Fic: [Avengers] Wreckage
Title: Wreckage
Series: Avengers
Type: Divergence
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2378599/26/
Avengers Wreckage
Chapter Twenty Six
Amora the Enchantress aka Amy Ray was running down the street, her long blond hair flowing behind her, the green swimsuit and legging she wore as a 'costume' hugging her body. Behind her the sound of clanking machinery echoed, the armored villains racing to try to close with her.
'Cold iron, it HAD to be cold iron,' Amora thought bitterly. Generally speaking her magic was powerful and effective against modern technology, but she suffered from some ancient weaknesses. Raw iron, unlike refined steel and other metals, could serve to 'ground out' her magic, weakening it severely. She didn't know how her enemy found out, but they had 'plated' the battlesuits with chunks of the material.
The Crimson Dynamo armor was one of the older models, big, bulky and covered with conduits. But despite it's age the powered armor was very dangerous, especially after being upgraded by the Tinkerer. Beside him was the Mauler, the silver and blue Iron Man knock off. Possessing a arm cannon and a electric shock attack, it wasn't exactly a major player. Hell, the suit had problems fighting Daredevil! But it was dangerous enough to Amora with her powers more limited than useful.
'I wonder why they're not flying after me?' Amora mused, but swiftly decided they were trying to stay covert. Or at least as covert as two idiots in tin suits could manage. Which she could use to her advantage, she decided as she hurried around a corner...
"Damn it," Crimson Dynamo cursed as he lumbered along. In the air, the Dynamo armor was graceful and imposing, but on the ground it was awkward as hell. Worse, it really hadn't been BUILT for running and was chafing him in painful areas.
The Mauler had to hide her smirk as the ran along beside him. Her armor was lighter and more form fitting, and therefore was easier to run in. The big downside in her case was stuffing her breasts into the male structured chest cavity of the suit.
"Amora!" Mauler cried, "Just give up! Make it easier on yourself!"
"Like that'll work," the Dynamo huffed and puffed.
"Gotta try," Mauler shrugged as they raced around the corner.
There was a short moment of surprise as they hung in midair over a massive hole in the sidewalk, then with two cries of alarm they both dropped down into a sewer tunnel below. With a smirk Amora gestured, re-sealing the portal then raced off once more.
Erupting from the water like a angry volcano and cursing loudly Dynamo raised his fist towards the roof as he growled, "I'm going to...!"
"No! No energy weapons!" Mauler yelled, both filthy armored warriors covered in was was probably shit, mud and plant matter.
"Why not?" Dynamo demanded furiously.
"Low profile, remember?" Mauler snapped back. "Besides, there are flammable gasses down here. It probably wouldn't kill us, in these suits, but by god would it be visible."
Dynamo hesitated, then reluctantly lowered his arm and dissipated the energy bolt. As he and Mauler plodded off down the tunnel looking for someplace they could get out of the sewers he had to mutter, "I hate magic."
Up on the surface Amora stopped jogging, finally, and ducked down a alley. With a few chanted words she restored the illusion of being Amy Ray, then walked off while trying to look casual. It was a hard act to manage, now that she knew for certain that even her servant Morgan Stark had betrayed her, but she did her best.
Amy tried not to scowl, but it was hard to maintain her poise as a rising starlet. Morgan had asked to meet her regarding the attack on her movie studio, claiming she knew who was behind it. Of COURSE Amora had figured it was a trap and planned accordingly, but her enemies had been clever. When she arrived at the meeting place they had tried to spring a mechanical trap first, to contain her. Only after that failed had the two armored knights attacked.
'Morgan, you utter bastard,' Amora thought grimly. She had done a lot for the disgraced industrialist, saving his life and paying off debts he had owed. YES she had turned him into a woman, but even that wasn't so bad, really. And in return she had sold her out, and worse Amora still didn't know who. All she did know so far was he or she called themselves the Master Planner and used various high tech villains.
Of course the first suspect has to be Amora's new recruit Carolyn Trainer, bur she dismissed the woman just as quickly. Lady Octopus had always been just a Spidey second stringer, unable to make it here in the big leagues.
Carolyn Trainer sneezed suddenly, the scientist blinking. Phineas Mason, the old man known as the Tinkerer, looked at her curiously as he asked, "Are you all right, young lady?"
"Someone must be talking about me or something," Carolyn shook her head.
Amy sighed and ducked into a coffee shop that was not far from the building she was renting a apartment in. She really needed a coffee. If there was any reason to justify the existence of the human race, it was the creation of caffeinated beverages. She brightened up considerably as she drank her coffee, then brightened up even more as a familiar face strode by.
"Jackie!" Amora waved.
