Revamped!


Chapter 38: Technovore Part Five

Stark Towers - 19:57 PM

As the AIM agents run out, they're stopped by Xavier and Merida.

Xavier punches one of the agents and throws him against the wall with one arm. Merida swings her bow, whacking another before shooting and one who tries to attack her from behind. From the ground, Xavier looks up and sees a gun pointed right at him. Xavier pulls out his shield from his back and whips it like a frisbee. While the agent is distracted, Xavier runs over and bodyslams him into the wall. Merida holds up her bow as another agent points a gun at her. Merida slightly tilts her head as the AIM agent falls over without her releasing an arrow. On the other side, Merida sees Angela with her gun out.

"Where's Tony?" Xavier asks her.

"He blacked out again but his heart was still pumping, so I had to carry him to his suits," Angela responds. "They come with arc reactors so it'll replace the one that's dead. Luckily, he woke up before I had to put him in a suit myself."

Then the three of them look at Technavore who's attempting to devour Emily's arc reactor at the other end of the room. Thank god she's alive. She continues screaming until Technovore gets blasted over. Emily rolls onto her stomach and looks up to see her father wearing one of his Iron Man suits. Technovore is now conflicted, given more options for which arc reactor to consume now - the main one, the one with her or the one her father has.

"Dad," Emily pants, "the building will explode."

"There's no time to disarm all the bombs," Tony replies as he scans them all.

"What about that?" Emily points at Technovore.

"It's a storage unit. Its goal is to consume arc reactor energy."

Emily looks down at the arc reactor on her chest and lights up with an idea.

Technovore pounces at Tony, sending the armoured man to the ground. It uses its tentacles to wrap around Tony's legs as he attempts to fly away. He uses his repulsor beams but Technovore snags his arms as well.

Emily stands up and begins activating the main reactor manually. Suddenly, the whole room lights up with energy.

"I thought that was a bad thing!" Angela yells at her.

"Trust me!" Emily yells back, then noticing that three of her friends are here. "Oh, hey guys! How's SHIELD?"

At the sight of all the power being released, Technovore drops Tony and Tony uses his arc reactor to blast Technovore in the middle of it. Technovore uses all its tentacles to consume what it can. Just as Emily planned, Technovore has a capacity just like every storage device ever. Every storage unit has a limit. As the quantity of arc reactor energy in Technovore increases, Xavier holds up his shield to protect himself, Merida, Angela, and Emily just as Tony activates the forcefield on his shield. And, just like Tony planned, Technovore consumed enough energy to prevent an explosion in the tower and disintegrate itself due to the overload.

Tony lowers his forcefield as Xavier lowers his shield. Just because Technovore is gone, doesn't mean that AIM is.

-o-

Pepper is dragged outside, towards the AIM van. Before she gets forced into the vehicle, she hears all the agents get shot down. She turns around and sees James taking care of them. However, when James points his blaster at the Scientist Supreme, he points a gun at Pepper's temple.

"It's over," James tells her, "I think your creepy sentient pet is dead."

"Over?" The Scientist Supreme repeats with a hint of sarcasm. "I have Stark's information and his precious wife."

"I swear -"

"One more word from you is a bullet in her brain."

He jabs the gun into Pepper's temple. James slowly lowers his hands.

"You'll want to aim for the head," James says. "That usually makes for a fatal blow. Or if you're feeling a bit nervous, then go for the torso. It's a bigger target."

"What?" The Scientist Supreme questions.

"I wasn't talking to you."

At that moment, Pepper jabs her heel into the Scientist Supreme's foot before elbowing his head back. His head slams into the van and he slumps down to the ground unconscious. Pepper brushes her clothes as she bends down to snag all the external devices that contain her information. She walks over to James, making sure to step on the Scientist Supreme with her heels as she passes him.

-o-

Still processing what just happened, Emily spins around and finds herself in her father's arms with Angela, Merida, and Xavier standing behind them.

"What the hell just happened?" Emily asks.

"I'm so happy you're alive," Tony says tearfully, kissing Emily's sweaty head repeatedly after he rips off his Iron Man helmet. "I don't know what would've happened if I lost you."

"Us too," Angela says. "James didn't think you would make it. Speaking of -"

Merida glances at her phone. "James just said that he has Pepper so it's all good now."

Emily turns around to face them and feels her head spinning, assuming that it's the joy of seeing her friends after all this time mixed with her lack of energy from the battle and the outstanding fatigue. She's smiling brightly as she goes to hug them.

"Honestly, Stark," Xavier says, "I didn't think you'd make it either."

"Same," Merida adds.

"I had some hope in you," Angela says. She glances at her phone. "Daniel's overseas, frantic but now he'll have nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about…" Emily repeats with a wistful voice as she thinks about her fiancé. Then her smile fades due to her body feeling like it's shutting down. "Guys, don't worry about what will happen next. I'm not dying. Xavier, please catch me."

Nobody understands what Emily just said but then panics when Emily passes out in Xavier's arms.


[2020: Thank the matriarch because her arc had the least amount of work to revamp].