EXECUTE CHAPTER 66
April 26, 2014
Bruce Banner/Hulk
In the middle of their discussion, the food arrived. They stopped as the waiters and waitresses put the food in question on the tables in front of them. Once it was placed, an awkward silence took over, everyone digging in, though Darcy complained a bit. (“This gold is tasteless, why do rich people eat it?!”) Still, there was a tension in the room now.
They continued to eat in silence for a moment longer.
“...”
“...”
“It’s good,” Thor said after a moment. “Good food.”
“...Another?” Jane asked hesitantly.
Thor looked startled, then smiled. Jane and Darcy smiled back. Jane and Thor’s eyes met. Their smiles became a bit forced, then faded away as they went back to eating.
Bruce took another bite. Mentally, he couldn’t help but wonder at how he’d assumed this would be easier for Thor.
“I, um,” Bruce looked over at Betty, who had a smudge of sauce on her chin. “I still have the orchid.”
He thought immediately of the flower in question. An orchid he’d sent her from South America. One she’d grown with painstaking care in her home, despite the fact that everything stood against that orchid. The climate was wrong, the soil was wrong, the air was wrong. And yet, she’d still managed to grow it anyway, turning the small shoot he’d sent her into a full plant.
“You’re incredible,” he blurted out.
Betty smiled. “I’m a biologist, remember? I’m good at keeping things alive.”
He wanted to kiss her. So did Hulk, which was a bit awkward. He held back. Not the time, nor the place. Still, he couldn’t stop the smile that filled his face.
Samson awkwardly looked down at his meal.
“Jane,” Thor said suddenly. When she looked up at him, he sighed. “Would you like to go for a walk with me, when this meal is over?”
“I think that would be best,” Jane said.
“Good,” Thor didn’t relax so much as firm himself.
----
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
“Well now this isn’t fun anymore,” Tony said with a sigh, crossing his arms. “I wanted fun awkward, not harsh awkward.”
“All awkward is harsh awkward,” I said, feeling a bit of that myself. “Tony, we really shouldn’t be watching this, man.”
“We? Fanboy, you’re the one still standing here next to me. You could always leave,” he pointed out.
I winced. “I mean...”
It was Betty Ross. And Jane Foster. And Leonard Samson. Not just big characters in the comics, but superheroes in their own right! I mean, if you thought about it, this was a meal between three different Hulks and two different Thors!
Well, and their random friend Kat Dennings from the show 2 Broke Girls. Actually, they all fit the weird rule of this universe of being played by famous celebrities. Betty looked like Liv Tyler, Jane was a dead ringer for Natalie Portman (got to be careful about sand around her), and Samson looked like one of the parents from Modern Family.
Honestly, who knew my pop culture knowledge would be useful beyond the Marvel Universe stuff?
“Okay, turning it off,” Tony shut off the screen, drawing my attention. “What’s up kid?”
“Just looking in on the projects,” I said, crossing my arms. “I wanted to ask for some help with one in particular. Project: Star.”
“Spaceships?” Tony rubbed his chin. “What, there aren’t there enough problems on Earth for you, so you want to go out and find some more?”
“I want to go out and stop some more.”
“Depending on what you run into, finding problems for Earth and stopping them might end up being the same thing,” Tony leaned back in his chair as he spoke. “I get what you’re saying though. I gotta admit, I’m getting damn tired of being reactive to the bad guys...” he eyed me for a moment. It was a little unsettling, and I was half relieved when he spoke again. “We’ve got a lot of balls in the air. BRIDGE, the armors, ULTRON-”
“I told you we can’t call it that,” I said, annoyed.
“Yeah, whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “But you’re right. Sitting down and focusing on one thing at a time could be good for us. But why a new Defiant?”
To that, I simply waved an arm. It takes time to get used to the holo-screens in Tony’s lab and learning how to use them, but I’d taken enough lessons that I was able to bring a floating blue screen in front of me. With some more taps at the screen, eventually I got a set of files up. By then, he’d already figured out what I was looking for.
