章節 174: Chapter 173: Morning of the Wedding.
DONG DONG DONG DONG
The clock's hand was at midnight when Kai, Natasha, Barton, and Rogers arrived at the hidden location given by Maya Hansen. The clock produced 12 chiming sounds, and the dark cloud in the sky flashed with lightning.
"Are they making a machine or Frankenstein?" Barton joked while they were moving steadily toward the center of the research lab from 4 different directions to cut off the escape route.
"I vote for Frankenstein. I want to meet him," Kai said, earning a chuckle from the Captain.
'Vampires, Wolf, Witches, and now Frankenstein? I wonder if that will really happen now Kai's here,' Steve thought secretly.
The others were wearing their stealth combat suits. However, Kai was wearing his lab coat. He was glared at by Natasha when they regrouped before, but he just shrugged his shoulders as he came there straight from his clinic.
"Don't encourage him, Kai. Otherwise, he will become a jokester all night long." Natasha said sternly, with a hint of teasing the arrow guy.
Her combat clothes that she wears now had been upgraded by Ryan. Not only there's blue 'Tron' pattern on her clothes, she could also activate the camouflage function and can become truly invisible!
"Hey, I got eyes on the target…It…" Barton lost his word when he saw what was happening in front of him.
A floating head with a small limb was plugged with several wires all over his body, and a purple gem on his giant forehead was glowing.
"Monica.. They are here." George Tarleton, the man who will be known as MODOK in the future, said weakly.
The main scientist that was preparing the mutagenic serum – a serum created by combining Captain America's blood and Terrigen gas together, to inject inside George Tarleton almost dropped her syringe when George notified her about it.
Her MODOK project wasn't a one time thing, but the final product has to be evolved in a long period of time. George Tarleton cranium had increased over time, and finally, he reached the point where his head no longer could support his body. Tarleton created the 'Doomsday chair', something that would allow him to support his body.
However, there was one final checklist that needed to be done before he could truly become MODOK. That is, to finish the injection that will change his brain completely.
"Hurry Monica." Tarleton said while he controlled the door of the base to be sealed shut. The scientist recollected herself and injected the last serum needed inside Tarleton's neck.
"Damn it. They know that we're here." Barton said hurriedly, and shot some explosive arrows toward the door to blast it open.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
When the smoke cleared, Barton narrowed his eyes as the door was still there without any scratch.
His arrows were useless against the 40-centimeters-thick door.
"Barton?" Natasha deactivated her cloaking when she saw Barton in front of her.
Although they went on 4 different paths, all paths lead toward the same direction, that was the door to the research lab. Not long after, Kai and Steve arrived at the destination.
"Let me." Kai said as he unsheathed his sword from his cane and walked forward.
"What are you going to do? Cut through solid metal?" Barton said sarcastically. Then, he remembered the sight of Kai stopping the Hulks with only his palm. His tone changed instantly, "Wait. Will you?"
Kai showed a soft smile and turned towards the solid metal door. He took a deep breath, and coated his thin sword with a colorless sword qi.
SLASH
He swung his sword with barely discernible speed. Then, he sheathed his sword back inside the cane's sheath.
"What? It was useless after all." Barton said as he took out a WMD arrow. It will make a big explosion that can cause the pathway to collapse, but it is a risk they have to take.
Suddenly, a creaking sound was heard from the solid metal door, making Barton turn his eyes back on it. Then, a 2 meter square area of the door that has already been cut off, falls in the direction toward the research lab.
BAM
The heavy door fell, creating a cloud of dust where it fell. Barton was agape, and Steve's eyes shook. Natasha was grinning, but she turned back to her usual poker face as they were going inside the research lab.
What greeted them was the sight of a floating MODOK with glowing purple eyes. The metal technology inside the room was flying with the help of his telekinesis, and was rebuilt by MODOK into his Doomsday chair using his technopathy.
He created a few metal tentacles with a surgical chainsaw at the end of it, a rocket launcher, crawler limbs, and many new technologies were inserted into his Doomsday's chair.
MODOK let out a shrill laugh that was different from the cold temperament of George Tarleton. "NOW. MODOK…is…COMPLETE. HAHAHAHAHA! HA! HA!"
