THE BLUE BULLET | P15 - DEPARTURE
**
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI
"You're lying."
Marcus hissed eyes starting to glow as the restraints around him begun to crack, rope after rope snapping.
"I was happy here." He admitted slowly before he shocked the group and slammed his fist down into the ground, a large crack forming in the concrete which sent Steve and Sam crashing down into the earth. The ropes lost their hold in an instant and Marcus quickly sent a blast from his eyes right into Tony's chest causing his body to slam right through a building.
Blood was dripping onto the streets.
"But happiness doesn't matter to a Renterian."
He punched at the concrete again causing Mira to panic as the quake shook the earth sending her flying off her feet, the floor shaking around them, glass from the now crumbling building beside them shattering around the streets. As Pietro wrapped his arm around her to keep her protected while they crashed to the floor, Vision rushed at Marcus while Wanda lifted herself into the air, red-tinted car after car flying at the Renterian.
Despite how hard the other members of the Avengers tried, they couldn't stop the collapsing building in time.
Blood from the innocent people crushed by the falling building splashed all over Mira's face.
Fire reigned around them from the Quinjet as Steve slammed into a nearby wall. Sam's wings ripped in half a sharp punch to the face sending him crashing into the second floor of the office building across the street.
Bullet after bullet impaled Marcus's flesh yet he didn't even flinch.
He was the strongest Avenger for a reason.
Wanda was sent flying next, Vison rushing after her, arms wrapping around her body, taking the brunt of the impact as the pair of them collided with the surface of the river.
"I am loyal to Renterion!" Marcus hissed as he tossed Tony into a nearby building before slamming his foot into Rhodey's chest cracking the metal "Not this pathetic excuse of a civilization-"
A light-blue and silver fist slammed into the side of Marcus's face before a pink glowing car slammed into his side sending him flying off his feet, flipping through the air madly.
Letting out a frustrated huff, Marcus pushed through the bodies around him that he had crushed on impact and stepped back onto the street, suit drenched heavily in fresh blood. Feeling the shift in the air, the hairs on his beard flickering with the wind, Marcus quickly raised his hand and caught Pietro's fist as the speedster rushed at him again. Without hesitation, he snapped the boy's wrist causing him to scream.
Even with the bone in his wrist sticking out, and blood staining his face, Pietro kept punching with his good hand. Continuing with his assault despite the pain. Slamming his good fist at Marcus's chest at such an insane speed it caused material around his suit to start cracking away.
Just as Marcus wrapped his hands around the boy's head intent on ending him for good, fully planning on crushing his skull, Mira in a blur of pink and navy slammed into him, tackling him into a nearby building.
Glass shards surrounded the air between them as their bodies rolled and collided, crashing through every window, fists flying.
"Dad please just give up!"
Blood spilt from her cheek as Marcus slammed his fist so hard into her face that it dented the bones and left behind a massive cut across her right cheekbone.
Ignoring her request, Marcus grabbed Mira's leg swinging her body around like a toy, slamming her back onto the ground denting the concrete around her as though she was nothing before ramming his fist into her stomach. His punch cracked through her ribs causing her to cry in agony as he launched her up into the wall above her head. Her quivering form slammed through the ceiling of every floor of the office building, any humans nearby turning to nothing but blood and guts as Marcus kept a tight grip on the back of her neck continuing to force her upwards.
Body after body colliding with her face.
Blood staining her skin.
The second she tried to alter the walls with her powers, his fist slammed into her spine, temporarily paralysing her from the waist down to keep her from fighting back as he continued to use her body as a shield against the terrified screaming bodies flying around her.
Mira sobbed in agony as pain vibrated through her entire body, blood and guts spraying over her face, sinking into her tanned bruised skin.
"Listen to what I am saying Mira."
More blood splashed against her cheeks as her father slammed her face first through another floor of the building.
"You know in your heart that I am right."
Just as the sunlight invaded her vision again, the 14-year-old could do nothing but scream as her father tossed her body threw the air, her still paralysed legs flaying as she crashed into another building before plummeting toward the destroyed street below. Before she could hit the floor though, two arms wrapped around her waist, a soft hand tucking her head into his pink-skinned neck to protect her from the fall.
Red surrounded Marcus's approaching figure as a dripping wet Wanda twisted her wrist sending him flying into the water.
