Chapter 19 - You Electrocuted Yourself!

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Azara's pov

"So..." Wanda questioningly drawls.

"So... what?" I put the milk back in the fridge.

"You and scary spy?" She raises an eyebrow at me to which I send one back.

"Like, scary spice? The spice girls? You don't know wh-"

"Yes I know who the spice girls are, dumbass. You're the one who's probably too young to remember their peak," I interrupt, slightly insulted that she thought so little of my pop culture knowledge.

She laughs lightly and sits up on the counter facing me, "But seriously, are you guys an item?"

I pretend to be looking at something in the fridge, hoping she might just let it go.

"Something interesting in the fridge?" She questions playfully, making me realise there's no avoiding this.

"Uh, well, we don't have any labels and it hasn't really been that long," I don't lie but I can tell she's irritated at my vagueness.

"How long is not that long?"

"Um, like, since yesterday," I mumble out awkwardly.

"What?!" She bursts out, evidently surprised.

"Yeah..." I look down, not sure how to respond.

"Well, you look like you've been dating for years," she concludes, hopping off the counter.

"Well, we lived together for a year and I can't say that it was totally platonic 24/7," I admit.

"Captain Rogers has called a meeting in the briefing room. All Avengers and Miss Alarie must report immediately," FRIDAY calls through the speakers.

"Oh, this can't be good," I mutter, following Wanda around the maze-like compound.

~~~~~~

"We have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head; about its nature but also its composition," Vision gestures to the golden gem in his forehead.

"I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source," he continues, facing the group, "something very similar to its own signature, perhaps, its molecular integrity could fail."

"Yeah, and you with it," Wanda responds in a lowly tone, "we're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it," he reasons in a sort of kindly tone you wouldn't expect from someone writing their own death certificate.

"That's too high a price," Wanda says a little more softly.

Vision takes Wanda face in his hands lovingly, but speaks ill words, "Only you have the power to pay it."

A grave silence falls upon the group.

"Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him," he reasons again, as if one life is ever a bargainable price to pay.

"But it should: we don't trade lives, Vision," Steve responds now, his tone mirroring that of the whole group's feelings at this moment.

"Captain, 70'years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision address Steve.

"Because you might have a choice," Bruce cuts in, "your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together; all of them learning from one another."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda pipes up, a small, barely traceable amount of hope in her voice.

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best part," Bruce concludes.

"Can we do that?" Tasha questions.

"Not me, not here," the scientist admits.

~~~~~~

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0," Steve tells the Sam.

"I hope you're right about this or we're going to land a lot faster than your want to," the Falcon replies, but follows the Captain's orders anyway.

Despite all of my training, I flinch slightly as we head straight towards the tree line, preparing for a heavy impact.

Instead, we break through a computer-like screen and appear over a serene lake positioned at the edges of a high-rise city.

"Welcome to Wakanda," Steve states, taking in the surroundings in awe like like the rest of us.

Natasha senses my tension and places her hand over mine.

"It'll be ok, Az," I'm glad she didn't tell me to not worry as that would be a useless thing to say.

"I was directly involved in the murder of his father, king of Wakanda. He knows and he-"

"If he wanted to kill you, he would've attacked you at the airport," she interrupts, hasty to cut off my ever anxiety-increasing ranting.

"I didn't check up with him like he requested," I admit the basis of my worry.

"No you didn't, but I did," she says casually, as if it was something everyday like saying she'd fed the cat or mowed the lawn.

"You what?" I try not to raise my voice but I get a few questioning glances from some of the other Avengers.

"King T'Challa phoned; he wanted monthly updates," again, her tone is casual.

"You got called by the king of one - if not the - most technologically advanced countries in the world in a house that only we knew where it was, on a number that only Steve knew?" It comes out as more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, and you never noticed," I could hear a slight hint of smugness in her voice.

I huff slightly at my lack of vigilance and awareness.

"They never knew where we were, T'Challa promised that," she admits in a failed attempt to reassure me.

