Checkmate
“Is everyone in position?”
Tony drew his attention away from the status updates on his HUD and back towards the decrepit building below him. Cap, who had been the one to drag his attention back to the matter at hand, was standing just outside a service entrance into the old apartment building. Nat, Clint, and Daredevil each had moved in through the parking garage and were currently inside, ready to breach the Red Room hideout at a moments notice. The rest of the Avengers were scattered in a loose perimeter around the target building. The wonder twins were hiding out in dark alleys while Rhodey, Vision, Sam, and himself all took up places on the surrounding buildings.
The decision to split the team in two for this op had been made earlier that day, after the spies had updated the rest of them on their discovery the previous night. Tony had been more than a little concerned to see how shaken up Nat was at the confirmation that not only was the Red Room still operational, but that Dreykov himself was seemingly still alive. Naturally, she had been focused on that most of the day, and the team was happy to pick up the slack in gathering the rest of the necessary intel.
Clint had taken charge of getting in touch with old contacts of his within different intelligence agencies in hopes of gathering information on ‘Taskmaster’. None of his contacts had been able to give much, but what information they did have all said the same thing. Taskmaster was extremely dangerous, potentially enhanced, and a complete mystery as to his origins. The first reports of the mercenary started shortly after the fall of SHIELD, which at first led to suspicions of the man being HYDRA, but a quick dip into the files Natasha had released to the public revealed that HYDRA had been as unaware of the merc as they were. Which meant there were a few options. Taskmaster could’ve been an ex-SHIELD or HYDRA agent, which most of the team suspected of being the case, and was viewed as the most likely option, or he had once been a small-time mercenary who took advantage of the chaos to make a name for himself. Either way, he was a threat that the team would take seriously.
Besides Taskmaster, the Avengers, with the help of Daredevil, had been able to count fifteen Red Room soldiers, and a single Black Widow. The confined space of the building would help mitigate the numbers advantage their opponents had, and if any of them tried to slip out, well, the rest of the Avengers were waiting. They couldn’t let anyone escape, as this mission was their best shot at finding the missing girl, as well as gathering intel on the Red Room.
“We’re all good out here Capsicle.”
“Infiltration team is ready.”
From his vantage point, Tony could see Cap nod, before using his strength to force the overhead door up. “Move in.”
Cap disappeared into the building, and the next couple of minutes were silent as the four heroes who were inside made their way to the sublevels of the tower. Those on the outside were forced to wait for any news, but Tony couldn’t help the uncomfortable feeling that began to rise within him with each passing moment. THey should have heard word that they were fighting now, or at the very least heard the gunshots that would have been inevitable. But everything was silent.
“What’s going on in there?” Rhodey was the first to crack, asking the question that was on everybody's mind.
Natasha was the one who answered, Tony could immediately tell that she was pissed. “There is nobody here! The damn place is completely empty! Tony! I thought you were watching this place!”
“FRIDAY was!” He protested, shooting into the sky to have a look around, to see if any suspicious vehicles were fleeing the area. There was nothing. “Fri baby?”
“There was no abnormal activity throughout the day, boss.” The AI supplied, sounding as confused as was possible for her.
“Daredevil is reporting a tunnel, one that wasn’t on the building plans. Dammit we should have thought of that!” Clint swore,
“Boss, the NYPD channels are all being jammed.” FRIDAY reported to the team, causing nearly a dozen people to voice their confusion simultaneously. Before any single voice could make itself heard above the others, a bright flash, followed by a resounding BOOM rattled through Tony’s helmet.
Snapping over to face the direction where the blast came from, Tony could see a smoke cloud billowing over Hell’s Kitchen. Immediately afterwards, explosions lit up the night sky across the entire city, stretching through Tony’s field of view like fireworks. Sirens began to echo through the streets as officers began to realize that the city was under attack but, as FRIDAY had said, their channels were down. Tony had tried flipping to one to only receive static, and he knew that meant any response would be incredibly disorganized.
“Figure out whatever you can Fri! Guys we’ve got bombs being set off across the city!” He called out, trying to get the attention of the assault team that was currently inside. No response was forthcoming however, as another explosion sent Tony cartwheeling through the air. The apartment complex, a long standing skeleton from the Invasion of New York, began to collapse in on itself as a bomb bisected the building. “Shit! Nat, Steve, Clint! Can any of you hear me!”
