Chapter Thirty-Two: No More Secrets
"You're gonna die of fright. Here comes the razor's edge. You're livin' on the edge. Don't know wrong from right. They're breathin' down you're neck. You're runnin' out of lives." -AC/DC: The Razor's Edge.
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The Black Order released us from the force field not too long after they arrived. Thor had to keeps his hands raised as the three of us in suits had to hold out hands together in the air. The large squadron disbanded into a smaller group to take us as captives.
We walk at a steady pace down the passageway. We turn away from what was our original destination. We have to climb a few flights of stairs on our winding journey away from the headquarters. Six members lead us on our escort as six remain behind us with their guns pointed at our heads. They told us that if we make any little noise that they would kill us. I cannot switch my voice to only to connected lines without saying it out through the microphone. The only noise that can be heard from us is the sound of feet marching as we are taken hostage.
Even everyone on the other end is silent. Director Coulson does not say any word to us even though we would be able to hear him. The usual chatter and communication between everyone else seems to have ceased too. The only thing anyone can do right now is wait to see how this predicament plays out.
The men in front of us come to a halt. They unlock and open two doors that are a sleek metal but with foreign carvings in a banner running from the top to bottom of the door. The doors open smoothly and the troops begin walking once again. We are lead into a spacious room. My breath hitches in my throat when I see Captain Rogers, Bucky, Sam, Clint, and Natasha on their knees with intimidating guns pressed to the back of their necks. The doors close behind us as we are now imprisoned in this space.
The room does not appear to be the exact headquarters of this ship. The space is somewhat shaped like a cooking funnel. The widest part is the open space that our team finds ourselves standing or kneeling in. The part that gets smaller is the raised level in front of us. Then at the very back it narrows; not to where it is barely a crack, it is still the size of an average bedroom. There are not rows and rows of control panels. There are no personnel running around here. There is nothing that is required to control such a massive spaceship in this room.
As mentioned earlier, the room is divided by a raised second level that makes up the back one-third of the room. The large, light grey, metal tiles expand across the floor space. Behind me, at the front of the room, is a wall of windows that overlook part of the spacecraft but more importantly space itself. An elongated desk sits centered at the front of the step. It holds a large screen in its top table and various other technological tools. Behind the table is the peculiar room. The only furniture in the room is a large chair that much resembles a throne. No one currently is seated in the throne, but that does not imply that the leader is out sick today.
A man steps into the room from the other side door. All of the Black Order members straighten their posture as he walks across to us. "My, look who showed up at my doorstep today," His deep, raspy voice makes my heart stops beating.
I know him.
"Never did I think we would ever meet face to face. I have to admit, you surprised me by showing the gallantry to find our headquarters and make your way in," He steps into better lighting.
I am thankful this man is not as terrifying-looking as Corvus, but his appearance does not appear friendly. His skin is an unusual shade of ivory. He has a narrow, elongated face that is etched with sharp wrinkles. His white hair that comes to a sharp widow's peak pushed backwards. His eyes seem to be blue glowing orbs. He does not have a protruding nose at all and has no distinguishable lips. His long, limber limbs move gracefully as he carries himself with pride.
"Allow me to introduce myself," He holds a hand to his chest, "My name is Ebony Maw. I am the second leader of the Black Order, since you so kindly killed the first. The child may know me in another way too. Hmm, do you recognize me?"
I know this man's voice all too well for me to not recognize him. It is the exact same voice that has turned me against my friends and teammates. It is the voice that compelled me to hold a gun at those I love the most. I cannot help as a tremor of fear shakes through me as I remember what it felt like to be this creature's puppet.
"Oh, it's alright to speak," Ebony clarifies as I have not spoken due to the amount of EMPs aimed at me, "Tell me, child, do you know me?"
"You're the voice," I state through clenched teeth, "You're the one who turned me against my friends."
"Very good! I was worried that due to our short time together you wouldn't be able to make the connection!" Ebony clasps his hands together in delight.
"It's hard not to connect the dots," I force the words out of me.
"Well, this has thrown me for a loop a bit. I was not expecting such company. I am used to very similar confrontations but on very different circumstances."
