Rome Burning
“That’s not possible.” Vahlen said.
“The data says it’s happening, therefore it’s possible.” Tony said. “You know, that’s kind of one of the basic rules of science, you should probably brush up on that.”
“I have five PhDs, I won’t be talked down to in my own laboratory. The scepter produced a different energy signature from the Tesseract. It’s impossible that they’re the same now, these are complex systems, they are not the same mechanism. Look for patterns resembling musical notes. If you can map any reading from it onto a scale, do so. It is talking to us, act like it!” Vahlen said.
“There. Is. Nothing. It’s not working, we need a new approach. I don’t care if you astral projected to Venus, we can’t find the Tesseract this way.” Tony said.
“It’s the only way we can. Our other method is too inefficient to find it in time.” Vahlen said.
“Newsflash, magic isn’t real.” Tony said. “I think maybe you need to take a break.”
Banner looked on, fidgeting nervously. Agent Coulson rubbed his temples. Vahlen opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped as Central entered the lab.
“How’s everything coming along?” he said.
“Great.” Tony said sarcastically. “We actually have less done than we did thirty minutes ago, which is really quite impressive if you think about it.”
“Your facetiousness does you no credit, Mr. Stark.” Central said. “We’re on a tight schedule here. This needs to get done.”
“I’m in charge here,” said Vahlen. “speak to me.”
Central looked at her, his expression inscrutable. “With all due respect, Doctor, I don’t even think you should be here. The incident was… disturbing, to say the least. And now the changes in the scepter are, I gather, failing to materialize as we’d hoped. I’ve sent Natasha to talk to Loki, try to get something out of him. Might be our best shot.”
“That is still our best shot.” Vahlen said, pointing at the scepter.
“Your own documents suggest Loki might have the Tesseract running in just a few days. We need to devote all our efforts to Banner’s spectroscopy project, projections show that-” Central began.
Vahlen cut him off. “It’s not fast enough. Rhodes’s Arc Reactor will allow him to-”
Tony cut her off in turn. “Won’t, actually. Rhodes’s armour is powered by a Mark 2 that hasn’t been recharged in a week and he ran a combat mission with it. It’s not gonna happen. Loki can’t power it up without a full-charge reactor of a newer design.” He crossed his arms. “Just let us handle this.” he said.
Vahlen’s mouth twitched slightly and she turned back to the monitor where she was working, looking furious.
“So we agree then?” Central said.
Vahlen didn’t answer. As Central was leaving, Tony asked him a question that felt like an icicle to the back. “Oh, and, what is Phase 2?”
Central turned mechanically to face him again. At the same time, Steve stormed into the lab and dropped an old rifle on the table. A power cell on its side glowed faintly blue. “Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons as part of XCOM.”
Central’s expression didn’t change. “Rogers, our science department was focused on the energy implications. We collected those for their power cells.” he said flatly.
“I’m sorry,” said Tony, pulling up a detailed weapon schematic stamped with the SHIELD insignia, “what were you lying?”
“Is this what rational means to you?” said Steve, looking at Vahlen. Her mouth opened in shock.
“I didn’t know anything about this. I studied the circuits, power generation, the military applications were impractical at best, it wouldn’t make any sense for them to… it was a non-concern!” she said to Steve. She turned to Central and, glaring at him, said “Bradford, you lied to me.” There was icy disappointment in her voice.
“There are two extraterrestrials on this ship right now. One has a body temperature similar to Arctic glaciers and shrugs off high-caliber bullets and the other is practically a weapon of mass destruction. Earth would never be safe if we didn’t have weapons on par with their strength. I did what I had to do.” Central said. “The world is filling up with things that we have no control over.”
“We were supposed to be a bright light for all humanity! Who needs to be controlled, Central Officer? Who governs when this is done? Who are you going to conquer?” Vahlen said loudly.
“You have to trust us.” Central said. “These weapons are for the good of all mankind.”
“I’ve heard that one before.” said Tony. “Good guy with a gun. Turns out you can’t always tell who the good guys are.”
“I thought you should understand the importance of technical superiority belonging to the right people.” Central said.
“Yeah, cause the government’s never done anything wrong.” Tony said.
“We have a list of potential threats, we have to be equipped to fight them.” Central said.
