Chapter 8
BATTLE ROYALE
Inside the large training room of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrier, one would say it was the setting of an all-out war. For it was here that the recently transported Avengers were taking on Zemo and ‘New’ Thunderbolts.
Within the chaotic battle, the two leaders of their respected teams, Captain America and Baron Zemo, found themselves once again engaged in mortal combat with Zemo throwing lightning fast sword strikes at Cap, who used his symbolic round shield on his right arm to block each strike that came his way. After blocking one slash, Cap pushed Zemo’s blade to the right side and tried to fight back by throwing a left jab.
However, Zemo stepped back to the right to avoid the blow and Cap passed by him, the Baron thrusted his blade forward to literally stab his enemy in the back.
But thanks to his instincts brought out by years of training and fighting, Cap anticipated this and thus spun around and threw his right arm in a back-fist motion, and in turn, used his shield to deflect the blade.
Even though his attack was stopped, Zemo refused to give Cap the upper hand and as soon as he spotted him going for a left hook, he ducked underneath that punch, and as he stood back up, pulled his sword back and threw a right backhanded slash, wanting to take the Super Soldier’s head right off his shoulders.
Luckily for Cap though, he anticipated this move as well and ducked to avoid getting decapitated. While in a knelt down position, he looked up and saw Zero hold his sword over his head and threw a downward overhead slash, intending to drive the black right into the top of the Super Soldier’s skull and literally cut his head in half. This attack failed however, as Cap held his shield over his head and blocked the attack in just the nick of time. Not wanting to stay bent down for long, Cap pushed the blade upward as he stood up, and in the process caused Zemo to stumble backward briefly before stopping himself and getting into a fencing stance.
As both Zemo and Cap circled around each other, the Baron decided to say this to his old enemy with his blade still drawn. “Though I am a bit baffled to see that you are cured from the Morlun Virus, I am glad that it did not take your life,” said Zemo. “Because now, I have the opportunity to finish you off myself.”
Cap returned Zemo’s overconfident remark with a scowl, as well as this retort. “Just like many times before, you’ll fail miserably.”
“We shall see!” Zemo fired back, then thrusted his blade forward at Cap’s abdomen, only for the Sentinel of Liberty to once again block it with his shield.
Elsewhere in the training room, there was a clash between two team’s powerhouses. For the Red Hulk and the Wrecking Crew were now engaging the team of Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and Yellowjacket.
It was here that the Red Hulk chose Thor as an opponent, for he threw power punches to which the battle-hardened Thor was able to dodge and avoid. Finally, after ducking to avoid the red monster’s left hook, Thor responded by jumping up and throwing Mjolnir up in a left uppercut fashion, nailing the Red Hulk in the chin and knocking him down on his back. The hovering Thor then looked down at the fallen Red Hulk with a look of disappointment. “Clearly when it comes to battle, Troll, you are no Hulk!” said the Thunder God, as he raised Mjolnir over his head, then flew straight down and attempted to pound the Red Hulk’s face in with his hammer, intending to knock him out.
However, the Red Hulk avoided this by rolling to the left side, causing Thor to pound his hammer into the floor instead and create a large dent. Upon getting up, the Red Hulk started to walk over to the still kneeling Thor. “Correction blondie, I’m not the Hulk that you know…I’m the Hulk that’s better!” At that moment, the red skinned monster ran towards Thor and used his right leg to kick the Thunder God the face and sent him flying across the room.
Meanwhile, Iron Man was in the air and hovered to the left side to avoid an incoming metal ball and chain thrown at him by Thunderball and responded by holding out his right hand and firing a repulser blast, one that was so strong, that upon hitting the Wrecking Crew member in the chest, it knocked him off of his feet and landed hard on the steel floor. Through the corner of his left eye, he spotted the dazed Thor sliding down off the wall, and what was worse, the Red Hulk was running towards him. “J.A.R.V.I.S.,” said the Armored Avenger with urgency in his voice. “How’s the Uni-Beam?”
“Seventy nine percent charged,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. “Given the fact that the armor has only just activated and still recharging, utilizing the Uni-Beam is…”
“Just do it, J.A.R.V.I.S!” Iron Man chimed in as he hovered her into the air above the Red Hulk. “Thor’s about to get creamed!”
“Very well, sir,” replied the A.I. with his usual proper demeanor while still trying to hide his annoyance. “Activating Uni-Beam now.”
At that moment, Iron Man’s arc reactor began to charge and moments later, a large blast came out of the Shellhead’s chest plate, which ended up hitting the Red Hulk in his back and sent him down chest first on to the floor.