“Like I said. Project: Star.”
“Dumb name.”
“I won’t argue that, ‘Iron Man’,” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“Damn it, SHIELD were the ones who came up with that, and it's catchy, Dial” Tony said with a grumble.
“But you get what I mean,” I brought up the files. “When I combined with the dimensional viewer, I got a good look at the threats that existed in the other universes connected to this one. But we don’t know if they exist here, or what level of threat we face. I’d like to make a ship to scout things out. To head out there and make connection with the rest of the universe, and if need be-”
“Take out threats before they show up on our doorstep,” Tony said slowly. “Gotta be honest, it would be nice if our next visitors were nice enough to ask before they showed up to get their asses kicked.”
“Or if they got their asses kicked before that,” I said in agreement.
“It’s a good idea,” Tony said. “What’s the catch?”
“I can’t make the ship as Jury Rigg or Upgrade. Or at least, I need the most important systems on it to be entirely made without my aliens helping me cheat.”
“Why?”
I explained what I’d told to Jen before, that I needed a ship that, while it did incorporate advanced technology, could also be repaired and operated by human hands.
Tony listened to my explanation before replying. “Okay, yeah. Plus, Jury Rigg might add something that turns everyone into clones of each other at midnight, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“Yeah, makes sense,” Tony smirked, then crossed his arms to think. “Okay. A spaceship. What are we thinking, something big enough for the whole team?” I nodded. “Needs oxygen, food, atmospheric protection, beyond light-speed of course-”
Suddenly the Omnitrix beeped, a voice coming from it. “Sir?”
“X?” I blinked at the watch, raising it to my face. Thank god I’d figured out how to use the Omnitrix as a communicator a long time ago, or I might have had to use my smartphone as an actual phone (shudder). “What’s up?”
“Director Maria Hill would like me to remind you of your meeting with Prince T’Challa,” he said politely. “Might be best to skedaddle soon or you’ll be late.”
“Again, why is he southern?” Tony asked.
“Because he decided to be, I guess?” I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t question good things, man."
“Should be British,” Tony mumbled to himself. “Okay, I’ll get this written up. As long as we find a good balance, I think this can work. Go meet your Prince Charming.”
“Why do you have to make it weird?” I said with a cringe.
“Hey, you’re moving up in the world man, lots of people want to date a prince,” he snarked. “While you’re at it, can you ask him if I can meet his sister?”
“...I think Pepper would be mad if I did. Plus, she’s underage,” I said with real confusion.
He went green. “Oh come on! That’s not what I meant, she’s a scientist!”
“Well chose the order of your sentences better!”
----
When I walked into the conference room set aside for our meeting, T’Challa was dressed in casual clothes, a black sweater and blue jeans, and was frowning severely at a tablet in his hands. He looked up and gave me a smile when I entered, though it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.
“Hey, T’Challa,” I said, not geeking out at the sight of the Black Panther in front of me at all. I seriously needed to get used to meeting superheroes. “How’s it been?”
“A mixture of good and bad to be honest my friend,” he gestured to the seat next to him, which I took. Once we were both sat comfortably he spoke. “Klaue has escaped.”
“...Goddamnit,” I nearly snarled. “What happened?”
“We don’t know,” T’Challa was a lot better at snarling than I was. “He was to do menial labor up until the date of execution, to prevent him from being comfortable during his stay. He somehow managed to get help from the outside, and two of our guards are now dead,” when he got to the guards, his voice became pained. He tried to keep his stoicism but it was clear those deaths hurt.
“Forensics, cameras, what did you get?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Cameras and other security measures were shut off. We were somehow hacked, which means-”
“Crazy as fuck advanced tech,” I finished.
“Not how I would have put it, but yes,” T’Challa said wryly. “Once the cameras were down, a wall was broken through.”
“A wall?”
“Whoever helped Klaue escape had tunneled into the prison.”
“What the hell?” I asked, shocked.
“Indeed. The only thing we found of those who aided him was some synthetic materials we couldn’t recognize that self-destructed.”
