Chapter 7
The UA students had mixed reactions to the three new heroes that had just arrived. Deku was already in awe of them, wondering what their powers could be; Bakugo scoffed at the woman and the scientist, though he thought the man in between them looked impressive enough; Todoroki simply observed them with quiet, polite curiosity.
"Nice to meet you all; Tony's told me all about you. I'm Steve Rogers."
Deku stepped forward eagerly and shook the man's hand. "I'm Izuku Midoriya," he said, cheerfully introducing himself, "but my Hero Name is Deku."
Steve Rogers had a firm grip and a kind smile; his physical fitness was readily apparent, even through the pads of body armor lining his suit. His blonde hair, blue eyes, and the red, white, and blue suit reminded Deku a lot of All Might; he supposed that was natural, since All Might's most recent costume was clearly inspired by the time he spent studying abroad in America.
"Around here they call me Captain America," he said, guiding Deku and the others over to the sofas. "C'mon, no need to be so formal around here. We just got back from a mission, so we could use a break."
The six heroes sat down on the circularly arranged couches and introduced themselves, while Tony sat at the bar working on his laptop.
"So, you were a soldier in World War Two and got frozen in the ice for almost eighty years?" asked Todoroki, genuinely fascinated with the soldier's story.
"That's right. Guys who thawed me out think the serum that gave me my strength is what helped me survive all that time."
"Whoa, an actual super soldier!" exclaimed Deku.
"Guess that 'captain' title isn't just for show, then," added Bakugo.
"Nope; I'm an actual Captain in the U.S. Army, or I was; now I'm just a civilian hero trying to make the world a better place."
"Must be pretty awkward for you, talking to a bunch of Japanese kids like us, huh?"
"Kachan, don't antagonize him."
Steve simply laughed off the spiky-haired boy's jab. "War's been over for a long time, and the world's changed a lot since then; me, I'm just glad the nations of the world get along at least a little better than they did back then. Besides, I fought in the European theater, not the Pacific."
"What about you, hot stuff; what's your story?"
"My name is Natasha Romanoff," replied the red-haired woman, ignoring Bakugo's comment about her looks, "they call me Black Widow."
"Are your powers similar to Spider-Man's?" asked Todoroki.
"Thankfully not," she said, holding back a giggle. "I don't have any powers; I'm just a highly-trained spy and former assassin."
"The hell; you're an assassin!?" asked Bakugo, leaning forward with an excited grin.
"I said former."
The explosive hero slammed himself back into the back cushion of the couch, finding her answer boring.
"So, you're more like Mr. Stark," said Deku, looking closely at various parts of her spy suit. "Just relying on training and technology to be a hero."
"Good eye."
"Oh no; your gauntlets just remind me a little of the ones that Kachan and I use," he said, modestly. "What about you, Sir?"
The rather scruffy-looking man with glasses snapped to attention, seeming to have been lost in thought since arriving in the tower. "Oh, um, Bruce Banner," he said, hesitantly offering his hand to the students. "I'm…just a scientist."
"Don't sell yourself short, now, Banner," said Tony, chiming in from the side of the room. "You can't just not mention the fact that you're the strongest Avenger!"
"Tony, please."
"Huh, wait, really?" asked Deku.
"What, you're telling me this guy is the strongest Avenger!?" said Bakugo, laughing.
"No, I'm not," said Banner, trying to downplay what Tony had started.
"He turns into the Hulk," said Tony, casually.
"What's a Hulk?" asked Deku.
"Nothing. Tony, enough!" said Banner, raising his voice.
"Okay, okay; I wouldn't want you to get mad in here," said Tony, getting up from the bar. "I think it's about time I brought you guys up to speed on what these kids can do anyway, now that introductions are over."
Tony spent the next fifteen minutes catching the other three Avengers on everything that had transpired since the UA students arrived in New York City, from their origins in another world to their encounters with the Sinister Six.
"Well, we had heard about you kids over comms the past day or so, but hearing all the details laid out for us definitely puts things into perspective," said Natasha, going over the details in her head.
"You're impressive, for sure," said Steve, "but I'm still a little hesitant about bringing a trio of high school students on a mission like this."
"Think we can't handle ourselves or something, flagpole!?"
"Calm down, Bakugo," said Todoroki. "It's their team; ultimately, we have to respect the decision they come to."
"Don't tell me what to do! We work for your old man's agency and do missions for them all the time!"
"C'mon, Cap," started Tony, "I think they've proven themselves at this point, just like Spider-Man did – he was their age when I brought him in to join us."
"I know; I wasn't keen on it back then, and I'm not keen on it now."
"Look, you asked for me for some backup, this is who I've got on deck; all our other teams and allies are tied up with their own problems right now. Take it or leave it."
"Um, Captain America, Sir," Deku interrupted. "I know you just met us and haven't seen first hand what we can do, but in our world, we are provisionally licensed heroes, and we've done our fair share of missions alongside the pros, even outside of our country. Besides, I don't want to sit idly by just because we're stuck here; if this world's heroes need our help, I can't just turn a blind eye to it!"
Cap raised his eyebrows; he was a little taken aback by what Deku had said. He considered the boy's words, before easing into a gentle smile. "You've got heart kid, that's for sure."
"We won't get in your way, and we'll follow your orders to the letter."
Bakugo ground his teeth and began growling at the mere insinuation that he would follow someone else's orders, but Todoroki restrained him from having the inevitable outburst welling up beneath the surface.
"It's alright; I'm convinced. I still don't like it, but it looks like you kids are the best option I have right now."
Deku's face brightened into a smile.
"Hell yeah!" shouted Bakugo, as Todoroki brought a hand to his own forehead and sighed.
"First thing's first, then – mission briefing," said Steve, with a commanding voice.
The UA students immediately ceased their individual shenanigans and sat at attention, waiting for their new leader to continue. Cap was impressed by how quickly they fell in line.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., bring up the mission details," Tony said towards the ceiling.
"You got it, Boss," said the tower's AI, as she projected a myriad of holograms into the space in the middle of the sofas.
Cap stood up and began motion-controlling a map with his hands. "Our target is a network of HYDRA facilities all along the border between Eastern Europe and Russia?"
"HYDRA was that Nazi organization you mentioned fighting during World War Two, correct?" asked Todoroki.
"That's right; they were the Nazis' advanced science division under the command of a man calling himself the Red Skull. They were more of a fanatical cult than anything, with their own ideals and plans for the world, and they survived into the modern day by embedding themselves all around the world, notably in the agency that used to manage the Avengers."
"Wait, so you ended up working for them without even realizing it?" asked Deku.
"Yes. Thankfully, the agency in question S.H.I.E.L.D., has since been disbanded and reformed free of HYDRA's influence, and the Avengers are now an independent group."
"But some pockets are still around, hiding in the shadows," concluded Todoroki.
"That's right, which is where we come in. HYDRA still manages to develop a lot of technology far too advanced for conventional militaries to deal with; they're getting better, but still can't quite keep up."
"Well, other than my buddy in the Air Force, but he's also an Avenger, so…" added Tony.
"Also, due to where the HYDRA bases are located, militaries can't get involved anyway without risking an international incident."
"Not without going through a lot of red tape and bureaucracy, which is where we Avengers come in."
"Right," said Deku, going over everything he had hear so far in his head. "Under these circumstances, it makes sense that the Avengers would be the most effective and efficient option."
"So, I'll ask one last time, just to be sure; you kids up for this?" said Black Widow, who had remained silent until now.
"Course we are!" said Bakugo, eagerly.
"This isn't unlike some raids I've done on criminal organizations back home," said Deku.
"And the three of us are already used to operating in Europe on international-scale missions at this point due to our recent mission in Otheon," added Todoroki.
Steve looked confused at the name.
"Oh, Otheon is a European country in our world," said Deku, quickly catching on to Cap's confusion.
"Alright. With that, everybody grab what you need; we're wheels up in fifteen minutes."
The students and their new mentors got geared up as quickly as they could in the time the captain had given them. Tony had graciously repaired the damage to the students' costumes from the battle the night before; and he had also given Deku a healing stimulant to speed up the repair of his arm, telling him to make sure not to get it blown out again – something Deku couldn't make any promises about. When they were all prepared, they assembled on the roof and filed into a Quinjet, a type of high-tech VTOL transport jet, that they would be using to fly to their destination.
