Chapter 8: Gamma World Part 1
Being a superhero, sometime means that you have to deal with villains that get away. Sometimes you catch them the next time, or a few time later. But then there's that rare villain that makes it his hobby to always get away.
That role has been taken up by the skilled villain, Hawkeye. The former Agent of SHIELD and known HYDRA agent, escaped from the Vault after the Break Out, and the Avengers had spend weeks chasing him wherever he popped up. But each time they got close to catching him, the archer somehow always found a way to escape.
Normally Ben would be ok with a villain slipping away every once and a while. But this guy had managed to escape capture twelve times now and he didn't even have any powers, just a bow and quiver full of high tech arrows. How could he be that hard to catch?
So when witness repots came in on a guy who matched Hawkeyes description came to their attention, the Avengers were out the door in a matter of seconds to catch the elusive archer.
It didn't take long for them to track him down, Hawkeye was dashing across rooftops in a rush. Apparently there was somewhere he needed to be. For what ever reason the Avengers were not going to let him get away this time.
"Stay on him." Iron Man ordered over the team communicators, as the team pursued him.
Black Panther leaped from a nearby fire escape to the side of the building Hawkeye was on and, thanks to the Vibranium weaving in his boots, ran horizontally across the wall as if he was on level ground.
On the next building over, Captain America leaped over rooftop astride his motorcycle. Thanks to some upgrades that Iron Man had installed, the bike was capable of launching itself from high placed and land without damaging the suspension in any way.
From above, Iron Man kept an eye on Hawkeye with his scanners along with Wasp and Big Chill. All in hot pursued of the HYDRA agent.
Captain America revved his bike again as it leaped to the next roof top, landing a few meters behind where Hawkeye was running.
"I've got visual." The Super Soldier relayed over comms, "This joker's fast. I'll give him that."
Iron Man flew over head, his scanners locking on to Hawkeyes signature. But before it was complete, the archer reached the edge of the building and jumped down to the street below.
"Guys, he just disappeared off my grid. Do you have him?" He said. Big Chills eyes narrowed in response, no way was this guy getting away again.
"Wow, HYDRA agents are getting good." Wasp said impressed "He doesn't even have any powers."
As the airborne heroes, scanned the ground for any signs of him, Wasp noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned and saw Hawkeye running to the edge of an ally, then turning the corner.
"There he is." Wasp called out, as she immediately dive-bombed the area at impressive speeds. But when she rounded the corner, she was met with an arrow head, aimed directly at her. Wasp screeched to a halt inches from the tip, frozen.
Hawkeye gave a sly grin as he aimed at the size changing heroine. "Hi there." He said slyly.
Usually at her current size, Wasp was very hard to hit. But, if the past was any indication, there was a target this guy couldn't hit.
Suddenly, Hawkeye felt a cold presence behind him, and using his peripheral vision, he saw Big Chill faze out of the wall behind him. He was quickly joined by Iron Man, descending from the sky infront of him, Captain America, pulling up the ally to his left and Black Panther landing on the fire escape just above him, leaving the archer completely surrounded.
"Give it up, Hawkeye!" Iron Man said as he aimed his repulsor at his head. "You can't win!"
At this moment Big Chill couldn't help but grin, four weeks they had been after this guy and know they finally got him. All he had to do was exhale a blast of ice and it would all be over.
However just as everyone was about to make their move, a spotlight illuminated above them, blinding everyone with its sudden appearance.
The heroes looked up to see a SHIELD aircraft, hovering above them "Attention, Avengers." Came the familiar voice of Phil Coulson over the planes speakers.
Big Chill narrowed his eyes at the agent's sudden appearance, but at the same time he was glad they were hear. The moment was gone but at least they wont have to take him far to get locked up… that is until Wasp said.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Big Chills neck snapped back so fast he felt the tensions in his neck cracked. True to her word, Hawkeye was gone. He had somehow managed to slip away in the two seconds they had been distracted.
Iron Man quickly scanned the area, searching for any indication to were Hawkeye went. He became extremely annoyed when the scan came up negative. "No sign of him, great." Iron Man grumbled.
At that moment Big Chill was so ticked off that the air around him began to crystalize. How could they let him get away, Again. He unfurled his wings and flew up to the SHIELD jet until his was staring Agent Coulson straight in the eye.
"You just let your own traitor get away." The moth like alien berated "Next time SHIELD wants to help, don't." he punctuated his last word by releasing a small wave of frost into the Agents face.
Coulson barley blinked at the threatening aura the transformed teen was giving off, as he casually brushed of the frost that was on hi suit.
"Let him go for now." He said calmly, which only made the moth like alien even more annoyed. "We didn't come for Hawkeye, Tennyson. We came for the Avengers." His face then turned grim. "We need your help."
Typical of SHIELD, they ask for help but don't give you any more information than that. Since their attempt to capture Hawkeye was ruined, the Avengers decided that they would see what was so important that Coulson couldn't wait two more minutes.
An hour later the team, minus Ant Man, flew over the desert with Coulson's jet just ahead of them. Most of the team rode inside the Quinjet, while Iron Man flew outside. Ben sat in his seat wearing his hat and mask, he didn't know what they were in for so he needed the Ultimatrix at full power incase anything surprised him. During the trip, the Armored Avenger voiced pretty much all the questions, and frustration, that the team was currently feeling.
"I'm getting a little impatient here, Coulson. You're not telling us were fury is. Your not telling us what's going on."
"Even if I knew where Nick Fury was, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be at liberty to tell you, Iron-Man." Coulson responded, interrupting him mid rant. "As for what's going on, it's simpler if you just see it yourself."
Those who were inside the Quinjet, quickly looked out the front window in order to see what the SHIELD agent meant. Then Captain America pointed out in front of them "Look, on the horizon."
The team followed his finger and looked on with shock. A massive green dome of energy was surrounding a building that resembled a large cube that was positioned on its side. This was The Cube, former prison to all the radioactive villain.
The team stared in awe as the approached the green dome, which appeared to be getting bigger as they landed. The team exited the jet, their eyes still fixed on the dome.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" Thor asked, hopeing someone had an answer.
Iron Man immediately scanned the dome with his armors sensors. The results only made his eyes widen. "Wow, it's pure gamma radiation." He stated, then chuckled "Man, I bet Hank is sorry he stayed behind in Wakanda now."
"No kidding." Ben said, not taking his eyes off the dome.
"Yeah, this is way cooler than studying Vibranium." Wasp added with a smirk, which she quickly dropped when she realized Black Panther was standing right behind her. "Uh, no offense." She quickly said nervously, causing Ben to lightly chuckle at her.
They were interrupted by their musings when a new voice called out to them. "Where is Bruce Banner? I was told he was on your team."
The Avengers turned to see a large muscular man with long green hair that went down to his chest. He wore a red shirt with two white lighting bolts around the collar. He wore black pants, held up by a silver belt, and silver boots. He also had two silver gauntlets of each wrist.
The Avengers looked at the green haired man with different levels of confusion. Iron Man was the first to get over his stupor "You're Dr.
Leonard Samson, right?" the scientist nodded, "Hulk is on a vacation." The billionair said hesitantly, earning an odd look from both Samson and Coulson.
While Iron Man talked with the muscle bound scientist, Captain America leaned over to Ben. "Why does that man have green hair?" he asked in a whisper."
"I have no idea." Ben replied, equally confused. He then turned to Wasp, "Jan, what do you think?"
Wasp placed a finger on her chin as she looked Dr. Samson over, and then pondered for a second.
"Well for starters that outfit is totally out of style. Lightning bolts, seriously, he might as well have a sign that says 'Lame' on it. Also that shade of green is so last season. Everyone knows that Hulk-green is totally in, and dont even get me started on the boots…" She rambled on until Ben held up a hand to silence her.
"Ok Jan, we get the idea." The teen hero said before the heroin could start planning her next fashion show. Wasp gave a small pouted as their attention shifted back to Iron Man.
"Now, does some one to tell us what's going on." The Armored hero questioned.
Agent Coulson gestured to a large aircraft, which looked like a modified Boeing C-17 Globemaster III with a secondary set of wings behind the primary with an engine under each wing. The SHIELD logo was pained on its roof.
"Its easier if we explain inside." Coulson stated as he, along with Samson, walked towards the aircraft, the Avengers not to far behind.
