Post by Drake on Jul 13, 2013 15:51:20 GMT -5
WARNING: This issue and every one following it have spoilers for All Star Spider-Man and Hulks. You’ve been warned.
#3: The Battle Begins
The night sky sets over Stark Tower as two men sit in different rooms, hard at work. Tony Stark and Hank Pym, the two first Avengers, were preparing for the battle that would inevitably come, having decided to spend the night repairing and preparing, rather than gathering together more heroes.
Tony was sitting in a large, open room, half of a gigantic suit of armor stationed in front of him. “VISION, how’s the Mark IV coming along?”
“Quite well, sir. I am nearly 90% done completing it.” VISION’s hollow, metallic voice came through the earbud in Tony’s ear. In the very next room, VISION was using a handful of robotic apparatuses to finish an armor Tony himself had started, while Tony was working on an entirely new armor, something born of an idea that had come to him during the fight with Devil Hulk.
Tony put a part into place. He had learned through years of experience that he was much faster building by hand, rather than using a number of devices and robots to build it instead. “Good work,” Tony replied, sliding another part into place.
The suit in front of him, when finished, would be a hulking brute of a weapon. Hopefully able to take down Devil Hulk, and any other big, monstrous friends he decided to bring with him.
“Viz, can you put Pepper on the phone?” Tony asked.
“Yes, sir.”
A few seconds later, Pepper’s soft voice replaced VISION’s in Tony’s ear, “Yes, Tony?”
“I’m going to be out…of the house for a few days. Just thought you should know.” Tony explained. He rubbed the back of his head. Their relationship had been…complicated ever since he’d first met her. He remembered the day clearly. It was the day his entire life had changed. The day he’d saved her life. The day that eventually led to his father’s death. Pepper had thought of him as her knight in shining armor for the longest time, but eventually, she’d grown out of the phase. They’d stayed close, and Tony always regretted not getting any closer.
“And why should that matter? Other than, well, my job being to keep track of you.”
“Very funny, Pepper. I’m just making the rounds, telling everyone,” Tony couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth, that this might be the very last time he ever talked to her, that he every heard her voice, or she his for that matter.
“What’s wrong?” Pepper pushed. She could read him like a book.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Are you going after the Mandarin? Is that it?”
“Sort of.” He wasn’t lying. “Listen, Pepper, I’ve got to go.” He couldn’t spend another second on the phone with her, afraid he’d spill and that she’d try to talk him out of this crazy quest he and Pym had.
“Ton—” Her voice disappeared as if in a vacuum. Tony sighed.
“Viz, get Rhodey on the phone…”
A
Just half a minute’s walk away from Tony, in a similarly open laboratory, Pym was working on his very own creation. The helmet was similar in design to Tony’s Iron Man helmets; this was to be expected. After all, Pym used one of Tony’s as a starter point. He’d modified it a lot, but still, the resemblance was there. Pym made a mental note to completely rebuild it when…if he got out of this mess.
The device itself had a fairly simple objective: to control and communicate with insect life, particularly ants. Ants had always intrigued Hank, and to this end he’d always wanted to be able to communicate with them. So, as Hank figured, this could very well be his last day alive. He might as well complete one of his dreams before dying.
Hank leaned back in his chair and smiled, examining the finished device in front of him. Hank picked it up and slid it onto his head. It fit perfectly! Hank began to focus his thoughts on the words, “Come.” The helmet responded…and so did ants! A dozen or so ants crept through the cracks in the walls and onto Hank’s desk. He laughed, overjoyed.
Pym took the helmet off and set it in front of him, causing the ants to scatter away back to where they’d come from. Pym smiled. He hadn’t engineered anything since college. He still had it.
Pym’s rather bright thoughts were suddenly dyed black as he thought back to his college days. Back to when everything had seemed so much simpler…had been so much simpler. Back when he and Jan had first met.
Jan…
Pym leaned back in his chair and looked down at the smart phone in front of him.
To call or not to call, that was the question.
He hadn’t seen Jan in a year. She could have found…no, he couldn’t bring himself to consider it. It hurt too much. He could die tomorrow. He had to believe that there was some hope, that maybe he could rectify his mistakes. It was getting late, Pym knew, but he had to call her. So he found her number in his favorites and dialed it.
Elsewhere
In a decent-sized apartment in Midtown Manhattan, Janet van Dyne, a gorgeous model-esque half-Chinese woman, and another man, a muscular pretty boy with buzzed brown hair, were dressing up in extravagant, attractive clothes, readying for a night out.
“David, c’mon, we’re going to miss our reservation,” Janet said, tugging the man’s arm.
“Slow down, Jan. I just need to fix my tie and then we can leave…” David Cannon replied while adjusting his sky blue tie for the tenth time.
Janet wrapped her arms around David’s massive shoulders, “I promise you, babe, you look just fine.” David stopped adjusting his tie and turned to face Janet, wrapping her up in his arms.
“Let’s go.” David smiled.
“Finally,” Janet sarcastically cried, pulling David towards the door, grabbing her purse on the way.
“Woah, Jan, you’re going to pull my arm off moving that fast,” David joked, following after Janet.
“Sorry, I’m just excited,” Janet stopped at the door and turned to David, “We haven’t done this in forever.”
“I know.”
“Just you and me and a ridiculously overpriced restaurant.” Janet added.
“I know.”
“God, I love you,” Janet embraced David, before yet again dragging him after her, this time out the door. All the while, unknowingly ignoring her phone that buzzed with a thousand hopes, all of which were crushed upon her departure.
Stark Tower
Pym’s expression sunk as Jan’s voicemail activated. Pym waited till it ended, going over all the possibilities of what he could say. Eventually it came and Pym could not bring himself to say anything. He looked down at the phone. Nothing. He couldn’t say anything.
Pym sighed. He needed to say something. Anything. Just a few words. He forced them out, a harder task than he’d ever faced before.
“I’m sorry, Jan. For everything. Goodbye.”
A
At approximately 9 O’Clock Miles made it home. His wounds were not gone. Not nearly so. He knew that his injuries would drive his parents over the edge, who were surely already pissed he was arriving back home so late.
Miles had a halfway decent surprise upon returning home. Standing on the front porch waiting to greet him was Ganke. Not his parents. Ganke, his best friend.
“Yo,” Ganke greeted solemnly.
“Hey,” Miles replied, afraid to meet Ganke’s gaze. He was sure he knew. He didn’t know how, but Ganke had to have found out what happened.
“I know what happened.” Fears confirmed. “Dude, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Three words that answered nearly every question for a teenager. Even Miles. Especially Miles.
“You think my parents know?” Miles asked, forcing himself to look at Ganke.
“Yeah. It’s all over the News. Every part of the fight. Some roof security camera thing caught it all on tape. Even Kraven’s little ’24 hours’ speech,” Ganke answered. Shit. That made it twice as bad for Miles. If he died…if his parents found out who he really was…knowing that he had a chance to back out, to live, his parents—no, Miles corrected himself—his dad would never forgive him. Not that it mattered. He’d be dead.
“You alright?” Ganke asked.
“No.”
“Better than ‘I don’t know.’” Ganke tried to make Miles laugh. It didn’t work. His one chance, one hope, had refused to help him. Miles insides burned with anger. Carol Danvers was a god damned coward.
“You should go home,” Miles said, approaching the porch, “It’s about to get really loud.”
Ganke knew he couldn’t change Miles’ mind, so he shrugged his shoulder and left without another word. It was better that way. Miles didn’t have to say goodbye.
Miles opened the door, ready for the punishment. It never came. His parents weren’t home. Dear God, this was worse than he’d imagined. His parents not being home meant they were out looking for him. Miles pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. He ran through his contacts once, passing by his parents’ names. He couldn’t call them. Not first. Miles found the name he really wanted to call.
“Mayday Parker…” Miles whispered her name. His finger hovered over her number. Why couldn’t he do it? Damn it, why?!
Miles threw his phone onto the couch. He soon followed it, collapsing onto the couch. He began to cry.
“Miles…”
Miles looked up, eyes red. His Dad was standing in the stairway, looking at him.
“What’s wrong, son?” Jefferson asked, concerned.
His dad…was home. He wasn’t mad. Miles pushed himself off the couch and into his father’s arms.
“I…I’m so sorry, Dad…” Miles sobbed.
“For coming home late? Son, it isn’t something to get so worked up about. You’re fifteen years old now. I trust you.” Jefferson attempted to calm the boy down, gently rubbing his head.
Miles didn’t tell him the truth. That wasn’t why he was sorry.
“I’m sorry…” Miles whispered one last time. He allowed himself to completely fall into his father’s arms, something he hadn’t done in years, and, slowly, he allowed himself to be comforted by his father’s gentle voice, falling effortlessly into sweet dreams far away from his very real nightmare.
