3rd POV:
That man was starting to get on Franks nerves. Cipher has been feeding him breadcrumbs the past few days. He went to the place, did his research, killed everyone and then the media was turning it into a spectacle.
No matter how many times he tried or how, he could not find Cipher.
As if he cared what the media thought of him or his methods. Innocents would get to truly sleep well at night. With every criminal he killed. That is all that mattered to him.
The 'fan boys' were annoying though.
Now, he was in his shelter. He may have killed the criminals efficiently, but he was no super powered person. He needed rest.
He sighed as he drank his black coffee.
An trap went off making some small noise and causing Frank to narrow his eyes.
...
Some time later he ambushed the person that dared to enter his shelter. He was about to slam an axe in his face but then the man tried calming him down.
''Wait Frank, it's me Matt! It's Matthew!,'' Matt told him making him pause and then slammed the axe near his head.
''What do you want? I'm not dealing with your preaching tonight,'' Frank said going back to his chair and drinking his coffee.
''I'm not here to preach. Those fan boys. You have nothing to do with them?,'' Matt asked him.
''You think I have something to do with those idiots? You are dumber than I thought,'' Frank scoffed.
''I already suspected that they were mafiosos masquerading as your ducklings. I just wanted to be extra sure,'' Matt quickly capitulated. He went around a little touching some of the stuff, but not disturbing it otherwise.
''You know you could use all this to be of service,'' Matt remarked.
''Service?,'' Frank stretched out his arms gesturing around,'' I did serve. Look where that got me.''
''Oh sorry, I didn't realize you were a victim in all of this,'' Matt shot back.
''Fuck you. I never used that word. Don't put it in my mouth. Spit it out, Matt. What do you want. Talk or get lost,'' Frank growled.
''You know you have the media in a frenzy. All those people you killed, leaving behind a trail of blood. What happened? Did you find out who Cipher is? Are you two working together now? Those dead bodies are more then your usual quota. Worse, you are feeding right into Fisks hands of his anti-vigilante campaign, by taking the law into your own hands to this extent,'' Matt chastised.
''We are not working together. I'm still working on finding out who he is. And you? I heard you killed a police officer and beat the rest of them up brutally. You think you are not feeding into Fisks campaign. You know, if you just let me kill him, all this would be over. No more assholes to take advantage of your greatest strength. Your mask and anonymity,'' Frank tried that angle again.
He actually tried once to kill Fisk, but Daredevil stopped him.
Idiot.
''Killing him is wrong. And stopping him must be done by the system. Otherwise the vacuum will be just filled by someone else,'' Matt quickly put a stop to that.
''The system. You and your goddamn system. It is slow. Innocents suffer the longer it drags its leg, let alone the fact it can be bought off.
The system is a joke,'' Frank spat.
''Yes, well, I will opt to let the system sort him out. I think coming here was a mistake, so you just stay here and try not to kill anyone again,'' Matt said starting to make his way out.
''No. I think I know why you are here (*Matt stops to listen*).
See I think you want my permission. You want to get your hands on Fisk and wring the life out of him. I heard the news. Jennifer is her name. Dangerous situation that and I also heard she needed to have Banner of all people transfuse her blood. Even more dangerous that.
Her story could have ended quiet different. But what about next time? Hm? Maybe next time she isn't as lucky. Or maybe next time they will go after your friend Nelson. Or maybe even that Karen of yours that you fancy,'' Frank provoked him, standing up and coming closer and closer to Matt.
Matt back handed him hard, once he mentioned Karen. Frank was about to jump to fight him, but stopped when he saw Matt stepping back in shock at what he had done. So, he did succeed in getting under his skin.
''I'm sorry. It is just...,'' Matt tried defending himself.
''You pussy ass fuck. You would seriously endanger your friends and family for these vermin. You are insane,'' Frank accused him.
''THEY GOT LIFE!!!,'' Matt screamed with some spittle,'' They got life.''
Ah, yes. How could Frank forget. Matt was the catholic blind orphan. A bleeding heart for everyone under the sun. All life was sacred to him.
''What about all those innocents, that are dead. Harvested. Exploited. Discarded. By these pieces of shit. Those innocents got life too. Right? Red. Why is their life any less valuable then a criminals. See, an innocent may accidentally kill another, but they will feel guilt and try to never do so again. A criminal will never stop. Guilt does not exist in their vocabulary. You want THOSE kind of people to prove something. Prove what? That they are pieces of shit, who will never change?,'' Frank mocked.
Matt was about to retort something, but then stopped and turned his head to listen.
Frank also got serious and grabbed a gun.
For all that the two had their problems with each other and went at each others throats. There was a sense of mutual respect there, under all that screaming and conflicting. At the end of the day, they both fought for the same thing. Only, their methods differed.
''Ghost Spider?,'' Matt asked making Frank cast him a side way eye. Matt knew of only two wall crawling females. Ghost Spider or Black Widow. But he guessed it was Ghost Spider as she was described smaller then the seductive Black Widow. Not that he would know.
''You know. That was an interesting conversation to listen to. Alas, your lovers spat must come to an end. Cipher wants us to work together. He knows who impersonated you and beat the police men up,'' Ghost Spider crawled into the room on the ceiling and held a note when she was in the light.
Apparently everyone knew Matt was Daredevil nowadays.
Great.