Jackie Lucas smiled as the slightly taller woman trotted over, a briefcase at the well dressed woman's side. "Hey, Amy," she said as she sat down at one of the cafe tables with her, "I missed seeing you this morning."
"I had a meeting," Amy smiled wryly.
"Me too," Jackie admitted. She smiled, "I've got several designs in the review process right now. It's tiring as hell, but rewarding to actually get intelligent input."
As Amy listened to Jackie enthuse about her job, she wondered if she could actually work for a living. With her magic she pretty much just had to ask for something and it was her's, but lately that had begun to grow boring. It was all just too easy, really. But could she really manage to hold down a common, mundane job?
"You look thoughtful," Jackie noted, "anything I can help with?"
"Just musing a career change," Amy admitted. She winked as she joked, "Could a architect like yourself use a good looking and sassy secretary?"
"Send me a resume and I'll think about it," Jackie teased back.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Across the city at the LA Herald, Carol Danvers was basking in the glow of another front page story. 'ULTIMATUM cell busted!' was the top line, followed by 'Terrorist Group foiled by police and Force Works!'
Mind you, the headline was almost totally inaccurate for the fine details. As far as Carol could determine the group were actually former agents of the international terrorist organization who had apparently quit when the Red Skull tried to take over. They went to work for the local crime boss, apparently, and she stumbled over them looking for leads on the Master Planner. Carol called the cops for back up, then busted the hideout as Warbird.
Her editor Ron Black had let her story go out intact, but he had insisted on the inaccurate headline. "Terrorists sell papers," he shrugged, "and 'former terrorists' hasn't got the same ring to it."
"Yeah, yeah," Carol sighed. She really hated the sensationalism that was used to sell papers, but what could you do? They were fighting both the internet and TV news, after all.
"Great photos, by the way," Ron added. He frowned, "Don't take too many chances, huh? If you get killed sneaking into some crooks base I'd loose a good reporter."
"Your concern warms my heart," Carol said wryly.
"Good," Ron laughed, "now get back to work."
Carol was at her desk, doing research for a article. Well, at least that was what she was telling her coworkers anyway. What she was doing was digging through public police records, trying to track all the b and c list super crooks that had infested the LA area. It was a distressingly long list, frankly.
'How the heck did we miss this?' Carol found herself wondering more than once.
Of course, crooks moving out here made a lot of sense, from their point of view. The majority of superheroes were based out of New York and, mostly, operated on the East Coast, so moving away made sense. And out west there weren't many superheroes, other than Iron Man and, when he worked out of LA, Wonder Man.
There were hundreds of minor crooks out here, plus a few retired big names and supposedly reformed masterminds. She had hoped to narrow down possibilities for who the Master Planner was, but if this data was right there were just more candidates.
"You don't look happy," a familiar voice noted and Carol looked up to meet Monica's eyes.
Monica Stewart looked amused as the other woman leaned on Carol's desk sipping a coffee. A sexy redhead she practically oozed sex appeal, along with a cynical knowledge of how the world worked. She had been in the paper business longer than Carol, but remained rather amused by her job.
"Just researching a article," Carol admitted, "did you know we have more super crooks out here than in New York?"
"It wouldn't much surprise me," Monica conceded. "I always wondered why they all stayed in New York with all the superheroes."
"I think they get caught up in the whole cycle of revenge thing," Carol mused.
"Huh?" Monica blinked.
Carol sat back in her chair. "Let's assume you became a supervillain named Bombshell," she said, "and you tried to rob a bank and got stopped by Spider Man."
"Bombshell?" Monica looked amused.
"Work with me here," Carol laughed. "So, most normal people would do the time and find a regular job. But you want revenge, so you train hard, bust out of prison... and get beat. Again. Which only pisses you off more, and..."
"And the cycle repeats," Monica nodded. "Do any of 'em manage to break the cycle?"
"From what I've read, not many," Carol said with a shrug. She looked up at Monica thoughtfully, "You look pretty perky today. Did the date go well?"
Monica actually blushed, which was pretty damn rare in Carol's experience. "Very well," she admitted, "we're going out again tonight."
"You two serious?" Carol had to ask.
|Not sure yet," Monica admitted, "but DAMN is she good in bed."
That nearly made Carol choke on her coffee. "Too much information, woman," she laughed, shaking her head. "Besides, there is more to relationships than sex," she added seriously.
"But if the sex isn't good what's the point?" Monica teased. She got up as she added thoughtfully, "Thought to be honest... I think I like her. A lot."
Carol watched Monica go, then sat back with a sigh. Back to working through the villain lists looking for a Master Planner. She was tempted to toss the lists over to her contacts at SHIELD, but decided to try to narrow it down a bit. Besides, it might be nice having something impressive to show Maria Hill when they met again...
