Chapter 30: 30
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The backpack on Bobbi's back shifted around to surround her body. The small catoms moved around like purple liquid, surrounding her chest, across her abdomen, then down to her legs. Then they solidified in a single moment. Bobbi gasped, looking down at herself.
She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers.
"Whoa. This is cool," Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. "Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?"
She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow.
"It's a, uh," I coughed before lying. "A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good."
"Huh... I like it."
"Good to know," I said with a grin. "How about you guys?"
The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor.
Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket.
"Thanks, handsome," Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. "Warrior!" With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor.
She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers.
Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material.
"Whoa!" Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. "Careful!"
"Oh, sorry!" Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors.
And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings.
Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename.
"Nomad," he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had.
The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor.
"Geeze!" Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged.
"Bucky," I said with a scowl. "Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here."
Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. "You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too."
"It's over five hundred pounds," I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together.
Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename.
"Dial/Falcon."
Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black.
Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. "Okay, we're good to go."
My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving.
"Whoa, can mine do that?" Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets.
Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. "Okay, kids, how about we get down to business."
"He's right," Sam put his wings away. "Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?"
"We'll be there in one minute," X responded.
I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist.
"Okay, you all look pretty now," Creel grumbled. "Can we do this already?"
"Jealous?" Hartley asked mischievously.
"More like anxious," Creel smirked. "You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably an Alien situation."
"What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?" Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin.
"Well, we ain't Marines," Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. "So we should be okay."
"In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies," I said weakly.
"Hollywood?" Bucky frowned. "Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?"
"Pop culture night's going to get full," Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look.
"If we ever have time for a pop culture night," Bobbi sighed sadly.
Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling.
"Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies," he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door.
X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial.
"In three...two...one," X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop. "Drop!"
The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on.
Director Maria Hill
As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of the Enterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier.
"Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?"
"They're going well," Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. "Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?"
Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. "You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it."
"And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job," Gonzales grumbled.
"Robert," Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily.
"They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms," Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. "Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life."
"I wouldn't do any less," Maria said warmly.
Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. "I suppose I will see you both later?"
"No doubt about it," Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well.
With that, Gonzales turned and walked away.
"...He's kind of intense," May said.
Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door.
Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled.
"Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend," she said in joking tones.
Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. "Boyfriend?"
"What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?" Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. "My girls. Are they safe?"
"They are," Maria took out a tablet. "You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night."
"Got to say, kinda clever of you," Coulson added. "Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages."
"Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done," Davida leaned forward. "Are they safe? Tell me that."
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders."
Davida's fist tightened. "Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-"
"I promised that they would be safe for traded information," Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully.
In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get.
But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect.
Maria was still grateful for the information of course. Thanks to them, they now knew more about the structure of Strucker's organization then they ever had. Including that Wolfgang Von Strucker was in charge of anything substantial.
But Davida needed to know the truth.
"Strucker and Sterns are playing games, and we think your girls are being played like pieces on the board," Maria said simply.
"We'll work to protect them," May added. "The Avengers will do their best to save them. But they need to keep playing along."
"You can't guarantee that," Davida said viciously. "Tell me why I shouldn't just fight my way out and get them myself?"
The collar on her neck began to glow a brighter green along the lines of circuitry. A bead of sweat appeared on Davida's face as she fought the dampening effects of the collar. May shifted her feet and moved her hands slightly, face hardening. Davida and May eyed each other, and the tension rose.
Until Coulson stepped forward. "Actually, if I may interrupt the eminent catfight?" Davida and May glared at him. Coulson smiled genially in response. "We have two people who were kidnapped, friends who your team says are there. We have as much to gain from finding that castle as you do. Maybe we can make a deal. Something worth your while."
Davida frowned as Maria hid a smile.
Good old Coulson, the master of communication.
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Rhodey and Sam took off as soon as they jumped out of the Defiant, flying into the air. The others and I landed on the ground with ease, and I reached for my back to flip my rifle into my hand, twisting my wrists to activate my helmet. My rounded helmet snapped into place around my head, and the augmented reality vision activated. It connected with my rifle, showing how much ammunition I had and providing me with a crosshairs like in a standard FPS. With a thought, I switched to ammo type I wanted, and looked around with my gun raised the way Natasha and Sam had taught me.
Damn, I felt badass. Yes, it would have been easier to simply change into an alien, but some part of me wanted to play with my new toys.
We'd landed in the middle of a tarmac, Sam and Rhodey taking off towards a hanger as planned. I ran to join them while the others headed towards the prison complex.
I almost stumbled as I ran. My speed had been massively enhanced, and it took a bit to how fast I was now moving. I tried to remember how Fasttrack ran, and soon strode across the asphalt at high speed. I tensed my legs for a moment, and leaped upwards. The jumpjets in the suit activated.
"Yeah!" I let out in excitement as I leaped forward a superhuman distance and height, propelled by the jets. I landed, then leaped again. "It's like Saints Row 4!"
I took a moment to realize what a giant nerd I was, then focused on the job.
The hanger Sam and Rhodey were headed towards was blocked by a group of soldiers in brown camo gear, tanks, and jeeps. Some helicopters rotors were spinning, about to take off. The Defiant flew over my head, and Rhodey and my Quinjet took off towards the helicopters, leaving Sam and me to take care of the soldiers in front of us.
The soldiers had seen us coming, and aimed their guns. I knelled down and brought a hand up. They started shooting at Sam, who simply twisted in the air to dodge their gunfire.
When they shot at me, I activated one of my suits abilities. A portion of my suits armor grew from my gauntlet to form a shield in front of me, and I took a moment to grin as bullets bounced off the shield in front of me.
"Eat your heart out Steve," I said. Granted, Steve's shield was much more invincible but it still felt cool to hold a shield as it vibrated under dozens of bullets slammed into it. The shield was tall and thick, with two prongs on the bottom. A quick bit of focus created cameras at the edges of the shield, and the side facing me became became clear, showing me that there were twenty-three men shooting at me, though some were aiming at Sam. None of their bullets would have been able to pierce my armor, but I decided to stick with the shield for now.
"You got this?" Sam asked, diving in the air.
"Got to use that time at the range for something," I brought my rifle up to a port on the side of my shield and remembered what I'd been taught. I took a deep breath, relaxed my body, aimed for the chest, and fired a single ICER, hitting a soldier in over his heart. He went down, and the other soldiers ducked. Deep breath, relax, fire. I missed that time, shaking a little, and focused again to hit a HYDRA soldier in the chest again. I fired again and again, missing a couple of times, but managing to do well enough to take six men down. Granted, my helmets enhanced vision, my shield, and the advanced weaponry gave me something similar to auto-aim in video games, but I felt pride nonetheless.
