Chapter 5- Heroes in the Desert
A/N: With this chapter I am caught up with what I had posted before. Next will be all new material including catching up with Flash and Martian Manhunter. wonder how the Avengers will respond to a telepathic sharpshooter. ;-) Guell you'll have to wait till next time. For now enjoy these introductions:
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
The flight to Egypt was much quicker than the flight across the Atlantic, so it seemed like no time at all before the heroes were landing on an air strip outside of Giza.
Tony needed every minute to repair and charge his suit, so he roped Sam into it and focused on nothing else through the trip. The rest of them spread out to different tasks. Clint and Natasha focused on piloting. Wonder Woman joined them to watch when Steve had interrupted Batman to try to talk strategy. Hulk and Thor had cornered Superman to talk about something that sounded suspiciously like "arm wrestling".
After they landed, they all gathered to organize. "Okay," Tony said, taking charge of the motley group of heroes. "So, who are we looking for here?"
"Hawkgirl," Batman answered. "She is Thanagarian." At the Avengers' blank looks, he continued, "That means she is an alien with wings."
Falcon raised his hand. "How do you know she's here?" When Natasha sighed, he quickly put his hand down with an embarrassed chuckle.
"Did you find a news report or a YouTube Video?" Hawkeye asked from his seat where he was checking his quiver. "I checked in with air traffic control and they didn't mention anything. We're ready to head out whenever, by the way. We've got this little strip to ourselves for the day according to the tower."
"Stark's satellites picked up an energy surge in this area, though it happened too fast to pin point an exact location," Batman held up the tablet so they could see the map of the area. "However, a fresh scan of the area revealed a radiation source that matches the signature of nth metal."
"What in the world is nth metal?" Tony questioned with just a touch of the frustration he was feeling. usually he was the one with all the answers "This just keeps getting weirder. I thought I had JARVIS looking for energy spikes."
"You did, I intercepted his message," Batman said, indifferently, as if that wasn't practically impossible. Tony would be rewriting his security protocols as soon as they got back. "The point is: the only source of nth metal on this world should be Hawkgirl's weapon. If we can track it, we will find her."
"Piece of cake," Tony said, flipping down his visor, already armored up and ready. "I'll just go get the mysterious Hawkgirl and you can all take a break." He took off without waiting for Batman to finish, shooting through the door which opened automatically for him.
"Um, should we just let him go?" Sam asked, watching his friend/mentor fly off. The red and gold Ironman suit was barely visible in in the shimmering desert heat.
"No," Wonder Woman said. She crossed her arms and looked very annoyed. "Hawkgirl is temperamental at the best of times; she comes from a race of warriors. She might strike your friend out of the sky if she sees him as a threat."
"Thor, you and Superman make sure that doesn't happen," Captain America ordered, nodding at the two men after a quick consideration of the remaining heroes. He figured the two aliens had the best chance of keeping up with Stark.
"Aye," Thor agreed immediately and swung his hammer out to fly after the retreating form of his fellow Avenger.
Superman looked at his friends. Batman returned the look, unamused. "Go," he urged dryly, "before they find her and provoke her."
Wonder Woman smiled and nodded. Superman shrugged and took off after the others.
"This shouldn't take long," Hawkeye said, throwing his feet up on a box of Stark's equipment. "Who wants to bet that Stark says something stupid that gets him smacked?" He pulled a bag of chips from somewhere and started munching.
"Is he that foolish?" Wonder Woman asked, moving to sit down next to the archer.
"Believe me," Black Widow said from the other side of Clint, rolling her eyes. She stole a chip from the bag. "He is. I wouldn't take that bet."
Clint rolled his eyes but held the bag out to share with the women. He'd fight the Hulk over a pickle but nothing except coffee was worth fighting Natasha and Diana had just saved his life after all. "Spoilsport."
Captain America sighed and decided not to encourage them. He tried to steal a chip, but Clint pulled it out of reach and glared at him. Steve wisely backed off and went to find his own snack.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Outside, Ironman cut through the hot desert air as he scanned for the alien metal. At least Batman had bent enough to give him the signature of the mysterious metal though it wouldn't have taken Tony Stark long to find it even without broody bastard's creepy help. Tony grinned behind his helmet, unsurprised when Superman and Thor caught up with him.
"Come to join the party?" he asked, jovially.
"We come to prevent you from inciting the winged woman's ire," Thor boomed cheerfully. Though honestly, it wasn't often that Thor wasn't cheerful.
"Hawkgirl has a temper," Superman explained, flying up beside the armor. He held out one arm to better cut through the wind resistance so he could talk. Tony thought he looked silly. "We hoped to avoid a misunderstanding by having someone she knows with you."
"Cap sent you, didn't he?"
"Not necessarily," Superman began but Thor interrupted.
