Almost caught up! One more to go before I'm caught up on wattpad to the chapter I'm currently writing. Hopefully I can establish a good upload schedule after that! Enjoy this one guys! It'll knock the breath out of ya! hehehe....
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0=change focus to a different character
00=scene change (no matter how big or small)
000=timeskip
F000=this means that we move back to the next avengers time.
P000= No this is not poo. it's moving back to the past.
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Chapter 15: Head to Head: Part 3
Rogue looked down another hall. This place felt like a maze, even though he'd already worked his way through the halls before shit hit the fan. It was like new halls popped up or places were closed off. Something was definitely going on here.
He turned a corner and made it about 5 feet down this hall before he heard the loud metal clanking sound echo behind him. Whirling around, he saw that the way he'd just come from was now cut off, a solid metal door now closed up the hallway. Another loud sound came from the opposite direction. Another door blocking him in the hallway. He was trapped.
"Okay, this is getting weird," he said. Then it got worse. The doors began moving in on him. His senses went into overdrive as he looked at his surroundings to find a way out. Solid walls were on either side of him. Then he glanced up... vent! Why is he always in vents? He shook his head. No time to waste, he jumped up and grabbed ahold of the vent cover. It was surprisingly much more sturdy than the ones at the tower. He pulled himself up so his feet became planted to the ceiling. This is where the body of a second generation super soldier comes in handy. He pulled hard on the vent cover and it quickly gave way. He barely managed to grab the rim of the vent and hung for a second to calm his heart rate. He grasped the edge with his other hand and pulled himself up into the vent. He didn't stick around to see how close he'd come to becoming a flat decoration. He began to crawl. He needed to find out what was going on because that was definitely not normal.
00
(~Francis~)
"What do we do now?" Pym asked as he backed away from the door. Francis glanced between him and his father, wondering what was going on in Clint's head right now. Hawkeye turned to them, a determined look on his face that Francis had seen many times.
"Avengers.. can you hear me? Nat? Anyone?" Hawkeye tested the coms and Francis realized that he couldn't hear him on there.
"You're not coming through," he informed his father. He saw Pym's face...his face... he's never gonna get used to that... get even more concerned.
"Does that mean someone's jamming us?" Pym questioned. Clint nodded.
"It's probably MODOC, he knows we're after him." Clint thought a moment, then looked at them. "The plan was to go to the cargo hold. In all likelihood the other Avengers are going to be making their way there, so we should too. That's where we can meet up with them."
"Sounds like a plan," Francis said and glanced at Pym. To his surprise, the boy had put on his sunglasses during this discussion. He raised an eyebrow at him. When did he put those on? For some reason a pit settled in Francis' stomach at the sight. Clint passed him and Pym followed. Francis shook his head. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Stick close, we wouldn't want to get separated further," Clint said, snapping Francis out of his thoughts. The young archer nodded and moved quickly to catch up with them. He wished Pym's legs weren't so short, it'd be easier to keep up.
00
(~Tony~)
"Damn it," Tony cursed, staring at the wall. He looked back at the remnants of his team that were with him. Falcon and Hulk... great. Things just got a thousand times harder.
"That was weird. I know SHIELD has emergency lockdown doors, but I don't think they're supposed to be in every hall," Falcon said and he made a good point. Tony remembered the plans for the Tricarrier. It didn't include these. He'd file that away for later. Right now he needed to focus on the task at hand.
"Weird or not, it happened. Someone is trying to slow us down. We keep moving towards the cargo hold. The others will likely do the same," Tony said.
"Uh... which way was that again?" HulkFalcon asked. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at Sam.
"Lead the way," he said and gestured. FalconCap nodded they stealthy began to make their way through the halls.
00
(~James~)
James carefully checked around the corner for agents. He didn't know if the agents or MODOC knew that they were technically an agent down but he didn't want to take that chance. No agents yet. He turned down the hall and kept going. This place felt like a maze and it didn't help that he didn't know where the Avengers were within it. He was practically flying blind.
"Dev," a voice sounded from behind him. He whirled around, alarm bells ringing. He saw before him a few SHIELD agents holding guns. At first he thought they were going to open fire. It took him a second to realize he wasn't being targeted here. "Devon you alright?" The same person asked. It was one of the agents, male and looked to be in his mid 20's. The was something off about him. Off about all of them. Their eyes... just like him when he's Rogue, their eyes are wrong. "Devon!" James blinked and nodded, deciding to play along for now.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just having a bit of a rough time trying to locate them," he said, hoping to God they didn't recognize his voice was different. They stared at him a moment. He hoped the mind control was enough to make them look past it.
"You got shot dude. You fit for this? The Avengers are dangerous and we need your top performance to bring 'em in," The agent asked. It didn't seem they noticed the difference in his voice.
"I'm fit. I can still do this," James affirmed. The agent nodded and handed James a hand gun, something he could easily use even with his hurt shoulder. He looked it over, made sure it was loaded and cocked it. He could stay with these guys for now. As long as they bought that he was this Devon guy, it was good cover. They know the ship better than he does and, due to MODOC, probably know where the Avengers are heading. "Let's go."
F000
(~Freedom Fighters~)
"We've already checked this area for supplies. We need to go further," a woman said, geared up in some kind of full body suit, complete with what looked like an extremely worn out police vest.
"Look, I agree we need to go further, but this town is the least touched by Ultron and we maybe able to use some of the materials in the buildings." The man next to her stated, his own mix matched outfit making him stand out. It seemed like there was a suit he was wearing as well but it was more covered.
"Yo small fry, over here," one of his crew yelled from their right. The man, dubbed small fry despite his height of around 6 ft, sighed, giving the woman a defeated look when he realized she was chuckling at him.
"I hate it when Jack calls me that," he mumbled. Next to him, a small, rusty droid that barely reached his knees in height and had the appearance of an insect, shook with beeps that imitated laughter. "Not you too." The droid just proceeded to laugh as they moved to join with Jack.
