Post by Drake on Mar 9, 2014 11:54:39 GMT -5
ALL STAR MARVEL PROUDLY PRESENTS
Concrete and bricks rained out from the front of Roxxon National Bank as a tall, fit woman in a red and blue costume crashed through a wall and into a car. Carol Danvers, otherwise known as Captain Marvel, pushed herself up from the now-damaged vehicle, wiping away a smear of blood from her nose.
“Oh, it’s on,” Captain Marvel muttered, flying forward to meet a monstrous, tan shell-covered man mid-leap. The two titanic brawlers fell back to the ground, hands clasped against one another’s in a dynamic wrestling match.
“I just wanna make bank!” the armored Armadillo roared, “Why can’t you damn heroes lea’ me alone and deal with a terrorist or somethin’?”
Just then, the larger than life wrestling match was interrupted by a burst of repulsor energy, as Iron Man blasted Armadillo away from Captain Marvel.
“Don’t act so disappointed, big, brown and ugly,” Iron Man quipped, “You’re in the big leagues now.”
“Literally,” Giant Man retorted, growing larger as he exited out of the hole Armadillo had created. The gigantic hero tried to hold Armadillo against the ground, but the rough-skinned villain used his titanic strength to push Giant Man’s hand away, and afterwards used the limb to pull the humongous hero into the ground; Giant Man crashed into three cars, sending civilians running for safety.
Captain America and Wasp now leapt from the bank, the spangled Avenger sporting a nasty bruise and broken mask.
“Enough with the solo crap; hit him as a team,” Cap ordered, already throwing his vibranium shield at Armadillo. The projectile recoiled harmlessly off the partly indestructible villain’s hide.
“And aim for his stomach,” Captain America added.
The Avengers immediately moved into formation. Iron Man distracted Armadillo by blasting him with repulsor beams while humming Manfred Mann’s “Blinded by the Light” to himself. Wasp blasted Armadillo with her own newly-minted repulsor stingers, finishing the distraction. Captain Marvel two-handed hit Armadillo into the sky and finished with a solid super strong punch to the gut.
The armored villain cried out as he crashed into the ground, creating a small crater around himself.
“Good job, folks,” Captain America checked to make sure the villain was unconscious. He was. “Now smile for the cameras.”
Paparazzi milled onto the battlefield as the Avengers stood together, united as one.
Together they were strong. Together they could not be beaten.
A Drake Fanfiction Project
“Today, I welcome the Avengers not just as New York’s heroes, but the entire world’s,” the mayor of New York looked out over the mulling crowd, a wide grin on his face. The Avengers stood around the mayor, smiles—sometimes forced—glistening in the sun.
“It is my pleasure as mayor of New York City to give the key to the city to Captain America…” the mayor handed the key to Cap, shaking his hand. Lights flashed as hundreds of pictures were taken. “…and the Avengers—Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!”
BROKEN
Part 1: All Good Things Must End
Paparazzi near and far scrambled to get a word from any of the Avengers as they attempted to leave but it was too late. The Avengers had left the scene, those unable to fly caught in the arms of the fliers.
Tony held Steve by his underarms as they rocketed through the sky towards Avengers Mansion. The Iron Man armor seemed to tilt side to side as the armored Avenger soared through the air, his usual grace seemingly lost. Steve knew why. It was the same reason Tony had been less active lately, heroically and…otherwise.
“We need to talk, Tony,” Steve shouted through the roaring of the wind.
“Funny, we already are,” Tony retorted, realizing where this discussion was going.
“You haven’t been the same since Kang,” Steve began.
Tony interrupted his friend, a frown forming under the armor, “You didn’t even know me before we—how should I put it?—assembled.”
“I knew of you,” Steve argued, “And I know well enough to realize when something’s wrong. It’s only been getting worse…”
“Don’t make me drop you, Steve,” Tony halfheartedly threatened.