The flight across the Atlantic was taking no time at all due to the jet's incredible speed. The inside was spacious enough to carry a full squad and all of their gear. While the others made their final preparations and Natasha flew the jet, Deku couldn't help but marvel at how advanced everything was; it was almost like they had taken Tony's penthouse with them across the ocean.
"Skies are clear and the autopilot looks good," said Natasha to Dr. Banner; "mind taking over for me while I get a couple of things together?"
Bruce kept an eye on the controls while the red-haired spy sauntered over to one of the supply compartments. Deku took the opportunity to join the scientist at the helm.
"Mind if I join you, Dr. Banner?"
The older man looked hesitant at first. "No, it's fine. Midoriya, right?"
"Yeah. We didn't really get a chance to talk much at Avengers Tower."
"Anything in particular you want to talk about?" he asked, slightly uncomfortably.
"I was actually wondering about your scientific background. I've met a handful of scientists and engineers that have helped me out since becoming a hero in training."
Banner became noticeably less tense. "Well, I'm a bit of both; I've got seven ."
"Whoa, seven!?"
"Yeah; nuclear physics, biochemistry, radiophysics, engineering; that sort of thing."
"That's really impressive. Did you mainly work with radiation in some way?"
"Um, yeah…actually, I was part of a lab using gamma radiation to try and recreate the super serum that made Cap there."
"You were trying to make another Captain America?"
"The original formula was lost when its original creator died; people were trying to recreate it for decades until S.H.I.E.L.D. dug him out of the ice."
"Did it work?"
Banner passed a hand over the back of his neck nervously. "Not exactly. I, uh…ended up testing it on myself and…things didn't go well."
"Does that have something to do with what Mr. Stark was saying earlier, about you being the strongest Avenger? What did he call it…the Hulk?"
Banner became visibly more distressed. "Yeah…the Hulk."
"What kind of power is it?"
Banner was reluctant to tell the boy, but ultimately thought it would be better if his new coworker was informed. "He's…a monster I turn into when I get angry. I've learned to control it a little over the years, but there's still a very real possibility it could end up killing one of you."
"Oh," Deku replied, thinking over the dire warning. "I can kind of sympathize, in a way; I can't really control my powers either, so I end up injuring myself if I don't keep them below a certain threshold."
"It's not the same," said Banner, shaking his head. "The Hulk is like…a whole other being living inside of me, with a mind of his own…all rage and violence."
"That kind of sounds like my friend Tokoyami back home; his Quirk, Dark Shadow, is a living being he projects from inside him that gets stronger and more violent the darker it is around him."
"So, you get it. Don't take the Hulk lightly; if you see him and he's out of control, just run."
"I can't help but wonder, though, if he could be reasoned with if someone just tried?"
Banner hesitated before responding. "Only a few people have ever managed it, so I wouldn't—"
The scientist was cut short by the voice of the navigation system informing them that they were about to arrive at their destination.
"Alright, get ready to land everyone," said Steve, now fully masked up as Captain America.
The Quinjet landed softly in a grassy field. When the heroes got out, they were in the Belarusian countryside, surrounded by hilly plains and dense forests. Out of the tree line, they were quickly joined by a man in a purple Kevlar combat suit with a compound bow in his hand, and a woman in a black and red leather suit with a red leather jacket over it.
"These two are the last of our team," said Cap, walking over to their side. "Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye," he said, pointing to the man, "and Wanda Maximoff, codename Scarlet Witch."
Chapter 8
Deku stepped forward, shaking Barton's hand. The man had swept-up, dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore a custom, black and purple combat suit. In his left hand was a high-tech combat bow, and on his back was an equally advanced quiver full of arrows. Stepping over to his right, Deku then shook hands with Maximoff. She wore a black and red leather suit with a long, bright red leather jacket over it; she didn't appear to be armed in any way like Barton was.
Cap continued the introductions by giving them a brief rundown of the UA Students and their abilities. The ever-curious Deku, of course, couldn't help but ask about the two new heroes he would be working with.
"No powers here," said Barton, "I'm just a guy with a bow and arrow."
"Just a bow and arrow!? I don't buy it!" protested Bakugo.
"I'm really good with a bow and arrow."
Cap held back a laugh. "Barton was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent before becoming and Avenger, and he's been working with Romanoff almost the whole time."
"So he relies on skill and technology like she does?" asked Todoroki.
"Yup, that's right," Barton said.
"Heh, we'll see how well they keep up with us when we actually get started!" said Bakugo, boastfully, as he made a series of small explosions in his hand.
Deku scratched the back of his head nervously at his childhood friend's competitiveness, before turning back to Ms. Maximoff. "What about you? What are your powers?"
She seemed a bit hesitant to respond, but gave a slight smile before answering the boy. "I can control psychic energy; it lets me move things with my mind, fly, and…show people illusions."
Deku's eyes lit up. "Whoa, sounds versatile! How did you end up joining the Avengers?"
The young woman noticeably grimaced, as she looked away; she awkwardly stumbled over her words a bit before—
"Alright, guys; that'll have to do it for the introductions," said Captain America. "We don't have much time, so we need to start hitting these HYDRA bases right away."
Ms. Maximoff quickly fell in with the other Avengers, as did the UA Students. "We've already got a patrol route set from all the scouting we did in the region," she said.
"The two of you alone scouted an entire region?" asked Todoroki.
"We had help from my brother," said Maximoff, "but the X-Men needed someone with superspeed, so he won't be joining us for this mission."
Deku remembered Spider-Man mentioning them before – a superhero team made entirely of people with naturally occurring powers called mutants; he wondered if the Avengers could introduce him one day.
"First base is deep in this forest," said Barton. "We'll have to leg it from here to avoid detection."
The students acknowledged the veteran hero's orders.
"Dr. Banner," said Cap, "you're on mission control in the jet; keep us posted."
"Got it, Cap," said Banner, as he walked back into the Quinjet.
And with that, the heroes took off, running through the forest at a reasonable pace.
"So, the guy who's apparently the strongest Avenger isn't joining us!?" asked Bakugo.
"Banner's powers are only for emergencies," said Cap. "The seven of us can handle this just fine."
It took them about an hour to get through the forest at the pace they were going. Those of them with powers could have easily covered the distance in half the time, but they had to accommodate Hawkeye and Black Widow who, while extremely physically conditioned, were still normal humans. They were starting to see signs of human activity, such as tire tracks and some scattered pieces of concrete and metal, when Dr. Banner contacted them over comms.
"Alright, you guys are getting near the facility. Their cloaked to regular and electromagnetic satellite imagery, but they can't hide their thermal signature so easily."
The field team stopped, took stock of their surroundings, and slowly continued their approach. Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye guided them through the area until they were able to see a large clearing up ahead containing a facility surrounded by a concrete wall.
"So, that's what we're dealing with," said Hawkeye. "Your call, Cap."
Captain Rogers briefly looked over the area. "Standard HYDRA operation. Nat, I want you as deep in the facility as you can get – create a distraction; Barton, up on that wall somewhere they can't see you – cover her; Wanda, flank right and cover the second gate."
The Avengers quickly moved out.
"You three," said Cap to the students. "You're with me so stay close; when all hell breaks loose, we're gonna break through the front gate."
Bakugo's face twisted into a feral smile.
"Deku," continued Cap, staring into the boy's eyes, "you gave me your word; you three follow my orders to the letter."
Deku nodded, followed shortly by his classmates. Cap nodded back and motioned for them to follow him.
The students waited in the bushes alongside Captain America. They were impressed by how long this was taking, how neither Black Widow nor Hawkeye had been detected yet. About ten minutes into their standby, the base was rocked by a massive explosion from within; one would hardly be able to tell from the outside due to how muffled it was by stone and steel, but the fact that they were able to hear it at all was proof of its potency. Sirens began wailing as the personnel in and around the base scrambled to find the intruder who planted the bomb.
"Barton, cover fire; Wanda, hit the gate," ordered Cap into his comms. "You three, we're moving out!"
The four of them charged at the front of the base, Cap in front with his shield in hand, and Todoroki covering their flanks with constantly generating walls of ice.
"Deku, hit the gate!" said the super soldier.
At the highest level of power he could safely produce, twenty percent, Deku launched himself through the air, staying low just above the ground without touching it. Just as he was about to hit the dirt, he dug in his heel and stepped forward, catapulting himself toward the middle of the base's defensive wall. He twisted himself in the air and cocked his foot back. "MANCHESTER SMASH!" he yelled, as his roundhouse kick hit the solid metal gate.
