As James held back the Atlantean soldier that was trying to kill him, Marina blasted him with a large current of water. While normally, water would enhance an Atlantean's powers, this water was suddenly scolding hot, and felt as if it was burning his skin. The female that did this glanced at James with intrigue in her eyes, while concentrating on the boiling water. "You intrigue me human. What is your name?" She asked with a smile.
James looked at the female Atlantean with slight confusion. Why was she so interested in him? Didn't the Atlanteans hate surface dwellers? Or was that specifically Namor?....it had to just be Namor if she was this interested. "Uhhh.....Ja-" he started off before stopping himself. If he was going to be like his father, he needed an alias. Something to inspire hope, something to show he was a hero. But he didn't want to take his father's name. Not yet anyway. It was too early, and he needed to earn that title, the rank of a Captain. "Coronal America." He answered without hesitation. He still wanted to represent what his father stood for, and that was the name that came to his mind.
Marina giggled at him, but she also couldn't help but respect him at the same time. "Well then Coronal, call me Marina. The male standing by your arrow friend is Neiku." She told him before sending Attuma flying off his bubble. But not long after, several soldiers all working with Hydra surrounded the two. "Think you can keep up with me?" She asked him with a smirk.
James couldn't help but smirk back at her, sensing how confident she was in him and his ability. "What? Using that water make you feel a little sleepy?" He asked back in a slightly teasing manner before summoning his energy shield. It didn't take long for the two of them to attack each soldier. James was first to smack an Atlantean soldier with his energy shield, then rushing into them while making it larger to slam into multiple others that stood in his way.
As Marina fought with a quarterstaff made out of ice she made out of the water surrounding them, she couldn't help but watch James fight. If she was being honest with herself, she couldn't help but become more curious about the super soldier boy. He didn't have any superpowers like most of his other allies, or her own, but he was still holding his own. He was showing to be a powerful asset against the forces Attuma was sending out. However, she was going to show him what she was made of. She immediately jumped up, going a spin like he normally did and whacked three of the Bruntian soldiers with her quarterstaff and sent them into the others with ease.
With Attuma, he was laying on the top of a building with Madame Hydra and Obadias standing above him, waiting for the wannabe ruler of Atlantis to stand. When he did, he dusted himself off to lead his forces to battle. "You best have a good reason for showing up here during my conquest of the land and seas for you fools." He demanded while picking up his sceptor.
Obadias stood at attention of what he considered his higher up, showing him the respect he felt the Atlantean deserved. "Yes sir. We have direct orders from our supreme leader to bring you in as one of the many main heads of Hydra. With your armies and resources, we can easily win this war." He called out with a salute at the end.
Attuma pondered the thought of the offer given to him. On one hand it did make sense to accept the offer. With the weapons and resources Hydra already had, it'd make sense for him to increase his armies. Especially with the technology the mighty evil organization had in their possession. But on the other hand.....the possibility of different ideologies clashing. "What's in it for me? I know what you will acquire from this, but what shall I receive as compensation?" He then asked to test how they answer.
However, instead of Obadias answering, Madame Hydra took over, prepared to tell him. "You join us, you will gain full access to Atlantis, as it's one true king." She answered with her hands behind her back.
Attuma simply scoffed at the offer. "I can acquire that now without being in the presence of you fools." He insisted as he looked away from them, not taking them seriously.
That was when Obadias ran in front of him, already sure of how to get this Atlantean to join them. "Of course you could sire. However.....what if you had the technology to do so even quicker." He stated boldly.
Immediately, Attuma's attention was focused on Obadias. He could tell this was nothing more than a simple grunt soldier. However, something about this grunt soldier was different than the others Hydra normally had. Though he couldn't tell exactly what it was. It did leave him interested, not to mention the offer he had seemed intriguing. "Go on...." He said with curiosity.