Sam was still flying towards the hanger. The big doors to the hanger were closed, so Sam raised his hands. He must have forgotten that his comms were on, because I heard his next muttered words.
"Hope these don't explode."
I took a moment to feel offended on behalf of Tony. Then Sam raised his hands up, and a familiar pair of energy blasts flew from his hands to slam into the doors of the hanger, blasting them apart with the repulsors on his arms.
"Yes!" Sam cried out, diving into the hanger. I felt a bit of pride in seeing the armor I'd contributed on work so well.
At least until the tank spun its turret to aim at me.
Yeah, new awesome armor or not, I wasn't going to test it against a tank shell no matter what Fitz and Tony said about it's durability and forcefields. I thought of changing the rifle to it's deadlier mode, but decided to simply reach for the Omnitrix and twist.
When the tank fired, I was already pressing down on the Omnitrix and leaping thirty feet in the air. I changed in a burst of green light as a shell exploded into the ground below.
"Swampfire!"
Sam flew towards the hanger as I landed from my jump. The soldiers fired on me, tearing through my form. I ignored the bullets to rip some seed pods out of my arms and toss them at the three tanks. They exploded, wrapping around the tanks with their powerful vines. The tanks struggled to move, turrets grinding and I allowed myself a grin at the sound of metal bending under the grip of my vines, the plant-life around me singing triumphantly.
The soldiers were still shooting at me. I raised my hands.
"Better run!" I yelled as flames came to like in my palms. The soldiers ducked behind the tanks and jeeps into cover, and I waited long enough to let them before unleashing hell.
"Woo!" I shouted triumphantly, letting two long plumes of flame out to ignite the air in front of me. I kept the flames up long enough to make sure the soldiers were pinned for the next step of my plan. I stopped releasing one of the streams with my right hand, using that hand to grab more seed pods out of me, throwing them like grenades where the vines wrapped around the soldiers and jeeps. By the time I was done, six soldiers had been ICER'd, seventeen were wrapped in vines, and more were blocked from leaving their vehicles by the vines growing over them.
I tapped the Omnitrix as soon as I knew the soldiers were captured.
"Astrodactyl!"
"This is Dial, squawk!" I cried out, blasting into the air and snapping my wings out. "Falcon, I'm coming to help!"
A loud explosion came from over where the helicopters had been about to take off.
"This is X, taking overwatch position," the Defiant rose into the air.
"War Machine, heading to rendezvous with Dial and Falcon," Rhodey flew alongside me as we headed to the hanger.
"Roger that," Sam responded. "Team B, how's it going?"
Rhodey and I flew into the hanger. The building was massive, filled with aircraft and vehicles of all kinds, the largest of which was a giant cargo plane. There were dozens of men inside, Sam fighting them. He hovered in the air and raised his hands, repulsors letting lose in his palms. He twirled out of the way of a burst from a machine gun, blasting the offending soldier into a jeep behind him.
"I feel less special now," Rhodey mused next to me, taking a spot at the doors Sam had blown apart. He started shooting his own repulsor blasts, the minigun on his shoulder roaring. I flew to the upper level of the hanger, twirling to kick one of the many soldiers scrambling on the upper level in the chest with my clawed feet before sliding to a stop on the floor, my wings pulling in. I let out a energy whip from my left arm and twirled it with instinctive expertise to grab another soldier, pulling him in for a clothesline, then released an energy blast from my right hand that sent another man to the ground. A HYDRA operative raised his gun to shoot me, and I sliced it in half with my energy whip, offhandedly shooting another soldier in the back as he tried to run.
"This is Mockingbird, we're facing some opposition," I heard the crack of ICER's being fired, followed by Creel roaring in rage and Hartley laughing over the comms. "Barnes, can you-" Some loud noises sounded out. "Thank you. Falcon, when you're done with the hanger, we could use some help over here."
"Squawk! Where does HYDRA get so many soldiers?" I grumbled. "No respect for the Conservation of Ninjutsu, I tell you."
Something hit me like a hammer, pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I squawked in surprise, stepping back from the sudden impact and pain. I looked at my shoulder to see that my scales had been slightly damaged by something, and looked up to see some soldiers on top of the cargo plane in the center of the hanger firing at me and Sam. I mean, they were shooting at Rhodey too, but he ignored their bullets to focus on the guys trying to escape, destroying a tank when they tried to get in. I leaped for the cargo plane at the same time Sam flew towards it. There must have been ten guys on top when Sam and I landed among them. I front kicked one guy, blocked a fist thrown at me, and ducked as Sam rolled over my back to punch another soldier. I uppercut a man into the air, and fired a blast into one other man's chest.
Sam blocked a HYDRA soldiers kick and punched him in the face with his gauntleted left hand. He twisted his hands when one of the HYDRA soldiers raised a pistol to his face. Sam's helmet snapped over his face when the HYDRA soldier shot him. The bullet bounced off, Sam stepping back from the impact, then stepping forward with a powerful front kick to the offending soldiers ribs.
With a bit more space to work, I snapped my arms to the side, my energy whips lashing out, and swung them outwards. I heard Sam firing his repulsors, both of us unleashing our wings to float upwards as we attacked, back to back all the while. Rhodey flew to join us.
For about thirty seconds, the three of us unleashed hell. I pulled in my energy whips to start firing blasts of green energy. Rhodey's minigun roared on his shoulder, his gauntlet guns joining in. Sam grabbed one of his new guns and fired it on automatic, yelling as the three of us flew back to back.
Just like that, it was over. Every HYDRA soldier in the hanger was either unconscious or dead.
"This is Falcon," Sam twisted in the air, Rhodey and I joining him, Sam at the front, Rhodey on his left, me on his right. "We're coming to join you, team B."
"See you then," Bucky replied calmly.
Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Sharon woke up gasping, taking massive gulps of air. She struggled to rise, only to feel something pulling at her arms and legs. She tried to move again, blearily looking down.
She'd been strapped to a bed by thick brown restrains. Sharon stared at them, uncomprehending.
"Sharon," she turned to see someone lying in a bed next to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. When she looked again, Trip was giving her a weak smile. "Hey, girl. How you feeling?"
The young man was wearing the same restraints she was. Sharon shook her head, looking down at the IV in her arm, then at the room.
"Trip? Where are we?"
"Hell if I know," Trip looked around as well. "I woke up a few seconds before you did."
The room was like a strange combination of ancient and new. The walls and floor were all made of stone, like that of a medieval castle. There was medical equipment, computers, and some people in lab coats roaming around. Wooden doors at the other side of the room were guarded by two men in black military gear.
