A present for reading through my Q & A. This wasn't due to be published until next week but here you go!
Thank you for the tag, it made me feel like a celebrity <3
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"Wanda, do you see this?" Tony asks, his voice coming from the speakers in the jet as he links his visuals with the screen inside.
There's a circle in which all ice has turned to water, having flowing down the hillside and refrozen. The grass beneath is no longer existent and the concrete slabs that mark the entrance to some underground area have collapsed in their middles, the rest having turned to molten liquid which has rapidcooled down the land.
It's a wasteland.
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- One day earlier –
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You wake up, vision blurry as your eyes circle the room. The room around you is white, cold and sterile. It smells like a hospital and you hate the smell of hospital. You wrinkle your nose, hoping that your sense of smell will adjust to it quickly. The last few days have been torturous.
"Let me go," you say to the man who walks in wearing a white lab coat, clipboard in hand. Your voice is hoarse and they haven't given you any since twenty-four hours ago. You're parched and feel on the verge of losing consciousness. "Please," you beg.
He takes two more steps toward you, his icy blue eyes staring into yours as you struggle to focus. This is a face you won't forget. He's the man behind the needles, hiding behind the straps that hold you down. And as you memorise his face, you find your anger building up. The parched feeling becomes a deep thirst; a heat that starts at the base of your throat. You glare at him feeling the insane urge to hit him.
Your hand comes free and you do, but instead of leaving a red mark, you leave a scorch mark. He yells profanities at you before yelling at the mirror which happens to be one sided, and not to you. You stare at your hand, eyes widening as you notice the change in colour from a slightly glowing orange back to your normal skin tone. You begin to whimper uncontrollably as you stare at yourself in the mirror. What did they do to you?!
Your other hand comes free and you yelp at the feeling of your wrist cutting through the now superheated metal like butter. It's shock, not pain, and you stare at your hands again before staring at the scientist. "What did you do?!" you scream, glaring at him as you feel the mattress fall to ashes under you.
You gasp, jumping off it whilst the metal frame still holds.
"Incredible," you hear him whisper. "The subject shows super heating capabilities," he says into his recorder.
You charge at him, feeling that same anger begin to burn in the pit of your stomach. Your hands hit his chest and he screams out like you've screamed so many times in the past few days.
Trying to take him by the collar, you notice how fast the fabric disintegrates. Frustrated with being unable to pick him up, you grab him by the flesh and throw him against the wall. Your throws are much stronger and you hear a sickening crunch as his bones hit the concrete. You take a moment to assess your situation, panting.
The clothes you've been graciously given don't offer any protection anymore and you grab the blankets that seem to have simply been decorations by your feet when you had been tied. As you attempt to wrap it around you, you find all of your skin glowing red. Your veins which used to pump blood look as though they pump molten lava heated to a point where it flows like water. But as you calm down, your skin begins to shift to its normal colour.
And that's when you feel an alarm go off. It's not something that you can hear, the alarms being silently triggered, but you feel the short, sharp current of electricity that has to flow from one end of the bunker to the other. You also now know your way out, following the currents that run through the walls providing you a map.
Trying to open the door, you find it melting under you in your desperation. So you simply press your palms against the metal and watch it cave in and turn to liquid before you, sloshing by your feet. The heat doesn't bother you and you step through, feeling even the ends of your hair tingle with a presence that you've never felt before.
You run as fast as you can, feeling the ground sink beneath your feet. The concrete singes under you as you follow the annoying buzzing sounds of electricity.
You watch the map in your mind, marking where you are as you run. It's amazing. You see thin lines of bright, white light tinted with the smallest amounts of blue against a dark backdrop. Each line of light represents a separate wire and where they intersect you know a wall has turned in a 90-degree angle. So you follow your instincts and run to where the gap between the lines is largest. That should be the entrance and the exit.
You rush out, burning everything in your way. There's no way to get out faster.
Soon you can smell the fresh air, pure and untainted with the smell of disinfectant.
You run towards it, passing through what seems to be a drainage tunnel. You've managed to avoid all firearms and personnel by this point, always being a few steps ahead with your ability to walk through walls that you destroy.
You run out of the tunnel, wincing at the bright sunlight against the snow. Then you hear a gun shot and it's too late to dodge.