Frank looked at her contemplatively and put his gun down. Something was different about her, then she was described or appeared otherwise on the news.
Ah.
This was personal for her.
Ghost Spider was sent by Bell to team up with them. They all had a stake in stopping them, but when she heard their conversation she stopped and listened. Unknown to her Matt would have picked her up, if he wasn't that distressed by his own issues, as that narrowed his range of abilities down.
''That asshole again. He wants us to team up? Why? What for?,'' Frank asked her looking up. He also knew that she was like Matt and did not kill, but if he was lucky, then at least one of those idiots will get more serious about their job and break their no killing rule.
''I don't know. But clearly he has a plan. He wants us to catch him,'' Ghost Spider crawls back the way she came then stops and continues,'' You coming or not?''
Matt sighed and turned his head head slightly when he felt Frank starring at him. Then the two followed after her.
---
'Daredevil' was lock picking the door to a well of family's building. Well off enough to be considered rich, but not rich enough to afford security and stuff. Words was that they had an antiques painting from the renaissance era in their living room. Not that Kingpin needed the painting. But 'Daredevil' supposed he could sell it for more money on top of furthering the anti-vigilantism campaign and earning even more money on top.
After he lock picked the door, before he could enter and steal and maybe, potentially, kill someone as well he was tackled by someone. He immediately blocked the punch to his head and gave a counterattack before dropping a smoke bomb and retreating to give himself a terrain advantage.
He grabbed a dumpster lid and threw it at the Punisher the moment the smoke cleared enough. While the lid did hit him, the Punisher used his biceps to block most of the damage. Even so he did sustain some damages.
'Daredevil' went to grab another thing and throw it only to have himself be dragged by the back and thrown overhead into the ground hard enough for something to crack. He instinctively rolled and a fist slammed into the ground fracturing the cement.
''Pace yourself. We are not here to kill him,'' Daredevil couldn't help himself and chastise, giving away his surprise advantage and failing to ambush him alongside Punisher and Ghost Spider.
''Speak for yourself,'' Punisher pulled out a gun and intended to shoot. Only for another smoke bomb to explode as Bullseye quickly assessed the situation and began running away, the others hot on his toes.
Daredevil could hear Bullseye attempt to radio in the situation, but he only received static back in response. Making a split second decision he decided to change tactics and began running to a warehouse to fight them there, dodging and grabbing something every now and then to throw into the path of Ghost Spiders webs.
It did not matter where he was retreating, Ghost Spider intended to let him remove himself from the public, if she really wanted to she would have long caught up to him. She intended to give him quiet a beating. The public did not need to see that.
Entering the warehouse hot on his steps the stopped as they lost sight of him amongst all those boxes.
''He is over there,'' Daredevil supplied pointing in a direction as the others would struggle to find him.
Bullseye tsked and grabbed some stuff lying around to throw them up hitting the lights. It was dark outside, but some light was falling in into the warehouse. The darkness would also put him slightly at a disadvantage, but at least this way he could take care of Daredevil before taking care of the others. Or distract him and then kill at least the Punisher as Ghost Spider would dodge his attacks even in the darkness.
A punch landed in his face dislodging a tooth slightly and making his nose bleed, he threw himself to the right into a roll only to receive a kick making him slide several meters and crash into a box.
If it weren't for his adamantium plating in some parts of his body he would have received far more damage.
''You can use echo location as well?,'' Daredevil asked surprised immediately joining in on beating up Bullseye. Punisher took a flashlight and put his rifle on his back to switch over to his pistol. He did not immediately shoot wanting to see how things unfold. Both had a personal vendetta against that guy.
It was joyous to see that asshole get his face kicked in by Ghost Spider and Daredevil. It really tickled his vindictive side. The two made quiet a pair. His favorite part was when ghost Spider pulled him with a web and then kicked him into Daredevils kick. Only to be kicked backwards and kicked into the air by Ghost Spider before getting kicked yet again by her into the wall before he could fall on the ground.
For a moment he lost sight of them as they all moved behind some boxes he moved slowly.
A mistake as Bullseye crashed into him and in a short scuffle took his gun away from him, he immediately made to shoot him, only for a hand to come from the dark and shove the hand with the gun upwards.
Bullseye stepped back and saw a man with a small mask stare at him. In the darkness he could see the dimly lit blue lights make out the shape of a mouse. It seemed he had dark clothing as well. He took aim and shot four times only for the man to dodge them all almost point blank. Before he could shoot again Cipher slapped the gun out of his hands and Ghost Spider swung in giving him a kick to the head knocking him out.
''I thought you said Bullseye never misses?,'' Ghost Spider asked him as Daredevil made about tying up Bullseye on a pillar.
''Correct. But once the projectile loses his control it is a different matter. The first one nearly hit me as he instinctively corrected his aim before he shot and I was already dodging. The others were easier to dodge,'' Cipher explained. A lie of course, to underplay his powers.
''Am I correct in assuming you are Cipher?,'' Castle asked him pointing the flashlight at his chest.
He nodded as Daredevil approached.
''You are welcome for saving your life by the way,'' Cipher told him.
''Why appear before us now? Previously you were so elusive,'' Daredevil asked him. Same build and same voice as the one that appeared in his office. Thought this time with a mask as he could feel. Aside from that he did not show himself to anyone apparently.
Figures he has powers in some way, with the way he dodged those bullets.
