Jump 13: The Last Avenger - Episode 4: Through Torment and Attacks

With A.I.M. undergoing reconstruction of its leadership, there were some hardships we had to face. Namely, the scientist didn’t want to believe in magic and wouldn’t willingly accept me as leader. I would have thought that they’d be more upset that I took out their leader, but they really just wanted to get back to advancing science. One of the freed rebels, Frida Hill, was a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the current leader of New York’s resistance. She offered to step in as acting leader, and promised to differ to me or Alice on important matters. I found no reason to turn her away, and with her in command A.I.M. became my primary resource in cleaning up North America. It was too risky to try and rebuild from the ashes just yet, so we dedicated our efforts to making smaller relief shelters, and training facilities for those willing to fight alongside us.

A.I.M.’s technology proved extremely useful in subduing rogue villains and eventually capturing the A.I.M. forces that wouldn’t assimilate to our cause (namely the U-Foes). Tapping into their satellites, the world was much easier to view and get a grasp of events from. Talking it over with Alice, we decided that Ultron, Apocalypse, the Sentinels and Kree could wait. Our main focus would be stopping Hydra before they could mount a surprise offensive on us themselves. Any spare forces would be preoccupied with searching for Ultron before he found a way to blow up the planet.

In a few short weeks everyone working with us had settled in to a daily routine, and it was time to stage our offensive against Hydra. There were a lot of Hydra bases that A.I.M. had on file, but more that they could only speculate about the existence of. Frida assembled a team of the best agents we had suited for the missions we had planned and it wasn’t long before they were outfitted with the latest A.I.M. technology and sent off. Smaller Hydra bases were their primary concern, as I wanted as few casualties as possible with our limited numbers. I personally went to the larger ones with Leo and Simon. Alice would stay behind the keep watch over New York and monitor the rest of the world.

During a raid on one of the larger Hydra bases, I learned about a top secret project they were working by “hacking” into their database. Hydra had been suspicious of A.I.M. from the beginning, and hid the fact that they were experimenting with something called “Pym Particles” a secret. Apparently, after Hank Pym died at the hands of his creation Ultron, there wasn’t anyone left that could understand just how they worked… Except his son. Taken and held against his will, he had any remnants of Pym’s research directly inserted into his brain and countless experiments done to stimulate his brain’s development. I felt sorry for the kid, but knew that the only way to save him would be taking most of Hydra down.

Things never went as smoothly as I would have liked. We had to constantly check for Hydra spies whenever anyone came back, and nearly lost one of our heli-carriers to sabotage. The converted A.I.M. personnel were concerned that Hydra would stage an all-out attack on us, and it was only through some… questionable methods Alice devised that they allowed us to assuage their worries. I knew time was running short, so we gathered all the intel we were able to secure from missions and interrogations. Discerning where one of their main strongholds was located took some deciphering, guesswork and a bit of luck, but we got a lock on the location. Alice wasn’t able to project her astral form their, which all but confirmed that something big was there. Whether or not it was Hydra remained to be seen, but it was almost guaranteed.

“So how are we going to get there? The last mission you all went on we had to extract you from the next continent because they destroyed your jets.”

“I guess we could fly, but that’s just as noticeable isn’t it?”

“Not to mention how much energy that would take. I don’t know if I can get to Europe from hear in one sitting.”

“We know where we’re going right?”

“Of course. We spent all that time working things out I’d be shocked if we didn’t.”

“As long as I have the coordinates, and know what direction it’s in, I can teleport us there.”

“Wow, that’s pretty useful.”

“Alright, but how many people can you take with you?”

“I honestly have no idea. So we’re keeping this operation small.”

“That’s not what we discussed with Frida earlier. Who knows what type of hidden weapons they’ll have there to use on us?”

“Haven’t you noticed how much better prepared the bases we attack have been? There’s someone leaking information back to Hydra.”

“Are you thinking it might be Frida?”

“No, she’s likely aware of it too honestly. So I doubt she’ll expect us to do nothing about it. We leave tonight, just the four of us. We’ll contact the others once we’ve got a good handle on the situation.”

“Whoa, hold on there. Did you just up and forget about my time limit? This mission is suicide for me.”

“I’ve worked some of the scientists to the bone to fix that actually. Go find George, he should have something for you to keep you stabilized.”

“Why do you want me to come along? There are plenty of soldiers that you could take.”