The other members of the perimeter team were also calling for a response, but with each passing moment they began to grow more and more worried. Pietro and Wanda were already at the rubble, with the latter using her powers to clear dust from the area, and Pietro was doing his best to clear any of the smaller debris that he could, appearing as little more than a blur as a small pile of concrete and other debris began to build up in a clear area. Tony himself had just reached the building with the other fliers on the team when a coughing fit broke out of their earpieces.
“We’re alright.” Steve reported. “Daredevil warned us of the bomb in time for us to get into the tunnel. You said there are other bombs going off?”
“That is correct Captain.” FRIDAY confirmed. “Emergency services are still in disarray due to the jamming, they are attempting to unify on a different channel but are struggling to get the message out.”
“What’s all been hit?” Rhodey asked, throwing aside a piece of rubble that he’d picked up.
“Reports are disorganized, but the primary targets have been emergency services. Police precincts, fire stations, and multiple hospitals have all been hit.”
“Bring them up on the display Fri.” Tony requested, watching as a map of the city popped up and began to highlight the different areas that had been attacked. Sirens were now screaming through the entire city as everyone was now aware and responding to the threat.
“We’ve got to help! Who knows if there are more bombs, and people could be trapped.” Sam said, looking between those in the team who were present.
“No! This is a distraction. The Red Room knows we are onto them, and they are going to use this as a chance to escape!” Natasha argued, her voice hoarse, likey from coughing up dust.
“We can’t just ignore this! If people see us running around the city and not helping they’ll crucify us! I know what this means to you Nat, but we can’t just let people die just so we can chase people who are likely long gone.” Sam shot back, wings already spreading from his back as he prepared to take flight.
“Sam’s right. We have to help the city before things get worse.” Rhodey gave his two cents in the matter.
She wasn’t speaking, but Tony could tell Nat was seething. Not at them of course, but at the situation as a whole. So close to answers, and all of them could feel them slipping from their grasp, he didn’t want that to happen any more than anyone else on the team did. “Nat, you and Clint can keep tracking them, the rest of us have to go help out wherever we can.” He said, offering a partial solution to the spy, to which she agreed.
As a team, with some of their members only present over the comms, they made a plan of action. Nat and Clint would try and figure out where the Red Room agents and Taskmaster went, Steve would go to Hell’s Kitchen with Daredevil, the latter wanting to make sure people didn’t take advantage of the chaos, and the former wishing to make his presence known at the precinct that got bombed. Pietro was assigned to the unenviable task of finding the jammer that was messing with the ability of EMS to organize against the threat. The rest of them would split up between the boroughs to offer assistance wherever they could. Rhodey and Wanda planned to head north to the Bronx and Harlem, while he and Sam would take Queens and Brooklyn. Manhattan had, for the most part, been left alone besides the bombs in Harlem and Hell’s Kitchen. From what they could tell, Staten Island was also in the clear.
With the plan made, the team split up, Pietro taking off in a blur while the rest of them took to the skies. Tony flew side by side with Sam for a minute before his fellow Avenger banked off to redirect towards Brooklyn. “Alright Friday, who needs help the most?” He asked, eyes taking in the half a dozen smoke clouds that hung over Queens.
“Boss, the Queens Hospital Center is reporting total power loss to the facility. They are attempting to kick start back up generators but are having trouble doing so. They have multiple patients in mortal danger as a result of losing life support. Back-up batteries have not kicked in.”
“Right, send a suit or two from the Legion there with the miniature arc generators, that should be enough to get life support back online at the least. Anywhere in Queens need rubble cleared or help evacuating wounded?”
The AI paused. “Boss, the Queens Hospital Center is the only hospital reporting power loss.”
“Okay? Once the Legion gets there that will be rectified.” He repeated, not quite sure where FRIDAY was going.
“May Parker is currently a patient at the hospital.” The AI reminded him, causing his brow to furrow before he realized the problem.
Payton Parker might be the primary target for the group, but they wouldn’t want to leave any loose ends. What better way to commit a targeted murder than to mix it in as collateral damage to a terrorist attack? Banking violently, Tony oriented himself towards the hospital. From his height he could see the dark block in the middle of the borough which marked the blacked-out facility. It was currently surrounded by emergency vehicles.