''Why do anything in life? To achieve something,'' Cipher told him.
''Cut the cryptic bullshit and give us a straight answer,'' Frank told him grabbing his pistol and making it clear what will happen should he refuse to answer.
Not a bright one, that guy.
Cipher hid his amusement.
''And after I saved your life too. Then again that is precisely why I gave you all those people. I like the way you operate,'' Cipher told him.
''So you are the reason Castle has been more active lately,'' Daredevil remarked disapproving.
Ghost Spider listened calming slightly down. Beating the piss out of the guy that beat her father was great.
Cipher hummed.
''The mafia may think that all that they do is just 'business'. That there is nothing personal about anything that they do. Well. For me this is also just business. Bullseye owes me a debt. For services rendered. The death of my family. And one must pay their debt in the mafia,'' Cipher mockingly parroted the mafias words.
Frank cast a quick look at the human lie detector and upon seeing him not call him out for a lie, put his gun in his holster. Ah, so he was like him then.
''You are talking about killing him. It is not right,'' Daredevil argued.
''So, you are arguing to give him over to the system. The glorious system, that will punish evil doers. Life without parole for the pot seller and 12 for the pedophile. Truly the system inspires trust in it,'' Cipher mocked.
''And then what? Every one passes their own sentence?,'' Daredevil frustratingly asked.
''No. Complete freedom is nothing more than complete chaos. Society needs a system to govern them, to establish law and order and peace. Ones freedom must end when it encroaches upon the one of anothers. BUT for that, the system needs to work and function as advertised. And people don't see much of that lately, now do they.
In that case it does fall upon me to judge the sentence as it is a personal matter,'' Cipher told him trying to make his way over to Bullseye, only to have his path blocked by Daredevil.
''By what right do you justify passing a sentence?`By what authority even?,'' Daredevil asked him.
''Look. I know that as a catholic you hold all life sacred, but let me tell you something. NO ONE has the right to pass down a sentence. Not me. Not you. Not the government. Not even the Lord and Savior himself. Look upon how many criticize Satanael and his priests despite him being literally the arbiter in such matters as God himself won't step in.
Therefore it must fall upon authority. I would be inclined to leave his fate to the system, even if it does not end with a death penalty. But how many people in high places actually make use of his services? Give it not even two months and he will be already out and up to new mischief.
I am here. The system is not. I have the power here. Not the system. The systems power is in the hospital indisposed currently or the courtroom.
And if it wants to punish me, then it better catch me in the first place.
Might may not make right, but it certainly dictates the course of history,'' Cipher told him.
A bit of an exaggeration as not all police men where in the hospital, but still. The point was made.
The two stood in a standoff. As the other two digested his short explanation. More so Castle as ghost Spider already heard a variation of this speech earlier on. Thought both agreed, they also had their own disposition to this stance.
Bullseye unknowingly to them woke up and heard a majority of Ciphers speech. He glided his tongue over his dislodged tooth and fully removed it from its place, then he slowly moved his head a little to have them all in his periphery. That alone was enough. Ghost Spider and Daredevil were already out. Knowing how hard the Red guy fought to keep him alive he would stop The Punisher from killing him. So that only left one person. One he had a personal vendetta against. He does not just miss. It was a little hard to work with his Periphery alone but he could make out Ciphers throat from behind Daredevil. If he spat the tooth just right then he could cut open an artery at his sides and have him bleed out. Bullseye moved his mouth a little.
Daredevil was distracted, but Ghost Spider was not. And she saw him moving his mouth, eventually catching a small sight of a tooth.
First he 'kills' her boyfriend. If he wasn't a reality warper he could have very well just died. Then the piece of shit beats up her father. It could have been her father that died instead of his colleague. And even now, after receiving such a beating he did not give up. Bell told her, Bullseye could turn anything into a lethal projectile. Even now he intended to do harm.
Her previous rage returned with a vengeance. Calm giving way to a raging inferno. All those emotions having piled up enough to make something break in her. And with the recent speech just now given by her boyfriend she reacted by pure instinct.
She grabbed a gear and threw it at Bullseye, before anyone could react and crushed his windpipe completely. He began chocking on his own blood and the lack of air.
Daredevil whipped around and then turned to her.
''WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!,'' he screamed at her.
''He intended to shoot someone with a tooth,'' Ghost Spider spoke with belied calmness. She needed out of here. NOW!
She began walking out calmly from the warehouse. Daredevil made to chase her but a happy Castle stopped him.
''Hm. Though I may not have been the one to strike the blow, this will do just as well. You will hear from me again. There is still the rest of the mafia to eliminate. I will send someone to take away the body. It would be a shame to let Fisk use this as a tool for his campaign,'' Cipher said walking away from them. All of this was precisely engineered to make Gwen kill Bullseye. He could not be happier.
Alas. His girlfriend needed to be comforted now.
Frank nodded. Even if her probably could not see him. This was a great night for him as one of the two broke their no killing rule, even if probably by accident. Now, if only Matt would break his as well.
He began forcibly dragging Matt away from here as he tried to pointlessly attempt to help Bullseye in some way. He has seen wounds like this in the war. He would not recover unless he had some sort of healing factor.
Matt heard the last bits of his life give way as Frank dragged him away.
This night was a disaster.
---
''How are you?,'' Bell asked Gwen as the two sat in his man cave. He was holding her as she looked shaken with what she did.
