Red Assassin: Infinity War

two ~ earth is closed

"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asks, probably wondering if he should be shocked or impressed.

"It's nanotech. You like it?" Tony answers.

"Good God. Not now, Stark!" I shout.

"Dr. Banner, Miss Kozlov, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us," Dr. Strange says, opening a portal underneath us. We fall, landing in Central Park. Bruce hits the ground first, followed by me, and he pulls me away from the portal as half a taxi falls through.

"Thanks," I say, though my voice is strained. I duck as a mechanical limb comes hurtling through the air and throws Tony into a tree.

"Tony! How are we doing?" Bruce asks, hurrying towards Tony.

"Really good. Do you plan on helping out?" Tony replies.

"I'm trying, but he won't come out!" Bruce says.

"Bruce, look out!" I shriek as a tree falls on Bruce. I hear him chastising the other guy, hitting himself for not being able to change into the Hulk.

Hulk roars "NO!" and then I hear Bruce: "What do you mean, no?"

Tony's still getting his butt kicked, but right as he's about to have his face punched in, I notice a familiar red suit.

"Spiderboy!" I shout.

"Spiderman," he says. "I'm Peter, by the way.  I think I recognize you. You went to Midtown Tech, right?"

"Fight now, ask questions later!" I say.

"Right! Oh, what's up, Mr. Stark?" Peter says.

"Kid, where'd you come from?" Tony asks.

"A field trip to MoMA," Peter answers, getting thrown toward the fountain. "What's this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?"

"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard," Tony says. I wish I could say that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard Tony say, but it's actually among the more normal things I've heard him say. "You need to get out of here, Kat, or you're gonna get yourself killed!"

"I can't!" I shout back.

"Kid, that's the wizard. Take Kat. Get on it," Tony says as Strange flies past.

"On it!" he responds. "Hope this isn't too uncomfortable." He grabs me with one arm and we start swinging after Dr. Strange.

"This is awesome!" I shout as we swing over Bleecker.

"I know, right?" Dr. Strange's cloak snags on something and he starts to fall, but Peter grabs him with another web. Instead of swinging off, we start steadily floating up.

"What the hell?" I whisper, watching Bleecker get smaller and smaller as I go higher.

"Uh, Mr. Stark? We're being beamed up," Peter says nervously.

"Hang on, you two!" Tony says. "Wong, Kat needs to get down."

A portal appears underneath me. "Good luck, Peter," I say, and let go, falling into the portal. I fall to my knees when I hit the ground, breathing heavily. "Holy shit. That was an adrenaline rush."

"You okay?" Bruce asks, helping me up.

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me, Wong," I say.

"Where you going?" Bruce asks as Wong steps into another portal.

"The Time Stone's been taken. The Sanctum remains unguarded. What will you two do?" Wong answers.

I notice something in the debris—the phone Steve sent if we needed to reach him—but I reach for my own cell phone in my coat pocket. "We have some calls to make," I answer, picking up the flip phone and handing it to Bruce. Wong closes the portal, leaving Bruce and I alone.

"You have a plan, aside from calling Steve?" Bruce asks.

"Yeah. I'm gonna call Rhodey, let him know we're coming," I say, noticing the Mustang I borrowed earlier. I get in on the driver's side and open the passenger door for Bruce. "Come on. You haven't seen the new Avengers compound."

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"Place has all the bells and whistles. It's pretty sweet," I say, pulling up and parking in front of the compound. "Come on. You'll like it."

We get out of the stolen car and head inside, where Rhodes is waiting for us. "I thought you were joking when you said Banner's back," he says as we enter. "How you been, man?"

"Not good," Bruce answers. "We have to rally the troops."

"Remember how when I signed and quit, I said that I'd get back in if I needed to?" I say.  "I'm gonna have to put the suit on again."

"How bad is it?" Rhodey asks. He and Bruce follow me to the living room, where I turn on the local news channel. Footage from New York is still playing. He lets out a soft "oh, God" as he watches the spaceship demolish Bleecker.

"Waiting on a call from His Lordship?" I ask.

"If you mean Ross, that call's gonna be here any second," Rhodey answers. "You might want to go polish up your gear."