Moments later, Tony hit the ground hard, his suit cracking the pavement as he landed, and the sudden arrival sent multiple people scampering. Ignoring shouts of his name as people cheered the arrival of an Avenger, Tony marched into the hospital’s main entrance, and entered a complete shitshow.
Doctors, hospital support staff, and visitors all rushed around, using phones as flashlights as they tried to navigate the darkened halls. The light from his armor helped illuminate the immediate area in a blue glow, and drew the attention of dozens of pairs of eyes towards him all at once. Finding the nearest Doctor, Tony grabbed the woman’s arm to get her attention.
“May Parker, where is she!” He demanded, but only received a look of confusion in response.
“I don’t know! I know she’s here but I’m not in charge of her care!”
“Well which floor houses long-term coma patients?”
“Uh, Floor six! But what about our power? We need to get life support back for the whole building!” The Doctor answered, and protested, in the same breath.
He shook his head. “I’ve got generators coming from the Tower, but I need to get to Parker, I believe someone is going to use this blackout to finish the job!”
The Doctor’s eyes widened, but by then Tony was already out of the building, and flying back into the air. Offering a silent apology to the hospital, Tony flew towards the sixth floor and sent two repulsor blasts into the walls, blowing a hole wide enough for him to enter. The commotion drew the attention of a nearby security guard, who pulled out a sidearm before he realized who he was aiming at.
“Iron man! What are you doing!?”
“I need to find May Parker’s room. Do you know where her Doctor is?”
The guard shook his head. “No sir, but the nurse’s station has a list of rooms and their patients! Follow me!” The guard led him further down the hall, his flashlight supplemented by the lights from Tony’s armor. Luckily, this floor was less occupied than the lobby had been, and they didn’t have to fight through any crowds. “Right here!” The guard mentioned as they pulled up next to a desk that was being manned by a single panicked nurse. “We need May Parker’s room!”
Looking up from her notepad, the nurse gawked at Tony, but quickly snapped back into business mode, pushing papers and clipboards around until she found what she was looking for, and ran her finger down the list until she came across the name they were looking for. “Room 611, it's just down the hall and to the left!” She told them, and Tony was already moving, forcing whoever was in the hallway to get out of his way or else they would be run over. The guard, and the nurse, both followed closely beside him, the nurse asking what this was all about, and only receiving a shrug from the guard, who said something about just doing what Iron Man told him. Tony was too busy focusing on the passing room numbers to listen more closely.
Turning the corner to the left, Room 611 was right in front of him, and Tony slammed the door open. The strength of his armor cracking the door’s hinges as it slammed violently into the wall. His eyes took in the room quickly, and widened at what they found. May Parker was spasming on the bed, seemingly choking and growing paler by the second while next to her, a brunette woman wearing scrubs was just dropping a syringe and raising her arm in his direction.
Following suit, Tony aimed his repulsor towards the woman, but she fired first, a furious red arc shooting from her wrist and scorching against his armor. He had worked alongside Nat enough to recognize Widow Bites when he saw them. The assassin’s face was stone cold, not even reacting to the ineffectual attack she had just launched. Instead, the Widow threw herself to the side just as Tony fired, dodging the repulsor blast and pulling a sidearm out from beneath her waistband.
Instead of shooting at him, she turned her attention towards the window, firing a couple shots to break it open before running to leap out of it. About to take off, Tony saw as the Widow aimed her gun towards Parker as she ran, and instead directed himself to the woman’s bedside, taking the shots against the armor to save her life, even as she fought against whatever poison was injected into her. The sound of a grapple signified the Widow’s safe descent to the ground, but his attention was completely on the dying woman in front of him.
With the danger mostly past, the nurse ran in next to him, and paled at the sight of May’s choking spasms. “I don’t know what to do!” She admitted. “Without knowing the poison and without power…” She trailed off.
Tony knew what he had to do though. “I’ll take her to the Tower. Whatever paperwork needs to be signed I’ll make sure is done later, but for now we need to save her, and I’ve got the best Doctors on call.”
The nurse nodded. “I can’t make that call, but we don’t have time to find the Doctor, and I can’t stop you.