"Touch down in 3...2...1-" Sam announces, just as a mechanical clunk resonated through the ship.

"Stark has all that money but he can't afford landing suspension," I mutter, making Natasha smirk slightly.

"Alright guy, be respectful and please - for all our sakes - don't do anything stupid here," Steve says as all of us assemble before walking down the down fully descended ramp. Sometimes I cant help but smile at how fatherly the now 100 year old could be at times.

As we begin to walk down the ramp, Natasha squeezes my hand comfortingly, sensing my anxiety flaring up once again.

"Should we bow?" I hear Bruce ask from behind me.

"Yeah, he's a king," Rhodey states in a very convincing attempt at sincerity.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve greets the king as we reach him and his guards, before gripping his hand in a firm shake.

To my left, I hear Bruce clear his throat and then bow sheepishly, which makes it difficult for me not to smirk at the incredibly intelligent, but simultaneously hugely awkward, man.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey asks.

"We don't do that here," T'Challa responds to the actions of the now understandably embarrassed Bruce.

Turning to walk in the direction of the main building, the king gestures for us to follow him.

"So how big of an assault should we expect?" He questions as we walk.

"Uh, sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault," Bruce pipes up from the back of the group.

"How we looking?" Tasha inputs, asking a very valid question.

"You have my Kingsguard, the border tribe, the Dora Milaje and..." he points in the direction of an approaching man.

"And a semi-stable 100-year-old man," Sergeant Barnes finishes, greeting Steve with a friendly hug.

"How you been, Buck?" He asks, a smile now on his face.

"Uh, not bad for the end of the world," he admits sarcastically.

"Captain Rogers, Vision and anyone else who wishes to: follow me please," the king gestures to a large train-like vehicle which floats on a bed of air.

As we board, T'Challa gives me a look that I know means that he wishes to talk. Natasha picks up on this and sits down next to Bruce, engaging in a conversation most likely to do with Vision.

"Miss Alarie, how are you?" He asks politely, sitting down on a seat.

"Uh, I'm doing ok, thank you," I'm really not sure what to say.

"Your rehabilitation, while we would've wished you had joined Sergeant Barnes here, sounds and looks to be successful," his voice is neither friendly nor angered at my different approach to trying to wipe HYDRA from me (which, I'm aware, will never fully be done).

"This past year is the most peaceful I've had for... well, as long as I can remember: it's never very quiet in the city," it wasn't really meant to be a joke but the king smiles slightly.

"This battle will be like none any of us have faced before; no one knows what it will entail. I have closely monitored James Barnes and his attitudes towards combat while I have no real indication as to what yours is," it isn't said as a question so I don't respond because - if I'm being honest - I don't really know.

"Be ready, Miss Alarie," he says, before standing and leaving through a door at the end of the train carriage.

I take a deep breath and stare absently out of the window, taking in the ethereal beauty of the landscape flying rapidly past the window.

"He offered to bring you here; to rehabilitate you and Bucky in the same way," Natasha sits down next to me, gazing out of the window as well.

"Why didn't you tell me about the offer?" I ask, no malice in my tone, just curiosity.

"I-I don't know. You seemed to be doing well and I..." she looks down at her lap, not meeting my eyes.

"You didn't want to be alone?" I finish calmly, knowing that's what she wanted to say.

"It was selfish and I shouldn't have kept it from y-"

"I would've done the same," I interrupt, not wanting her to continue with the guiltful rambling, "I, even if I'd been with Barnes, would've been alone too. And I couldn't have left you on your own, even if you were as safe as we were."

Her expression eases and she looks up once more at the landscape outside.

"Either way, it still would've been a beautiful place to spend a year," she admits with a smile.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that," I reply before we lapse into a calm silence.