As the team walked up the entrance ramp, Ben noticed a car parked on the ramp. It was a cherry red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette in prime condition. Ben looked at the vehicle and just though how if Kevin was here, he would have been all over this car. Just thinking about his old friend, reminded Ben of the old days where he, Gwen and Kevin would ride around in Kevin's car to their missions.
He missed those days, looking at the car made him think that if he just had a quick peak under the hood would be something of a tribute to his old friend. He reached his hand out towards the car.
"Please don't touch Lola." Coulson's voice suddenly called out, making the teen hero jump out of his skin as he retracted his hand. He turned to see Agent Coulson looking at him with a neutral expression on his face. The Agent then began to walk to the back of the cargo hold where what appeared to be a laboratory at the end.
While Ben didn't get along with SHIELD agents, Carol being the exception, he found Coulson protectiveness of his car to be almost human of him.
"And drop the Mask Tennyson. Everyone hear knows who you are."
There's the man he new and disliked. Ben grumbled as he pulled down his mask, so much for keeping his secret identity. But then again these people are probably trained 24/7 to not give up any information to anyone, even if they are being tortured. But still they guy didn't have to be a jerk about it.
Ben looked back at the car, then at Coulson, then back to the car. A small smirk spread across the teens face as he once again reached towards the car. Don't touch the car, Ben thought to himself, Well lets see how you like this.
"You really shouldn't touch Lola." Another voice said from behind him, making him once again jump. Ben turned around to she the grinning form of Carol Danvers.
"Carol?" Ben said in surprise as he quickly composed himself, "What are you doing here."
"I was put on Coulson's team to help contain situation." She said as if it were obvious.
Ben had to admit, he was glad to see a friendly face. Carol was one of, if not the only SHIELD agent he got along with… most of the time.
"Besides," Carol added, with a smirk. "Someone has to save your butt when you get into trouble."
Ben gave her an incredulous look. "Excuse me, who saved who from Taskmaster and the Enforcers."
"I seem the remember that I saved you a couple of times." Carol defended.
"Yeah, but like I said before my save was way more impressive than your save." Ben smugly stated.
Carol rolled her eyes. "Oh please, if it weren't for me you would have…"
She was cut off when she noticed a familiar yellow and black suited heroine, throw her arm around Bens shoulder.
"Hey Ben." Wasp said in a friendly tone as she pulled him in to a one armed hug. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your little friend here."
Ben sighed, Jan was getting really good at playing the embarrassing older sister. "Carol, meet the Avengers. Avengers, this is Carol, or 'Agent Danvers." He punctuated the last part with air quotes, earning a glare from Carol.
"So Ben," Iron Man said in a mocking tone, "How long were you going to keep your girlfriend a secret from us?"
Ben and Carol immediately blushed as the former jumped away from the size changing heroines grasp.
"He/She's not my Boy/Girlfriend!" they both yelled simultaneously.
"Aww look at that, they're blushing." Wasp commented, making the two teens go redder.
"Its not like that." Ben said defensively, "We just helped each other out putting some bad guys away. Then we hung out and went for smoothies."
At that moment Wasp let out a high pitched squeal as she threw both arms around Ben. "Your first date! Oh Ben why didn't you tell me? This it the best news ever!"
"It was not a date!" Ben yelled, pushing Wasp off him. "We are just friends. Nothing more." He then took a deep breath to calm down. "Now can we please get back to the current situation, I think Coulson wanted to talk to us."
He then walked away towards the back room. The heroes then looked at Agent Danvers, who gave them a nervous smile before walking past them without making eye contact. All the while Wasp had a small smirk on her face as the others followed them. She was going to have a lot of fun with this.
The Avengers all filed into the laboratory, where Coulson, Samson and two other women Ben had never seen, were waiting for them. One woman was fairly formal in her appearance, as most SHIELD agents. She had her brown hair tied up into a neat bun and she wore a white lab coat.
The other woman in the room didn't give of the stuck-up agent vibe at all. She wore average clothing and she sat on the bench on one end of the room, with a laptop on her lap.
She also had brown hair, however it was let out and drooped over her shoulders. And also unlike everyone else in the room, she looked like she was going to explode with excitement once she saw the heroes enter the room.
Once everyone was assembled, Agent Coulson started the meeting. "As we all know. During the events of the Break Out, the villains from the Vault, Raft and Big House all brock free of their confinements and exited their prisons in force."
"However only a handful of villains, including the Hulk, left the Cube. Many of its inhabitants remained inside the prisons walls. Obviously scheming for a much larger plan." He then turned to the woman on the table. "Skye, if you will."
The woman, now identified as Skye, snapped out of her stupor and gave the Agent a thumbs up.
"Sure thing AC." She addressed the Agent, making him roll his eye and causing Ben to smirk. Skye typed a few commands into her laptop and an image appeared on a holotable in the center of the room. The image then revealed itself to be a video of a first person view of a group of soldiers, clade in green armor.
"This is video from SHIELD's incursion into the Cube, after the breakout.
The staff and SHIELD personnel were all accounted for, but the prisoners, now, they were another matter."
At that moment a giant, three fingered, hand shot out of the darkness and grabbed the lead soldier and lifted him away. The other soldiers then fired their weapons in a mad panic, until a bright green light illuminated the area, and then the feed was cut.
"What was that?" Wasp asked in a slightly panicked tone.
In response another image was pulled up, showing an green, scaly monster with a face even a mother couldn't love.
"Emil Blonsky, the Abomination, strong as the Hulk, twice as mean, and with military training." Doc Samson explained.
"He's not the problem, though." Coulson continued as another image was brought up.
This one showed three agents standing in front of a SHIELD car, just outside of the Cube.
"The energy dome exploded outward from the Cube and three SHIELD agents: Grant Ward, Melinda May and Leo Fitz were all caught inside it.
And then this happened."
The video showed the energy dome exploding outward before any of the Agents could react. Once the light faded, the Avengers all saw the horrifying image of the three agents, rapidly morphing into monsters. Screaming in agony as they did.
For the heroes the sight was disturbing, however Ben couldn't help but notice that Skye and the woman in the lab coat were taking it harder than they were. Skye looked away from the image, while using her hand to keep her from peaking. While the woman in the lab coat turned away and covered her mouth, trying to hold back a sob.
After the video ended, Agent Coulson turned to the lab woman and placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her towards him. "Jemma, are you going to be ok?" he asked, showing a real compassionate side that Ben had never seen before. Maybe this guy wasn't such a jerk after all.
Jemma took a deep breath and composed herself before nodding. "Yes, of course." She spoke in a British accent. Jemma then walled over to the holotable and then made a few gestures over the table. In response the table generated a 3-D image of the Gamma Dome and the surrounding area.
"The dome is expanding with no sign of stopping." She explained to the heroes. "At this rate, it will hit a town in the next six hours. A major city in eight."
"Who is responsible for this?" Captain America asked.
Skye hit a few keys on her computer and an image of a green skinned man with a head that vaguely resembled a cucumber appeared on the table.
"Samuel Sterns, the Leader, a gamma irradiated villain, as strong as the Hulk is, the Leader is intelligent." Samson explained.
Coulson then took up the reigns of the conversation
"As far as we know, the Leader's inside, most likely with a mess of gamma villains. The Abomination, the Absorbing Man, Zzzax. They were all inside the Cube when the breakout occurred."
Each member of the team all showed different levels of concern on how serious the situation is. But quickly turned to shock for what Coulson said next.
"We want you to go into the Cube."
At that moment Wasp let out a nervous laugh, however she quickly stopped when she saw the Agents serious face.
"Oh, wait, you're serious." She said with a crest fallen expression. She then looked back to the Gamma Dome as it was getting bigger. "Not to harp on this one particular little point, but how are gonna get into the Cube without, you know, getting all gamma-ed up?"
Ben wondered that himself, apart from Iron Mans armor, several of his transformations and possibly Thors invulnerability, how would the Avengers enter the dome without begin horrifically mutated.
Doc Samson gave a confident grin as he pointed to a line of, what looked like hazmat suits. "This is how, Wasp." The Doctor said as he picked up one of the suits. "Agent Simmons and I have modified this SHIELD radiation plating to protect you. Wearing these, you should be immune to the effects of the Gamma Dome."