Gwen was silent for a while letting her thoughts settle.
''Bell.... Do you think I am bad person for killing him?,'' Gwen asked him.
''No,'' Bell replied simply.
''...How do you do it? Killing that is?,'' Gwen asked him.
''I don't just kill anyone that crosses my path willi nilly, if that is what you are asking. Though I suppose I am cheating in a sense. I don't have to deal with questions like 'Was there a chance of them becoming a better person?' etc. as I can literally see their innermost thoughts. I know who will never change and who might. But even then it is a question on how far you sunk. Some lines you crossed are inexcusable no matter how much you regret them or seek to justify them,'' Bell tried carefully explaining. He did not want her to shy away from her experience.
''No. I mean. Killing. Does it always hurt so much?,'' Gwen elaborated.
Ah. Bell understood.
''It speaks to how great a person you are to find it in yourself to feel empathy for people like him.
But no, Gwen. I can't answer that question for you. I feel some measure of guilt, even if I know the people I kill are complete garbage, but I usually move on. I suppose you should take some comfort in knowing that so long as you feel something, you are still human and a good person,'' Bell explained.
''I... my mother was a nurse. My father is a police captain. Both tasked with upholding duty and saving lives. I never thought I would do something that goes completely against that. I always thought I will carry their mantle in some form. This... Do you think mom would be proud of me, after what I have done?,'' Gwen asked him, seeking affirmation.
''I think your mother would prefer you to live. She would probably prefer you never putting on that mask in the first place.
Gwen, your father killed as well. You know that. Do you think he is a bad person?,'' Bell tried a different angle. She did not go through a war. She could be offered the time to process her killing someone.
''No,'' she quickly answered.
''Of course not. I agree as well, he is a good person. Perhaps this death was avoidable, but sometimes it is not. Sometimes the only way to stop someone is to kill them. The alternative is breaking their mind with telepathy and leaving them a vegetable or puppet. Or letting them kill innocents. I think you know this is a far worse fate,'' Bell explained.
Gwen reluctantly nodded and then stayed silent for a long while.
''I don't think I enjoy killing. And I probably won't be doing it for a while again, but I won't shy away anymore. I just worry one day I will stop feeling that guilt. I worry what kind of person that will make me then. Don't you?,'' Gwen asked him.
Now it was Bells turn to stay silent.
He lied when he said he felt guilt about killing. The only guilt he felt was not killing fast enough. Perhaps then his friends would have lived. Then again a small part of himself was rational and knew one more gun would have not made a difference at that time.
He felt guilt for other things as well. But not killing.
''Of course I worry,'' Bell told her after releasing a heavy sigh. What else could he say, that was not lying to her. He already lied to her enough. He told her that they should capture Bullseye and use him to clear his name in the publics eye by exposing him as the impersonator. A valid plan he would have put in effect if the original plan bore no fruit of pushing Gwen to kill Bullseye.
''Guess even you can't have an answer for everything,'' Gwen joked making Bell smile a little. Seems the talk did do her good. Now it was only a matter of time of Gwen and Peter telling each other they killed and then this matter is finally closed. With Chat having converted to the Fellowship of Satanael she would not have any issues so long as they did not start killing indiscriminately.
''Want me to make something? After my first kill, eating something did me a lot of good. With you not having vomited I would advise this even more,'' Bell offered her. She dropped her head a little. She was not really in the mood to eat anything, but she did want to feel better.
''Sure. Let's make some sandwiches,'' Gwen said, wanting something simple. They went to the kitchen. They would have went to the HQ, but no one was home and they wanted to be alone for a little while longer. Felicia was sneaking around stealing more data and Melina was doing a particularly long op.
Still, with his goals now accomplished, Fisk has lost his use. There was no reason to drag this out. Time to move things along.
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A few days later Taskmaster came in after yet again failing to take out Spider-Man. It was a small base of operations for them all to meet and make plans, offered by Kingpin. They also had it explained that they could tell someone what they needed in order to make the plan succeed.
''Have you seen Elektra, Mysterio or Bullseyes recently?,'' Taskmaster asked, encountering Kraven in their HQ.
''Bullseye is dead. Elektra and Mysterio proved themselves craven and left,'' Kraven told him constructing some sort of device.
''Do we have a body? Did the bounty go up, if it was the Spiders that did it?,'' Taskmaster asked calmly. Such possibilities came with being a mercenary. Though he was surprised with how quickly they left, considering they were professionals.
Something changed their stance on this bounty. And not because they were craven as Kraven suggested.
Hmm.
Perhaps it was the nature of Bullseye disappearance. He had to admit his hair stood a little on end now. His instincts warning him that the danger increased exponentially.
''There is no body. But it is clear what happened, unless Bullseye just went away without saying anything. And no, the bounty did not go up as it is unclear if it was the Spiders fault for this predicament,'' Kraven said putting a rope in his teeth and pulled to tie it up with hid free hand.
''Yet you are still here?,'' Taskmaster decided to make some conversation.
''I live for the hunt and those Spider are mighty prey indeed. I have studied them and now I know I can hunt them,'' Kraven said putting the device in a box for securing it.
''Hm. They have a unique fighting style. Some of the moves are hard to replicate as they require great strength. Well, if you want to cause actual damage that is and not just tap your enemy. Be mindful of that, when you go after them,'' Taskmaster decided to throw him a bone out of professional courtesy, even if they were technically rivals in this matter.