“...So they found Klaue, knew where he was in Wakanda despite all your security, tunneled to one of the most secure prison on the planet that isn’t straight magical, did all of that without firewalls, seismographs, or just, you know, anything stopping them?” I asked, aghast. “What about the Panther’s Trail?”
In response, he took it out and rested it on the table. The device I’d made specifically to track Klaue was dark. I tapped at it. Yeah, nothing.
“Well, we’re in trouble,” I admitted.
Klaue was just a weapons dealer. A good one, sure, one who had vibranium at one time. But all of this effort for him? Who could do this, circumnavigate Wakandan tech, and leave so little a trace that even alien Jury Rigged technology got nothing? What did they need him for?
“None of Klaue’s former allies have this sort of capability.” T’Challa noted.
“No one has this sort of capability except for maybe… no, if HYDRA knew about Wakanda, and they could do this, Klaue wasn’t going to be their target,” I mused. “Not when they could have snuck into the mountain itself.”
“So this is someone we don’t know,” T’Challa agreed.
“I hope not,” I crossed my arms. “We’ve got enough enemies. I could do with more friends instead. In the meantime,” I grabbed the Panther’s Trail, tossing it up and down in my palm. “I’m going to work on fixing this thing in the meantime. If it’s not broken, I can find out what is stopping it. We will find Klaue. I promise.”
“Thank you, my friend,” T’Challa said seriously. He leaned back in his seat. “In the meantime, Wakanda and BRIDGE have begun negotiating, as you suggested to my father.”
“Negotiating?” I asked curiously.
“A formality. We gave a proposal we knew would be refused, BRIDGE asks for more than they actually want,” he waved a hand idly. “It’s something we expected. In the meantime, a shipment of vibranium was prepared ahead of time, as well as some of our technology.”
“...What’s Wakanda’s space program like these days?” I asked.
T’Challa quirked his head to the side curiously. "It isn't very advanced, as my people haven't been very interested in travelling beyond are borders. Still, we are well beyond current technology for most of the world."
Now wasn't that interesting.
----
Agent Phil Coulson/ Leader of SHIELD Team
Coulson waited in the cargo bay of the Bus as the plane began to land. Skye walked up to him, the young woman holding her laptop in one hand. “So… what is this place?”
“The Raft is a prison that has been developed for superhumans,” Coulson said. “It’s not quite finished-”
“Not a great call as superhuman prisons go,” Skye noted.
He gave her a wry smile. “Well, it’s complete enough to hold the prisoners it needs to. The Wendigo, Abomination, Aberration, they’re all being held here. It’s been in the works for a while, and BRIDGE was only recently given command of it.”
“Got it,” Skye looked at Coulson. “So… how you doing?”
“Conflicted,” he admitted. “I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a year as bad as this one in a while, and it isn’t halfway over just yet.”
Skye winced. “That bad, huh?”
He shrugged. “SHIELD collapsed, then got rebuilt, my ex found out I was alive, then dumped me, I had to kill someone I thought I could trust… on the plus side, we get better health coverage.”
“You’re, uh,” Skye coughed, the young woman looking almost nervous. “You’re being real candid right now.”
“Am I?” he chuckled. “Yeah. I guess the death of a friend can cause that.”
“Okay, yeah, you are being waaaay weird right now,” she said with a worried look.
The Bus landed with a shudder, the door opening. Coulson looked at her. “I’m just trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
He exited, leaving Skye to look after him.
----
Later, Coulson was guided by a BRIDGE prison guard through the dark hallways of the ship. “When did he do it?”
“About 22 hours ago, yesterday,” the muscular woman said. “We had to wait to make sure of course, to make sure he wasn’t faking as some sort of escape attempt. But as soon as we were sure, we sent out the report.”
Coulson nodded slowly, keeping his thoughts hidden. Soon, they reached a pair of doors labeled ‘Morgue’. Entering into them, Coulson and the guard were greeted by the sight of a woman in a lab coat waiting next to a table. The table had a body lying on top of it, covered by a blanket. The woman in the lab coat was short, overweight, and had a lollipop in her mouth.