"What a disgusting laugh." Barton said and shot out an emp arrow toward the flying giant head. Natasha shot out a few stunning disks toward the giant's head, while Captain America threw his shield.
"Hey Wait-" Kai tried to stop them from getting near the giant head, but he couldn't. Despite all of Ryan's lectures on fighting using cooperation, the Avenger's instinct was to attack first, then learn after they get beat up.
And this time it's the same.
BOOM.
MODOK activated a force field pulse, and knocked all the Avengers that were running towards him into the ground.
"The Avengers. The source of my creation. Bow Down before MODOK." MODOK said while laughing hysterically. He raised his mechanical arm, and decided to slash the nearest Avenger with the chainsaw. And the nearest one was Natasha.
She widened her eyes when the mechanical saw was inches away from her.
CLANG
A thin sword clashed with the chainsaw, making sparks of fire from the clash of the metal. The mechanical arm was then pushed backward by the thin sword.
Kai stopped the chainsaw by using a flash step to get where Natasha was. At first, he aimed to slash Modok's chair before the situation worsened, but he had to change his direction midway.
"Tsk. Kai Vera. You're trouble. However, Modok rules ALL!" Modok said, and shot various projectiles toward Kai. Missiles, energy beams, lubes, acids and all were shot toward Kai.
Kai sighed inwardly and had to retreat. Otherwise, Modok's firepower against him will impact the rest of the team.
"Why lube?" Kai asked the floating head.
"It was here. Don't judge me!" Modok said embarrassingly and kept attacking Kai.
Kai jumped on top of the mechanical arm heading towards him, and continued climbing until he was a meter away from Modok. Despite Modok's brilliance, his technology was limited to those inside the room.
But then, MODOK grinned as he was waiting for Kai to come near him.
BOOM.
A glowing purple beam shot out from Modok's gem in his forehead. It clashed with Kai's sword, and then his body. "Urgh," Kai spat out blood and crashed toward the ground. He could feel that something wants to invade his mind. Fortunately, his defense was too absolute for MODOK's measly mind control to invade him.
MODOK grimaced his already ugly face as the gem on his head lost its usual glow. He had placed all of his hope on the mental unit on his forehead designed to amplify his brain frequency to both technological and biological being. But it didn't work.
The scientist next to him was smiling fanatically as she saw Kai, the strongest of them all, fall. But then, MODOK controlled one of his mechanical arms to grab the woman.
"You. Bring me more power. I will destroy the Avengers once and for all!"
Then, he threw the future scientist supreme toward the exit. "KYAAAaaa." The woman yelled and became quieter after a while. She received a few broken bones from the throw, but she still did what MODOK asked for.
There was a prototype cosmic cube inside of the AIM's base they were staying at. She dragged her body to get there. Her eyes widened after she opened the room for the prototype source of energy storage. "The cube…is gone?"
The thief had already secured the dangerous and volatile source of energy at his research lab in the alternate dimension months ago. The reason why Ryan was letting AIM do what they wanted was because they were coming out with interesting ideas.
And all of the ideas had fallen into his hand the moment they cooked something up.
Kai noticed that the Avengers were having trouble fighting Modok. He decided to take the massive burden on himself to ensure the Avengers have the time they need to regroup.
"Hey. You. Floating head. Your name is MODOK?" Kai asked casually. Modok turned to look at Kai puzzledly.
"You know. You asked us to bow down and all. But we don't even know you. Who are you? What are your motives? What's your backstory?" Kai asked.
Natasha realized what he was doing instantly. 'There was no way Modok would monologue right now!'
However, her worldview turned upside down as MODOK was considering Kai's question.
"That is true. You guys don't know me! Let's see.." Modok placed his tiny hands on his chin, and stopped the ongoing attack on the Avengers.
"Are you serious-" Barton was flabbergasted, but Steve covered his mouth before he could snap Modok back into the fight.
"Listen. AND Bow Down to MODOK!!" Modok announced with a loud voice. Then, his voice and temperament drastically became calm and friendly towards Kai. Then, he started his…monologue.
"When I was young, I found an abandoned wolf cub in the forest behind our farm. My dad…he said it was too dangerous. He told me to get rid of it. I fed that cub. I named him. I watched him play with my beloved dog Darwin."
"I feel that if I can instill rules, The proper boundaries, I could harness the raw power of that beast."
