(MCU) Arcs Collide: Chapter 27 – Rogue Allies

Chapter 27 – Rogue Allies

Summary: Rogers finds Thor, while Romanoff finds Bruce. Neither likes the results of the conversation. And what did Tony do in Wakanda?

Carol was sparring with Thor in one of their more durable training rooms.

The God of Thunder kept throwing lightning from his hands towards her—now with two eyes, as Rocket had been nice enough to offer Thor a prosthetic eye he had lying around.

With glowing eyes, lightning rained down on Carol, forcing her to keep moving nonstop, leaving her no chance to send a blast of her own in return.

She knew getting closer wouldn’t help either; after all, Thor had the strength of a god and knew how to use it. As strong as she was, she didn’t want to test her strength against his.

Her best chance was to wait until he left an opening… Her thoughts were cut off when she saw it!

Thor raised both his arms and sent two lightning bolts at the same time, but his mistake was spreading his arms too wide. Carol dove into the middle and sent a powerful blast straight at the blonde’s chest.

Thor probably noticed and was about to cross his arms to soften the blow, but it was too late—the blast hit home, sending the new king flying back toward the wall.

With that, the training was over, and Carol landed softly on the floor. A moment later, Thor got back to his feet and laughed loudly. “Well done, Lady Carol! You truly are a skilled warrior.”

Carol smiled. “I only managed to hit you because you spread your arms so wide.”

Thor frowned at that. “Aye. I’m trying to improve my control over my lightning attacks. Without Mjolnir, it takes longer to charge and focus the lightning.”

Carol nodded in understanding and tried to comfort the king. “Well, at least your new eye seems to work great. It was glowing too and all.”

Thor smiled softly. “Yes, the sweet rabbit was most kind.”

Carol shook her head silently. They had all stopped trying to explain to Thor that Rocket wasn’t a rabbit. She still had no idea what kind of rabbits Thor had seen in the past.

Suddenly, Thor clapped his hands with enough force to create a shockwave that sent Carol a few steps backward. He didn’t seem to notice when he declared, “I need a new hammer! And I know exactly where to find one. Nidavellir!”

Carol considered it for a moment before nodding. “Might be a good idea. But before you fly off to space, don’t forget to take care of your new kingdom—and maybe talk with Rocket about a ship.”

Thor nodded with an excited smile. “Indeed, a fine idea, Lady Carol. I shall do so immediately.”

Before he could leave, she caught up with him in the hall and said, “Hey, musclehead, don’t forget your plans with Jane tonight.”

Thor smacked his forehead. “How could I have forgotten such an important occasion? Friend Tony went to great lengths to get the ring I requested.”

Carol was about to respond when a new, annoying voice called out happily, “Thor! It’s been so long.”

The smile disappeared from Thor’s face, replaced by his newly dubbed “diplomatic face,” as he replied evenly, “Rogers.”

The American oaf didn’t seem to register Thor’s new expression or even Carol’s presence as he kept smiling and said cheerfully, “We need to talk with the team, Thor, to see how we can fix all the mistakes Tony’s been making.”

Thor might be a diplomat now, but he was still a warrior at heart, and his temper wasn’t always easy to control. Rogers had barely started talking and was already testing Thor’s patience. The new king managed to keep his face flat as he replied, “I see no mistakes. Friend Tony is doing quite well, on the contrary.”

Rogers frowned at him and shot back, “How can you say that, Thor? Our team is treated like criminals. They’re stopping Wanda from using her powers, and the Accords are winning!”

Thor snorted at the idiot blonde. “They treat you like criminals because you are criminals. You might have ignored friend Tony when he tried to approach you with the Accords, but I did not. I agreed to them before departing Midgard. Most planets have such laws to limit enhanced individuals so they don’t become a danger to others.”

Thor’s face began to frown. “As for the witch, I believe when you came to me with the idea of adding her to our team, I was quite clear in my refusal and my opinion of her. Yet I hear you not only used my voice to add her to the team but also to remove friend Tony. A lie at my expense on both counts.”

Rogers began to pale slightly, nervously saying, “Thor, you have to see—she’s just a kid who made a mistake and wanted to make amends. It was wrong to deny her the opportunity to do that.”

Thor released a growl deep in his throat, but before he could retort, Rogers was quick to change the subject. “You have to see the Accords are just a way to control the Avengers. And this new team is making things worse. All of them have different jobs. They don’t understand that being a hero should be their only responsibility!”

Thor’s fists clenched, and he hissed through gritted teeth, “I am the King of New Asgard. I have responsibilities beyond the Avengers, and as such, I am only a part-time member.”