“I trust the three of you the most. And besides, you’ll be more useful fighting than trying to see past their magical defenses.”

“Fine, fine. That’s as fair a point as any. I’ll meditate until we depart. They’ll be a portal to the Sanctum Sanctorum if you need me or want some tea.”

“Tonight then. I’ll see you all later.”

Alice and Simon both left to accomplish their respective tasks.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Take a walk and make some last minute checks around the bases.”

“Well I don’t want to be the only one without something to do, so I’ll join you.”

With that said, we checked the goings-on around the facilities before setting off. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and the projects the scientists had be assigned were progressing according to schedule. Leo and I talked about trivial things as we passed the time before the mission. He and Alice remind me so much of the one’s I know, but… they’re so different too. Burdened with pasts tragic in nature, and granted legacies to fulfill. Something I never imagined to hear from either of them is the respect and love they hold for their deceased parents. It’s a side I haven’t had the chance to see in my own companions due to the circumstances we’ve been in.

Talk of melancholic thoughts aside, once the designated time had arrived we all gathered together again. Simon had the suit designed to hold his energy in place and prevent him from dissipating. Black with red boots, and a red “W” across his chest to show the world that he was Wonder Man.

“I’m still not convinced this plan is very smart.”

“It’ll certainly catch them by surprise though. Only idiots would send four people to a heavily guarded Hydra base.”

“Yeah, and we must be a bunch of idiots for agreeing to it.”

“Thank you for putting your faith in me. Like with the A.I.M. base, if we can free prisoners that will fight for our cause that’s a top priority. Our main goal is to disrupt whatever they’re doing on the base and take all the information we can back.”

“Right.”

We all joined hands as I concentrated on the location we had, focusing on displacing my entire being and the other’s into this new area. I closed my eyes, and soon felt the rush of energy leaving my body. It was a sign that we had definitely teleported somewhere else. Opening my eyes I found that we were not too far off from a large castle in the middle of a jungle. Leo quickly pulled my head down to better hide from the patrolling Hydra soldiers.

“Looks like this is the place.”

“It’s not as heavily guarded as I would have thought.”

“Probably because they don’t expect anyone to find this place and get here the way we just did.”

“I sense magic… could it be? No, that type of magic should only be present if…”

“What is it Alice?”

“I’d tell you what I think it is but… it could serve to only put you all in more danger.”

“Well that’s not cryptic at all. Nothing I’m going to worry about. Nope, not at all.”

“I apologize but…I can say no more. Forgive my outburst. We have a castle to infiltrate, yes? No doubt there’ll be tight security everywhere.”

“So what’s our plan? Making a diversion probably isn’t the best thing to do.”

“We sneak in of course. Follow my lead.”

I lead them through the jungle until we reached a point closer enough to the castle to make a dash for it. I spotted two guards talking to each other while they passed patrol routes and teleported to the both of them. In their split second of confusion I was able to grab both of their heads and delivered enough voltage to knock them unconscious. Taking them back to our hiding spot, I took one of their communicators and put a light field of electricity around the mic before speaking into it.

“This is patrol number 4567, do you copy command?”

What they heard on the other end was, “This is…..do you copy command?”

“Patrol unit Sigma-7, check the condition of your communicator. We can barely understand you.” Is the response I got back.

“Requesting a change of equipment sir. Permission to alter the shift to receive a new communicator.”

What I allowed on the other end: “Request….equipment….new communicator.”

“Unit 7-Sigma, return to the base to receive a new communicator. Unit 5-Epsilon shall cover your shift until you return.” They cut off communication after that.

After successfully pulling off my ruse, I looked up to see Leo had stripped one of the Hydra soldiers I brought back and donned his uniform.

“Think I look the part?”

“If you keep your mouth shut it’ll almost look convincing.”

“The door’s opening. Leo, we’re you’re prisoners if anyone asks.”

“How are you guys going to look captured?”

To answer his question, I tied our hands back with wind magic arrows infused with electricity to make them glow.

“I’ll take them off when we need to fight. Let’s move.”

Leo procured a gun from one of the unconscious soldiers and raised it at us. We took the queue and began walking into the castle. There were much more Hydra personnel inside than out, something I attributed to their confidence at not being found. We were given stares of contempt by the standard Hydra grunts, but nothing more. Things were tense, especially when an officer approached us.