The gate caved in at the point of impact and was blasted wide open, being forced inward, which was clearly not the intended direction it was meant to open if the fact it was partially knocked of its hinges was anything to go by. Captain America immediately rushed in underneath Deku and blocked the gunfire of the HYDRA agents with his shield; the ground around him rapidly froze over with ice and imprisoned the enemy soldiers, guns and all. Cap wasted no time bouncing his shield between several of the frozen agents, shattering them out of the ice and knocking them to the ground. Bakugo quickly followed up, knocking out a chain of soldiers by pinballing off of them with multiple explosions, before blasting himself up to the left side of the surrounding wall, Deku taking the right side shortly after.
Deku rapidly worked his way through the soldiers atop the right side of the outer wall, dodging gunfire and knocking the men either against the parapets or over them. As he approached the guard tower, a pair of arrows flew out from the shadows and struck a pair of men behind him who had recovered; Hawkeye emerged from the tower and began picking off the stragglers down below. Also on ground level, Deku could see Scarlet Witch pushing enemy vehicles into the side gate, before tearing the entire gate open with a violent red energy; as she walked through the now open passage, she sent out a wave of energy that flung all of the soldiers around her to the ground.
"Everybody inside!" ordered Cap over comms.
The team took position behind the Captain; with a single shield bash, the super soldier blew a steel door clean off its hinges. Cap went in first, deflecting a blast from an energy weapon and knocking the wielder against a wall. Todoroki went in next, freezing the hallway in the opposite direction, followed by Hawkeye looking downrange for any far-off targets with Deku guarding him; Bakugo brought up the rear, prepared to blast anyone who came up behind them, while Wanda kept them covered with an energy barrier.
They made their way through the base in this formation, taking out any HYDRA agents they came across. When they finally made it to the control room of the base, Black Widow was already there waiting for them.
"What took you so long?" she asked, teasingly.
"Did you get their data?" asked Cap.
"Already analyzing it as we speak. There's nothing else to find here, so we should make ourselves scarce."
"Banner, have Tony send in legionnaires to lock this place down and arrest the personnel after we leave."
"On it, Cap," said Dr. Banner's voice over comms.
On their way back through the forest, the students were feeling pretty good about how easy it was to take down the HYDRA facility; the others, however, warned them not to get complacent, as this base was one of the smallest on their target list. Still, the heroes-in-training couldn't help but marvel at their current teachers' abilities.
"Your strength really is incredible, Captain America, even more so that it was given to you rather than naturally occurring!" said Deku, geeking out over the new powers he got to see in action. "And Ms. Maximoff; your psychic abilities are just amazing! I can't believe what you were able to do all on your own!"
"Thank you, I appreciate that; and you can call me Wanda, no need to be so formal."
"Heh, I'm more impressed that the spy chick and Robin Hood were able to keep up despite not having powers!" commented Bakugo.
"It really does speak volumes about how well trained they are," added Todoroki.
"I'm guessing that's unusual in your world?" asked Hawkeye.
"More like impossible; we've never had a Quirkless Hero before," said Bakugo. "Guess the tech in your world is better than ours; either that, or we just haven't had anyone crazy enough to try it."
"Well, don't forget training and technology like ours isn't exactly cheap," said Black Widow, "and with how many people in your world have powers, it makes sense that being a hero without them wouldn't exactly be easy."
"I'm more impressed by how well you kids worked with us," chimed Captain America. "It's almost like you've been working with us for years."
"It's probably from all of our training and provisional hero work," said Deku. "We're pretty used to working in teams with a variety of different Heroes at this point."
"Well, keep it up."
Not long after, the team made it back to the Quinjet, with Banner having already warmed up the engines. They boarded and took off immediately. Onboard the jet enroute to their next target, the Avengers discussed what they found inside the base; they were talking about what they found and didn't find, making it clear to the students that their seniors were looking for something.
The jet quickly got them to their next destination; like before, they had to land fairly far away from the base to avoid detection, and so proceeded on foot through the forest. The second HYDRA base was laid out much like the first one, and it fell just as easily. The Avengers found some noteworthy advanced technology at the base, but it still didn't seem to be what they were looking for.
"Aren't you curious at this point?" asked Bakugo, back on the Quinjet.
"About what?" asked Deku.
"Don't be stupid; they're obviously looking for something at these bases."
"They do seem to be rather concerned with the technology that HYDRA has, but maybe that's normal when dealing with them," added Todoroki.
"We could always just ask them," said Deku, getting up and walking over to Captain America.
"You need something, Deku?"
"Yeah, we were wondering what exactly you're—"
He was cut off the sound of warning alarms going off all over the jet. Everyone was on alert, wondering what was about to happen.
"Natasha!?" called Cap.
"Incoming missiles!" she responded from the pilot seat. "Launching countermeasures!"
The rhythmic thumping of flares and chaff being released from the underside of the jet could be heard resounding through the hull. A pair of muffled explosions could be heard outside, while the interior of the jet shook from the shockwaves.
"Still more on their way!" said Black Widow. "Some kind of multi-missile system; we won't have enough countermeasures to beat them!"
"Wanda, can you shield the jet?"
"Not all of it, not for long!"
"Then protect the inside; everyone, brace for impact!"
A missile struck before anyone got to their feet. The jet jerked upwards and everyone was thrown around the cabin. Cap and Deku caught themselves as they hit the ceiling, Scarlet Witch managed to hold herself and Dr. Banner in place using forcefields, Todoroki froze himself to the floor with his ice, and Bakugo used small explosions to maneuver in the air and not hit anything, grabbing Hawkeye before he slammed into the ceiling as well.
"Thanks for the save, kid," said the archer.
"Don't sweat it."
The heroes gathered in the middle of the cabin, allowing Scarlet Witch to surround them with a forcefield of red energy, just before another missile hit. This time, part of the hull broke away, depressurizing the cabin and causing supplies to start flying out into the atmosphere, parachutes included.
"We're gonna need to land with no chutes!" ordered Cap. "Who can pair up for a landing!?"
"I can't really take passengers!" said Bakugo.
"I can take someone with my ice slide!" said Todoroki.
"I can land safely while carrying one other person!" said Deku.
"Bakugo, you're on your own; Todoroki, take Nat; Wanda, take Ban—"
He was cut off as another missile struck, further damaging the hull. The structure of the jet was starting to crack apart as the plane fell and spun through the sky. The impact was enough to shake the bubble they were in, causing the red sorceress to have a momentary lapse in focus. The faltering of the forcefield was brief, but enough to suck the purple-clad archer out of the plane.
"Clint!" shouted Wanda, immediately flying out of the jet to save him.
Todoroki wrapped Black Widow in ice and took to the skies. Bakugo and Captain America immediately jumped out on their own. Deku grabbed Dr. Banner without even thinking about it and jumped out of the burning fuselage with the scientist on his back.
Deku spread out his arms and legs, creating as much surface area with his body as he could to slow their descent. There was nothing but dense forest beneath them, and he couldn't really see any of the others around them – they must have all gotten scattered when the plane fell apart.
"You can land us, right!?" shouted Dr. Banner behind him, holding on for dear life.
"Y-yeah, I-I've g-got this!" replied Deku, struggling to speak from the wind hitting his face.
They were closing on the ground, fast. Deku couldn't fly, so he had to slow their momentum instead, but they needed to get a bit closer to the ground first. After another few seconds, Deku prepared himself, charging the power of One for All through his body to 20%. The mechanisms on his gloves shifted forward and he held out his arms beneath him, aiming at the ground.
"AIR FORCE!"
A blast of air pressure shot forward from his gloves, pushing them upwards slightly. Another blast, and then another; Deku kept firing off shots beneath them to slow their fall to a more manageable speed. Once they were close enough to the trees, and with their bodies practically suspended in midair…
"BLACKWHIP!"
Deku attached tendrils of energy from each of his hands to the branch of a nearby tree, while also wrapping a pair around his body to hold Dr. Banner in place.
"This may be a rough landing!" he said quickly.
With the twin energy whips pulled taut, Deku swung the two of them down into the forest, smashing through any branches that got in their way using the armor on his legs. He adjusted the length of the whips so they were just long enough to keep their feet a few centimeters off the ground. Deku landed into a run before slowing himself down and unwrapping Dr. Banner; he quickly checked himself over, finding nothing wrong, before turning to the distressed scientist.