The soldier got closer to Attuma, showing him the view of New York, surrounded in water. "Think about this for a moment. You could get Atlantis at any time you wish. However, the Avengers could easily stop you. Why? Because of your forces still being....limited. Versions of yourself out there are good sure. However, imagine being in control of an even bigger army." He said hopefully giving him a vision. "Armies made of a typical Hydra soldier, aliens, your kind, even more that continue to grow every day! All of which you can assist in controlling with the likes of Madame Hydra, or anyone else. All we need .... is for you to join us." He finished.
Attuma stared out as he listened to Obadias. He did have an interesting point brought up. He could have Atlantis in a matter of maybe weeks. With their help and planning, they could have Atlantis in a matter of hours. Maybe even minutes. Perhaps even further reaches. Even if they failed this mission, they could try again with bigger numbers, more weapons, better armor. He then looked back at Obadias with a smirk. "If I get arrested, I need you to be sure you can get me out of there. So that I can aid you further. In exchange, I want to be able to help with galactic conquest as well. I'm sure you have that planned too?" He said, adding his own condition in on this.
Obadias smirked as he extended his hand to the villain, ready to shake his hand. "Sounds to me like we have a deal." He said with complacency.
Back on the battlefield, Hydra soldiers were fighting together with the Atlanteans under Attuma's rule. Some of which were being taken down by the Avengers, others were terrorizing citizens. In the subway line, Thor and Giant Man were taking out several of Attuma's forces with the Atlanteans aiding Namor. Not all were easy to take out, unless Thor shocked some with his lightning emitting from his hammer, but he was being extremely careful to not hit his allies, so he flew out, tagging in Natasha to take his place.
As Natasha was going in using the steps, she'd shoot down several with her pistols, providing cover for Namor's squad. But she'd pay close attention to the enemies that were behind her, kicking them away from her and knocking them down. "This is why we don't run up the stairs." She teased as she jumped down to the street, wrapping her legs around another of Attuma's men and using her stingers on her wrist upon the enemy. Once he fell, she caught up with Giant Man and covered him to be sure he didn't get surrounded.
Giant Man slammed several forces of enemy into walls and the ground to provide cover for any of his allies. "Jan, get as many people to safety as possible. Any Atlanteans that are hurt, make sure they get cover too." He ordered quickly as he shrunk down to his normal size and punched a Bruntian soldier in the face. He then ran while holding something in his hand and throwing it. With a simple button push, it grew into a real truck and crushed the enemy that were getting a little too close to citizens.
Seeing the opportunity, Janet guided as many people out while zapping more of the enemy with her own stingers. "sorry boys, these guys aren't on the menu!" She joked before growing and punching one to the ground.
Meanwhile, Torunn and Tony were flying around, fighting against any of the flying aliens that were after them. They were doing their part to protect their allies from ariel attacks, and being sure they didn't miss something that any ground forces should see. Tony flew up blasting one that was getting close to Steve. "You're losing it old man." He teased gently.
As Tony focused on what was in front of him, a Huntrallian tackled Tony in the air. This one has strange armor all around his body, including his wings for some reason. He gripped onto Tony's armor, trying to use the talons on his fingers to dent it, so far to no avail. "Soon you'll lose your head!" He called out in a threatening tone.
Tony didn't take it too seriously, and instead was trying to get it off of him. But this bird humanoid alien just wasn't letting him go. "I kinda need that, but I'll happily give you this." He taunted as he fired his uni beam at the alien's chest. Once he could tell it was off balance, the armored avenger fired some missiles at it next, seeing them hit it and tumble in the air for a short period.
Admittedly, this warrior felt that hit. But he wasn't out of the fight. Not yet at least. "Ah, I see. You're one of those Avengers I've heard of. Tough ....but nothing I cannot handle." He stated while summoning his mace out of his armor. He then suddenly hit Tony with it, as lightning emitted off it.
As Stark felt the impact, he could tell that this was no ordinary mace, like in the days of knights and dragons like in stories. No this had some technology in it. Technology that gave these an elemental boost for power, on top of his already impressive strength. "Here I thought I'd seen everything tech wise..... pretty impressive weapon though." He commented while flying around the winged being to come up with any sort of strategy for defeating him...or....it.....he wasn't too sure.