"Mira." Vision whispered as the two of them finally stopped rolling across the floor, his arms slowly unwinding from her waist which had been clutching onto her protectively, keeping her safe from every building and lamppost they slammed into during the fall "You're okay."
Mira just let out a cry as she felt her spine shift back into place.
A loud crack echoed through the air as her bones snapped back into place. Legs finally starting to work again.
"Vision get her out of here!" Steve screamed as he climbed out of the rubble of the building he had been tossed into, shield still tight in his grasp as he helped Rhodey back up, the dent in the middle of the War Machine suit causing the young girl to flinch.
Without hesitation, Vision tightened his grip on her, Mira having to wrap her arms around his neck as they started flying through the destruction of St Louis.
The city she adored was crumbling at the seams.
Just like it had in 1996.
Two beams of energy cut through the building beside them causing Mira to scream in horror as she spotted the hoards of people diving out of the windows of the falling building, bodies plummeting toward the hard ground.
As Vision dived and twisted between the beams shooting from Marcus's eyes, dodging between them to the best of his ability, Mira raised her hand, quickly shifting the material around the ground as the people from the building fell towards it. Instead of harsh concrete that would have killed them on impact, the people were met with a soft cushion of cotton which bounced against them.
The smell of blood laced with metal properties caused Mira to freeze as Vision cried out, beams like the sun cutting through the man-made flesh around his stomach. His hold on her faltered as he shot a beam out of the stone in his forehead which Marcus easily avoided before picking up Pietro by the throat, and launching his unconscious form at them.
The stone immediately stopped admitting power at the sight of Pietro flying right toward them, if Vision shot a beam right now, it would cut his body in half.
A bleeding struggling Wanda barely managed to catch her brother as she crawled forward, eyes blurring around her messing with her sight. Too exhausted to stand hence why she completely missed the truck Marcus sent flying right at Mira and Vision which crashed into them sending them plummeting back toward the earth.
"NO!"
Mira quickly formed a bubble of pink around them, just in time to protect them from the fall, their bodies separating as the forcefield started to crack leaving a bloody Vision on one side of the street as she rolled across the hard floor, material ripping around her waist flesh tearing leaving her body stained in ever more blood.
"MIRA!"
Mira's ears were ringing not even processing Tony's voice as she clutched her aching ribs, her blood smearing all over her palm as she clutched her side. A sharp whimper escaped her lips echoing loudly through the crumbling streets, a harsh reminder to every Avenger that despite her strength and power at the end of the day, Mira was still a child.
A 14-year-old girl.
Being forced to fight against the father she looked up to her whole life, the father who was burning and tainting every single memory she had of him with every punch he threw.
Steve's unconscious form landed on the ground beside her.
His shield clattered to the ground, the sound of it hitting the concrete around her ringing loudly in her ears.
All of the Avengers were down, either struggling against their own wounds or completely out cold. At the end of the day, Marcus Rohan had crushed the team, person after person falling under him.
Mira was the last person standing.
The only person left who could keep him from murdering his friends. Something he could have already done; he was just toying with them.
Pushing up onto her feet, she lifted her mask slightly and spat out the blood filling her mouth before narrowing her gaze as fire reigned around her "I told you to stop." She hissed, teeth stained with blood, her entire suit covered in the familiar red liquid, droplets moving down her legs as she faced off against her father.
Marcus inhaled sharply as he pushed Tony to the side, his attention focused on Mira instead of the man barely breathing in the Iron suit "Mira, we have more responsibilities. Things we have to do that normal humans don't."
Mira just let her eyes narrow as her hands started to glow "I am not you!"
In an instant, Marcus grabbed an innocent man off the street who had been trying to rush toward his four-year-old son who was screaming and sobbing for him across the street. Mira tensed using her powers to add more weight to her father's suit yet Marcus just rolled his eyes before snapping the innocent man's neck with his bare hands before she could even blink.
The bones in his neck ripped through his skin, blood splaying all over Marcus's face.
Mira froze, a strangled scream escaping her, stomach churning at the sight of the body crumbling to the ground.
"You did this, sweetheart."
Guilt rushed through her veins, her knees buckling under the weight as she collapsed to the ground, knees digging into the concrete, tears streaming down her face as guilt-ridden eyes remained focused on the body resting by her father's feet.
