Chapter One
"The Watchful Eyes"
The Story So Far Through different, yet equally mysterious means, a group of multiple individuals pulled from across different worlds, here on referred to as the "Survivors" found themselves awakening within a massive room, monitored by a group of people with a degree of control over their bodies and wills known as the Umbrella Corporation.
With a mysterious device inside them that renders them unable to resist the organization, their only alternative being certain death if they chose to resist, the Survivors are given just enough time to become acquainted with each other and gather their bearings, before being tossed out into a mysterious battlefield to do battle with four individuals calling themselves "Avengers," members of a larger organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. at that, whom Umbrella is at odds with. However, little did the Survivors know just what was in store for them following this encounter...
Iron Man got to his feet, shaking bits of debris off of him as Jason's words rang in his ears. He shot into the ground to blow up a smokescreen so that Setsuna couldn't reach him.
"Really don't know how you did that so easily, but I guess that confirms it. Sorry about this." He began flying once more into the air, but back on the roof, Jason would be feeling a powerful pain in his head. Incapacitated, he wouldn't have been able to do anything as a bullet exploded against his shoulder and he was thrown onto his back.
Tony zoomed forward, slamming into Joshua in an attempt to knock him back while Cap turned and slammed against Jaffar with his shield. Once Steve was clear for a moment, Tony flew into the air.
"Okay!" Tony yelled, aiming his palm toward the ground.
"I'm doing it! Plan B!"
"Plan B!" Steve confirmed, and he booked it away from the impact center. A blue energy shot from Iron Man's palm, looking different than the lasers he had been shooting. It hit the ground and exploded out in tendrils of electricity which passed over those nearest.
However, it didn't do anything to hurt them. At least, not at first.
Krauser spoke into the radio to respond to Naomi, but his voice was nothing but garbled static.
After a few moments of nothing, Cullen and Adam dropped to the ground, as did the others nearest to Captain America and Iron Man. Knowing what Plan B meant, Thor disengaged from his fight and raised his hammer to draw lightning toward it. He shot it toward where Tony had fired, the two electricities surging together to cover an even wider field.
Soon, everyone was passing out.
"A fight or die situation?" Ant-Man inquired in response to Ali, raising an eyebrow,
"So that means that you--"
He stopped when Ali, along with everyone who had been fighting him, would abruptly pass out along with everyone else, prompting the man to let out a frustrated sigh as he put his hands on his hips, looking in the direction of his allies.
"Y'know, I was in the middle of conversation here!"
It was clear that whatever tactic the Avengers (sans poor Ant-Man) had managed to cook up, it was affecting the devices that Umbrella had implanted into their bodies.
"Why did we bring him along again?" Thor sighed, and then before long, the entire group had been downed.
...
"N-Ngh..."
When everyone had come to again, they found themselves in what appeared to be some sort of large safehouse. Riesbyfe stirred in her position for a small while, before her eyes slowly opened, as would the rest of the group as they all woke up in succession. Everyone found themselves bound by electronic handcuffs, sitting in chairs laid out in a giant circle, with a lone man standing in the center.
The man was African-American, sported an eyepatch, and wore all black clothing. His hands were folded behind his back, a pensive expression on his face as he walked around with a slow, deliberate pace, as though he were pacing while waiting for everyone to awaken. Riesbyfe was the first to make their consciousness be known to the man, clearing her throat and harboring a wary tone.
"Where... Where are we? Who are you?"
The man looked up, directing his attention toward Riesbyfe. He remained silent for a moment, as though pondering exactly what to say, before clearing his throat and beginning to talk, speaking with a strict tone that reeked of authority.
"Nick Fury, director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D. as you might know it," he replied promptly, looking around at everyone nearby,
"You're in a bunker once occupied by us and only us. We'd been expecting your arrival for some time, missy."
"S.H.I.E.L.D., huh... Yes, that's... right..." Riesbyfe mumbled softly, her memory coming back to her,
"We were sent out to fight, and then... I... We all..."
