Chapter Ten: What the Heck Is Going On?
"You're either runnin' round in circles or you're runnin' out of time." -Bon Jovi: The More Things Change.
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Steve and I enter the Avengers headquarters. Clint and Natasha come in not even a moment later. Natasha looks more like herself despite wearing one of Clint's long-sleeved t-shirts. I see the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo flashing the screen mounted on the wall, alerting us of a pending video-call.
"Agent Coulson," I answer the incoming call on the television.
"It's Director Coulson," He corrects me.
"What?" Both Natasha and I are quite surprised.
"Some things have changed in the past year," Director Coulson sighs, "That's not the most pressing matter right now."
"What's going on?" Steve crosses his arms, "What's happened?"
"Arim Massih's residence has been bombed," Director Coulson states, "At approximately 5:37 EST, we received word that an unidentified explosive was fired from an outside force. The house was nothing but ashes in less than an hour. The Titan device was still on site and was destroyed in the explosion. Three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents died, seven more are in critical condition. We suspect that Mr. Massih must have hired an air gunman to destroy evidence if the sale went sour."
"But why would he want it destroyed if he was already arrested?" Natasha questions.
"If he couldn't have it, then he didn't want anyone else to have it?" The director says it more as a question than a statement.
Before anyone else can say anything, a familiar face comes into the screen. "Coulson, you might want to see this," Daisy walks into his office holding a tablet. She's completely oblivious to us for a brief minute, "Oh, hey!"
"Hi," We wave back.
"Thor doesn't happen to be with you guys, is he?" Daisy smiles briefly despite the dark circles under her eyes.
"Nope," I chuckle quietly.
"No..." Director Coulson mumbles, "What is going on...?"
"Director?" Steve looks worried.
"There's been another bombing. Our base, Providence, has been destroyed," He clenches the tablet. "How does anyone know about that base?!"
"Isn't that where we sent some of the Titan pieces we've recovered?" I ask.
"Yes, it is. Others were sent to-"
"The Fridge has just reported a bombing!" Daisy cries out as she looks on her tablet.
"Get all S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities on the line. Tell them what has been happening. Dispatch a message to let them know to evacuate," Director Coulson commands her. She nods once before she leaves his office.
"Didn't we send some of the Titan things there too...?" Clint speaks up.
"Yes, we split up what we salvaged so that multiple facilities could research them. Also it made it easier to cover up."
"To make sure no one tracked it," Natasha folds her arms.
"Exactly," Agent Coulson nods.
"Are they targeting Titan devices?" I see a pattern.
"That's one hypothesis. We hope to have a conclusion here before too long. We're working on tracking the bomber. Our radars will alert us the second that we have something. Right now we can only focus our attention as high as our thermosphere. Monica, if you want to be helpful, if you could program the Stark Industries satellite to help expand and speed up the search," Director Coulson looks at me.
"I will do that," I nod.
"Keep us posted," Steve nods once.
"Will do," Director Coulson responds before the screen goes black.
"All that work for nothing," Natasha scoffs, "That weapon was the first we could actually get our hands on and it's destroyed..."
"They never told me what the weapon was," I look over at her.
"It was an Uru scepter," She answers.
"Seriously?" I hold back a gasp.
"Yes, since such few Titans had these weapons and most of them were destroyed in the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't found any yet. Once we learned Mr. Massih had a lead on one, we jumped to take it."
"Wow..." Steve mutters as we walk to the elevator, "I should go tell Bucky. He's probably worried that something awful has occurred."
"Something awful has occurred!" Clint exclaims.
"Yes, but something more along the lines of New York or Berlin," He clarifies.
Clint hums in response as we step onto the elevator. We take the quick ride down back to the main floor. "Don't we have a Titan scepter here?" Clint muses as we step out of the box.
"Yeah, Doctor Banner wanted it to study," I answer. "Why?"