Rogers looked aghast, as if finally realizing what being king meant. “Thor, how can you?! You should know better than that—there is nothing more important than being a hero and protecting the people!”

Thor was now growling at the oblivious oaf. “Are you saying my people are not important, Rogers? Be careful with what you say.”

Carol decided to throw in her own jab. “Not all of us enjoy living on Tony Stark’s dime as if he owes us something.” Rogers was startled to hear her speak, but she pushed on with a sneer. “Oh, sorry—I meant enjoyed. How do you plan to afford living down the line if you refuse to work?”

Rogers’ face turned red, and he answered in his condescending tone, “Tony will see his mistakes, and he will come back to his family. After he apologizes and pays the price for his wrongdoing, his money will be handled by someone better suited for the task.”

Carol felt her blood boiling, her skin warming as her powers flared. She was about to punch Rogers in the face when the blonde oaf was suddenly off his feet, suspended in the air.

Thor was holding Rogers by the throat, both his eyes glowing with electric blue power, and his voice boomed, “YOU DARE?! After what you’ve done to friend Tony, you have the audacity to demand such things? If I were allowed, I would reduce you to ash where you stand.”

Rogers used all his strength to pry off the hand holding him by the throat, choking out, “Thor…”

The king let the idiot drop to the floor, where he clutched his throat, gasping for air. “Alas, I promised to restrain myself from such an act. But if I hear you speak those words again, I will break that promise and make you feel the wrath of Thor.”

Rogers gave Thor a bewildered look from the floor as the Thunder God glared coldly. “Friend Tony is beyond your reach. You will find I am but one in an army that would bring you great harm if you attempted such a thing.”

With that, Thor and Carol left the gasping man on the floor. Both had better things to do than deal with the leader of delusions.

AC AC AC AC AC

Tony was on his way back to the tower in the jet. He and Bruce were supposed to run an important experiment today, but Shuri had called, telling him he was needed in Wakanda ASAP.

Apparently, Shuri’s and T’Challa’s cousin had shown up out of nowhere and demanded the throne to start some sort of revolution around the world—without thinking it through.

Did the man actually believe that just because he gave people advanced weapons, they’d follow him? In their minds, Wakanda had abandoned them for centuries, and the first thing they’d destroy with those weapons would be Wakanda itself.

T’Challa, stubborn as ever, wanted to handle things his own way, which could only end in disaster. Luckily, Shuri didn’t hesitate to call her “Uncle Tony” (she’d joined the Young Avengers in calling him that, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her to stop). She knew that, thanks to his dealings with both her and the Queen Mother, Tony had earned a good reputation with the council.

Once Tony arrived, he quickly pointed out how the wannabe king’s plan would lead to Wakanda’s downfall. The council followed his logic immediately and canceled the trial by combat for the throne, declaring the son of the watchdog unfit to rule.

Well, everyone except the representative of the water tribe. He was vocal about his opinion on who should be king. When words failed him, he drew his weapon at the same time the cousin tried to attack Shuri, knowing that T’Challa, with the powers of the Black Panther, was too much for him.

T’Challa quickly pounced on the council member, while Tony stepped in front of the princess, turning his watch into a gauntlet and firing a high-level blast at the attacking soldier, knocking him out. This only increased the admiration both Shuri and her mother had for him.

The council wanted to punish the man who had dared to attack the princess, but since he was technically an American citizen, Tony made a quick call to the president. Half an hour later, Eric something was handed over to Wakanda to be punished as they saw fit, earning Tony the respect and gratitude of the council.

With final thanks and goodbyes from T’Challa, Tony headed back home. Shuri was on the phone with a kind of smile that made him nervous, one he had only seen on a few people before. It only made him more anxious, considering she was on speed dial with all of those people.

Back to the present, Tony and Bruce decided to run the simulation of the experiment via video call to save a bit of lost time.

Bruce, looking at the screen displaying the results, couldn’t see Tony’s face on the monitor as he said, “Looks like our assumptions were right. If you can build it, Tony, me and the Other Guy will have a way to talk to each other.”

But before Tony could respond, a new, seductive voice called out, “Bruce! I hoped I’d find you here.” Romanoff entered the frame of Tony’s screen, moving closer to Bruce.

Bruce’s face became strained as he no doubt began fighting the rising anger inside him, but he managed to respond curtly, “Romanoff.”

Her eyes widened momentarily at the cold greeting, but she quickly recovered, smiling widely as she coated her voice with a little hurt. “What happened to ‘Nat,’ Bruce?”