“Patrol Unit Delta-4, where do you think you’re taking this prisoners?”

“To the prisons, sir?”

“Where is your superior, Unit Sigma-7?”

“He was… knocked unconscious…. By these three here. I apprehended them when they didn’t notice I was there sir.”

“This is why I hate new recruits. First of all, the prisons are that way, you’re heading to the main hall, and I don’t think the Red Skull, nor Baron Zeemo wanted to interrogate fresh prisoners today.”

“My apologies sir.”

“Save it for prison duty. You’re to take over for the current warden until further notice.”

“Yes sir!”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Ah, right. Heil Hydra!”

“The people we allow to pass the exams…”

As the officer walked away Leo breathed a sigh of relief and led us towards the prisons. After securing us in cells, he took over for the current warden and I released our bonds. There was only one other prisoner… or what used to be a prisoner anyway. Clad in a yellow mask, a green martial arts gi held together with a yellow sash and yellow boots and gloves I wasn’t able to identify who this person was. The mask obscured his face enough to conceal his identity, but something about the way he looked was familiar.

“You almost got us caught, hot head.”

“I’d like to see you do better magician.”

“Both of you knock it off. The walls likely have ears, meaning we don’t have a lot of time. Alice, can you use astral projection inside here?”

“I’ll try…. Yes, it seems I’m able to from inside. Whatever blocked me out before must only prevent things from the outside.”

“Good. Have a look around. Can you cover the castle in three minutes?”

“If I only focus on remembering the important areas, I can do it in two.”

“Then do it. We need to know what we’re dealing with here before we start attacking. Simon, how are you holding up?”

“Thanks to this suit I honestly haven’t felt this good in a long time. Can’t say the same for my nerves though.”

“Don’t sweat it. King found a way to take down A.I.M. in a single day. It shouldn’t be too hard for us to stop Hydra’s big top secret plan.”

“Let’s hope you’re optimism isn’t misplaced.”

When Alice was through surveying the castle, she looked noticeably shaken.

“We have to save him.”

“Save who?”

“Pym’s son. They’re using… doing… we have to get him out of here and destroy Hydra’s research.”

“Gonna tell us why?”

“It’s the same as before… you’re safer not knowing. King, I’ll show you where he is, teleport us there now.”

“If you’re this worried about him it must be important. We’ve got nothing else to go off us anyway. Maybe he can give us some info.”

“Alright Alice, show me where he is.”

Leo released the locks on our cells and we gathered around. Alice put her hands on my temples and I felt her consciousness enter my own. She deposited the memory of where the boy was kept and I immediately understood why we needed to hurry. Taking hold of everyone we left the prison cells and arrived in a big research laboratory. Towards the wall farthest from us, was a large mechanical ring that showed a fantasy world through it. A robot with a screen projecting a man’s face on its chest laughed as it pat a blond boy no older than twelve on the back.

“Excellent work, my dear Sergei. In some aspects you’re even more brilliant than your father was. With this, Hydra is one step closer to world domination. This is cause to celebrate, is it not boy?”

“Yes, Dr. Zola.”

“Come now, you can’t act this way when we present the fruits of our labor to the Red Skull and the others. While they’ll be pleased, you’d do well to stay off of their bad sides.”

“Yes, of course Dr. Zola.”

Hearing the boy speak for a second time confirmed any suspicions that I had upon hearing his name. This was Shock, standing across the room from me. Both him and this Dr. Zola were too engrossed in viewing what was on the other side of the portal to notice us, and Alice wasted no time in blasting the robotic scientist away from Sergei.

“Boy, shut that thing off now!”

“So much for subtlety.”

“I work better directly anyway.”

Not understanding what was going on, Sergei obeyed Alice’s command and turned the portal off.

“You three, destroy it!”

“No, you can’t! Years of research went into that! I’ll-”

Alice blasted him again with magical energy to shut him up and keep the way clear.

“Destroying stuff, I can do. Flame on!”

Leo turned his body into a living fireball and the three of us unleashed our energy at the portal. There was nothing left but the remains of some melted metal. Alice held Zola up with some sort of magic and glared at him.

“Why were you making a portal to Asgard!? That realm is beyond mortal understanding!”

“Only for now, girl. Once Hydra seizes complete control of the Earth, Asgard and the rest of the nine realms shall face the full force of Hydra!”

“Umm…”

“Fools! Can you ever be satisfied with anything?”

The face displayed in the screen merely laughed in response, causing Alice to slam him into a wall. Shock, no, Sergei looked completely confused as he watched this all unfold. He looked at the four of us and came up to me after some thought.

“Umm, what are you doing here?”

“Part of why we’re here is to get you to a safer place.”

“Really!? Did…did my mother escape and send you?”

His eyes were so full of hope that I couldn’t look directly at him after he asked. When I shifted my eyes away from his gaze he already had his answer, and almost looked like he wanted to cry. Despite this, Leo powered down and approached him.

“Sorry kid, but we don’t know where Wasp is yet. We found out that you were here through… other means. But if you come with us you can help find Ultron, and if we find him, we find your mother.”

He took a close look at the four of us again and made his decision by nodding his head at Leo.

“Great. As heartwarming as this is, security is gonna be here any minute. Kid, you need to tell us if there’s anything else Hydra’s working on that we need to shut down before we get out of here.”

“Well… there’s the lab where they had me research Pym Particles. I almost figured out how my father used them. With enough time even the idiots calling themselves scientists here can figure out the rest. And they have these pens with monsters… creatures from beyond the portal. Zola’s been trying to control them to use against the Kree.”

“Aren’t some of Hydra’s leaders here now?”

“All of the actually. They came to see the completed portal before starting mass production for every base.”

“Guess we came at the right time. How are we going to go about this?”

“Sergei, is there anything you can use to fight?”

“I have a prototype replica of my father’s Ant-Man suit, but the way it uses Pym Particles hasn’t been fully tested.”

“Well I assume you’d want to bring that with anyway. Here’s the plan: Alice and Simon, you two go free the beasts from Asgard. Leo will come with me as Sergei leads us to his stuff. Once we meet back up, we’re blowing the castle up.”

“How? Do they have a self-destruct switch lying around somewhere?”

“Not a switch, but a code that you input into the supercomputer in the main hall.”

“How convenient. Do you know the code kid?”

“My name is Sergei, and I can crack it with enough time.”

“Good. I already sent a beacon with our location back to Frida, reinforcements should be on the way. Whatever happens, do not let yourselves get caught. I want the five of us to have tea in the Sanctum after this is all over.”

Sergei gave Alice and Simon directions to the captive beasts and started to lead us to his work area. The second we stepped into a hall Hydra soldiers were firing on us with deadly accuracy. Leo put up a wall of fire to block the more conventional weapons, but I had to cover Sergei, lest he be hit with a laser or something. We ran down corridors, up stairs, and jumped down elevator shafts to avoid the myriad of Hydra operatives obstructing our path. When we finally made it, two figures blocked our path. A bald man, with numerous scars on his face and a monocle over his right eye, and the other, a man clad in a purple hood that covered his entire head and dressed a bit like a medieval noble. The one with the monocle spoke first.

“Sergei, I knew it was only a matter of time before you decide to betray us.”

“Baron Strucker….”

“No need to be so harsh on the boy. It’s not like he didn’t have his uses, even if we did have to use force to bring them out. Now Sergei, if you step aside and let us kill these intruders we may find it in our hearts to… forgive you somewhat.”

“No, I’m done working for Hydra Baron Zemo! I’m leaving and I’m going to go find my mother!”

“Such a pity that’s your answer boy.”

The on called Zemo raised a gun and pointed it at Sergei.

 “That’s just the answer I was hoping to hear.”

As he pulled the trigger I grabbed Sergei and teleported a short distance back. The ray emitted from the gun struck a wall and caused a portion of it to completely disintegrate on contact. Strucker raised his hand wearing some sort of claw like glove and pointed it at Leo. A beam of energy came out of it and Leo shot a wave of fire to meet it head on. The clash of energies resulted in a small explosion, filling the hall with smoke.

I heard the drawing of a sword and quick footsteps coming towards me and pushed Sergei behind me. From the smoke, Zemo was bringing down a saber to cut me. I raised an arm to block it instinctively and saw the sword clash with bone. Zemo wasn’t deterred by this development and pressed on his assault. I consciously made the bone grow as I blocked with is before pulling it from my arm. Armed with something sword-like, I began to place Zemo on the offensive. He was an above average swordsman, but I knew too many more ways to use a sword and before long I had disarmed him. A quick shock to the skull knocked him out.

Leo’s fight with Strucker didn’t go quite as smoothly, but he nevertheless was the one standing on top come the end of it.

