— Ling's Legendary Laundromat —
Deep underground, I met Agent Johnson in the armory.
"You were called in, by Agent Romanov of all people."
My eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"
Johnson sighed, "Did you see my nose grow bigger?" He mocked while throwing me my spy-ware.
"No Sir!" I said with an exaggerated salute.
Johnson rolled his eyes.
"Just get kitted, there's a Quinjet waiting for you at a nearby strip — once there, you'll rendezvous with Romanov in Leipzig."
I nodded and quickly got dressed. Wrapping a belt of gadgets around my waist: Micro-EMP's, flashbangs, steel-cabling, Natasha used Glock 43s but I was more a fan of the SIG P320s, y'now — for the wicked precision.
Then I realized something.
"Hey Johnson, do we have masks or something?" I asked, as I pondered. Now that I think about it, none of these so called spies wear masks… is it flex or are they just too proud to hide their faces?
Johnson scoffed, looking a little offended. "A mask? Have I failed you in your training, agent?"
"No sir?" Oh wow, I hit a soft spot.
Johnson clicked his tongue, "Any sorry son of a gun who sees your ugly mug shouldn't live to see the sun." He declared with a scathing tone.
…
"So we don't have masks?"
Johnson sighed, pointing to a nearby locker. "Take one and get the fuck out."
"Yes sir!"
—
The so called "Mask" was just a balaclava. In a battlefield of superheroes wearing a balaclava was like screaming ME! ME! I'M THE BAD GUY! HEY!? TERRORIST OVER HERE~~!!
I offered the mask to the pilot, Sara. Whose immediate reaction was, "We have masks?"
I just left it on my seat, opting for the normal holographic skin-mask and a back-up illusion spell in-case Tony decides to scan me.
The stealth jet touched down in Leipzig-Halle airport in just under 3 hours later. We pulled into hanger 5 with little fanfare, Sara let out a tired groan and said her goodbyes.
Huh… I always wondered how the Quinjet got here.
I waved Sara goodbye as she left to look for a pub, it was a little early to drink, but she seems to know what she's about.
When I turned around, Natasha was somehow standing behind me just a stones throw away.
"Agent Romanov, it's lovely to see you again." I said with a grin.
Nat smiled, "Likewise, David. Have you been keeping up to date with the current situation?"
"You mean the Avengers kicking the bucket?" I said bluntly, making her eye twitch.
"Harsh, but yes. We have intel that Rogers, Bucky and Wilson are en-route to this location. Our mission is to help Tony apprehend them before they get the chance to escape."
I hummed. "Do you want me to pull my punches?"
Nat's brow rose and she tilted her head, her emerald eyes narrowed at me.
"What do you mean?" She interrogated.
I pointed a lazy thumb at the Quinjet, "Y'know, like how we're just gonna to leave this highly capable, super-sonic stealth jet here with the keys in the ignition…"
Nat stared into my soul, the Force flaring a little with the taste of blood.
Uh oh?
Then she smirked, the blood-scent vanishing and morphing into a sense of satisfied smugness.
"You catch on quick."
—
We quickly navigated through the evacuated airport, which felt like a liminal space. An eerie calm before the inevitable storm.
Natasha told me to hang back until she gave me the signal, and I watched as she skillfully snuck away, a little too enamored to realize she didn't tell me what the signal was.
Before I could get comfortable I saw movement in my periphery. A tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a tactical navy-blue body-suit and wielding nothing but a shield appeared.
Steeeeeve!
Captain America himself. Cap appeared confident, his gait firm — resolute. His pace slowly increasing as he ran towards a comically placed helicopter.
The vehicle stuck out like a sore thumb, clearly a trap. Though I don't doubt that the Captain knew that.
When he was just a couple strides away a small disc-like EMP device smacked into the helicopter and shorted its circuitry.
The hum of repulsor jets filled the air, a shiny red and gold metal man appeared in the sky, joined by a more vicious looking stealthy-black metal man.
Instead of immediately attacking, the two of them landed just before Cap. Iron Man landed gracefully while War Machine slammed down with a heavy thud.
Iron Man's face-plate flipped open to reveal the Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist in the flesh.
From my hiding spot I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was clear that Tony was trying very badly to convince Cap to turn himself in.
Natasha then revealed herself, Batman style, appearing behind Cap giving her two-cents to the Super-Human war hero.
Within moments it was clear that Tony wasn't getting what he wanted. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.
"UNDEROOS!"
I smiled when I saw Peter appear, looking fresh as hell in his new suit. Spider-Man flipped over the group, his web-shooters snatching Cap's shield while simultaneously ensnaring the man's hands together, before landing in the classic spider pose on a nearby luggage carrier.
For a moment he looked cool… until he opened his mouth. Awkwardly introducing himself to the enemy and causing me to shake my head in second-hand embarrassment.
Peter…
The tension between the Avengers built until Cap suddenly raised his hands above his head. A sharp whistle filled the air in the wake of an arrow fired from across the runway, freeing Cap from his webbed bindings.
Spider Man panic'd as Ant-Man appeared out of nowhere with a backflip, stealing back the shield and catching the kid in the jaw with his foot.
I looked around for the Black Panther but saw that he was nowhere to be seen.
Looks like my actions did change the future… It was likely the first of many events that would compound as the butterflies flew freely.
