Infinity War

Two days. It’s how long it took Evie to pack a bag and trace Gabriela’s steps back to her home. Leaving behind a late night voicemail to her parents about her destination. She had landed a little after 3AM, and was lurking around the quaint neighborhood. As she snaked through the shadows trying to find the humble abode Grabiela had lived in, Evie was also hyper aware of her environment. It was a packed little corner of the Ciudad de México . The capital was crowded to say the least but at long last after a few hours, she found it. 

Creeping inside the small apartment, Evie stepped out into the tiny space. It was a studio the size of a show box, but it was homey. Or it was at least, it was. The whole place was trashed. Everything had been tossed around and thoroughly picked through. Very carefully she rummaged through the mess. Picking up a frame of a younger Gabriella graduating nursing school, she looked so happy and full of life. A stark contrast to the angsty and nervous person she had met a few days prior. 

But she was coming up short. There was really nothing there but wrecked furniture and scattered clothing. The only thing Evie could discern from the stuff left behind was that Gabriela Lopez lived alone. No romantic partners, hardly any friends, and no living family members according to the death certificates she found of her parents.

Maneuvering tentatively over the tiled floor Evie noticed something from the corner of her eye. The fridge and stove had been pushed out and flipped over. There was a small crack in one of the tiles where the fridge was. At first glance, anyone would have dismissed the chipped ceramic. Nonetheless her gut told her to investigate it. 

She crouched down and nudged it. Nothing happened. So she tapped it and the other end shifted just a little. “It’s not glued down…” Applying more pressure the tile’s edge popped up enough for her to get a finger underneath and lift it. Looking down at the vacant square; where there should have been mortar, was actually a metal lining of sorts with a key hole looking up at her. Her brows pinched together as she reached into her shadows to retrieve the keys the nurse had given her.

Tentatively, she inserted the key and turned the latch. A soft click echoed in the silence of the apartment. Giving it a good pull, it prayed open to reveal a compact safe. Inside the tiny vault was a bundle of photographs rubber band together. Along with an envelope containing several files. With; TRANSIGEN, stamped in big bold letters across the top. They were the records of the kids, all of them right here in her hands. As she flipped through the pages, car lights danced across the walls alerting her to incoming company. She quickly tucked it all into a shadow pocket after closing and placing the loose tile back into place.

As the sounds of heavy footsteps approached, Evie navigated the darkness and slinked across the city till she was deep in the heart of the city. A block away from the hotel she had taken under an alias. Her appearance had adopted the same look from before, a petite ginger with charming green eyes. For her cover story, Evie was posing as a reporter chasing a lead. Friday had worked wonders creating the fake persona of one, Harper Anderson down to the most minute detail. Anderson was a Texas native passionate about flushing out corruption and corporate greed. Which is her excuse for being here now, to expose Transigen and air out all their dirty laundry. 

So Evie wasn’t shocked when she tried to get a meeting set with Transigen the following morning, but was unsuccessful. What was shocking (kind of) was that the HQ had been abandoned. Wiped clean top to bottom. Stark had gone to see if an in person approach could work since phone lines were plagued with automated messages and full voicemails, but when she arrived the building was already being bulldozed. After speaking with some of the workers clearing away the rubble they had said Transigen had up and moved three days prior and the site had been sold to make space for condos. 

Great… back to square one. 

As she set off to find a bar to get some food and more preferably, a stiff drink, Evie got a bristle in the back of her neck. While rubbing the area her gut told her was being followed. 

Wonderful, glad I'm ready for round two…

Taking a seat at the bar, Evie ordered a beer as she waited for her meal to arrive. Going over the photos from Grabiela’s apartment, she’d taken copies on her phone. Evie memorized each of the six kids. They were all from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages. One of the youngest being a little girl around eight, on the back of her picture was information that had been typed.

Subject: X23-23 aka Laura.

The other children being Delilah, Rictor, Jonah, Rebecca, and Gideon. The bartender suddenly cleared his throat and Evie looked up. 

“Are you some sort of cop?” Evie cocked a brow as she tucked her phone into her coat pocket.

“No, a reporter actually.” He whistled, in a low gruff voice he said, “that’s rough… Reporters don’t get the best treatment here when they go snooping around.” 

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” she said incredulously. He scanned the tiny hole in a wall. 

“Listen lady, Americans and locals alike who go looking for trouble usually find it. So before I hand over your last meal, who is it you're digging into?” Evie leaned back taking a long swing of her beer while eyeing him.

“You know anything on that research lab that just got demoed? Transigen.” He shook his head as he cleaned a cup. 

“Nope, only ever heard the rumors. Sometimes a few of the workers would come here to drink, and let loose. But it was always the guards. Never any of the other staff.” Fishing out several large US bills and sliding them over Evie asked, “what kind of rumors?” He placed his rag over the money. 