The Avengers gave each other worried expressions, but with the world in jeopardy a 'should be' is good enough to go on. Several members then approached the line of suits and began to examine them. Agent Simmons then brought a suit to Thor, who took the suit in his hands before frowning and handing it back to the scientist.
"An Asgardian needs no such protection." He said in a proud manner. Agent Simmons simply nodded and walked away.
While everyone else was checking out their own suits, Iron Man asked a question that sent a little red flag in his mind.
"So you've sent people in wearing these?" the Armored Billionaire asked, Doc Samson, who was in the middle of putting on his own radiation suit.
"Uh, no, it hasn't been tested yet." The green haired scientist said, making everyone look at him with nervous expressions. "But I'm confident it will work."
That did not do anything to calm them down, but with the world at stake, it was worth the risk. The team then set to work on putting on the radiation suits, accept for Iron Man, who's armor was designed with gamma resistance, Thor and Ben, cause his aliens were resistant to radiation.
While the Avengers, plus Agent Coulson and Danvers for some reason they insisted on coming along with them, something about being a SHIELD operation or something Ben kind of tuned out once they started talking about protocol. Instead the teen hero leaned at the side of the room and waited patiently for the team to get ready.
While he waited he felt something tape him in the shoulder. Ben turned to see the woman whom Agent Coulson identify as Skye standing next to him, a nervous smile was present on her face.
"Um, Hi." She said with a nervous wave.
"Hi." Ben replied awkwardly.
"You're The Avengers shapeshifter right? The one from the alternate universe?"
Ben sighed, so everyone on this plane really did know who he was. For a secret agent, Coulson seemed to be pretty lacking in the confidential department. "Yep, that's me." He said as he held out his hand to the girl. "Ben Tennyson, nice to meet you."
The girl stared at his hand for a second, before she grabbed it and shock it furiously, catching the wielder of the Ultimatrix off guard.
"I cant believe I'm shaking hands with an Avenger." She said practically squealing. "I'm Skye, it's truly an honor to meet you. Is it true your powers come from your watch? How many aliens can you turn into? What's your universe like? Is there and alternate version of me there?"
She fired off those questions like a machine gun, barely taking a breath. He was only able to silence her when he placed his hand over her mouth.
"Ok, Time out." He said before removing his hand. "Ok look I don't even know you and plus why are you even talking to me? I thought SHELD agents didn't trust us 'vigilantes'." Ben asked curiously.
"Oh I'm not a SHIELD agent." Skye merely responded, catching Ben off guard. "Im a civilian consultant on Coulson's team. I used to be a hacker for a group called the Rising Tides, but SHIELD got a little annoyed that I kept hacking into their networks and spreading their secrets."
At first Ben thought that this would be one of her SHIELD tactics to try and get him to let down his guard. But as Ben looked into her eyes, he saw that she was sincere in her statement. Even though Ben didn't inherited the Spark of the Anodites from his Grandmother, Ben had always been good at reading people, even super-highly trained spies that made it their life's work to be perfect actors, Ben could always tell who he could place his trust in. And this girl fit that description perfectly.
But that still left one question on the teen heroes mind. "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked curiously.
Skye's excited expression quickly changed as her face turned serious. "Carol told me that you were able to hack into SHIELD from your car. And when I checked, there was no evidence that it was ever hacked." She then gave Ben a hopeful look.
"I was wondering if you could hack into SHIELD to find anything about my past."
Ben raised an eye brow at her as she continued. "I grew up in an orphanage and I learned that SHIELD had something to do with that, but that's all I could get. Anything else is to encrypted and I cant hack it thanks to this thing."
She then held up her arm, showing him a silver bracelet on her wrist. "This little trinket makes sure that I only see what they want me to see. And if I pry too deep, instant screen lock." Skye explained with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Hearing her reason, Ben couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She searched her whole life for answers and now she was with the very organization that could get them and they wont do anything to help her. Seemed SHIELD was always finding new ways to make Ben like them less.
"Tell you what." Ben said, have thought it over thoroughly. "After we deal with this whole Gamma Dome mess. Ill see what I can find, ok"
Skye looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?" she asked, a mixture of shock and confusion, present in her tone.
"Of course, Its what heroes do. Plus any reason to get under Coulson's skin, that guys kind of a jerk."
"He's actually not so bad once you get to know him." Skye stated. Ben didn't seem convinced, but shrugged and started to make him way to the others.
"Oh, and one more thing." Skye called out causing Ben to look back at her. Skye looked at the hero with a pleading expression. "Please bring them back safe." She asked, referring to the mutated SHIELD agents. Ben could see that she was really torn up about their situation, if her were in her shoes, he'd probably feel the same way.
Ben nodded and gave her a confident grin. "Don't worry, ill make sure everyone comes back save." Skye smiled and Ben nodded before turning away to join his team.
Once everyone was assembled, the Avengers and SHIELD agents exited the plane and made their way towards the Gamma Dome. Once they were a few meters in front of the expanding dome, the group halted.
At this moment Carol turned to Ben. "Are you sure that you wont get mutated when you go in there?" she asked with a worried tone. The others all turned to face him as well, also curious about that.
Ben simply shrugged. "Well when I was a kid I came across this glowing purple rock that caused people to mutate into freaky monsters of the night. But I was completely safe in alien form, this shouldn't be too different."
Everyone who wasn't wearing a mask gave him a skeptical look. "That doesn't really fill us with confidence, Ben." Wasp stated.
"Yeah, I know." Ben replied. "To be honest, I'm not sure what will happen. But when it comes to radiation, there's only one alien for the job."
With that said, Ben activated the Ultimatrix and slammed down the dial. In a flash of green light, Ben was replaced by what looked like a giant oven with arms and legs. The armor was mostly grey, with an orange glow coming from the three slits were his face should be. The Ultimatrix symbol was positioned on the round disc on his chest.
"NRG" the alien called out in a Russian accent.
The group looked at the new transformation in awe, even after all this time Ben still had ways of surprising them. Iron Man looked at the readouts that his armor was getting from Bens current form, the results made his eyes widen.
"Whoa, Ben what kind of alien is this? My armor is reading high levels of radiation coming off you."
While everyone present was wearing suits design to protect them from radiation, the only closest to NRG instinctively took a step away from him.
NRG chuckled at their reaction. "Relax my comrades." He said calmly. "Vhile this form is, in fact, a being made of radiation. The suit that I am vearing prevents it from harming anyone."
At that statement everyone relaxed. Wasp then looked over to Iron Man with a small smirk.
"Looks like you're not the only one hear with a fancy suit of armor huh, Tony." She said cheekily.
Iron Man merely crossed his arms, "Yeah, but my suit can fly." He boasted. Then he turned his attention back to the dome.
"So who wants to go first?" Iron Man said before gazing behind him. "Panther?"
Immediately the cat suited hero stepped forward. During his short time with the Avengers, Black Panther stayed true to his word about earning the teams trust in any way he could. One of those methods involved, following Iron Mans orders without question.
However as the Wakandan King stood forward, Captain America raised his shield to block him. While Captain America was a soldier who followed orders, there were times when he would question his authorities.
"Leaders lead." The Super Soldier stated.
"Thanks, Cap." Iron Man grunted. He then walked a few meters ahead of the group, stopping short of the Gamma Dome and waited for it to pass over him. He looked back at his team, receiving a thumbs up from both Cap and NRG, the later, since his face wasn't visible, whispered to the group.
"If he mutates, I call dibs on his armory." This earned a small giggle from Wasp and Carol, while everyone else merely rolled their eyes.
Iron Man nodded, having not heard what NRG said, and faced the dome, just as the energy washed over him. He checked his hands and the readouts on his HUD showed that the suit was holding and no radiation was getting in.
Seeing that he was ok the others soon walked into the dome. Once they were all inside, they couldn't help but look around at the area. The inside of the Gamma Dome made them feel like they were on a different planet. Everything had a green tinge to it and green fog flowed around the area like a sickness.
Deciding to waist time, the group began to trek across the contaminated area. While they walked Iron Man decided tried to active his communications.
"Iron-Man to SHIELD base camp, respond." He said over the channel, but all he received was static, causing him to groan. "Ugh, communications are down."
Hearing this, Coulson tried his own communicator, but was met with the same results. "SHIELD's down, too. I've got nothing."
Despite that lack of communications, the team pressed on. After a few minutes, they came across the wreckage of several SHIELD vehicles that looked like they were torn apart by a group of wild animals.