"You mean catching your opponent by surprise?" Bucky speaks up and ignores the gun pressed deeper against his skin.
Ebony Maw pauses for a second at looks at Bucky, "Yes, that is what I mean. And, please, no need to be so harsh. Let the Avengers speak and if you're in a metal suit remove your helmets. I like to see your faces when you talk."
Tony, Uncle Rhodey, and I begrudgingly detach our helmets. The soldiers behind us take a step back from us. It is a slight relief to not feel the muzzle pressed to kill me at a moment's notice. My braid falls out of its holding and falls behind me. We all hold our helmets underneath our arm.
I can already tell that Ebony Maw is not the fighter. He is not the vicious warrior that Thanos and Black Dwarf were. Ebony is the devious mastermind that works behind the scenes. He will never be the one to shoot the gun, but he will already know who will shoot the next.
This is absolutely worse.
"I heard that Corvus and you were unable to reach an agreement concerning the gem," Ebony walks up the step, "That is truly a shame. That would have ended this mess a lot sooner."
"You mean the mess you created," Clint points out.
"It was never meant to spiral into this. You grew into more of an issue than we had accounted for. Yes, we were planning to overtake and rule your planet. Allow me to explain what has gotten us to this point," Ebony holds his hands together as he takes a step towards us, "We granted Loki the position of ruler of Earth but obviously he is no longer available-"
"He left as a hero," Thor's voice lacks its usual masculinity and assertiveness.
"Yes, depending on the perspective of the man. Loki was the only one who had a desire to save Earth. The last resort was to use the energy of Earth to increase Thanos's power with his Infinity Gauntlet. Sadly, that mission failed and created new problems. Now we couldn't simply destroy your planet as you housed an important gem. Once our recovery plan failed we had to resort to more complicated measures. And here we are."
"So you still want to work out an arrangement here where you get the gem?" Captain Rogers asks.
"Yes and no," Ebony folds his arms across his chest, "If you honestly do not possess the gem as you say, I want to find who has the gem. But it also means now that your planet is completely worthless to us now. Men, please leave us. We have a lot to discuss."
"What makes you feel so safe leaving us with you?" Natasha questions what we are all thinking as the guards exit the room.
"Because I will send a bomb to your precious New York City at your one blunder," Corvus reveals a remote from his coat pocket.
"Dammit," Tony grumbles.
"I am sending in backup," Director Coulson informs everyone, "Hang tight, do whatever it is necessary to stay in this fight."
Everyone keeps a tight grip on their weapons as they wait for a plan to spring forth. If any one of us attacks compulsively it will send Earth to its demise. I think I speak for all of the Avengers when I say we feel like dogs choked back on extremely tight leashes. We cannot fight with the equivalence of a million guns aimed on each of our heads.
Somehow, some way we have to part the remote from Ebony. As long as he has that remote or communication to his order, Earth is at peril. However, if I so much as flinch my finger towards Ebony he will fire the bomb. Once we attack, we will have to move fast and before he can respond.
"Ah, it is benefitting to not have such peasants listening in to our conversations," Ebony Maw says contently, "They're top-notch soldiers, but not that intelligent. Feel free to stand as I am sure you will not cause any trouble to me. As I said, we have a lot to discuss-"
"We have nothing to discuss! You will leave Earth alone and continue your obsessive search for a gem elsewhere," I yelp angrily. Now that I have spoken, I cannot help but release a bit of my thoughts, "You are cowards. You sit up here in your ship and just bomb those you wish without confrontation. You gain nothing by destroying our planet and lose nothing by not destroying the planet. It does not make logical sense!"
"Shush, child, don't you remember what speaking against the Black Order will place you?" Ebony sneers.
"You're still holding that against me?" My words are constricted with anger.
"Ooh, I see that we still have a raw spot for it," Ebony's mouth twitches upward.
"For what?" Sam questions Steve who subtly shakes his head.
"Monica, what is he talking about?" Bucky asks me.
"Oh! This got a bit more interesting. I take it that you have kept this experience private! Ha! Well, shall we clear the air?" Ebony smirks deceitfully.
"No, no!" I feel my skin crawling with heat.