He was already moving, detaching all the currently inoperable monitors and IVs before picking the dying woman up into his arms. “Sorry about this, but tell your bosses to send me the bill.” Tony remarked to the nurse, before blasting his second wall of the night open with his repulsors before taking off into the sky. May Parker continued to convulse in his arms,making a stable flight across the city remarkably difficult, but not impossible. Especially with FRIDAY’s help.
“Fri, tell Helen to be prepared, I’m coming in hot with a patient who is in need of urgent care.”
“I have already informed Doctor Cho. She is on her way to the landing pad with an emergency team. She will be there when you arrive.”
Not for the first time, Tony silently thanked his past self for giving his AIs the freedom to act, rather than just wait for orders. It’d saved his ass multiple times throughout the years, and tonight it might just save someone else’s. His tower grew larger and larger with each passing moment, the Avengers “A” shining as a blue beacon in the sky. His decision to rebrand from Stark Tower to Avengers Tower after Loki’s invasion had been with the idea that such a visual symbol of their presence would give hope to a city that had been in chaos, and in a small way, it had. Now, he hoped that despite the bombings, people still found comfort in knowing the Avengers were there to help.
When he finally touched down on the landing pad of the tower, right next to the currently unused Quinjet, Parker’s movements were far weaker, and her face far paler than it had been when he first left the hospital. Luckily, Helen Cho and her team were there, just as FRIDAY said they would. Tony quickly laid the dying woman down on the stretcher, watching silently as the team got to work attaching IVs and checking her vitals even as they pushed her back towards the interior. Oddly, Helen remained behind, looking at him with an odd look on her face.
“Shouldn’t you be going with them?”
The Doctor nodded “Yes, I will be, but Tony. After the mission, come find me. We need to speak in private.”
His visor slid open as he gave Helen a friendly grin. “What about Doc?”
“Payton Parker. I found something important, but I don’t want to share it with the whole team just yet.”
Tony nodded. He didn’t quite understand why the team wasn’t to be involved to start, but he would figure that out later. “Alright. I’ll find you once we put some order to this chaos.” He told her, before blasting off once more. It was going to be a long night.
A Few Minutes Before The Bombings
Payton’s back landed roughly on the old mats, her breath being forced out of her lungs with the impact as Frank Castle, for the umpteenth time, threw her over his shoulder. Since he had started teaching her self defense, the lessons had slowly been growing more and more intense, leading to today where much of the past few hours had been sparring lessons. She had yet to win. Despite her advantages in strength and reflexes, Castle was just that much better than she was. Her only solace was the fact that she hadn’t gone down easily at all today, putting in a fight each and every time until the Punisher got the upperhand and ended it.
Blowing a few strands of hair out of her face, Payton accepted the hand Frank offered to her with a groan, allowing the man to pull her back to her feet. Her muscles were incredibly sore, the night before having been far more exercise than she’d ever had before, and today was certainly not helping. “So. What went wrong that time?” She asked, waiting for the inevitable critique of her form.
“You’re holding back.” Frank replied after screwing the cap back onto his water.
Payton looked at the man in confusion “Isn’t that the point? We are only sparring. I’m not actually trying to hurt you.”
“Yeah. But you are taking that to the extreme. You aren’t just trying to avoid hurting me, you are afraid of it. It makes you hesitate, and that opens you up to a counterattack.” The vigilante explained, and Payton couldn’t help but shrug, realizing that he was right, but that she really wasn’t confident in holding back her strength enough to not accidentally snap one of his bones
The two of them went to the opposite sides of the gym mats (Payton still wasn’t sure where Frank had gotten them from) and prepared for another round. As she got into position, a flicker in the corner of her eye caught her attention, leading to Payton’s eyes panning over to David’s computers. One of the monitors that normally displayed exterior camera footage was nothing but static.
“Uh, David? One of the cameras is dark.” She announced, drawing the man in question’s attention away from his phone.
All three of them now had their attention on the computer monitors as David walked over to investigate. As they watched, another exterior camera went dark. And then another, and another. Goosebumps began to crawl all over Payton’s skin as David typed frantically onto his keyboard, and Frank rushed over to his armory.
Danger
Payton’s head snapped towards the direction of the front entrance, despite it being multiple rooms away. Moments later, the building shook as an explosion rocked it. Dust rained from the ceiling as it shook loose from its resting place, and the lights above their head flickered, and then died. The only light left in the room was from the computers that had been hooked up to a separate power source since long before Payton was ever here. Taking a page out of Frank’s book, Payton ran over to her own little corner and snapped her web shooters onto her wrists.