"Dude, look," Jack whispered. Small Fry immediately quieted down at his tone. This was serious. The woman next to him shared a worried look. Jack was using a building as cover to look in a specific direction. Small Fry and the woman did the same, glancing in the direction Jack was pointing. Outside a pretty normal looking building, a ship was there. Clearly Ultron made. He'd never seen one that big out so far before though. Something else was up.
"Oh shit...Scott we need to go, that's an Ultron transporter," she whispered. Scott, aka Small Fry, held up a hand to say wait. They sat there quietly and alert. After some tense time passed, the door to the building they hadn't even been able to see opened. A robot walked out that was painted black and red. Jack reached behind him and wrapped his hand around the gun on his back. Scott had a shocked look on his face and shared a look with the woman, clearly questioning something. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder and shook his head. Jack gave him a quizzical look.
The 'robot' looked around and then stepped to the side. He was making a 'come out, it's safe motion' with his hand to whoever was behind him. A blond girl in golden armor exited with an African boy that looked worse for wear. The girl was watching the boy carefully, clearly worried for him. They headed for the transporter, the robot right behind them.
"Small Fry..." Jack said, not liking this.
"Just wait," Scott whispered. This exchange didn't appear to have gone unnoticed. The robot stopped and turned his head in their direction. They all involuntarily held their breath. After a second of the robots head moving back and forth, the robot's faceplate slid up, revealing the man underneath. His hair was white and had grown out, but it was clear who that was. Tony Stark.
"Oh my god... he's alive," Scott muttered. Jack let go of his gun, staring at the man.
"Who is he?" Jack whispered.
"Tony Stark," the woman replied.
"Tony?" the blond peaked her head out from the door of the transporter. Tony turned to her, his look of suspicion disappearing as he did. "Are you coming? We need to get Azari back so Dr. Henry can check him over," her voice then lowered so the group didn't hear what she said next. Tony nodded, but she seemed to sense something was up. "Is everything okay?" Tony stayed silent a moment.
"I thought I heard something, but nothing showed up on my scans. I think it was just an animal. I'm coming," he replied, glancing around again before heading to the door of the transporter. The blond watched him with concern until they were both in the transporter. The door began to close. Scott turned to his little robot friend.
"Ant-bot. Attach yourself to that transporter and send us a signal wherever they land, okay?" He told him. Ant-bot gave some Scott watched the ship take off and begin flying away as a silence settled among his team. Questions hung in the air, a few of them are big ones.
"Tony Stark... is alive?" Jack questioned. Scott nodded.
"It seems so...Where has he been all these years? Where was he when the city fell and Ultron branched out?" He wondered out loud.
"Where was he when my family and his friends were slaughtered?" The woman said darkly. The two men shared a look. Scott looked back in the direction the transporter had gone in.
"All good questions. We'll have to ask him after Antbot gets back to us. Tony was a lot of things but a coward wasn't one of them. He had to have a good reason when he disappeared," he stated; though his tone was one that wasn't sure about his words.
"Better be a damn good one," she replied. A crackling noise came from the black box on his belt and he quickly grabbed it. A voice kept getting cut off or covered by the static for a moment or two before a young girls voice came through.
"Stinger to Small Fry, Stinger to Small Fry. You read me?" Stinger asked. Scott, aka Small Fry, turned and gave Jack a glare. Jack, in turn, just started laughing his ass off. Scott huffed and held the radio up to his face.
"Stinger Acknowledged. Small Fry is not my code name and you know this. Over," he said. There was some silence on the other end and then laughter.
"Sorry dad, but that was funny," Stinger replied, pausing to laugh some more, before continuing. "Where are you guys? Its been a while since you left and Ant-bot's signal went dark. Over."
"We're at the overgrown town but we're going to have to go farther today. This place is pretty dry in resources. Theres a chance we may lose communication but it shouldn't be for too long. Over," he replied.
"How much farther? Need to know if we need to send in the calvary after some time. Over," Stinger said. Scott glanced at Jack and the woman. Jack shrugged. The woman pulled out her own radio.
"Wasp to Stinger, it shouldn't take longer then four hours beyond this town, going out and back. Over," She stated.
"Roger that Wasp. I'm setting my watch to it. Be careful out there guys. Stinger out," Stinger stated and the radio went silent. Wasp shared a look with Scott and Jack. They nodded and started moving again, but all their minds were reeling with questions.
000
(~Aboard the Transporter~Tony~)
Tony looked back at Azari from his pilots chair on the ship. He was sleeping again, but his marks weren't glowing with the rise and fall of his chest like normal. A likely side affect of having that bracelet on for so long. He sighed and focused on flying. He couldn't help but think of those kids from the video tape. He had no idea how old that video was. He also didn't know who the kids were. Clearly they're siblings from what the boy, Jason, had said. He had powers, does his sister? He hasn't quite seen that affect of the skin turning blue from using them before. He may have to look into that. And Jason mentioned their mother...
His grip tightened on the controls. If she survived, somewhere out there is a mother who thinks that both of her children are dead. The pain of that... he knows too well. While looking into this for the sake of James and Francis, he's going to try to find out more about those kids too. Maybe he can find their mother and give her either closure or hope. Every parent deserves at least that.
"Tony, has Vision gotten back to you recently?" Torunn asked from behind him. Tony shook his head, not turning to look at her. He didn't want her to see the look on his face.
"No, not recently. Our communication has been brief since he left to help that group in Europe thats fighting back the robots there," he replied, pausing for a moment. A pang of guilt shot through him as he said this. He hadn't focused on the continued fight against the robots left behind after Ultron's defeat as much as he'd like to. Especially now that he was missing half his team. "I plan to send him an update when we get back."
"Alright. I'm going to try to sleep. We've got a long flight back," Torunn replied and left him in the pilots chair with his thoughts.