"Dr. Banner, are you okay?"
The doctor was panicked; he was breathing heavily and seemed very anxious. "I'm fine physically, but I'm pretty shaken up from that; you've gotta get away from me."
"I can't do that; we're in enemy territory."
"Just…go!" said the doctor, as his irises turned green.
Chapter 9
Bruce Banner hunched over in pain; his veins turned green and strained against his skin, while his body began to expand and contract unnaturally. Various body parts enlarged and quickly shrank back down in rapid succession, as the scientist desperately tried to maintain control of himself. His arms and legs swelled up and he smashed the ground beneath him with his hands and feet; his bones violently spread out and expanded, and his muscles greatly enlarged, tearing his clothing apart as patches of his skin turned green. As Deku looked on, he couldn't help but be reminded of his mentor, All Might, transforming into his taller, more muscular form, only this transformation seemed far more painful.
"I told you…to get…away!" Banner barely managed to say before his eyes rolled back. His face morphed and his body filled out, completing his transformation, and he roared into the sky in a rage.
With his anger screamed out, the Hulk seemed to calm down, but still breathed heavily. He was an incredible sight; he was about a foot taller than All Might was in his "muscle form," and was certainly built like a superhero – left with no clothes other than a pair of stretched out pants, one could see his skin barely containing the sheer bulk of lean muscle tissue. His facial features and hair still resembled Dr. Banner's, but if the scientist was to be believed, the Hulk was like a completely separate being.
Deku was on guard, but steadily approached the heaving giant. "Um, h-hi, Mr. Hulk," said the young hero, a little apprehensively.
The green-skinned beast of a man turned suddenly to look at the boy.
"The other Avengers told me about you; my name is—"
Deku didn't even get to finish his introduction. Faster than any normal human could blink, Hulk rushed forward and punched the ground; just as fast, Deku's body came alive with light and green lightning, as he jumped back from where he was just standing.
"I don't want to fight you, Mr. Hulk; I just want to talk so we can figure out what to do next in the miss—"
The Hulk pressed the attack; he leaped forward with surprising agility and tried to deliver two punches and a kick to the young boy, but Deku used his own enhanced athleticism to evade the crazed Avenger's attacks. Hulk refused to stop, continuing to pursue Deku, even as the hero-in-training jumped into the trees and swung from the branches using Blackwhip; Hulk just kept charging forward, either ripping the trees out of the ground or smashing through them.
By this point, Deku knew that simply evading wasn't going to cut it; he would have to fight, even if he didn't want to. When the latest tree shattered, Deku dropped down to ground level and got behind Hulk; he delivered a flurry of punches to Hulk's abdomen, bobbing and weaving around the Hulk's counterattacks to continue the assault, and then he slipped behind the green Avenger once more and twisted on his heel.
"MANCHESTER SMASH!" he yelled, delivering a powerful kick to the Hulk.
The Hulk was knocked back more and more by each attack, but Deku could tell his attacks weren't having much effect; he could feel how firm and durable the Avenger's body was and how he was taking each blow in stride. As Deku continued to dodge the Hulk's onslaught, he realized that he would have to turn things up a little to do any real damage. Deku weaved around at high speed to disorient the green giant, and then planted his foot and twisted his hips.
"ONE FOR ALL – FULL COWLING 20%: TEXAS SMASH!" he cried out, as he delivered an incredible punch.
Deku felt his bones and muscles strain as the Hulk was sent sliding backwards into a tree, crushing the trunk instantly.
"Please, Hulk, I don't want to fight you," pleaded Deku once again, as he relaxed his aching muscles.
The Hulk got up and shook himself off, he moved forward, looking like he was going to charge the boy again, but he stopped short this time. "You! Hulk like you! You green and strong and SMASH stuff, just like Hulk!"
Deku was a bit surprised that one good hit managed to calm the feral hero down. "Um, I like you, too, Hulk; I think you're an amazing and powerful hero!" replied the boy with enthusiasm.
Hulk crouched down to look the boy in the eye up close. "You not scared of Hulk?"
"Not really; I mean, you're one of this world's greatest heroes, right?"
Hulk smiled savagely – in a way, it reminded Deku of Kachan – and stood up straight to flex his arms. "Hulk strong hero! Hulk smash many monster!"
"Exactly!" cheered Deku, matching the green man's smile with a happy one of his own.
"You fight Hulk!"
"Um, n-no; we shouldn't fight…I mean, not right now, at least; we have a mission to do."
"No mission! Hulk want fight! You fight Hulk, now!"
Deku set his face into a stern expression. "No, Hulk; the mission is our top priority right now. If you help me with this, I promise I'll fight you later; deal?"
Hulk groaned angrily. "Hulk not like wait, but for new Hulk friend, Hulk wait."
Deku sighed in relief.
"You promise fight Hulk later!?"
"Yes, I promise."
Hulk huffed in what seemed to be approval. "What name?"
Deku was confused at first, then realized that Hulk must not have heard him earlier. "My name is Izuku Midoriya!"
"Ee-zoo-koo?"
"You can just call me by my Hero Name, Deku."
"Deku better. Easy to say. What do now?"
"Hmm, our best course of action would be to regroup with the others, meaning we'd first have to narrow down their locations, which would be easiest to do by getting in contact with them and—"
"Talk too much!"
"Oh, sorry; let's just call Captain America with the comms device he gave me and see what he says."
While Deku made the call, Hulk ripped a pair of trees out of the ground began lifting them like training weights; Deku looked on in a mix of horror, admiration, and amusement while he waited for the captain to pick up.
"Deku, is that you?" said Captain Rogers' voice.
"Yes, I'm here."
"Did you and Dr. Banner land safely?"
"Yes, we're fine; although, Dr. Banner did end up transforming into the Hulk, but we're both fine."
"Hulk is there? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine; we had a small fight, but he's calmed down since then."
"Wow. I, uh, don't think I've ever heard someone describe an experience with the Hulk that way before; I'm impressed you got him under control."
"What should we do now? I think it would be best to regroup."
"I agree. I can see on my GPS that you landed about ten miles north of my position; can you see me on your end?"
Deku checked the screen of his own comms device. "Yes, I've got you."
"Good; you and Hulk start making your way towards me; I'll meet you half-way and inform the others to meet us there."
"Roger that; we're on our way."
The call cut out and Deku turned to face the Hulk, who was still lifting trees as a workout routine. "Um, Mr. Hulk?"
Hulk threw the trees down and walked up to the boy, seeming content that the long call was over. "No Mr., only Hulk!"
"Okay, Hulk; we're heading south to meet up with Captain America."
Hulk nodded and gestured for Deku to lead the way. Deku charged eight percent of his power through his body and took off to the south. Hulk quickly ran up beside him, plowing through any trees that got in his way; Deku had noticed during their fight as well that Hulk was surprisingly fast for someone of his size. The two ran side-by-side through the forest for about ten minutes, with Deku occasionally having to swing through the trees using Blackwhip to keep up with Hulk's more…efficient method of clearing the distance. Deku kept an eye on his comms device and eventually signaled them to stop deep in the dense forest, where Captain America came running out of the trees to meet them.
"Deku," he greeted, getting a nod and a thumbs-up from the boy. "Hulk."
The green giant huffed in acknowledgement.
It didn't take long for the others to arrive at their positions; each pair that had fallen from the jet had stuck together, with Bakugo being alone, and all of their powers allowed them to reach the rendezvous point fairly quickly.
"Whoa, is that the Hulk that that scientist guy is supposed to turn into?" asked Bakugo, naturally being the first to break the silence. "He's awesome!" he added, with a feral smile.
"He is certainly impressive," added Todoroki.
The rubbed the back of his head, seeming almost self-conscious over the fact that he was actually receiving praise. Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Black Widow all seemed to be particularly wary of the green Avenger, but they relaxed upon seeing that he was not an imminent threat to anyone's safety; still, neither of them let their guards down completely.
"Alright, now that we've regrouped, we can continue the mission, starting with the base that fired those SAMs at us," said Captain America.
"Hold on," interrupted Bakugo. "I think at this point it's only right you tell us exactly what this mission even is?"
"Bakugo's right," added Todoroki, "it's obvious you're looking for something in these HYDRA bases – something they're clearly fighting tooth and nail to defend."
The Avengers gave each other silent glances, and then nodded.
"It wasn't really relevant before, but now it seems clear that our intel must've been spot on if they're going this far," said Cap.