"Hey!" Trip yelled at a man passing by in a lab coat. "Where are we!?"
The man ignored him.
"We must have been captured by HYDRA," Sharon concluded, her mind still muddled by whatever drug had been used to knock her out. "What was that thing?"
"Aberration," someone walked up to them. Sharon struggled to look at him, only to wonder if she was still drugged. The man before her had green skin and a massive head. He smiled down at them, stepping to stand between their beds. "I apologize for the restraints. I'm afraid you both would fight against us otherwise."
"Yeah, you're right," Trip said easily, smiling. "I'm probably going to punch you the second I can, Mr. Bobblehead."
The big headed man laughed. "I'm sure you would! But don't worry. Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be great friends."
Two men wheeled carts over to the beds, stopping them in front of Sharon and Trips. On the carts were large flatscreen tvs.
"Oh hey, you brought us entertainment?" Sharon asked, trying for bravado despite the sudden realization she was feeling.
"I might need headphones," Trip said. "I mean, I love Sharon, but her action movies are way too cheesy."
"You are both funny," the large headed man smiled. "I hope my improvements to this method allow you to keep that."
The televisions turned on. Blinking swirls of lights appeared on the screens, and Sharon and Trip both began to struggle as they began to realize what was happening.
"After all, brainwashing still isn't an exact science."
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
The backpack on Bobbi's back shifted around to surround her body. The small catoms moved around like purple liquid, surrounding her chest, across her abdomen, then down to her legs. Then they solidified in a single moment. Bobbi gasped, looking down at herself.
She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers.
"Whoa. This is cool," Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. "Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?"
She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow.
"It's a, uh," I coughed before lying. "A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good."
"Huh... I like it."
"Good to know," I said with a grin. "How about you guys?"
The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor.
Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket.
"Thanks, handsome," Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. "Warrior!" With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor.
She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers.
Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material.
"Whoa!" Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. "Careful!"
"Oh, sorry!" Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors.
And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings.
Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename.
"Nomad," he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had.
The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor.
"Geeze!" Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged.
"Bucky," I said with a scowl. "Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here."
Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. "You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too."
"It's over five hundred pounds," I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together.
Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename.
"Dial/Falcon."
Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black.
Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. "Okay, we're good to go."
My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving.
"Whoa, can mine do that?" Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets.
Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. "Okay, kids, how about we get down to business."
"He's right," Sam put his wings away. "Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?"
"We'll be there in one minute," X responded.
I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist.
"Okay, you all look pretty now," Creel grumbled. "Can we do this already?"
"Jealous?" Hartley asked mischievously.
"More like anxious," Creel smirked. "You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably an Alien situation."
"What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?" Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin.
"Well, we ain't Marines," Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. "So we should be okay."
"In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies," I said weakly.
"Hollywood?" Bucky frowned. "Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?"
"Pop culture night's going to get full," Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look.
"If we ever have time for a pop culture night," Bobbi sighed sadly.
Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling.
"Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies," he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door.
X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial.
"In three...two...one," X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop. "Drop!"
The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on.
Director Maria Hill
As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of the Enterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier.
"Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?"
"They're going well," Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. "Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?"
Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. "You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it."
"And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job," Gonzales grumbled.
"Robert," Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily.
"They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms," Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. "Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life."
"I wouldn't do any less," Maria said warmly.
Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. "I suppose I will see you both later?"
"No doubt about it," Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well.
With that, Gonzales turned and walked away.
"...He's kind of intense," May said.
Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door.
Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled.
"Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend," she said in joking tones.
Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. "Boyfriend?"
"What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?" Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. "My girls. Are they safe?"
"They are," Maria took out a tablet. "You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night."
"Got to say, kinda clever of you," Coulson added. "Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages."
"Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done," Davida leaned forward. "Are they safe? Tell me that."
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders."
Davida's fist tightened. "Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-"
"I promised that they would be safe for traded information," Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully.
In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get.
But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect.
Maria was still grateful for the information of course. Thanks to them, they now knew more about the structure of Strucker's organization then they ever had. Including that Wolfgang Von Strucker was in charge of anything substantial.
But Davida needed to know the truth.
"Strucker and Sterns are playing games, and we think your girls are being played like pieces on the board," Maria said simply.
"We'll work to protect them," May added. "The Avengers will do their best to save them. But they need to keep playing along."
"You can't guarantee that," Davida said viciously. "Tell me why I shouldn't just fight my way out and get them myself?"
The collar on her neck began to glow a brighter green along the lines of circuitry. A bead of sweat appeared on Davida's face as she fought the dampening effects of the collar. May shifted her feet and moved her hands slightly, face hardening. Davida and May eyed each other, and the tension rose.
Until Coulson stepped forward. "Actually, if I may interrupt the eminent catfight?" Davida and May glared at him. Coulson smiled genially in response. "We have two people who were kidnapped, friends who your team says are there. We have as much to gain from finding that castle as you do. Maybe we can make a deal. Something worth your while."
Davida frowned as Maria hid a smile.
Good old Coulson, the master of communication.
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Rhodey and Sam took off as soon as they jumped out of the Defiant, flying into the air. The others and I landed on the ground with ease, and I reached for my back to flip my rifle into my hand, twisting my wrists to activate my helmet. My rounded helmet snapped into place around my head, and the augmented reality vision activated. It connected with my rifle, showing how much ammunition I had and providing me with a crosshairs like in a standard FPS. With a thought, I switched to ammo type I wanted, and looked around with my gun raised the way Natasha and Sam had taught me.
Damn, I felt badass. Yes, it would have been easier to simply change into an alien, but some part of me wanted to play with my new toys.
We'd landed in the middle of a tarmac, Sam and Rhodey taking off towards a hanger as planned. I ran to join them while the others headed towards the prison complex.
I almost stumbled as I ran. My speed had been massively enhanced, and it took a bit to how fast I was now moving. I tried to remember how Fasttrack ran, and soon strode across the asphalt at high speed. I tensed my legs for a moment, and leaped upwards. The jumpjets in the suit activated.
"Yeah!" I let out in excitement as I leaped forward a superhuman distance and height, propelled by the jets. I landed, then leaped again. "It's like Saints Row 4!"
I took a moment to realize what a giant nerd I was, then focused on the job.
The hanger Sam and Rhodey were headed towards was blocked by a group of soldiers in brown camo gear, tanks, and jeeps. Some helicopters rotors were spinning, about to take off. The Defiant flew over my head, and Rhodey and my Quinjet took off towards the helicopters, leaving Sam and me to take care of the soldiers in front of us.
The soldiers had seen us coming, and aimed their guns. I knelled down and brought a hand up. They started shooting at Sam, who simply twisted in the air to dodge their gunfire.