"Did seeing this man lose his life disturb you?" He kicked the bloodied corpse by his feet without care, sending it right toward her causing Mira to gulp as it landed right in front of her, dead unblinking eyes haunting her "Did it hurt?"
Mira's entire body was shaking, the pink glow in her hands growing brighter as every item made of no-biological matter behind her started to glow.
Pink ripples were spreading across the floor under her, the ground shaking and ripping apart as she kept her eyes glued to her father's unmoving face.
"Let's see how you handle this-"
The second he swung his fist out, Mira let out a loud scream, a bright aura of pink ripping through the sky turning every car around her into rose petals as she tackled her father, surrounding the two of them in a pink bubble, rising them into the air, away from the burning city.
"I don't care what you want!" Mira screamed as she slammed her glowing fist into his face sending him flying miles away from the city, his body colliding into the mountain just outside St Louis that he used to drag her to for training "I won't let you control the people of my home!"
Another pink-tinted punch sent him flying down, a forcefield weighing down on his chest causing him to crash to the ground below, the earth cracking beneath him.
Marcus grunted letting out a loud cough as he clutched his throbbing ribs, pushing back up to his feet as she landed across from him, quickly advancing forward "Mira-I didn't spend two decades playing this role for nothing-" He caught her glowing fist, easily blocking her swinging leg before he made a sharp motion, the echo of her bones in her arm shattering filling both their ears before he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down onto the red sand.
"I could bring this world to its knees-"
Mira cried out, for a brief moment her eyes flickering from light brown to a bright glowing pink as she slammed her fist down onto the ground, pink energy spreading across the desert floor, bleeding into it, turning the ground into quicksand which quickly wrapped around Marcus's ankles yanking him down against his will.
"MIRA STOP!!"
The quicksand continued to drag Marcus down into the earth, wrapping around his hips as he dug his fingers into the floor to keep himself from being completely eaten by the sand around him. The bones in his ribcage cracked slowly as the sand continued to swallow him, drowning and crushing him piece by piece.
Mira clutched her broken arm to her chest as she pushed up to her feet, glowing left palm twisting causing the sand to start turning into stone around Marcus in an instant.
He had broken the wrong arm.
"I do not want to burn this world like the Allessia you want me to be!" She twisted her hand again causing Marcus to scream louder as the stone reached his shoulders pushing him further down into the ground "I am Mira Wei Rohan, not just some Renterian half-blood! I love baseball and playing Zeppelin on the violin, I love the Number 6 Sandwich from Mr Delmar's more than I should. I am human! This is my home and I will not let you turn it into some Renterian prison you expect me to rule like a damn Nazi! Give up Dad..." Her fingers twitched again the mixture of quicksand and stone dragging her father down again, almost covering his lips "...do not make me crush you...."
"Please."
Technically speaking, on a power level, thanks to her control over atoms, Mira massively outmatched Marcus, the only issue was she was 14 and had only had her powers for five years. Marcus Rohan had been using, developing and perfecting his strength for two centuries. Experience was just as deadly as any power, knowledge of how to use that experience when at a disadvantage, was more powerful than anything Mira was capable of at this age.
Spotting the Quinjet quickly approaching, Natasha and Clint's faces peeking through the glass, Marcus let out a loud yell, the earth vibrating around him as he slammed his arms out, the earth cracking around him sending Mira flying across the desert, quicksand and stone vanishing in an instant as she lost her concentration.
Without hesitation, he sent two beams of gold, cutting right through the wing of the plane sending it crashing into the ground 10 miles away.
Fire spread around them.
It was just him and Mira.
His eyes glowed gold as her pink glowing fingertips pushed against the floor, slowly lifting herself back up.
Marcus Rohan Vs Mira Rohan.
It was funny how quickly everything about his life could fall apart.
Just yesterday he had been complaining to his wife about Mira spending the night at Ned's with him and Peter, yet now Mira knew every part of the truth he had been hiding from her.
His fist slammed into her ribs so hard that it sent her body flying through the air, colliding with the mountain. The force of the hit ricocheted off her skin, so hard that it shook the mountain as she crashed into it, dust flying everywhere.
Marcus ripped her body out of the remains of the falling mountain, his harsh grip on her arm, fingers digging against her flesh, nails piercing through her skin "Had enough yet?"'