"I was just thinking about if your theory is to be right. If whoever is targeting Titan devices, then we could be bombed," Clint states somberly.
"That's gives me an uneasy feeling. Let's just hope that's not the case," Steve sighs.
We find Bucky sitting on the couch with Bo in his lap. He strokes the cat mindlessly as he plays a game on a tablet. Alex lounges on the adjacent sofa while dangling a toy in front of wide-eyed Mojo. They turn to focus their attention on us. Steve takes the liberty on filling Bucky and Alex in of the details of the briefing. Bucky still is not an official Avenger, so Director Coulson isn't allowed to include him in official meetings; same goes for Alex. Alex is kind of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent considering he was hired by Tony to do a job for the Avengers, but he wasn't hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. They listen intently. After Steve finishes, Bucky informs us that this is not something that HYDRA would have their hand in. They ask if me if maybe I heard anything from the Black Order when I was aboard with Black Dwarf; I could not give them any information.
After explaining the predicament to Bucky and Alex, the crew sits down on the couches. I decide it is best for me to go up to Tony's office to recalibrate the satellite's radars. Alex offers to join me. I allow him to follow only that he cannot look at the computer screen while I type in the codes. It is not a program that Tony wants everyone to know how to access when unnecessary.
The two of us stride back over to the elevator. My finger is reaching for the up button when Lucis interjects. "Ma'am, there is an inbound undisclosed projectile."
"What?" I spin around. Everyone is looking at me with wide eyes.
"One hundred meters and closing."
"Send me a suit!" I shout as I run to the back door.
I throw open the glass door. I am outside by the time Arche catches up to me. I run into my suit; it closes over my body in a second. I propel myself up as fast as I can. I search the late twilight for the bomb. I panic as I know I only have a few minutes at most. I see the bomb falling towards the tower leaving a purple streak in the dark evening sky. I use my repulsors to shoot myself up to intercept it. Relief passes through me as I have the silver canister in my hands only to be replaced with a new sense of dread.
I have the deadly explosive in my hands!
"Ah!" I yell as I see a timer on the bomb. I have forty-six seconds and losing. I look to my left and see the East Channel in a short distance. I fly at three hundred miles an hour towards the channel. I realize that the depth of thirty feet- at most- will not suppress the blast well enough.
Thirty seconds.
I pick up speed as I head towards the Atlantic Ocean. I'm almost there when I receive an incoming call.
"Monica, where's the bomb?" I recognize Alex's worried voice in my suit.
"I have it," I respond.
"How are you disposing it? Can you disarm it?" Captain America takes control.
"I'm sending it to the bottom of the ocean right now," I report to him as I break the surface of the thin ice on top of the water, "It's-uh, it's taken care of?"
Fifteen seconds.
"Good," Captain Rogers is relieved.
"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Alex asks.
"No, I got it."
"Are you sure?"
Five seconds.
"I got it!" I half-yell as I reach the bottom of the ocean, almost crashing into it. I shove the bomb into the sand. I turn around and use my repulsors to aim me back to the surface. I need to get as far away from the explosion as possible. However, I can't make it to the air in time. The weapon detonates in the sand below me causing a major disturbance in the water.
"Ah!" I shout as the force of the water spouts me to the surface. I cannot control my suit as the pressure of the liquid prevents me from doing anything. I burst out from underwater in a whirlwind of salty ocean water and pieces of ice. Water sprays out all around me and creates large ripples in the ocean that breaks up the ice. I am able to fire up my repulsors as the waves collapse back down to level with a loud clap.
"Monica?" Captain Rogers says from the other end of the line.
"Yeah, I'm here," I'm out of breath as my adrenaline wears off, "The bomb has detonated and everything is safe."
"Woo," He sighs in respite.
I turn back to the Avengers Tower. I cock my head when I notice multiple purple streaks in the air. "Guys!" I shout as I fly back towards home. I fly even faster towards the falling devices.
"Is there another?" Steve asks.
