Stand Alone

Hit Them Back

Elizabeth stood in shock at the figure that lay motionless in front of her.

This can't be happening....

She felt strong arms wrap around her, holding her close.

"Elizabeth? Are you okay?"
Steve asked, his voice shaking.

She couldn't respond.

"Tony!"
Nicole ran towards her brother, Del was following right behind her.

Just before Steve was about to be hit, Tony had shoved him out of the way, and had taken the shot that had been meant for Steve.

Nicole and Del were crouched on either side of him, Nicole had removed his mask, and Del held onto one of his hands.

"Tony? Come on Tony get up."
Nicole pleaded with tears in her eyes.

He groaned and his eyes opened.

"Hey Nikkie."
He said quietly.

"Why'd you do that Tony?"
Steve asked walking towards him.

"These guys need you more than they need me Cap."
He smiled at Nicole.

"Take care of Del alright?"

"No way Tony."
Nicole shook her head.
"You're going to take care of her yourself. You're going to get up and you're going to get better do you hear me?"

"I would if I could sis."

Tony turned to Del.
"You'll be okay Del. Nicole's gonna look after you."

"No, you're not leaving me."
Del's voice shook as tears ran down her face.

"Tony?"
Nicole said softly.
"Tony!"

He was gone.

Del buried her face in her hands, Nicole stared at her brother in shock.

Elizabeth cried into Steve's shoulder, he stood in a daze as he held her.

Conner and Alexia stood side by side.

Neither could comprehend what had just happened.

Anthony stood a few feet away, his mask hid his emotions.

It looks like I missed.

Anthony tensed when he heard Lucas' voice.

Oh well, I would have killed him anyway. Just like I'm going to kill everyone else.

Shut up Lucas!

You won't be able to save them Anthony. I will kill them all, although my next target will be someone you'd never expect.

I'm not letting you hurt anyone else.

You know that you're powerless to stop me.
I will be making my next move very soon.

Anthony waited until he was sure Lucas was gone, then he walked over to where everyone else was.

No one could believe that Tony was gone.

It had happened so fast, and what plagued everyone else's minds was that it wasn't over.

Who would be next?

When would Lucas strike again?

Would they be able to stop him?

No one knew the answers to these questions, if they didn't find a way to stop him, Lucas would kill them all.

»»»

Peter found Skyler standing alone, away from everyone else.

She had her headphones on and was looking straight ahead at the scene in front of her.

He had changed out of his suit and was just as shocked as everyone else about Tony's death.

"Sky?"
He asked.

She looked up at him.
Her face lacked any kind of emotion.
No grief, no anger, just a blank expression.

"Are you okay?"
Peter asked.

"I'm fine."
She looked down at the grass.

"You don't sound fine."

When she didn't respond Peter sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay to feel sad Sky. You don't have to hide your feelings from everyone."

"I'm not hiding anything."
Skyler snapped.

"Sky, it's going to be alright-"

"How can you say that Peter? How can anything possibly be alright? Tony's dead, people are injured and dying all around us, and Lucas will be back and he'll kill more of us! More people that I care about!"

Tears forming in Skyler's eyes but she held them back.

She wouldn't cry.

Crying wouldn't bring Tony back. It wouldn't bring her parents back....

"We have to focus on taking Lucas down."
She said looking Peter in the eye.
"Nothing else matters right now."

"Skyler, I know how much Tony meant to you, and I know how much Steve, Natasha, and all the Avengers mean to you. They're like family to you, and you can't imagine losing them."

Skyler looked away and wiped her eyes.

"You mean a lot to me too Sky. You're like a little sister to me. I promise that I won't Lucas hurt you, or anyone else you care about."

Skylet blinked but still refused to meet Peter's gaze.

"Remember Sky, I lost people close to me too."

Peter looked up and noticed Steve giving orders to everyone else.

"You'd better get over there Sky."

She nodded.

"I'll meet up with you later Pete."

"And Sky?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

»»»

"We can't sit and wait for Lucas to make his next move."
Steve announced to the others.

"He already has Conner, Del, Storm, Jane, and Wanda's powers."
He continued.

"Now we have a lot of people injured, and we barely have any weapons or resources. But we have to be ready. We're not going to let Lucas take us all down without a fight."

"He may have hit us hard, but we'll hit him back even harder. We will avenge Tony, and everyone else Lucas has murdered."

Everyone nodded their agreement.

They were no longer grieved, they were angry.

Lucas would pay.

He wouldn't hurt anyone else.

»»»

That's right. Go ahead and prepare yourselves.

Lucas thought grinning.

You're already too late to stop me.
I already have my eyes on my next target.

But first, I need to pay a visit to someone...

»»»

Bet y'all didn't see THAT coming!

And if you thought this was bad, just wait until the next chapter!

MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA