Squirrel Girl joined the chase just then, bolting out of a nearby alley. With one great leap, she launched herself at the back of the truck, landing on the rear board. For a second, Mage thought that she was going to tumble off and readied himself to cast a cushioning spell. Thankfully, though, it wasn't needed as she grabbed a hold of a bar beside the truck's rear roller door.
Using her considerable strength, Squirrel Girl broke the lock and yanked up the rear door, revealing the sacks piled in the back. One by one, Squirrel Girl tossed them out, only to have Spider-man grab each one with a web-line and string them up behind them like a line of strange looking piñatas.
Daredevil, meanwhile, had climbed over the top of the truck before swinging himself down and through one of the windows. A swish and flick of Mage's wand caught the first robber as he was tossed from the truck. When no others emerged, Mage sped up.
Suddenly, the truck served violently, changing from heading straight down the road to barrelling towards a brick wall.
Mage's wand blurred as he sent spell after spell to avoid the inevitable crash that would likely kill his partner as well as the remaining bank robbers.
An arresto momentum hit the truck slowing it. The asphalt was transfigured into deep sand slowing it even more and the brick wall became elasticised rubber. Mage watched, breathless, as his spells did their work, bringing the truck to a halt just after bouncing back from the gentle tap against the no-longer brick wall.
"Great work, guys," Mage said as he came in for a landing, running the last few steps with his broom out in one hand.
Daredevil looked back at the truck that he'd just leapt from to see Spider-man webbing the driver's doors in place and blocking the windows.
"Don't bother, they're out cold and won't be waking for quite a while," he said.
"Never hurts to be too careful," Spider-man called back, continuing with his job.
"I gotta do more running," Squirrel Girl panted as she joined the three men, having jumped off the back once all of the bags of cash had been tossed out. "Keeping up with a speeding truck isn't easy."
Mage's response was interrupted by the sound of his phone going off. Reaching into one of the pockets on his belt, he pulled it out and snapped it open.
"Hello?" he said.
"Sparrowhawk," Tony's said. "Glad you finally answered. I've been trying to get you for the past ten minutes."
"I know," Mage replied and he did, having heard it ringing during the chase. "I was busy. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Yeah. Get over to the Tower as soon as you can," Tony replied. "We're headed to Washington, Steve and Nat need some backup."
Mage's eyes snapped to each of his partners.
"I'm with Daredevil, Spider-man and Squirrel Girl. Do you want me to bring them as well?" he asked.
"No!" Tony replied quickly. "Pepper'd kill me if you brought the twerps. And it won't hurt to have Matt there keeping an eye on them. The rest of us should be enough."
"I take it something's happened? Are Steve and Nat alright?" Mage asked.
"Yeah, they're good. I'll fill you in when you get here," Tony replied.
"I'm on my way," Mage assured him, closing the phone.
"Something wrong?" Daredevil asked, his head cocked slightly towards Mage.
Mage had no illusions that the Devil hadn't heard the entire conversation.
"Maybe," he temporised. "Looks like I'm off on some kind of mission. You got things here?"
"We're good," Daredevil assured him.
With a nod of thanks, Mage firmly grasped his broom and twisted, vanishing with the smallest of cracks.
ooo00ooo
Bruce rushed onto the hanger deck of Avengers Tower, apologies already on his lips.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "You wouldn't believe the amount of traffic there is between here and Jennifer's new apartment in Hell's Kitchen, even at this time of night."
"And how is our favourite giant green girl?" Tony asked from the ramp to the quinjet.
"Currently not green," Bruce frowned. "And enjoying her new job. She and Karen Page seem to have hit it off pretty well, that's how Jenn got her new apartment – one of the tenants down the hall from Karen moved out and she recommended that Jenn take it."
"It is good that she is making new friends," Thor stated. "Leaving the place one knows and working to fit in somewhere new is hard."
Bruce nodded in agreement.
"Thanks for leaving Jennifer out of this," Bruce said to Tony. "Whatever this happens to be."
"Yeah, about that," Tony said as serious as Bruce had ever heard him. "Nat and Steve have uncovered evidence that HYDRA has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. Actually, they've been doing it for the past seventy years."
"HYDRA?" Bruce asked, stunned.
"Seventy years?" Harry echoed. "And no one noticed?"
"Seems that way," Tony replied.
"Then how did Romanoff and Rogers find out?" Thor asked.
"Not sure," Tony replied. "Something to do with an encrypted drive that Fury gave them."
"Fury's involved?" Harry asked.
"Seems he worked something out. My guess is that's what got him killed," Tony replied. "Steve and Nat say that HYDRA's got something big in the works. They're working on finding out what it is and then they want to take down HYDRA once and for all."
"But if HYDRA are inside S.H.I.E.L.D. that would mean taking on the biggest spy agency in the world," Bruce pointed out.
"Thus, why they called for backup," Tony stated.
"It is never good to take on an enemy too large without allies," Thor nodded gravely.
"Where are we meeting them?" Bruce asked.
"They're headed to DC; Jarvis is keeping on eye on Nat's phone's coordinates," Tony replied.
"The Triskelion," Bruce nodded. "It is the centre of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"That's my guess, too," Tony agreed.
"Then let's move," Harry said, striding into the quinjet.
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