"A few months later while hunting, the adolescent cub turned on me." Modok's voice turned demonic, "Snarling, Frothing at the mouth."
His voice changed to friendly again. " Darwin brought me a few precious moments to call for help. My dad…Shot the wolf. (Demonic again) but it was too late. Darwin had been torn into pieces."
"Power… could not be controlled. I know that now. It has to be destroyed. I will rid the earth from any superpowers. And return us to our glory using Mankind's greatest gift. Our Brains!"
Kai listened attentively toward Modok's life story, making the floating head feel a bit regretful that he needed to kill him. He was so absorbed in telling Kai about his life story that he didn't realize Captain America had come out with a plan to take him down.
Modok was only short of patting Kai on the shoulder and drinking beer to complete his seemingly drunken rambling. At that time, Barton shot multiple freezing arrows toward the mechanical hand that was supporting Modok.
"You- attention deficit-" Modok turned to admonish Barton and tried to force them to listen to the end of his awesome story but Natasha closed the distance with his floating chair using her camouflage and shot at his circuitry using her widow's bite.
"Arghh" Modok's was jolted with a massive wave of electricity, and it short-circuited his Doomsday chair that was also his life support. He fell on to the ground, and Captain America kicked him in the head.
"Remove all of the electronic devices nearby, now!" Captain ordered as he noticed that MODOK could only control technology in a radius of 20 meters. Modok flailed his short arm and legs as his giant head laid on the ground.
"You- why can't I detect your technology," Modok asked Natasha in a sad tone.
"Yeah. I wonder that too." Natasha said as she gripped the new suit Ryan gave her. Modok decided to peek beneath the combat suit, and looked at the programming inside her combat suit.
"This..It can't be? There is another technopath in this world?" Modok said out loud. Kai widened his eyes as he didn't think MODOK had the ability to actually find out about Ryan.
"What do you mean? The creator…has superpower?" Natasha muttered in a low voice. The lone creator of this suit was Ryan knight. And now, Natasha felt as if she had learned a very crucial secret.
"Not only superpower, a very strong- hmph- '' Modok wanted to continue, but Natasha stuffed some clothes in his giant mouth. He grunted in resistance, but Natasha took out her electric Baton and tasered him until he was knocked out.
Captain America and Hawkeye came back after getting rid of all the tech, "What happened Natasha? What did he say?"
"Nothing important." Natasha replied.
She decided to keep the info only to herself and won't expose it even with her life on the line. If she did, Ryan would come under the investigation of the Insight carrier incident. She knew how hard he had worked to change the country for the better, and won't throw a wrench in his plan.
This incident is over…or it was supposed to be. SHIELD had cordoned the area and Monica had managed to run away.
Modok was in restraints and was stuffed into the back of a prison van. All the technology inside the van and on the agents was removed so that Modok would have no way of escaping.
Until, a stubborn man in a red and golden Iron suit arrived at the scene.
"Ahh. We're starting again?" Barton said as he noticed that Tony was aiming his repulsor toward MODOK's restraint.
It took an hour after fighting with the controlled Iron Suit that Modok was apprehended again.
"Didn't Ryan ask you not to come? Why are you here?" Kai asked in a cold tone.
Tony swallowed his saliva and started to make excuses. However, the glare the Avengers had on him didn't go away.
"Tony. Have you written your vows yet? Go home. Just for one day, let us take the burden away from you. Focus on Pepper and your wedding. Otherwise, you will regret it someday." Steve interjected before Tony could be beaten up by his team member.
"Yeah. I really should." Tony muttered before he flew back towards his mansion. But first, he needed to make a stop someplace.
…
In New York, the thief of the prototype cosmic cube arrived at Pepper's apartment.
"Ryan. Pepper, she-" Gwen ran toward him and hugged him.
"It's okay Gwen. Let's go meet her and talk to her." Ryan said in a calming tone.
"She isn't in New York. She said she's going to her parent's house. And also. The dress.." Gwen said while holding the white wedding dress with a tear on the chest's area.
"Ahh. I forget to consider the size increase during pregnancy. I'll fix it and then we'll go and meet her."