''I know. I'm surprised you will still go after them,'' Kraven remarked.
Taskmaster hummed.
It was no longer about the money. He was learning so much from them. Well, mostly Spider-Man as he had yet to fight Ghost Spider. Turns out most of the style was not used when crime fighting. When the fight got dragged out, they revealed what lied beneath the surface.
Hm.
He needed some sort of devices at his wrist that could shoot webs to replicate those moves. Though he may never move around swinging like they do, he would at least replicate their style on the ground.
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''I should probably warn you that there are two woman on the Quinjet Helipad and knocking on the door, Sir,'' Jarvis told them as they were all in the kitchen and eating. The Avengers all perked up and Pepper picked up Morgan who clung to her bellowed teddy bear as Hawkeye followed her with the rest getting ready for battle.
The door to the Quinjet Helipad opened and the Avengers stepped on it in their gear.
''Spill. Who are you? What do you want?,'' Iron Man asked getting ready to blast them with a repulsor at any point.
''Uhhhh, hi. Sorry about that. We probably didn't really think it through about how we should approach you all. This was clearly not the best way. I'm Anna Marie, tough I prefer Rogue. And this is Jean Grey,'' Rogue pointed at herself and then Jean Grey.
''I remember you. You were that red head that fought along side us against Yaldabaoth,'' Banner pointed out.
''No, that was my clone. I was the one the at the Xavier school with the flaming Phoenix,'' Jean explained.
''Clone?,'' Iron Man asked,'' Technology is not yet advanced enough for cloning.''
''Look, it is a long story, but basically. Evil darwinist believed Jean hear had the potential to breed a powerful mutant. He wanted to use that fact to absorb the baby's power, whatever that power would have been and add it to his own, seeing as he could manipulate DNA with his original power. Madelyne was a back up in case anything went wrong, created by him with his DNA manipulating ability,'' Rogue explained quickly.
''He is dead now, don't worry,'' Jean assured them, making them slowly nod.
''Alright. So maybe we are all heroes here, but that still leaves the question why you came here out of the blue,'' Steve tried to make them answer the final question.
''Oh, we want to join the Avengers. That is if you are recruiting,'' Jean explained to them.
''And why are you not with the X-Men?,'' Natasha asked them.
''Personal grievance,'' Jean supplied simply not offering anything more.
''As for me, the X-Men do go around stopping evil mutants every now and then, but not every evil person is a mutant and I want to do more good,'' Rogue explained her reasons. There was actual a lot of back and forth between her and the X-Men. But she was firm in her choice and made it clear that she was one call away from them, literally as she could fly quickly over to the place that needed her help. Jean did not need to explain herself as she made it clear she will never return after what Xavier did to her. Well, at least not long term. Visits were alright. They did not considered it a betrayal or anything, but there were still some bad feelings involved. Still, Rogue decided that she needed to do this to make sure non-mutant and mutant coexistence would be possible one day.
''You are both mutants? Not mutates?,'' Banner asked just wanting to be extra sure. They nodded.
''We are actually willing to recruit you. What are your powers?,'' Steve asked. They were actually desperate for recruits now, with Tony retiring in August and Thor still being out in space, but he was not gonna reveal their desperation to strangers.
''Not so fast, Jarvis give me everything you have on these women,'' Iron Man demanded,''You don't mind some screening, do you?''
Both women shook their heads.
They may have come from the X-Mansion. The same place that Zero once resided in. And the may have even been friends, most likely. If he remembered Jean went full rage mode after Zero had his heart ripped out. If only she could have done what she did before Zero lost his heart.
Anyway, he was not gonna take any chances with his daughter present.
''I will do that, Sir. Though, do you still wish for me to do so as The Abomination was reported just breaking out of its containment by the military in Area 51,'' Jarvis affirmed, but also asked.
...
...
Convenient.
''What do we do?,'' Banner asked apprehensively. If the Abomination broke out it was probably making its way here for him. Either way he would need to change to engage it.
''Bruce, I'm sorry, but lives are at risk,'' Steve apologized, knowing how much he dreaded changing into Hulk. But with Thor not here he would be the only person able to engage the Abomination.
Bruce reluctantly nodded his head. Guess, that is that the same way he was the only person available to donate blood to Jennifer. He was still regularly checking in on her to see how his blood affected her.
''Alright then, look you two we can pick this up again later, but right now duty calls,'' Steve apologized to them.
''Not so fast. They are coming with us,'' Iron Man told him.
''What? Why? We don't know their powers, we don't know if we can work well together as a team,'' Steve told him.
''We know at least Jean has a powerful ability. They can brief us on the way. What better way to see if the make good recruitment material then on the field,'' Iron Man told him.
Steve looked at him. Though his face could not be seen, Tonys voice was clear. He did not trust them and did not want to leave them unsupervised near his daughter. Nor did he want to send them away, as they could always return later.
''Very well. Are you alright with that?,'' He asked first his team who nodded and then the women who also nodded.
''Well, step aside then to let the Helipad open up. You won't me still screening on the way there do you?,'' Tony asked as the women stepped aside and let the Quinjet be lifted up from the small hangar.
''Of course not,'' Jean answered. Not that this was a question in the first place. He was telling them how things will go. She knew he did not trust them.