“David! Get the kid out of here!” Frank ordered, vest already pulled over his chest, and weapons slung over his back and chest. Payton could count at least four firearms on the vigilante’s person. And that was just the big stuff. Who knew what else the man would have hidden away. Despite the fact that the Punisher was a one man army, she wasn’t eager to leave him to his own devices. This was her fight, and a small part of her knew that she was probably responsible for them finding this place.
“I can help!” She protested, taking a few steps towards the man before he rounded on her and pointed right into her face.
“No you aren’t. I won’t let you just hand yourself over to them on a fucking plate. Go with David and get out of here. I’ll meet up with the two of you at the secondary safehouse.”
She wanted to protest again, but ultimately she knew he was right. His training had been enough for her to beat the average street thief so far, but the people hunting her were true professionals. She may have powers, but those wouldn’t save her if she chose to be stupid now. Instead of rushing off to join the Punisher as he ran towards the attackers whose footsteps began to echo through the building as they stomped on metal catwalks, Payton turned the other way and saw David already waiting by the hallway that would lead to the emergency exit and ran over to join him. Together, the two of them began to rush through the halls, even as gunfire erupted behind them, echoing through the building like thunder. Through it all, Payton’s sensitive ears could hear, for just a moment, the furious roar of Castle as he fought before it was drowned out by even more automatic fire.
Each step they took away from the fighting did nothing to ease the warning sirens coming from her spider sense. Instead, it seemed to be getting worse, and her discomfort grew with each step before reaching a crescendo as they turned the final corner. The exit was right in front of them, but as they approached, Payton’s senses screamed at her, an unintelligible warning, but one that physically stopped her in her tracks. Wordlessly, Payton shot a web towards David, who’d hadn’t realized she’d stopped, and pulled him backwards just as an explosion launched the exit door into the hallway. The thick metal door was practically folded in half by the force of the detonation, and had she not dragged David back towards her, the door would have hit the man with more than likely lethal force. Instead, it just created a crater in the concrete wall where it impacted.
Payton’s eyes stung as the dirt and debris hung in the air as a cloud, lowering her visibility. Shaking off the ringing in her head, she pulled David back to his feet, and dragged him back the way they came, even as a pair of flashlights cut through the haze. They’d been surrounded.
“Wait here.” She whispered before leaping up to the ceiling.
Holding herself tight to the ceiling, Payton crawled back into the dust cloud, making sure each movement was as silent as could be. It was a struggle to move as she choked down the cough that tried to force its way out with every breath and squinted her eyes against the dust but eventually she made it. A short ways away from her were two individuals wearing pitch-black armor with smaller reddish-orange highlights. The primary color on each set of armor though was the red hourglass that she had seen on their fatigues the night before. Each man’s helmet was a smooth black, with two lenses for their eyes, and sunken in cheeks, giving the appearance of a gaunt, featureless face.
As the two men started to walk beneath her, Payton could hear the muffled Russian coming from within the confines of their helmets. She clearly couldn’t understand the words, but their meaning was clear as they swept their weapons over the hallway, the flashlights illuminating the darker nooks and crannies. Once the two men were directly beneath her, she acted.
Dropping from her place on the ceiling, Payton landed feet first onto the shoulders of the first man. Unprepared for her weight to suddenly land on him, the man dropped to the ground. However, Payton had underestimated their training; instead of quickly webbing the man to the floor and turning her attention to the other enemy, the man she landed on rolled away, one hand latching onto her leg and pulling her to the side. The moment he got a look at her face, he yelled something in Russian, and quickly got responses from what had to have been an earpiece within the helmet.
The man who was still standing had dropped his rifle in favor of drawing what Payton could only compare to a cattle prod. The small black stick was sparking electricity at its tip, and she really did not want to be touched by that. Thankfully her spider-sense warned her right as the man lunged, and she quickly rolled to the side, letting the metal rod impact the ground rather than her torso.