"You all passed out. Curious why that happened?" Fury inquired, though it was a rhetorical question, as evidenced when he continued speaking after hardly even a moment,
"We've been at odds with Umbrella for some time, and it's a battle that was able to go either way for a while. See, they stole some powerful tech that will be very dangerous in the wrong hands: The Tesseract. Umbrella devised a plan that was highly theoretical, but if successfully applied, would turn the tide against us. A plan that involved reaching across dimensional planes in order to snatch up troops to fight their fight. In essence, a potentially unlimited source of fighters to their cause. A plan that would have crippled us with the right troops."
"However," he paused, raising a finger,
"What Umbrella didn't realize was that we caught wind of that plan to begin with, as well as the blueprints of the devices they intended to use to force their troops to fight, so we were ready for you all, courtesy of a tip from an anonymous source. You might notice that you're all still alive even though you lost pretty handily."
"..."
Riesbyfe pursed her lips silently, almost embarrassed, but let the man continue.
"Awfully soft thank yous," Fury grunted, before clearing his throat,
"In any case, I can assume from what Rogers and Lang reported that you indeed were doing all this against your own will, if the devices weren't any indication. Lucky for all you, we managed to extract those out, so you're no longer obligated to do what they say."
"Then... Does that mean--?!" Adam exclaimed, evidently shook by the news being fed to everyone rather quickly.
"--That you're free to get back at them? Yes ma'am. You see, S.H.I.E.L.D. operates exactly as our name implies; we are the shield for the innocent, for those who cannot defend themselves. And more than that, we intend to protect our world by keeping it as free of impurities as possible, and that includes all of you, as none of you belong in this world."
Riesbyfe pursed her lips at being called an "impurity."
"That said, I'm sure you want to go back home pretty badly, and I am more than willing to give that to you. But! The catch? We don't have the means to do that. Umbrella, being the ones who got you here in the first place, are the only ones with the tech to send you back. I hope I don't have to elaborate on that."
The man cleared his throat, before continuing.
"This underground bunker is connected to a facility that was once under our control, before Umbrella managed to capture it and use as their base of operations. Essentially, you're back in practically the exact same location as when you first woke up with Umbrella," he spoke, wagging his finger briefly,
"But they don't know about it. Which means that you, I'm talking all of you, have the element of surprise. They're expecting you to come back, but they don't know that you're already there."
Producing what looked like a remote from his coat pocket, he clicked on one of the buttons on it, and with that, the handcuffs on everyone were released, freeing them, as the man seemed to trust everyone to not gang up on him.
"I'm sure this must all be very fast for all of you, so I'll give you a moment to gather your bearings before I have you all head out. This is a very serious operation that will mean a lot for both you and me, so it'd be beneficial for all of us if you all take this seriously and--"
"Honey, I'm home!!!"
Practically barging his way into the bunker through an unseen entrance, the man whom some would recognize as Ant-Man, or even Scott, walked into the scene with what appeared to be bags of what appeared to be groceries, mostly small items such as yogurt, granola bars, and the like from what could be seen through the transparent plastic bags. Coming into the line of sight of the group, he stopped in his tracks, taken somewhat aback.
"..."
"Oh... Well, this is awkward. You guys already woke up? Cool," he nodded, slowly setting the bags on the counter, before glancing back at Naomi and Alice, holding up a hand,
"No hard feelings, right? Right."
After rolling his eyes so hard that people could practically sense the patched eye rolling as well, Nick Fury crossed his arms and cleared his throat.
"As I was saying... I'll leave you all to recover for a little, and then we'll begin the operation, so you can go back home to where you belong, and even cripple Umbrella in the process. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them towards me."
"Or me!"
"... Or Mister Lang."
And with that, the group was free to do as they pleased for the time being, whether interacting with one another or speaking to Nick Fury or Scott Lang about anything.