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“Agent Coulson,” she said with a nod.
“Doctor Johansen.”
“Barely,” the woman said with a shrug. “I mostly work on dead people, and this is the first one we’ve gotten.”
Coulson pulled the blanket off the face of the body on the table. He sucked in a breath at the sight of the man lying dead in front of him. “Well… Garrett was always breaking records.”
John Garrett, formerly of SHIELD, later of HYDRA, had massive bruises around his throat. Other than that, he looked almost… peaceful.
“He was certainly determined,” the doctor said. “I know he’s superhuman, but he must have been crazy as well.”
“He was noted to be… well, damaged,” Coulson said.
“You kidding? The guy had to be next level,” the lollipop in her lips moved around as she spoke. “He killed himself by grabbing his own neck and breaking it. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Like I said. Always breaking records,” Coulson joked darkly.
The guard and doctor didn’t seem to know how to respond to that.
“You said his cell was covered in some sort of writing?” Coulson asked.
“Uh, yeah,” the doctor turned around, grabbing a folder from another table nearby and handing it to him. “We didn’t know what to make of it, wanted to know what you thought. I mean, we’ve had all our code experts working on it. He seemed to think it was important. Called it, the ‘Words of Creation’.”
“Poe-” Coulson stopped when he opened the folder, staring at the photo inside for a long second. “P-Poetic,” he completed, raising the photo in his hands.
“Agent Coulson?” Doctor Johansen said.
“...I want as many of these photos as you can give me,” Coulson said, hands shaking as he closed the folder.
“You think those writings are important?” the doctor asked.
“I don’t know…” Coulson said.
He felt… elated. Energized. But he also felt, compelled. He was terrified, and he hid it as best as he could. His office on the Bus. That was what he needed. Just get back to Bus.
And find a knife.
----
Leopold Fitz
In the Bus’s lab, Fitz was holding his scanner. He twisted it in his hands, turning it over, then back again.
It had been a long time since Dial had combined with the device as Upgrade. It was still incredibly advanced, and had the black and green circuitry coloration that Dial had given it.
He sighed, putting the scanner down on the table and staring at it thoughtfully.
The scanner was just one small part of an idea building in Fitz’s mind. One that was almost painful to think about.
As he eyed the scanner, the young man spun it around on the table.
“Fitz?”
When he looked up, Simmons was standing there, a weak smile on her face. She walked around to look at the scanner as well. “What’s wrong? Is it malfunctioning?”
“N-no, no, it’s fine,” he stuttered. “I’m just thinking. About Mr. Starks offer.”
Simmons lips thinned. “I have too.”
“...The whole time we worked for SHIELD, I thought we’d be with Coulson forever,” he said sadly. “And I still want to. But the chance to…”
“We can still work with Coulson,” Simmons reminded him.
“But not as often,” he said sadly. “And I loved doing work out there, finding new and strange technology, really testing my limits.”
“We can still do that.”
“But it won’t be the same,” he picked up the scanner, walking around the lab. “We won’t have everyone.”
“But we will!” Simmons walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll see them all the time! And we’ll still be in BRIDGE.”
“Coulson needs us.”
“Coulson does need us. Because of our expertise. But we can find someone good enough to replace us,” she said simply. “Remember that Graveyard survivor, the recruit I’ve been tutoring, to make up for the time she lost while in the cell? She’d be a tremendous asset to Coulson’s team.”
“She does have the experience we need… And I know someone as well, an atomic researcher I know was recently looking for stimulating work,” Fitz said with a little bit of reluctance. “But what-”
“We’ll talk to them first,” Simmons reassured him. “We’ll let them know about it first.”
Fitz opened his mouth only to find himself unable to speak. Simmons sighed, clutching his arm.
“I know Fitz. I know.”
They stood there a moment longer.
Just then, Fitz felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and couldn’t help a little smile at the name ‘Chandler’. He picked it up with a look at Simmons.
“Hello Mr. Stark.”
“Heya, Ross,” Tony said on the other side. “I’ve got a proposal for ya.”
As Tony began to speak, Fitz felt a sense of relief at being back on far more familiar ground.
----
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Later that night, I was in my kitchen eating cereal for dinner, a classic tradition. I was also reading a message from Skye, who had apparently visited the Raft. It turned out that this version of the Raft was in the middle of the Atlantic, rather than connected to Rikers. I was thinking of how to reply when my doorbell rang.
“Huh. X, help a brother out?”
“Of course, sir,” X said over my apartments speakers. As he spoke, the door opened, allowing my visitor in.
I was real surprised when I realized who it was. “Ruby?”
The fourteen-year-old petite super-assassin looked at me, smirking slightly. She was wearing workout clothes as always. Seriously, she might as well as sleep in those clothes.
“You hear anything interesting when you were spying on me and Jen?” I snarked.
“Only that you’re terrible with women,” she snarked back easily.
“Hold on, if we’re going to make fun of each other, let me just,” I made a big show of squatting until I was the same height as her. “Okay, now I can hear you. So, you were saying midget?”
She scowled. “I could kill you.”
“You could try,” I got back to my full height. “Seriously brat, what’s up? Everything okay?”
“I-” she cut herself off, shuffling her feet. Almost like a nervous tic, she took out a knife from a pouch at her side and started twirling it in her palm while she took a moment to think. Once again, she somehow maintained a balance of terrifying and adorable. Terrible? No wait, that is a word. Adorafying.
She sighed, flipping the knife into the air and letting it fall back into the pouch at her side.
“Showoff,” I teased lightly.
While she did look smug, she also seemed pleased. “Mahmoud, Natasha was telling me about this book yesterday. She said that I should read it. And I was going to, but I forgot. And I know you have those,” she nodded toward the bookshelves that dominated my living room.
“Yeah, not going to ask how you know about my bookshelves when this is the first time I’ve let you in my room,” I walked up to my shelves. “So what was the book?”
“Hogfather?” she said questioningly.
“Ah,” I looked through my shelf. I didn’t exactly have everything alphabetically ordered. My books were really just put together based on what worked best. So all of my Terry Pratchett novels were placed next to Neil Gaiman, with the novel Good Omens in between those two. I quickly found the book in question and pulled it out. “That’s a good one.”
“...is this a Christmas book?” Ruby asked, taking the book with a confused look on her face, staring at the image of the Hogfather on his sleigh.
“Kinda. It’s not really that,” I admitted. “Look its… okay, imagine a planet that is in the shape of a disc, and it rests on the back of four elephants who in turn rest on a turtle that flies through space.”
“...so this is a book for little kids,” she said with a hint of disgust.
“That’s something little kids say,” I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, this is one of the best books ever written, by one of the most incredible writers who ever lived.”
“It has a picture of Santa Claus on it!” she protested.
“Books and covers,” I chided. “Look, how about this,” I pointed at my couch. “Go ahead and read a few chapters. If you like it, you can borrow the book and read the rest. If not, just put it back on the shelf and have a good night.”
She still looked doubtful.
“...Natasha liked the book.”
It was a weak attempt to convince her, so I was surprised when she was suddenly sitting down on the couch with the book open, eyes scanning the page. I smiled and went over to finish up my cereal.
A few minutes in, Ruby called out to me.
“I like Susan.”
I looked up at her. She was still reading.
“Can I ask why?”
“‘Don’t get afraid, get angry’,” she quoted.
I grinned. “Yeah, that is an awesome line. You’ll probably end up liking her a lot more by the end.”
It was quiet for a bit.
“There’s an Assassin’s Guild?” she asked moments later.
“Yep.”
I finished up my cereal, and sent a message to Skye. As I did, Ruby let out a little noise and looked up at me.
“They want to kill Santa Claus?”
“...Essentially yes.”
“This is the best book ever!”
“...You’re an odd kid.”
Soon she seemed to get really involved in the book, and stopped speaking.