Tony pushed a few keys and a list of names appeared on his screen. “Hey, Steve, look, you’re on here… so am I… ooh, I think you’re on here twice, Bruce.” he said, then turned to Central. “Where were you going to aim those guns, Central? Up at them or down at us?”
“We don’t have time for this!” Central said, raising his voice. “We can tear each other apart later. Do your damn job.”
“When we find the Tesseract, who’s gonna get it?” Banner said.
There was silence for a moment.
“Who are we going to give it to? Can any of us agree on that?” he asked again. “I mean, does anyone want to ask Thor? Look at us. We’re a time bomb. We’re… a chemical reaction that creates chaos.”
“Loki forced my hand.” said Central firmly. “I didn’t want to-”
“You didn’t want to keep us in a little box, and let us out when you couldn’t fix things?” Banner said, more loudly. “Tell me why there’s a Hulk-sized cage on this ship, then we’ll talk about Loki forcing your hand.”
“Don’t act like you’re not a threat.” Vahlen said. “What SHIELD did was wrong, but you are dangerous.”
“Hey, who made those taser grenades?” Tony said. “Was it you or Shen? Thought you might be able to explain why they’re so good at shutting down my armours. What’s safe enough for you? Him in a cage?” he pointed at Banner. “Army of War Machine suits? Oh, I know, how about vat-grown Thor clones.” he said, gesturing at the plate containing Asgardian cells. “I’m not stupid.”
“You should have stepped up. ‘Privatizing world peace’. It’s a farce! You have the power and the money to disseminate free, clean energy to the world and you sell it to the wealthy, keeping it a technological fad. You could change the world but you don’t. What do you like about the status quo? The poverty? The starvation? Or maybe it’s the principle of the thing. Take away the arc reactor, the fruit of your selfish labour, and give it to all, and what are you?” Vahlen said, staring at Tony.
“Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.” Tony snapped. “You’re just jealous that I made something of myself. I don’t even have to try to be better than you. I’ve done more for human progress in four years than you have in your entire career, and I didn’t have to murder any test subjects to do it.”
Vahlen turned away and put her hand on her forehead.
“Hey. Back off.” said Steve. “You did that for yourself, not anyone else. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you. You may not be a threat, but stop pretending to be a hero.”
“A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers! Everything special about you came out of a bottle.” Tony said.
“That’s enough.” said Central. “Agent Coulson, would you escort Dr. Banner to his room?” Coulson nodded.
“They volunteered!” said Vahlen, whirling back around.
Banner turned to look at her. “They volunteered for an experiment they were assured would be safe, and you fried their goddamn brains.” His tone was accusatory. Central glanced at Coulson, who slowly reached for his gun.
Vahlen took a deep breath. “The scepter is influencing us. We have to get out of the room.” she said.
Tony threw up his hands. “Again with the scepter. Look, it’s not-” He looked at the scepter, which was glowing a bright blue. “Alright, yeah, let’s go.” he said quickly.
There was a low roar like thunder, and fire and force swept the laboratory. Every window and monitor shattered; the air became a storm of tiny blades. Tony raised his arms to shield himself and was thrown to the ground. Banner was launched through the front window into the hangar bay. Ears rang as the flame diffused into the air and vanished like salt in water. Deafening alarms sounded; red light filled the hallway and invaded the room.
Central barely had time to realize he was on the ground before Steve was picking him up from it, hauling him up through the sudden smoke. They looked at each other for a moment, and understanding flashed between them. Central pressed buttons on the communications panel, but nothing happened. He furiously dialed again, then turned to the team and spoke. “Coulson! Bridge comm is out, I’m going up there to find out what’s going on. Page Hill, tell her to get Thor and get him in the hangar ASAP. We’re under attack; Stark, Rogers-” They looked at him, Steve steadying Tony as he stood. “Do your jobs.”
Steve looked at Tony. “The suit. Go. Get Wick, too.” Tony nodded and left the room briskly. Vahlen struggled to her feet and walked over to the scepter. Steve stood in her way. “What are you doing?” he said.
“If we’re under attack, they’re here for Loki. He knows I’m studying the Scepter, Coulson and I will move it somewhere safer.” she said.
Coulson looked up from his pager. “The armoury.” he said.
“Do it.” said Central, and walked out of the room into the crimson halls, disappearing into the smoke.