"Man, look at this place." Wasp said ask she flew over the area, hovering near a pile of rocks that were next to the crush vehicle.
Suddenly the pile of rocks moved and a pair of glowing green eyes opened and a stony head rose up and looked at Wasp. The size changing heroine looked back to see the creature and her eyes widened with fear. She quickly flew away, just as the stone pile unfolded to reveal a humanoid creature, who's skin resembled stone. Its face resembled a beak and its right hand looked like a massive stone club.
The Golem monster let out a loud screech as two more creatures appeared. One looked like a large Ogre, with long black hair and grey skin.
The second creature resembled a Harpy, it had an avian like face aling with talons on its hand and feet. It also possessed to large wings that allowed her to remain air born.
But what really caught everyone's attention, was the face that they were all wearing the remains of SHIELD uniforms. Something the Coulson instantly picked up on.
"It's them. It's my men." The Agent said in shock.
The three mutant SHIELD agents let out a combined roar as they advanced on the group.
"I kind of missing chasing Hawkeye." Wasp said as she hovered near NRG.
"You and me both." The alien hero responded as the mutants charged at them.
The group instantly split off to take on the three gamma mutants. Coulson, Carol and Wasp took on the Harpy mutant, which judging by her feminine physic is the mutant form of Melinda May.
Black Panther, Captain America and Doc Samson took on the Ogre mutant, Grant Ward.
Finally, Iron Man, Thor and NRG were left to take on the Rock Golem, mutant Leo Fitz.
The Rock Golem lifted its enlarged fist to crush Iron Man, but he easily avoided the strike and flew behind the mutant, raising his repulsors to blast it. However the mutants reflexes were faster than Iron Man thought as it quickly backhanded him away, sending him sailing into the air. The Iron Avenger was able to catch him self and then send a volley of repulsor blasts at the mutated Fitz.
This was enough of a distraction for Thor to get in close and slam Mjolnir into the monsters face, sending it a few meters away until it landed near NRG. The Golem shook its head to remove its daze, once its vision cleared it focused its glare at NRG, who stood motionless a few feet from the gamma mutant. Mutant Fitz growled as it sprang to its feet and charged the armored alien, its large fist held high.
Still NRG did not move from his spot. He simply stood still and waited for the mutant to close the distance. Once the Golem reached him, it brought down its large fist right on top of the armored aliens head. A loud clang echoed across the field as the fist made contact with the suit. But, much to everyone and the Golems surprise, NRG didn't even flinch from the attack. The Golems confusion was quickly replaced with anger as it swung its fist a second time. Once again the transformed teen stood still and let the attack hit him. And like before the results were the same, the attack didn't even leave so much of a scratch on the armor.
The Rock Golem roared in frustration as it struck again and again, putting all its strength into trying to smash the Alien Hero. The mutant kept into onslaught up for a while, until its attacks started to get sluggish and its hits became weaker. A look of exhaustion came across the creatures face as it looked like it was about to collapse at any moment.
Groggily the mutant raised its fist once more to attack the Ultimatrix wielder, when suddenly several blaster bolts collided with the Gamma Monster stunning it enough for it to take a few steps away from the alien hero. NRG turned to see Carol charging at the gamma mutant, firing her blaster directly at the creature until she was next to the transformed teen.
"Vhat are you doing." NRG asked in a confused tone.
Carol looked up at him like he was crazy. "Uh, saving your life." She said.
"Vhy?"
"Did that thing hit you in the head to many times? You weren't moving and that thing was turning you into a giant punching bag." Carol pointed out.
"That vas the plan." NRG stated making the Agent to look at him as if he really had lost his mind.
"What kind of stupid plan involves you being turned into a Wak-A-Mole?" she asked.
NRG responded by tapping his suit with his fist, making an audible clang. "This suit is virtually indestructible. I vas letting him tire himself out so I could then do this."
He then faced the Mutated Fitz, just as it looked like it was finally getting its second wind. The grill on his face then started glowing brighter, then NRG fired a powerful beam of radiation into the Golems chest. The Gamma monster flew several meters backwards before skidding to a halt on the ground. It let out a weak groan before falling unconscious.
Carols eyes widened at the incredible display of power her alien friend had. It seemed that Ben would never stop surprising her. Before she could comment, the Harpy Mutant swooped down behind her, grabbed her by the shoulders and carried her into the air.
"CAROL!" NRG yelled in shock. He couldn't shoot down the mutant as he could accidently hit Carol by mistake.
"VASP!" he called out. Immediately after he called, the size changing heroine flew past him. Wasp quickly caught up to the Harpy mutant and fired several stingers at its legs, causing the mutant to cry out in pain as it released the SHIELD agent from its grip.
Carol fell to the ground, screaming as she went, until she came to a sudden halt. Opening her eyes she saw that she was in NRGs arms, who managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Are you ok?" The armored alien asked worriedly. Carol blushed at the situation but before she could comment, her eyes widened when she saw the Mutant May swoop down behind him.
"Look Out!" she cried out. NRG tired to quickly face his opponent but due to his bulky armor, he would never be able to react in time.
However before the Harpy could strike, Doc Samson appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the mutant by its leg, halting it in its path. The Mutant tried to struggle but Doc Samson's strength was too much for the creature as he promptly slammed it into the ground with enough force to create a shallow creator, knocking the Harpy mutant out.
Carol and NRG both gawked at the scientists strength, they why the man talked they would never have pegged him as a fighter.
However Carol recovered from her stupor first when she realized that she was still in NRGs arms.
"Hey." She said, gaining the teen heroes attention. "What did I say about you holding me like this?"
Since she could see his face, she couldn't tell what NRG was thinking. But from the way he quickly fumbled and placed her on the ground, she could tell that he was a little embarrassed.
The group was soon joined by the rest of the Avengers, who had beaten their opponents and gathered them together. Thor looked over the mutants and frowned
"These creatures may share his origin, but they are pale reflections of the true Hulk." The Thunderer commented with a disappointed tone.
"That's a good thing, Thor." Iron Man said.
While they spoke, Doc Samson pulled out a device from his belt and walked over to the unconscious mutants. He then proceeded to use the device to scan them, while he did that NRG could help but wander if he should try to help. The Ultimatrix is capable of curing any genetic damage, but under this Dome he wasn't sure if it would even work.
His musings were interrupted when Doc Samson stood up and faced the team.
"Good news. Once these agents are clear of the gamma field, they should revert back to human form, hopefully with no side effects."
NRG gave a sigh of relief, now he could focus on taking out the dome.
As Samson put away his gear, Captain America walked up to him. "You had some pretty good moves back there, Doc." He complemented.
"Doc Samson, Avenger." Wasp said, giving the scientist a wink. "Think about it."
Instead of smiling, the scientist looked solemnly at the area. "Look around, this is all my fault. Bruce warned me and I didn't listen. My only concern right now is making this right."
"The dome has to have some kind of power source like a gamma generator." Iron Man theorized.
"Dah, the highest concentration of gamma energy is located at the center of the Cube." NRG said, gesturing to the former prison.
"How could you possibly know that?" Carol asked incredulously.
"This forms species is capable of consuming energy. Too me, that Gamma generator is an all you can eat buffy." The alien teen responded.
Everyone gave the Armored alien an odd look, they never thought that Bens transformations affected him that much.
"Well then. Maybe you should go in first, so you'll be first in line for the entrees." Agent Coulson quipped.
"If the Leader truly is as brilliant as Samson says, then this is no doubt a trap." Black Panther spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "He would be prepared for SHIELD at the very least, and the Hulk at the very most."
At his comment Wasp gasped as she placed her hands on either side of her face. "I forgot you talked." She said in a shocked tone, causing both Ben and Carol to snicker.
Thor however, either did not get the joke. Or simply ignored it as he hefted his hammer.
"If this is a trap, warriors, then so be it." The Asguardian said with confidents.
NRG couldn't help but be a little cautious. These Gamma mutants may not have been that powerful, but they certainly were no pushovers. If this place was filled with creatures that could go toe to toe with the Hulk, NRG seriously doubted their chances.
"Okay, Thor goes in first." Iron Man said, clearly having similar thoughts to the teen hero.