Before Tony was hit by this Huntrallian, Torunn flew in the way, blocking the mace with her sword. "I ask thee. Stand back from this man mortal!" She demanded before forcing him away with her strength. She would immediately fly toward the warrior with her sword ready to strike, to which this warrior would block with his mace immediately, the two metals clashing into one another with sparks flying. This clash went on above them for some time, but Torunn showed no signs of slowing down, nor was she feeling weak. With her next sword swing, she not only knocked the alien off balance for a short time, but was hit by her sword on his helmet.
When the helmet flew off, Torunn saw a male figure around their age. Looking close to 14 years old, but with muscles. The male alien flew toward her and slammed her mace into Torunn, it feeling like it had rocks and metal along it. "You are quite a powerful warrior yourself. I am Scrawg of Huntrallia. One of the absolute strongest of my people." He introduced himself while holding his mace firmly in his hands.
Torunn smirked upon hearing him, wiping her face where she was hit with a small trickle of blood run down her lip. "I know of your weapons. They are elemental maces and swords. Only your race can craft such things for hand to hand weapons. I can see why as well. You may call me Torunn, of Asgard, daughter of Thor." She introduced herself to be polite to a fellow warrior. Immediately after they had introduced themselves, lightning struck down from her might, and the two continued their mighty clash in the sky, with the goddess of thunder landing a kick to his chest.
As soon as Scrawg felt the impact, he stumbled slightly, but caught himself to attempt a counter attack. However, when that failed, he felt her sword hit his arm with intense brute force instead of him getting cut. She must've not been trying to kill him with her sword. A foolish mistake, or an accident she didn't want to do? He didn't dare question it. Not not at least. "Not bad for a child. But you still have yet to truly defeat me!" He called out while tackling her into a building. When she hit the building, the debris crumbled around her, and she knew she'd have to rescue as many people as she could.
Out of instinct, the goddess of thunder punched his face, then kicked him away and immediately flew down toward people nearby as fast as she could. She immediately caught them in her arms and got them inside some place she felt was safe. "Go. Find anyone else you can and get them away from the area. The Avengers will handle this." She assured them without any fear.
As he watched the girl rescue citizens, Scrawg was rather shocked and in awe of what he saw. She could've let them die, let them be a casualty due to the war. But instead she saved them before they could get hurt, despite the fact that she was in the middle of a battle with him......why did she care about what happened to them? Wasn't she a soldier of war like him? But he was immediately ripped from his thoughts the moment a shield and an arrow hit him. However, the arrow exploded, sending him spiraling down slightly. But he did save himself in time and flew off. It was clear that for now, he just had to lead the armies of his own men. "Soldiers. Get rid of them!" He demanded while sending a small number of Huntrallians and Bruntians after James and Hawkeye.
Immediately, James started to see the water start to get higher in the city. "Avengers, we need to get Attuma's guys out of here!" He ordered while punching a Huntrallian with his shield. "If we don't, they'll flood the city!"
Deidre flew toward a group of soldiers that were surrounding Yvonne, using her axe to slice them before turning herself into a swordfish to pierce others with her sword nose.
Upon hearing James, Hulk jumped out of the city and toward the water, punching several soldiers that stood in his way. "If I destroy whatever's causing the city to fall, or the water to rise, I give the Atlanteans less power." He muttered to himself while smashing up what appeared to be submarines that Hydra had nearby. Whatever they were near, they were indefinitely protecting, and he knew that whatever they were protecting had to be important. "There's something down here that's doing this underwater!" Hulk called out with his communicator, his powerful lungs helping him shout it loud enough for his allies to hear.
Steve nodded in acknowledgement to Hulk's observation. Because of this, the Star Spangled Man had a plan in mind. "I'm going to need one team to help Hulk with the device, and one team to help out here to be sure Attuma doesn't win the surface!" He ordered calmly, having faith in his team.
James immediately has a team in mind to form. "I'll go. But I'm taking Deirdre, Neiku, Marina, and Pym!" He told him.