Mira coughed violently "I'll stop you." She crocked out, instantly turning his cape into a parashoot which yanked him off his feet as the force of the wind ripped him away from her.
Spotting him rip through the strings of the parashoot, her eyes widened quickly forming a forcefield around her body. His fists collided with the forefield with such force it sent a large crack within the pink glowing light. Her arms shook violently as he continued to slam his blood-covered fists against her shield, sweat dripping down the side of her face as her heart hammered like a terrified rabbit.
"You're doing this for nothing sweetheart!"
Another crack formed in the forefield, completely shattering it as two fists slammed against the side of Mira's head before she could even realise what was happening.
Pain vibrated through her head, turning everything around her blurry.
Terror rushed through her small body as she spotted the looming figure in navy blue and silver hovering above her.
She was about to die.
Blood spewed from her mouth as her jaw shattered into a million pieces, a hand shoving its way into her stomach, fingers wrapping around her spleen. The organ was instantly ripped out of her body, tossed aside without care.
Her blood melted into the desert sand.
"Dad!" Mira cried only to let out another anguished sob as his foot slammed down on her leg snapping it in half, the bone piercing through the flesh before he grabbed her forehead and slammed the back of her skull against the floor with such force her blood splattered everywhere as her skull cracked open beneath her.
"Being a part of the Renterian empire will make everything better for the people of this planet."
Mira's body slammed into another mountain, her spine shattering on impact, a loud sob escaping her bloodied lips as her small form collided with the ground, twisting through the mixture of dirt and sand.
"What-what happens if they resist? If the people of this planet don't fall to their knees?" She whimpered out through her broken sobs as she twisted her left wrist, ripping apart the walls of the cabin they normally stayed in during their training sessions just a mile away. Turning each broken piece of wood into titanium throwing stars which she threw straight at his face.
They hadn't bent to knee to Loki, there was no way they would fall to Marcus.
"MIRA!" Marcus snarled as he slammed a titanium star into the dirt with the palm of his hand, brushing the weapon off like he would one of the bath time duckies she used to have when she was a toddler before rushing forward, his fist slamming into her nose sending a sickening crack echoing through the depths of the desert around them "This is why we are here!"
Her body collided with the ground as his fist smashed into her face again. Her broken jaw hung open, her stomach missing one of her organs pooling with blood which was mixing with the sand under her.
"To keep them from resisting!"
The forcefield she tried to create quickly tumbled as his fist slammed into her face again, more blood falling around her.
"To show them that we are meant to be in charge! That we are more powerful than they could possibly imagine!"
Teeth flew from her mouth, and more blood sprayed across the dirt.
Her entire face was covered in a mixture of blood and purple bruises, blood leaking from her nose and ears. Her swollen bruised eyes were completely bloodshot, red blood seeping through the white and brown of her eyes. Her lungs were on fire, every breath she took making it feel like sandpaper was rubbing along her lungs.
"If they don't want to join us?"
Marcus's knees dug into her shoulders, pinning her down beneath him, punch after punch colliding with her face.
"If they don't want to see how pointless resisting us is...they die."
She was so tired.
"No." Mira crocked out in a broken voice, blood rushing up her throat from her caved-in chest "I won't let you do this-"
Marcus felt himself snap as he heard that word echoing from her lips again, for a second it wasn't his little girl in front of him but rather an enemy of his planet. His fist slammed into her chest causing her body to crash so hard against the dessert form that cracks appeared under her in the ground, the sound echoing around them "Do you want to die for this planet?"
His fist slammed into her face, broken fragments of bone spilling from her lips as her body slumped against the earth.
"FINE!"
Mira let out a loud sob as the echo of his fists colliding with her face rushed through the silent mountains.
"What is 14 more years?!"
Mira's blood was staining his fists as they continued to fly at her face, crunching every bone to dust with each hit.
"I can start over!"
Her skull slammed across the floor again, more blood dripping from her broken face.
"Dad!" She whispered again only to sob out in agony as another punch from his fist sent her head crashing into the ground.
"I can always start again."
Fist after fist collided with her cheekbones, completely blinding her vision.
"Make another kid! Mira, despite your power you can be replaced!"
The earth cracked around her skull.
"You are meant for great things Little Moon."