“You guys are amazing. The only person that Zemo said could beat him was Captain America. And Baron Strucker is even better than Zemo.”

“It was nothing kid… Just don’t expect me to take on an army right now. That took a lot out of me.”

“Stop calling me kid. I have a name.”

“Sorry, sorry. How about we give you a nickname? Got any ideas?”

“Well the other scientists took to calling me Shock when I was younger because I always shocked myself while I was building things.”

“Doesn’t sound like something you’d want your friends calling you.”

“We’re friends?”

“Sure we are. Or rather, we will be once we get out of here and back to the base.”

“Then call me Shock if you can’t remember Sergei.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, because we’re friends right?”

As the two of them bonded, we were searching through the room the two barons had blocked for Sergei’s things.

“Found them!”

“Man you must really admire your father. That’s almost exactly how the Ant-Man suit looks in old records.”

“I-I thought if I designed it like this I could get the courage to fight back like I think my father would have.”

I was caught off guard when I heard Alice’s voice in my mind.

“King, we’ve gotten to the pens. We just took down Madam Hydra and the Reaper. I don’t think we’ll be able to meet up as easily as we thought. After we free the Asgardian creatures Simon and I are escaping. Initiate the self-destruct sequence as soon as you get the chance.”

“Will do. If you have to, just get as far away as possible. We’ll find a way to extract you.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Alice. Magic telepathy. They’re escaping first. Let’s take this castle down and head home.”

We headed towards the main hall and as I questioned the lack of Hydra personnel we heard from the castle’s internal A.I.:

“Self-destruct sequence initiated. All Hydra agents evacuate the facility or keep any intruders inside. Heil Hydra.”

“Not even going to give us a countdown!?”

“They tell all Hydra agents how long it takes for the base to explode and it’s their job to remember or die in the blast.”

“How long do we have?”

“Under six minutes.”

“Grab my hand. We’re getting out of here then.”

I teleported the three of us outside of the base to see a plethora of Hydra ships taking to the skies. I was going to lament letting them all escape when I saw a familiar pattern in the sky. A.I.M. jets with a S.H.I.E.L.D. touch appeared and began engaging the fleeing Hydra members.

“This is really bad.”

“How? Our backup’s finally arrived.”

“This blast is going to take them and the Hydra agents out too with how big it is. It’s strong enough to turn part of this continent into an island.”

“That’s outrageous. Why would they need that much power?”

Alice and Simon had found us outside, and made their way towards us. Simon was carrying two unconscious people in his arms, a man and a woman, but I didn’t have time to worry about their appearances.

“Alice, I know this is a stretch but-”

“Normally I could manage with extreme effort but… That woman poisoned me with something strong. I’m having a hard time staying conscious right now. If I had another way to draw power than maybe…”

“You told me your magic comes from invoking the power of otherworldly beings with tremendous power right?”

“Yes, but only Agamotto accepts me as the Sorceress Supreme. Even then he doesn’t allow me nearly as much power as he did my father.”

“Could you draw power from a demon king?”

“It’s possible, but the price of such a contract would-”

“Take my power.”

“What?”

“I’m a king of demons, and as such I have a massive reserve of magical power. Make a contract and take my power.”

“But you’re not the same as Agamotto or Dormamu or-”

“Our people are going to die if you don’t find the strength to contain this explosion. Take. My. Power. Now.”

“What if you die?”

“I won’t. Now do it, time is running out.”

Alice’s conflicted look was replaced with one of determination as she raised her hands and started performing some ritual. I assumed it was an abridged version because I suddenly felt an immense amount of power over her actions. I could feel her requesting me to supply her with magic and I allowed it without a thought.

I fell to a knee immediately and grit my teeth to stop myself from screaming. Alice began to falter when she saw this.

“Don’t. Stop.”

She continued to pull the magic from within me and set to creating a barrier to contain the explosion. The easy part was getting it around the entire castle. Once the castle began to explode, I found that continually reinforcing the barrier to hold the explosion back was the true test. I collapsed to the ground and couldn’t even find in within myself to writhe or scream. I barely registered that Leo, Simon and Sergei were crouched down next to me, most likely wondering if I could make it through. I started losing my sight and hearing, but before they had left me completely I thought I saw a tear run down Alice’s face. Then the world went black, and I wondered if I had reached the end.