Steve nodded to Vahlen, who picked up the scepter. The corner of her mouth turned slightly upwards and her eyes focused on the scepter’s tip. “Agent, you OK here?” Steve said. Coulson nodded. “Go get ‘em.” he said. With that, Steve followed the others.
The bridge was in a state of pandemonium. Fury’s booming voice rang out above the chaos as alarms and fire extinguishers tried their best to drown him out. “Turn up that engine! Number 3 engine is down. Hill, can we get a run-in?”
“I’ll get Shen on it!” Hill shouted back at him. Suddenly, her pager rang. She checked it and then looked at Fury. “Hulk’s loose in the main hangar bay. I’ll get Thor there and take a team to secure Loki.” she said. Fury nodded.
The nurse grabbed the wall to steady himself as the Minerva groaned and shook from the shockwave. Matt gasped as he was jostled by the force. Seconds later, two armed agents entered the room and began checking every corner. Matt looked around, bewildered. “Hey. What’s going on?” he asked, but no one answered. “Guys?” he said.
One of the agents looked at his partner. “Clear.” he said, then turned to Matt. “You alright?” Matt nodded. “Helicarrier’s under attack. Stay here.” the agent said.
Matt looked him in the eyes. “I don’t think so.” he said. “Where are they?”
The agent glanced at his partner. “Contingency for this scenario is you stay here, we handle things.” he said halfheartedly to Matt.
Matt seemed to weigh his options for a moment, then levitated off the bed and onto the ground beside it, laying himself down gingerly on his feet. “Get me some clothes.” he said.
The agents looked at each other. They nodded nearly simultaneously.
Loki paced inside his cell, faster now that he’d heard the explosion. He watched the entrances, one on each side of the cell, wondering who’d arrive first; Barton or SHIELD. Just as he turned around, he heard the door to his right open, and turned to look. There was Stark, infuriatingly shiny and brash in his mechanical bunker, and there was Wick with him, carrying a shotgun.
“Long time no see, Space Invaders, how’re you doing?” Tony said, walking around the side of the cage, Wick following close behind. “I gotta say, as far as breakouts go, this one… needs work.”
Loki stopped pacing and smirked. The other door exploded off its hinges. Shattered metal sprayed into the room and left minute scratches on the material of the cage. Smoke and fire spewed from the opening, and Tony readied his repulsors. Wick rested the shotgun on the suit’s shoulder.
The first soldier, wearing black body armour and carrying an automatic rifle, entered the doorway and was immediately knocked down by a shotgun blast to the torso. A hail of bullets sprayed from the other side of the smoke. Wick ducked behind Tony’s back as the fire pinged harmlessly off the armour’s exterior. After a few more bursts, none of which had any effect, Tony said “My turn.”
As he raised his arms to unleash his weaponry on the other side of the door, an arrow hit his shoulder joint and sent a massive pulse of electricity through his suit’s systems, wreathing his body in blue-white lightning. His heads-up display flickered, then JARVIS’s voice calmly intoned “Suit power at two hundred thirty-two percent.”
Tony smiled and rocketed through the doorway. He slammed into a soldier on the other side, who hit the wall and collapsed to the ground. More gunfire from the others, all of it ineffectual. He raised his hands and two wide beams of orange energy projected two more of his assailants into the corridor wall. The metal bent under the impact. An arrow flew past his head. He turned to look at its source; Barton, wearing some kind of infrared goggles. As soon as he loosed the arrow, he ran off around a corner. Without looking, Tony hit the last mercenary with a repulsor blast that sent him flying down the hallway and leapt off to chase Barton.
Meanwhile, Wick studied the control panel, trying to find the button that dropped the cage. As he leaned over it, an arrow struck a USB port inches from his hand. He stared for a second as it began to interface with the panel and then grabbed it and yanked it away, tossing it on the ground; but the damage had been done. The door to the cage swung open and Loki disappeared. A chill spread through Wick’s body. He slowly receded to the wall and pressed his back against it, dropped his shotgun and drew his handgun, and listened harder than he’d listened in his life.
The distant echoes of Tony’s repulsors and scattered gunfire were loud enough to make him nervous. He wondered if Loki would risk approaching him. The seconds dragged on. No movement but his own breathing; no sound but the distant shots and the alarm in the hallway. Finally, the door at the other side of the room opened, then closed. Wick stood slowly. He holstered his handgun, leaned down and grabbed the long gun, and slowly began walking towards the door. As he was about to reach it, the smallest sound behind him triggered his reflexes.