"Aye," the Thunder agreed over Superman's protests. "He thought it best."
"He's such a mother hen," Tony laughed. He rolled the armor up and over the top of Superman to fly on his left before pulling just a little ahead. "Okay, boys, follow me and try to keep up." He increased the thrust of his repulsors and blasted ahead.
"Is he always like this?" Superman asked, looking at Thor.
The god grinned. "Aye!" he cheered and put on a burst of speed to catch up with his teammate.
After that it became a race, each hero out doing the others as they flew across the desert. Superman held back until he could see what the others to could do before he put on a burst of speed that shot him past the other two men. The man of steel couldn't help rolling into his back to salute Ironman, before pulling even further ahead. He was just having too much fun. He hadn't had a race like this since the last race against Flash.
Ironman squawked as he watched the red cape pull in front of him and directed more power into his repulsors. The indignant sound startled Thor and the god fell behind as he laughed at his teammate's frustrations.
Ahead of them, Superman could finally see the figure of Hawkgirl as she winged her way over the sand. She was still out of earshot, but they had confirmation of her location.
Ironman called it into to the others waiting with the quinjet. "We have a visual of Hawkgirl," he said into the radio. His suit's cameras had picked her up soon after Superman had seen her. "She looks like she's in a hurry, but we're gaining on her. I don't know if she's seen us yet."
"Be careful, Ironman," Steve advised. "We don't want to start a fight with her. You should let Superman approach first."
"Only if he gets there first," Ironman joked. In front of him, he could see Superman turn his head to look back, so he knew the big guy could hear the challenge in his voice. The man's hearing was next level. "I'm ready to cut loose and see what this baby can do!"
"Stark! Don't do anything stupid," Steve shouted above the sound of the suits repulors, but Tony ignored him.
Tony urged his suit to greater lengths, redirecting power to his boots. He was starting to gain on Superman again when his readout started blaring red at him. Something was incoming fast, and the trajectory had it heading right at Ironman. Tony rolled to the side just in time to miss a flash of green energy that scorched the sand below him hot enough to turn it to glass.
"Whoa!" he shouted into the comms, "Hostile! Hostile!" He changed directions and speed but it wasn't enough to stop the incoming attack. A man surrounded by a bright green aura slammed into him like a cannonball and sent Tony crashing into the ground with enough force to knock the breath out of him. "Oh, you want to play rough?" he gasped at his attacker. "Fine, try some of this!" He shot a repulsor ray at the man, but it was deflected by a green energy shield. The return volley of green energy knocked Ironman to his knees as his shields absorbed the blow. The green man then created a giant hammer out of the green energy and was about to hammer him like a nail when Thor hit the stranger like a runaway freight train.
"Have at thee!" Thor shouted as he slammed the other man out of the air. He used no finesse, instead tackling him like a linebacker and sending the man into the ground. It was enough to break the green man's concentration and the giant hammer disappeared. Instead he manifested another shield; this one looked like a round shield from medieval times, if said shields were transparent and green. Ironman could see the detail in the rivets of the shield before Thor brought his own hammer to bear. The other man shuddered under the force of Mjolnir but stood his ground, forming a long sword out of his weird energy to return the attack.
Ironman climbed to his feet but the previous attacks had shorted out several systems, including his external sensors and flight stabilizers. "Come on, JARVIS, no sleeping on the job," he urged his suit. "Who the hell is this guy and where did he come from?" Tony needed to figure out where the enemy's energy was coming from but without the suits sensors he had to rely on his own powers of observation.
From what he could see, it looked like the energy came from the man's ring and he could form it into anything he wanted. Like now, the stranger created a tank which fired a mortar to hit Thor and stunned the Thunderer temporarily. As Thor stood there, shaking his head, Ironman hit the ringbearer with a unibeam, hoping to catch him off guard. It only sort of worked. The man formed a brick wall in front of himself, but the Unibeam's energy broke through, shattering the construct into shards of light. The remaining energy hit the man, knocking him back into the air. He tumbled several yards before regaining control and righting himself, ready to attack them again, his ring glowing ominously as he extended his fist out in front of him. Ironman planted his feet and started redirecting energy to try for a stronger unibeam.
Suddenly, Superman appeared in between the strange man and the Avengers. "Stop!" he shouted, holding his hands out to halt the fighting. Ironman paused but Thor still swung Mjolnir in one hand, ready to rejoin the fray at a moment's notice.
Satisfied that the Avengers would stand down, Superman turned to the glowing stranger. "These are friends, John," Superman explained in a frantic voice.
"Then why were they chasing you and Hawkgirl?" the man barked back, ring still glowing bright. "What's going on here, Superman?"
"I'll explain in a minute, GL, but you have to calm down," Superman pleaded.
