I groan as I stir awake, grabbing the side of my head as I look around, the room finally coming into focus.
I move the rubble off me and see that everyone is ok. Romanoff is lying on the ground, ankle trapped as she is speaking into her coms but I can't hear her, ringing in my ears.
I make my way over and see Bruce squirming around a bit.
" Come on Bruce. You gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants." Romanoff encourages but it doesn't change anything as he starts thrashing even more.
" We gotta go." I groan as I stand up
I make my way to her and free her leg, noticing some bruising already forming around her ankle.
I look over to Bruce once more to see him turning green, his clothes ripping and low growling from him.
" What is happening?" She asks as she struggles to get to her feet.
" Nat, move!" I shout as I don't turn my gaze from Bruce as he has now fully turned into the Hulk.
He throws a punch in my direction, but I move out of the way and punch him hard in the face, sending him to the floor a few feet back.
" Romanoff, get up!" I shout.
I turn to her, grabbing her and putting her arm around my shoulders for support as I run down the hall. We round a corner and hide under a bunch of pipes.
" Stay here. I'm gonna fight him." I tell her as I go to jump from my spot.
" What?! Are you crazy!" She shouts in a hushed tone.
" You got a better idea?" I ask but she stays silent.
I get out of our hiding place, looking down the hallways to see them empty. I wonder the small hallways in hopes of getting in sight of the green monster. My spider-senses start to go off as I hear loud roaring from the other side of the ship. I rush over there as fast as I can.
When I get there, I see Romanoff on the floor and Hulk getting ready to hit her. I don't waste any time as I tackle him through the wall into the lower hanger.
I'm picking myself up off the floor when I see Thor had assisted me with tackling the monster.
" Go find Loki, I got this!" I shout to him as he takes off from the hanger towards Loki's cell.
Hulk then stands up as we both start walking in a circle, keeping our gazes locked on one another.
He roars and swings at me twice but I dodge them both before I land a blow of my own to his jaw, making him stumble a bit.
He then swings at me multiple times but I dodge them all. He then hammers his fist towards me but I grab his hand, stopping it.
" Come on Banner. I'm not gonna hurt you. You need to think." I grunt as I struggle to hold his fist.
He then punches me in the stomach, sending me through many storage boxes and multiple feet away from him. I grunt in pain before I haul myself to my feet.
" Oh, you wanna play rough? I'll give you rough." I grit as he comes storming over.
I start to run at him as he runs towards me. He goes to throw a punch but I beat him to it as I use my electric punch to send him flying into a quinjet. I smirk at my ability to get back at the monster as he took a cheep shot.
He then rips the wing off the jet off and throws it in my direction. I use my webs to grab it and swing it straight back at him. The wing collides with him but doesn't do anything but make him angry. He then roars loudly at me as he charged in my direction.
" Uh, oh."
My senses go off, but I still don't have time to move away as Hulk uppercuts me through the ceiling above and into the lab. He then jumps through the ceiling and lands in the lab with me as I am still on the floor. He goes to strike me but I move and shoot webs at his arms. He is about to hit me when my senses start tingling. Bullets ripple into the room, distracting him. My spider senses tingle but I didn't move fast enough as one of the bullets grazes my right side, making me wince. I move out of the way as more and more bullets are fired. Hulk roars and jumps out of the giant window and lands on the jet that was shooting, making it spiral and the bullets to stop.
" Oh, thank God." I breath out as I make my way to my feet and head to see if anyone needs my help. Ignoring the pain my body is experiencing.
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I get out onto the dock that I arrived on and see Loki getting into a quinjet. I try my best to make it over to them as I ignore the pain in my body. Loki sees me and a smirk is instantly cast to his face. He aims hit sceptre and shoots a ray from it in my direction. I dodge the blast as the jet takes off, Loki inside.
" Damn it!" I shout.
" What?" Fury asks in his coms.
" Loki got away." I sigh as I make my way back inside, clutching my side as I try to stop the blood.
I get inside and slide down the wall to catch my breath.
" Agent Coulson is down." Fury speaks into his coms.
" A medical team is on its way to your location." An agent says.
" They're here. They called it." Fury adds.
Damn.
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Me, Tony, Steve, Fury and Hill are all gathered around the table in the main room as I just stare down at the table. All of us, mourning the death of an agent, a coworker, a friend.
While my time with Agent Coulson was short, I could tell he was a good man. Him and Furry always seemed to get along and that's rare. As far as I could tell, Nick Furry was a difficult man and having the patience to be in the same room with him has to be tremendous. I wouldn't like to know what level of patience it took to be friends with him.
Agent Coulson was beloved by all his coworkers. No one had anything bad to say about him. He is human so he made mistakes but he always made up for them. He gave Shield his all and what did he get in return? Nothing.
" These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury breaks the silence as he reaches into his pocket.
" Guess he never did get you to sign them." Furry grits as he throws the bloodied and damaged Captain America trading cards on the table.
Steve then reaches out to the cards and picks up a card, all bloodied and battered. With what Romanoff told us, they were his prized possessions, and now here they lie, stained in his own blood.
" We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the Cube. No Banner. Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Furry sighs, defeatedly.