P000
(~SHIELD Tricarrier~Rogue~)
'Vents, why do I always wind up in vents? More importantly, why do both place that should have extremely good security have vents big enough for me to fit in? Did no one think that was a bad idea?' Rogue questioned himself and his very silent agent mind host. He almost wished the agent would say something useful, but he's quiet as a mouse. Doesn't even seem confused. He wasn't sure how much the agent will remember after this considering his previously brainwashed state, but he hoped it wouldn't be much. If the agent did remember anything important, he'll have to take care of that.
Rogue found himself pausing in his movement. There were voices beneath him. He didn't hear what they were saying, but he noticed when they went quiet. It coincided with a feeling blooming in his head that spread throughout his body. He froze and felt like he couldn't move. Then the pain started. It was the same kind of pain he felt when MODOC tried to take over his mind, though not as overwhelming. He closed his eyes and then felt it. A brief switch. He fell off the drivers wheel of the body, his hand slipped. Then he heard it.
"The Avengers are separated, but are still making their way to the cargo hold. Intercept them at all costs," MODOC's voice bounced around in his head, loud and clear. Then buzzing started up and it felt like the information just downloaded into his brain. After it finished and the buzzing subsided, he was able to moved again. He regained control and let out a gasp. That was wrong... so wrong. What just... oh no.
"Shit..." he muttered to himself. He realized what just happened. The SHIELD agent was still under MODOC's control. MODOC sent out that message to those under his control and it was so powerful it forced the agent into the drivers seat for a small amount of time. This made things so much worse. Not only does it mean that any message or command MODOC sends out will likely force him to freeze in any situation, but also if MODOC figured out his predicament... he could potentially force Rogue under his control. Rogue would rather go to hell than work for the giant baby head.... Is this how James feels normally? This sucks.
He shook his head. He'll just have to keep moving forward and hope MODOC never figures that out. On the bright side he now knew where the Avengers are. More importantly, where Hawk is. He can use this. He kept shuffling through the vents, attempting to compartmentalize what's happening.
00
(~Hawkeye~)
Clint glanced back at the kids after checking another corner for the agents. He had noticed that Pym had put on Francis' sunglasses while they were moving. Francis had said those didn't help his color blindness, which is something else entirely Clint wanted to address, so why was Pym wearing them now? He didn't like this. Especially given the scan. Something was up. He'll have to keep an eye on him. PymFrancis suddenly froze and looked around.
"Pym? What is it?" Francis asked, clearly worried as well. Pym glanced at them and put a hand to his head.
"Somethings wrong..." the action combined with the wording sent alarm bells ringing in Clints head. Pym looked up at them. It still weirded him out that his future sons eyes were staring back at him even though it was Pym in the drivers seat. Then again he was currently in the body of Thor so it was probably just as weird for them. "I think someone's... coming."
Clint and Francis glanced around. Then a bullet flew past him. He quickly jumped back into the nearest room, Francis close behind. Glancing out carefully, he saw Pym as he barely ducked into the room opposite them and a little to the right. He cursed slightly. They need to stick together!
"How do they keep finding us so quickly?" Francis questioned. Clint shrugged.
"I have no idea, but I'm guessing it's the same way they were able to separate us. There's some way they're tracking us," Clint replied.
"You said that earlier. I wish we know how so we could get them off our backs. We'll never reach the cargo hold split up like this unless we do," Francis said. Clint looked down at his future son in Pyms body and nodded in agreement. He then glanced around the room. He can't fight as Thor. He has no hammer and no idea how to use Thor's powers without the hammer... At least he's never seen Thor use his powers without his hammer. So, he'll have to stick to what he knows.
"What are you planning?" Francis asked curiously. Clint looked back at him.
"Not sure yet... you told me I taught you how to survive," he stated more than questioned. Francis nodded. "Good. Help me find some stuff in here we can use. We gotta safely take these guys out."
00
James blinked for a moment, holding perfectly still. The agents around him had frozen. It was really creepy actually. He's not sure what had caused it. All he knew was that he wasn't like them and he didn't want them to know. He wasn't sure if they could hear or see him right now, but he didn't want to give them a reason to add him to the hunting list. After a moment they all looked at each other and then started moving again. He followed, but had no idea where they were going.
'This is so weird. What was that?' he wondered. It was like when a computer froze. Worse, they were all now completely silent, where as they were talking and joking around before. He'd almost forgotten they were brainwashed until that happened. They seemed to really know where they were going now though. Hopefully something good can come out of this.
00
(~Rogue~)
Rogue looked down through the vent cover he was at. He could see the SHIELD agents below him, firing down the hall. He knew they'd found one group of the Avengers. He hopes he was right in which group it was. He pushed forward through the vents and found that they split in two directions ahead of him. He glance in both directions and decided to go left. Another vent cover was coming up. He paused when he reached it and looked in. Bingo.
Rogue removed the vent cover, drawing the attention of the rooms occupant upwards. He positioned himself and dropped down. His target yelped in a voice he honestly didn't expect.
"James?" Interesting... the body was Hawks... but the voice was Pym's. He just rolled his eyes and stood up from the crouched position he'd landed in.
"Not quite," Rogue replied and watched as fear washed over the others face.
"Rogue..." Pym stated as he took a defensive stance. Rogue shook his head. He didn't come hear to fight. He heard the firing slow down some. Ignoring Pym, he moved to the door and glanced outside it. Four of the SHIELD agents were still firing. The others appeared to be reloading. There was a total of ten it looked like. Maybe twelve.
Movement across the hall caught his eye. Thor was at the door. He seemed to be checking the same thing Rogue was. The soldier moved back before Thor could notice him and grabbed the door, closing it about 3/4's of the way. He didn't want them to hear what he was about to say but also didn't want to make Thor do something rash when he noticed the door was shut.
"What are you doing here, Rogue?" Pym asked, seemingly finding his voice. Rogue turned back to Pym. James would probably find this comical if he were here.
"Was attempting to complete a mission. Clearly it isn't going well so right now my only goal is to survive," Rogue stated blankly.
"It's your fault it's not going well, whatever it is. It's your fault we're like this," Pym crossed his arms. Something looked like it just occurred to him. "What... um..." he paused, blinking a bit. He looked like he was getting dizzy. "What is your mission?"