Torunn stared down at James, slightly frustrated with his plan. "Why not take me with you on this?!" She asked with a small amount of frustration.
"With our lightning, we could hurt our allies more than help them. Besides, we need some powerhouses here more." Azuri answered without hesitation, understanding James logic. "plus, Deirdre will be there and she can shape shift into sea creatures to defend herself and allies!" He added on.
Yvonne followed James along with Ekaterina. "Let us go with you. Just a little extra back up." She requested while holding her shield.
Meanwhile, Ekaterina was holding one of the Atlantean's blasters in her arm, figuring out how it worked. "Yeah, besides, we're family. We should be there for each other." She brings up before noticing the rest of the team staring at her as if she had a problem. "Admit it. This will come in handy later." She said before getting ready to go under water.
Riri pushed a button on her armor and suddenly, small capsules landed in James, Ekaterina, Yvonne, and Pym's hands. When they let it expand, they morphed into suits with oxygen tanks in the back. "Something that will help you breathe underwater, and it won't slow you down in battle, allowing you to fight as if you were on dry land." She humbly bragged as her suit morphed into a more aquatic themed suit.
The team led by James dove under water, being ready to aid Hulk as James punched a Hydra soldier. As he did, he could instantly tell his punching speed was the same as it was on dry land. This must be the same for the others as well. "Okay Hulk, what's your plan exactly?" James asked before seeing Hulk grab hold of a Hydra submarine and throw it at the device. "Okay....need enough kinetic force to destroy this thing....." He says while trying to think of a plan.
Hulk immediately was getting large rocks on the ground and threw them at his intended target. "Go. Hold them off. I'll stop this hunk of junk." He told James, knowing he could count on them.
The son of Steve immediately nodded his head, knowing that Hulk would be able to stop this thing. "Alright team, let's provide him with some cover while he destroys that thing!" He ordered while summoning his energy shield, holding it in front of him.
As several soldiers headed toward James, Marina swam in front of them, using her ice staff to hit them away from him. But something was definitely different now. Now that she was underwater, Marina was stronger, faster than she was on the surface....it made sense of course, but she was definitely displaying fighting skills James could only have here because of this suit. "Do you trust your green friend to get that thing out without destroying our oceans?" She asked while fighting against these opponents.
At the same time, James threw a soldier into an Atlantean with ease, knocking him out for the count. "I do. He knows the real threat." He assured her gently.
As the fight was getting more intense, Ekaterina was using her new blaster to defend James from afar, being sure the enemy couldn't get far, or at least hold some of them back to assist him. "Told you I was going to need this." She shrugged as she continued firing at them.
Yvonne immediately rushed to her brother's side and kicked one into a bottomless pit, watching as the soldier fell. She then grabbed grabbed one of their weapons and used it to whack one of them across the face. "Nice one sis, but can you keep up with me?" She asked while flipping over, landing on one's shoulder and then kicked another ahead of her. Immediately after, she grabbed the one she was standing on by the head with her ankles and flipped him over using her leg strength. She then threw him onto the ground with a hard crash.
Meanwhile, Deirdre was morphed into a hammerhead shark and bashed into submarines headed toward Hulk. She'd see Namor fighting against Attuma, attempting to hold him off so the children wouldn't have to fight him. "We have to hurry! Attuma is here and he'll attack the Hulk when he sees him!" She said rather frantically.
With this in his mind, James focused more on taking the enemy down quickly so he could protect his powerful ally. Not just because of how he was going to destroy this device, but because like him, he was an Avenger, an ally, and he protected his allies. "Can you and your brother destroy those submarines????" He requested Marina.
Marina looked back at the tanks before turning to James. "It would take a lot, but we could do it. But tell me ....why do you care about us? Why fight so hard against them with us?" She asked, trying to gauge his response.
James looked back at her in understanding. He knew the history of Namor and surface dwellers so he couldn't blame her for asking. "Because at the end of the day, we both have a common enemy, so we should take them down together. Plus, this is your home, and they're trying to take it like they did Asgard....we won't let that happen here." He promised her before bashing the skull of one of Attuma's men.