As Iron Man continued to fire his blast and keep the Red Hulk pinned down, he unknowingly left himself open to another member of the Wrecking Crew, Piledriver, who jumped up into the air from the right side and gave Iron Man a hard right-cross to his jawline, causing the Shellhead to stop firing his Uni-Beam and fall down hard on to the floor senseless.
Upon landing on his feet, Piledriver chuckled as he looked down at the fallen Iron Man and was just about to run in and literally kick him while he was down. However, he was soon stopped when the pixie sized Wasp flew in right in front of the Wrecking Crew member’s face and fired a stinger blast into his eyes, blinding him and making him stagger backward in pain. As the suffering Piledriver wandered around aimlessly, another small sized hero, Ant-Man, cam flying in via a winged ant, then jumped off of its back and threw a right legged flying kick, nailing Piledriver in the chin and face first into the floor.
As for Iron Man, he shook his head to regain his senses, and was alerted when he felt what appeared to be large footsteps heading towards him from behind. As he looked over his shoulder, he saw the literal metal head, Bulldozer, charging towards him. “Oh boy!” said the Shellhead, then held both of his palms down on the floor and powered on both of his repulsers and jet boots to shoot himself straight up into the air, successfully dodging Bulldozer’s charge attack and causing the helmeted brute to continue running.
Meanwhile, the insect sized Ant-Man landed on the floor, only to see from his point of view, the giant’ Bulldozer about to step on him. This, in turn, prompted the small Hero for Hire to act by grow in size…and turn into his twenty-foot-tall alter-ego, Giant-Man, with his head touching and almost bursting through the ceiling. Moments later, he used his new size to his advantage by using his now large right hand and placed it on top of Bulldozer, pinning him down to the floor.
This act was seen by the airborne Iron Man, who couldn’t help but be impressed by how Scott Lang quickly mastered Hank Pym’s giant growth. “Okay, so far, so good,” thought Iron Man, but later heard the loud, deep screaming of a large man coming from the right side, and as he turned, he saw that it belonged to Wrecker, who was jumping towards him and going to use his crowbar to knock him out of the air. Luckily for Iron Man though, he held up both of his hands and fired two repulser blasts, nailing the Wrecker in the chest and sending him crashing down to the floor below. “Here’s hoping that it stays that way!”
Meanwhile, as the Wasp dodged Piledriver’s right hand to avoid being swatted, she quickly flew in low and shot another sting blast at his right knee, forcing the blonde-haired brute to kneel down. As she flew back up into the air to blast her enemy’s right temple, she noticed Hank Pym, who for all she knew was still the arrogant Yellowjacket, appearing to be putting something together. “Hank? What are you doing?” she asked as she flew closer to him.
Before answering, Hank took a moment to attach both a silver, circular shaped barrel to a handle, making it resemble that of a handgun. “I’m afraid that all we’re doing is slowing down Zemo and his men. We need a more effective way of stopping them.” At that point, Hank realized what he just said, and thus quickly turned to the shocked Wasp so he could rephrase his answer. “And by ‘effective’, I mean imprison them!”
Naturally, this change in Hank’s tone surprised Wasp, for it was like she could sense the old Hank Pym, the man that she fell in love with. However, considering his mental state when he became Yellowjacket, she was a bit distrustful. “Imprison?” she asked, then looked at the gun that he was assembling and seemed to recognize it. “Wait, is that your shrink ray? The one that’s also a like a small prison?”
“Right,” Hank replied, then went to work on the gun’s energy settings. “The S.H.I.E.L.D. guards confiscated my first gun, but luckily, I created a small, more easily assembled one just in case. Once it’s ready, I should be able to shrink down and properly imprison Zemo and the rest of the villains. I just need two more minutes!”
The more Wasp listened to his voice, the more she felt the gentle soul that Hank Pym once was before the violent mindset of Yellowjacket took over. Sadly, Wasp couldn’t enjoy this for long, as she saw Piledriver get back up on his feet and was just about to swat Hank with his open right hand. This prompted her fly, grab Hank by his shoulders and fly him straight up into the air to avoid Piledriver’s hand and cause him to hit nothing but air instead. Afterwards, Wasp counter attack by flying downward, then grew to human size and delivered a stiff right legged side kick to Piledriver’s jaw, sending him down to the floor and outcold. After safely landing on her feet, Wasp, quickly shrunk back down to insect size and flew back up to a stunned Hank. “You’ve got less than one!” she told him with urgency, then turned around and charged up her hands, acting as Hank’s protection while he worked on his shrink ray.
Hank couldn’t help but be surprised, as well as impressed, with how the Wasp just took down a foe as strong as Piledriver, but remembering their situation, he shook off such feelings and continued to work on setting his shrinking gun, so he could help Jan and the rest of his teammates subdue the villains, and hopefully atone for all the harm he caused his friends, colleagues, and the woman he still loved.