In a fluid motion, he turned and jammed the butt of the gun into a spot at head height. He felt it connect. Loki’s invisibility sloughed off him like a cloak and he staggered back, clutching his face. Wick moved the barrel sideways; his movements seemed sluggish, but unusually disciplined, to Loki’s heightened perception. The frost giant leaned to the side and the shotgun blast sailed past him, striking the wall and causing a shower of sparks. Loki rushed forwards and slammed his fist into Wick’s jaw. He fell backwards, but as soon as he hit the ground he’d drawn his handgun. Loki advanced, stopped for a split second, and then was struck in the chest by an explosive bullet. To Wick’s surprise, the round passed through him and hit the ceiling, knocking out one of the lights. Loki appeared unharmed, smirked slightly, and vanished; an illusion.
Wick stood quickly, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he searched for Loki’s new position. He backed through the doorway and quickly locked it, then turned and began running down the hallway, checking his corners as he headed for the armoury.
Hill’s footsteps down the hallway were like steady rainfall, swift and relentless. The agents behind her stopped to check every room and hallway, Agent Romanoff bringing up the rear. The alarm blaring through the corridors masked their steps, but added to the tension in the air. Every step could be their last. Every hallway could hide assailants. It wasn’t clear where the enemy had entered the ship, it wasn’t clear where they were going, and-
The door in front of Hill opened and across the intersection in front of them stood a team of soldiers, rifles pointed at her squad. In a split second they fired, automatic gunfire drowning out the alarm and all other sound.
She opened her eyes to find that somehow, she was still alive. Her agents looked in amazement at the bullets, dozens of them, hovering, flattened, in midair before the team. A pilot in a dark green flight suit stepped out into the intersection as the bullets clattered harmlessly to the ground all at once. More gunfire. The bullets hung in the air like wind chimes, dangling helplessly. The pilot pulled his arm back like a javelin thrower and the soldiers’ guns were ripped from their hands. They, too, hovered for a moment and then with a flippant gesture from the pilot they were thrown down the hallway.
“Garetty?” Hill said, awed and surprised.
One of the soldiers turned around to run and crashed into an invisible wall. Matt turned around, pushed up the visor on his flight helmet and nodded. “Sorry I took so long, I wasn’t gonna come out here in just a hospital gown. Hey, what do I do with these guys?”
One of the soldiers rushed at Matt with a knife. The blade bounced off him and the soldier doubled over, clutching his arm. The agents moved up and pointed their weapons at them. Shortly, all four raised their arms in surrender.
“Just leave them to us, you need to get topside, the Hulk’s loose in the hangar bay and I don’t know if Thor can take him.” Hill said. Matt nodded and looked around.
“Er, where do I go?” he said.
“I’ll get you there.” Natasha said, grabbing him by the arm and leading him down the hallway.
“We’ll take these ones to the brig, ma’am,” one of the agents said. Hill headed for the armoury, gun drawn, a single agent following her.
The internal hangar of the Helicarrier was a scene of pandemonium. Flames roared skyward again as the fuel of another jet ignited and Hulk tossed a broken wing across the deck, knocking over a pile of crates. He slammed the ground and roared, storming through the fire he’d just spilled in search of something else to destroy. The agents cowering behind the fuel cart just a few meters away uttered silent prayers.
They were answered. A loud metallic clang echoed out across the deck as Mjolnir struck it. “Banner!” Thor shouted, his hammer at his feet, “This is folly! We are not your enemies!”
The Hulk stared, uncomprehending, for a second or so. Then, like an angry bull, he charged across the deck and leapt at Thor. The thunder god grabbed his hammer and rolled out of the way. Hulk’s fists shattered the ground and sent bits of metal flying through the air. Thor raised his eyebrows at the speed and ferocity on display. “Banner, halt this-” he began, but the Hulk lashed out and punched him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the hangar wall.
His head spun. He stood to see that the Hulk was headed out onto the main deck, where pilots and agents were scrambling to get out of his way and secure as many planes as possible from his wrath. He threw the hammer. In a flash, it sailed down the deck and struck Hulk in the side of the head. He turned around, rage smouldering in his eyes, as the hammer returned. Thor looked at Hulk, then Mjolnir, wondering why the green giant hadn’t been laid out by the force of the blow. This would be a tough fight.