Ryan and Gwen flew together to the Pott's family farm in the upstate of New York. After seeing Pepper's car being parked in front of the wooden cottage, Ryan and Gwen landed in front of the door. They retracted their nano suits, revealing their casual clothing.
*Knock Knock Knock*
Gwen knocked lightly on the door, and waited for a while until someone opened it. It took almost 5 minutes before the door was opened.
"Gwen. Why are you here?" Pepper asked puzzledly.
Seeing Pepper's reaction, both Gwen and Ryan were puzzled.
"Didn't you run out of the wedding?" Ryan asked.
"Who told you that?" Pepper Potts was flabbergasted.
"You said 'I can't do this now.' I still have your notes with me!" Gwen said hurriedly.
"Yeah. I can't do it now. Not until I find something blue and something borrowed in my parents house."
Ryan face-palm after learning the misunderstanding. Gwen was embarrassed, and covered her face with her hand.
After settling the misunderstanding, Ryan made three hot chocolates and brought it to the living room where Pepper was sitting.
She had taken out a wooden box that she kept here in her late parents house.
"Is this your mom's necklace?" Gwen said while looking at the blue necklace Pepper was holding.
"Yeah. It's my something blue. And my… something borrowed." Pepper Potts said.
"You must've missed her." Ryan said while giving the hot chocolate to Pepper.
"Yeah. It sucks that she is not going to be at my wedding." Pepper said sadly. "At the very least. I can have the reminder that she will always be there for me with this necklace."
Her parents had died from an accident, when she first entered the Stark industry. The wedding had stirred up some late memories from her.
"At that time. I thought that Tony would be snarky about me having an off day when I first started working." Pepper said with a chuckle.
"But then. He showed me that he was more than a playboy billionaire when he came to the funeral."
She placed the cup down after sipping it. She took out the necklace, and wore it on her neck.
"In his own awkward way, he was there for me. I guess… having the same experience, he knows how sucky the feeling was."
Gwen then noticed that Pepper's eyes were full of tears. She sat close toward Pepper, and started to comfort her by patting her back.
"I… want to ask her… my mom… if I have made the right decision…I was lying before. I did.. Run away."
Her tears started to fall, followed by Gwen's.
Ryan sighed inwardly while looking at the fragile woman. The always independant Pepper Potts was missing her family tonight.
" But after I remember how he used to take care of me at my lowest. I.. Want to go through with this wedding now." Pepper said after she calmed down.
Ryan and Gwen stayed with Pepper for a while, before they escorted Pepper out of the house. The daybreak had already come, and they needed to get ready for the wedding.
However, the moment they came out of the door, someone else was trying to enter the house.
"Tony? Why are you here?" Pepper asked the man that hurriedly flew over there after the fight.
"I..came here to pick up your mother's necklace. I thought you forgot about it, and I wanted to surprise you." Tony explained while his eyes darted on Gwen and Ryan.
"Why would you do that?" Pepper asked with a shivering voice.
"Well. I thought you might miss your mother. You told me before when they were gone, that it would suck not having your mother at the wedding. I… thought, it'll make you feel better if you wear her necklace during." Tony said as he held Pepper's hand.
Tony and Pepper might not have a good track record in their relationship. They fight, they break up, they start again, and they keep messing up. But when it's time to be there for each other, none of them will fail to do that.
Pepper hugged Tony, and she cried in his arms. Ryan and Gwen smiled and walked further away, giving the couple some privacy.
Tony and Pepper sat at the rocking chair in front of her late parents house, just talking and laughing with each other.
"Pepper, I know I mess things up sometimes. But believe me when I say, there is nothing in this world that I won't give up for you."
"Even your suit?"
"Yeah. You don't like it? Then boom. It will become a firework in the sky."
They talked for hours, until Ryan notified them that they needed to get ready for the wedding. They parted ways from each other, and they will meet at the wedding.
Ryan took Tony to get ready, while Gwen drove Pepper straight towards the wedding venue, where the makeup team and the wedding staff were waiting.
"The dress. Is it fixed?" Pepper asked in surprise after she saw the wedding dress.
"Yeah. The dress had been fixed. Somebody waved their hand and did some magic. And voila. The wedding is still on." Gwen replied ambiguously.
On the rooftop venue of the Avengers Tower. The guests were arriving and the seats were getting filled. Finally, the wedding will commence.
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