To be continued...
Series: Avengers
Type: Divergence
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2378599/26/
Avengers Wreckage
Chapter Twenty Six
Amora the Enchantress aka Amy Ray was running down the street, her long blond hair flowing behind her, the green swimsuit and legging she wore as a 'costume' hugging her body. Behind her the sound of clanking machinery echoed, the armored villains racing to try to close with her.
'Cold iron, it HAD to be cold iron,' Amora thought bitterly. Generally speaking her magic was powerful and effective against modern technology, but she suffered from some ancient weaknesses. Raw iron, unlike refined steel and other metals, could serve to 'ground out' her magic, weakening it severely. She didn't know how her enemy found out, but they had 'plated' the battlesuits with chunks of the material.
The Crimson Dynamo armor was one of the older models, big, bulky and covered with conduits. But despite it's age the powered armor was very dangerous, especially after being upgraded by the Tinkerer. Beside him was the Mauler, the silver and blue Iron Man knock off. Possessing a arm cannon and a electric shock attack, it wasn't exactly a major player. Hell, the suit had problems fighting Daredevil! But it was dangerous enough to Amora with her powers more limited than useful.
'I wonder why they're not flying after me?' Amora mused, but swiftly decided they were trying to stay covert. Or at least as covert as two idiots in tin suits could manage. Which she could use to her advantage, she decided as she hurried around a corner...
"Damn it," Crimson Dynamo cursed as he lumbered along. In the air, the Dynamo armor was graceful and imposing, but on the ground it was awkward as hell. Worse, it really hadn't been BUILT for running and was chafing him in painful areas.
The Mauler had to hide her smirk as the ran along beside him. Her armor was lighter and more form fitting, and therefore was easier to run in. The big downside in her case was stuffing her breasts into the male structured chest cavity of the suit.
"Amora!" Mauler cried, "Just give up! Make it easier on yourself!"
"Like that'll work," the Dynamo huffed and puffed.
"Gotta try," Mauler shrugged as they raced around the corner.
There was a short moment of surprise as they hung in midair over a massive hole in the sidewalk, then with two cries of alarm they both dropped down into a sewer tunnel below. With a smirk Amora gestured, re-sealing the portal then raced off once more.
Erupting from the water like a angry volcano and cursing loudly Dynamo raised his fist towards the roof as he growled, "I'm going to...!"
"No! No energy weapons!" Mauler yelled, both filthy armored warriors covered in was was probably shit, mud and plant matter.
"Why not?" Dynamo demanded furiously.
"Low profile, remember?" Mauler snapped back. "Besides, there are flammable gasses down here. It probably wouldn't kill us, in these suits, but by god would it be visible."
Dynamo hesitated, then reluctantly lowered his arm and dissipated the energy bolt. As he and Mauler plodded off down the tunnel looking for someplace they could get out of the sewers he had to mutter, "I hate magic."
Up on the surface Amora stopped jogging, finally, and ducked down a alley. With a few chanted words she restored the illusion of being Amy Ray, then walked off while trying to look casual. It was a hard act to manage, now that she knew for certain that even her servant Morgan Stark had betrayed her, but she did her best.
Amy tried not to scowl, but it was hard to maintain her poise as a rising starlet. Morgan had asked to meet her regarding the attack on her movie studio, claiming she knew who was behind it. Of COURSE Amora had figured it was a trap and planned accordingly, but her enemies had been clever. When she arrived at the meeting place they had tried to spring a mechanical trap first, to contain her. Only after that failed had the two armored knights attacked.
'Morgan, you utter bastard,' Amora thought grimly. She had done a lot for the disgraced industrialist, saving his life and paying off debts he had owed. YES she had turned him into a woman, but even that wasn't so bad, really. And in return she had sold her out, and worse Amora still didn't know who. All she did know so far was he or she called themselves the Master Planner and used various high tech villains.
Of course the first suspect has to be Amora's new recruit Carolyn Trainer, bur she dismissed the woman just as quickly. Lady Octopus had always been just a Spidey second stringer, unable to make it here in the big leagues.
Carolyn Trainer sneezed suddenly, the scientist blinking. Phineas Mason, the old man known as the Tinkerer, looked at her curiously as he asked, "Are you all right, young lady?"
"Someone must be talking about me or something," Carolyn shook her head.
Amy sighed and ducked into a coffee shop that was not far from the building she was renting a apartment in. She really needed a coffee. If there was any reason to justify the existence of the human race, it was the creation of caffeinated beverages. She brightened up considerably as she drank her coffee, then brightened up even more as a familiar face strode by.
"Jackie!" Amora waved.
