The Beginning of The End
“Yo, Capsicle. Look at this.” Tony hollered at Steve and Sam where they sat in the tower kitchen, having breakfast. Steve stifled the urge to roll his eyes as the unusually peppy billionaire set another unfamiliar gadget on the table and pushed his way in between the two of them. “Someone hit a HYDRA base in South America. No survivors, nothing left but ash and dust.”
Sam let out a low whistle as he peered over at the photos that were flitting across the screen. Utter devastation and melted concrete. No bomb was responsible or capable of such a clean, controlled burn. Something had burned hot enough to melt metal, rubber and concrete together into a blob that had once been several vehicles in one image.
A heap of melted metal in another showed signs of once having been a statue of HYDRA’s emblem. “THAT has personal written all over it.” The Falcon muttered, inclining his head at the last photo as he turned to look at Steve.
Tony was pacing again, nodding. “Unless hell itself rose up and swallowed that place, we all know who did it. More? She sent us some intel.” He gestured towards the device laying on the table.
Steve’s head shot up at that. “She did what now?” Stark was grinning like the cat who ate the canary. “Oh yeah.” He leaned over the opposite side of the table, still smiling. “Your best pal’s girl went full nuclear on ‘em, Spangles... But she got info our people couldn’t.” “What kind of intel are we talkin’ about here, Tony?” Sam and Steve were both all ears now.
“Human experimentation. They’re trying to one up Dr. Erskine. Imagine people like you or one of these Sentinels…and brainwashed into blind servitude like your buddy.” Stark’s face fell slightly. He understood the threat. So did the other two men. Tony’s mouth went into a tight line and he drummed his fingers on the table. “I owe her a drink.”
The Captain gave in and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “You owe her an apology first.” Tony nodded. “That too.” Sam and Steve both stared at him, disbelief written all over their faces as Stark grabbed his pad and walked away.
***
“Why am I not surprised?! Not even a little. OF COURSE a STARK is all caught up in causin’ the fall of modern civilization!” She yelled, punching one of the walls in the lab angrily. The plaster over the concrete crumbled to the floor in a fine dust, showing chipped concrete beneath.
Eira had shown up an hour before with pilfered intel that had set Anwyn to rampage-mode. Bucky hung back, unclear as to what was really going on but knowing he’d be filled in. Whatever this was, was bad to have someone as methodical as her on edge.
“Rocky disabled everything. That Ultron thing owns the internet right now. All files were backed up an’ the databases wiped. Communications are offline. Accounts are frozen. We’re in the dark here ‘til this shit blows over.” Eira said with a tired sigh.
Anwyn launched into an angry tirade, pacing restlessly. “If this thing really sees Stark as a threat ta mankind an’ takes him down, do ya really think it’ll stop with him? Or is anybody that gets in the way a target? It’s never that simple. So what is he really plannin’?” She ran her hand through her hair and Bucky noticed a faint glow under her skin as her irritation increased.
“That prick has the entire world in the palm of his hand. Everything humanity does is tied up in technology now.” She stopped pacing and looked from Eira to Bucky and started pacing again. “A lot of innocent people are gonna pay the price for Stark screwin’ around with somethin’ he didn’t understand…an’ its my fault. I gave him the details on the base where he found that stupid scepter from that stupid, power-hungry horned leprechaun that nearly destroyed New York City.”
Bucky shifted from his place near the door and wrapped his arms around her. “You did the right thing. Howard’s short-sighted offspring did this…not you.” “Yeah Buck, but I gotta fix it. Just like his old man…doesn’t know when ta stop. Now we got two genetically enhanced enemies an’ a murderous robot runnin’ loose.”
Eira chimed in, pointing at the TV behind them. “An’ a brainwashed Hulk.” Anwyn groaned as she watched Tony try to contain him and Bucky stared wide eyed. All three winced as the Hulk was driven down into a partially constructed building. “Fuck me sideways. They're gonna need help. Get me a line ta Fury, don’t care how.”