" Yes, we were going to build an arsenal of weapons with the Tesseract. I never bet all my chips on that number though, because I was playing for something even riskier." He admits to absolutely no one's surprise.
" There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the 'Avengers Initiative'. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." Fury tells us and Tony leaves the room, not wanting to hear anymore.
The room falls silent, none of us knowing what to say.
Fury then turns to me, looking me over.
" Go get yourself fixed up there Parker." Fury tells me.
I nod, slowly getting up from the table as I made my way to the medical bay, replaying Fury's little speech in my head.
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I make my way to the Med bay to see if I can patch myself up. When I get there, I open the door to see Agent Romanoff sitting with a man I recognised as Clint Barton, Hawkeye. She looks me over to me and a look of worry washes over her.
" What happened?" Romanoff asks as I walk over to an empty bed and sit down.
" Bullet nicked me. No big deal." I huff.
As soon as I pull my shirt off, blood gushed from my wound and down my side.
" Well that's not good." I joke, laughing lightly but stopping as it hurts.
" No big deal, huh?" Romanoff scoffs.
Romanoff then stands up, coming over and pulling at my cut, making me hiss.
" It's gonna need stitches." She points out as she lets go.
She walks away, coming back with some stitches and a needle. I watch as she starts to sew me up, making me wince in pain. She then pushes me back with her hand on my chest.
" Lie down and don't look." She orders.
" First time getting stitches kid?" Barton asks.
" No, not exactly." I hiss.
" Where's Thor and Hulk?" Romanoff asks.
" Gone. We're flying ducks up here. No coms. No way of locating the Tesseract." I fill her in.
" Damn. I came out of mind control to this shit show?" Barton jokes, making me chuckle, trying to stop as it hurts like a bitch.
I feel Romanoff put a big bandaid on my side, flattening it out against my skin.
" There you go." Romanoff voices.
I sit up, pulling my t-shirt down, not feeling great but better.
" Here."
I look up to see Romaoff standing there with a plastic cup of water in her hand.
" Thanks." I smile, taking it from her and sipping it.
" You good kid?" Barton asks.
" I should be asking you that. You know with the whole, Loki mind controlling thing." I point out, making him nod.
" Well, I'm still here aren't I?" Barton smiles.
" How's your ankle?" I ask, turning to Romanoff.
" It's fine. It's just a little bruise." She informs me.
We all turn our heads as the door of the med bay opens, Steve coming in full gear with his shield in his hand.
" Suit up. Loki's in New York." He states.
My heart sinks when he says New York. The safety I felt for my family disintegrated in seconds as worry took its place.
I sprung up from my bed and rushed out the door. I rush to the war room, going to grab my gear and realise I've got no suit.
" Shit." I mumble.
" Parker." I hear behind me, turning to see Hill.
Hill looks at me before stepping to the side, showing that Shield suit they were making me.
" You can't be serious." I sigh.
" You don't have to wear it. If you want the world to know who you are, be my guest." Hill shrugs.
I sigh, going over and taking the suit, putting it on reluctantly. I take my mask, looking on the inside seeing Fury put the exact same tech in here as what was in my previous one.
" Let's go Parker!" I hear Barton call from the entrance.
I head towards the exit, joining up with Steve, Barton and Romanoff in the hall as Steve leads the group down the hallway.
We turn the corner, heading for the hangar bay. I make my way through the hanger and over to the quinjet. An agent is standing just by the jet. As I nearer it, he stands between it and me.
" You aren't authori—" I cut him off as I bump shoulders with him as I barge past him, paying him no attention.
" Son, just... don't." I hear Steve behind me as I make my way into the jet.
I get in the jet and go straight to the pilot seat. I plop down on the seat and flip a few switches on the celling and the engines start up.
" Parker, hang back. I'll fly." The man from the med bay says as he comes to my side.
" No, it's ok. You just got out of the med bay, you need to rest more than I do." I tell him as I press more buttons, getting ready to take off.
Romanoff then takes a seat in the copilot seat. I look over to her and she smirks at me, holding in a chuckle.
" Nice suit." She compliments.
" Yeah yeah." I grumble pulling at the suit on my arm.
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We are now heading into New York. The only thing visible is destruction. My heart is racing at the thought of Peter or May being caught up in the mix. I look up to the sky and see a large portal where the Chitauri are coming from, and guess where it is. Right above Stark's 'monument'.
" Of course. The Tesseract needs a self substantial power source to work." I realise.
" Stark, we're on your three headed Northeast." Romanoff speaks into coms.
" What, did you stop for drive-through?" Tony sasses, making me roll my eyes.
" Swing up park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." Stark instructs.
Nat follows Tony's instructions as she manoeuvres the jet towards the location, taking control as I stand up. Once we get there, Tony flies past our jet, leaving a group of Chitauri in front of us. Romanoff opens fire and the Chitauri are ridden from the air.
We start to fly up towards Stark Tower, towards the portals source. When we nearer it, we see Thor and Loki fighting on the terrace.
" Nat?" Clint calls to her.
" I see him." Nat nods as neither of them tear their eyes from the two gods.