"Multiple!" I cry out as I begin to fire missiles at the bombs, "There's too many for me to carry back to the ocean! I'm just going to discharge them before they can hit us."
"Damn it," Captain Rogers curses, "Barton is coming out to help you."
"Sounds good," I destroy the projectiles. Fiery red and orange explosions illuminate the sky. Fragments of the bombs rain down towards the New York city. I notice more of the incoming bombs igniting. I look back and see Hawkeye standing on the helipad firing arrows.
Despite the extra help, we cannot overcome the bombs. They keep coming in waves. To my own eye, I am unable to see the enemy. Lucis can't locate the source of the bombs either. A few bombs are much too close to neighboring buildings. The explosion of those bombs shatter the glass windows, raining sharp shards down onto pedestrians. I have to make a new call, "Someone, bring me the Titan scepter!"
"What? Why?"
"I'm on it," Agent Romanoff does not hesitate.
"I might be able to end this! Remember my theory?"
"Let's hope you're right. We don't want to waste any time."
Agent Barton and I must have destroyed another round before Lucis alerts me that Black Widow has the scepter and is outside. I fire multiple missiles into the air so that Hawkeye is not left against all of it. I swoop down and take the Titan scepter from her. I fly back up into the swarm of alien explosives. I aim the staff at an incoming bomb and throw it. The two collide without a mistake. The explosion bores a purple flame than burns out quickly.
With that done, Hawkeye and I make quick work of the rest of the wave of bombs. Then after that, nothing else comes. I hover in the sky for another moment waiting for another wave of attack, but there is not one.
"Is it over?" Captain Rogers questions.
"I... I think so," I reply.
"Bruce is going to be pissed," Natasha jokes dryly.
"But better than Tony being mad that while he was gone the tower was destroyed," I click my tongue.
"True."
"This means Monica's theory is right," Bucky speaks up, "Once the scepter was destroyed, the bombings stopped."
"Maybe... We've been getting more updates about other S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities being destroyed. I would agree that Monica's theory is correct only if Fury wasn't attacked," Steve informs us gravely.
"What?"
"He luckily got out in time, but yes, his home was bombed. He said that he wasn't in possession of anything Titan related. The attack was out of nowhere."
I drift downwards to the back balcony. I land with a clank before walking inside. I leave my suit on just in case; I do not have a substantial sense of security at the moment. Everyone is standing in the living room as no one knows what to do now. I take off my helmet and hold it under my arm.
"Did you ever see who it was firing the bombs? Any aircrafts or just anything?" Captain Rogers glances between Clint and me.
"No," I pant as I'm still out of breath. Clint shakes his head.
"Lucis didn't detect anything?"
"No, Captain."
"Alex, you sent in the report to Coulson, right?"
"Yes, I told them that the bombings stopped as soon as the Titan device was destroyed too."
"Well..." Clint takes a deep breath," What do we do now?"
Everyone is silent. No one has a good answer for that question. Once again, we are completely in the dark about our assailant. Everyone could have easily died tonight if we didn't intercept the bombs. If even just one of those bombs had fallen past me and Clint had missed it, the entire Avengers Tower would have fallen. Yes, we saved ourselves and there is no one striking against us, but that is only for right now. We could very well be bombarded again in the middle of the night where no one has time to save themselves. Alex, Clint, Bucky, Natasha, Steve, and I are all thinking the same thing.
"We have to get out of here. We are not safe."
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Phew, I barely got this update posted on time! I was stuck in the car traveling back home all day...
Happy New Years Eve! And by the time you read this, happy New Year!
I'm sorry I've been behind on replying to comments. My app is screwed up where it only alerts me of maybe 10% of the comments that I recieve. So I have to manually go through all of the chapters on my laptop and I can't do that everyday. I'm not ignoring you guys, I swear!
Dedication to @UumaMaheswari <3
Thank you for your lovely comments!
x JLG