The group then started to move on to the building. NRG hung back for a second, He really wished they had their big green friend on this mission. Before he could catch up with the others he was stopped when a certain insect themed heroine flew up to his grill, with a small smirk on her face.
"Soooo?" Wasp asked slyly.
"Soooo, vhat?" NRG responded in confusion.
"Aren't you going to tell me what all that was?"
"Vhat, vhat vas?" NRG ask, not under standing what the size-changing heroine was talking about.
Wasp rolled her eyes, clearly she had to spell it out to him. "The playful banter, the risking of your life, the fact that you freaked out when she was in trouble and how you held her in your arms."
"You like Carol." Wasp said with a wide smile as she held her hands in a dreamily like expression.
NRG almost fell over in shock. "VHAT! Oh no. No, no, no, no, you have got it all wrong. She is just my friend."
"Oh come on Ben, they way you act around her. You so like, like her."
"Then you need your eyes checked, because I do not like her." NRG defended becoming flustered.
Wasp watched him with a smirk. "If you don't like her, then why are you blushing."
NRG threw up his hangs in frustration. "How could you possibly know if I am blushing or not? You can even see my face. Plus I am a being of pure energy, I don't even think I am physically able to blush."
The Armored alien then stomped off to catch up to the team, little did he know that due to his flustered stated. His temperature had increased to the point that with every footstep he took, a small pool of lava was left in his wake.
Wasp noticed the trail of lava pools as she watched the transformed teen stomp off. She giggled to herself, "Oh yeah, you are totally blushing." She said quietly, as she took of after him. This was going to be a lot of fun.
By the time NRG had caught up with the team, who had just entered the remains of the former prison, he had finally calmed down enough for his temperature to return to normal levels. He wasn't sure why he reacted the way he did when Wasp accused him of liking Carol, she was just his friend, right? NRG quickly pushed that thought aside, he needed to focus on saving the world. Personal feeling come second in this situation.
"Stay sharp, team." Captain America ordered, as he and Iron Man led the team into the building.
Iron Man glanced at the Super Soldier as he activated the flashlights in his repulsors. "Right. Everyone stay sharp." He said a little hesitantly.
As the group walked down the hallway, NRG couldn't help but feel that they've taken a page straight from a horror movie. With the darkly lit hallway, the green mist and the walls covered scratch marks and slime on the walls. All that was needed the jump scare followed by a woman's scream.
As if the Universe read his mind, Agent Coulson was suddenly tossed into the wall, quickly followed by a frightened scream from Wasp.
Carol immediately ran over to Coulson too cheek on him. "Coulson? Coulson, what just happened?" Carol asked, trying to see if the Agent had a concussion.
Suddenly the invisible force slammed into NRG, sending the armored alien into the opposite wall with such a force, that the transformed teen went halfway through it.
"Ben!" Carol screamed, immediately leaving Coulson to help the alien hero.
The remaining heroes took fighting stances and scanned the room, looking for any signs of their mysterious attacker. Iron Man tried using the scanners in his armor, but was experiencing some difficulties.
"The gamma radiation is messing with my systems." Iron Man informed his team. "I've got multiple contacts, but I can't lock them down."
At this moment, the team started to get nervous. They had an unknown attacker that could toss something as big as NRG around like a rag doll. One particular member was on the verge of a total freak out.
"If anyone is completely terrified, I can escort you out." Wasp whimpered as she flew closer to Doc Samson. It did not help her nerves when the scientist was suddenly thrown into the wall by the mysterious attacker. Wasp's eyes widened with fear as she floated in place, completely frozen with fear.
NRG groggily got to his feet; he had no idea that an energy being could get a headache yet his head was ringing like a bell. Although that could just be the armor. He didn't have time to dwell on that as he noticed movement out of the corner of his vision. Just to the right of Wasp, a shadowed hand appeared out of the mist behind her. Then hand then moved to the right and Wasp immediately followed, like she was hit by an invisible fly swatter.
Before NRG could move on the attacker, Thor stood tall and proud. "Show yourself, coward!" he called into the darkness.
In response, a massive humanoid creature that seemed to be made of metal, reached out of the shadows and grabbed Thor. The Asguardian was caught off guard leaving him unable to react as the Metal humanoid tossed him into the fair side of the corridor.
Agent Coulson saw the creature as his eyes widened as he recognized the attackers. "The U-Foes." He cried out as he aimed his blaster to were Thor was dragged off. However before he could fire a shop, a man in a containment suit with a dome helmet with a Skeletons face on the front, jumped out of the mist and grabbed Coulson on either side of his helmet. Before the SHIELD Agent could fight back, the Skeleton sent an electrical surge into Coulson's body, making the Agent scream in pain.
Seeing him in trouble, Captain America rushed to aid his comrade. However he was suddenly stopped when the mist surrounding him suddenly started to coil around him like a snake, preventing him from moving further. A large clump of green mist in front of Captain America, morphed itself until it took the form of a woman, with white eyes and a body completely comprised of green mist. The mist woman then flowed into the filters of the Super Soldiers suit and reformed on the inside of his helmet.
"Give Vapor a kiss." The mist woman said in a seductive tone, as she then pressed her lips against his. The Super Soldiers eyes then widened, as he could feel noxious gasses flow down his windpipe, slowly suffocating him.
The Skeleton Man, having finished his attack on Coulson, had moved onto Iron Man, making the Armored hero scream in pain as he tried to pry the villain off him.
After getting over the initial surprise of the villains attack, Carol rasied her blaster to try and shoot the electrical skeleton. However the shadowed hand appeared again, and with another gesture, sent her hurtling to the side, straight into NRGs armor; in this case, hitting the wall would have been less painful to Carol.
The figure behind the telekinetic attacks stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a humanoid male, that looked like he had a spiral galaxy inside him.
"Welcome to the Cube." The being said with an evil smirk.
Doc Smason, pushed himself of the ground and glared at the villain. "Vector." He snarled at the final member, and leader, of the U-Foes.
The U-Foes are a team of Villains that gained their powers from Cosmic radiation. There leader, Vector: had telekinetic abilities and a bloated ego to boost.
The walking Skeleton was X-Ray: who had the ability to shoot different kinds of radiation from his body.
Next was Mist, the only female member, is a being made of pure gas and can only become human for brief periods of time. She had the ability to alter her chemical make up allowing her to become any type of gas, poisonous or not.
The final member was Ironclad, his body is made out of strong, dense metal that can withstand heavy blows and blasts. He is also incredibly strong, able to go toe-to-toe with The Hulk.
Right know the group had so far managed to pin down the team as Vector looked around in glee.
Doc Samson then noticed that each member had a green disc on each of their chests that glowed.
"That's…" he said aloud as his eyes widened in realization. "I created those devices to drain gamma energy."
"The Leader has other plans for them." Vector responded confidently as he then raised his arms in a boastful fashion. "Our powers are increased to level you can't, ARGH!" he was interrupted when Black Panther suddenly jumped down from the rafters and kicked Vector to the ground with him landing on top.
"You all talk too much." The Wakandan King stated. Vector then opened his eyes, an angry expression etched into his face as Black Panther was suddenly thrown of his back. Due to his training and natural skills, Panther was able land of his feet, ready to engage the enemy.
"Fool, our powers are greater than they ever were." Vector announced as he floated to his feet. "And under the leaders rule we shall bring a new order to this…" he never got to finish at a beam of radiation, blasted him onto the wall, resulting in him slumping to the floor, unconscious.
"He really should learn to pick his moments before he starts monologing." NRG quipped as he walked up to Black Panther. "That just villain 101 right there." Panther didn't say anything as he just looked at the Armored alien. Their attention was quickly caught by a loud clang as Thor brock free of Ironclads grasp, knocking the metal behemoth away with Mjolnir. He then spun the hammer from its strap, creating a strong gust of wind, blowing away the green mist including Vapor, who let out a scream as she dispersed with the rest of the mist.
Captain America gasped as his lungs filled with clean air. He almost fell to the ground if Agent Danvers hadn't caught him. He gave her a grateful smile, which she returned. However the moment was interrupted when Ironclad suddenly appeared right behind the two. Towering over them like a Colossus.
Ironclad then raised his massive fist, intending to crush the Super Soldier and SHIELD Agent. Captain America was still too weak to raise his shield and Carol was not strong enough to move both of them out of the way. As the fist came down upon them, Carol closed her eyes and braced for the impact. A loud clang echoed through the corridor, but for some reason Carol didn't feel the hit. Confused, she slowly opened her eyes, her expression quickly changed from confusion to shock by what she saw.