Nat then opens fire on Loki as he hits Thor away. Loki point his sceptre at the jet and it hits its wing, spiralling it out of control. We are now in a nose-dive free-for-all, heading straight for the pavement below. Steve grips onto the handles on the ceiling for support so he doesn't fall. I start to head for the very back of the jet. I hit the button for the ramp to fall and jump out of the back of the jet.
" Parker! What are you doing!?" Steve shouts in coms.
" At this speed, when the jet hits the ground, Romanoff and Barton won't survive. I'm gonna try and slow it down." I explain.
I shoot my webs at the front of the jet and to a building, forcing the nose of the jet up, creating more drag and forcing it to slow down. The jet gets closer to the ground, pieces of its frame coming off.
The jet crashes onto the pavement, skidding along it. The jet the stops as it collides with the base of a building. It cough, waving my hand in there to try get the dust away.
Steve, Nat and Clint come running out of the jet unharmed and I release a breath. I swing over and land beside them.
We all hear a loud roar from the portal and look up. A big, worm looking alien monster comes from it. It flys through the sky in armour, Chitauri soldiers jumping off it's back.
" Stark, you seeing this?" Steve asks into coms.
" Seeing? Still working on believing." Tony chuckles.
" Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" Tony asks.
" Banner?" I question, confused.
" Just keep me posted." Tony orders .
We all the start running down the street, looking at all the Chitauri soldiers. We get to the end of the street and see a group of Chitauri. We hide behind a car as we observe them.
" What the hell?" Steve breaths.
" Let's be honest here, not the strangest thing we are ever going to see in New York." I quip.
I then jump from behind the car and run over to the group of Chitauri. When they see us, they start shooting what looks to be blasts of energy from their weapons. I dodge the shoots, making my way closer. When I am close enough, I shoot webs in two of their faces while I deal with the other three. I punch the first one and it goes down with ease. The other two come forward and I web the two of them, pulling them together to collide with each other. The other two that have now gotten the web of their faces come charging at me. I ready myself to hit them when they are shot by some one behind me.
" I had it." I pant over my shoulder.
" Sure you did." Romanoff comments.
Three more come from behind a flipped car, pointing their weapons in my direction. They ready to fire when they are electrocuted form above, killing them. Thor lands on the street where their bodies lie, walking over to us.
" What's the story upstairs?" Steve asks from beside me.
" The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." He explains.
" Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys." Tony confirms through coms.
" How do we do this?" Nat asks.
" As a team." Steve confirms.
" I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor says.
" Really? Get in line." Clint chimes in.
" Save it." Steve scolds.
" Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild." Steve explains as he makes his way to the front of the group.
" We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to..." Steve trails off as we hear the purring of an engine behind us.
We all look over to see Bruce pulling up on a motorbike. He then stops and hops off, leaning the bike against a car as we make our way over.
" So, this all seems horrible." Bruce says as he gestured around.
" I've seen worse." Nat shrugs.
" Sorry." He apologises.
" No, we could use a little worse." Nat points out.
" Stark, we got him." Steve says into coms.
" Banner?" He asks for confirmation.
" Just like you said." I add.
" Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony tells us.
We then see him turn the corner with the worm alien behind him, destroying everything in its path.
" I-I don't see how that's a party." Nat stutters.
" Dr Banner. Now might be a good time for you to get angry." Steve says to him.
He then grunts, his neck turning green but nothing else.
" Uh, he's gonna need a minute." Banner tells us.
" What!? Not now! Come on!" Clint gives out.
" Ok, time for plan B." Tony comes through coms.
" Parker, you're up." He says.
" What?" Nat asks.
" On it." I say as I jump, swinging towards it.
I nearer it and I start to feel a tingling sensation throughout my body. I clench my fists as I start to run faster, closing in on it. The monster comes close to me and I punch it, slowing it in it's path. My orange electricity changing color to... blue. The tail came over its head towards the others.
I see a large green monster jump up, punching its tail, sending it back forward. The monster finally stops dead in its tracks, lying dead on the street.
I then lean against it's head as I catch my breath.
" N-n-next time *pants* green rage can do it." I pant.
Hulk then lands back on the street as we all gather in a circle, looking up at the army. All the creatures roar in anger and Hulk roars back. We all look up and see two more worm aliens coming through the portal along with more Chitauri soldiers.
" Guys..." Romanoff trails off, getting our attention.
" Call it, Captain." I tell him.
" All right, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment." He speaks up.
" Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or turn it to ash." He orders.
" Can you give my a lift?" Clint asks.
" Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony jokes as he grabs Clint, flying off.
" Thor, we gotta bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightening. Light the bastards up." Steve tells him, making Thor nod as he takes off.
" You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here." He says to Nat.
" And Hulk." He calls to get it's attention.
" Smash." He orders as he points to it.
The monster then smiled before jumping off to fight.
" What about me?" I ask.
" I need you in those buildings. The Chitauri are everywhere. I need you to take out the ones in high places and try think of a way to get that portal shut." He tells me.
I nod to him before swinging off into one of the nearby buildings, smashing through the window to be meet with a group of aliens looking my way.
This is going to be a long day.