“Really, Tony, if there’s anything you want to talk about, anything at all…”
“Look, we’re here,” Tony landed ungracefully on the ground, throwing Steve away. The star spangled Avenger stumbled before getting his footing. Steve spared Tony one last emotion-packed glance before walking past him towards the front of the Mansion, where his motorcycle was currently parked.
“I’m going out,” Steve muttered.
“We just were, old timer,” Tony teased, helmet falling back to reveal his broken expression, “We just were…”
---A---
Hank and Jan walked through the doors of Avengers Mansion laughing.
“And I told Bill…” Hank paused to laugh, “I told him, ‘we aren’t done here.’ You can just picture him, stern-faced, saying…”
“’We’re never done,’” Janet remarked in a monotone impersonation, and then continued to laugh.
“Yeah, just like that,” Hank agreed, beaming.
Both heroes allowed themselves to finish laughing before quieting down. They looked at each other, eyes glistening. Hank stepped forward. Janet leaned in.
“Hey, Hank—oh, sorry! Sorry.” Bruce Banner began before walking back into his room, trying to close his door, but struggling as it closed onto a book in the doorway.
Both size-changing heroes blushed and stepped away from one another. Janet crossed her arms, “I should get going…”
“Yeah…me too…” Hank halfheartedly agreed, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly. Janet walked up the stairs to her room, while Hank stood there, watching her slim frame disappear out of view.
“Sorry about that,” Bruce muttered, opening his door again, exposing his surprisingly pressed clothing and well-kept appearance.
“It’s fine,” Hank replied, “It shouldn’t…wouldn’t have happened anyway.”
“Right, sure,” Bruce wouldn’t meet Hank’s gaze, “Anyway, you wanna come in? I, uh, I’ve been looking into what you…asked about.”
“Sure,” Hank agreed. Bruce held the door open for Hank as he entered Bruce’s chaotic mix of a bedroom and lab.
“How’s the cure research coming?” Hank asked, sitting down on the edge of Bruce’s desk. The elder scientist sat down in his swivel chair and clasped his hands together, glancing around the room as if he was afraid the world was out to get him…which it was.
“Not good. The best I’ve found are some adrenaline inhibitors, but they’re nothing new. The inhibitors only act as a temporary solution, and The Other Guy would beat them out if it came to a…serious dilemma.” Bruce explained.
“Sorry to hear that,” Hank said.
“Yeah, well, it’s only been three months. I’ve been looking for a cure for years. A few wasted months is nothing to me,” Bruce admitted. He quickly looked up at Hank and changed the subject, “Anyway, I’ve been looking into everything you asked me about for your little Ultron project. I’ve found nothing.”
Hank recoiled in disappointment.
“Sorry about that, but there’s just no renewable energy source I’ve found that’ll work beyond Stark’s arc reactor tech and you know how closely he keeps that to his chest. And as for software as advanced as the human brain? There’s no such thing. Not on Earth, anyway,” Bruce admitted.
“Well, thanks anyway. I just really wanted to…work on Ultron. Improve him. He needs to be better…better than us,” Hank explained, “Just in case.”
Bruce nodded, “I understand… so, did you get what I asked?”
Hank shook his head, “Sorry, I can’t get you a meeting with Betty. The woman’s watched as closely as General Ross can manage. Even my connections with SHIELD didn’t help.”
“Damn it,” Bruce leaned back in his chair and massaged his temples, “Well…damn. I…Hank, I’ve been thinking…”
“That’s always a good first step,” Hank teased. Bruce didn’t laugh.
“I think I should go to the others about Ultron. Tony, at least. They should know, Hank. We’re a team now…”
“Bruce!” Hank stood up, “That wasn’t our deal.”
“I know, but…” Bruce sighed, “Hank, we can’t just lie to them.”
Hank turned away from Bruce and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair, “I knew I couldn’t trust you…”
“Hank, please…”
Before Bruce could say another word, Hank pulled out a tiny needle from his pants pocket and spun around; he injected Bruce with the serum inside the needle.
“What the hell?” Bruce cried out, “Are you crazy??”
“No, just…driven,” Hank whispered, “You don’t know what Ultron means to me.”