"Technically you already know it, Pym. But not like you'll be able to remember it," he watched the confusion cross his face. "My current mission, is to find and talk to someone. The first half of that I've somewhat just accomplished. The second half depends on how long he decides to make me wait when I know it's not that hard for him to show up."
"Him.. but.. what.. what do you.." Pym's eyelids were getting heavy. He couldn't complete a sentence. It was interesting to watch. Reminded him of when he took over James again on the roof the other day. It was strange to watch it from the outside like this. The intrigue quickly wore thin as the precious time passed.
"Damn it Hawk, quit drawing this out and get out here already," Rogue snapped in mild annoyance. That seemed to work. Pym's eyes fluttered close and he stumbled back against the wall, but managed to stay upright. After another second he opened his eyes and instantly gave Rogue a look. "Took you long enough."
"Give me one reason I shouldn't punch you in the face right now for getting me in the situation where I have to share a head with the annoying little kid of the group," Hawk huffed, glaring at him. His glare didn't hold the same punch in it Rogue had seen during their last encounter. Mostly he just looked exhausted. It was surprising to see him this way. Is this part of the reason it was Francis standing with the Avengers when all this went south?
"Because I'm in an even worse boat than you are," Rogue stated and stepped closer to him, lowering his voice. "One of those damned SHIELD agents are in here instead of James and worse MODOC still has a connection to him. I don't think he knows yet but there's a chance he'll figure it out and if he does I'm a goner. I'm gonna need you to help me out of if this happens." Hawk stared at him.
"You need me to bail your ass out of a situation you got yourself into? So nothing new then?" Hawk scoffed, shaking his head.
"Hawk. Will you help me or not?" Rogue asked bluntly. Hawk let out a sigh.
"Fine. Yes I'll help you snap out of it if this gets worse. I'm tired of hanging with the merry hero gang anyways," Hawk agreed pushing himself off the wall. Rogue paused, a partial idea forming in his head.
"Actually, if you can, try to keep it on the downlow. You're in a really good position right now we can use down the road," the soldier said. Not that he had a plan for that yet, but even now he couldn't lose such a valuable position. Hawk threw his hands up.
"Okay, then how do you expect me to help you without revealing that I exist to the Avengers and Francis," Hawk asked. Rogue glanced at the door. That was a good question.
00
Tony paused when Cap... Falcon motioned for him to stop. He stepped closer to the wall and watched as two SHIELD agents passed by. He watched them carefully. HulkFalcon moved behind him, but Tony stuck his hand out and stopped Hulk. He didn't need him to smash right now, they had to keep being stealthy here. Especially since they were separated. After the agents had passed, they waited a moment before speaking.
"How much farther Falcon?" Tony asked.
"How should I know?" Hulk replied, making Tony let out a sigh.
"Again, the Falcon that's Cap," the body swapped billionaire retorted. Falcon let out a chuckle.
"We're not far, a few more turns and we'll be there," Falcon replied.
"Good. I want to get to the bottom of this soon," Tony stated. Falcon looked back at him as they started to move again.
"You think the answer to what's going on with the ship is in the cargo hold?" he asked.
"I think that MODOC found a way to booby trap the tricarrier after he took it over. If we find him, we'll be able to reverse the body swap and figure out what he did," Tony replied.
Falcon nodded and turned the corner. Before he could enter the next hall, another door slammed down in front of him. He nearly slammed into it.
"Okay... looks like this is going to take longer than I originally said," Falcon said, sharing a look with Tony. At this rate, they may never reach the cargo hold. "I think your theory has some weight to it."
00
(~Widow~)
Widow felt eyes boring into her. She glanced back at Cap. He may be in the wrong body, but he's still Cap. She could still read him like a book, like she could most people. He had something to say but was hesitating to say it.
"What is it?" She asked.
"What is what?" Thor responded. She shook her head.
"Cap, what's on your mind?" She reiterated. Cap wasn't surprised by her question.
"A lot, but now's not the time to discuss it," Cap said. He shook his head. Widow was tempted to let it go, but she knew they'd have to talk about it sometime. They'd been avoiding the subject since the meeting with Pym, after they'd just comeback from their search for Rogue.
"We'll have to discuss it some time," she told him, noting that Thor seemed confused about what they were taking about. It was... strange to see that look on her own face. Then again their whole world was strange.
"How about when we're back to normal?" Steve said. She simply nodded. Silence fell between them once more. It was somewhat awkward.
"Uh..." Thor started to say something. She held up a hand. She could hear running. Cap stopped a little too loudly. He wasn't used to the armor or having to stop quickly in it so his foot came down heavier than he meant when he stepped forward. They held their breath a moment as Widow peeked around the corner the footsteps were coming from. Her bulk form of Hulk made it difficult to ensure she couldn't be seen doing this.
The owner of the footsteps was fast approaching, and it sounded like they weren't alone...
00
(~A few moments earlier~Clint~)
Clint stepped back inside the room. He looked at Pym...Francis.
"Ten are out there. They're just frozen right now-what are you doing?" He saw his son attempting to drag a desk over to the door.
"I'm gonna throw this and blast it while they're frozen. It shouldn't cause too much damage to anyone it hits," Francis responded. They had to take this opportunity to shift the odds. It wasn't bad, but clearly Pym's body couldn't lift that desk. Clint shook his head and picked up the desk. Thor's strength is good for something it seems. It looked like it'd barely fit though the door.
"Let me then. Finally this body is useful," he muttered and managed to get the desk through the door. It seemed the agents were coming out of their frozen state. Acting fast, he threw the desk before they started moving and heard the thuds of the hit as he ducked into the room again. Not a moment too soon either. The agents were moving again. But this time they were advancing. Glancing out and back in, he could see he'd hit at least three agents. Stepping back, he shut the door.
He glanced at Francis.
"I hit three, but I think they took that as their cue to advance," Clint informed his kid and looked around at anything in the room. Francis was already grabbing anything he could aim with, but they're going to need more than that.