The Hulk charged him again, and Thor tossed his hammer upwards, following it to the ceiling and causing Hulk to strike the wall. While he was disoriented, Thor landed behind him and struck him full force in the back, slamming him into the distended metal again. The wall groaned and buckled slightly. Hulk turned and unleashed a flurry of blows. Thor ducked under the first punch and swung, but as he was about to hit Hulk in the jaw, his foe’s second blow connected, sending him flying down the deck. As Thor got to his feet, Hulk picked up a massive crate and threw it at him. He barely avoided it by stepping to the side.
Thor spun his hammer, preparing to throw it again, and Hulk began to charge but suddenly slowed down. He took a few labored steps and then stopped in confusion.
“Dr. Banner?” Matt said, his voice wavering, arms outstretched to form a telekinetic field around Hulk.
Hulk looked at him and roared. He pushed outwards on the telekinetic walls, his muscles bulging with the effort; it was as though his hands were moving through molasses. He roared again in frustration and started taking deliberate steps towards Matt. Matt instinctively backed up and redoubled his efforts. Hulk continued to plough through the layers of telekinetic force, building up momentum, approaching faster. Matt began trying to lift him off the ground, but he dug in with each of his heavy steps, anchoring himself. The bits of metal thrown up from the floor hovered in midair or shot up towards the ceiling as Matt continued exerting the upwards current.
“Keep going!” Thor shouted to Matt, running between him and the Hulk. “Keep him still!” As Hulk roared again and took a few more thunderous steps, struggling to remain anchored, Thor spun his hammer and loosed it at full force into Hulk’s torso. Matt changed tactics, supporting Mjolnir’s blow with a pulse of force. Hulk was knocked onto his back by the combined impacts, and as he struggled to stand, held down by Matt’s weakening grip, Thor leapt and planted Mjolnir on the center of his chest. Hulk roared and raged and pulled on the enchanted hammer with all his bestial might, but it remained motionless. He was trapped.
He lashed out with his limbs, putting more holes in the deck and sending bits of material flying, but his rage failed to free him. Matt took off the flight helmet and put his hand to his nose, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Thor took a deep breath. “Banner! Cease this folly.” he said. “You are safe.”
At that moment, a grey shape trailing orange fire flew through the glass of the bridge far above them. The War Machine suit. Thor looked at the bridge, then at the hammer. An expression of surprise and disappointment crossed his face. “Telekinite! Go, do us proud!” he said, pointing at the bridge. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on him.”
Matt looked at him and sighed, then nodded. He unsteadily levitated off the ground, then sailed upwards towards the bridge, blood dripping down his chin.
Fury hit the deck. Immediately the bridge was filled with the sound of gunfire. Sparks and bits of metal rained down from above, and he was blind, his one good eye pressed to the floor. He began crawling to the engine control console. He looked up just in time to see two agents gunned down by Rhodes’s wrist gun, and took cover behind one of the bridge computers. He could see the engine console just a few feet away. Rhodes would go there. There was no doubt about it, they were trying to take down the ship. He cocked his gun and watched as the battle raged around him. He heard a grenade go off near where Rhodes had landed, and then the sickening whirring of the War Machine armour’s minigun. He couldn’t let any more of his agents die.
He stood and turned, reached into his trench coat, and threw a taser grenade at Rhodes’s chestplate. The minigun finished spooling up and shot it out of the air. The glowing red eyes of the suit pierced Fury’s soul as Rhodes turned to him. He raised his arms and began shredding Fury’s cover. Fury ducked and covered his head. Suddenly, Central kicked open the bridge door, shouldering an anti-tank rocket launcher from the armoury on the deck below. He aimed and pulled the trigger; the recoil caused him to stagger back, but the rocket flew true, sailing past Fury. A massive explosion deafened him, and smoke filled the room. There was silence as the haze settled, and the fog of war descended across the ruined room. Then, a young man’s voice rang from the front of the bridge. “Colonel Rhodes, um, take off the armour.”