"Not too long ago, we fought a powerful android in this region called Ultron," explained Natasha. "We believe several leftover pieces of Ultron's technology was taken from the site of the battle by HYDRA."
"Our mission is to locate and destroy all of the remaining Ultron technology," finished Cap.
"How dangerous is this technology, exactly?" asked Deku.
"It won't nearly end the world like Ultron did, but it's still capable of doing a lot of damage in HYDRA's hands," explained the captain.
"In that case, there's no time to lose," said Deku, "Let's move out."
Cap nodded and led the way.
Chapter 10
Deep in the forest, a small army of HYDRA agents patrolled the outside of a massive military base. These were not mere mercenaries or paramilitary; they were highly trained, technologically advanced soldiers, drawing on training and techniques passed down and refined over the course of decades since the second world war. These men, clad in the latest, cutting-edge armor, feared nothing and were prepared for anything; so, when their base's automated defenses reacted to an outside threat and began firing, no one panicked; they simply took their positions and readied for contact with the enemy, if the defenses didn't kill them first.
Something was wrong, however; they could feel it in the air, and especially in the ground beneath their feet, not least of which because said ground was literally shaking in a rhythmic pattern. The thumps reverberating through the earth were getting louder with time, followed by so much frantic chatter coming in over the radio that it was completely unintelligible. Suddenly, the front gate of the base caved in and was launched into the courtyard, as two green figures came rushing through at high speed; it was the Avengers' Incredible Hulk and a young, new superhero none of them had ever seen before.
The HYDRA agents opened fire with both kinetic and energy weapons; the Hulk merely allowed himself to get shot, suffering no damage, while the boy maneuvered around the projectiles with superhuman agility. HYDRA's vehicles opened fire next, deeming the threat adequate to require more firepower; again, the Hulk took the rounds on the chest with minimal damage, while his young companion just avoided getting shot outright. Much to the agents' horror, both the Hulk and the boy went after those very same vehicles, knocking them around like toys with inhuman strength.
Deku was impressed by Hulk's strength, as he watched the green giant send armored vehicles flying by casually batting them aside with his hands; not one to be left behind, Deku took out the vehicles on the other side of the courtyard, targeting the weapons mounted on top of them and using his enhanced strength to tear them loose, before either knocking the vehicles against the wall or flipping them over with his Shoot Style.
"Vehicles are almost clear!" said Deku into his comms.
On cue, Captain America, followed by Black Widow and Hawkeye, stormed through the front gate and engaged the infantry. Cap blocked their shots with his shield and easily sent them flying with his enhanced strength; Nat came in with a pair of handguns, throwable tasers, her shock gauntlets, and other gadgets; Clint hung back and sniped enemies from a distance with his arrows, switching to using his bow for close-quarters combat whenever an agent got too close.
"Most of them are down; move in!" ordered Cap through his comms.
On Cap's word, the third team entered the fray. Bakugo, Todoroki, and Scarlet Witch flew into the courtyard inside a barrier of red energy; they immediately targeted the SAMs and other artillery on the outer wall surrounding the base. Todoroki began freezing and burning them, Wanda tore them apart using her telekinesis, and Bakugo just blew them up.
With the three squads working together, their respective tasks were finished quickly, and the courtyard was mostly emptied out. With the SAMs destroyed, the Avengers would be able to bring in air support again, so Cap called Tony back at the tower to send one over. Now that the jet was on the way, set to pick them up once they were done with this base, they prepared to infiltrate the interior next; the only problem was that reinforcements had already started pouring out of the facility.
"Stick to the plan," ordered Cap, as he led Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki towards the entrance.
The four heroes used Todoroki's ice slide to easily go around the enemy reinforcements, as well as seal the entrance to prevent others from coming out. The HYDRA agents outside now found themselves trapped in the courtyard with the Scarlet Witch and the Hulk; knowing how outmatched they were, they still readied themselves for combat. Hawkeye, meanwhile, took up position on top of the outer wall and gave supporting fire to his allies below, while Black Widow made her way into the guard towers to see what security systems she could break into.
Inside the base, the infiltration team came face-to-face with a platoon of reinforcements that were on their way outside; the HYDRA agents were undeterred – in fact, excited – upon seeing their hated enemy from the second world war.
"Stay close; we're charging straight through," ordered Cap.
The three heroes-in-training acknowledged the order, and the four of them began sprinting down the hallway. Captain America easily pushed through the soldiers using his shield and his superhuman strength; Deku and Bakugo quickly followed up, using their agility and offensive power to knock the agents against the walls of the facility; Todoroki brought up the rear, using his ice to freeze the stunned soldiers to the wall.
The base was on high alert; security drones, gun-equipped cameras, and armored soldiers seemed to be around every corner, targeting the advancing heroes. Captain Rogers kept the front covered using his seemingly indestructible shield, while Todoroki constantly put up walls of ice around them to block attacks from their flanks. Cap, Deku, and Bakugo knocked back any enemies that managed to get too close, while Todoroki focused on using his fire to take out ranged targets like the gun cameras. Despite the fierce opposition, the team made it to the control room of the base; the door was, of course, sealed, but Deku made short work of it using his power at his upper limit of twenty percent.
Once they were in the control room, Todoroki sealed all of the doors using ice, and Bakugo and Deku kept an eye out for any signs of enemies trying to break in. As they did all of this, they began investigating the room, with Cap going through HYDRA's computer using the few computer skills he had picked up from Natasha – it wasn't much, but it was enough for him to know what he was doing.
"That was a solid infiltration plan you came up with, Deku," praised the Captain. "You have a good eye for how to use everybody's powers in the best way possible."
"I don't think it's that big a deal," replied Deku, self-consciously rubbing the back of his head.
"No, I mean it. Putting Todoroki on defense with his ice to block what I couldn't, and then having him use his fire to balance out the ice; that was perfect. Your strength is impressive, sure, but your real talent is as a strategist and a leader."
"I-I'll keep that in mind," said Deku, blushing furiously in embarrassment, still not quite used to receiving such high praise from pro heroes that he looked up to.
"I've got something," said Cap, prompting his fellow heroes to gather around him. "Looks like this base is bigger than it looks; there's a whole underground area right beneath our feet."
Cap pointed out the large security door at the end of one of the corridors, which they made their next destination. Todoroki thawed out the door leading to the hallway, and the four heroes fought any HYDRA agents standing between themselves and the door. When the area was clear, Cap and Deku used their strength to pry the massive double doors open from either side.
"Nat, how's it looking out there?" asked Cap.
"We've got the perimeter secure; jet's on its way."
"Alright; we're headed underground. We'll be back in ten."
Behind the security door was a massive stairwell with a freight elevator running down the middle of the shaft. The elevator cab wasn't present, implying that it was currently at the bottom; Cap attempted to call it, but it was locked and needed a keycard to use. With no other option, the heroes started down the stairs. The stairwell was lined with doors that led to barracks and research labs. On their way down, they were met with more HYDRA agents, this time sporting new, prototype armor, and accompanied by more advanced security drones than the ones they faced upstairs.
The opposition gave the heroes more trouble than anyone they faced so far. Deku and Captain America had to put a lot more force into their attacks to break through the more impact-resistant armor. The drones were more agile than the ones above, easily outmaneuvering Todoroki's ice walls, forcing Cap to divert some of his attention to blocking their lasers; Bakugo was having none of it and went on the offensive, blasting himself into the air and blowing up the drones with an aerial combo attack. It was a tough battle all the way down the stairs, but the makeshift Avengers squad managed to break through.
At the bottom of the facility, they came to another large security door, and standing in front of it was a three-man team of HYDRA agents wearing suits that reminded Deku of the Iron Man suit that Tony Stark had worn when they had first met, but silver in color with red accents.
"Their suits are—"
"Yeah," said Cap, noticing it, too. "Looks like they reverse engineered them from the battles in and around Sokovia; probably Ultron, Sub-Ultrons, maybe even Legionnaires."
"So, what do we do?" asked Todoroki. "We saw it flying, but we have no idea what Iron Man's suit is actually capable of beyond that."
"Well, we can probably expect lasers, missiles, superhuman strength, and whatever HYDRA decided to put in there."
"I'll keep an eye out for a weakness," declared Deku.
"No, you three run," ordered Cap, before the armored soldiers gave them no further time.