"We are here," the king's most esteemed general, Okoye, enters our carriage with a guard.

~~~~~~

"It will take time, brother," Shuri informs us.

"How long?" Steve questions, looking at a peaceful Vision lying on the table.

"As long as you can give me," she responds.

A trilling sound interrupts the conversation. Okoye briefly fiddles with a beaded bracelet around her wrist before a hologram appears out of it.

"Something has entered the atmosphere," she assess the high-tech image.

Looking out of the large windows, we see skyscraper-tall, triangular-shaped ships plough into ground just outside of the barrier.

"It's too late," Vision admits, getting up off the table, "we need to destroy the stone now."

"Vision, get your ass back on the table," Natasha replies, to which I agree.

"We will hold them off," T'Challa commands, many guards running off to inform the rest of the Wakandan troops.

"Wanda, as soon as that stone is out of his head, blow it to hell," Steve says to the young woman.

"I will," she responds sincerely.

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defences. And get this man a shield," the king looks back at Steve before exiting.

~~~~~~

"How we looking, Bruce?"
Natasha stands next to me as we speed over the green fields, soon to be covered in a deadly battle.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," he says through the coms before leaping not so gracefully over our transport.

"Wow! This is amazing, man! It's like being the Hulk with out actuall-" a metallic clunking and crashing sound comes from behind up as he falls flat on his oversized, metal face.

"I'm ok, I'm ok," he reassures us before getting up and following us again. As the transports turn 90 degrees, we slide off and onto the ground, not 200 meters from the barrier wall.

T'Challa gestures for Steve and Tasha to follow him toward the barrier where the generals of Thanos' army stand, assessing the high-tech wall.

"Stay safe, Tasha. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," I squeeze her hand slightly.

"That's really not something to go by: you stuck a knife in the toaster to see if - after heating - it could slice bread straight into toast," she rolls her eyes at me.

"It was a good idea that didn't go too badly in practice."

"You electrocuted yourself," and with that, she jogs away to catch up with Steve.

Within seconds of the three hero's speaking with Thanos' generals, the ships jolt and begin to rise upwards.

"They surrender?" Bucky says as Natasha and Steve return to the front line.

"Not exactly," Caps says.

As the trees begin to rustle and an army of snarls becomes audible in the distance, T'Challa begins to chant in Xhosa, which is echoed by the uniform troops.

"What the hell," Bucky says, shocked at the hideous monsters running towards us.

"Looks like we pissed her off," Tasha says, glancing over in Barnes' direction. They run, head first, into the barrier. Severed limbs and heads drop inside the barrier as they pile up at the wall.

"They're killing themselves," Okoye states, quite horrified at the sight. As few creatures eventually break through, the Wakandan troops raise their cloak-shields in a defensive line.

Me, Natasha and Steve stand all but useless as our short-range weapons are temporarily purposeless accessories which hang by our sides.

"On my signal, open North-West section 17," the king commands.

"This will be the end of Wakanda," M'Baku says gravely.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history," Okoye says defiantly.

As the shield barrier comes down and Steve sets his shields, I materialise my jet black wings, form my armour and summon my sword. Once again, T'Challa's Xhosa chants are repeated by the battle-ready troops.

"Again, be safe, Tasha. Don't go dying on me," I look over at her.

"Ditto, Az; don't do anything abnormally stupid," she smirks back at me.

"WAKANDA FOREVER!" The king yells as we charge into battle.

Soaring into the air, I land in the muddy waters along side Steve and T'Challa, slaying the monsters three at a time.

Running in Bucky's direction, I cut a creature clean in two as it pins him down, knocking his gun from his hand.

"Thanks," he responds breathlessly, getting up and retrieving his gun.

"No worries," I reply before flying back off to a dense area of monsters.

But soon, the rabid creatures begin to overpower even the best of us. Steve is pinned to the ground, desperately hacking monsters off himself, T'Challa is thrown by a pack and Bruce is taken down by half a dozen.

Just when I believe that the battle is nearly lost before it has barely even begun, the bright lights of the Bifrost cast down to the bloodied field.

As the light fades and a large, glowing axe returns to the hand of its owner, 3 more hero's are revealed.

"HA HA! You guys are so screwed now!" Bruce yells over the cacophony of snarls and shouts.