Every SHIELD agent aboard the Tricarrier has to go through training and be able to defend themselves. He started searching the office and soon found a hidden hand gun. Not his weapon of preference, but it'd do. Then he saw a side table. It'd work as a scatter distraction so he can get better shots. He positioned it so that when the door opened, he could kick it at them. He glanced at his future son, silently asking if he was ready. Francis nodded in the affirmative, and looked at the door. In his hands were small items easily used as projectiles if need be.
00
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was something.
"That's a shit plan Rogue," Hawk gave his unnecessary opinion. Rogue rolled his eyes.
"It's a basis for a plan. We can figure out the rest later-"
"Later when? And how? You have a habit of getting caught whenever you break into the tower," Hawk jabbed. He rubbed his eyes. Rogue sighed and pulled out a small black device, handing it to him. Hawk looked at it and realized it was a comm piece.
"I know you're wearing one of the Avengers comm devices right now, but I still have what channel they're on from a week ago," Rogue paused when Hawk gave him a questioning look. "I'll explain that later. Static twice means its me, on either comm. If it's on theirs you disable their comm and put ours in. I trust you can keep whoever your host is during and after this unaware of this and the comm?" Rogue stated more than questioned. He knew he could, but needed to be certain due to Hawks current state.
"Thats kind of the whole point of the upgrade so yeah, I can," Hawk replied and stuck the comm in his pocket.
"Good. I'll see-" Rogue stopped speaking, gritting his teeth, he felt the familiar pain begin in his head and travel throughout his body. The gun fire outside the room stopped abruptly. He squeezed his eyes shut as he leaned against the wall, a hand on his head. 'Damn it, not again' Rogue thought just before the shield agent was once again forced into the drivers seat.
'Stark, Falcon and Hulk nearly reached the cargo hold. What are you fools doing?! Don't just pin them down! Stop them! Stop them all permanently!' MODOC yelled in his head, making his ears ring and his head pound worse. After a second it began to subside. The SHIELD Agent sunk back into the depth of his mind and Rogue was able to begin feeling his body again. The pain subsided and he couldn't help but to let out a gasp. He'd been holding his breath during that and his lungs burned a bit. That was new.. Hawk was looking at him as he rubbed his eyes.
"What was that?" His partner asked. The firing outside resumed, but it was different this time. The sound was getting steadily louder. He glanced at the door.
"That's what happens when he sends a message out... I have it handled for now," Rogue let out a breath. "They're shooting to kill now, not just to distract or to keep you away from the cargo hold. I suppose the same would go for me as far as I know." He locked eyes with Hawk. The man wasn't worried. His emotionless eyes took on a more determined look.
"This is bad rogue, a lot worse than you let on. Do you have any idea what would happen if MODOC got access to what you know?"
"It won't come to that. Information doesn't go both ways, remember?" Rogue responded. The firing had stopped moving closer. He looked out the door. Hawk opened his mouth to say something, but Rogue interrupted him. "We're running out of time. I'll see if I can't get the agents attention out there and lead them away."
"Damn it. Fine, but I swear to Ultron if this compromises the mission somehow-"
"It won't. Remember, static twice is me," Rogue cut him off, before moving to the door. This was probably going to be dangerous and one of the stupidest things he's done since taking control. He ran out into the hall. The sight that treated him was better than expected. Two agents had breached the room where Thor and Hawkeye were located. Three more were on the ground and looked like they got hit by a bus... or the desk behind them... that's probably what happened. Raising his hand as he backed down the hallway towards his exit. He placed his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle.
"Hey Assholes! I'm over here!" He shouted, gaining the five agents outside the rooms attention. They stared a second as if they were surprised to see him. Then their gazes hardened and he started running before they started shooting. They were hot on his heels. For SHIELD agents, these guys were terrible shots.
00
(~Clint~)
Clint was ready for the agents when they breached the door. Kicking the side table did exactly as he expected. The agents had to scatter. Two had ducked to the side inside the door, narrowly avoiding the table. Then something unexpected happened.
"Hey Assholes! I'm over here!" A voice he didn't recognize yelled as they were regrouping. He noticed the agents outside the door stared down the hall, then started charging whoever was down there. The two agents inside the room with them looked just as confused as Clint felt about this new development. The agents looked back at them and Clint smirked.
"What do you think, son? Two on two?" He asked Francis. His tone portrayed his banter and Francis picked up on it. He pretended to think about it as the SHIELD agents eyes seemed to gain an apprehensive look in them.
"Hmm... I don't know. It hardly seems fair," Francis grinned. "For them." Two well placed bullet holes in the wall and some precision aiming on Francis' part, the two agents were on the ground. They were still breathing, just unconscious. Francis let out a breath.
"That was easier than I expected," he stated.
"Don't jinx it," Clint replied, tucking his gun into Thor's belt. "We should keep moving while we have an opening.
"Good point. Let's get to Pym," Francis agreed and lead the way to the room Pym had ducked into. Clint glanced at the agents he'd hit with the desk. They seemed to be breathing... good. He'd been a little worried that he'd thrown the desk too hard. "Pym? You alright?" Francis' voice broke him out of his searching gaze. He turned his attention to the kids as he reached the door to the room Pym was in. He saw Pym leaning on the wall as he rubbed his eyes, sunglasses in his other hand. The body swapped boy looked up at them and smiled.
"Yeah I'm good? I feel a little tired..." he trailed off a second. Clint didn't miss the look of confusion that flickered on his face. Then Pym seemed to realize something. "Where'd the SHIELD agents go?"
This question surprised Clint. The agents had to pass the room Pym was in when they were leaving, so Pym should've seen them. He was rubbing his eyes when they came in. His mind flashed to earlier with Francis' dizzy spell, then to the scan of the chip... he somewhat wished he hadn't vetted for the kids to come along.
"Someone distracted them but we didn't see who. Did you?" Clint asked, his eyes searching the room. Pym took just a second too long to answer that.