Bruce snorted—actually snorted—before responding. “I woke up and stopped being a fool with self-destructive tendencies.”

Romanoff pouted, speaking in a voice still laced with hurt. “You should at least hear our side of the story before making decisions like that.”

Bruce laughed without any mirth. “I reached my conclusion right after Ultron. Why do you think Hulk chose to escape? He felt my anger, my fear of the team, and fled when there was an opportunity.”

Romanoff froze for a moment, then spoke, the offense in her voice now real. “But why, Bruce?”

Bruce sneered. “Like I said, I stopped being a fool. The moment you pushed me off that cliff to bring Hulk out against my consent, I realized the whole romance thing we had was an act so you could control the Other Guy. After I saw how Barton and Rogers interacted with the witch, I worried they’d offer her a place on the team—the same woman who forced me to kill hundreds of people days before.”

Romanoff smiled in an attempt to disarm him and said softly, “Bruce, I did what I had to do so we could win. And Wanda is a valuable member of the team, who has proven herself. But if you were worried, you should’ve known that Steve and I would’ve protected you.”

Bruce snorted again and shot back, “Like you protected Tony when Thor had him by the neck in front of everyone?”

Romanoff frowned and replied dryly, “That was after he misused the scepter to create Ultron. Thor had good reason to be upset, and Tony needed a reality check.”

Bruce’s expression turned furious. “I worked on the Ultron program too, as all of you so conveniently forgot. It was sanctioned by SHIELD even before the collapse.”

Romanoff’s left eye twitched as the holes in her logic were pointed out, but before she could respond, Bruce pushed on, his anger rising. “Tony came back from retrieving the scepter with the mind manipulation of the damn witch, so, in her own words, he would self-destruct. Then there was the Mind Stone, which had a mind of its own and took over under the name Ultron. No, it was just you, Rogers, and Barton happy to see Tony get hurt, and the rest of us too cowardly to do something about it.”

Romanoff was frowning, her tactic failing, so she tried another. “If you would’ve stayed…”

She trailed off when she saw the chilling smile Bruce was now wearing. “What, you think I would’ve been on your side? Sorry to disappoint, but I knew about the Accords for a while and agreed with them. Not only did they protect people, but they also protected us, so people like Ross couldn’t pull the crap he did unchecked. So yes, I agree with you there—it’s too bad I wasn’t here to help Tony when he needed me.”

Romanoff was shocked by this fact. Apparently, she hadn’t followed the others around as much as she had Tony. He wasn’t sure whether he should feel insulted or flattered.

Before the Widow could recover, a new voice entered the lab, calling, “Big guy, you should’ve met me fifteen minutes ago. You promised me top-shelf on our date today, and I didn’t drink the entire morning in anticipation.”

Val entered the frame. Oh yeah—Tony had almost forgotten that today was the third date for Bruce and the mean and drunk Valkyrie. It had taken a while and not a small amount of pushing, especially on Bruce’s part, but they had finally reached that milestone. With Thor finally proposing to Jane, and Scott not far off, Bruce might soon join their merry group.

Romanoff scowled at the dark-skinned woman walking up to Bruce and asked in a wry tone, “And who’s that?”

Bruce gave a genuine smile to Val and said, without looking at the ex-spy, “This is my girlfriend and a member of the Avengers, Valkyrie.”

Romanoff scanned the woman with her eyes before sneering, “A drunk? How low you’ve fallen, Doctor. The Avengers, I’m not surprised. What should we expect from a team built by Stark?”

Val smirked right back at the redhead. “Oh, bitch. Even hammered, I could take you out in a single move—with my eyes closed.”

With that, the raven-haired woman kissed Bruce just to make a point.

Humiliated and pissed, Romanoff lashed out. She drew one of her secret knives and lunged at the kissing woman, aiming for the shoulder—killing her wouldn’t do.

But the Asgardian moved faster. Without breaking the kiss, when Romanoff was close enough, Val sent a powerful punch to her gut.

The redhead doubled over from the impact, but her knife still managed to graze Val’s cheek. When Romanoff looked up from the floor, where she lay in pain, there was no mark on the Asgardian’s face.

Val sneered down at the shocked criminal. “Told you. You’ve got a big ego trying that against an Asgardian.” Her sneer turned into a snarl. “Stay away from my boyfriend and my best friends. Say anything like that about Tony again, and next time, I won’t hold back as much as I did now.”

With that, Bruce and Val left the lab, leaving Romanoff on the floor, still recovering from her humiliating defeat.

With a smile, Tony hung up the video call and leaned back in his chair. He owed Val a couple of top-shelf whiskeys.