to leave.
"What? Vision, wait!" Carol called after him, but the synthezoid had already phased out of the Quinjet, too determined to be stopped. He paused in space and looked down upon the earth, noting the massive storm cell brewing below. No doubt Thor was in the middle of it.
Adjusting his guidance systems to track the epicentre of the lightning, Vision made his move. "Increasing density." He said aloud. "Current weight… five-hundred tons." Dropping like a stone, Vision hurtled towards the incoming Thor with the speed and ferocity of a meteorite, generating intense levels of heat as he re-entered the atmosphere. Picking up speed as he dropped, Vision stopped calculating the moment he passed 40,000 kph, and continued to watch for Thor. The Asgardian rose to meet him, Mjolnir aglow with electric power. Vision stayed on target, never flinching as he began to pick out more of the thunder gods features. Thor refused to bow, believing his godly physiology would aid him against Vision.
But even he was not exempt from basic physics.
They collided in a display that lit the world beneath them with a man-made dawn, enough heat and light exerted to melt the snow on trees in the northern reaches of the globe. Even then, Vision kept dropping. With Thor under his boots, the synthezoid drove the Asgardian into forested wilderness that cleared out a five-mile crater and plowed him over a mile into the earth…
On his own, Captain America succeeded in breaking into Tony's office in Stark Tower via one of its many windows. But he had just barely rolled to his feet when he was met by he armored Avenger himself, repulsors charged and aimed right for the star on his chest. "Hey, Cap. I've been waiting for you." Tony greeted in a low voice. Steve tensed, ready for a fight.
"Iron Man… Tony, you can fight this." He urged. "You're being controlled by the Purple Man!" His words seemed to click and Tony began struggling, shaking within his armor as his once steady hand began to tremble.
"R-Run!" He gasped before a repulsor bolt erupted from his palm. Raising his shield Captain America blocked and started moving as Tony took to the air, raining down repulsor fire from above. Angling just right, Steve deflected a bolt back into Tony's face, knocking him out of the air.
"I'm impressed, Captain." A voice mused and Cap whirled around to find Killgrave himself leaning nonchalantly in the office doorway. Steve raised his shield, anticipating an attack from behind. "You must have quite the willpower to keep resisting me like this." Captain America rushed in to attack, one firm blow would disrupt his concentration and end this. But Tony got in his way, helpless to control his actions. He started firing on Cap, the supersoldier scrambling to defend himself as Iron Man advanced. "But what do you think you're going to do? Even if you get out of here alive, I control the whole world." Purple Man smugly remarked. Taking flight, Iron Man grabbed Steve by the neck and powered him through an adjacent office wall.
They tumbled to a halt, Steve springing to his feet and throwing his shield only for Tony to stomp down and trap it under his boot. "Now this is entertainment." Killgrave chuckled. Ignoring him, Captain America charged heedlessly ahead, clashing with Iron Man as they tackled one another out of the air.
Blasting the last of the Iron Legion attacking them, Hawkeye fixed his sights on the satellite. All he needed was one good shot to end this, but that required some precision aiming first. "I've got it." He announced, locking onto his target. "Carol, hold her steady." Making a few last minute adjustments, he paused when the sound of buckles coming undone drew his attention to a vacant pilot seat.
All of a sudden, Miss Marvel jumped him from behind, pulling him from his chair and slamming him into the ceiling before throwing him back down. Her eyes were purple again. "I don't know how you tricked me, Hawkeye, but I won't betray Iron Man." She growled, throwing him into the rear bulkhead and driving a fist into his gut.
"Carol…" he grunted, reaching for his quiver and one singular arrow, "have to… fight!" He urged, popping open the arrowhead and igniting the magnesium flare within. It was a short fuse but it blinded the heroine long enough to get her off of him. He grasped his gunnery controls and took aim again, lining up the perfect shot as he always did. Carol surged after him, grabbing his shoulder and trying to yank Hawkeye off the controls... but she was too late.
Mashing the trigger, Hawkeye fired a single energy bolt that ricocheted off one Iron Legionnaire, then another, before smashing into the neck of the satellite and blowing it in two.
As both halves detonated, the effect was immediate. Carol relaxed her grip with a gasp. "Clint?" She wondered, the purple light dissipating from her eyes…
Down on the ground, Thor had Vision pinned as their struggle continued. But as he raised Mjolnir high to deliver another resounding blow, the purple in his gaze abruptly vanished, leaving the Asgardian dazed and confused. "Vision?" He asked, bewildered. "What transpires here?"
"It would seem that Hawkeye and Miss Marvel were successful." The synthezoid announced as he stood. "You are now free of the Purple Man's influence." The name struck a chord with Thor.