''That seems wildly impractical,'' Rogue remarked as she saw the Quinjet be lifted up.
''I see you have a good eye for practicality. It is the best I could make short term and then I never got around to making something better. But soon The Avengers will move to the Avengers mansion,'' Iron Man said as they all boarded the Quinjet.
''That building that is nearly finished a few kilometers away from the X-Mansion?,'' Rogue asked.
''Correct. State of the art, all kinds of stuff you could possibly need or want. All paid by me of course,'' Iron Man said a little absentmindedly as he began reading their information provided by Jarvis on his interface.
Natasha took the steering board as Banner functioned as her co-pilot.
''So what are your abilities?,'' Steve asked as he secured himself in the seat.
''Telekinesis and pyrokinesis,'' Jean explained. More like cosmic pyrokinesis and a LOT of other abilities, but she would not advertise those abilities as that could cause strife between her and people.
''Telekinesis? Apologies Rogue, but before we come to you, is there a way to manipulate light or matter with telekinesis?,'' Steve asked.
A second Jean appeared and then she disappeared and Steve was looking at a perfect copy of himself before he disappeared as well.
''I'm assuming like I you suspect Nexus faked his death?,'' Jean asked him.
''We suspected. Tony and Banner even theorized how it would be possible, but they did not have any evidence to support their theory,'' Steve explained.
''Mhm. Well, in that case, let us not ruin his plan. In any case, it is an incredible taxing ability and requires a lot of focus. Should you ever fight a telekinetic, look for any imperfections in their image at least this way you know they are distorting light,'' Jean explained. Steve nodded seriously storing this info away.
''As for me, I can absorb powers for a time as well as any energy and use it in various ways. To enhance myself that is. Unfortunately I can't turn off that ability so don't touch me as that includes bio electricity,'' Rogue explained, leaving out some stuff as well. Like the fact she could absorb memories this way or even permanently absorb powers at the cost of killing someone.
''Really? You never touched someone?,'' Tony asked suddenly after being done with his reading.
''No. I did touch people. My powers activated when I was 13. Still, Zero created a device powered by an arc reactor it made a sort of shield around my skin. I could touch people for 5 minutes then, but aside from that, no, I did not touch people,'' Rogue explained.
Tony nodded as Steve cast her a pitying look. Zero was his son. It came as no surprise to him that he was a genius like him and that he could make his own arc reactors. Or make a device that would insulate and mitigate energy absorption.
Still, to think she could absorb a, basically, nuclear reactors energy in 5 minutes was insane. He would have just powered her up then, had they engaged in a fight.
''Well, clearly you are strong then. I suppose we can see how you do in the upcoming fight and then you can all move out from my home to the mansion. You all have been free loading long enough off of me already,'' Tony complained willing to give them a chance as he saw nothing suspicious, but also not quiet wanting them to be near his daughter.
Steve sighed exasperatedly as the girls gave Tony an unimpressed look at the back handed boasting he just did.
The Quinjet was making its way to Area 51. Abomination was probably already gone, but they could pick up his trail from there. Assuming Jarvis reports to them any sightings of him in cities should that be the case.
Alas, as fate would have it, along the way Abomination saw them. Unaware to the Avengers he jumped towards them to ambush them.
Jean narrowed her eyes and simultaneously opened the back door to the Quinjet and reinforced the structural integrity of the Quinjet so it would not immediately collapse under his weight or explode upon them. She telekinetically took hold of all of them as the Quinjet began spinning and ripped them all out, coming to a halt in the air.
The Avengers quickly got their bearing and watched as the Quinjet fell down.
The Abomination ripped a piece of metal and threw it at them, when he noticed that they all escaped from the Quinjet, before he immediately jumped after them, hoping to catch them.
By now Rogue and Iron Man were let go and they were flying. Iron Man intended to shoot the thrown metal, but Jean reacted faster and stopped the metal, shaped it into a narrow cone before shooting it back nailing Abomination back into the ground away from them.
''What is the plan?,'' Jean asked Steve, now that they had a little time.
''We need to defeat him, before he reaches civilization. Containment and securement will be our top priority. Bruce, Jean, Rogue, you will be our heavy hitters. The rest of us will try to offer distractions should you need it. Tony did you call the Hulk Buster?,'' Steve immediately got to work.
''Ready to be deployed at any time,'' Iron Man affirmed.
''Well, you better let me go. I will transform on the way down,'' Bruce told Jean. After a moments hesitation she let go off him and he began falling down.
Bruce seemingly crashed into the ground but Hulk emerged screaming and immediately engaged Abomination.
''How do you want to play this?,'' Rogue asked Jean as the rest flew down to the ground.
''I will offer each one here telekinetic shields. You as well. I will work a little as support and keep everyone alive. Sorry, Captain, but I think this role will suit me better then a heavy hitter for now,'' Jean countered as a orange shield enveloped all of them. Steve nodded, not thinking this would have been possible. Should they join he will need to learn more about their powers as it was said telekinesis is a powerful and versatile ability.
''Awesome. Jean, if you would be so kind,'' Rogue said as a orange shield enveloped her as well making the rest of them a little confused. Not that she really needed it, but it was still nice to have that extra security.