"No... I never saw them," the kid replied as Clints eyes landed on the open vent. A lightbulb went off in his head, but he couldn't be sure. Rogue often seemed to use the vents. But the voice didn't sound right... unless.
"You sure? They would've been near you when they yelled," Clint pointed out as he looked back at Pym. Francis gave him a quizzical look. Pym shrugged.
"I was trying to stay away from the door with the bullets flying, so I never saw anyone," he said, though it felt like he needed that explanation more for himself. Clint pretended to accept the answer, but kept it in mind.
"Alright. We should keep moving. I don't want to get pinned down again," he stated.
"Right," Francis agreed with a nod of his head. Clint could hear a speck of concern and weariness in his voice. Pym didn't seem to notice though and simply nodded. Clint lead the way, glancing quickly towards the vent once more as they left.
00
(~Now~Rogue~)
Rogue nearly tripped as a bullet grazed his shoulder. This was not a wise plan. Worst thing he's done. He drew the handgun he'd grabbed from the armory and started firing at the agents. He hit two in the shoulder before he turned a corner to try to lose them. He heard a scuffle as the agents either ran past the corner hall or barely managed to turn as quick. He looked quickly for his next turn. A hall was coming up but too quickly. He wouldn't be able to make that turn. He looked for a different route.
He didn't need to find one though. As he passed the hall, he heard the agents directly behind him let out a grunt. Followed by the other agents letting out a yell of surprise. He skid to the stop and turned to see what had happened, his pistol at the ready. To his surprise, he found that the Avengers stood there. Well... some of them. Hulk, Widow and Tony it looked like. Where he'd come from, one agent was unconscious right by Hulks feet. The others were piled together. It looked like one agent had been thrown into them like a bowling ball.
"Well... this is a turn of events," Cap's voice alerted Rogue to his presence, but he didn't see him. He glanced around the hall just to be sure but didn't speak. He had not expected the avengers to help him after all that he's done so far.
"Yeah...where... wait..." Rogue realized what he was looking at. The Avengers before him looked startled when he spoke. He knew they'd noticed the difference in his voice as much as he had. "Did you guys... you're not who you look like are you?" He questioned cautiously. He suspected this but this would be the first confirmation on the Avengers affected by what happened.
"Unfortunately, no thanks to you," Widow's voice did not come from her body. It came from Hulks.
"Widow..." Cap said cautiously. His voice originating from Starks body.
"What were you thinking? Teaming up with MODOC of all people?" Widow continued. Rogue blinked. Was she... scolding him? Even when she was in Hulks body, he could tell something had changed in the way she looked at him. Did she...know?
"I did what I had too and I sure as hell don't owe you an explanation," Rogue stated blankly. CapIronman shook his head. He seemed incredulous and concerned.
"Given that you are the reason we are this way, I'd say that you do," the voice of Thor came from Black Widows body. It shocked Rogue slightly as he remembered seeing Thor in the hall he'd just run from. He wondered who Thor had switched with. Who was just down the hall from him then?
"Screw off. I don't have time to deal with... whatever it is you're doing. I have a giant baby head to find and either reverse this," Rogue gestured to them. "Or to kill him, though I guess that's not a mutually exclusive A/B plan."
"Rogue!" Cap said, eying him with suspicion. He knew. They all knew from his voice. Cap seemed to mull over what to say. "You do realize that it's possible that killing MODOC will just make this permanent." Rogue took a moment to reflect on this and shrugged.
"Honestly, I wouldn't care if it did," he replied. Cap gained the look he imagined he'd use in the army. He didn't respond, simply began backing away from them. WidowHulk reached out to grab him when the ship shook again. Rogue fell into a wall but managed to stay upright. A familiar sound alerted him that he needed to jump back. He did so as a wall panel slammed down where he'd just been leaning. With the ship still shaking, he was unable to keep himself from having a not-so-graceful landing on his butt this time. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. That hurt. Once again, those walls have some convenient timing... he pushed himself up and started moving again. He didn't want to be caught in another trash compactor scenario.
00
(~James~)
James moved silently. He winced and stopped when he accidentally bumped his injured shoulder on the corner at a turn. The agents ahead of him didn't stop. That might be just as well. The amount of times they've frozen in that creepy manner had escalated. He didn't know what was up with that, but he didn't like it. He could also see that they'd started walking with the safety off. He looked at the halls around him and noticed a few places seemed to be sealed off. He didn't remember if those were actually meant to be there or not. Then again, it was Rogue who had memorized the layout, not him. He hated that he didn't have access to any information Rogue gathered unless he said something about it.
"Devon, you coming?" The shield agent that had given him his gun poked his head back around the corner. There was no emotion in his voice and it felt more like a statement than a question. James had to hold back a shudder. It wasn't that different to his voice when Rogue is in the driver seat, just with a bit of a struggle in it, whereas Rogue's voice was almost always steady.
"Yeah, hit my shoulder. I'm coming," James did his best to match the empty tone of voice. It wavered slightly, but it seemed to pass. The agent nodded and turned his back to him, moving once more. James shook his head and followed him. He didn't know how long it would take them to figure it out. It was taking a lot longer to find any of the Avengers than he would like. He wished he had more information to go on.
00
(~Francis~)
"Hey Pym, why are you wearing my glasses?" Francis asked. Things had been pretty quiet between them since leaving that room. Several questions floated in Francis' mind but this seemed like a good starting point. Something about Pym is off and he wasn't sure what.
"I can see better with them," Pym shrugged. "The colors are fixed."
"Fixed?" Francis echoed. That didn't make sense. "How? That doesn't make sense. The glasses are literally the colors I have trouble seeing!" Pym shrugged.
"I don't know it just does," the youngest answered. Francis shook his head and dropped it.
"Okay then. How you feeling? You didn't look too good back there..."
"Yeah I'm good. Just wish I had my powers," Pym looked at his hands, then made eye contact with Francis. The swapped archer knew what he meant.
"I wish you did too. I'm worried something'll piss me off and I'll crush everyone here, or I'll accidentally discover how to use your stingers and I'll shoot an ally on reaction," Francis groaned. Pym shook his head.
