Chapter 34
The moment that manic, crazed man pressed the black ball with all the cruelty and viciousness he could muster, all Tony’s doubts and panic exploded in his face, blinding him.
What had he done?! Did he just doom the fate of all those kids and his childhood friend’s sister? Did he fail that spectacularly after all he had done to save them and his family?
Did he just fail everyone?
He let out all that panic and doubt and despair in one single shout as he watched helplessly the ball being pressed before he could reach it and stop it from happening. All his emotions were released in that single shout, as his heart plummeted to his feet, heavy and cold like an ice burg.
“They’re fine, Tony. Don’t worry.”
That sentence was announced suddenly from the corner of the room in an extremely familiar voice that Tony had missed so much, causing both his body and the man’s to flinch and shiver for entirely different reasons, as Tony turned towards it, his doubts washed away by just that single voice.
“Really?!” Tony exclaimed excitedly, letting out a desperate, relieved laugh, after being tense and on edge for far too long.
The man turned sharply as he watched Steve Rogers emerge from behind a big examination table in the corner, wearing his full gear and suit with his shield ready and strapped to his arm.
“Yes, Tony, they’re fine,” Steve reassured him again, giving Tony a soft smile while regarding the man with a cold look from the corner of his eyes. “You did so well, Tony, so well. You can relax now. We will take it from here.”
“How?!” the man screamed in pure rage, as he glared daggers at Steve, looking indignant and appalled by his presence as if it personally offended him. “How are you awake?! How are you even here?! That’s impossible!”
“Tony wasn’t the only one who saw the reports regarding the antidote’s chemical compound before it was destroyed,” Steve smirked in self-satisfaction as he faced the man completely, enjoying his reaction. “There was this little genius doctor, Alex Rousseau, who let Charles get the compound from her mind after Tony left to meet up with you. Then she and Bruce replicated the antidote, waking all of us up, to come here and ruin your entire life.”
“That fucking doctor! How did I forget that she was alive in this era? I should have started with her!” The man looked like he was two seconds away from smacking himself in the face for forgetting that very important detail, before he turned towards Tony, raising his crystal ball towards him, a crazed, enraged look itched on his face. “So, you did betray me, you fucking freak! You will pay for this with your life!”
Before he could press his weapon, a loud bang sounded in the room, followed by the man’s pained scream, when a bullet hole appeared in his hand, causing him to drop his ball on the floor.
“Didn’t you hear, you son of a bitch?” Dean’s voice boomed in the room, “We are all awake now.”
The man turned sharply, as Dean emerged from another corner, his gun still raised towards the man, an extremely enraged look on his face, managing to look horrifically terrifying. The man trailed his eyes around the room, watching as each member of the Avengers appeared one by one from behind every corner and piece of furniture in the room.
Bucky and Sam Wilson, appeared from behind another Examination table with matching scowls on their faces with their respective weapons raised. Sam and Natasha emerge from behind a large metal closet, looking extremely murderous, to say the least. Clint jumped from the top of the Time Ship, his bow raised, a smirk on his face. Rhodey also came out from behind the Time Ship, raising his gun towards the enemy, eager for him to make the wrong move to shoot him dead. A loud thunder, so strong it shook the room before something crashed from the ceiling, and suddenly Thor was in the room, electricity raging around him, making him look like a very enraged force of nature.
Then a rightfully murderous-looking Erik emerged from behind Steve, looking homicidal and not planning to hold back and no one would dare to stop him if he decided to burn the entire room down.
“The Children and Raven are safe. They are currently in the care of SHIELD and the X-men, inside an isolating room, where no wave or signal can reach it, no matter how strong it is. With Bruce and Alex waking them all up as we speak and removing the bombs from their arms.” Castiel announced in a firm voice, appearing from behind Dean, his eyes glowing from the intensity of his white, hot rage that even his grace was reacting to it.
The man suddenly found himself surrounded by an extremely angry Avengers, which was positively the worst situation anyone could find themselves in, so he opted to just glare in utter frustration and nervousness.
“Congratulations, everyone.” Fury's voice came from the speakers, his tone filled with satisfaction and delight. “Another win for the Avengers.”
“Win?! Ha! You didn’t win yet!” the man let out a loud, manic laugh. “Even if you surround me from all directions, you still won’t win!”
“Are you still blabbering nonsense?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him, waving his gun towards his face in warning. “Give it up already, bastard, you already lost.”
“Admit your defeat, and we might give you a quick death. Might.” Erik growled as each metallic thing in the room trembled from the force of his rage.
“Defeat?! You will never defeat me, gentlemen. This is beyond your comprehension and abilities!” The man kept laughing manically, looking like he finally lost his mind before he furrowed his brows as a vicious ugly sneer marred his face. “On the contrary! We are the ones who will defeat you! Everything you and your descendants had built, we will destroy it all!” he raised his fist as he screamed at the top of his lungs. “We will wipe you out from history!”
“Who are you people?” Tony demanded, taking a careful step back to stay away from the madness embodiment in front of him. “What do you want from us?”
“Who are we? That’s a cute question that only time will answer! Time will let you know who we are! The moment that your history ends and ours begins! You will know then! You can never get rid of us! When you cut one of our heads, two more will emerge!” he pointed at Tony’s face accusingly, looking like he wanted to rip him apart. “You people have been a thorn in our sides for far too long! You stopped us once! Then after waiting for decades until you are too old to do anything we raised again, only for your goddamn descendants to stand in our way! We yet again waited and waited and every time we rose, your bloodline stopped us!”
He turned gesturing towards Steve, Castiel, and Dean with accusing looks, madness making him look uglier than usual. “That child of your fucking union! She is the start of that fucking cursed bloodline! We needed to remove that union before it even happened! To wipe out your history in this era and never beyond it! To end your story here and now!”
“Sydney,” Tony murmured with wide eyes, as everyone else flinched back as they all understood at the same time what the man was talking about. “She is the one who stopped you in the future and her descendants keep getting in your way for decades after that!”
“Not anymore! Because we will end that bloodline by your death! I just need to kill one of the four of you and that will be enough!” The man’s eyes glinted as he trailed them over Tony, Steve, Dean, and Castiel. “Your resistance is pointless, as long as we take hold of your Time ship, all the timeline becomes in our hands!” he waved his arms, gesturing to all of them. “Even if I failed to destroy you in this era, another team will travel to another time! Maybe we will kill you in your cradles the moment you are born. Maybe we will kill your parents to prevent your birth! We will cut you out from your roots! The options are endless and timeless!” he raised both of his arms up in the air, screaming with a crazed grin. “We will never lose!”
“What the hell is that fucker even saying?!” Dean’s frustration and confusion made him even more angry as he clinched his gun, “Who is he talking about?!”
“I think I know who are they,” Steve murmured with a tight look on his face, exchanging a tense look with Natasha and then Bucky, who looked extremely uncomfortable and triggered now.
“Hydra,” Bucky announced with a choked-off voice and a very pale face. “They are Hydra.”