A pillar the length and width of a lamp post shot out of the earth and Rogue grabbed it before flying in to swing it at Abomination as Hulk punched him into her direction. He flew back towards Hulk who slammed his fist down on him making him crash into the ground. A small pillar shot out from the ground into Abominations chin.
Rogue flew up intending to slam down from the heavens with her massive bat, but Abomination quickly turned around and slapped his palm together strong enough to cause a sonic boom as the shock wave made her be blown away. Hulk was pushed back as well.
Abomination could have used this opportunity to attack, but a web landed on his eyes courtesy of Black Widow blinding him. He quickly ripped it of but this wasted him time as the moment he did so Rogue came back and gave him a kick, knocking out on of his tooth.
He spat it out and threw a punch, only for her to block it as the ground cracked under the force. She attempted to deliver a punch, but Abomination kicked her away.
Hulk came from behind and grappled him slamming him over his knee. Abomination gave him an elbow to his face and showed himself this way away from him on his feet. The two engaged in a fist fight without any rhyme and reason and just wailed into each others faces.
Steve threw his shield towards Rogue who flew back in and slammed the flat of the shield on his head. Abomination punched her back but she dug her feet in and stopped quickly. Iron Man opened a small panel around his for arms and shot out a device that clung to Abominations face excreting a gas designed to knock him out or weaken him. He attempted to rip it off, but Hulk grabbed on of his arms with Rogue grabbing the other and both pulled. Jean made two pillars shoot out from the ground at the back of his knees and he was forced to kneel. Quickly she enveloped him on the ground around his calves.
After some time Abomination was weakened enough that she could completely envelop his body as they waited for Veronica to send the restraining device, so that they could imprison him again.
Jean could have easily defeated him. Rogue as well, though with some difficulties. That was not the point. The point was to build trust. But it was also not to be perceived as too powerful. At a certain threshold people would just fear them. And sure this time the camera did not catch them, but countless opportunities would prevent themselves.
''Hulk sad. Hulk did not get to smash,'' Hulk complained stomping the ground.
Jean raised an eyebrow. Interesting. She could feel both anger and fear from the Hulk. That bore further investigation.
''Well, you will get to smash another time. I promise. Could you give back control to Banner please,'' Steve requested cautiously.
''Hulk not wanna give back control to puny Banner. Puny Banner weak,'' Hulk scoffed angrily.
''I don't know, the way he requested to be dropped down into the action was pretty badass,'' Rogue pointed out.
''PUNY BANNER WEAK,'' Hulk screamed making Rogue raise her hands and the rest aside from Jean flinch.
''Very well, then we won't ask something like this from you. We will leave this matter to your discretion,'' Steve acquiesced calmly.
Jean could feel him be frustrated that Banner did not nothing as his family member was hurt. Ah, so it was anger born of frustration then.
Abomination stirred and Rogue quickly removed her glove to lay her hand on his body for a brief moment, with him already being weakened, he went right back to sleep. She put her glove back on as she felt herself be powered up and receive the memory of his inception.
''Hulk like little girl, despite looking skinny. She is strong,'' Hulk praised. He was happy that some here did not fear him. Despite appearances, she could probably save those that mattered to her, if they were in danger.
''I'm surprised you don't react more scared of him,'' Natasha remarked. Jean and Rogue shrugged.
''A friend of mine is also the size of the Hulk and super strong, this is nothing new to me,'' Rogue explained to them.
''Besides for all that he seems to destroy most things when he is angered, I haven't really seen him harm innocents. Whatever his faults it is clear to me he has a good heart,'' Jean added making the others, minus Hulk and Rogue, look at her as if she was insane.
Hulk laughed jovially.
''Hulk like new girls,'' He said as he laughed and unnoticed by him began shrinking back into Banner.
''Huh, would you look at that. Positive reinforcement. Why did we not consider that?,'' Tony asked as he turned to Steve. He sighed.
''Because, most people are afraid of the Hulk. You two got guts,'' Natasha remarked.
''So? Will they join?,'' Banner asked as he tied his massive purple pants all the way up to above his belly button so that they wouldn't fall off.
The others looked at each other a bit having a silent conversation.
''They can join, though we will need to train with each other and I need to understand how telekinesis works. I feel like have been underestimating this ability, despite many people saying it is powerful,'' Steve confirmed.
Iron Man nodded.
''Well, in that case I'm retiring now and you all can move to the mansion. No offense, but my loss will be outweighed by the power they will bring to the team,'' Tony said, still not wanting to have them near his daughter.
Sure, maybe he could remote control his Iron Man from afar, but he was not willing to give Jarvis that much control and he was also not willing to risk getting pulled back in. Something he would easily do, if he was on the field, even by remote controlling his suit. He was gonna stick to gadget designs and intel gathering and upgrade his suit. At least until the threat from his visions passes.
''If you want an idea of what telekinetics can do, you should watch Mob Psycho 100 by Hiroshi Seko. Most of the abilities there I can replicate,'' Jean explained.
Steve nodded getting out his small notebook and making a note of it. Meanwhile Tony and Banner starred at her incredulously. In their quest to have an idea of what telekinetics could do and hope to understand if Nexus was still alive they did stumble on that anime in their research, but both dismissed it as pure fiction and impossible to replicate.
''Then why not just take care of him? All this fighting was pointless,'' Banner asked her a little annoyed that he had to transform despite not needing to.
Jean gave a sheepish smile and scratched her cheek in emberrassment.