"You don't have to worry about the stingers. They're built into the cuffs of the suit. You have to actually think about them firing for them to work," The younger informed him. This gave Francis an idea.
"Wait... are the cuffs detachable without messing up the rest of the suit?" he asked. Pym blinked a moment, considering it. Then realized why Francis was asking.
"It shouldn't hurt the rest of the suit," Pym grinned. Is that really what he looked like grinning? Francis pushed the thought aside. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Depends if you're thinking of giving me my bow and you taking your stingers," Francis said. Pym nodded. Francis looked at the cuffs. "Okay... how do I get these things off?" He asked as he examined them closely. In his periphery he saw Pym roll his eyes before he grasped one of his arms. "Hey-!" Pym presses an area on the inside of the cuff and it opened. "Oh.." Francis said as the cuff came off and didn't complain when Pym did that with the other cuff after putting on the first one. he pushed another area on both and the cuffs visibly adjusted to Francis' arms. Francis, in turn, was left with the chest peice and shoulder guards of the upper part of the suit and a long sleeve shirt and gloves underneath now shown well. Pym handed Francis his bow and the quiver. The archer took them gladly. The quiver strap was a little big for him so he had to adjust it, but he was happy to have his bow back.
"Hey! You guys coming? You can't be falling behind like that," Clint said from ahead. Francis' head snapped over to his younger father and he nodded.
"Yeah, we just worked something out," the younger archer stated, holding up his bow. Clint's eyes looked between the two and he got a smile on his face, which still looked weird given it was Thors face.
"Not bad," Hawkeye said and turned around. "Let's keep moving." Francis couldn't help the grin on his face.
00
(~James~)
James had clearly noticed that the agents around him began dropping back. When the first agent did it, his heart sank. He knew what was happening. The agents weren't letting him take up the rear. They knew. However, with two agents behind him, one on each side, and then two in front, he was surrounded. He needed an opening to make a break for it. Keeping his cool, he kept an eye out for his opening as they kept moving. There were no more hallways it seemed. They were all closed off. Door rooms too.. damn it. A rough push from behind in his injured shoulder had him stumbling forward with a gasp. He wanted to grab his shoulder to protect it, but instead he tightened his grip on his gun. He knew he'd need it to get out of this.
Slowly, he turned his head to look at the other agents. They had their guns trained on him.
"We know you're not one of us, Devon. You thought taking a bullet would be enough to prove you were?" One of the agents said, staring him down. James scanned their faces. Null and void. "We're smarter than that."
"I disagree, You guys were stupid enough to get brain washed in the first place," he replied with a smirk. He had to stall. He could fight them, but without his super soldier strength and with his injury, he wasn't sure how well he'd fair. Not to mention, all six had guns. This may not be his body, but it was the one he was using and he was sure neither himself nor the guy the body belonged to would appreciate him dying in it.
"We are not brainwashed. We are connected. One unit," the agent rebutted.
"MODOC leads us all," the agents spoke in unison, sending a chill up James' spine.
"Well, that wasn't creepy at all," he replied. Fight, fight is his only option. Backed in a corner, nowhere to run. The Avengers were probably busy making their way around the ship and dealing with the other agents. He slowly moved into a better fighting position. "Come on guys, you're SHIELD Agents! You should be better than this!" He lowered his voice some. "Take it from someone who knows what it's like. You can fight this. You're good people." He couldn't actually be sure of that given the limited knowledge he had of the fate of SHIELD, but he had to try. Maybe he can reach them or force MODOC to put them in that frozen state long enough for him to run. The agents didn't respond. He did notice that a few of them seemed more tense. The agent who had given him his gun was closer. His hand was shaking, hesitance in his eyes. James wondered just how close this Devon guy and this agent are? Maybe it was close enough...
Footsteps began to echo down the hallway. James' heart sank. If those were more agents he was done for. Then again, he was likely done for anyway. Though he had to admit, even as he saw the agents hands grow steady and the struggle leave their eyes, he hadn't expected too see who those footsteps belong to.
Rogue.
0
(~Rogue~)
Rogue paused in his walking, hiding around the corner in the hall he was on. He heard footsteps and he really didn't feel like dealing with more SHIELD agents right now. Peaking out of the hall, he watched them pass by. One caught his eye. He was in the middle of them, clearly trying to keep his composure. He was sneakily looking around. Something was different about him. He wasn't like the others.
Once they'd passed the hall he came out of his hiding place and snuck over to the end of it. After ensuring no one else was coming from the direction they had come from, he watched them. He noted that there was no other halls open. They were going towards a dead end... why?
The answer to that question became clear when the agent in the middle was pushed forward. He listened in to what was said. When the cornered agent spoke, he recognized his voice immediately. James.
'So that's where you went,' Rogue thought as he watch the situation unfold. It was clear that the odds weren't in his usual hosts favor. Especially as he tried to appeal to their inner will. It almost made Rogue laugh. James off all people should know that will can be overcome. After all, Rogue has been the one in the drivers seat for nearly the last year. He was tempted to leave him there to his demise. It'd certainly be easier to take on the Avengers without his constant interference. However, he knew the risks of what would happen, should the Avengers succeed in switching everything back, outweighed the annoyance James sometimes caused greatly.
Looks like he had to save Rogers ass. He took a deep breath, holstered his gun and stepped back a bit before taking off in a sprint down the hall. If this was going to work he had to be fast and use their surprise to his advantage. The agents were so focused on James, they hadn't heard him right away. They were halfway turning around when he reached them. He strategically went for the guy in the middle of the the line. He wanted to split them up. It worked. A solid blow to the jaw and to the side and the man went sprawling, losing his grip on his gun as he did. The line was split in two on his right and three on his left. He activated his shield on his left hand and brought his right arm down on the gun the man next to him was holding. The agent, in surprise, fired his gun. It nearly hit Rogues foot but just went into the floor. Rogue brought his shield up and had it grow to cover him as the three on his left started firing. He kicked the agent who's gun he'd just hit, knocking him into the wall. That should leave him at least winded for a moment.