When I went to sleep, she was still in my living room reading, so I left the lights on and made her a cup of tea, leaving a blanket nearby. I don’t think she noticed.
“Goodnight, brat,” I said affectionately.
“Goodnight,” she returned absentmindedly.
----
April 27, 2014
When I went into my living room the next morning, she was passed out on my couch, a book resting on the floor as she snored. I looked up at the tv, which was on and playing a very familiar movie. “X, was she up all night?”
“Yes, sir,” he said. “She finished Hogfather and asked me to play the movie for her,” I picked up the book on the floor.Thud! was the title, with the image of a club about to hit a guy on the head.
“Teenagers,” I said fondly. “With their books and their skills in assassination.”
“A common trend,” X said with just a trace of sarcasm.
----
April 29, 2014
A couple of days after Ruby stayed over, I had the guys over again. The ‘guys’ being every male Avenger.
I was in the kitchen eating one of those popcorn snacks with chocolate and caramel drizzle, Creel making the world's biggest sandwich behind me. Hulk (and I do mean Hulk, not Bruce) was sat next to Thor.
“Have at thee!” Thor cried joyfully as he manipulated the video game controller in his hand.
“Hulk crush puny Thor!” Hulk yelled back.
On the screen, a loud shout was followed by a crash of thunder as Bowser was sent flying by the tiny form of Pikachu.
“Yes!” Thor shouted, rising off the couch.
“NOOO!” Hulk twisted his controller in anger.
A loud wrenching noise filled the air. I closed my eyes and sighed while Hulk blinked down at the controller in his hands.
“...Hulk sorry.”
“It’s all right buddy,” I raised the Omnitrix and started flipping through the menu.
“Look, I promise, the heavy duty controller will be done soon,” Tony said to me from the table we’d set up with more snacks. He was drinking with Rhodey.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled.
“Hey, it’s better than I got when he destroyed my car,” Rhodey noted.
“Uh, you still owe me for the time you started breaking my house,” Tony replied.
“You started breaking your house,” Rhodey scoffed, ignoring me as I turned pressed down on the Omnitrix, turning into Upgrade and flowing past the two.
“ I started- no, you stole one of my suits! I defending my property!”
“You let me steal the suit, Mister 'Leave-the Arc-Reactor-In-the-Super-Suit.”
“Okay, I’m just going to stop sharing my toys from now on,” Tony declared.
“Whoa, hold on now-” Rhodey suddenly sounded worried, but I wasn’t able to hear the rest of the conversation, simply flowing into Hulk’s controller and beginning to fix it.
“Hulk sorry.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, you big galoot,” I told my giant friend.
“Thor,” Creel said, walking by with his big sandwich. “I’m playing the next game.”
“Then it is a challenge you want?” Thor said arrogantly.
“Well, you’re mostly button mashing,” Creel pointed out as I flowed out of Hulk’s controller, leaving it repaired.
“Because I have no need of any other strategy!” Thor declared proudly, selecting Pikachu once again.
I ignored the squabbling trio in favor of heading out to my balcony in Upgrade form. Clint, Sam, Steve, and Bucky were leaning against the railing, looking out on New York City below.
“What’s up?” I asked.
Clint turned to look at me, then did a double take. “Dude, warn us next time you sneak up on us as a giant blob monster!”
“Nah, it keeps you on your toes,” I snarked, flowing over to take a spot. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Mostly how much New York has changed,” Steve said, lifting a beer to his lips.
“Yeah,” Bucky pointed down at the city. “Hell, that used to be a tiny ass park.”
“An ass park?” I asked.
He gave me an annoyed look, though his eyes sparkled with amusement. “Very funny. But seriously, look at it.”
I eyed the section of city he was pointing at, which was nothing but buildings.
“Gotta say,” Sam said idly. “This really is a pretty city.”
We stayed on the balcony talking for a little while before going inside again for an impromptu Super Smash Bros. tournament. To no one's surprise, Tony ended up winning, the brilliant bastard.
Then we watched The Thing and Steve swore off beef. Not much else in April topped that.