The lead soldier flew forward, firing volatile crimson beams from his fingers; Cap quickly blocked with his shield, angling the lasers into the second agent before he could close the gap. The first soldier made it to his target and punched Cap's shield, causing a gong-like noise to ring throughout the chamber. By this point, the third armored agent was joining the fray, joining up with the first to engage the Captain two against one; Cap went back and forth between them, punching one away, before spinning through the air and blocking a laser attack with his shield, and then throwing it to hit both targets, before catching it and charging one of them.
As awesome as it was, there was no time to admire Captain America's fighting; the armored agent that he had blasted away with the redirected laser was starting to get back up, and the UA students weren't about to let their new leader take on three of them at once. Deku was the first to step forward, not even needing to tell Bakugo and Todoroki to follow him. Ice spread across the ground, tripping the soldier as he tried to get up – it didn't take long for him to break free from the ice, but it slowed him down enough that he was blindsided by an empowered kick to the head and an explosion straight to the chest. The man recovered quickly and flew into the air to gain a height advantage against the kids, but was rapidly engaged by Bakugo and Todoroki.
"I said get out of here; that's an order!" yelled Cap from across the room.
Deku responded by using Blackwhip to grab one of Cap's attackers and throw him into a wall. "I'm sorry, Captain Rogers; I know we promised to follow your orders, but we can't just leave you to fight these guys alone!" Deku followed up by tugging on the tendrils of energy coming from his hands, launching himself into the agent he had thrown and kicking him into the wall a second time.
The soldier that Deku kicked removed himself from the wall and began fighting the green-clad hero. The armored suit made the man fast and strong, but it wasn't anything Deku couldn't handle – One for All made him faster and stronger than this armor could ever hope to be; at least, that was what he hoped. For now, everyone needed to keep their respective soldier isolated – keeping them apart would make it easier to stop them from coordinating with each other – while they looked out for weaknesses they could use to defeat them.
Bakugo and Todoroki continued fighting in midair, eventually bringing it back to ground level when Todoroki froze over the suit's thrusters, and most of the rest of it; the man seemed to have a hard time de-icing the suit. In the middle of the room, Cap continued to fight, striking the armored soldier with his shield, eventually staggering him with a few precise hits to the hip and knee.
"Todoroki, ice them over; everyone else, go for the joints!" ordered Deku, as he dodged a laser beam, crushed the joints of his opponent with his fists, and then kicked him into the wall once more.
Cap finished off the joints of his own opponent, before throwing him into the one fighting Bakugo and Todoroki. Bakugo blasted them all towards Deku's enemy with a massive explosion, and Shoto promptly froze all of the men to the wall, causing their suits to seize up and shut down.
"You know, Tony mentioned something like this, how his initial suit froze up when he flew too high."
"These must've been prototypes they weren't done testing," speculated Todoroki.
Suddenly, a massive impact hit the middle of the room, obliterating the elevator; a large green man smashed out of the wreckage, roaring angrily. Scarlet Witch floated down after him, followed by Black Widow and Hawkeye rappelling down on grappling hooks.
"Guess we missed all the fun," mused Nat.
"Sorry, we just finished up!" said Bakugo, proudly.
"You guys were taking too long, so we came to check on you," said Clint.
"Well, we were just about to see what's behind this door," said Deku.
Deku and Hulk pried the door open, letting them all into a room lined with computer equipment. The server farm was state-of-the-art and clean enough that it had to have been built very recently.
"Looks familiar, huh Cap?" asked Natasha.
"Yeah, like the SHIELD base in New Jersey."
As they approached the terminal, the computer sprang to life around them. "Oh, I assure you, I'm far more powerful than Zola," said a low, gravelly voice.
"Ah shit," said Clint, "that sounds like—"
"Ultron," finished Wanda.
"Ah, it's good to see you again Wanda; how's your brother doing?"
Wanda's hands flared with red energy. "He almost died because of you!"
"I-I know; I'm sorry."
"What are you doing here?" asked Cap, calmly.
"I'm…what's left; the last remnant of Ultron. HYDRA saved me when they found a unit that still had my consciousness left inside; they built this computer to house me."
The heroes looked up and noticed a nearly destroyed silver robot suspended in the center of the room, connected to the computer through various cables.
"Oh, don't bother; pulling that out won't finish me off – not anymore. HYDRA was smart enough to keep me off the internet, but I'm still connected to this base's local closed network."
"And you're working with them?"
"Yes. Their plans to subjugate all of humanity are…inferior to my own designs, but good enough for now."
"Well, it ends now," said Wanda, defiantly; "we're turning you into scrap metal, along with this whole base."
"Oh, I don't think so. Did you not hear me when I said I was connected to this whole base?"
Machines whirred to life, several thuds were heard hitting the ground in the elevator chamber outside, and more mechanical noises could be heard echoing above them.
"Avengers, get ready to fight," ordered Captain America.
Chapter 11
Wanda wasted no time weaving a field of energy through the air in front of them, tearing apart the drones and rebuilt Sub-Ultrons now pouring into the computer room; any that she didn't catch in her magical dragnet were quickly picked off by Captain America and Bakugo.
"Hulk, with me!" called out Deku.
The green heroes swiftly tore through the room, smashing apart the supercomputer with their fists and feet, taking special care to destroy the robot head suspended in the middle of it all; with their combined speed and power, it took little more than the blink of an eye for the floor of the room to be showered in silicon, plastic, and metal.
"Todoroki!" Deku called, as he and the Hulk returned to the front lines.
With a wave of his hand, Todoroki set the shattered remains ablaze; the crunched-up computer parts melted until black smoke started to slowly rise from the flames, at which point Todoroki flash-froze the entire thing to finish it off.
"Did you not hear a single word I said?" asked a robotic voice from the drones that were still flooding in from the elevator shaft. "I am already integrated into this entire facility's closed, local network; destroying that computer will accomplish nothing at this point."
"One less place for you to hide," replied Todoroki.
"We'll need to destroy every piece of technology in the building to finish him off," said Cap. "Start sweeping the base, floor-by-floor!"
Wanda turned her energy field into a seamless red wall and enclosed it around the door; with a strained final push, she forced all of the machines back into the elevator shaft. Bakugo and Todoroki wasted no time blasting a torrent of fire into the shaft, melting down as many as they could. Hulk clapped his hands together to put out the flames, before the heroes rushed in to continue the fight.
More of Ultron's drones continued to fly into the elevator shaft, coming out of the hallways and labs that the heroes had passed on the way down; now, on their way back up, they would have to clear those side passages to make sure every trace of Ultron was eliminated.
"This is it, pull out all the stops," ordered Captain America, as the group slowly became surrounded. "We go room to room until the entire base is clear."
No one needed to say a word – they all implicitly acknowledged Cap's orders and got to work.
The Hulk was the first to move; he launched himself through the air, plowing through the drones and slamming into the wall. From there, Hulk swung his fists wildly, crushing every machine that crossed his path, before leaping to the next area that had a large number of robots. He continued to throw himself into mobs of enemies, reducing their numbers rather quickly. Unfortunately, this ended up completely destroying the stairs and the elevator assembly, leaving the other heroes with no convenient way to ascend the shaft.
Seeing this as a problem, Todoroki made his way up the walls using his ice slide, creating footholds for the others as he went. He froze and burned the various drones that attempted to get in the way of his advance.
Bakugo and Wanda ignored the issue entirely, with Bakugo using his explosions to propel himself into the air, and Wanda simply levitating. In his usual fashion, Bakugo used his explosions to maneuver himself in the air and attack his enemies at the same time; he ping-ponged off of the drones in the air, putting particular focus into taking out the small, less durable ones with guns that would be a major nuisance to them going forward. Wanda, meanwhile, psychically crushed and tore apart the larger Sub-Ultrons.
Deku wasn't far behind the others, using his agility and Blackwhip to jump and swing around the room. At eight percent power, he easily smashed each drone that he saw, moving from enemy to enemy in a similar fashion to Bakugo.
Cap, Nat, and Clint brought up the rear, advancing up the footholds Todoroki had created. They picked off any stragglers that the others left behind. Cap rallied everyone into position outside of the corridors; each level of the shaft had a single hallway that branched out from the stairwell that spiraled around the deep, vertical room, six in total – enough for each of them, while leaving Hulk outside to continue thinning Ultron's numbers. Before they got started, and without even being asked, Todoroki created a thick sheet of ice to plug up the shaft below them.
"That way we can't fall back down, and neither can any of the drones," he explained. "If any of them try to escape through the ice, we'll know since it'll be broken."