“Young girls who found themselves on the street, often went missing after that place opened up. Town gossip said they were being used as breeders. Making babies so they could have a fresh supply on which to test out their research. But since the girls had no one to care about them, no one ever went looking. Most of the staff lived there. The few that didn’t never left that place looking that they were happy to work there. Often they had the look of someone who’s sold their soul to the devil…” 

“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” 

He shrugged, “don’t know. But if you really wanna know more on them I might be able to help. But not here, too many eyes and ears.” He finished cleaning the counter and discarded her empty bottle, signaling her to follow him towards the back of the bar. Evie was clearly no dummy, she was packing heat. But was hoping not to draw out her sword since she was on foreign soil. Technically the Sokovia Accords were still in play, so Void couldn’t be caught operating without permission.

So here she was, disguised as a redhead. Following a random bartender towards a back alley in hopes of fishing some clues. Her gut was telling her to be wary, this guy did have information. But he was very clearly untrustworthy. They made outside, to a dirty dingy back alley with trash piled high and no clear shots to the main roads. 

“So what's this info you got?” 

The man didn’t turn around to face her when he spoke, he just crossed his arms. “Who did you say you work for again? What agency?” She narrowed her eyes as she mentally prepared to fight. “I don’t. Like I said, I’m not a cop… I’m a reporter. Independent.” He started to chuckle darkly as he turned around slowly, rolling up his sleeves. Evie got a good look at the skull tattoo with a knife traversing down the center on his forearm.

“Oh damn lady, you sure have bad luck in choosing companies to dig into.” Evie sensed at least three other people approaching quickly. Taking a step back she hit a wall of flesh. Looking up she saw two rows of discolored and silver teeth grinning down at her. 

“ Hola muchachita, perdida?”

Instantly sidestepping to get out of the sandwich they were locking her into, Evie saw two more men walking down the entrance of the alley. “Well shit, what’s a girl to do getting cornered by such big bad men?” She feigned to be thinking as she twirled her hair. 

“Oh don’t worry, pretty girl, we'll make sure to keep you busy before sending you back to your maker.” It was her turn to laugh, smirking at them as she took in her opponents who all sported the same tattoo as the bartender. “You and your homies have good health insurance right?” The question went over their heads when the bartender tried to grab her arm. Twisting it and forcing him to look at his friends in a very painful lock, he wailed as she dislocated the shoulder.

“Who’s next? You big guy?” Throwing the sobbing bartender into a heap of garbage, Evie grabbed an old broom stick and stuck the towering thug square in the stomach, making him nearly fold in half as he doubled over as the other two rushed in. 

Evie spun around gathering momentum before striking him down with a solid whack across the face using the broom handle. The big guy, refusing to fall yet, grabbed a fist full of her hair. Using her powers, Evie threw him over her shoulder before stomping his head.

The bartender tried to get up, only to be punched repeatedly before she used the stick to whip him in the back of the head. Laying him out flat on top of his large friend. The last one to run in was frozen after seeing all three of his buddies not landing even a single punch before getting taken out. 

“Perra, vas a pagar por eso!” He pulled out a pistol and fired twelve rounds consecutively. Emptying the clip in a matter of seconds. The face he was making was absolutely priceless, Evie could feel the fear gripping his chest as he stood there just staring back with eyes wide open. Nearly popping out of their sockets. 

“Que te pasa? Le tienes miedo a una niña?” She taunted .  Dropping her extended hand, all the bullets suspended in midair, dropped. The sound of lead pellets ringing out like bells. Evie smiled wickedly before using her powers to drag the man towards her. He screamed out in terror, “ no porfavor! Se suponía que no nos encontrarías! Estamos escondidos de ti! Usaron magia, lo vi! LO VI!” 

Grabbing him roughly by his cheeks, he fell to his knees. Evie sneered, “magic? What magic?” Trembling he sputtered, “our boss cut a deal! They marked us, using magic. Y-you weren’t supposed to find us! We got warded so no reaper could find us. Please, please don’t burn my eyes out! No quiero morir! ” 

She was stunned. Reaper? Burn his eyes out?!  

“What the hell you talking about? Tell me about Transigen! Where’d they go? Where are the kids?! Tell me or-” 

“Wait! Please! I'll tell you just… just don’t kill me!” Evie threw him to the floor and threw the gun at the one who was dumb enough to try and run away after waking. His buddy fell to the ground after a nasty crack was heard from how hard she launched the empty gun to the back of his head.

Turning her sight back on the last one conscious, Evie put him in an invisible choke hold. As she tightened her hand, so did the pressure around his neck as he cried out. “Wait, wait, wait! I-I don’t know where they went… All I know is that-” But the sudden burst of blood and brain matter caught her off guard. The last gang member had his head blown clean off by a newcomer. Snapping up, Evie saw the same man from the coffee shop back in New York. The one who murdered Gabriela. 

“You…”

“How flattering you remember me.” 