Jackie Lucas smiled as the slightly taller woman trotted over, a briefcase at the well dressed woman's side. "Hey, Amy," she said as she sat down at one of the cafe tables with her, "I missed seeing you this morning."
"I had a meeting," Amy smiled wryly.
"Me too," Jackie admitted. She smiled, "I've got several designs in the review process right now. It's tiring as hell, but rewarding to actually get intelligent input."
As Amy listened to Jackie enthuse about her job, she wondered if she could actually work for a living. With her magic she pretty much just had to ask for something and it was her's, but lately that had begun to grow boring. It was all just too easy, really. But could she really manage to hold down a common, mundane job?
"You look thoughtful," Jackie noted, "anything I can help with?"
"Just musing a career change," Amy admitted. She winked as she joked, "Could a architect like yourself use a good looking and sassy secretary?"
"Send me a resume and I'll think about it," Jackie teased back.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Across the city at the LA Herald, Carol Danvers was basking in the glow of another front page story. 'ULTIMATUM cell busted!' was the top line, followed by 'Terrorist Group foiled by police and Force Works!'
Mind you, the headline was almost totally inaccurate for the fine details. As far as Carol could determine the group were actually former agents of the international terrorist organization who had apparently quit when the Red Skull tried to take over. They went to work for the local crime boss, apparently, and she stumbled over them looking for leads on the Master Planner. Carol called the cops for back up, then busted the hideout as Warbird.
Her editor Ron Black had let her story go out intact, but he had insisted on the inaccurate headline. "Terrorists sell papers," he shrugged, "and 'former terrorists' hasn't got the same ring to it."
"Yeah, yeah," Carol sighed. She really hated the sensationalism that was used to sell papers, but what could you do? They were fighting both the internet and TV news, after all.
"Great photos, by the way," Ron added. He frowned, "Don't take too many chances, huh? If you get killed sneaking into some crooks base I'd loose a good reporter."
"Your concern warms my heart," Carol said wryly.
"Good," Ron laughed, "now get back to work."
Carol was at her desk, doing research for a article. Well, at least that was what she was telling her coworkers anyway. What she was doing was digging through public police records, trying to track all the b and c list super crooks that had infested the LA area. It was a distressingly long list, frankly.
'How the heck did we miss this?' Carol found herself wondering more than once.
Of course, crooks moving out here made a lot of sense, from their point of view. The majority of superheroes were based out of New York and, mostly, operated on the East Coast, so moving away made sense. And out west there weren't many superheroes, other than Iron Man and, when he worked out of LA, Wonder Man.
There were hundreds of minor crooks out here, plus a few retired big names and supposedly reformed masterminds. She had hoped to narrow down possibilities for who the Master Planner was, but if this data was right there were just more candidates.
"You don't look happy," a familiar voice noted and Carol looked up to meet Monica's eyes.
Monica Stewart looked amused as the other woman leaned on Carol's desk sipping a coffee. A sexy redhead she practically oozed sex appeal, along with a cynical knowledge of how the world worked. She had been in the paper business longer than Carol, but remained rather amused by her job.
"Just researching a article," Carol admitted, "did you know we have more super crooks out here than in New York?"
"It wouldn't much surprise me," Monica conceded. "I always wondered why they all stayed in New York with all the superheroes."
"I think they get caught up in the whole cycle of revenge thing," Carol mused.
"Huh?" Monica blinked.
Carol sat back in her chair. "Let's assume you became a supervillain named Bombshell," she said, "and you tried to rob a bank and got stopped by Spider Man."
"Bombshell?" Monica looked amused.
"Work with me here," Carol laughed. "So, most normal people would do the time and find a regular job. But you want revenge, so you train hard, bust out of prison... and get beat. Again. Which only pisses you off more, and..."
"And the cycle repeats," Monica nodded. "Do any of 'em manage to break the cycle?"
"From what I've read, not many," Carol said with a shrug. She looked up at Monica thoughtfully, "You look pretty perky today. Did the date go well?"
Monica actually blushed, which was pretty damn rare in Carol's experience. "Very well," she admitted, "we're going out again tonight."
"You two serious?" Carol had to ask.
|Not sure yet," Monica admitted, "but DAMN is she good in bed."
That nearly made Carol choke on her coffee. "Too much information, woman," she laughed, shaking her head. "Besides, there is more to relationships than sex," she added seriously.
"But if the sex isn't good what's the point?" Monica teased. She got up as she added thoughtfully, "Thought to be honest... I think I like her. A lot."
Carol watched Monica go, then sat back with a sigh. Back to working through the villain lists looking for a Master Planner. She was tempted to toss the lists over to her contacts at SHIELD, but decided to try to narrow it down a bit. Besides, it might be nice having something impressive to show Maria Hill when they met again...
To be continued...