When they shot at me, I activated one of my suits abilities. A portion of my suits armor grew from my gauntlet to form a shield in front of me, and I took a moment to grin as bullets bounced off the shield in front of me.
"Eat your heart out Steve," I said. Granted, Steve's shield was much more invincible but it still felt cool to hold a shield as it vibrated under dozens of bullets slammed into it. The shield was tall and thick, with two prongs on the bottom. A quick bit of focus created cameras at the edges of the shield, and the side facing me became became clear, showing me that there were twenty-three men shooting at me, though some were aiming at Sam. None of their bullets would have been able to pierce my armor, but I decided to stick with the shield for now.
"You got this?" Sam asked, diving in the air.
"Got to use that time at the range for something," I brought my rifle up to a port on the side of my shield and remembered what I'd been taught. I took a deep breath, relaxed my body, aimed for the chest, and fired a single ICER, hitting a soldier in over his heart. He went down, and the other soldiers ducked. Deep breath, relax, fire. I missed that time, shaking a little, and focused again to hit a HYDRA soldier in the chest again. I fired again and again, missing a couple of times, but managing to do well enough to take six men down. Granted, my helmets enhanced vision, my shield, and the advanced weaponry gave me something similar to auto-aim in video games, but I felt pride nonetheless.
Sam was still flying towards the hanger. The big doors to the hanger were closed, so Sam raised his hands. He must have forgotten that his comms were on, because I heard his next muttered words.
"Hope these don't explode."
I took a moment to feel offended on behalf of Tony. Then Sam raised his hands up, and a familiar pair of energy blasts flew from his hands to slam into the doors of the hanger, blasting them apart with the repulsors on his arms.
"Yes!" Sam cried out, diving into the hanger. I felt a bit of pride in seeing the armor I'd contributed on work so well.
At least until the tank spun its turret to aim at me.
Yeah, new awesome armor or not, I wasn't going to test it against a tank shell no matter what Fitz and Tony said about it's durability and forcefields. I thought of changing the rifle to it's deadlier mode, but decided to simply reach for the Omnitrix and twist.
When the tank fired, I was already pressing down on the Omnitrix and leaping thirty feet in the air. I changed in a burst of green light as a shell exploded into the ground below.
"Swampfire!"
Sam flew towards the hanger as I landed from my jump. The soldiers fired on me, tearing through my form. I ignored the bullets to rip some seed pods out of my arms and toss them at the three tanks. They exploded, wrapping around the tanks with their powerful vines. The tanks struggled to move, turrets grinding and I allowed myself a grin at the sound of metal bending under the grip of my vines, the plant-life around me singing triumphantly.
The soldiers were still shooting at me. I raised my hands.
"Better run!" I yelled as flames came to like in my palms. The soldiers ducked behind the tanks and jeeps into cover, and I waited long enough to let them before unleashing hell.
"Woo!" I shouted triumphantly, letting two long plumes of flame out to ignite the air in front of me. I kept the flames up long enough to make sure the soldiers were pinned for the next step of my plan. I stopped releasing one of the streams with my right hand, using that hand to grab more seed pods out of me, throwing them like grenades where the vines wrapped around the soldiers and jeeps. By the time I was done, six soldiers had been ICER'd, seventeen were wrapped in vines, and more were blocked from leaving their vehicles by the vines growing over them.
I tapped the Omnitrix as soon as I knew the soldiers were captured.
"Astrodactyl!"
"This is Dial, squawk!" I cried out, blasting into the air and snapping my wings out. "Falcon, I'm coming to help!"
A loud explosion came from over where the helicopters had been about to take off.
"This is X, taking overwatch position," the Defiant rose into the air.
"War Machine, heading to rendezvous with Dial and Falcon," Rhodey flew alongside me as we headed to the hanger.
"Roger that," Sam responded. "Team B, how's it going?"
Rhodey and I flew into the hanger. The building was massive, filled with aircraft and vehicles of all kinds, the largest of which was a giant cargo plane. There were dozens of men inside, Sam fighting them. He hovered in the air and raised his hands, repulsors letting lose in his palms. He twirled out of the way of a burst from a machine gun, blasting the offending soldier into a jeep behind him.
"I feel less special now," Rhodey mused next to me, taking a spot at the doors Sam had blown apart. He started shooting his own repulsor blasts, the minigun on his shoulder roaring. I flew to the upper level of the hanger, twirling to kick one of the many soldiers scrambling on the upper level in the chest with my clawed feet before sliding to a stop on the floor, my wings pulling in. I let out a energy whip from my left arm and twirled it with instinctive expertise to grab another soldier, pulling him in for a clothesline, then released an energy blast from my right hand that sent another man to the ground. A HYDRA operative raised his gun to shoot me, and I sliced it in half with my energy whip, offhandedly shooting another soldier in the back as he tried to run.
"This is Mockingbird, we're facing some opposition," I heard the crack of ICER's being fired, followed by Creel roaring in rage and Hartley laughing over the comms. "Barnes, can you-" Some loud noises sounded out. "Thank you. Falcon, when you're done with the hanger, we could use some help over here."
"Squawk! Where does HYDRA get so many soldiers?" I grumbled. "No respect for the Conservation of Ninjutsu, I tell you."
Something hit me like a hammer, pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I squawked in surprise, stepping back from the sudden impact and pain. I looked at my shoulder to see that my scales had been slightly damaged by something, and looked up to see some soldiers on top of the cargo plane in the center of the hanger firing at me and Sam. I mean, they were shooting at Rhodey too, but he ignored their bullets to focus on the guys trying to escape, destroying a tank when they tried to get in. I leaped for the cargo plane at the same time Sam flew towards it. There must have been ten guys on top when Sam and I landed among them. I front kicked one guy, blocked a fist thrown at me, and ducked as Sam rolled over my back to punch another soldier. I uppercut a man into the air, and fired a blast into one other man's chest.
Sam blocked a HYDRA soldiers kick and punched him in the face with his gauntleted left hand. He twisted his hands when one of the HYDRA soldiers raised a pistol to his face. Sam's helmet snapped over his face when the HYDRA soldier shot him. The bullet bounced off, Sam stepping back from the impact, then stepping forward with a powerful front kick to the offending soldiers ribs.
With a bit more space to work, I snapped my arms to the side, my energy whips lashing out, and swung them outwards. I heard Sam firing his repulsors, both of us unleashing our wings to float upwards as we attacked, back to back all the while. Rhodey flew to join us.