Rhodes staggered to his feet. The scepter’s ice-cold grip on his mind was beginning to weaken. His heads-up display told him the rocket impact had shredded the outer layer of his chest armour and weakened control over several of the suit’s joints, but integrity was still high. The smoke was thick as oil, but through the fire and the red tint of the visor, he saw a dark-coloured, ill-fitting flight suit. Matt opened his visor again and said “It’s time to give up.” His words sounded uncertain. Rhodes wanted to take off the armour, step into the smoky void and sleep for days. He wondered what had happened to Tony in the explosion. “Canopy-” he began, trying to eject from his metal prison, but the frosty hand settled back onto his shoulder and the icy blue crept back into his eyes.
Matthew Garetty is a high-priority target, Loki’s distant voice said, screaming out of the blue-black void. Kill him.
He raised his arm, and the bullets sprayed like water from a hose. They halted in a great cloud in the air between them, spinning lead discs flattened by the barrier. Shaking off the lethargy and shellshock, and realizing bullets would do Matt no harm, he leapt off the ground and tried to tackle him into the open sky. He missed, and his passage from the command tower was accelerated by a telekinetic thrust. Rhodes rocketed out into the open and collided with an antenna, and his damaged thrusters failed just long enough for him to fall onto a nearby platform with an almighty clang.
Back on the bridge, Fury shouted “Sitwell, lock engine control out of the bridge systems. Do it now!” Agent Sitwell rushed to the control panel and began typing like a man possessed. Central readied the rocket launcher to fire again.
On the platform, Rhodes stood slowly, the limbs of his armour feeling heavier than they ever had before. He tried to jump back to the bridge, but his thrusters cut out again and he plummeted to the deck. The HUD said his battery was at 11%. He climbed out of the shattered ground and immediately recognized a familiar face. Wick, the assassin. His hands moved at an incredible speed and before Rhodes could react, his gun was drawn. The first bullet struck Rhodes just above the left eyebrow. His HUD went dark and his ears rang. He raised his arm sluggishly, but as he began to fire, Captain Rogers interposed himself between Rhodes and Wick, the bullets ricocheting off his shield. Rogers advanced, and Rhodes rocketed backwards, gaining altitude and reaching the center of the deck.
As the minigun slid from the shoulder of the suit, Wick and Cap ran in opposite directions. Wick took cover under the wing of a plane, and Cap, chased by gunfire from Rhodes’s wrist, ducked behind a stack of crates. The repulsors at Rhodes’s feet sputtered and yanked him about erratically in the air, forcing him to use one of his hand repulsors to remain stable.
At the back of the deck, Hulk slammed his fist into the deck again and tried again, fruitlessly, to tear the hammer off his chest. Thor looked back at Rhodes, whose machine guns were harrying Cap as he ran to a flanking position, and then at the hammer. “Banner!” he shouted, earning a hateful gaze from Hulk, “Break free!” Hulk roared in incoherent rage and writhed in frustration. Thor shook his head. “Does anyone have a spare hammer? I’d settle for an axe.” The SHIELD soldiers shook their heads.
Natasha took a deep breath. Slowly and carefully, she approached Hulk from the left side, stepping through the rubble of the deck. She willed her hands to stop shaking. Her heartbeat was louder than the gunfire. “Hey, big guy.” she said. Hulk turned his head to look at her. She froze for a split second, then continued approaching, even more slowly. She tried desperately to think of something to say. She reached back into half-remembered childhood, before the horrors of her youth. “The sun’s getting real low.” she said, the calm of her voice belying the terror she felt. “It’s, it’s getting real low there, big… fella…” She approached within the reach of his massive hand, but it lay still.
Thor glanced urgently at her. She met his eyes for a split second and then returned to Banner, placing her hand on the side of his head. “Shhh…” she said, and the eyes in their sunken sockets closed for the briefest of moments, the eyelids fluttering, and the giant began to become a man again.
Thor reached out for his hammer, and it flew across the deck, as light as air, as Banner continued to transform back into himself. He held it tightly in his hand and felt the stress of combat slough off him like a heavy cloak. He spun Mjolnir and smiled as he took aim at the War Machine armour.
Coulson hit the control panel, then hit it again when the door failed to respond. It slid open with a grating, grinding noise, metal scraping against metal. He caught a glimpse of a gun on the other side and raised his sidearm, only to realize that it was Hill. The two breathed sighs of relief and nodded to one another. “Vahlen needs to get into the armoury.” Coulson said.