''Look, we can talk more about team building and power level later. For now we should focus on getting Abomination back in prison and then getting back home. Then we can tackle other matters,'' Steve calmed them all down. If she really could take on Abomination singlehandedly then that would have been nice, but he supposed it was on him for giving her wrong orders and under utilizing her abilities.
They all nodded, being just fine with such an order.
In any case.
Mission successful.
Unknown to the Avengers, that sentence rang true in more ways then one.
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SpasmBronze read the message in his chat.
''Look, I get it you guys want me to play Beyond the Abyss again. I will. But can we just talk about what is happening in NYC right now?'' he asked the camera showing he was annoyed to his audience.
'Why is that important? It is a good thing?'
''Why is tha...? Motherfucker, sometimes I forgot just who my audience is. OK. I will explain it in a way that ... is true to what I believe.
Remember when I said that there will be war between the Satanaelists and someone else? Well, I was thinking of religion. Crusades. Heretics. That kind of stuff. Turns out it may very well be a civil war. Either a small one or a full blown one raging across the country.
You do understand that for all that politicians have been doing their damndest to keep Satanaelists out of the government, they still influenced the government in no small way. Remember, how in the past politicians used to dodge sharp questions in the past or receive questions only from biased news agencies? Yeah, that trend kind of died out didn't it?
They are fuming every time a politician does not give a straight answer as, in their eyes, they are committing the sin of lying. There were quiet a few attempts at some peoples life over this.
Could they not declare the Fellowship of Satanael a terrorist group then? No! (*He laughs at the stupid question*) The damage is done. Maybe if they would have been immediately declared as such, then we would live in a different world, but that is not the case.
America, percentage wise, has the highest ratio of Satanael worshippers comparative to the overall population worldwide. 56% of our population are Satanael worshippers. No one is declaring them a terrorist group. It is political suicide.
It has gotten so bad, that the voices of the Friends of Humanity are getting quieter. They too are afraid of making them enemies, not that THAT will make them change their ideology, but whatever.
Anyway, the reason I talk about this is because of what Fisk said in his interview for running for mayor of NYC. A pretty important role. New York is only one of the three global cities world wide. No biggie. NYC's mayor has actually a lot of power. And it was pretty clear to ANYONE that the moderator was bought out and bribed. She did not ask a single question that would show the problems with his campaign.
Which, you know, are pretty fucking obvious to anyone.
Just look at Nexus who blew himself up after he died. That dude KNEW that if people found out who he was, even in death, his enemies would go after his loved ones.
And that has the Satanaelists in a frenzy. Because Fisks campaign could set a dangerous precedent.
Look, do I agree that, vigilantes should do some kind of test, to show themselves competent? Yes. Do I think that Fisks way is the way? No. I find myself on the same side as Satanaelists for once.
If anything, what Osborn offered is a fair compromise. If people want to help out, then good. For their good service they may enjoy the security that anonymity brings them. BUT, in turn the public needs to know they are in good hands. So at least some form of evaluation should exist under that heros name and then they will receive a permit that they will carry around all the time for identification.''
'Like My Hero Acedemia?'
''Meh, probably. You can tell, that Osborn was surprised and he made impromptu plans on the spot. Fisk kept this part of his campaign a secret and only revealed it in that interview.
Look, i don't trust Osborn or Oscorp. most of the Spider peoples enemies come from him or his company, but what he said is pretty smart and more then a fair compromise.
Look, the point is. There are was too many problems with Fisks plans. Like, even if the enemies don't kill the heroes loved one, they can still use them as hostages and make them do bad stuff.
And, and, and. You get what I try to say?,'' SpasmBronze explained his take on the situation.
'Does war seem inevitable?'
''If nothing changes then yes. Satanaelist are not dumb. They are not Albert Einstein, but they certainly have the drive to inform themselves and from their own opinion, despite the cuts in the department of education. Our illiteracy actual did not drop at all, because of that.
Which I argue is a bad thing because, with a lack of consequence they will probably not take action to fund the department of education again. At least not for a while. Also keep in mind that their focus is generally split, as there is a lot that could be improved in this country. It is just that for once, all their attention is grabbed by this, because they understand the ramifications. And remember they are well communicating with each other.
The point is, that the way things seem right now, it can only end one way.''
'Do you think Fisk has some sort of hidden agenda he is not telling anyone about?'
''I mean doesn't everyone have a hidden agenda? I can't answer that honestly, I don't have telepathy.
CAN YOU STOP ASKING ME TO GET TO PLAYING BEYOND THE ABYSS?,'' SpasmBronze yelled frustrated.
''Look, I'm sorry. I get it AFoxyScriptwriter is basically dominating the entertainment and gaming industry, minus live action movies and gets offered competition by some studios in the eastern hemisphere.
I get it.
He is releasing bangers after bangers.
We will get there, after we talk some more about this topic. Okay?
Now, Mr.Dyslexo actually made a pretty good video about all the issues with Fisks campaign. I know people don't like reaction videos and I don't really do them usually, but I want to spread the message to more non Satanaelist people, because we can't let this bill pass, man. We really can't.
So, anyway, it is a bit of a long video, but I made notes on which timestamps to click and we will watch his entire argument.
It only takes an hour or so and then we can move on to other stuff.''
SpasmBronze clicked on the video and let it play after hitting the timestamp.