With her uncle's voice echoing in the back of her mind, his final words to her, Mira slapped her weak palms together using the last of her strength to wrap a pink bubble around her father's face, cutting off his oxygen supply, the shield tightening around him every second.
"Daddy please!"
The title caused Marcus to freeze up, his fingers halting from where they were gripping around his daughter's neck.
His little girl.
His baby girl, who used to force him to have tea parties with her as she dressed up like Snow White using her stuffed animals to fill the empty seats around the table.
The purple imprints on her neck from his fingers, and the blood staining his hands suddenly caused him to crumble as the echo of Mira's shaky blood-filled breaths filled his ears, the pink fading from his vision as she found herself too weak to hold up the forcefield around his neck. She sounded like she was dying because of his hits and it crushed him.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
His fist halted in the assault; horrified eyes unable to move away from the blood she was coughing up as it filled her lungs "Why did you make me do this MIRA!" He screamed pushing away from her bloodied barely conscious body as his hands moved to his face, the red liquid staining his fingertips as he tried to process the mix of emotions rushing through his mind. All of his thoughts so different, a debate going on in his head as he tried desperately to decipher what was right and wrong.
Nothing made sense!
"They are going to die anyway! Why are you doing this!? Most of these people you will watch crumble into dust while you are still you!" Another broken sob echoed from her chest, the sound screaming through his ears "Ugh, Mira, you will watch them all blow away, Sammy, Quinn, The Avengers, Michelle, Ned, Peter... they will all die! Why are you doing this?! What is so important about these humans that you are willing to ruin your entire future?! The marriage I have planned for you, the family you could have, one which ensures whatever planet you rule over is the most powerful! What will you have after your friends are gone?"
Mira was too weak to argue with him as much as she wanted to "I love them all..." She whispered through the pain vibrating through every nerve ending in her body right now, struggling to keep her eyes open as her brown irises focused on the ocean blue that belonged to her dad "You raised me to protect the people I love. I am doing that. Protecting them...from you."
Silence stretched between them.
Mira let out another broken blood riddled sob "You want to know what I would have? Even if I had nothing left? I would still have you, Daddy."
Marcus stumbled back as her words shot through him like a bullet to the chest.
"Just know Daddy will help you control it. You don't have to be scared."
20 years of lying.
20 years of killing every person who didn't believe the lies he had built.
Everything had changed on December 4, 2001.
Almost 15 years year ago, his entire mission had come to a screeching halt. The day the bloodied girl below him sobbing in agony because of him had been born, the day he had held her tiny form in his arms for the very first time. That pink blanket wrapped around her tiny innocent new-born body as she lay in his arms completely dependent on him keeping her safe.
He had sacrificed, he had compromised, but it had never really been for Renterion. Since the second Quinn had shown him that positive pregnancy test 15 years ago, everything had been for her.
It had all been for Mira.
His father had been right in a way.
A daughter made you soft. Even if Marcus was more dangerous than he was all those years ago, intent on keeping Mira safe, it didn't mean that having a little girl hadn't softened him over the years. Having a daughter was drastically different from having a son.
Tears rushed down his cheeks as he stared down at Mira, her body completely covered in blood, soft broken sobs escaping her caved-in chest, her four front teeth missing from her broken jaw.
He had done that.
The blood spilling the hole in her stomach where her spleen used to be had been created by his own blood-soaked hands.
"Dad?"
Just the sound of her broken voice had him cracking from the inside out, the pain rushing through his chest more intense than any weapon that had ever pierced his flesh in the past two hundred years. More intense than every punch he had received.
He had done this to her. His fists were drenched in his own daughter's blood.
He did this to Mira!
His little girl was choking on her blood in the dirt because of him.
He did this.
"DAMMIT!"
Marcus slammed his fists into the ground, the mountain behind them shuddering, large pieces flying through the earth as cracks broke through the earth ripping open the ground under him. It wasn't supposed to be this way! This mission, the mission to conquer Earth and create an heir was meant to be easy! Nothing but a walk in the park!
Staring down at his blooded hands covered in his own daughter's blood, Marcus finally allowed his focus to drift back to her broken bloodied face, lips quivering as his heart shattered like glass.
"I love you, Mira."
With that declaration, he flew up into the atmosphere, disappearing from her sight just as her eyelids finally fluttered shut.
Marcus Rohan was gone, leaving behind a bleeding half-dead Mira Rohan in his wake