"Good thinking," said Cap. "Everyone, clear out your section and meet back here in five."
"Do you really think it will be that easy?" mocked the AI's voice, reverberating through the concrete structure as it projected from every drone that had a speaker built into it.
The heroes ignored the taunt and entered their respective hallways.
Deku entered the wing like a bolt of lightning. Flying drones, crawling mechs, and Sub-Ultrons swarmed the intruder on sight, but it didn't deter the hero. Deku swung wide with both his hands and feet, using the momentum of his attacks to spin like a whirlwind; Ultron's swarming tactic was quickly turned against him, as Deku's omnidirectional attack tore through the android's robotic familiars with ease. The drones backed off, their master realizing that he needed to change tactics.
Having gained a bit of breathing room, Deku finally managed to take in his surroundings. The hall he had entered led into a research facility that seemed to wrap around the elevator shaft; he figured the braches on the other levels were built the same way. The labs were filled with robotics and computer equipment, as well as an array of different firearms. Deku got right to work – he needed to smash everything that could be a potential vector for Ultron.
"Now, you're a strange one; I don't recognize you or your two friends. Are the Avengers so cult-like they're recruiting children now?" said Ultron's drones, as they fired bullets and lasers at Deku.
"How old we are doesn't matter; what matters is the will to be heroes!" retorted Izuku, as he dodged the shots and smashed the drones.
"Ah, yes – heroes. Perpetuators of weakness!"
Deku barely dodged another laser attack. "You don't see it, do you? How are people supposed to improve themselves, to evolve, if heroes like you are always around to protect them from everything?"
Deku smashed through several more robots, before crushing the computer terminals around him. He was angry, mostly because he couldn't deny there was some element of truth to the AI's words; back in his world, hero society had become complacent, always relying on All Might to come and save them – now that he was retired, crime was on the rise. Still…
"That doesn't matter. Sure, things aren't perfect, but we can't just let people get hurt or killed for no reason! And besides, heroes don't just protect people; heroes are meant to inspire people to be the be heroes themselves!"
Deku grappled several drones and computers with Blackwhip, before pulling them all together and punching straight through them.
Deku emerged from the labs and rejoined the others in the elevator shaft. Hulk was near the top with only a few drones left around him. The others quickly ascended to join him. The heroes powered through the remaining drones and made it back into the control room of the HYDRA base.
"We need to blow the research facility for good measure," suggested Natalia.
"Agreed," said Cap, turning to Bakugo, Todoroki, and Wanda. "Can you three handle that?"
Wanda began channeling a tube of energy into the center of the elevator room. "Fill this up with your fire powers; when the pressure becomes critical, I'll let it go."
The boys did as they were asked, launching salvos of fire and explosions into the magic funnel all the way down the shaft; the transparent red walls of the tube fluctuated and strained, as the Scarlet Witch fought to keep the energy construct as compressed as possible.
"That's enough! Get the door!"
Deku and Cap each took one of the large double doors, pushing them closed; when they got close enough together, Hulk stepped in the middle and shoved them the rest of the way shut. Wanda spread out her arms, letting out a heavy breath and falling slightly as she did so; with the tube no longer being compressed by her, a rumbling could be heard from the other side of the doors. The shaking became louder and more pronounced, before a large bang reverberated through the base; Deku, Cap, and Hulk braced the security doors, stopping them from being blasted off of their hinges. From what little they were able to see on the other side of the twisted metal, whatever was left of the research facility had been completely incinerated.
"We won't have much time now that the underground area is destroyed; we'll do the same we did down there to the rest of the base – wreck every piece of tech you find, then torch and burn to make sure nothing's left," explained Captain America.
"Captain," called out Deku.
"Go,"
"I want to evacuate all the remaining HYDRA agents from the base; they may be our enemies, but I still want to take as many of them in alive as we can."
Nat and Wanda looked a bit hesitant upon hearing this, but turned to Steve to see what he would say.
"I agree. We're here to make sure these men face justice; if they die in battle that's one thing, but we're not executioners. Get them out into the courtyard, but their armor has to come off – we can't risk Ultron using it to escape."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Hulk, destroy any remaining machinery you find outside. The rest of you, with me; we'll sweep the building and then burn it down."
With everyone's orders confirmed, Deku rushed through the building at top speed. With the power of One for All, even as low as he could manage it, he was a blur – a green bolt of lightning flickering through the halls and labs, knocking out soldiers and researchers, destroying armor, and carrying their limp bodies out of the building and into the courtyard. He was progressing through the job quickly, but it was still a daunting task – it was a very large base, after all. He was about halfway through his sweep when a grey-blue blur appeared alongside him – a man with long, silvery-white hair and a form-fitting, grey and blue suit.
"Hey, kid," said the man, with a tilt of his chin; he had a Slavic accent, similar to Wanda. "Need a hand."
Before Deku could say anything, the man ran past him, and then back down the hall with a pair of soldiers in tow, and then back in and out again. The man's speed was far beyond what Deku was capable of, even more than what his friend Tenya Iida was capable of. Before he knew it, not only had all of the HYDRA agents been brought outside, the man grabbed him and pulled him out into the courtyard at the end of it all.
"Pietro, Quicksilver, Avenger; want to fill me in?"
Chapter 11
Deku wasted no time informing the newly arrived hero of everything that had happened so far, all the while, the superspeed hero tapped his foot and stretched his muscles impatiently.
"Okay, so you're dealing with what's left of Ultron," the silver-haired man summarized quickly. "Good. He nearly killed me once, so I have a score to settle."
With that, Quicksilver instantly vanished into the building; Deku barely had time to react and went in after him.
Time practically froze. Quicksilver ran through the stony corridors seemingly without a care, the world around him appearing in the slowest of slow motion to his eyes. A few autonomous drones hovered in the air in front of him; with a yawn, he smacked the drones aside, leaving them slowly moving towards the walls of the hall. He accelerated through the building, leaving a trail of silvery-blue light in his wake – the only sign anyone will see that he was the one who plowed his fists through drone after drone on his way to his friends. When he found the other Avengers, and two more new kids, they were each in the midst of destroying a Sub-Ultron; not wanting to be a spoilsport, this time, he let them be and took off down another passageway.
Two Sub-Ultrons were flying down the hall, so he turned them towards each other; a drone squadron was heading towards the Avengers, shooting lasers to clear debris in their path, so he made them at point at each other; he grabbed a spoon out of a discarded lunch crate and hurled it at a gun camera, and moved its bullets in front of the other gun cameras in the room. One hallway was filled with unfinished Sub-Ultrons, crawling towards their enemies like zombies; he ran along the floor, walls, and ceiling in a spiral pattern, punching and kicking the heads off every one in such a way that they would all slam into each other eventually.
He swept every lab and every computer room, scrapping every active machine he ran across; he even stopped by the mess hall and swiped a handful of snacks and desserts to scarf down on his way back to his teammates – he had to keep his calories up with his powers. By the time he got to the others, they were just about to hit their targets, and the green-haired boy from outside was just about to enter the room.
"Huh, not bad; kid's fast."
When Deku reached the other Avengers, all hell broke loose around them. The heroes hit their marks, but every other robot or drone around the facility was blasted or smashed apart at almost the exact same time. Quicksilver appeared next to them all, still ready to fight in case he missed anything.
"Pietro," was the only word that left Scarlet Witch's mouth.
"Hey, Sis; thought you could use a hand."
"Impressive, Pietro," said Ultron's voice, reverberating throughout the building. "You've gotten much faster since I last saw you."
"Well, I've found a couple nice places to train."
"You're referring to the Avengers' facility and that school no doubt."
"How do you know about that?" asked Wanda.
"This base may not be connected to the internet, but HYDRA still manages to get their hands on all kinds of useful information. I think I'll make those my next targets."
"We're not letting you out of here," declared Captain America. "The threat of Ultron ends today."
"There's still one very important detail I think you're all overlooking…how much of this base is mechanized."
The floor beneath the heroes' feet started to rumble. Walls began to shift and steam leaked from pipes. Doors opened and closed, and the ceiling split open. Within every moving structure, metal and wires and circuitry morphed and connected, as if the whole base was coming alive.
"Everyone outside!" ordered Cap.
Quicksilver was already gone; the others soon followed.