Ironman relaxed, letting the energy drain from his weapon systems. He lifted off the ground to approach the two men in the sky, thankfully his systems were back online. "We are the Avengers," he explained. "Am I right in assuming that you are another member of the Justice League?"
"What's he talking about?" John snapped at Superman. He raised his ring in front of him again. "Last thing I remember was fighting those things in Central City. Then I wake up in orbit. Are you responsible?" He glared at Ironman.
"No," Tony promised. He held out his hand in what he hoped was a peaceful gesture.
It must not have looked peaceful because, like an angel of War, Hawkgirl flew out of the sky and slammed her mace into the side of Ironman's head, sending him crashing to the ground in a shower of sparks and flying sand.
Thor reacted to the hostility by flinging himself into the sky, right at the angry winged woman. She barely blocked his hammer with her mace and sparks flew as the weapons connected. The two heroes were flung apart by the discharge.
"Enough," Superman yelled. "GL. You stop Hawkgirl, I'll deal with the Avengers."
Without waiting for Green Lantern's response, Superman flew to catch Thor to keep him from further crushing Ironman. Green Lantern turned away to use his ring to catch Hawkgirl before she hit the ground.
Thor's temper was evident in the growing storm clouds, but Superman ignored the Thunderer in order to focus on Stark. Something happened to the suit from Hawkgirl's mace. Tony couldn't breathe and when he reached up to claw at his faceplate, it wouldn't open.
Superman landed next to the panicking inventor. He looked with x-ray vision, but couldn't tell what the problem was. There wasn't time for finesse, so he just grabbed the faceplate and yanked it off.
Tony gasped as fresh air rushed into his face. It was stifling hot, but it was the best thing he had ever tasted. He'd need to find and fix the flaw that led to his air being cut off now that he was aware of it. One part of he mind was already considering the problem, but the rest focused on the moment. "Thanks," he coughed at Superman. He glared at the mangled face plate, "Or not, sheesh, big guy, you're as bad as the Hulk. Couldn't you have gotten it off without crushing it like an empty beer can?" He struggled to his feet and grabbed the plate out of Superman's hand. The sides had been squished like clay and all the circuitry was ruined. He shook his head mournfully as he turned it over in his hands.
Thor considered his teammate before letting out a huge sigh and lowered his weapon and moved to help Ironman. Without his faceplate, he wasn't flying anywhere. Above them, the clouds dissipated. "Are these your allies, Superman?" the Asgardian asked as Hawkgirl and Green Lantern arrived to hover above them.
"Yes, Thor. This is Hawkgirl and Green Lantern," Superman said, beckoning his friends closer. The two flyers exchanged a look before landing.
"I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot," John said as he landed. He held out his hand to Thor who took it with surprising good grace considering the sky wasn't quite clear yet. "My name is John Stewart, of the Green Lantern Corp."
"I'm Shayera Hol of Thanagar," Hawkgirl said without offering her hand, though she did put her mace back on her hip.
"I am Thor Odinson, prince of Asgard," Thor announced grandly. "This is Ironman, of the Avengers. We have been on a quest to recover the lost members of your party."
"Batman and Wonder Woman are with the others on the jet," Superman explained. "We should get back before they come after us. Last thing they heard was Ironman getting attacked."
"Don't worry about it," Tony said, finally looking up from his equipment. "Our ride is already here."
Looking up, they could all see the quinjet as it started to descend. It kicked up a fair amount of sand, but it quickly settled and the bay door opened to reveal the Captain America waiting with a welcoming smile. He waved for the heroes, new and known, to come on board.
"Get in here before we all melt. It's too hat to be standing around," he called down. When Hawkgirl looked like she was going to argue, he turned his most charming smile on her. "We have air-conditioning."
Hawkgirl rolled her eyes but followed the rest inside and the jet took off as soon as the door closed. Then it was time for introductions, again.
"Captain America," Steve said, shaking hands with Hawkgirl. He turned to Green Lantern. "Let me guess, military man?"
"U.S. Marine Corp until I joined the Lanterns," John agreed. He raised an eyebrow as he eyed the tall, broad, blond. "Army?"
"Howling Commandos, back in World War II," Steve answered with a grin.
"We've been there," Hawkgirl said dismissively. She left John to explain their trip through time to defeat Vandal Savage and focused on Black Widow. "Let me guess, you're in charge?"
Black Widow laughed, "Only from the shadows," she said with a shrug. "I try to keep them from doing anything foolish."
Hawkgirl looked over at their male teammates. Hulk had somehow convinced Superman to arm-wrestle. Sam was trying to break it up, but Thor was cheering them on. Batman was ignoring all of them, except Tony while they worked on finding the next League member. Tony was waving his hands around while Batman looked unimpressed. "It's a full time job," Hawkgirl agreed.
Wonder Woman came up and put an arm over the other women's shoulders. "I think we're going to be good friends, sisters," she declared.