A shout to his left turned his attention to the sight beyond his shield. James had shot one of the agents and tackled the one next to him. No time to question it. Rogue pushed his shield to the side, making sure it was big enough to hit the gun as he did. Using the unbalance this created, he immediately punched the agent, downing him. Looking at James he saw he'd managed the same. Movement came from behind him. Rogue activated his shield and let it fly. Bouncing off the ground, he heard it connect with the agent that had been getting up. A further thud told him that the agent had hit the ground again. With that done, he turned his attention to James. He was sitting against the wall. The agent he'd attacked was on the ground beside him. A hand was on his shoulder and he was breathing heavily. Clearly he was in pain. They made eye contact and neither spoke for a moment.
"Why did you help me? The hell are you doing here?" James broke the silence once he caught his breath for the most part. Rogue shook his head.
"You're welcome, Rogers," the red head responded, holding out his hand. James rolled his eyes but accepted the hand. Rogue noted that he used his right hand instead and this also revealed the red that had stained uniform on his left shoulder. Blood. Rogue briefly thought back to the agent he had shot that had attempted to protect MODOC. He pulled James up, but didn't let go of his hand. "Now, mind telling me where you've been?" He asked, lowering his voice and conveying an unspoken threat with his tone. James narrowed his eyes at him and jerked his hand away from him.
"Wandering the ship dealing with the chaos you caused! I told you teaming with MODOC was a stupid idea! But of course you wouldn't listen to me. I'm just the guy who's body and mind you've been hijacking for a year. Fuck you Rogue! If that wasn't my own face I'd punch you right now!" James snapped. Rogue was unfazed by James' outburst. He knew James was extremely angry at his situation. So much so some of the anger seeped through his programming and caused Rogue to act irrationally once or twice.
"I could've let them shoot you you know," Rogue deadpanned.
"Pretty sure you'd screw yourself then. You're insane but even you have a sense of self preservation," he retorted, holstering his gun. He wanted to fight, Rogue could tell. But James was injured and not in his own body. Things would not go well for him.
"Unfortunately, you'd be right there," Rogue reluctantly agreed.
"Oooh, now you admit I'm right," James spat, rolling his eyes. He turned and began to walk away, stepping over one of the downed agents. Rogue immediately grabbed his arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Rogue stated more than asked. He wasn't going to let James out of his sight. He couldn't control him separated like this and the last thing he wanted was for James to tell the Avengers everything should he find them. It'd ruin everything. He did not want to be on the receiving end of Ultrons wrath if that were to happen.
"Let go of me!" James said firmly, glaring at Rogue. The defiance in his eyes shown clearly. He was surprised James had this much fight in him still. He'll have to fix that when they get out of this. He tightened his grip on James' arm.
"No. Wherever you go, I go," Rogue stated. "I'm not letting you out of my sight." A brief moment of panic flashed across James' face. He began pulling and attempting to get free.
"I've been trapped in my own mind for an eternity because of you. I'll be damned if I have to stick around you for one second more! You can't control me like this Rogue. I'm done being your puppet!" James said, getting progressively louder as he spoke. He began squirming some as Rogue tightened his grip further, but the anger and defiance were still there. He was determined to be a pain in Rogue's side.
"You don't have a choice here J-" Rogue grit his teeth as he felt himself lock up. The familiar pain in his head starting and traveling throughout. MODOC's laughter sounded in his head.
"You think I haven't figured you out yet, Rogue? I am the greatest mind in the world! I knew what you were from the moment we met, but even your technology is not powerful enough to overcome the Mind Stone! Now... get rid of the agent before you. He is a traitor unnecessary to my plan." With that, Rogue was forced out of the drivers seat. The SHIELD agent took the wheel and Rogue felt his control leave him as he was pushed to the very cage he'd kept James, forced to watch what is going on from the screens he'd set up.
0
(~James~)
James tried to pull himself from Rogue's death grip on his arm. It was painful and he didn't want to be stuck here. Rogue was the last person he wanted to be around right now. It took him a second to recognize that he was frozen in place. James looked up at Rogue's face and was surprised to see the pain and struggle in it. He recognized the look in Rogues eyes. He glanced at the SHIELD agents, putting two and two together. He was in a SHIELD Agents body, so Rogue must have the agents mind. Given his current state...
"Shit..." he muttered. That wasn't possible, was it? What Ultron did shouldn't be able to be affected by this. Was the Mind Stone really that powerful? Given what the unconscious/injured agents around him attempted to do to him, he didn't want to stick around to find out. He attempted to pull his arm away again, his instincts telling him he didn't have a lot of time. He tried to pry his fingers apart, but his shoulder protested and he couldn't get a grip. When Rogue's grip tightened even more, eliciting a sharp inhale of pain, he knew he was too late.
"Sorry, it's not going to be that easy," Rogue said, something was wrong in his voice. It wasn't just that it was the SHIELD Agents, Devons, voice. It was mixed slightly. The mix was quiet and you had to strain a bit to hear it, but it was there. James reached for his gun. Rogue noticed and took the opportunity to use James' arm to throw him into the wall. The breath was knocked out of him on impact. He was momentarily stunned as he tried to regain his breath. He could hear Rogue approaching him, but he couldn't move. His body wouldn't let him. A hand grabbed his shirt and forced him up. James wheezed as he squinted his eyes open to meet Rogue's. No, this was Devon. It had to be. Rogue was insane, but not this insane. He was pushed up against the wall just as he was beginning to get his breath. Devon put his hand around James' throat. James attempted to suck in as much air as his recovering body would allow. Then he felt Devon start squeezing and like that James couldn't breathe.
~
See what I did in my note up top there? Though I guess James didn't technically have the breath knocked out of him, I think it still works. But how will James get out of this? What is MODOC planing to do with Rogue? Will the Avengers regroup?
Let me know what you think in the comments and don't forget to check out the discord! See you guys in the next update!