Bruce began to fall back in his chair, the world spinning around him, “Wha’ the hell’d you do to me? Why i’n’t Hulk…?”
“It’s an adrenaline inhibitor, Bruce. Thanks for confirming my suspicions, by the way. But the inhibitor has a little extra…kick to it. You won’t remember the past couple days, and when you wake up, you’ll have one hell of a hangover,” Hank tossed a couple more needles onto Bruce’s work bench, “I’m sorry, Bruce, I really am.”
And then the world faded to black for Bruce Banner.
---A---
Carol flew high and above the city of New York, taking in the little ants below. This was beautiful. This was wonderful! If there was one thing Carol could take positively out of the death of her child and the birth of her powers it was flying. While she soared through the air, alone and free, her worries and past slid past her like the wind.
Carol zoomed away. Today, like every other day, she would test her limits.
“Higher,” Carol whispered, breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom, “Further. Faster. More!”
The ground seemed to disappear into a blur of colors below Carol as she sped through the air. Higher. Further. Faster. More. Carol began to be unable to see, as the wind forced her eyelids shut. Higher. Further. Faster. More. Adrenaline completely took over as Carol blindly redirected herself upwards. She felt heat burn into her skin as she rose further in the sky.
Higher. Further. Faster. MORE!
And then Carol felt the cold. She opened her eyes and discovered she couldn’t breathe. And then the oddest thing happened…Carol discovered she didn’t need to breathe! The blackness engulfed her, but Carol didn’t mind as she looked out over the emptiness of space, smiling. She could stay up here. She could survive in space. Her skin didn’t freeze; she didn’t need oxygen. Whatever her husband’s alien gun had done to her, it had completely transformed her.
She wasn’t human. She wasn’t alien. In fact, Carol wasn’t even sure if she was a hybrid. All Carol Danvers knew in that brief moment was this: she was unique and she loved it!
Carol catapulted through space. Today, she was going to the moon.
Tomorrow…who knows?
---A---
The taxi door slammed shut as a muscular man approached Stark Tower. His brown hair hung down to his shoulders and a pair of sunglasses protected his eyes from the sun. A leather jacket, t-shirt and gloves covered the entirety of his torso, alongside jeans and combat boots. His casual attire did not go unnoticed as he entered calmly through the renovated Stark Tower entrance.
The man grinned. The shit this tower had gone through just because it had a billionaire superhero as its owner. The Masters of Evil was just one incident out of many where Stark Tower had found itself with millions in property damage.
The man activated Stark Tower’s public elevator, and lightly thumbed the ‘47’ button upon entering it. Thirty-nine seconds. That’s all the time it took for him to reach floor 47. He was right on time.
Naturally, the man received glares of discontent and anger at his casual attire as he entered Starry Night, the fanciest restaurant in Stark Tower. He simply ignored the looks, sitting down at the bar.
“How can I help you?” the bartender asked, glancing uncomfortably at his clothing.
“Get me a Bud Lite,” the man ordered.
“Sir, we don’t serve…”
”Get me a Bud Lite.”
The bar tender glanced at his manager. The manager nodded his assent. The bartender sighed and walked away into the kitchen. Good. Now no one had their eye on him. As of thirty seconds ago, all cameras in Stark Tower were down. It just took the right employee desperately trying to recover from his recent divorce and the right hack to leave the job completely unnoticed. The man pulled a small metallic box from his jacket and stuck it to the bottom of the bar. No one noticed.
The man stood up and left the restaurant. The bartender called after him. He didn’t reply.
Less than two minutes later, the man walked out the front door of Stark Tower. The cameras were back online the second he stepped outside. He crossed over to the sidewalk, entered the black Sedan waiting for him, and began to drive off. When he was a block away, he touched a button on the inside flap of his jacket.
The 47th floor of Stark Tower exploded.
The man grinned. Easiest job he’d had in years.
He parked beside a Subway restaurant and slipped off one of his gloves to expose a silver, metallic hand. The man touched his earpiece softly.
“Mission accomplished.”