NRG was standing over her and Captain America, shielding them both from Ironclads punch with his armored body. Ironclad himself looked at the alien hero in shock. How was this creature able to withstand the full power of his punch, even without his enhanced powers the suit should have at least been dented?
NRG then swiftly spun around and sent his own metal fist into the Metal Giants face. Ironclad stumbled back a few feet, but NRG was finished. The transformed teen fired a beam of radiation from his grill, into Ironclads chest. Ironclad roared in pain as the force of the beam pushed him back.
After a few moments, NRG ceased his attack. Ironclad groaned in pain as the area that NRG blasted was now glowing red hot from his attack. The Metal Giant tried to amble towards the heroes when Captain America, who had now regained his strength, stepped forward and threw his shield at the villain. At the same time Thor appeared behind Ironclad and tossed his hammer as well. The shield and hammer struck the Metal Giant at the same time, the former hitting his legs while the latter collided with his head. Sending the Metal mutant to the ground unconscious.
At the same time Iron Man was able to separate himself from X-Ray by delivering a punch to face, followed by a blast from his Uni Beam. The force of the attack sent the radiation villain into the roof, then crashing too the floor unconscious.
The heroes gathered together, quickly recovering from the skirmish. Thor once again seemed disappointed by the fight.
"Truly a poor showing." The Prince of Thunder said as he looked over the fallen villains. "The Leader will have to do much better."
"No." Black Panther called out from his position near the roof. "The agents outside, the U-Foes, it is all a distraction."
No soon had Panther uttered the words, Wasp and Coulson were both struck by two bolts of energy. Their screams rang out throughout the hall as electrical energy danced across their bodies.
The energy then flowed out of them, which then proceeded to take the form of a hulking being, that seemed to be made of yellow electrical energy. This was Zzzax, then energy monster.
Zzzax roared as it fired two electrical blasts from its hands at Captain America and Iron Man. Both of whom were able to block the attack with their shields, energy shield in Iron Mans case, with the force of the attack pushing both of them back.
However Thor quickly intervened as sent a wave of lighting too knock Zzzax's attack away.
"Attack me, monster." The Asguardian challenged the electrical mutant. In response Zzzax roared once again and lunged at Thor. The Prince of Thunder charged as well, Mjolnir held aloft. Once they closed the distance, Thor struck Zzzax with full force. Whatever energy that Mjolnir was giving out, seemed to have a negative effect on the creature, as Zzzax suddenly glowed white and exploded in a shower of sparks and surges.
Everyone instinctively raised their arms to defend themselves from the shower. Once the surge was over, Iron Man heard an evil laugh coming from behind him. He turned to see Vector, weakly pick himself of the ground as he shot a smug grin in Iron Man direction.
"You don't get it, do you?" The villain mocked. "We don't need to beat you."
Iron Man quickly realized what Vector meant by that, as he noticed his armor was sparking from Zzzax's explosion. "Oh, no, the gamma armor." Tony said aloud.
NRG's eyes widened, Vector was right. They didn't need to beat the team they just needed to…
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud groan. The others turned to see Wasp, on her hands and knees; the lights in her suit dim as her helmet fell off. Her body then began to mutate, her hands tore through the gloves as they morphed into pincer like claws. Her shin shifted into a yellow exo-skeleton as he legs became more insect like. She opened her eye, which were now glowing green, as her pupils disappeared and her head shifted into that of an insect, with a large set of mandibles that now replaced her mouth.
The heroes looked at her with horrified expressions as one of their friends was mutated into this monster before them. NRG was shocked by what had happened to her. Wasp was one of his closest friends, hed even started to think of her as family. And know in the blink of an eye, she had been transformed into a mutant insect. NRG swore that once this was over he would personally give Leader the beating of his life. No one messes with his family without losing a few teeth.
NRG slowly walked up to the mutated Wasp, who stood motionless as she stared at the team. The armored alien raised his hands as he would to a scared animal. "Vasp, are you in there?" No response.
"Jan its me, Ben remember?" the teen hero said in a calm tone. "You took me to the mall last week? You made me try on all those suits?" That got a reaction from the Gamma Wasp. But not the reaction NRG was hoping for as her right pincer, lit up with yellow energy as she flew straight at the transformed teen and struck him with her claw.
The attack did nothing as Gamma Wasp flew above them and remained suspended in the air, as if waiting for something. The Heroes all readied themselves as they prepared for what comes next.
Meanwhile, in a large room with several screen scattered aross the wall, each showing a different viewpoint of the battle taking place, stood a man. He had a skinny build and wore a black and orange jumpsuit, with gauntlets similar to Doc Samson. Like most Gamma mutants, he had green skin, but his most unusual feature, was his large head, his head extended two feet above his body slightly resembling a cucumber. Around his forehead was a metal band, with a glowing green light in the center. This is Samuel Sterns AKA The Leader.
Currently the Leader was watching the battle unfold, a small grin formed in the corner of his mouth as he watched the heroes fumble about, trying to foil his plans.
"Poor misguided Dr. Samson." Leader said in a calm, cool voice. "All that time you were studying me in the Cube, you didn't realize it was I studying you. How sad."
He then reached up to the band on his forehead and pressed the button in the center. "Wasp, put the good doctor out of his misery." Leader said as the band broadcasted his thoughts to Gamma Wasp allowing him full control over the mutated heroine.
Back in the fight, Gamma Wasp received her orders and immediately lunged at Doc Samson, both claws glowing with energy. However Thor stood between his mutated teammate and the scientist.
"I have no desire to fight you, Wasp." Thor announced again trying to snap Wasp out of her primal state. But like before, Gamma Wasp didn't listen and swiped her claws at Thor, striking him twice in the face before the Asguardian blocked the third strike with his hammer.
"Remember who you are." Thor yelled.
Gamma Wasp screeched in response, as she shrunk down to two inches and, in an impressive burst of speed, slammed into Thor, sending the Asguardian flying.
The team then heard a series of growling noises behind them. They turned to see a mass of Gamma mutants approaching them from on end of the corridor.
"This is not so good." NRG said nervously.
"No kidding." Carol said, equally nervous.
Iron Man raised his repulsors as he turned to Captain America. "Thoughts?"
Captain American gave the approaching mutants a hard stair. "We can't hurt these men."
"Pretty sure they do not feel, same way about us." NRG pointed out as the heroes slowly backed away from the approaching horde.
Iron Man took a time to try and figure out the best plan of attack.
"Panther, you take Coulson; Cap, NRG and I will…" Before Iron Man could finish his order, Black Panther leaped into the air and kicked down one of the Gamma mutants. He then proceeded to run down the corridor, vanishing into the shadows. "Panther? Panther! I can't believe this." Iron Man grumbled in annoyance.
"Heads up!" Captain America yelled as he blocked one of the Gamma mutant's punches with his shield. NRG immediately responded by blasting the mutant with a radiation blast to the creature face. Knocking it back a few feet.
All throughout the tunnel, mutants that the team had already defeated were starting to gain their second wind. The U-Foes regrouped and Zzzax was able to reform himself, all looked to the Avengers with hate filled eyes.
"There's too many of them." Iron Man called out as he fired his repulsors from the air, while Doc Samson, Carol, NRG and Captain America used their ranged attacks too keep the Gamma monsters back.
"We can't give up." Captain America responded as he tossed his shield at another mutant.
Iron Man blasted another one as he spoke to his team. "All they have to do is take out our armor. We have to go for the generator."
He then turned to the ground team. "Samson, go. I'll cover you."
The Scientist nodded, as he grabbed and unconscious Agent Coulson, and he and Carol both took of down the hallway with Captain America and NRG behind them. Iron Man released several more blasts from his repulsors before firing a blast from his Uni-Beam.
"Thor, we have to go!" Iron Man called out to the Asguardian Prince as he blocked another strike from Gamma Wasp. Putting extra strength into his strike, Thor pushed Wasp away with enough force to send her flying.
"The Leader will pay for this." Thor stated solemnly as he then leaped to the ceiling and raked his hammer along the roof, causing debris to rain down on the perusing mutants.
However that didn't slow them down for long as they quickly pushed aside the blockage. NRG noticed this and stopped in his tracks and faced the monsters.