For about thirty seconds, the three of us unleashed hell. I pulled in my energy whips to start firing blasts of green energy. Rhodey's minigun roared on his shoulder, his gauntlet guns joining in. Sam grabbed one of his new guns and fired it on automatic, yelling as the three of us flew back to back.
Just like that, it was over. Every HYDRA soldier in the hanger was either unconscious or dead.
"This is Falcon," Sam twisted in the air, Rhodey and I joining him, Sam at the front, Rhodey on his left, me on his right. "We're coming to join you, team B."
"See you then," Bucky replied calmly.
Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Sharon woke up gasping, taking massive gulps of air. She struggled to rise, only to feel something pulling at her arms and legs. She tried to move again, blearily looking down.
She'd been strapped to a bed by thick brown restrains. Sharon stared at them, uncomprehending.
"Sharon," she turned to see someone lying in a bed next to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. When she looked again, Trip was giving her a weak smile. "Hey, girl. How you feeling?"
The young man was wearing the same restraints she was. Sharon shook her head, looking down at the IV in her arm, then at the room.
"Trip? Where are we?"
"Hell if I know," Trip looked around as well. "I woke up a few seconds before you did."
The room was like a strange combination of ancient and new. The walls and floor were all made of stone, like that of a medieval castle. There was medical equipment, computers, and some people in lab coats roaming around. Wooden doors at the other side of the room were guarded by two men in black military gear.
"Hey!" Trip yelled at a man passing by in a lab coat. "Where are we!?"
The man ignored him.
"We must have been captured by HYDRA," Sharon concluded, her mind still muddled by whatever drug had been used to knock her out. "What was that thing?"
"Aberration," someone walked up to them. Sharon struggled to look at him, only to wonder if she was still drugged. The man before her had green skin and a massive head. He smiled down at them, stepping to stand between their beds. "I apologize for the restraints. I'm afraid you both would fight against us otherwise."
"Yeah, you're right," Trip said easily, smiling. "I'm probably going to punch you the second I can, Mr. Bobblehead."
The big headed man laughed. "I'm sure you would! But don't worry. Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be great friends."
Two men wheeled carts over to the beds, stopping them in front of Sharon and Trips. On the carts were large flatscreen tvs.
"Oh hey, you brought us entertainment?" Sharon asked, trying for bravado despite the sudden realization she was feeling.
"I might need headphones," Trip said. "I mean, I love Sharon, but her action movies are way too cheesy."
"You are both funny," the large headed man smiled. "I hope my improvements to this method allow you to keep that."
The televisions turned on. Blinking swirls of lights appeared on the screens, and Sharon and Trip both began to struggle as they began to realize what was happening.
"After all, brainwashing still isn't an exact science."
The backpack on Bobbi's back shifted around to surround her body. The small catoms moved around like purple liquid, surrounding her chest, across her abdomen, then down to her legs. Then they solidified in a single moment. Bobbi gasped, looking down at herself. She'd designed the armor herself, making the chest, abdomen, and inner thighs a shade of white, and the rest a combination of purple and black. The very center above her abdomen was triangular, with a glowing purple light that strummed. Her boots had a small purple force field hovering just above them, and her batons now had purple highlights. Bobbi looked at her hands, the blonde grinning at the sight of the light armor gauntlets surrounding her fingers. "Whoa. This is cool," Bobbi twisted her hands, and a helmet rose over her head, a pointed design with a long slit where her eyes were that glowed purple against the white of her helmet. A hood sprouted over her head with another of her wrists, colored dark purple as well. She twisted her hands one more time, and the helmet and hood faded, leaving Bobbi grinning at us. "Oh, that is awesome. Wait, what is this?" She tapped her chest on the logo of a bird holding an arrow. "It's a, uh," I coughed before lying. "A Mockingbird. You can get rid of it, but I thought it was good." "Huh... I like it." "Good to know," I said with a grin. "How about you guys?" The others rushed to put their packs on, while I left mine on the floor. Hartley turned hers on first. Unlike the others, she had a small backpack, a jacket, and a fanny pack to put on, all of which weighed quite a bit. She struggled a bit, and Creel moved forward to help her with the jacket. "Thanks, handsome," Hartley said with a wink. Creel smirked at that, stepping back to let her settle. "Warrior!" With the call of her codename, Isabelle Hartley was covered in her armor. She looked very different from Bobbi, for good reason. When we'd created the armor designs, we gave people three options. Bobbi had chosen the light gear, made for fighters who favored movement over durability. I'd chosen the medium personally, wanting to be able to move, but also knowing I wasn't as fast as everyone else. Steve and Bucky had been two of the three who had gone for heavy armor, and those two had gone without the strength enhancers. Hartley had chosen the heavy variant as well, and she had the strength enhancing gear to boot. She rose up several inches in height, and a thick plate of armor ran across her body, covering her shoulders, her thighs, shins, all the way to her boots. She was dressed in over three hundred pounds of weight, all of it having been spread between the backpack, fanny pack, and jacket to make it somewhat manageable. But portions of the catoms settled into an exoskeleton under her armor, enhancing her strength. She raised her arms up with ease, grinning happily at her gold and black patterned armor. She had a small skirt at her waist, evocative of Xena: Warrior Princess' skirt, which I found kinda funny. She put a hand to her waist, where the handle of a Model 3 BCW quickly formed from the catoms. She clenched the handle and raised it, smiling viciously as a blade grew from the handle to make it into a short knife. She held it sideways and furrowed her brow in concentration, grinning when the blade extended into a massive broadsword, portions of her gauntlets moving into the blade to give it the extra material. "Whoa!" Bobbi leaned back as the three-foot blade grew in her direction, dodging it. "Careful!" "Oh, sorry!" Hartley, embarrassed, shortened the sword back into a knife, then back to a handle, putting it away. She put the Model 3 away at her waist, then brought her arms up and twisted her wrists. Her helmet came across her face and solidified into a smooth round metal helmet that was tinged with gold around the black sections, shaped like that of a Roman soldier's. Underneath, I knew that she was currently getting an augmented reality view of the world, the suits VI helping her through the cameras and sensors. And I did mean VI. Jarvis, X, Tony, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, Jury Rigg, Skye, and everyone else had made sure I didn't make another accidental AI. I was very keen on not giving X accidental siblings. Bucky went next as Hartley put her helmet away. Unlike Hartley, his armor was in the form of a single large backpack, which had to weigh around five hundred pounds. He flipped onto his back with ease and said his codename. "Nomad," he said, not raising his voice the way Hartley and Bobbi had. The large