Baffled by how his eyes turned a bloodshot red, Evie felt a dreadful sensation hit her like a freight train. “What the hell are you?” He stalked her like a predator, amused by how she wasn’t standing down nor cowering. “Funny, I was going to ask you the same. See we know that stupid nurse tried to get the Avengers involved. But it seems they turned her away and she came to you… A reporter with a deathwish. Tell me, how did a little girl like you take down four grown men. All of them sicarios .” Evie appraised him, he was of regular height and build.

But something about him was deeply sinister, it was making Void scream. To run, to get out of there. This was unknown territory for her, and the last time she’d encountered evil this audacious, half of all the living creatures in the universe disappeared. Evie heard the Kill Bill sirens blaring between her ears yet said nothing. 

You could do this—you’ll be fine. We have something bigger at stake, this is just another obstacle… Right?  

Before she knew it he was lunging at her and Evie ducked in time to avoid getting struck. But he was scary fast. As soon as she spun out of his way, the girl was getting a firm boot to the ribs. It sent her sprawling back and she had to use her powers to recover and avoid landing on her ass. But it was useless. 

The second she was upright he was unleashing an onslaught of attacks. Evie was forced to play defense and all she could do was dodge and deflect. Thinking quickly she put space between them and waved her hands. Throwing anything or anyone laying around to deter him. However she wasn’t expecting the bastard to catch the scrap rebars she had hurled at him. 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… Bad idea, guapa .” Evie threw her hands up when the steel bars came flying back. But his power broke through her barrier and Evie found herself tacked to the brick wall behind her. Yelping and squirming in pain as her left shoulder started to bleed profusely. The second steel rod came slowly.

He took his sweet time sauntering up to her and pressing the cold metal to her abdomen. “Who are you? Tell me and I’ll kill you fast.” She spat in his face, trying to kick him away as she held on the steel piercing her shoulder still. 

“Fuck you! You think this is gonna break me? This isn’t shit! I’ve had worse!”

He laughed absolutely loving her ferocity. “That’s good to hear, that means will have,” He pressed harder, “lots,” more pressure. “And lots of fun.” Finally he penetrated her body and the metal was clean through her. Evie muffled a scream, the last thing she wanted to do was grant him any sort of satisfaction. It had to be either her kidney or her spleen, because she could feel the rush of fluids draining out of her body.

“W-what the fuck are you?”

“Still haven’t figured it out? I thought you were the grim reaper ? The entity setting these men on fire, taking their eyes. If that’s not who you are, then what's a stupid witch like you getting involved with demons and science experiments?” 

What the fuck did he just say? Demons? Reapers? What the hell is going on? What had they dragged these kids into? 

Evie knew then their situation was more dire than originally thought. Maybe she’d really need help… But from who? And how the hell was she supposed to reach out when apparently a demon had her pinned to the wall and bleeding out like a sacrificial lamb. 

“Come on now, stop being so hard headed and let go. I'd hate to filet that pretty face in order to get you to talk. You know what I am, so tell me what you are?” Evie’s vision was getting muddled, darkness creeping in around the edges. She needed to get the steel out in order for her body to properly heal, but he wouldn’t let her budge.

The imminent danger and onslaught of adrenaline was enough that Void started to take over and her glamor spell broke unwilingly in a cascade of green shimmer and black smoke. “Oh that’s… that’s just good. I have Void. So that bitch bagged none other than a Stark. An O.G. Avenger to come help! That’s-” His words were cut off when he was sent flying back. Crashing with some empty beer kegs and wooden crates. Evie pushed herself off the wall, grunting as the bars grinded against the flesh and bone. 

Suddenly she felt an intense heat. The demon started to scream and Evie looked up to see a man, a thing , snatch him off the ground. Where a head should have been, was instead a skull. On fire . In fact, his whole body was. Evie shuttered at the site as she tried picking herself off the ground. 

The creature spoke to the demon. “You have been quite difficult to find.” 

As the demon struggled in his grasp, Evie felt slugish and woozy. Damn healing abilities, why couldn’t they work faster?! 

“It’s Back to hell for you. No one escapes my vengeance!”

Frantic wails of pain and torture tore through the demon. Evie witnessed how he was being consumed from the inside out by what she could only describe as pure hellfire. It only took a matter of seconds before the demon was fully roasted and well done. The stranger set ablaze discarded the corpse as it crumbled into rubble and ash. He then turned to her as she supported herself on the wall to get up.

“So you’re the reaper deep frying cartels?” 

Her face was getting hotter and hotter the closer he got. And then, something with her snapped. Maybe this was the end of the line for her. And it stirred some very dark and troubling thoughts Evie had tried to bury. “If you're here collecting souls, then just go ahead and do it!” The flaming skull tilted to the side, boney fingers gripping the lapels of her leather jacket firmly. 

“Why do you wish for death?” 

Evie tried to formulate a response, but exhaustion had bested her and Void lost hold of the wheel. 

“Hm? Why so eager to die ahead of your time?” He pressed again.

Her vision clouded over as she started to pass out, only really able to mumble out, “I just don’t wanna… be here… anymore.”