The Next Morning
Miles’ eyes fluttered open. He was lying in his bed. His father must have carried him there last night.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Today was the day. Miles looked over at his bedside clock. 10:44. He’d slept for over twelve hours. Guess that’s what exhaustion does to you, Miles thought.
Miles rolled out of bed and into his bathroom. He took a shower, spending over twenty minutes in it relaxing, preparing himself for the inevitable. Eventually, he got out, put on dry clothes, stuffed his costume into his backpack and walked downstairs. He was greeted by his parents and a plate heaping with waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Without a word he dug in.
“Good morning,” Jefferson chuckled.
“Gwoo Monin.” Miles replied through a mouthful of food. Both of his parents laughed. They were surprisingly cheery this morning.
At about 11:25, Miles finished, and as if on cue, the doorbell rung.
“Who could that be on a Saturday morning?” Rio Morales wondered as she left to go answer the door. Miles assumed it was Peter even though Miles had told him that he wanted to go at it alone without facing him. His mother was gone for a few minutes. That was odd. If it had been Peter, surely she would have let him in. After all, Miles had an internship with him (which to this day surprised his parents).
Eventually Rio came back. She looked…surprised.
“Miles, a…Carol Danvers is asking for you.” Rio muttered.
Miles’ world lit up. He couldn’t believe it! She’d come! Oh my God…he might actually live to see tomorrow. Miles ran out, shouting, “Yeah. Got to go. She works with Dr. Parker. We have an errand to run for him.”
“OK…” Rio replied, unsure. She looked at Jefferson. He shrugged his shoulders.
“Maybe the kid’s got play.”
“Jefferson! The woman looks like she’s almost twice his age!” Rio replied incredulously.
“Like I said.” Jefferson turned back to his coffee.
At the front door, Miles hurried towards the opening, grinning. A beautiful, well dressed blonde was waiting for him there. It really was her.
“You came,” Miles pointed out.
“I came,” Carol agreed, smiling, before quickly changing her expression into a darker, prideful smirk, “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I just couldn’t let a kid go and get himself killed.”
Miles chuckled. “So, what’s the plan?”
Carol’s grin grew, something that surprised Miles. She seemed…different. Changed.
“We kick ass.”
A
Janet Pym looked down, horrified, at her phone’s screen. She hadn’t moved for nearly ten minutes. She mouthed the words ‘Oh my God.’ At last, David, her boyfriend, awoke and noticed her expression.
“What’s wrong, babe?” David asked, clearly concerned.
“We…we need to go.” Janet whispered.
“What? Where?” David muttered, still not entirely awake. “It’s only…” he looked at the clock, “11:34. Shit. Guess we should get up.”
Janet unlocked her phone. She dialed Hank’s number. She only got his voicemail.
“Jan, what’s up?” David wrapped his arms around her, looking over her shoulders to her phone, “Who’s Hank Pym?”
“He’s my ex-boyfriend,” Janet replied without thinking over the consequences.
“What?!” David exclaimed. After a few second, he realized Janet didn’t understand why he was upset. Or rather, she didn’t care. He sighed and asked what he knew he must, “What’s wrong?”
Janet ran a hand through her short, stylish (even after sleeping) dark hair, “He…called me last night. And left a voicemail. I’ve never heard him sound so scared…or emotional.”
“What?” David asked, not understanding.
“Let’s go,” Janet hurried towards her dresser and began to throw on clothes.
“Jan, we haven’t even eaten yet. Can’t this guy wait? I mean, we don’t even know where he is right now.” David muttered.
“I do. I just looked it up. He’s at Stark Tower.” Janet quickly replied.
“What? How do you know?”
“Back when we were together, he invented an app that could track wherever I went. He was kind of paranoid I was cheating on him. Which I wasn’t, by the way.” Janet seemed to be reassuring herself, “It works both ways. I can find him too. Still.”
Janet finished getting dressed. “Where are the keys?”
“What? Jan, slow down…” David looked at Janet, flabbergasted.
“Where are the keys?” Janet asked again.
“Fine. I’m coming.” David sighed and rolled out of bed.
This morning was NOT starting out well.
A
The night winds ruffled gently over Bruce Banner’s oversized purple pants and shirt. The man was currently standing in the middle of Cairo, Egypt, attempting to call a friend.
“C’mon…pick up,” Bruce whispered across a thousand miles to his friend. Bruce was delighted to hear the phone click as a man groaned on the other side of the phone.
“I’m sorry, whoever this is, it isn’t the time…”
“David? David Cannon?” Bruce prayed to God, any god—although, to be honest, Bruce never had and never would believe in a greater power—it was his friend.
“Who is this?” The man on the other line asked, “If this is about some product, the answer is no, I won’t buy it…HEY! Jan, watch out! Christ, you almost hit that car!”
Bruce laughed upon hearing a fairly chaotic situation on the other side. “Dave, it’s me. Bruce Banner.”
“Bruce…oh my God! I thought you were dead! The reports…”
“We’re greatly exaggerated.” Bruce replied, causing David to laugh.
“What can I do for you? Where are you anyway?”
“Cairo.”
“Like, THE Cairo?” David seemed to be shocked.
“Yes.”
“The hell you doing in Egypt?” David grunted, before screaming a choice curse word, which Bruce believed wasn’t directed at him.
“It’s a long story. Listen, I need to get out of here and back to America. Quietly. Secretly. Without anyone—and I mean ANYONE—but you and me knowing.” Bruce explained, flicking another coin into the phone as it requested.
“Bruce…shit, Janet! Slow down! Sorry, Bruce. Dealing with some issues back home.” David got quiet for a second, as if he was thinking something over. “Bruce, I don’t work for the CIA anymore. Haven’t for years. I have no connections anymore. There’s nothing I can do other than buy you a plane ticket and…well, I don’t think that’s what you want…or need.”
Bruce groaned, running a hand through his hair, “Nothing…there’s really nothing?” Bruce’s blood pressure began to rise. Shit. He forced himself to begin to breathe slowly. He couldn’t let The Other Guy out now.
“Sorry, Bruce. I’m really sorry.” David solemnly replied.
“It’s…it’s alright,” it wasn’t, “Bye.”
“Bruce, wait…!” Click. Bruce hung up.
“Damn…I’m fucked…” Bruce leaned onto the payphone, forcing himself not to cry.
“No…not nearly as fucked as you’re about to be…”
That voice…Bruce thought he was dead. There was no way…Bruce looked up. He was met by the sickly eyes of Emil Blonsky.
“Heheh…the great Bruce Banner at a loss for words. What a sight to behold!” Emil laughed maniacally, “Did you think I was dead? We saw each other a little while ago…but you were pretty wasted. Probably don’t remember any of it.”
“Blonsky…how the hell…?” Bruce couldn’t find the right words to describe this moment.
Blonsky did the honors, “Weird, isn’t it? Huh? But nowhere near as weird as what I’ve experience the past few days. Christ, how fucked up it all is!”
“What are you talking about?” Bruce wondered. He began to step back. He didn’t want to engage the man. He knew how it would end. Badly. For everyone.
“I’ve got to kill you now, Banner. Boss’s orders. Hell…I’d do it without him saying so.” Blonsky replied. He tensed up. Bruce did the same. Fuck, he didn’t want to but…the Other Guy, the Hulk, had to deal with Blonsky and his own…Abomination. Bruce waited. His adrenaline flowed. Nothing happened. He didn’t change. Neither did Blonsky.
“What the hell…?” Bruce looked down at his hands. Wasn’t a shade of green in sight.
“Wondering why you’re not transforming? That would be because of this little gadget,” Blonsky held up a small metal cylinder, “Apparently it’s some sort of gamma absorption device from the future. My benefactor gave it to me.”
“You…you’re going to fight me without turning?” Bruce asked, awestruck. Blonsky was at least ten pounds less than Bruce and that was saying something. He couldn’t possibly…
Blonsky ran up to Bruce. Bruce ducked under a punch only to discover Blonsky’s knee jammed into his stomach. “I took self defense classes when I was young, prick, to protect myself from douches like you.”
Bruce coughed up blood. Blonsky hit hard.
Blonsky gave Bruce a right hook. Bruce struggled to fight back. He swung his fists wildly. Blonsky easily dodged his attacks, each time managing to deal a powerful blow to Bruce. Eventually, the fight came to an end when Blonsky grabbed Bruce’s arm, and with a powerful thrust broke it.
“AGH!” Bruce cried out, falling to the ground clutching his arm. For the first time since the accident, he felt…afraid.
Blonsky fell onto Bruce, punching him again. And again. And again.
“Enough! Blonsky, that’s enough!”
Bruce could barely see through swollen eyes. A man stood over Blonsky. His face…no, Bruce couldn’t be seeing him right. He looked like the Red Skull from World War 2, Captain America’s greatest enemy.