Rolling a few more feet, Payton quickly pushed herself back upright, just in time to dodge another swing. The first enemy (Mercenary? Terrorist? She wasn’t sure which was more applicable) had gotten back to his feet by this point, and had his own cattle prod out. Behind them both, Payton could see David’s head poking around the corner, his eyes wide as he took in the situation. Her distraction at looking towards David had nearly cost her, as once again she dodged a swing by the skin of her teeth. The narrow confines of the hallway didn't give her much room to maneuver, and any attempt she made to web them down was dodged.
Thus began an awkward dance as neither of her opponents were able to get a hit on her (the confines of the hallway also played against them, as their numerical advantage meant nothing when they couldn’t stand side by side and attack her at the same time.) but she was also unable to hit them. Every attempt she made to get closer and take advantage of the lessons Castle gave her was met by another swing of the electric prods, and she couldn’t waste webs when the guys would just see where she was pointing at and dance around each other to avoid it.
The fight continued this way until Payton had been forced to back up enough that she was nearing the destroyed exit. Moonlight was seeping in through the hole, and if she really wanted to she could run, but that would mean leaving David to whatever fate awaited him, which she would never do. Luckily, her eyes caught on something that would break the stalemate.
Aiming her wrists towards the man on her right, Payton fired two lines of webbing, both of which were dodged of course as the man ducked to the left and got behind his buddy. But she had hit what she wanted to. With a sharp tug, Payton pulled the heap of metal that was once the exit door out of its resting place in the wall and into the backs of her would-be kidnappers. The force of the door sent both men stumbling forwards, one of them tripping over a piece of debris and falling to the ground, while the other got within her reach.
Releasing her webs, Payton sent an uppercut into the closest guy’s chin, the force of the blow cracking the helmet and sending the man into the air. A few quick webs had the man adhered to the ceiling and out of the fight for the time being. She had no time to celebrate however, as the other man recovered from his trip and sent his own punch towards her. She dodged that one easily but, despite the warning from her spider-sense, she was unable to avoid the second blow, and was met with the bad end of a cattle prod straight into her abdomen.
Payton screamed. She couldn’t help it. The electricity spread through her body like fire and caused her to collapse into a spasming heap on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. A second jab from the prod had her screaming anew, thrashing on the floor as some of her muscles convulsed, and others forcibly locked up due to the energy arcing through them. Cruelly, the man held the prod against her, laughing as she cried out in pain.
She never even heard the footsteps, but Payton definitely felt as the offending weapon was forced away from her body as David tackled her assailant to the ground. Weakly, Payton tried to get herself up but her muscles screamed at her. Instead of standing like she meant to, Payton instead flopped around on the ground attempting to get her body to listen to her, forced to watch as David struggled against the armored man. David’s fight wasn’t much of a contest, as the man he had tackled began to regain the upper hand quickly, throwing David onto the ground and planting a boot onto the analyst's back, pressing him into the ground as his other hand drew a sidearm from its holster.
Her heart leapt into her throat and her desperation finally allowed her to gain enough control over her own body that she could raise her arm and web the pistol, and the arm that wielded it, to the wall. Payton used the man’s futile efforts to free his arm as an opportunity to pick herself up off the ground before she shoved him off David and against the wall. Another couple shots from her web shooters and the man was thoroughly cocooned, shouting muffled curses that she couldn’t even hope to understand.
“Well done. Castle’s been teaching you well.”
His voice came from the exit, the one Payton had finally thought was clear for them to escape through. Knowing what she would find, Payton slowly turned towards the source of the voice, and saw the silhouette of Taskmaster. The man was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, twirling a knife through his fingers. The pose sent Payton back to the night she met him, when he had been leaning in the exact same way against a van before killing her Uncle and nearly killing her Aunt.
“You bet he has. Why don’t you back off so I don’t have to make another example?” She shot back. There was little weight behind her words, crippled by fear as she was, she could barely get the words out.
Taskmaster laughed, righting himself before slowly stalking towards her. “He could’ve been training you for years and it wouldn’t be enough girly. Might as well give up now, no need for you to hurt anymore than you already are.”
Gulping, Payton backed up, keeping herself between David and the mercenary, though that did very little thanks to her being shorter than either of them. Payton knew that if they could just get back to the intersection of the hallways, they could sneak around to a different exit. Something must have shown on her face however, as Taskmaster began to tsk at her, shaking his head.
“I wouldn’t try that. Dreykov’s men have all the exits covered, and they aren’t happy about being stuck in this city for as long as they were.” The merc threatened.