backpack shifted in an instant, covering his entire body. He twisted his hands immediately, his helmet rising to move over his face. His suit was black with green circuitry running through it, blending in with his robotic arm. The chestplate was thick across his pectorals, and the armor ran down his abdomen in extra plates. His thighs and shins were just as heavily armored. Yet, despite the enormous amounts of plating and a lack of an exoskeleton like Hartley's, Bucky moved very easily in the suit. The helmet that rose over his head was... unsettling. Like a bird-of-prey, somehow. There was a scope style eyepiece over the left eye of the helmet that glared out at us with a bright green light. He twisted his hands again, and the green lights on the suit faded to black. Another twist of his wrists and his entire body faded away. Active camouflage. There was an unsettling click I recognized as the Model 2 BCW Rifle. The next moment he was sitting in his seat, holding the sniper version of the rifle in his lap, making us jump at his sudden and silent move. He kept the helmet on. On the center of his chest, barely visible, was a star, imprinted on the black of his armor. "Geeze!" Rhodey and I said in unison. Rhodey looked at me, and I shrugged. "Bucky," I said with a scowl. "Can you be less... sneaky, when I'm around? Normal guy here." Bucky chuckled a little, twisting his hands to put away the helmet. "You did good work. I can barely feel the weight too." "It's over five hundred pounds," I grumbled, looking over at Sam. He was putting his wingpack on his back, and I did the same with my own small backpack. With a shared look, we said out codenames together. Still blew my mind that I had a cool codename. "Dial/Falcon." Just like that, our suits rose across our bodies. Falcon's focused on his chest and wingpack, leaving large portions of his body free. His gauntlets had repulsor weapons on the back, and his guns had changed to become Model 1 variants on his hips. His boots gained rocket ports, and his wingpack was streamlined into a smooth black variant. I knew that the wings had been similarly changed. Sam twisted his wrists, and a pair of goggles appeared over his eyes. Another twist and a mask made of metal appeared. It was tight to his head, with the shape of the goggles over his eyes and a mouthpiece that connected to an air tank on his wingpack. His chestplate had a symbol of an falcon in red, feathers spread out across the black. Sam flicked out his arms and his wings snapped outwards. He grinned at them, bringing his hands up. "Okay, we're good to go." My own suit was simple in design. A chestplate with an angular design, armored shoulders, gauntlets that left my elbows open and the Omnitrix available. I wore armor on my legs and boots. The whole suit was colored black with green circuitry, with the Omnitrix symbol on the center of my chest. I made sure my ponytail was still in place, and touched my beard, sighing in relief when they were intact. With a snap to the side, one of my gauntlets sprouted a blade from the top in a burst of catoms moving. "Whoa, can mine do that?" Hartley asked, excitedly snapping arms out. She giggled when two blades sprouted from her gauntlets. Rhodey smirked at the newbies with their power suits, and got into his own. The War Machine, newly upgraded and repaired, snapped over his body, turning him into the tallest person in the room. "Okay, kids, how about we get down to business." "He's right," Sam put his wings away. "Arm up, and get ready. X, you ready?" "We'll be there in one minute,"X responded. I turned and grabbed my weapons, putting my handgun in my leg holster, my rifle against my back, and my melee handle to my waist. "Okay, you all look pretty now," Creel grumbled. "Can we do this already?" "Jealous?" Hartley asked mischievously. "More like anxious," Creel smirked. "You heard Sam. 'Failed experiments'. That means monsters. Probably anAliensituation." "What, like Thor, or the Chitauri?" Bucky asked curiously. It was a reminder that he knew less about pop culture that even Steve at the moment. HYDRA apparently never thought the knowledge would be useful for a super-assassin. "Well, we ain't Marines," Rhodey said, striding to the center of the room. "So we should be okay." "In their defense, Hollywood isn't a fan of useful tactics in horror movies," I said weakly. "Hollywood?" Bucky frowned. "Why are you taking about horror movies? Like Frankenstein?" "Pop culture night's going to get full," Hartley noted, giving Bucky a sad look. "If we ever have time for a pop culture night," Bobbi sighed sadly. Creel patted Bucky on the back, before moving with the rest of us towards the back of the Defiant, Bucky following while grumbling. "Not my fault HYDRA never let me watch movies," he said. He seemed to withdraw a bit, despite the joking nature of his comment. I put a hand on his shoulder when I noticed. Bucky gave me a quick glance, then smiled a bit. With a twist of his wrists, his helmet appeared, and we both focused on the door. X began the countdown, and I brought the Omnitrix up, twisting the dial. "In three...two...one,"X said calmly, guiding the Quinjet down towards the ground. Closer and closer, until the Defiant came to a stop."Drop!" The door snapped down and we all leaped out into the air about ten feet over the ground. X spun the Defiant around and opened up it's guns. The fight was on. Director Maria Hill As the Avengers, Reserve Avengers, and BRIDGE went on their missions, Maria had business of her own. She walked through the hallways of theEnterprise, Robert Gonzales with her this time. The older BRIDGE agent kept pace with her as they strode through the helicarrier. "Gonzales, I want the Iliad out and doing it's work. How are the upgrades going?" "They're going well," Gonzales said, his voice low and gravely. "Mack has installed most of it with Fitz's help. We should be ready to leave for the work soon. Will you be keeping my best agents with your little Avengers team?" Maria looked over at Gonzales, who seemed sour. "You wanted someone you trusted to keep an eye on Creel and Bucky. They're doing it." "And now I worry if I've given them up for a new job," Gonzales grumbled. "Robert," Maria began to say. He waved it off, sighing grumpily. "They're grown women. If they want to continue, they'll do it. If they want to come back, I'll welcome them with open arms," Gonzales stopped when they came to a door where Coulson and May were waiting. "Keep them safe, Director. Those two saved my life." "I wouldn't do any less," Maria said warmly. Gonzales nodded. He turned to Coulson and May. "I suppose I will see you both later?" "No doubt about it," Coulson with a smile. May simply nodded, though she smiled as well. With that, Gonzales turned and walked away. "...He's kind of intense," May said. Maria and Coulson gave the famously stoic May a look. She cocked an eyebrow, daring them to say anything. Since neither Maria nor Coulson were that dumb, Coulson instead opened the door. Inside, a woman was sitting at a chair in front of a steel table, wearing a white prison uniform. She was wearing a metal collar that was a familiar black with green circuitry. Davida Devito looked up at the three and smiled. "Ah... you didn't bring my boyfriend," she said in joking tones. Maria cocked an eyebrow, moving to sit in front of her. "Boyfriend?" "What else do you call a guy who gets you a ring as fancy as this?" Davida tapped the collar, smirking. Despite her seeming jovialness, she was clearly not pleased with the collar. Maria was glad for it, considering it was keeping her powers in check. Davida's eyes narrowed. "My girls. Are they safe?" "They are," Maria took out a tablet. "You