“What?! I was just having a little fun!” Blonsky sarcastically yelled.
“Kang wants him alive. He…has plans for him.” Bruce realized it was the Red Skull. The thick German accent, the uniform, his disgusting face…he was alive!
“Fine. Party pooper,” Blonsky muttered. Red Skull brought out a small silver device from his jacket, and in a flash, the three disappeared.
A
Spider-Man swung over New York towards what could be his death. About a dozen yards to his left flew Ms…or rather, Captain Carol Marvel dressed in her black and yellow shield uniform. The teenaged hero audibly sighed into the earbud. It was tough to say what he was about to say…but he had to.
“Peter?”
“Yes, Miles.” Peter used his real name while he was in the field. He had never done that before…Just then Spider-Man realized how truly scared Peter must be. And then he realized how scared he was.
“Could you…crap, this is tough. Could you…tell May ‘bye.’ For me….if, well, you know…” Spider-Man struggled to find the right words.
“She’d go out with you, you know, if you asked her.” Peter said.
“No, she’d go out with Spider-Man. Not me.” Miles replied solemnly.
“You and Spider-Man are one and the same, Miles. You know that,” Peter assured him. Miles shook his head.
“It would feel wrong anyway. Tommy always…” Miles’ heart sunk. He couldn’t think about Tommy right now.
“Miles, it’s alright. Don’t worry about it. You’ll make it out of this alive.” Peter reassured Miles. The teen just couldn’t believe him. Even with Carol’s help his chances seemed slim.
“Listen, Peter, if I die…I just want you to know…I…you’re like…”
“Miles, you don’t have to say anything.” Peter interrupted him.
Miles swung between roofs, “No. I do. Peter, I want you to know that you…”
The connection cut out. Miles looked up, his costume’s lenses widening. He was here.
Kraven stood atop the roof of the church. His arms were crossed. Miles—no, he was Spider-Man now—knew he was confident. His gaze did not waver upon seeing Carol.
“I see you brought help,” his accent made Spider-Man want to throw up.
“Yeah, I couldn’t just let myself have all the fun, could I?” Spider-Man joked. How could he still do that? He was scared out of his freaking mind!
“I knew Ms. Danvers would come. Just as I know you two will die today,” Kraven replied confidently.
“Stop being so cocky, Stalin,” Captain Marvel growled, cracking her knuckles.
“He isn’t. We actually can foresee the future. Or rather, Kang can.” A new, feminine voice seemed to appear from nowhere. And then a body followed it, out from the street behind the two heroes. An attractive blonde dressed in white spandex stared venomously at Spider-Man and Captain Marvel.
“Sofen?” Captain Marvel muttered incredulously, eyes wide.
“You know this crazy?” Spider-Man wondered.
“Oh yes, Ms. Danvers and I are well acquainted…” Karla replied, “But you should know, I go by the name Moonstone now.” Moonstone charged Captain Marvel, tackling her to an adjacent roof. Spider-Man’s lenses widened as the fight began. His spider sense went off. Kraven was already pouncing towards him.
“Crap!” Spider-Man jumped over Kraven’s attack. This appeared to surprise the hunter.
“You…dodged my attack?” Kraven said.
“Yeah. Got a kind of steep learning curve. Had to learn quickly,” Spider-Man explained, before teasing, “Plus, it’s not like you’re really very smart. You attack the same way every time!”
Kraven growled. Literally. “You will die for that insult, bug.” He charged Spider-Man.
Spider-Man dodge rolled to the side, “Arachnid, actually. And like I said, it’s the same every time.” Spider-Man shot webs at Kraven. He actually trapped the villain’s arms! Spider-Man jumped up and attempted to kick Kraven. Despite his disadvantage, Kraven managed to flip away, in the process kicking Spider-Man in the chest. The hero grunted.
Spider-Man quickly regained composure, “Let’s go Clayton.” He quipped.
“Die, Spider-boy!” Kraven charged.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Moonstone were duking it out. They were at a complete stand still. Each of them could match each and every move the other made.
“Guess I can’t win this with brute force,” Moonstone muttered, “Good news is I’m a hell of a lot smarter than you!” Moonstone fired a blast of yellow energy towards the civilians below.
“No!” Cap cried, flying down and taking the brunt of the blow.
Moonstone laughed, “Oh, you hero types. So predictable.”
Captain Marvel struggled to stand up. The blast had been powerful. As a matter of fact…she seemed to be getting weaker. That’s when Cap realized Moonstone still had her own moonstone with her, strapped tightly onto her chest. Cap’s powers were leaking over to Sofen. She knew that was her plan. Sofen was trying to stall her until all of her power was gone.
And it was working.
Moonstone blasted Cap into the ground. She couldn’t make herself stand. Moonstone glided down to the fallen hero.
“Game’s over, Ms. Danvers,” Moonstone grinned wickedly. She raised her hand, readying for the final blow, “Any last words?”
Carol muttered something incoherently.
“What was that?” Moonstone wondered.
“I said…” Carol looked up, bloodthirsty. She fly-tackled Moonstone into the building.
“IT’S CAPTAIN MARVEL!”
Up on the roof, the battle was not in Spider-Man’s favor. Kraven had regained the upper hand, and was now brutally beating Spider-Man.
“C’mon, pansy, hit harder!” Spider-Man coughed out blood into his mask, further masking his vision as Kraven beat him senseless.
“You still have the ability to talk!” Kraven threw Spider-Man to the ground, “I am impressed.”
“Not as much as your mom was last night,” Spider-Man joked, forcing himself up. He swung his fist wildly at Kraven. The Hunter easily dodged. He roundhouse kicked Spider-Man back to the ground.
Kraven knelt down over the hero, a large blade in his hand. He pushed it against Spider-Man’s throat. “Die, child!”
He raised the knife and plunged it downwards. Spider-Man shut his eyes….
The finishing blow never came. Spider-Man looked up. Kraven’s blade had been knocked out of his hand by a round red, white and blue shield. Kraven looked up, thirsty for the blood of the person who had interrupted his kill.
“Who the fuck…?”
A single man stood on the edge of the roof. He frowned disapprovingly down at Kraven.
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Kraven’s expression softened as he realized that the battle had just turned against his favor for…
Captain America had joined the battle!
A
A white sedan hurriedly pulled up to the front of Stark Tower, doing a terrible job of jamming itself between a pick up and a prius. Janet van Dyne burst through the driver side door, soon followed by David Cannon.
Janet pushed the revolving door open, completely ignoring the tattered remains of the building that lay on the ground near the entrance. David, however, stopped to look at it. Clearly something had happened that he and Jan weren’t aware of. One of Stark’s superhero battles perhaps?
Jan slammed her hands on the sparkling clean new desk of the receptionist. The woman jumped in her seat, shocked.
“I need to see Hank Pym,” Janet demanded.
“I’m sorry…?” The receptionist was still thrown off by Jan’s cowboy attitude.
Jan looked at the receptionist’s nametag, “Shanna, right? You heard me. I need to see Hank Pym,” Janet repeated. David approached her, running a hand through his hair. He’d never seen her so agitated all the time he’d known her.
Shanna finally settled back down, “I’m sorry. He’s out right now with Mr. Stark. If you desire to see him, please schedule an appointment. Shall I make one for you now?”
“Where’d he go?” Janet demanded an answer.
“What?”
“Stop with the stupid act,” Janet’s face grew red, “Where the hell did Hank go?”
Shanna was yet again in complete shock. She just let the words slip out of her mouth, “The Baxter Building….I…”
Janet immediately turned around and walked out of the building, not giving Shanna the chance to respond. David ran after her. “Janet, slow down!”
“You drive.” Janet ordered, getting into the passenger side.
“Jan…” David begged as he entered the driver’s side. He put the key into ignition.
“Drive,” Janet growled. David did as he was told. It ripped him up on the inside. Why was she acting like this? Janet…she never talked about the man, and suddenly after one phone call she’s dying to see him again…She still…She must still…David shook away the thought. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted while driving. It wasn’t to easy, however, with Janet in that mood of hers.
“Yeah, Baxter Building? …Oh, hello, H.E.R.B.I.E. Can you put a member of the Fantastic Four on the phone?” Janet’s expression darkened, “What the hell do you mean they’re out? …Then put Johnny fucking Storm on the phone! Don’t put me on hold! Damnit, H.E.R.B.I.E.! Damn you!” Janet’s last words were venomous. Even with the IRS or the bank, Janet never acted this…well, there wasn’t really a word for it was there?
“Shit…” Janet grumbled. She looked at the speedometer of the car. David was going five under. “Speed the hell up, David.”
“Jan…”
“Speed up!” Janet shouted. David made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a sigh and pulled over.
“Janet, calm down. Now.” David replied surprisingly calmly.
“David? What the hell are you doing? Drive!” Janet looked at him incredulously.