“What are we going to do?” David whispered next to her, and unfortunately, Payton only had one idea.
“I’ll distract him, you run by him and get out of here.” She replied just as quietly, the two of them still taking a step back for every step Taskmaster took towards them. From further into the building, Payton could hear the sound of more footsteps running through the halls, closer than the gunshots were. With Taskmaster on one side, and more of his soldiers coming from the other, they didn’t have time to argue. Seeing David open his mouth again, Payton decided to act, and charged towards the mercenary.
In a move that was so quick Payton almost missed it, Taskmaster threw the knife that was in his hand towards her. Ducking to the side, Payton let the weapon soar harmlessly past her and collide with the wall moments later. Of course in doing so, she had been distracted, and only a warning from her spider-sense had her halting in her tracks and bending backwards fast enough to avoid the fist that had been launched towards her face. Eyes wide, Payton threw a punch of her own, which was knocked to the side, throwing her off balance enough for an elbow to be driven into her gut.
Hunching over her injured stomach, one of her hands flew to her stomach in response to the pain while the other attempted to web Taskmaster’s foot to the ground. The man saw it coming, much like the soldiers earlier had, and moved his foot out of the way, and brought his knee up in an attempt to drive it into her face. Payton threw herself backwards, back slamming into the wall to avoid the blow. Her abdomen ached, her muscles were all still sore from electrocution, and she had yet to even land a blow.
Taskmaster laughed, ignoring the fact that during the scuffle David had run past them, and was now calling for her from the exit door, telling her to run. “You aren’t going to win. I know every move you’ll make before you even try it.”
Payton’s brow furrowed as she stared at the mercenary. His words made sense, she realized quickly. Frank Castle, for all his skills, was trained by the military. He’d only been passing well known lessons onto her, and if Taskmaster had ever served, or even did the barest amount of research, he’d know how Castle was trained, and thus how he’d been training her. To a lesser extent, it had been the same way with the two soldiers she’d taken out a few minutes previously. She’d only ended up beating them by using her own moves, not the ones that she’d been taught by Frank.
Pressing herself harder against the wall, Payton then used all her strength to push away from it, launching towards Taskmaster like a rocket. The force she impacted the mercenary with sent him stumbling back into the opposite wall. Through his helmet she heard as breath was forced out of his lungs with the blow. Acting before he could recover, Payton sent two webs into the man’s helmet, pulling his head down to meet her knee as she lifted it.
A sharp crack echoed through the hall as face-met-knee, and Taskmaster once again stumbled away from her, a knife slicing through the webs before she could attempt to utilize them again. Knowing that she had the advantage for a moment, Payton jumped up towards the ceiling, sticking with her two hands and swinging her legs in a pendulum, kicking Taskmaster back into the wall. Unfortunately, one of his hands shot up and grabbed onto her leg.
Before Payton could use her strength to pull her leg back towards her, Taskmaster’s glove lit up with electricity, and once again her body convulsed due to the energy and she dropped back down to the floor. The attack didn’t last as her thrashing had been enough to rip her leg out of his grasp. Forcing herself to stand, Payton was then met with a pair of boots slamming into her own chest and sending her back into the wall.
Confused, she managed to focus her eyes and blink away the tears of pain enough to see Taskmaster dangling from the ceiling as well. Unlike her, he wasn’t sticking though, he had just grabbed onto an exposed pipe and used that to copy the attack she had just used against him. This was quickly followed by Taskmaster dropping from the ceiling and throwing a cord over her head until it rested against the back of her neck. Dazed as she was, Payton couldn’t react fast enough to prevent the mercenary from once again copying her and using the cord to drag her head down towards his incoming knee.
The impact had her seeing stars and falling to the ground. She was in so much pain she could hardly move now. Multiple bouts of electrocution, and getting beat up by an armored mercenary were too much. In desperation, Payton tried to start crawling for the exit (she could no longer see David at the door. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or saddened by that) but was stopped by a boot landing on her back and forcing her into the dirty floor.
“I told you kid. There was no scenario where you came out on top. Everything you do, I can do better.” Taskmaster bragged, grinding his heel into her spine, causing her to let out a pitiful whine.
She was barely able to turn her head enough to see the Taskmaster before one of his rip-off Widow Bites was fired, and everything went dark.