"BRING ME THANOS!" The god yells, launching himself into the air and turning the clouds dark grey before coming back to Earth and decking at least 30 monsters in one.

In retaliation to his entrance, a dozen huge, spherical blades plough through the tree line and straight through the barrier.

I see Okoye and Natasha fighting well, drifting together in combat. I want to scream for them to move but I know it's futile so I avert my eyes and turn away as 5 combined blades hurtle towards the pair, not wanting to witness their deaths.

But the rhythmic metallic whir of the blades are replaced by a screeching and crashing noise which makes me turn back.

In the wake of the now toppled and broken blades, stands none other than Wanda only meters from - now safe - Nat and Okoye. I breath out as I slay a dozen more monsters before returning my attention to the women.

Batted into a trench, Wanda is taken down by Proxima.

"He'll die alone. As will you," the alien general snarls.

"She's not alone," Tasha says as I land next to Wanda and flanked by Okoye.

She attacks Nat first, simultaneously defending herself against both me and Okoye. Thrown aside and in pain, the Wakandan general is down. Nat, just like Okoye, isn't able to stand and I'm taken down but the admittedly highly skilled Proxima.

I hold her back, my sword resisting her pressure, but I feel myself losing power rapidly. Raised up into the air and off of me, Wanda throws Proxima into an oncoming blade.

"That was really gross," spattered in blue blood, Natasha pants as Wanda fall back to the floor.

But our luck isn't holding.

Despite Thor taking out the pointy ships, a fresh wave of monsters tramples out of the forest.

"We can't take all of them," Sam says over the coms, reading my exact thoughts. Wanda uses her powers to fly above the new troops and towards Vision in the forest.

I look over towards a struggling Nat and a desperately fighting Okoye, both fighting 3 or 4 creatures at a time. I look over to my right and see three Wakandan troops killed within five seconds and I was seeing only a few meters of the battle field.

"I have a plan..." I say into my coms, not liking the prospect of what I will have to do.

Knowing what I'm about to propose will probably cause Natasha to physically fight me to stop me, I fly off in the direction of Steve at the edge of the forest.

"What is it?" Steve refers to the plan as he jogs in my direction.

"In HYDRA, the tests encouraged my abilities to advance. I'm able to take people to the Basin of the River Styx, or - as I like to call it - the void. If I can use a monster's shadow as sort of portal, I can link them and bring them all through together, locking them in an eternal prison."

"What!" He responds in pure disbelief.

"These monsters most likely don't have individual names, much less personalities. They are all so similar that I can link their shadows' life forces together."

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier, you could've stopped hundreds or even thousands of deaths," he says, understandably aggravated.

"Because..." I swallow hard, "because it's a one way trip and it may not work."

"Well, we don't want them to have a two way trip: they need to say there," he responds, brushing the hair out of his dirty and scratched face.

"No, it's a one way trip for both them and me," I admit, the air going cold between us; Steve goes as still as a statue at my words.

"What! Az, no! You can't do that I-"

"Tasha, I'm sorry but it's the only way," I interrupt her, cursing inwardly at my obvious stupidity for removing someone else from my com feed, most likely Wanda.

"Azara..." Steve doesn't know what to say.

"But I need your help to do it though, Steve-"

"I swear to god if you help her Steve I will kill you myself," Natasha threatens through the coms.

I decide ignore her, turning back to face a grave-looking Steve, "It'll appear like a door: I can get them all in but I can't fend them off from the inside and close the door from the outside."

"Why can't you just... shut them in. We can easily cope with two dozen escapees," he says.

"The longer you leave the door before locking it, the stronger it gets. But as soon as you reopen it, it goes back to being a flimsy plywood door you would make in school woodwork. I need you to stay out there and lock it. You know the signal when I tell you to do so," I explain.

A moment of silence falls between us before he continues.

"We don't trade live; you know that Azara," his voice is more Captain-like, as if thinking that persuading me in a patriotic

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