David put his head in his hands for a few brief moments. He gathered his thoughts, thinking of what to say. “Listen, Jan…do you understand how much this kills me to do this? Honestly, do you?”
“What the hell are you talking about? We could be saving somebody’s life here! I mean, for Christ’s sake, never in a million years would Hank go to Tony Stark for help unless he was in SERIOUS trouble.” Janet argued.
“You don’t…You really don’t see…” David came to the realization. He turned the car off. “Janet, why are you doing this for him? Why are you going so far? Trying so hard?”
“What type of question is that?” Janet asked, still tough as ever.
“Jan, I left the CIA for you. The least you could do is answer this one question.”
“I already answered you!”
David sighed. He looked Janet in the eyes. “Fine. I’ll restart the car. I’ll drive you wherever you want. I’ll give my life to help you save this man if I need to. But only…only if you answer this question.”
”Do you still love Hank Pym?” David’s emotions burst out with each word. Even Janet, near oblivious, could see it. Her expression was like that of a deer caught in headlights.
Janet looked away from David, “David, stop asking questions…please. Just go.”
“I knew it,” David’s expression sunk. He opened the door and stepped out. He began to walk away from the car.
Janet rolled down her window. “David! What are you doing?”
“Going home, Jan. We can talk about this all later,” David turned back to face Janet, “Just go.”
Janet looked between her two decisions: the car and her boyfriend. She sighed and moved seats over to the driver’s side.
David just looked on, solemn, as he realized she’d made her decision.
Janet had chosen Hank Pym.
A
The white lights disappeared as Bruce Banner found himself atop a cold metal floor.
“What the hell…?” Bruce muttered as his hands were cuffed together. Bruce looked up towards his captors: Emil Blonsky and the Red Skull. Alongside them, just a few yards back was another man dressed in dark Chinese robes. He wore ten stylized rings, one on each finger.
Blonsky grabbed Bruce by his shoulder and threw him onto a chair. It was the only thing in the room.
“Where are we?” Bruce muttered, struggling to breathe. Blonsky might’ve punctured one of his lungs.
“Stark Tower.” Blonsky replied. Bruce nearly laughed at the thought.
“Where are we really?” Bruce demanded, blood dripping from his bottom lip, hair ragged.
“Stark Tower,” Blonsky said again, “Below it, actually.”
“How the hell…?”
“You don’t, and never will, understand how connected our boss is to all of this,” Blonsky explained, and then pointed to Bruce, “To you.”
“Do not call him our ‘boss.’ The Mandarin works for no man. Especially not him.” The Chinese man proudly stated, expression threatening.
“As does the Red Skull. Kang is no master of mine, merely a means to an end,” Red Skull agreed.
“Whatever,” Blonsky smirked, “Both of you are just tools like me. Difference between us is that I realize it.”
“What did you say?” Mandarin took a step towards Blonsky. This was too great, Bruce thought, the villains didn’t get along at all. This could be used to his advantage. Well, among other things…Bruce had a plan.
“Stop it! Both of you! Kang will be here imminently. We do not need to get on his bad side.” Coming from the red-skulled man who had just called him a tool.
“Hey, Blonsky!” Bruce interrupted their super villain chatter. Blonsky turned to Bruce, eyes leaking venom.
“What is it?” Blonsky spouted.
“I’m curious, did your mother beat you? It sure seems like it with how submissive you are,” Bruce laughed.
Blonsky growled. He turned to Red Skull and threw him the gamma device, “Think fast, Skull.”
“Blonsky!” Red Skull yelled. Bruce grinned.
Red Skull caught the device. Blonsky smiled and turned to Bruce, who was now grimacing. “Thought he was gonna drop it, didn’t you? Break it? I’m not stupid. The thing’s damn near indestructible. And now my hands are free…” Blonsky cracked his knuckles. He approached Bruce.
“Blonsky…” Mandarin warned.
“Relax, I’m just going to hit him a few times. Nothing serious,” Blonsky assured. He gave Bruce a right hook. One of Bruce’s teeth broke. An uppercut. Bruce felt his nose dislocate. Another and his jaw bone cracked. Blonsky smiled, inspecting his work.
Bruce half heartedly grinned right back, “Admit it, Blonsky. You’re just mad because I’m the better scientist.”
“What’d you say?” Blonsky lunged at Bruce. Bruce swiveled around, throwing his handcuffs around Blonsky’s throat, choking him. Immediately, Red Skull aimed a pistol at the two. Mandarin lifted his hand. One of his rings glowed. Bruce held Blonsky between the two of them.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t fucking shoot!” Blonsky screamed, struggling for air.
“Don’t want to kill him, do you? He’s one of you,” Bruce declared, gritting his teeth. The action hurt like hell but fuck, old habits die hard.
“On the contrary, Banner, I’d love to have an excuse to put a bullet in his skull,” Red Skull replied, “Anyways, the Mandarin here can shut you down without allowing you to harm another hair on his head. So, what’ll it be. Go into a coma and/or be nearly burned to death, or let the man go?”
Bruce sighed and released his grip on Blonsky. The scientist immediately ran away from him, breathing heavily.
“Don’t make a bluff you can’t back up, Banner. Especially not when you know the other player has a full house.” Red Skull grinned psychotically. And then Blonsky broke his gleaming smile by grabbing the pistol out of his hand.
“Fucking bastard thinks he can use me as a hostage…!” Blonsky turned to Bruce, aiming the gun.
“Blonsky!” Mandarin and Red Skull screamed in unison.
Blonsky fired. The bullet went straight through Bruce’s head. He collapsed to the ground.
“Blonsky, you idiot!” Red Skull grabbed Emil by his jacket’s collar, “Kang will have our heads for this!”
“What? The fucker was useless anyway. It’s not like Kang really needed him. He has me and Brian for the monster job.” Blonsky argued.
“You stupid…” The Red Skull began.
“Hehehehe….” The three’s attention was diverted to Bruce’s corpse. He couldn’t have just…?
“You idiots…” Bruce laughed maniacally, lifting his head up to expose his grievous wound. It closed on itself, the bullet popping out. His irises were a shade of bright green.
“He…there’s no way. The radiation absorber is on. He can’t be…” Blonsky watched as Red Skull tore the device out of his pocket. The device, as expected, was on and functioning properly.
“You…you can slow down…maybe even temporarily stop Him…” Bruce chuckled, “But when my life is on the line…He’ll never let me go…it’s-it’s my curse…hehe….your stupid machine can’t stop him. No one and nothing can.” Bruce tremored and screamed.
He managed one brief second to look at the three, forcing these words out.
“You stupid fuckers are about to get smashed.”
A
Tony Stark and Hank Pym sat across a large wooden table from Johnny Storm. All of their expressions were serious…well, except for Stark, but he was never quite serious.
“So…?” Hank asked, “Are you in?”
“I’m certainly not out,” Johnny quipped, holding out his hand to be shaken. One after the other, Tony and Hank shook his hand.
“Glad to have you,” Hank thanked the man.
“And then there were three,” Tony joked.
“Mr. Storm! Mr. Storm!” A H.E.R.B.I.E. came rushing into the room, breathless. Or as breathless as a robot that didn’t need oxygen could be.
“Herbs, calm down,” Tony smirked at that. Just like his nickname for VISION… “What’s wrong?”
“It’s H.E.R.B.I.E. Unit A-3 by the way…” H.E.R.B.I.E. added in, before saying, “There---there’s a terrible woman downstairs demanding to see Mr. Pym.”
Pym adjusted his position in his seat to get a good look at the robot, “What?”
“Did she leave a name?” Johnny asked.
“Yes…” A-3 nodded, “Her name….her name is Janet van Dyne.”
Simultaneously, Tony Stark and Hank Pym’s jaws dropped.
A[/color]
David Cannon trudged down the streets of Manhattan. He couldn’t believe it! Janet…she had left him! Abandoned him! For some stupid scientist! Someone who had paid no attention to her! Who had left her! It was why she had broken up with him! He’d told her. The man had been too attached to his work and studies to spend any time with her.
David sighed. He looked up. He was just outside of Stark Tower. He wondered what had happened to the tower…the reason for the debris inside? And then his thoughts were dragged forcefully back to Janet. She…she had left him…
CRASH!
David was thrown back by an explosion. Two hulking green monsters jumped out of the hole created by it. David quickly checked his body over. He was uninjured other than a few scrapes and bruises. He scrambled back quickly to avoid one of them as it came crashing to the ground. What the hell was this? Monsters fighting in Manhattan? Is this really how much their world had changed.
One of the monsters slugged the other. It went flying. The more humanoid monster, the one that hadn’t been hit, jumped after the other towards…oh God! They were heading towards the Baxter Building!
David stood up and began to sprint their way. Janet was there! Oh God! Oh Godoh godohgodohgodohgodohgod! He wouldn’t let them hurt her.
