Chapter 56: Chapter 55: Calling for help
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Avengers Compound, Earth-66
Night
Barry groaned as he came to. At first, his vision was blurry. When it cleared, he saw he was in a cell, surrounded by the unmoving forms of his teammates.
"How you feeling?" A familiar voice spoke up.
Barry turned his head to the corner of the cell, where Rhodey was sitting. Barry did not speak, his eyes traveling down to Rhodey's leg. Natasha had told them of Rhodey's condition and Cisco had told him of Sam's nightmares, of hearing him call out 'Rhodey' in his sleep.
"Like I got a speeder punch in the face," Barry said in response to Rhodey's question. "You want to explain what's going on here?"
"I wish I knew," Rhodey sighed. "One minute I'm waiting for Tony to bring you guys back, the next Wanda's brother is helping the jackass who killed Pepper take down Vision."
"Where is Vision?" Barry asked, noticing the absence of the red skinned Avenger.
"I don't know. I woke up here and he wasn't here, but you guys were," Rhodey explained as the others began to come around.
"What hit me?" Clint groaned a little groggy.
"I believe I did," a Russian voice spoke up outside the cell.
The Avengers stood up, seeing Alexei standing outside the cell door. The smirk on his face infuriated them.
"Surprised you had the guts to show your ugly mug again, after what happened last time," Clint said and Alexei simply chuckled. "Something funny?"
"Just noting that you are as witty as you are foolish Clint. Things are different now. Shield can't help you here," Alexei said smugly.
"Yeah, well let's see if you feel that way without this-" Clint snarled, taking several steps towards the cell door.
Whatever else Clint was going to say was cutting off, as a blue force field appeared in front of him and sent him stumbling back, all of them looking at the place where the fore field had been as it vanished from view.
"You guys saw that right?" Rhodey asked for clarification.
"What the hell is this?" Tony demanded and Alexei chuckled.
"To put it in terms that your simple mind can understand," Alexei said mockingly and Tony glared angrily. "It's a force field. Not one of those amateur ones Stark Industries is working on either. Not even your pal Vision could phase through this."
"I bet I could," Barry said confidently and Alexei smirked.
"Possibly. But the power deadpanning field disrupting your powers might make that a little difficult," Alexei said and Barry scowled.
"Where's Vision?" Rhodey demanded.
"And Cisco?" Barry asked as he noticed the absence of his best friend.
"Alive. For now," Alexei said smoothly. "And they will remain that way. You see, both of your friends have an important role to play in Lord Savitar's plan."
"How did you end up working for Savitar?" Natasha asked and Alexei looked at her amused.
"Really? All these years and that's your first question Natalia?" he asked.
"Well, it's pretty obvious you won't tell us where our friends are or what you're planning to do with them," Natasha snapped and Alexei simply shrugged.
"True enough. After our last encounter, I was a broken man. Not just emotionally, but physically as well. My body was broken, I was a shadow of the man I once was. Just when I had given up, I began to hear his voice. Lord Savitar. At first, I thought I had gone mad. He showed me the way, gave me a new path. A new purpose in life. You see, I realized I was thinking too small. Why just be a man, when I could be a god?" Alexei said and they all stared at him.
"You're insane," Tony said bluntly.
"You don't understand now, but you will Stark. Soon you will all understand that Lord Savitar cannot be beaten. He's the one enemy you cannot defeat," Alexei said before he turned and walked off.
"Okay, we need to get out of here," Tony said once Alexei was gone.
"If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them Stark," Clint snarked.
"I don't suppose he left you with your phone?" Barry asked as he looked over at Rhodey.
"He did actually," Rhodey said as he reached inside his pants pocket, pulling out his phone. "Not sure it will do any good. There's no one we can call."
"What about Scott?" Steve asked and Rhodey shook his head.
"Your friend took a plea deal, got house arrest for two years," Tony explained.
"Since Thor and Banner are gone, we have no one," Rhodey sighed.
"Not no one," Steve said and Rhodey and Tony looked confused as Steve held out a hand. "Can I have the phone?"
Confused, Rhodey nodded as he handed it to Steve. Barry helped Rhodey stand as Steve dialed a number, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.
"Hey, it's me. I need your help."
Unspecified location
Not long after
Cisco had been in a lot of weird situations, but this one took the cake. He was chained to a wall, that collar he'd seen around Barry and Wanda's necks in The Raft now on his neck. There was a red skinned man with a cape on strapped to some sort of machine on the other side of the room. And finally, there was a blond haired man standing in the center of the room.
"I'm glad to see that you're awake Mr. Ramon," Alexei said as he walked over to Cisco. "Now, we can begin."
"Begin what? Where are my friends?" Cisco demanded.
"Mr. Allen and The Avengers are fine. How long it remains that way is entirely up to you," Alexei said as he stopped in front of Cisco, kneeling down until he was eye level with the Metahuman. "You see, you're going to help me free Lord Savitar."
"Hell no," Cisco said immediately, his Vibe flashing through his mind. "I don't care what you do to me. You can beat me, you can torture me, I won't help you."
"Of that I have doubt. You've seen what will happen once Lord Savitar is free," Alexei smirked at the look of astonishment that crossed Cisco's face. "I know all about you Vibe. You're quite the hero. Which is why I know you won't let an innocent man die."
Alexei pushed a button on his wrist and Vision suddenly cred out in pain, electric shocks going through the machine he was strapped to.
"That's seven milliamps of electricity," Alexei told the horrified Cisco as Vision continued to scream. "If he were human, he'd be dead right now. Shall we go to eight?"
"Wait, stop! Stop! Cisco shouted, hating himself for what he was about to do, but unable to stand the sight. "I'll help you, just stop!"
As the smirking Alexei turned off the electricity, Pietro watched all this from the doorway, a sliver of doubt entering his mind for the first time since he'd agreed to help Alexei.
Wakanda
Late afternoon/same time
Bucky Barnes was feeding his goats when his highly trained sensed picked up on someone approaching. He looked up and saw T'Challa standing on the hill overlooking the barn. Bucky began walking towards T'Challa as one of the men with T'Challa laid a large, rectangle box on a stack of hay. As Bucky neared them, the men opened the box and stepped out of the way. Bucky looked down into the box, stared at the arm of Wakandian metal for a moment before looking over at T'Challa.
"Where's the fight?" Bucky asked.
"New York. Captain Rogers has returned and he needs our help Sergeants Barnes," T'Challa told him.
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If you enjoy please support me on my patreon Future 80+ chapters at patreon.com/Darkphoenix11
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