“Stark’s just taken down the last of Loki’s soldiers and says Barton is back to his senses, but Loki’s free and he could be anywhere.” Hill said. Coulson nodded and ushered Vahlen through the door, then down the hallway towards the armoury. Suddenly, Hill’s agent cried out. There was gunfire behind them. Coulson tapped Vahlen on the shoulder and said “Go, I’ll cover you!”
She ran to the armoury door and put the scepter down on the table, then turned around. Hill was retreating, eyes fixed ahead at where the lifeless body of the other agent was lying at the end of the hallway. “Where is he!?” Coulson shouted after her.
“I don’t know.” she said, her voice wavering. “He’s invisible.”
Coulson fired a few shots past her down the hallway, trying to stop Loki from approaching. His gun clicked just as he entered the armoury and he immediately ran to the lockers on the wall, searching for a new weapon. Orphaned footsteps echoed down the steel walls at breakneck pace. Hill fired once and then Loki burst from the ether, tearing the gun out of her hands and tossing it aside in a single fluid motion. He went for a jab to her chin, but she dodged and countered with a right hook. He caught her fist and she groaned as he squeezed hard. Coulson winced at the agonizing sound of fingers breaking under the pressure, and pulled the Destroyer cannon off the wall, furrowing his brow.
Vahlen rushed to the console and hit the buttons to close the armoury door, but her hands were shaking, and she input the wrong command. It beeped loudly and impudently. In the hallway, Hill landed a solid kick to Loki’s shin and then knocked him back with an elbow strike. She drew a second handgun and raised it, but before she could fire Loki slung a knife into the lower part of her neck. She staggered back to the wall and slumped to the ground, clutching the wound. Loki turned back to the door, triumph in his eyes, and stared; first, covetously at the scepter, and then in dawning realization at the crouching agent next to it, aiming a massive cannon directly at his chest. It fired, burning heat and concussive force forced themselves upon him, the world spun, and Loki staggered to his feet at the end of the hallway, only to see the triple doors of the armoury close and lock before him. Pain shot through him, delayed like thunder after lightning, and he gasped. Hill stared at him and smiled slightly as the colour drained from her eyes and she fell limp.
“Good work.” said Vahlen flatly. “I was worried for a moment there.”
Coulson stared blankly at the inches of steel that stood between him and his dying friend. The cannon clattered to the ground and he stepped back. His heart sank to the floor. Hill was gone. He looked to Vahlen, but she merely glanced at him with the appraising, unfeeling gaze she used on laboratory specimens. A chill went through him, and the silence reasserted itself as the echoes of the gunfire faded. He put his head in his hands and stepped to the side of the room. The distant sirens still blared, but for today, Coulson’s battle was over. He’d wait in this steel box for rescue with the scientist.
He hated it like he had never hated anything before.
Bullet after screaming bullet ricocheted off the gleaming surface of Cap’s shield as he ran to a new piece of cover. The harsh, leaden hail of destruction raining down from Rhodes’s guns was so thick he worried it might melt his only armour away, vibranium be damned. Then there was the steady, precise fire of Wick’s handgun, taking some of the pressure off him, redirecting some of that burning wrath onto the assassin’s position. They both knew they couldn’t stand against this for long. Cap looked over at Thor when he reached the crates he was running to; the Asgardian didn’t have his hammer yet. In desperation, Cap leapt out into the open and threw his shield at the armour’s neck joint.
It sailed through the air like a discus and the joint exploded in a shower of sparks. Rhodes lost altitude and the minigun turned to Cap’s position. Cap watched his shield drop uselessly to the ground beneath the armour and regret shot through him. He jumped back behind the crates and ducked as Rhodes’s fire shredded through them. In seconds, he knew they’d be riddled with bullets, and him with them. At that moment, a thunderous impact sounded across the deck, then another.
Wick watched the hammer fly from the far end of the carrier and strike Rhodes directly in the head. The armour descended like lead in water and skidded across the surface of the deck. Wick took careful aim. Rhodes stood, staggering like a boxer in a losing match. The helmet was malfunctioning. Its eyes flickered, then the visor retracted over his face, exposing his head. His eyes were clear. Rhodes wondered where he was, what he’d done. He remembered serving Loki. The sky was full of smoke and the ground smelled like spent shell casings. He looked out over the flaming deck in confusion and horror.
Wick’s second bullet fired true. The armour collapsed to the deck with somber finality.