He wouldn’t let a single damn person hurt her!
TO BE CONTINUED…
#3: The Battle Begins
The night sky sets over Stark Tower as two men sit in different rooms, hard at work. Tony Stark and Hank Pym, the two first Avengers, were preparing for the battle that would inevitably come, having decided to spend the night repairing and preparing, rather than gathering together more heroes.
Tony was sitting in a large, open room, half of a gigantic suit of armor stationed in front of him. “VISION, how’s the Mark IV coming along?”
“Quite well, sir. I am nearly 90% done completing it.” VISION’s hollow, metallic voice came through the earbud in Tony’s ear. In the very next room, VISION was using a handful of robotic apparatuses to finish an armor Tony himself had started, while Tony was working on an entirely new armor, something born of an idea that had come to him during the fight with Devil Hulk.
Tony put a part into place. He had learned through years of experience that he was much faster building by hand, rather than using a number of devices and robots to build it instead. “Good work,” Tony replied, sliding another part into place.
The suit in front of him, when finished, would be a hulking brute of a weapon. Hopefully able to take down Devil Hulk, and any other big, monstrous friends he decided to bring with him.
“Viz, can you put Pepper on the phone?” Tony asked.
“Yes, sir.”
A few seconds later, Pepper’s soft voice replaced VISION’s in Tony’s ear, “Yes, Tony?”
“I’m going to be out…of the house for a few days. Just thought you should know.” Tony explained. He rubbed the back of his head. Their relationship had been…complicated ever since he’d first met her. He remembered the day clearly. It was the day his entire life had changed. The day he’d saved her life. The day that eventually led to his father’s death. Pepper had thought of him as her knight in shining armor for the longest time, but eventually, she’d grown out of the phase. They’d stayed close, and Tony always regretted not getting any closer.
“And why should that matter? Other than, well, my job being to keep track of you.”
“Very funny, Pepper. I’m just making the rounds, telling everyone,” Tony couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth, that this might be the very last time he ever talked to her, that he every heard her voice, or she his for that matter.
“What’s wrong?” Pepper pushed. She could read him like a book.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Are you going after the Mandarin? Is that it?”
“Sort of.” He wasn’t lying. “Listen, Pepper, I’ve got to go.” He couldn’t spend another second on the phone with her, afraid he’d spill and that she’d try to talk him out of this crazy quest he and Pym had.
“Ton—” Her voice disappeared as if in a vacuum. Tony sighed.
“Viz, get Rhodey on the phone…”
A
Just half a minute’s walk away from Tony, in a similarly open laboratory, Pym was working on his very own creation. The helmet was similar in design to Tony’s Iron Man helmets; this was to be expected. After all, Pym used one of Tony’s as a starter point. He’d modified it a lot, but still, the resemblance was there. Pym made a mental note to completely rebuild it when…if he got out of this mess.
The device itself had a fairly simple objective: to control and communicate with insect life, particularly ants. Ants had always intrigued Hank, and to this end he’d always wanted to be able to communicate with them. So, as Hank figured, this could very well be his last day alive. He might as well complete one of his dreams before dying.
Hank leaned back in his chair and smiled, examining the finished device in front of him. Hank picked it up and slid it onto his head. It fit perfectly! Hank began to focus his thoughts on the words, “Come.” The helmet responded…and so did ants! A dozen or so ants crept through the cracks in the walls and onto Hank’s desk. He laughed, overjoyed.
Pym took the helmet off and set it in front of him, causing the ants to scatter away back to where they’d come from. Pym smiled. He hadn’t engineered anything since college. He still had it.
Pym’s rather bright thoughts were suddenly dyed black as he thought back to his college days. Back to when everything had seemed so much simpler…had been so much simpler. Back when he and Jan had first met.
Jan…
Pym leaned back in his chair and looked down at the smart phone in front of him.
To call or not to call, that was the question.
He hadn’t seen Jan in a year. She could have found…no, he couldn’t bring himself to consider it. It hurt too much. He could die tomorrow. He had to believe that there was some hope, that maybe he could rectify his mistakes. It was getting late, Pym knew, but he had to call her. So he found her number in his favorites and dialed it.
Elsewhere
In a decent-sized apartment in Midtown Manhattan, Janet van Dyne, a gorgeous model-esque half-Chinese woman, and another man, a muscular pretty boy with buzzed brown hair, were dressing up in extravagant, attractive clothes, readying for a night out.
“David, c’mon, we’re going to miss our reservation,” Janet said, tugging the man’s arm.
“Slow down, Jan. I just need to fix my tie and then we can leave…” David Cannon replied while adjusting his sky blue tie for the tenth time.
Janet wrapped her arms around David’s massive shoulders, “I promise you, babe, you look just fine.” David stopped adjusting his tie and turned to face Janet, wrapping her up in his arms.
“Let’s go.” David smiled.
“Finally,” Janet sarcastically cried, pulling David towards the door, grabbing her purse on the way.
“Woah, Jan, you’re going to pull my arm off moving that fast,” David joked, following after Janet.
“Sorry, I’m just excited,” Janet stopped at the door and turned to David, “We haven’t done this in forever.”
“I know.”
“Just you and me and a ridiculously overpriced restaurant.” Janet added.
“I know.”
“God, I love you,” Janet embraced David, before yet again dragging him after her, this time out the door. All the while, unknowingly ignoring her phone that buzzed with a thousand hopes, all of which were crushed upon her departure.
Stark Tower
Pym’s expression sunk as Jan’s voicemail activated. Pym waited till it ended, going over all the possibilities of what he could say. Eventually it came and Pym could not bring himself to say anything. He looked down at the phone. Nothing. He couldn’t say anything.
Pym sighed. He needed to say something. Anything. Just a few words. He forced them out, a harder task than he’d ever faced before.
“I’m sorry, Jan. For everything. Goodbye.”
A
At approximately 9 O’Clock Miles made it home. His wounds were not gone. Not nearly so. He knew that his injuries would drive his parents over the edge, who were surely already pissed he was arriving back home so late.
Miles had a halfway decent surprise upon returning home. Standing on the front porch waiting to greet him was Ganke. Not his parents. Ganke, his best friend.
“Yo,” Ganke greeted solemnly.
“Hey,” Miles replied, afraid to meet Ganke’s gaze. He was sure he knew. He didn’t know how, but Ganke had to have found out what happened.
“I know what happened.” Fears confirmed. “Dude, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Three words that answered nearly every question for a teenager. Even Miles. Especially Miles.
“You think my parents know?” Miles asked, forcing himself to look at Ganke.
“Yeah. It’s all over the News. Every part of the fight. Some roof security camera thing caught it all on tape. Even Kraven’s little ’24 hours’ speech,” Ganke answered. Shit. That made it twice as bad for Miles. If he died…if his parents found out who he really was…knowing that he had a chance to back out, to live, his parents—no, Miles corrected himself—his dad would never forgive him. Not that it mattered. He’d be dead.
“You alright?” Ganke asked.
“No.”
“Better than ‘I don’t know.’” Ganke tried to make Miles laugh. It didn’t work. His one chance, one hope, had refused to help him. Miles insides burned with anger. Carol Danvers was a god damned coward.
“You should go home,” Miles said, approaching the porch, “It’s about to get really loud.”
Ganke knew he couldn’t change Miles’ mind, so he shrugged his shoulder and left without another word. It was better that way. Miles didn’t have to say goodbye.
Miles opened the door, ready for the punishment. It never came. His parents weren’t home. Dear God, this was worse than he’d imagined. His parents not being home meant they were out looking for him. Miles pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. He ran through his contacts once, passing by his parents’ names. He couldn’t call them. Not first. Miles found the name he really wanted to call.
“Mayday Parker…” Miles whispered her name. His finger hovered over her number. Why couldn’t he do it? Damn it, why?!
Miles threw his phone onto the couch. He soon followed it, collapsing onto the couch. He began to cry.
“Miles…”
Miles looked up, eyes red. His Dad was standing in the stairway, looking at him.
“What’s wrong, son?” Jefferson asked, concerned.
His dad…was home. He wasn’t mad. Miles pushed himself off the couch and into his father’s arms.
“I…I’m so sorry, Dad…” Miles sobbed.
“For coming home late? Son, it isn’t something to get so worked up about. You’re fifteen years old now. I trust you.” Jefferson attempted to calm the boy down, gently rubbing his head.
Miles didn’t tell him the truth. That wasn’t why he was sorry.
“I’m sorry…” Miles whispered one last time. He allowed himself to completely fall into his father’s arms, something he hadn’t done in years, and, slowly, he allowed himself to be comforted by his father’s gentle voice, falling effortlessly into sweet dreams far away from his very real nightmare.