"What are you doing!?" Carol called out to him once she saw him stop. A worried expression on her face.
"Buying us time." NRG responded as he raised his hands, which then started to glow red with heat. The armored alien them slammed his armored hands into the ground. Almost immediately the ground in front of him turned into molten lava, which then spread until it reached the length of an Olympic swimming pool. The pursuing monster immediately halted their advance at the sight of smoldering stretch.
NRG stood up and turned to Carol, who looked at him in awe. "That vont hold them for long."
Carol nodded in response, as the two then ran off to catch up to the others. The group ran down a series of hallways, searching for the Gamma Generator. Due to all the energy, Iron Mans sensors were completely useless in trying to locate it. Thankfully however, NRG was able to sense the Generator and lead the team like a bloodhound hot on the trail.
As the rounded the next corner, an electrical surge sounded from behind them. Suddenly X-Ray leaped down from the ceiling and latched onto Iron Man, sending another wave of electrical energy into the armor as the Iron Avenger screamed in pain, crashing into the ground in the process. Grunting from the pain, Iron Man quickly aimed his repulsor behind his head and blasted the radiation villain off of him. He then turned to his back just in time to see a Gamma Mutant charge him.
The mutant stopped when a familiar round shield, slammed into its face stunning it. Iron Man the blasted the mutant with his Uni-Beam, sending it flying into the other approaching mutants.
Captain America held out his hand as his shield returned to him and turned to NRG.
"Protect Samson. Thor and I will get Tony." The Super Soldier ordered.
If NRG could, he would have nodded, instead he, Samson and Carol all continued down the corridor, while Captain America and Thor went back to help Iron Man.
Captain America was able to get to him just in time to block a strike from Ironclad that almost crushed Iron Man. Vector used his power to stop Thor mid flight, and tossed him into the ground, where the the Thunderer was promptly surrounded by the Gamma Mutants.
Iron Man and Captain America stood back to back, blocking and attacking anything that approached them. However they were both caught off guard when Zzzax phased out of the ground beneath them, grabbing the two in his massive hands. The two hero's groaned in pain as electrical energy danced across their bodies. Zzzax then tossed Iron Man in one direction and Captain America in another.
Iron Man landed on the ground closest to were NRG's group was, whom looked back to see the state the Iron Avenger was in. Iron Man lifted his head as his armor sparked from the damage.
"Ben… destroy… the generator… no matter what!" Iron Man yelled weakly.
NRG and Doc Samson looked like they both were about to go back and help them. But Carol stood in front of them. "Guys, Iron-Man's right. We need to stop the Leader. It's the only way to help them."
As much as NRG hated to admit it, Carol was right. If he stayed, he might be able to help them fight. But that would only waist time, and right now time was against him. Its only a matter of time before the Ultimatrix times out. The alien hero balled his fists in anger, Leader was so going down after this.
NRG, Carol and Samson ran down the corridors until they finally reached a large open room, that was bathed in a bright green light from the giant Gamma Generator that was positioned at the center of the room. However their hearts quickly sank, once they saw who was waiting for them.
"Uh-oh." Doc Samson said worryingly.
Standing before them were four large men, each with a smug grin on their faces. They were the Wrecking Crew, a group of thieves that have a reputation for destroying everything around them. Ben was pretty sure if they weren't bad guys, the Hulk would have gotten along great with them.
Their leader was the Wrecker, a man in a green trench coat and a purple ski mask that covered everything but his eyes and mouth. He wielded a large crowbar as a weapon.
Next to him was Thunderball, an African-American man wearing a green and yellow suit. He held a large wreaking ball on a chain in his right hand, which he was currently spinning above his head.
In front of Thunderball was Bulldozer, a large man wearing an orange jumpsuit. He had a silver helmet on his head that completely covered his face with only his eyes, visible.
The final member to the group was Piledriver, he wore a suit consisting of a white shirt, red mask and pants and blue gloves. His right arm was incased in a metal glove that covered the whole limb.
Piledriver smirked at the heroes in front of him. "Oh, look, Wrecker, they actually thought the Leader was gonna be here." He said in a mocking tone.
"Too bad." He finished, he then placed a Gamma enhancer into the outlet on his chest. Then the group was suddenly bathed in a green light as their powered were increased, growing larger, more muscular and more monstrous than before. The heroes eyes widened as they stood before the new and improved Wreckers.
"Let's take them down, boys." Piledriver said, as the enhanced villains charged the alien hero and SHIELD agents.
Thunderball, through his wrecking ball straight at them with such speed that they didn't have time to dodge. The metal sphere slammed into Doc Samson, sending the scientist into the ground in a small crater.
"Doc!" NRG and Carol screamed in unison.
Doc Samson ground as he pushed himself up, his suit was completely destroyed but the scientist himself didn't have a scratch on him.
"I'm, I'm okay. Not changing." Samson said assuredly and slightly surprised as he looked down at his hand to see that there was no sign of mutation.
That proved NRGs suspicion from the start; the green hair, the super strength and now the immunity to Gamma radiation. Doc Samson didn't turn into a Gamma Mutant because he already was a Gamma Mutant.
His musings were quickly interrupted when Piledriver charged at Doc Samson, using his enhanced strength to punch the Gamma Scientist into the wall.
NRG and Carol both tuned in time to dodge a strike from Bulldozer. But will Carol expertly leapt out of the way with skill and grace, NRG stumbled around like a toddler learning to walk. The armored alien was the tag teamed by Wrecker and Thunderball, as they used their respective weapons to knock the transformed teen into another wall in the room.
The teen hero groaned. While NRG was useful when it came to durability and long ranged attacks. When it comes to close quarters, he is too bulky and slow to do anything. And by the look of things, the Wreckers didn't look like they were going to tire themselves out by beating him any time soon. Time NRG did not have.
Carol flipped over another strike from Bulldozer as he once again slammed his fist down in his attempt to crush her. Once his fist met the ground, Carol seized her opportunity. Using her advanced training, Carol ran up Bulldozers large arm until she reached his head. She then pulled out an explosive from her belt and placed it on top of his head, were it stuck thanks to its magnetic base, and flipped of the enhanced villain.
The explosive detonated, causing the villain to become lost in a cloud of dust. Carol looked back at the villain with a confident smirk. However her confidence quickly faded when the dust cleared, showing that Bulldozer didn't even flinch from the explosive.
Carol was so shocked that she only narrowly avoided getting crushed by Bulldozers large fist. She rolled out of the way and backed up to were NRG was lying, the three villains surrounding the due and closing in.
"See." Wrecker scoffed as he tapped his Crowbar in his hands. "Not so easy, is it? Now, that we've got the power."
The Wrecking Crew closed in, Carols body shook with fear. She was going to die, just when they were so close. Suddenly NRG stood up tall and walked towards the trio.
"You may have great power." The alien hero said. "But vhat really decide a battle, is how you use it." He then reached his hand up to the Ultimatrix dial.
"Let us see how you juiced up construction workers do against…"
he then slammed his hand on the dial, green light erupted from has body, causing everyone to shield their eyes. Once the light faded everyone present saw that in NRGs place, was a small alien only two feet tall. It had swampy-green skin, tanned stomach and muzzle, black digits and black-green spots on its tail, limbs, hips on its back. Its eyes were green. It had whisker like lines on its face. It wore the Ultimatrix symbol on its stomach.
"UPCHUCK!" the small alien yelled in a deep voice.
The three Villains blinked at the sight of the small alien before them. Then they all broke out into a fit of laughter.
"HAHAHA… What are you gonna do pipsqueak, cute us to death?" Wrecker mocked as he held his sides.
"Nah I think he's gonna, cuddle us into submission." Thunderball quipped as they all burst into another bout of laughter.
Meanwhile Carol just stared at the little alien, confused. Shed seen what Ben was able to turn into; both from when she teamed up with him and from the SHIELD files. Anyone of those transformations might have been able to even the score with these guys. Why on earth would he choose something so small and pathetic?
Once the Wreckers ceased their laughter, Thunderball stomped up to the tiny alien. "Should have stayed in that armor, mutant. Cause know in gonna squash you like a bug." He said as he hefted his wrecking ball.
Upchucks confident smile was quickly replaced by an annoyed scowl. "I. Am not. A MUTANT!" he roared just as Thunderball swung his wreaking ball at the angry alien.