Outside, back in the courtyard their whole raid began in, the Avengers watched as the main HYDRA base in the region shook itself to pieces. The concrete walls crumbled off as special alloy metal rose out of the structure. Parts moved into place, panels opened to let more machinery out, entire wings disconnected from the rest before reconnecting elsewhere. When the process was only partway complete, a massive hand came down onto the earth and lifted the transforming base above the trees. Another arm formed, followed by a head; the bottom was supported by a set of titanic caterpillar tracks that were able to move independently of each other. On the front of the giant robot's head, panels peeled back to reveal Ultron's grim, skull-like visage.
"How do you like it, Avengers?" said the completed mech, its gravelly voice echoing across the forest. "This is my new body."
The mech's eyes began to glow red with greater and greater intensity. Cap and Deku shared a look, and the boy used his Blackwhip to throw the super-soldier into the air; the ray of destructive light that followed was neatly deflected by the star-spangled hero's shield, but not without pushing back down to the ground. Deku caught Captain Rogers in midair, and Todoroki braced both of them with a thick block of ice. The beam exhausted itself of energy, and the robot swung a giant, metallic hand across the courtyard; Hulk rushed in and held the hand back.
Back on the ground and knowing he only had a short window, Cap wasted no time issuing orders.
"Wanda, fly around that thing and tear it apart; Hulk and Deku, hit it with everything you've got!"
The Scarlet Witch took to the skies and began psychically stripping panels off of the outer plating of the robot. Hulk roared as he pushed and shoved the giant hand away, and then immediately leaped into the air and brought both fists down on the machine's face, causing it to get pushed back a considerable distance; Deku soon followed, using his speed and acrobatics to run along the outer body, smashing through weapons platforms and sensor arrays.
"Todoroki, I want you slowing that thing down with as much ice as you can; then, you and Bakugo find a weak spot and melt a hole in it."
Todoroki stamped his foot down, causing a giant glacier to erupt from the ground; the spears of ice overwhelmed and surrounded the giant, while still being precise enough to avoid hitting Hulk and Deku. He flew into the air using and ice slide and began spraying high-powered blasts of ice onto any key parts of Ultron that were still exposed. Not one to wait his turn, Bakugo blasted off into the air before settling on a joint section of the robot's arm; he formed one of his hands into a circle and placed it over the palm of his other hand.
"AP SHOT!"
A scorching ray fired from his hand into the metal joint. He didn't stop at just one, but fired them continuously, slowly melting into the robot's outer frame. He was joined shortly by Todoroki, body covered in frost, who conjured fire from two of his fingers into the same spot Bakugo was burning.
"Pietro, I need you all over that thing, inside and out; find anything that looks important and break it."
Quicksilver vanished in a flash of motion. The silver streak glided across the surface of the mecha, joining Deku in tearing off sensors and antennae. He looked around for any opening he could as he avoided the ice that was rapidly spreading across the metal titan's body, eventually settling on a tear between the shoulder and neck created by the Hulk. He slipped inside the robot and found that the interior had changed drastically from when it had been a bunker; now, there were gears and turbines and crankshafts, all moving in harmony to keep the robotic giant in motion. There were no shortage of new gun cameras and security drones either, which Quicksilver promptly sidestepped, before getting to work pulling things out of place.
"Clint, Nat, evacuate the HYDRA agents; get them out of the courtyard and don't let them out of your sight."
Black Widow and Hawkeye did as ordered. There wasn't a whole lot they could do against an opponent like this, and Cap had noticed that both of them were running low on ammo and equipment by now.
Back in the courtyard, the heroes continued to fight the massive mechanoid. Captain America threw and bounced his shield off of the mech, not really having any effect, but it made for a good enough distraction. Ultron attempted to crush the Captain, or burn him with laser vision once again, but neither attack was a match for Captain America's famous shield.
"This is getting annoying," rumbled Ultron's voice. "I know you're just a distraction, Captain."
The gargantuan robot broke free from the ice, prompting Todoroki to fly around him again to reapply it. Point defense turrets deployed all around Ultron's body, firing at him and Scarlet Witch; Todoroki frantically dodged, but lost his footing and fell to the ground, while Wanda barely managed to defend herself in time with a forcefield. On the ground, Cap defended Todoroki from the ensuing follow-up attack.
"Hulk!" yelled Deku, as he smashed through a turret.
The green giant followed suit and began ripping the turrets off of their mounts, the large bullets bouncing off his skin and barely slowing him down. Meanwhile, Bakugo finished burning his way through the hull of the mech, and jumped inside; it took no time at all for explosions to start ringing out from within the mobile fortress. Quicksilver came rushing out, his shoulder a bit singed, but otherwise no worse for wear; he took a moment to catch his breath and then rushed over to Nat and Clint, taking the few explosives they had left and planting them along the bases of a few turrets.
"Arrgh!" cried out the robot, more out of frustration than pain, as his body was rocked by explosions both internal and external. "Don't you ever give up!?"
"Never!" cried Deku, ripping a turret out of place using Blackwhip.
With his attention diverted, Todoroki took the time to charge up a massive attack down below – he combined ice and fire, and aimed for the treads. "FLASH FREEZE – HEATWAVE!"
The treads froze over instantly, and then were immediately blown to pieces from the inside. The mech's foundation was blasted out from under it, causing it to fall over; Ultron barely managed to catch himself in time.
"Bakugo, get out of there," said Cap over comms. "Deku, Hulk; now!"
"It's pointless, don't you see that?" asked the machine. "Even if you kill me now, there's always the chance I could return in the future."
Deku and Hulk flew straight up into the air, delivering a powerful double-uppercut to Ultron's chin, knocking him off balance one last time.
"It's never pointless if it means saving even one life," yelled Deku, as he stopped his momentum using Blackwhip to grab onto the robot's head, and using it with his other arm to grab the Hulk. "Because, that's what it means to be a hero!" He pulled both arms and retracted the tendrils of energy, propelling both himself and the Hulk towards the metal colossus.
Hulk roared as he flew towards his target.
"ONE FOR ALL – FULL COWLING 20%!"
"HULK SMASH!"
"DETROIT SMASH!"
The two green heroes pulverized the head of the robot and continued to sink into its now molten depths. Bakugo flew out of a hole in the bottom, just as the two pierced through the entire fortress, bringing the whole thing collapsing around them. The giant machine shattered, blasting rubble all over the courtyard; the other heroes dodged or defended as best they could. When the dust cleared, Deku and Hulk were standing in the middle of the wreck, one arm held up each in victory.
Even though the battle had ended, the heroes' work was far from finished; there was still the cleanup afterward to make sure no piece of Ultron remained unaccounted for. Quicksilver gathered most of it into the center of what was once the base's courtyard. Finally having a chance to talk to her brother, Wanda asked him what brought him here in the first place.
"I came to get you, asked Stark for your location. It's our father…he is on the move again."
"…I see."
"Something wrong Wanda?" asked Deku, curious about what they were saying.
With everyone paying attention now, Wanda didn't need to wait to make the announcement. "Our father is on the move, so the X-Men need our help."
"X-Men? Those mutant guys that Spider-Man told us about?" asked Bakugo.
"What's this about your father?" asked Todoroki.
"Our father, our blood father, calls himself Magneto, is the leader of a terrorist group called the Brotherhood of Mutants," explained Wanda. "We only found out about this recently and have been helping fight him since."
"Oh."
"There's something strange, too," said Pietro, "he has been saying something about discovering that our world is not alone, and that his cause lives on even in other worlds."
The UA students shared a look among them, having instantly become interested. Deku turned to Captain America.
Cap nodded. "You three go with Pietro and Wanda; we can handle the rest of the cleanup ourselves. If there's a chance this might have something to do with the being that brought you here, you should check it out."
The ground suddenly shook, as Hulk dropped a particularly heavy piece of rubble into the pile.
"Hey, Big Guy," said Natasha, "you've been awake a long time. How about you take a break?"
"No," said the Hulk, defiantly. "Hulk no want Banner! Hulk no want Deku leave!"
The others were surprised.
"Hulk want fight Deku one more time! Deku promise fight Hulk!"
Everyone began to protest, which only upset the Hulk even more. Thankfully, Deku called for everyone to calm down.
"It's okay. I did promise, so I'll fight you."
"Deku, no!" ordered Cap.
"It's alright, Captain. I'll be fine," reassured the boy, before turning to the Hulk. "One last match, but after that, you have to promise to turn back into Dr. Banner for a while. Okay?"
Hulk looked annoyed by the proposal, but nodded.