"Purple Man?" He muttered as the fog slowly lifted from his brain and events folded into one another. Suddenly all was made clear and Thor gripped Mjolnir tightly. "Purple Man!" He growled as lightning crackled violently about his weapon…
Within his sanctum, Connor abruptly felt a sudden click in his memory, like he was seeing with new eyes. He slumped against his desk, his mind clearing as it interwove with the technology around him. "W-What…? How…" He looked around, passively collecting information from the consoles at his disposal. Soon he began to realize what had happened to himself and the Avengers, as well as the entire world.
He turned his gaze up, picking out sensory readings from across Stark Tower. Clenching his jaw as his brow furrowed, he rose from his seat and made to leave. Pneumatic gauntlets thrumming to life, plasma cannons priming over his shoulders, shield generator crackling to life, Cybernaut was on the prowl…
Captain America breathed a momentary sigh of relief as the purple haze around the tower abated, revealing the rest of the team had done their job. All that was left was to free Tony and subdue Killgrave.
His shield struck Tony in the abdomen, double in him over as an uppercut laid him out on the floor. "Tony, you have to fight!" Cap barked. "You can beat this!" A pair of boot jets struck his chest and blasted Steve across the room as Tony picked himself up. Rocketing over, he drove a hard punch into his gut and an overhead blow flattened him against the floor.
"Look at him, Stark." Killgrave sneered as Tony continued to beatdown Steve. "I want you to feel this. I want you to know exactly what I'm making you do." With a boot planted against his side, Tony primed his repulsor and aimed right for Cap's head. A pointblank blow.
"C-Cap…!" Tony gasped, struggling to regain control. Purple Man wouldn't have it.
"You're mine, Stark! Forever!" He taunted, strutting up behind Tony and leaning down next to his ear. "No matter how hard you resist, you'll never be free. The most you'll ever be able to do is wiggle your finger when I'm next to you-"
"Hey! Scumbag!" Purple Man whirled, his eyes widening as an angry Cybernaut rocketed into the room, irons formed into a staff reared back in his hand. A single swing pitched Killgrave across the room, the force enough to dislocate his jaw. The technopath barreled ahead, snatching Purple Man up by the lapel and slamming him against the nearest wall with enough force to send cracks spider-webbing across the surface. "Here's a little 'thank you' for screwing with my head!" Connor snarled, ramming Killgrave's face with a pneumatic-powered right hook that exerted enough force to promptly pop his jaw back into place. Activating his plasma cannons, the technopath yanked Purple Man around and fired point blank, twin orange columns propelling him across the room until he impacted a window with a cry, falling to the floor as the window pane cracked in his wake. He looked up as Cybernaut stalked over, irons circling around his open hands.
"Impossible! You're in the same room as me!" He gasped.
"My brain is only half-susceptible to your power, Killgrave." Connor stated. "The other half? Might as well be machinery. So that's where I'm living right now, free from your influence." Shooting a look towards Tony, a remote command closed up his helmet and faceplate as the technopath flexed his power to do some good for a change.
"Artificial intelligence reactivated." JARVIS announced, integrating back into Tony's armor. "Initiating armor air-filtration system." Expelling the air fouled up by Purple Man's pheromones, Tony could finally think normally as his eyes turned brown again. He straightened up, helping Captain America to his feet as Vision phased into the room. Killgrave paled (as much as he could) at the sight of four free-thinking Avengers in the same room as him.
"Uh oh." He gulped. The rumble of thunder and blinding flashes of lightning drew his attention to the cracked window behind him. Scrambling backwards, Killgrave shielded himself from shards of glass as the pane shattered and Thor floated into the office.
"Purple Man… you have made a grave mistake." He growled, power flashing within his eyes. Killgrave hurried to his feet, now surrounded by five of the Avengers.
"Please… P-Please don't!" He begged them with a whimper.
"Classic bully persona. Not in control? Just a pathetic waste of space." Cybernaut growled, swiftly earning Purple Man's attention. "Back in that restaurant, all we did was humiliate you. Now? We're just gonna hurt you." He threatened, cracking his knuckles. Iron Man raised his hand, palm open to reveal a charged repulsor.
"I can do a lot by wiggling my finger. And so can they." He stated. A point-blank repulsor blast blinded Purple Man and pitched him into Captain America, who batted him with his shield into Thor. The Asgardian merely flicked his finger as if shooing away an annoying insect pest, striking Purple Man in the forehead and sending him hurtling towards Tony's wall-to-wall monitor. A twitch from Cybernaut sent one of his irons hurtling into the side of Killgrave's head, knocking him out cold before he hit the ground in a heap.
As the sun rose over New York City, work was already underway to dismantle Purple Man's world-domination scheme. From atop the roof of Avengers Mansion, Steve and Tony watched as billboards with Tony's face were removed from buildings, heralding the end of Purple Man's scheme. "It'll take some time, but I'll put it right." Tony stated. "Everything I did, I'll fix. But it'll never be enough." He added with a sigh. "Ever since I became Iron Man, I've tried to make sure the weapons I made didn't fall into the wrong hands. And I was turned into a weapon."