Carol gasped, but Upchuck gave a small smirk at the giant metal ball that threatened to crush him. Instead of dodging the attack, Upchuck opened his mouth and four long green tendril like tongues, shot out of his mouth and wrapped around the giant wrecking ball.
Everyones eyes widened when Upchucks mouth suddenly widened five time its length as the tongues pulled the wrecking ball into it. Upchuck closed his mouth completely consuming the giant metal sphere, his own body inflating due to the size of the ball, with the chain still attached to Thunderballs wrist.
"What the heck?" Thunderball gasped in shock as the little alien swallowed his prize weapon. "Let go of that, you little freak."
He then tried to pull his weapon free but in response, Upchuck simply opened his mouth slightly and chomped his teeth on the chains. Chomping through them like they were a piece of spaghetti.
Upchuck sucked up the severed chain with a satisfied grin. Once he finished chewing, his stomach started to glow with a faint green light.
"Now that hit the spot." The small alien commented, as the three enhanced villain continued to stair at the alien with shock. "But not as much as this."
Upchuck then opened his mouth and a large green ball of energy, fired out of his mouth and hit Thunderball in the chest. Once the energy ball collided with the villain, it ignited into a powerful explosion that blasted the gamma enhanced villain to the other side of the room, forcing him straight through the wall. Thunderball ground as he fell unconscious.
The Wrecking Crew and Carol stared, wide eyed and slack jawed. This tiny creature just send a giant gamma enhanced villain, flying into unconsciousness with one attack. Carol made a mental note never to underestimate Ben's transformations again, clearly there's more to him than meets the eye.
Wrecker quickly got over his shock and glared at the alien. "Crush him!" he roared, swinging his crowbar at the alien hero.
Upchuck easily dodged the attack and proceeded to swiftly move around the large villain. An advantage to being small, is much more maneuverability. And since his opponents are the size of African Elephants, Upchuck had not problem avoiding their attack.
Upchuck then opened his mouth again, allowing his tongues to shoot forward and grab several containers that lay around the room. The little alien pulled the items into his mouth and swallowed them effortlessly. He turned around just in time to dodge another strike from Wrecker. Upchuck jumped into the air and belched out another energy ball, which exploded on Wreckers head.
The crowbar wielding villain roared as he stumbled from the impact, this one not nearly as strong as the last one, and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear them.
The Wielder of the Ultimatrix jumped away from another strike from Wrecker, when he felt the ground shake from under him. He turned around to see Bulldozer charging towards him like a freight train.
Upchuck smirked as he held his ground, waiting for the right moment. Then when it looked like Bulldozer was about to crush him under his massive foot. Upchuck unleashed his tongues, all four of them wrapping around each of the Gamma Villains limbs. The tiny alien them proceeded to hoist the crook into the air, right above his head with little effort.
Carol couldn't help but stair in awe, she never imagined that something so small, could be so strong. But her musings were quickly shaken when she saw Wrecker preparing to attack again. And since Upchuck was preoccupied with Bulldozer to react, all she could do was slow him down. She aimed her blaster and fired several bolts at the Wrecking Crews leader. The blasts did nothing to hurt the Gamma Enhanced Villain, but it was enough to gain his attention. Wrecker roared as he charged at the SHIELD Agent.
Now all I had to do was stay alive until Ben can help me. Carol thought to herself as she dodged the first swipe. He better not take too long.
Upchuck gave a mighty heave with his powerful tongues and tossed the surprised Bulldozer across the room, making him collide with Pildriver, who was in the middle of giving Doc Samson a beatdown. The two villains collided into each other and both were send hurting into another wall, leaving a large dent in the process.
Doc Samson looked at Upchuck and gave the alien a grateful thumbs up, which Upchuck returned. The teen hero noticed out of the corner of his eye, Carol engaging with Wrecker. Upchuck quickly consumed some debris from the collapsed walls and moved to engage.
While all the fighting was happening below, on the upper level Black Panther ran out onto a catwalk above the Gamma Generator. The cat themed her walked to the center were the beam of energy was being released. He then pulled out several Vibranium daggers from his belt and tossed them down to the Generator bellow. However the intensity of the Gamma Energy was to much for his suit to take and the energy began to tear through Black Panther's suit, mutating him in the process.
However it was not in vain as his dagger successfully hit their target, resulting in a large explosion that destroyed the gamma generator. The resulting shockwave knocked everyone off their feet. But as an added side affect, anyone who had been affected by Gamma Radiation was instantly rendered unconscious.
Upchuck groans as he got to his feet, Carol and Doc Samson close behind him. Once he stopped seeing double of everything, he noticed Black Panther descend from the roof and land infront of him. Before Upchuck could say anything his attention was caught by a loud beeping. He looked down to see the Ultimatrix dial blink from green to red, resulting in a bright flash as Upchuck turned back into Ben.
"Wow, cutting it a little close, weren't we." Ben casually commented.
"Are you all okay?" Black Panther asked the group.
Carol groaned as she cracked the tensions in her back and arms. "Yeah, I think were good."
"Forget that." Ben said in an annoyed tone as he walked up to the Wakandan King. "Were the heck did you go? You totally left us hanging back their."
"I could not get close enough to the generator while the Leader's forces guarded it." Black Panther casually replied.
Ben furrowed his brow in annoyance before letting out a long sigh. "We really need to work on our communication skills."
Black Panther nodded, "I will improve on that for next time."
Ben nodded as he and the others started to make their way out of the room.
Once they found the others, Ben saw that everyone that had been mutated by the dome had returned to normal, unconscious but normal. Iron Man, Cap and Thor all looked pretty beat up and exhausted by the time they arrived. But Tony seemed to have enough energy to chew out Black Panther for running off in the middle of a fight. Something Ben and Carol found quite entertaining.
As soon as it was confirmed that every Gamma Villain within the Cube had been incapacitated, SHIELD moved in to apprehend them. While they were doing that; the Avengers, along with everyone who had been affected by the Gamma Dome, were brought to a makeshift medical center were they were all examined for any side effects of the dome. Even Ben was examined, even though he told them that his aliens are immune to radiation. But Agent Simmons said it was procedure and that everyone had to do it. Even Carol, who had her suit on the whole time had to be examined.
After a while and SHIELD transport arrived to take away all the villains that were in the Cube. Ben watched with a smirk as the Wrecking Crew walked by in their restraints. He then looked over to were the people who were mutated were being treated. He saw Skye siting next to Agent Ward, who even when not mutated didn't seem to smile. Skye looked over too Ben and mouth the words 'Thank you' to him, which he nodded in response with a smile of his own.
Ben's attention was then caught by Doc Samson, who had just completed examining Agent Coulson, along with Thor and Black Panther. Curious to what was being said, Ben walked over to the group and listened to the conversation.
"Everyone seems to be recovering with no residual radiation poisoning.
The energy the Leader used was very specific." Doc Samson informed the SHIELD Agent.
Coulson nodded, but his face remained stoic. "The Leader, there was no sign of him?" the Agent asked
"No." Samson said glumly, but he quickly shook it off. "But we saved a lot of lives today. And we foiled his big plan."
"Did we?" Black Panther asked, instantly casting a dark shadow over their good mood.
"Dude, seriously." Ben said incredulously, "Why to kill a mood. We have got to work on your people skills."
But in the back of his mind, Ben couldn't help but feel that Panther was right. Did they stop Leaders plan? The Leader was never captured and even if he was, everyone was saying how smart he was. And from his experience, smart guys like the Leader always have a Plan B.
On a hill, overlooking the vast metropolis that is Las Vegas, stood three individuals. Up front was the Leader and behind him were Abomination and the Absorbing Man. Despite the destruction of the Gamma Dome at the Cube, the Leader didn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact, it was all apart of his plan.
"I would call that little test run a success." He said to his two lackeys. He then pulled out a small remote like device from his belt and pressed the button located on the top.
"And now we begin." Leader said in a chilling excitement. For in the heart of the city a Green light suddenly illuminated from atop of the Stratosphere Tower as a beam of green energy shoot into the sky, creating a new Gamma Dome.
Leader smiled as the Dome instantly swept over the area. And this time, no one can stop it.
Again sorry for the long wait, I will try to get Part II up as fast as possible. But until then please be patient with me.
Until next time, CaptainRex75 out.