The Next Morning
Miles’ eyes fluttered open. He was lying in his bed. His father must have carried him there last night.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Today was the day. Miles looked over at his bedside clock. 10:44. He’d slept for over twelve hours. Guess that’s what exhaustion does to you, Miles thought.
Miles rolled out of bed and into his bathroom. He took a shower, spending over twenty minutes in it relaxing, preparing himself for the inevitable. Eventually, he got out, put on dry clothes, stuffed his costume into his backpack and walked downstairs. He was greeted by his parents and a plate heaping with waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Without a word he dug in.
“Good morning,” Jefferson chuckled.
“Gwoo Monin.” Miles replied through a mouthful of food. Both of his parents laughed. They were surprisingly cheery this morning.
At about 11:25, Miles finished, and as if on cue, the doorbell rung.
“Who could that be on a Saturday morning?” Rio Morales wondered as she left to go answer the door. Miles assumed it was Peter even though Miles had told him that he wanted to go at it alone without facing him. His mother was gone for a few minutes. That was odd. If it had been Peter, surely she would have let him in. After all, Miles had an internship with him (which to this day surprised his parents).
Eventually Rio came back. She looked…surprised.
“Miles, a…Carol Danvers is asking for you.” Rio muttered.
Miles’ world lit up. He couldn’t believe it! She’d come! Oh my God…he might actually live to see tomorrow. Miles ran out, shouting, “Yeah. Got to go. She works with Dr. Parker. We have an errand to run for him.”
“OK…” Rio replied, unsure. She looked at Jefferson. He shrugged his shoulders.
“Maybe the kid’s got play.”
“Jefferson! The woman looks like she’s almost twice his age!” Rio replied incredulously.
“Like I said.” Jefferson turned back to his coffee.
At the front door, Miles hurried towards the opening, grinning. A beautiful, well dressed blonde was waiting for him there. It really was her.
“You came,” Miles pointed out.
“I came,” Carol agreed, smiling, before quickly changing her expression into a darker, prideful smirk, “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I just couldn’t let a kid go and get himself killed.”
Miles chuckled. “So, what’s the plan?”
Carol’s grin grew, something that surprised Miles. She seemed…different. Changed.
“We kick ass.”
A
Janet Pym looked down, horrified, at her phone’s screen. She hadn’t moved for nearly ten minutes. She mouthed the words ‘Oh my God.’ At last, David, her boyfriend, awoke and noticed her expression.
“What’s wrong, babe?” David asked, clearly concerned.
“We…we need to go.” Janet whispered.
“What? Where?” David muttered, still not entirely awake. “It’s only…” he looked at the clock, “11:34. Shit. Guess we should get up.”
Janet unlocked her phone. She dialed Hank’s number. She only got his voicemail.
“Jan, what’s up?” David wrapped his arms around her, looking over her shoulders to her phone, “Who’s Hank Pym?”
“He’s my ex-boyfriend,” Janet replied without thinking over the consequences.
“What?!” David exclaimed. After a few second, he realized Janet didn’t understand why he was upset. Or rather, she didn’t care. He sighed and asked what he knew he must, “What’s wrong?”
Janet ran a hand through her short, stylish (even after sleeping) dark hair, “He…called me last night. And left a voicemail. I’ve never heard him sound so scared…or emotional.”
“What?” David asked, not understanding.
“Let’s go,” Janet hurried towards her dresser and began to throw on clothes.
“Jan, we haven’t even eaten yet. Can’t this guy wait? I mean, we don’t even know where he is right now.” David muttered.
“I do. I just looked it up. He’s at Stark Tower.” Janet quickly replied.
“What? How do you know?”
“Back when we were together, he invented an app that could track wherever I went. He was kind of paranoid I was cheating on him. Which I wasn’t, by the way.” Janet seemed to be reassuring herself, “It works both ways. I can find him too. Still.”
Janet finished getting dressed. “Where are the keys?”
“What? Jan, slow down…” David looked at Janet, flabbergasted.
“Where are the keys?” Janet asked again.
“Fine. I’m coming.” David sighed and rolled out of bed.
This morning was NOT starting out well.
A
The night winds ruffled gently over Bruce Banner’s oversized purple pants and shirt. The man was currently standing in the middle of Cairo, Egypt, attempting to call a friend.
“C’mon…pick up,” Bruce whispered across a thousand miles to his friend. Bruce was delighted to hear the phone click as a man groaned on the other side of the phone.
“I’m sorry, whoever this is, it isn’t the time…”
“David? David Cannon?” Bruce prayed to God, any god—although, to be honest, Bruce never had and never would believe in a greater power—it was his friend.
“Who is this?” The man on the other line asked, “If this is about some product, the answer is no, I won’t buy it…HEY! Jan, watch out! Christ, you almost hit that car!”
Bruce laughed upon hearing a fairly chaotic situation on the other side. “Dave, it’s me. Bruce Banner.”
“Bruce…oh my God! I thought you were dead! The reports…”
“We’re greatly exaggerated.” Bruce replied, causing David to laugh.
“What can I do for you? Where are you anyway?”
“Cairo.”
“Like, THE Cairo?” David seemed to be shocked.
“Yes.”
“The hell you doing in Egypt?” David grunted, before screaming a choice curse word, which Bruce believed wasn’t directed at him.
“It’s a long story. Listen, I need to get out of here and back to America. Quietly. Secretly. Without anyone—and I mean ANYONE—but you and me knowing.” Bruce explained, flicking another coin into the phone as it requested.
“Bruce…shit, Janet! Slow down! Sorry, Bruce. Dealing with some issues back home.” David got quiet for a second, as if he was thinking something over. “Bruce, I don’t work for the CIA anymore. Haven’t for years. I have no connections anymore. There’s nothing I can do other than buy you a plane ticket and…well, I don’t think that’s what you want…or need.”
Bruce groaned, running a hand through his hair, “Nothing…there’s really nothing?” Bruce’s blood pressure began to rise. Shit. He forced himself to begin to breathe slowly. He couldn’t let The Other Guy out now.
“Sorry, Bruce. I’m really sorry.” David solemnly replied.
“It’s…it’s alright,” it wasn’t, “Bye.”
“Bruce, wait…!” Click. Bruce hung up.
“Damn…I’m fucked…” Bruce leaned onto the payphone, forcing himself not to cry.
“No…not nearly as fucked as you’re about to be…”
That voice…Bruce thought he was dead. There was no way…Bruce looked up. He was met by the sickly eyes of Emil Blonsky.
“Heheh…the great Bruce Banner at a loss for words. What a sight to behold!” Emil laughed maniacally, “Did you think I was dead? We saw each other a little while ago…but you were pretty wasted. Probably don’t remember any of it.”
“Blonsky…how the hell…?” Bruce couldn’t find the right words to describe this moment.
Blonsky did the honors, “Weird, isn’t it? Huh? But nowhere near as weird as what I’ve experience the past few days. Christ, how fucked up it all is!”
“What are you talking about?” Bruce wondered. He began to step back. He didn’t want to engage the man. He knew how it would end. Badly. For everyone.
“I’ve got to kill you now, Banner. Boss’s orders. Hell…I’d do it without him saying so.” Blonsky replied. He tensed up. Bruce did the same. Fuck, he didn’t want to but…the Other Guy, the Hulk, had to deal with Blonsky and his own…Abomination. Bruce waited. His adrenaline flowed. Nothing happened. He didn’t change. Neither did Blonsky.
“What the hell…?” Bruce looked down at his hands. Wasn’t a shade of green in sight.
“Wondering why you’re not transforming? That would be because of this little gadget,” Blonsky held up a small metal cylinder, “Apparently it’s some sort of gamma absorption device from the future. My benefactor gave it to me.”
“You…you’re going to fight me without turning?” Bruce asked, awestruck. Blonsky was at least ten pounds less than Bruce and that was saying something. He couldn’t possibly…
Blonsky ran up to Bruce. Bruce ducked under a punch only to discover Blonsky’s knee jammed into his stomach. “I took self defense classes when I was young, prick, to protect myself from douches like you.”
Bruce coughed up blood. Blonsky hit hard.
Blonsky gave Bruce a right hook. Bruce struggled to fight back. He swung his fists wildly. Blonsky easily dodged his attacks, each time managing to deal a powerful blow to Bruce. Eventually, the fight came to an end when Blonsky grabbed Bruce’s arm, and with a powerful thrust broke it.
“AGH!” Bruce cried out, falling to the ground clutching his arm. For the first time since the accident, he felt…afraid.
Blonsky fell onto Bruce, punching him again. And again. And again.
“Enough! Blonsky, that’s enough!”
Bruce could barely see through swollen eyes. A man stood over Blonsky. His face…no, Bruce couldn’t be seeing him right. He looked like the Red Skull from World War 2, Captain America’s greatest enemy.
“What?! I was just having a little fun!” Blonsky sarcastically yelled.
