The Shadow [a marvel fanfiction]

Age of Ultron: Chapter Nine

Marie thought riding with Natasha on a motorcycle was terrifying. Riding with her on a snowplow? Death-defying.

The plow rammed into another group of cars. Marie jolted in her seat. The squeal of metal scraping against metal grated her ears. She ground her teeth together and gripped the dashboard tightly.

"Nat, you're in-in-insane! Certifiably insane!"

She had the nerve to laugh as she jerked the wheel and crushed a group of robots under the snowplow. Marie nearly broke her fingers off holding onto her seat.

"Romanoff," Tony warned, "you and Banner better not be playing 'hide-the-zucchini.'"

Marie groaned and hung her head. "That is n-nasty, Tony. Just nasty."

"Relax, shell-head. Not all of us can fly." Natasha crashed through a barbed-wire gate and their deadly snowplow ride was finally over. They jumped out of the cab, Marie landing on wobbly knees, and sprinted to join the remainder of the team.

"What's the drill?" Nat asked as soon as the team was in sight. Marie eyed the remains of the church and the large metal machine protruding from the center.

Tony pointed at it. "This is the drill. Ultron gets a hand on the drill, we lose."

"A game of-of-of—A game of keep-away," Marie muttered and flexed her hands in her gloves. Pietro and Wanda made it. The pair staid close to each other, always keeping one another in sight. They were a good addition to the team.

Marie whipped out her staff and hurled it at a robot. She leapt into the air after it, yanking it out of one torso before slamming it into another on her way down. She landed heavily on her feet and winced at the zing of pain that shot through her knees.

"You're going to get old lady knees like that," Clint said, releasing an arrow over her shoulder. Marie raised an eyebrow and leaned on her staff.

"What, like you?"

Clint made a face as Marie slipped into the shadows, grinning. She re-appeared across the room, electrocuting another machine. She turned and ducked under an incoming blast. Before she could reach for a knife, a silver-haired blur flew past her and flattened the robot.

"You're quick." Marie gripped her staff and took down another bot. "What-What's with the s-s-silver though?"

"It makes me look cool, yes? Do you like it?"

"Not n-nearly as much as you do." Marie flung a knife between the eyes of a robot.

"My brother does not need a larger ego," Wanda grunted and crumpled a robot into a ball, "his head is already too heavy to run with."

"Hey, that is not fair." Pietro, in a quick, silver blur, ran past his sister and tugged on her hair. Wanda screeched and shouted something in Sokovian. Marie assumed it translated to something close to "little shit."

The robots disappeared one by one. Marie wiped a hand over her brow and took a second to breathe. Maybe they could do it. The Hulk roared, ripping a robot in half before bounding after another group.

Ultron appeared in his silver-glory. The Avengers gathered around the core, unified as one force against him. Marie tucked her hair back and held her staff by her side. The electricity crackled and buzzed in her ears.

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor shouted, arms spread wide.

That was it. The one single question that could spark the ire of any human or robot; the question that dares to challenge you to rise to the occasion. It was a dare that no one could refuse.