were right. They were checking that Facebook profile. We got in contact with them last night." "Got to say, kinda clever of you," Coulson added. "Post a specific status on a agreed profile at a specific time using newly made accounts. Clever way to pass messages." "Well it ain't full proof, but it gets the job done," Davida leaned forward. "Are they safe? Tell me that." Maria raised an eyebrow. "Yes, they are. Helen is cooperating, but she thinks Strucker may be on to her. That he's guiding your girls specifically to places and missions that Helen believes Strucker is willing to let go of, using them in some game against the other HYDRA leaders." Davida's fist tightened. "Then get them out of there. You know our deal, I promised you-" "I promised that they would be safe for traded information," Hill said calmly. She eyed Davida carefully. In the days since Dial had captured her, Davida had been almost obsessive over wanting 'her girls' to be safe. She wanted them away from Strucker, and safe from prosecution, in return for all the information BRIDGE could get. But as of now, the data Helen, Marian, and Mimi had gotten them was minuscule. They'd been kept from knowing exactly where the castle they were in was placed in through blind flights to and from the castle, had only bare information on the experiments, and nothing on the future plans of Strucker's HYDRA. The only reason Helen had received the message was a phone she'd smuggled onto the grounds, and even GPS wasn't able to find them for some reason, most likely Sterns. Which made the fact she could even access the internet despite him very suspect. Maria was still grateful for the information of course. Thanks to them, they now knew more about the structure of Strucker's organization then they ever had. Including that Wolfgang Von Strucker was in charge of anything substantial. But Davida needed to know the truth. "Strucker and Sterns are playing games, and we think your girls are being played like pieces on the board," Maria said simply. "We'll work to protect them," May added. "The Avengers will do their best to save them. But they need to keep playing along." "You can't guarantee that," Davida said viciously. "Tell me why I shouldn't just fight my way out and get them myself?" The collar on her neck began to glow a brighter green along the lines of circuitry. A bead of sweat appeared on Davida's face as she fought the dampening effects of the collar. May shifted her feet and moved her hands slightly, face hardening. Davida and May eyed each other, and the tension rose. Until Coulson stepped forward. "Actually, if I may interrupt the eminent catfight?" Davida and May glared at him. Coulson smiled genially in response. "We have two people who were kidnapped, friends who your team says are there. We have as much to gain from finding that castle as you do. Maybe we can make a deal. Something worth your while." Davida frowned as Maria hid a smile. Good old Coulson, the master of communication. Mahmoud Schahed/Dial Rhodey and Sam took off as soon as they jumped out of the Defiant, flying into the air. The others and I landed on the ground with ease, and I reached for my back to flip my rifle into my hand, twisting my wrists to activate my helmet. My rounded helmet snapped into place around my head, and the augmented reality vision activated. It connected with my rifle, showing how much ammunition I had and providing me with a crosshairs like in a standard FPS. With a thought, I switched to ammo type I wanted, and looked around with my gun raised the way Natasha and Sam had taught me. Damn, I felt badass. Yes, it would have been easier to simply change into an alien, but some part of me wanted to play with my new toys. We'd landed in the middle of a tarmac, Sam and Rhodey taking off towards a hanger as planned. I ran to join them while the others headed towards the prison complex. I almost stumbled as I ran. My speed had been massively enhanced, and it took a bit to how fast I was now moving. I tried to remember how Fasttrack ran, and soon strode across the asphalt at high speed. I tensed my legs for a moment, and leaped upwards. The jumpjets in the suit activated. "Yeah!" I let out in excitement as I leaped forward a superhuman distance and height, propelled by the jets. I landed, then leaped again. "It's like Saints Row 4!" I took a moment to realize what a giant nerd I was, then focused on the job. The hanger Sam and Rhodey were headed towards was blocked by a group of soldiers in brown camo gear, tanks, and jeeps. Some helicopters rotors were spinning, about to take off. The Defiant flew over my head, and Rhodey and my Quinjet took off towards the helicopters, leaving Sam and me to take care of the soldiers in front of us. The soldiers had seen us coming, and aimed their guns. I knelled down and brought a hand up. They started shooting at Sam, who simply twisted in the air to dodge their gunfire. When they shot at me, I activated one of my suits abilities. A portion of my suits armor grew from my gauntlet to form a shield in front of me, and I took a moment to grin as bullets bounced off the shield in front of me. "Eat your heart out Steve," I said. Granted, Steve's shield was much more invincible but it still felt cool to hold a shield as it vibrated under dozens of bullets slammed into it. The shield was tall and thick, with two prongs on the bottom. A quick bit of focus created cameras at the edges of the shield, and the side facing me became became clear, showing me that there were twenty-three men shooting at me, though some were aiming at Sam. None of their bullets would have been able to pierce my armor, but I decided to stick with the shield for now. "You got this?"Sam asked, diving in the air. "Got to use that time at the range for something," I brought my rifle up to a port on the side of my shield and remembered what I'd been taught. I took a deep breath, relaxed my body, aimed for the chest, and fired a single ICER, hitting a soldier in over his heart. He went down, and the other soldiers ducked. Deep breath, relax, fire. I missed that time, shaking a little, and focused again to hit a HYDRA soldier in the chest again. I fired again and again, missing a couple of times, but managing to do well enough to take six men down. Granted, my helmets enhanced vision, my shield, and the advanced weaponry gave me something similar to auto-aim in video games, but I felt pride nonetheless. Sam was still flying towards the hanger. The big doors to the hanger were closed, so Sam raised his hands. He must have forgotten that his comms were on, because I heard his next muttered words. "Hope these don't explode." I took a moment to feel offended on behalf of Tony. Then Sam raised his hands up, and a familiar pair of energy blasts flew from his hands to slam into the doors of the hanger, blasting them apart with the repulsors on his arms. "Yes!"Sam cried out, diving into the hanger. I felt a bit of pride in seeing the armor I'd contributed on work so well. At least until the tank spun its turret to aim at me. Yeah, new awesome armor or not, I wasn't going to test it against a tank shell no matter what Fitz and Tony said about it's durability and forcefields. I thought of changing the rifle to it's deadlier mode, but decided to simply reach for the Omnitrix and twist. When the tank fired, I was already pressing down on the Omnitrix and leaping thirty feet in the air. I changed in a burst of green light as a shell exploded into the ground below. "Swampfire!" Sam flew towards the hanger as I landed from my jump. The soldiers fired on me, tearing through my form. I ignored the bullets to rip some seed pods out of my arms and toss them at the three tanks. They exploded, wrapping