Marina's eyes widened when she heard his answer. In all honesty, it was even better than she had anticipated. Even better since he meant every word of it. He wasn't being selfish, he truly wanted to save her, her brother, and their people. She nodded before swimming forward, and suddenly created octopus arms out of water to hold eight of the submarines in her grasp and smash them together. She'd also whack some into nearby rocks, destroying them instantly.
Meanwhile, Neiku expanded his muscles to grab hold of a submarine and throw it towards another to destroy two at once. He'd punch some more and seriously damage it with two hits before slamming his head into it like that of a hammerhead shark. "Several more are coming this way, and they have more weapons!" He warned the group while holding back an Atlantean with his strength.
Deirdre used her axe to hold back an Atlantean's trident, and then pushed him back to punch him in the chest. "Thou shall not take their home too! Nor their people!" She cried out while cutting down a surprise Chitauri which has its more evolved armor. She then turned into a squid and whipped several soldiers away from her before grabbing Attuma and pulling him away before he could get to Hulk.
The evil Atlantean squirmed to break free from his captor's grasp. "Do you not trust your friend to be able to take care of himself?!" He asked before finally breaking free with his own strength. She then rushed to attack her before James swam in quickly, tackling him with his energy shield. The attack has surprised him, but he was still conscious.
James stood his ground, shield ready to block an oncoming assault and unintimidated by his might. "No. It's just that we protect our allies no matter how big or small. That's what it means to be a team!" He called out before landing a knee to his jaw then hit his stomach with his foot. He would easily block Attuma's fist with his shield.
Back with the Hulk, he continued his assault on the machine and realized that it was close to bring shut down. But he still wanted to get rid of it when it was done to be sure. Then they could finish off the forces on the land before more of them could escape. He punched the machine's legs, causing it to lose some of it's balance before realizing, this thing just needed to let the city go before it sank all of New York. Thankfully for Hulk, he took out one of the machine's legs, and only had two left. Even better was that the legs were relatively easy to destroy. So he did so, and immediately started trying to lift it with all of his strength. But it was obviously difficult currently with it's weight. But he refused to give up. He just needed a little more time.
Unfortunately, Hulk wouldn't be able to get that as he saw what Attuma was doing .....he had James pinned down with a blaster, James using his shield to block it. At the same time, Riri was firing missiles at the soldiers, while trying desperately to reach James. Unfortunately, she was just too occupied by the enemy. "I will be sure your shield hangs over my throne when I conquer my rightful place." He said with sheer confidence in himself.
Marina and Neiku were in a similar boat as each other, along with Pym. No one could get to James because of the enemy they were facing. Deirdre was definitely trying her best to, but when she got even slightly closer, more soldiers would appear.....Hulk noticed James in trouble, but was so busy with his part of the mission, he couldn't help.... not yet at least.....that is .... until both Bruce and Hulk truly let out their anger together, and it helped him rip the device in half, throws it at Attuma. The other half of it was used to slam Attuma out of the water and was never to be used again. Hulk then jumped out of the water, seeing the other Avengers fight against Attuma's men and Hydra soldiers alike.
Steve sees Attuma fly along the sky, amazed by how far he was sent. "what happened???? Did he get a jetpack????" He asked with some concern.
But Tony knew better. He recognized his flying. "No. He got an angry Hulk hitting him." He slightly joked, but knew exactly what had happened.
Attuma in the meantime, landed on the ground with a loud crash. He saw the land was overtaking the water once again. His plans were slowly failing. "Bah! This has failed for now, but this isn't over!" He told them while taking a vehicle from one of the Hydra soldiers and riding with him. "the rest of you, deal with them!" He commanded his armies with authority before vanishing.
James and the rest of the team all arrive with an angry Hulk, stronger than he was previously and prepared for the fight that was inevitably in front of them. With his shields in front of him, and his allies, he readily commanded his team. "Avengers.... Time to clean up."
(Editor's note: sorry such a long chapter and trying to get more written at my own pace! But I am enjoying this. Hope you're enjoying so far! :3)