“Kang wants him alive. He…has plans for him.” Bruce realized it was the Red Skull. The thick German accent, the uniform, his disgusting face…he was alive!
“Fine. Party pooper,” Blonsky muttered. Red Skull brought out a small silver device from his jacket, and in a flash, the three disappeared.
A
Spider-Man swung over New York towards what could be his death. About a dozen yards to his left flew Ms…or rather, Captain Carol Marvel dressed in her black and yellow shield uniform. The teenaged hero audibly sighed into the earbud. It was tough to say what he was about to say…but he had to.
“Peter?”
“Yes, Miles.” Peter used his real name while he was in the field. He had never done that before…Just then Spider-Man realized how truly scared Peter must be. And then he realized how scared he was.
“Could you…crap, this is tough. Could you…tell May ‘bye.’ For me….if, well, you know…” Spider-Man struggled to find the right words.
“She’d go out with you, you know, if you asked her.” Peter said.
“No, she’d go out with Spider-Man. Not me.” Miles replied solemnly.
“You and Spider-Man are one and the same, Miles. You know that,” Peter assured him. Miles shook his head.
“It would feel wrong anyway. Tommy always…” Miles’ heart sunk. He couldn’t think about Tommy right now.
“Miles, it’s alright. Don’t worry about it. You’ll make it out of this alive.” Peter reassured Miles. The teen just couldn’t believe him. Even with Carol’s help his chances seemed slim.
“Listen, Peter, if I die…I just want you to know…I…you’re like…”
“Miles, you don’t have to say anything.” Peter interrupted him.
Miles swung between roofs, “No. I do. Peter, I want you to know that you…”
The connection cut out. Miles looked up, his costume’s lenses widening. He was here.
Kraven stood atop the roof of the church. His arms were crossed. Miles—no, he was Spider-Man now—knew he was confident. His gaze did not waver upon seeing Carol.
“I see you brought help,” his accent made Spider-Man want to throw up.
“Yeah, I couldn’t just let myself have all the fun, could I?” Spider-Man joked. How could he still do that? He was scared out of his freaking mind!
“I knew Ms. Danvers would come. Just as I know you two will die today,” Kraven replied confidently.
“Stop being so cocky, Stalin,” Captain Marvel growled, cracking her knuckles.
“He isn’t. We actually can foresee the future. Or rather, Kang can.” A new, feminine voice seemed to appear from nowhere. And then a body followed it, out from the street behind the two heroes. An attractive blonde dressed in white spandex stared venomously at Spider-Man and Captain Marvel.
“Sofen?” Captain Marvel muttered incredulously, eyes wide.
“You know this crazy?” Spider-Man wondered.
“Oh yes, Ms. Danvers and I are well acquainted…” Karla replied, “But you should know, I go by the name Moonstone now.” Moonstone charged Captain Marvel, tackling her to an adjacent roof. Spider-Man’s lenses widened as the fight began. His spider sense went off. Kraven was already pouncing towards him.
“Crap!” Spider-Man jumped over Kraven’s attack. This appeared to surprise the hunter.
“You…dodged my attack?” Kraven said.
“Yeah. Got a kind of steep learning curve. Had to learn quickly,” Spider-Man explained, before teasing, “Plus, it’s not like you’re really very smart. You attack the same way every time!”
Kraven growled. Literally. “You will die for that insult, bug.” He charged Spider-Man.
Spider-Man dodge rolled to the side, “Arachnid, actually. And like I said, it’s the same every time.” Spider-Man shot webs at Kraven. He actually trapped the villain’s arms! Spider-Man jumped up and attempted to kick Kraven. Despite his disadvantage, Kraven managed to flip away, in the process kicking Spider-Man in the chest. The hero grunted.
Spider-Man quickly regained composure, “Let’s go Clayton.” He quipped.
“Die, Spider-boy!” Kraven charged.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Moonstone were duking it out. They were at a complete stand still. Each of them could match each and every move the other made.
“Guess I can’t win this with brute force,” Moonstone muttered, “Good news is I’m a hell of a lot smarter than you!” Moonstone fired a blast of yellow energy towards the civilians below.
“No!” Cap cried, flying down and taking the brunt of the blow.
Moonstone laughed, “Oh, you hero types. So predictable.”
Captain Marvel struggled to stand up. The blast had been powerful. As a matter of fact…she seemed to be getting weaker. That’s when Cap realized Moonstone still had her own moonstone with her, strapped tightly onto her chest. Cap’s powers were leaking over to Sofen. She knew that was her plan. Sofen was trying to stall her until all of her power was gone.
And it was working.
Moonstone blasted Cap into the ground. She couldn’t make herself stand. Moonstone glided down to the fallen hero.
“Game’s over, Ms. Danvers,” Moonstone grinned wickedly. She raised her hand, readying for the final blow, “Any last words?”
Carol muttered something incoherently.
“What was that?” Moonstone wondered.
“I said…” Carol looked up, bloodthirsty. She fly-tackled Moonstone into the building.
“IT’S CAPTAIN MARVEL!”
Up on the roof, the battle was not in Spider-Man’s favor. Kraven had regained the upper hand, and was now brutally beating Spider-Man.
“C’mon, pansy, hit harder!” Spider-Man coughed out blood into his mask, further masking his vision as Kraven beat him senseless.
“You still have the ability to talk!” Kraven threw Spider-Man to the ground, “I am impressed.”
“Not as much as your mom was last night,” Spider-Man joked, forcing himself up. He swung his fist wildly at Kraven. The Hunter easily dodged. He roundhouse kicked Spider-Man back to the ground.
Kraven knelt down over the hero, a large blade in his hand. He pushed it against Spider-Man’s throat. “Die, child!”
He raised the knife and plunged it downwards. Spider-Man shut his eyes….
The finishing blow never came. Spider-Man looked up. Kraven’s blade had been knocked out of his hand by a round red, white and blue shield. Kraven looked up, thirsty for the blood of the person who had interrupted his kill.
“Who the fuck…?”
A single man stood on the edge of the roof. He frowned disapprovingly down at Kraven.
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Kraven’s expression softened as he realized that the battle had just turned against his favor for…
Captain America had joined the battle!
A
A white sedan hurriedly pulled up to the front of Stark Tower, doing a terrible job of jamming itself between a pick up and a prius. Janet van Dyne burst through the driver side door, soon followed by David Cannon.
Janet pushed the revolving door open, completely ignoring the tattered remains of the building that lay on the ground near the entrance. David, however, stopped to look at it. Clearly something had happened that he and Jan weren’t aware of. One of Stark’s superhero battles perhaps?
Jan slammed her hands on the sparkling clean new desk of the receptionist. The woman jumped in her seat, shocked.
“I need to see Hank Pym,” Janet demanded.
“I’m sorry…?” The receptionist was still thrown off by Jan’s cowboy attitude.
Jan looked at the receptionist’s nametag, “Shanna, right? You heard me. I need to see Hank Pym,” Janet repeated. David approached her, running a hand through his hair. He’d never seen her so agitated all the time he’d known her.
Shanna finally settled back down, “I’m sorry. He’s out right now with Mr. Stark. If you desire to see him, please schedule an appointment. Shall I make one for you now?”
“Where’d he go?” Janet demanded an answer.
“What?”
“Stop with the stupid act,” Janet’s face grew red, “Where the hell did Hank go?”
Shanna was yet again in complete shock. She just let the words slip out of her mouth, “The Baxter Building….I…”
Janet immediately turned around and walked out of the building, not giving Shanna the chance to respond. David ran after her. “Janet, slow down!”
“You drive.” Janet ordered, getting into the passenger side.
“Jan…” David begged as he entered the driver’s side. He put the key into ignition.
“Drive,” Janet growled. David did as he was told. It ripped him up on the inside. Why was she acting like this? Janet…she never talked about the man, and suddenly after one phone call she’s dying to see him again…She still…She must still…David shook away the thought. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted while driving. It wasn’t to easy, however, with Janet in that mood of hers.
“Yeah, Baxter Building? …Oh, hello, H.E.R.B.I.E. Can you put a member of the Fantastic Four on the phone?” Janet’s expression darkened, “What the hell do you mean they’re out? …Then put Johnny fucking Storm on the phone! Don’t put me on hold! Damnit, H.E.R.B.I.E.! Damn you!” Janet’s last words were venomous. Even with the IRS or the bank, Janet never acted this…well, there wasn’t really a word for it was there?
“Shit…” Janet grumbled. She looked at the speedometer of the car. David was going five under. “Speed the hell up, David.”
“Jan…”
“Speed up!” Janet shouted. David made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a sigh and pulled over.
“Janet, calm down. Now.” David replied surprisingly calmly.
“David? What the hell are you doing? Drive!” Janet looked at him incredulously.
David put his head in his hands for a few brief moments. He gathered his thoughts, thinking of what to say. “Listen, Jan…do you understand how much this kills me to do this? Honestly, do you?”
“What the hell are you talking about? We could be saving somebody’s life here! I mean, for Christ’s sake, never in a million years would Hank go to Tony Stark for help unless he was in SERIOUS trouble.” Janet argued.
“You don’t…You really don’t see…” David came to the realization. He turned the car off. “Janet, why are you doing this for him? Why are you going so far? Trying so hard?”
“What type of question is that?” Janet asked, still tough as ever.
“Jan, I left the CIA for you. The least you could do is answer this one question.”
“I already answered you!”
David sighed. He looked Janet in the eyes. “Fine. I’ll restart the car. I’ll drive you wherever you want. I’ll give my life to help you save this man if I need to. But only…only if you answer this question.”
”Do you still love Hank Pym?” David’s emotions burst out with each word. Even Janet, near oblivious, could see it. Her expression was like that of a deer caught in headlights.
Janet looked away from David, “David, stop asking questions…please. Just go.”
“I knew it,” David’s expression sunk. He opened the door and stepped out. He began to walk away from the car.
Janet rolled down her window. “David! What are you doing?”
“Going home, Jan. We can talk about this all later,” David turned back to face Janet, “Just go.”
Janet looked between her two decisions: the car and her boyfriend. She sighed and moved seats over to the driver’s side.
David just looked on, solemn, as he realized she’d made her decision.
Janet had chosen Hank Pym.
A
The white lights disappeared as Bruce Banner found himself atop a cold metal floor.
“What the hell…?” Bruce muttered as his hands were cuffed together. Bruce looked up towards his captors: Emil Blonsky and the Red Skull. Alongside them, just a few yards back was another man dressed in dark Chinese robes. He wore ten stylized rings, one on each finger.
Blonsky grabbed Bruce by his shoulder and threw him onto a chair. It was the only thing in the room.
“Where are we?” Bruce muttered, struggling to breathe. Blonsky might’ve punctured one of his lungs.
“Stark Tower.” Blonsky replied. Bruce nearly laughed at the thought.
“Where are we really?” Bruce demanded, blood dripping from his bottom lip, hair ragged.
“Stark Tower,” Blonsky said again, “Below it, actually.”
“How the hell…?”
“You don’t, and never will, understand how connected our boss is to all of this,” Blonsky explained, and then pointed to Bruce, “To you.”
“Do not call him our ‘boss.’ The Mandarin works for no man. Especially not him.” The Chinese man proudly stated, expression threatening.
“As does the Red Skull. Kang is no master of mine, merely a means to an end,” Red Skull agreed.
“Whatever,” Blonsky smirked, “Both of you are just tools like me. Difference between us is that I realize it.”
“What did you say?” Mandarin took a step towards Blonsky. This was too great, Bruce thought, the villains didn’t get along at all. This could be used to his advantage. Well, among other things…Bruce had a plan.
“Stop it! Both of you! Kang will be here imminently. We do not need to get on his bad side.” Coming from the red-skulled man who had just called him a tool.
“Hey, Blonsky!” Bruce interrupted their super villain chatter. Blonsky turned to Bruce, eyes leaking venom.
“What is it?” Blonsky spouted.
“I’m curious, did your mother beat you? It sure seems like it with how submissive you are,” Bruce laughed.
Blonsky growled. He turned to Red Skull and threw him the gamma device, “Think fast, Skull.”
“Blonsky!” Red Skull yelled. Bruce grinned.
Red Skull caught the device. Blonsky smiled and turned to Bruce, who was now grimacing. “Thought he was gonna drop it, didn’t you? Break it? I’m not stupid. The thing’s damn near indestructible. And now my hands are free…” Blonsky cracked his knuckles. He approached Bruce.
“Blonsky…” Mandarin warned.
“Relax, I’m just going to hit him a few times. Nothing serious,” Blonsky assured. He gave Bruce a right hook. One of Bruce’s teeth broke. An uppercut. Bruce felt his nose dislocate. Another and his jaw bone cracked. Blonsky smiled, inspecting his work.
Bruce half heartedly grinned right back, “Admit it, Blonsky. You’re just mad because I’m the better scientist.”
“What’d you say?” Blonsky lunged at Bruce. Bruce swiveled around, throwing his handcuffs around Blonsky’s throat, choking him. Immediately, Red Skull aimed a pistol at the two. Mandarin lifted his hand. One of his rings glowed. Bruce held Blonsky between the two of them.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t fucking shoot!” Blonsky screamed, struggling for air.
“Don’t want to kill him, do you? He’s one of you,” Bruce declared, gritting his teeth. The action hurt like hell but fuck, old habits die hard.
“On the contrary, Banner, I’d love to have an excuse to put a bullet in his skull,” Red Skull replied, “Anyways, the Mandarin here can shut you down without allowing you to harm another hair on his head. So, what’ll it be. Go into a coma and/or be nearly burned to death, or let the man go?”
Bruce sighed and released his grip on Blonsky. The scientist immediately ran away from him, breathing heavily.
“Don’t make a bluff you can’t back up, Banner. Especially not when you know the other player has a full house.” Red Skull grinned psychotically. And then Blonsky broke his gleaming smile by grabbing the pistol out of his hand.
“Fucking bastard thinks he can use me as a hostage…!” Blonsky turned to Bruce, aiming the gun.
“Blonsky!” Mandarin and Red Skull screamed in unison.
Blonsky fired. The bullet went straight through Bruce’s head. He collapsed to the ground.
“Blonsky, you idiot!” Red Skull grabbed Emil by his jacket’s collar, “Kang will have our heads for this!”
“What? The fucker was useless anyway. It’s not like Kang really needed him. He has me and Brian for the monster job.” Blonsky argued.
“You stupid…” The Red Skull began.
“Hehehehe….” The three’s attention was diverted to Bruce’s corpse. He couldn’t have just…?
“You idiots…” Bruce laughed maniacally, lifting his head up to expose his grievous wound. It closed on itself, the bullet popping out. His irises were a shade of bright green.
“He…there’s no way. The radiation absorber is on. He can’t be…” Blonsky watched as Red Skull tore the device out of his pocket. The device, as expected, was on and functioning properly.
“You…you can slow down…maybe even temporarily stop Him…” Bruce chuckled, “But when my life is on the line…He’ll never let me go…it’s-it’s my curse…hehe….your stupid machine can’t stop him. No one and nothing can.” Bruce tremored and screamed.
He managed one brief second to look at the three, forcing these words out.
“You stupid fuckers are about to get smashed.”
A
Tony Stark and Hank Pym sat across a large wooden table from Johnny Storm. All of their expressions were serious…well, except for Stark, but he was never quite serious.
“So…?” Hank asked, “Are you in?”
“I’m certainly not out,” Johnny quipped, holding out his hand to be shaken. One after the other, Tony and Hank shook his hand.
“Glad to have you,” Hank thanked the man.
“And then there were three,” Tony joked.
“Mr. Storm! Mr. Storm!” A H.E.R.B.I.E. came rushing into the room, breathless. Or as breathless as a robot that didn’t need oxygen could be.
“Herbs, calm down,” Tony smirked at that. Just like his nickname for VISION… “What’s wrong?”
“It’s H.E.R.B.I.E. Unit A-3 by the way…” H.E.R.B.I.E. added in, before saying, “There---there’s a terrible woman downstairs demanding to see Mr. Pym.”
Pym adjusted his position in his seat to get a good look at the robot, “What?”
“Did she leave a name?” Johnny asked.
“Yes…” A-3 nodded, “Her name….her name is Janet van Dyne.”
Simultaneously, Tony Stark and Hank Pym’s jaws dropped.
A[/color]
David Cannon trudged down the streets of Manhattan. He couldn’t believe it! Janet…she had left him! Abandoned him! For some stupid scientist! Someone who had paid no attention to her! Who had left her! It was why she had broken up with him! He’d told her. The man had been too attached to his work and studies to spend any time with her.
David sighed. He looked up. He was just outside of Stark Tower. He wondered what had happened to the tower…the reason for the debris inside? And then his thoughts were dragged forcefully back to Janet. She…she had left him…
CRASH!
David was thrown back by an explosion. Two hulking green monsters jumped out of the hole created by it. David quickly checked his body over. He was uninjured other than a few scrapes and bruises. He scrambled back quickly to avoid one of them as it came crashing to the ground. What the hell was this? Monsters fighting in Manhattan? Is this really how much their world had changed.
One of the monsters slugged the other. It went flying. The more humanoid monster, the one that hadn’t been hit, jumped after the other towards…oh God! They were heading towards the Baxter Building!
David stood up and began to sprint their way. Janet was there! Oh God! Oh Godoh godohgodohgodohgodohgod! He wouldn’t let them hurt her.
He wouldn’t let a single damn person hurt her!
TO BE CONTINUED…