Iron Man blasted into the sky after Wanda and Clint as War Machine charged at Cap. His fist shot out, repulsors launching his iron-clad gauntlet at Cap's shield. The impact resonated like a gong, signaling the start of the battle.
Ant-Man spun and ran at Nat, the poor bastard clearly outmatched. Nat intercepted his obvious hook, then sank her leg into his balls and twisting his hand into an arm lock.
Ant man groaned as his nuts quaked, then suddenly vanished. Nat yelped in surprise as she was thrown into a flip.
I reached out through the Force grabbing her just before she slammed into the ground. With my other hand I pinched the tiny man from her back, feeling the full-weight of his body despite his size. With a light groan I tossed him away, his tiny screams filling the air as he flew.
I lightly dropped Nat and walked over, eyeing the chaos with a reluctant smile. Spider Man swung across the battlefield towards the terminal, landing on the windows and crawling across the glass. He suddenly webbed himself into a sling shot and drop-kicked through the glass catching Bucky in the chest.
Holy fuck the collateral is going to be insane!
I pulled Natasha up to her feet, her eyes looking at me with overt curiosity.
"You can move things with your mind?"
"A little." I replied, pointing over at Cap & War Machine.
"You gonna… y'know help?"
Nat sighed, whipping her wrist at Cap and firing off electrified darts. Cap twisted with super-human speed, his shield blurring as he deflected the electrified darts at War Machine.
The darts latched onto his suit stunning him long enough for Cap to 360-spartan kick him in the chest, sending the metal man skidding across the concrete.
Cap turned and gave Nat a smirk. Rhodey screamed, pissed and began blasting Cap with repulsor beams while pulling out a stun-baton.
An explosion suddenly rocked the battlefield, multiple balls of fire erupting in the distance as Tony unloaded micro-missiles on some innocent Cessnas. Not a moment later I saw him twist around, blasting arrows from the sky before a horde of cars exploded out from the multi-storied parking lot behind him.
Oh man I hope they have insurance.
The red glow of Wanda's chaos magic yanked car after car, crushing and pinning Tony underneath a dog-pile of steel.
I heard a pathetic yelp from behind me, then a BONK and watched with disbelief as Spider Man was ragdolled around by a falcon-shaped drone.
How did his spider-sense not react to that?
Natasha kept unsuccessfully firing darts at Cap. The man bobbed and weaved, while simultaneously putting the beat down on War Machine. He then grabbed War Machine's arms and twisted, throwing the 350lbs+ suit of armor like it was a sack of potatoes right towards me and Nat.
I lifted my hand, already kinda bored with having to just sit back and pull my punches, and caught War Machine just before he crushed us into a fine paste.
"Thanks." He said looking over to me.
"Yeah yeah, just look out for the truck."
War Machine's head tilted in confusion. "What truck?"
As if on queue Ant Man reappeared, tossing a small object to Cap before throwing a tiny object at us.
The Cap coiled his arm back before launching the miniaturized 'Water Truck' with MLB precision.
The truck suddenly expanded in the blink of an eye, barreling towards us.
Nat leapt away, while Rhodey just stood there and groaned at the incoming truck.
"Oh, come on!" He said, bracing himself for impact.
But impact never came. The truck stopped in mid air, held aloft by the power of the Force. I turned over to him, a disappointed look on my false face.
"Dude… you ever heard of dodging?"
Rhodey looked at the truck, then back to me. "Oh my fault, next time a truck appears out of thin air I'll hit it with a stutter step." He mocked.
I sighed, gently placing down the jet-fueled loaded truck, just in time to see Ant Man miniaturize and Steve break off into a sprint.
Is anyone here even trying?
Iron Man landed beside us, his suit's paint job bearing new scuff marks.
Nat turned to him, "Was this part of the plan?" To which he scoffed.
"Well my plan was go easy on them, why you wanna switch it up?" His helmet then turned to me.
"Uh, I didn't say you could bring a date?"
Nat rolled her eyes, "What? You can bring a spider…thing and I can't bring a friend?"
"I thought we were business acquaintances?" I asked and Nat flashed a look of mock pain.
Tony just shrugged, before him and Rhodey blasted off into the air towards hanger 5. I felt Natasha's hand pat my shoulder.
"Thanks for holding back." She said then ran after them.
I ruefully shook my head.
You have no idea…
—
By some act of cinematic fate we not only caught up to them, but also managed to cut them off.
Cap, Bucky, Wanda, Ant Man, Falcon and Clint had joined up, all running in chevron formation towards the Quinjet in the distance.
*VMM—BRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
A plasma-hot beam of yellow energy pierced through the air, carving a deep rivet across the tarmac. Cap and his team stopped, looking into the air.
Visions' voice filled the tense silence as he floated there, his cape swaying despite there being no wind around us.
"Captain Rogers! I know you believe what you're doing is right… but for the collective good you must surrender now."
His words reverberated into the air as Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow and Spider Man started forming around him.
I reluctantly stood next to Nat, leaning over and whispering, "Why are we all posing like this?" I asked, geniuelly curious.
It was one thing to see it in a movie… to actually stance up like this in reality however? Kinda awkward.
I don't even get to wear my cool robes!
Natasha gave me a sly smirk, but ignored my question.
For one, breathless moment the two sides stared each other down.