"No one blames you, Tony." Steve interjected, laying a hand on his shoulder. "The world knows it was the Purple Man. Everyone was in the same boat as you, he was controlling all of us."
"No. You shook Purple Man's control. So did the others." Tony countered, still feeling defeated. "And everything Purple Man had me do? It was all inside me. They were all ideas I had. I'm supposed to be the futurist, working to build a better tomorrow. What I did… is that the future I've been working toward?" He questioned.
"I don't believe that. And I don't think it was a mistake that you forgot about the Vision, or that you sent me to the Mansion to investigate his waking." Steve replied. "I think you were fighting the Purple Man the whole time. I think you hoped the Vision would free me. I know you believe in the future, but I believe in people. And I choose to believe in you, Iron Man." He stated without regret. With a pat on his shoulder, he turned him around to see the sun clearing Stark Tower, framing New York City in a beautiful red-gold glow. It was heralding the coming of a day without Purple Man.
A new day. A better day.
It was a day full of cleanup, explanations, repairs and apologies as the Avengers worked hard to tear down the image Purple Man had used them to create. And at the end of that day, all Janet and Connor wanted to do was spend some much needed time alone together.
Enjoying the solitude of Janet's penthouse while relaxing in civilian clothes (they hadn't been out of their hero costumes since Purple Man took over), lounging with arms around each other on a couch in the living area.
"Ugh, what a living nightmare." Janet grumbled. "We've gone a whole month being unable to think for ourselves and stuck doing what Purple Man thought we should do."
"Talk about nasty." Connor agreed. "It still creeps me out that we would've had to do anything he told us to do… no matter how awkward or wrong it might've been." Janet agreed as they collectively shivered.
"Well, at least it wasn't actually us trying to control the world." The brunette mused. "That would've made everything a lot more awkward."
"Tell me about it. At least this way Agent Hill was able to forgive us when we brought Purple Man in… although I'm pretty sure she was still giving us the stink eye the whole time. Had we been the bad guys? I don't think we would have let us leave." The technopath muttered. Then he hugged Janet a little tighter. "At least now we finally got that alone time we were talking about."
"Yeah. Nearly a month without each other is a bit too long of a wait." Janet agreed, settling into the crook of his body quite contentedly.
"I should've beat him up some more, for making us wait so long to see each other again." Connor remarked and Janet giggled.
"You mean for turning us into naughty bad guys, right?" She added teasingly. Then she paused and a thought came to mind. "Although… I don't think I'm done being naughty just yet." She determined and a sly smile formed. Connor shot her a look.
"Let me guess; gonna try to rampage through Tokyo in your giant form?" He joked. Janet sat up and let one of her fingers glide down his jaw and across his chin.
"Wrong kind of naughty, handsome." She said as a rather lustful look overtook her gaze. "I believe I promised you a little… modelling session when we got together." Rising from the couch, she began padding her way out of the room. "Give me a minute. I want this to be absolutely perfect so it'll blow your mind." With that, she was gone and Connor was left to ponder things. No doubt she had something romantic and intimate in mind. But the way she had been teasing him about the lingerie she'd gotten her hands on had him wondering about its shape and design. He knew Janet already had a very beautiful body… was it even possible to accentuate her curvaceous form even more?
Minutes passed and Connor was starting to get antsy when Janet finally called out, "Connor? Can you come to the bedroom, please?" Never one to turn her down, the technopath rose and approached without a word of refute.
Arriving at the doorway to the bedroom, he stopped suddenly and his jaw hit the floor.
Janet's casual clothes had been set aside on her dresser. All she was wearing now was the lingerie set she brought back from Asia… and he could see why she was so excited to show it off.
It was a black floral lace pair of bra and panties, made from a very fine silk that hugged her body like a second skin. A unique design, the waistband of her panties was not one solid piece, crisscross lace with two-part back closure that rode high on her hips and curved around in a near X-shaped design. The same applied to the hem of her bra, wrapping snugly around her bosom to present her breasts in a very eye-catching way.
"Woah…" Connor breathed, his gaze roaming up and down his very sexy girlfriend as she posed on the edge of the bed for him. "Mind blown." He managed to say.
"Oh don't think I'm done with my little show yet." Janet teased, rising from the bed and strutting over to him. Connor couldn't tear his eyes off her long, shapely legs as one paced in front of the other until Janet was pressing herself against his chest. Then she reached up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. The pair savoured the embrace as Connor's hands fell to the swaths of her flesh not covered by the second-skin that was her lingerie. Janet cupped his face and broke off, fixing upon him eyes darkened by pure, unadulterated desire. "It's been a little too long since I treated you to something special." She purred. Connor opened his mouth to speak, but Janet was on his lips again before he could utter a word.
Author's Note: Still thundering onwards towards the finale, no stopping now! Up next… Yellowjacket.