around the tanks with their powerful vines. The tanks struggled to move, turrets grinding and I allowed myself a grin at the sound of metal bending under the grip of my vines, the plant-life around me singing triumphantly. The soldiers were still shooting at me. I raised my hands. "Better run!" I yelled as flames came to like in my palms. The soldiers ducked behind the tanks and jeeps into cover, and I waited long enough to let them before unleashing hell. "Woo!" I shouted triumphantly, letting two long plumes of flame out to ignite the air in front of me. I kept the flames up long enough to make sure the soldiers were pinned for the next step of my plan. I stopped releasing one of the streams with my right hand, using that hand to grab more seed pods out of me, throwing them like grenades where the vines wrapped around the soldiers and jeeps. By the time I was done, six soldiers had been ICER'd, seventeen were wrapped in vines, and more were blocked from leaving their vehicles by the vines growing over them. I tapped the Omnitrix as soon as I knew the soldiers were captured. "Astrodactyl!" "This is Dial, squawk!" I cried out, blasting into the air and snapping my wings out. "Falcon, I'm coming to help!" A loud explosion came from over where the helicopters had been about to take off. "This is X, taking overwatch position,"the Defiant rose into the air. "War Machine, heading to rendezvous with Dial and Falcon,"Rhodey flew alongside me as we headed to the hanger. "Roger that,"Sam responded."Team B, how's it going?" Rhodey and I flew into the hanger. The building was massive, filled with aircraft and vehicles of all kinds, the largest of which was a giant cargo plane. There were dozens of men inside, Sam fighting them. He hovered in the air and raised his hands, repulsors letting lose in his palms. He twirled out of the way of a burst from a machine gun, blasting the offending soldier into a jeep behind him. "I feel less special now," Rhodey mused next to me, taking a spot at the doors Sam had blown apart. He started shooting his own repulsor blasts, the minigun on his shoulder roaring. I flew to the upper level of the hanger, twirling to kick one of the many soldiers scrambling on the upper level in the chest with my clawed feet before sliding to a stop on the floor, my wings pulling in. I let out a energy whip from my left arm and twirled it with instinctive expertise to grab another soldier, pulling him in for a clothesline, then released an energy blast from my right hand that sent another man to the ground. A HYDRA operative raised his gun to shoot me, and I sliced it in half with my energy whip, offhandedly shooting another soldier in the back as he tried to run. "This is Mockingbird, we're facing some opposition,"I heard the crack of ICER's being fired, followed by Creel roaring in rage and Hartley laughing over the comms."Barnes, can you-"Some loud noises sounded out."Thank you. Falcon, when you're done with the hanger, we could use some help over here." "Squawk! Where does HYDRA get so many soldiers?" I grumbled. "No respect for the Conservation of Ninjutsu, I tell you." Something hit me like a hammer, pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I squawked in surprise, stepping back from the sudden impact and pain. I looked at my shoulder to see that my scales had been slightly damaged by something, and looked up to see some soldiers on top of the cargo plane in the center of the hanger firing at me and Sam. I mean, they were shooting at Rhodey too, but he ignored their bullets to focus on the guys trying to escape, destroying a tank when they tried to get in. I leaped for the cargo plane at the same time Sam flew towards it. There must have been ten guys on top when Sam and I landed among them. I front kicked one guy, blocked a fist thrown at me, and ducked as Sam rolled over my back to punch another soldier. I uppercut a man into the air, and fired a blast into one other man's chest. Sam blocked a HYDRA soldiers kick and punched him in the face with his gauntleted left hand. He twisted his hands when one of the HYDRA soldiers raised a pistol to his face. Sam's helmet snapped over his face when the HYDRA soldier shot him. The bullet bounced off, Sam stepping back from the impact, then stepping forward with a powerful front kick to the offending soldiers ribs. With a bit more space to work, I snapped my arms to the side, my energy whips lashing out, and swung them outwards. I heard Sam firing his repulsors, both of us unleashing our wings to float upwards as we attacked, back to back all the while. Rhodey flew to join us. For about thirty seconds, the three of us unleashed hell. I pulled in my energy whips to start firing blasts of green energy. Rhodey's minigun roared on his shoulder, his gauntlet guns joining in. Sam grabbed one of his new guns and fired it on automatic, yelling as the three of us flew back to back. Just like that, it was over. Every HYDRA soldier in the hanger was either unconscious or dead. "This is Falcon," Sam twisted in the air, Rhodey and I joining him, Sam at the front, Rhodey on his left, me on his right. "We're coming to join you, team B." "See you then,"Bucky replied calmly. Sharon Carter/Agent 13 Sharon woke up gasping, taking massive gulps of air. She struggled to rise, only to feel something pulling at her arms and legs. She tried to move again, blearily looking down. She'd been strapped to a bed by thick brown restrains. Sharon stared at them, uncomprehending. "Sharon," she turned to see someone lying in a bed next to her. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. When she looked again, Trip was giving her a weak smile. "Hey, girl. How you feeling?" The young man was wearing the same restraints she was. Sharon shook her head, looking down at the IV in her arm, then at the room. "Trip? Where are we?" "Hell if I know," Trip looked around as well. "I woke up a few seconds before you did." The room was like a strange combination of ancient and new. The walls and floor were all made of stone, like that of a medieval castle. There was medical equipment, computers, and some people in lab coats roaming around. Wooden doors at the other side of the room were guarded by two men in black military gear. "Hey!" Trip yelled at a man passing by in a lab coat. "Where are we!?" The man ignored him. "We must have been captured by HYDRA," Sharon concluded, her mind still muddled by whatever drug had been used to knock her out. "What was that thing?" "Aberration," someone walked up to them. Sharon struggled to look at him, only to wonder if she was still drugged. The man before her had green skin and a massive head. He smiled down at them, stepping to stand between their beds. "I apologize for the restraints. I'm afraid you both would fight against us otherwise." "Yeah, you're right," Trip said easily, smiling. "I'm probably going to punch you the second I can, Mr. Bobblehead." The big headed man laughed. "I'm sure you would! But don't worry. Soon enough, I'm sure we'll be great friends." Two men wheeled carts over to the beds, stopping them in front of Sharon and Trips. On the carts were large flatscreen tvs. "Oh hey, you brought us entertainment?" Sharon asked, trying for bravado despite the sudden realization she was feeling. "I might need headphones," Trip said. "I mean, I love Sharon, but her action movies are way too cheesy." "You are both funny," the large headed man smiled. "I hope my improvements to this method allow you to keep that." The televisions turned on. Blinking swirls of lights appeared on the screens, and Sharon and Trip both began to struggle as they began to realize what was happening. "After all, brainwashing still isn't anexactscience."