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- Present -
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"I've never seen anything like that before," Steve says, barely audible as he stares at the screen, his eyes taking in the contrast of fresh snow and death.
Wanda stares as well, shaking her head. "Be careful." There's warning in her voice, but it's cut off by a new voice.
"Be careful?! Why didn't you tell me before I arrived that something creepy is going on?!" Scott interrupts as he runs through the ventilation system. "I've got my camera on. Tony, can you get a link?"
"Link ready," Friday replies.
"Man that was fast," he says absent mindedly as he continues his running through the shaft. He stops as he feels a blast of hot air, ducking down as it blows past him. "Uh guys..."
"What is it?" Tony asks, impatient, locating Scott and going gesturing for Vision to follow him.
"Whatever did that outside, is in here."
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The plane touches down and the reality of what's happened in the forest sets in for the Avengers who've been inside. It's completely dead – barren. The ground, even the dirt, is charred, but the most eye-catching element in the landscape are the concrete slabs that are no longer whole, looking like they spilled out onto the ground, frozen bubbles of molten sitting there.
Natasha looks around before she checks her coms, signaling for Steve to follow her and for Wanda to come along. She watches the red dot which signals Scott, and the blue which signals Tony. Tony's already far into the complex, having abandoned Vision who waited for them in the clearing now hovering beside Wanda who's glad for his company.
Clint makes his way up the hill, scouting the area. He marvels at the distinct perimeter of the scorched area as he ascends, perching in a tree with low enough branches to climb. He watches on as the other approach the rubble.
"Clear," Natasha says as she walks in first, night vision lenses down. There's only a small flicker of light down the end of the tunnel, and it's not enough for her to see whatever else is there.
The others follow her, Steve handing her his shield for protection. She nods at him, thanking him before continuing on. The sound of footsteps and dripping water are all that's there, echoing through the tunnel until they hit a metal door that's been pried open. Natasha looks over to her left and finds two dead bodies, throats crushed with indents that clearly scream the Iron Man suit.
She moves to stand in front of them, gesturing for Steve to go first, handing him his shield back. He takes it and walks forward. She doesn't want Wanda to see the horrors that Tony has caused because of his grief.
Vision takes the initiative to usher Wanda through first as well, then Natasha follows, occasionally turning back to see if they're being followed.
They walk for a mile before reaching a fork.
"Scott, where are you?" she asks as she lingers behind, seeing the tunnel split into two, both equally dark and damp. Wanda, Steve and Vision stop there, trying to make a decision.
"Peek-a-boo," Scott says, jumping onto her shoulder. She rolls her eyes, putting him down. He changes back to his right form, grinning at her. He's still not over how much of an honour it is to be working with the Avengers. "Guys," he calls. "Head down the right fork. Tony cleared out the left already."
Natasha knows what he means by that. Everything that was once alive there isn't.
She gestures for Scott to catch up with the others and they do a slight jog to tail the group closer.
The intercom buzzes, heavy breathing pursuing. "Guys," Tony cries out, panicked. "Guys, get out! Run!" he shouts.
"What about (Y/N)?!" Natasha questions, her voice raised in panic. She's not going to lose you now. "Where is she, Stark?!"
"She's there! But just trust me, run!" His voice oozes sincerity and genuine panic. She listens to him as they all look to her, following her lead, turning and running back the other way. Wanda lifts herself up, energy pulsing from her hands as she looks to Vision. He nods and she grabs a now miniaturised Scott and flies out, leaving Vision with Natasha. He scoops her up and follows suit.
It's not long before they begin to hear the propulsion systems of the Iron Man suit who catches up to them quickly, urging them to go faster.
Clint, who's heard the message, runs back to the jet and gets it started, hovering just outside the entrance to the facility, tailgate open.
The moment the others get in, he flies off under the command of Tony. When Tony believes they're far away enough, he swivels the jet, and they watch from the cockpit as nothing happens.
Tony frowns before he hears a sound like crackling thunder as the entire hill collapses, the structures beneath it caving in on whoever is unlucky enough to be there. Snow and concrete bury each other, kicking up dust from the debris. But from the centre of the rubble, there's an orange glow.
There's you.