"Your precious Iron Defender liked to misbehave during her time in captivity. She would not obey or conform. Supergiant had to take this delinquent into her own hands. I will admit that she went a bit over the line with the whippings. We never intended for Monica to end up lying in a pool of her own blood..." Ebony walks leisurely back down to our level.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Alex gasp audibly through my earpiece. Dad mutters something under his breath and it is words I do not wish to repeat. As my darkest moment is exposed to everyone, I become furious. My blood boils through every part of my body; every one of my nerves is on fire with unrestricted anger. I am not one to become mad easily, but I am completely ticked off.
"It's been over a year and you still hold this on me. Yes, you did almost break me. Yes, I was ready to take the easy way out. But did you defeat me? Did I ever conform willingly? Who is still standing here now?" I take a step forward, "It's not Black Dwarf. It's not Supergiant. It's not Corvus Glaive. And you know who will still be standing here at the end of this? I will. We will all be united here as a team because you will never break any of us. Give us your worst and you will see who will rise up."
"Shall we test that theory?" Ebony cocks his head.
My face falls instantly as I realize what situation those words got me in last time. Everyone shouts or screams as Ebony pulls out the silver and purple remote. Everything slows down. A second has now turned into a minute. Each of the Avengers scrambles to pull out their weaponry and aim it Ebony. However, he is too quick. Ebony presses the button before I can even take a breath to move.
"Five minutes to launch," An automated voice alerts everyone over a public address system.
"No!" I scream as I raise my palm up to fire.
Right as my repulsor (and other bullets from my team's guns) is about to meet its target, a light blue energy force surrounds Ebony. The concentrated muon particles ricochet off of the shield and strike the wall. Ebony only rests his hands together as he is protected within his force field.
"Stupid girl," Ebony glares right at me.
My head begins to pulse in agony. It is not a crippling pain, but it is enough to cause me to stumble as the drumming inside of my skull takes me by surprise. Before I can talk to my partners to figure out what is happening, the room erupts into flames. Orange, yellow, and red flames illuminate the room. I can only watch in paralyzing horror as the terrifying element overcomes the space. Burning flames engulf every single object as a tsunami of combustion. Ebony stands in the middle with a devilish grin on his face.
I stand without my suit and only in my S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. The pain in my head lessens but I am still stuck in a burning room. I cry out as I look around for a mean of escape. The doors are blocked by the fire. I have no weapons to save myself; my gun holsters are empty, my gauntlets are no longer on my wrists. My heart falls to my feet when I see no silver bracelet on my wrist either. How did I allow myself to come so unprepared?
I look up to see the Avengers trying to fight through Ebony's force field. Bucky and Falcon shoot their guns but the bullets bounce off. Hawkeye draws back arrow after arrow, but it too is fruitless. Even Captain America's shield is thrown off of the protection at an alarming velocity. No type of beams or missiles fired from War Machine or Iron Man will penetrate the safety shield. We are all completely trapped in this burning room. I fall to my knees due to fear overcoming me.
Unexpectedly, the door slides open. My eyes widen as my mom and Alex run in with their guns up. They fire at the villain but their attempts are fruitless. Alex suddenly stops and turns to me, "Monica? Monica, what are you doing? You have to fight! I can't be the one to bring all of the funk."
I am slightly thrown off at Alex's choice of phrase as he's never said that before; however, I muster up the power to reply, "But the fire..."
"Here, come on," Alex extends his hand to me to help me to my feet.
Right as I reach to take his hand a thick wall of flames sprout up in between us. I scream and jump backwards onto my bottom. I scurry into the corner as the fire does not cease but instead it thickens. I wrap my arms around my knees to try to contract my body away from the bursting flames.
I am once again trapped by fire. Alex and my mom are in danger. The Avengers are currently engaged in a losing battle. My dad is facing a deadly foe that could very well be his end. I am completely unable to help as I am held captive by a blazing, burning, murderous fire that seems alive with the only purpose of corrupt torture.
I am living in my worst nightmare.
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Something isn't adding up... right?
By the way, if you guys don't get an update next Sunday it's all Daredevil's fault. I can't stop watching it!
Dedication to @madisongal <3
Love you guys!
x JLG