Avengers’ Isle: Together At Last

Hullo! I totally forgot to post this picture with last week’s episode, made in partnership with myself and writefury! Okay, I confess, all I did was the text. She did all the hard work. 😉 No, I still haven’t seen Age of Ultron. But I did watch one of the trailers again, but with a little twist. XD Okay, back to business. DID YOU NOT LOVE LAST WEEK’S REVEAL? If you need to get caught up, see past posts here.

Tony frowned. He had no idea who this guy was, but he sure didn’t seem like a SHIELD agent. Not that he cared. He was just glad everyone was alive. Well, almost everyone.

He bent down and picked up the red, white, and blue shield reverently. He and Cap hardly ever saw eye-to-eye – scratch that, never – but Cap had been the best man Tony had ever known. And Tony’s last words to the soldier had been angry. How could Cap have been the only one not to make it?

“Tony?” Natasha placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. Loki was untying Thor, and the two were deep in conversation. The others were gathering where Tony was.

“He was a good man,” Tony said, tapping the shield lightly. Natasha nodded in agreement. Banner looked sad. Tony held out his hand and they shook hands. Science buddies back together again. Tony looked over at the guy with the metal arm, Bucky, who was grinning. “What?” Tony asked, frowning. “This isn’t a joke.”

“Not to you,” Bucky said, trying to make his face serious, but his mouth kept twitching. He took the shield from Tony and laid it on the ground. He slammed his metal fist into it, and the sound rang loud through the forest, making the two Asgardians jump in surprise.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Tony snapped, lunging for the shield.

Bucky pulled it out of his reach. They heard approaching footsteps, running at a ridiculous speed. “I thought that would be loud enough to get his attention,” Bucky said, running a finger along the edge of the shield.

Steve Rogers slid to a stop at the edge of the circle. He was barely breathing hard as he looked around. “Well,” he said. “And here I came to rescue Thor.” Then he caught sight of Bucky. “Bucky, I–”

“No time,” Bucky said quietly. “We should get out of here while we’ve got the chance.” He glanced over at Red Skull. “I think he’s gone – for good – but we should bring him with us anyway. And Barton.”

“I want a full report and explanation,” Fury said firmly, staring Bucky down.

“As soon as we’re out of here,” Bucky replied, staring back at him.

They gathered up all of weapons they might need, although Bucky said that the natives would be glad to see them leaving. Bucky picked up Barton, and Thor picked up Red Skull. Bucky led the way through the forest, towards the center of the island.

“So, do you have a boat or something?” Tony asked skeptically, nearly tripping over a tree root.

“Something,” Bucky grunted, barely managing to keep Barton from hitting his head on a tree.

“What kind of something is it?” Tony pestered him.

“You’ll see,” Bucky said. “Unless you keep asking questions.”

Tony shut his mouth and drifted to the back of the line with Thor, Loki, and panting Banner. He couldn’t believe how easy it was for Natasha and Rogers to make it through the thick undergrowth. Even Fury was handling it easily.

They stepped into a huge, empty clearing. Tony gazed around at the circle of green grass, then up at the bright blue sky. “So what now? We wait for a helicopter to pick us up?”

Bucky handed Barton to Steve and pulled a remote looking thing out of his pocket. He pressed a button on it, and right before their eyes, a Quinjet appeared. Tony sighed when he realized it had been cloaked. That was most assuredly cheating.

Bucky turned to Natasha. “It’s all yours.”

Yay! Looks like we’re on our way to a happy ending, finally! But they’re not safe yet… Like for a bag of trail mix, comment for a piece of (late) Tony Stark birthday cake! (It’s not too stale yet…)

Avengers’ Isle: Cognitive Recalibration

Hullo, everyone! I apologize for missing… two weeks? of posts. BUT… it’s a good thing I did, otherwise, well… this wouldn’t have come. I was planning a completely different plot twist, BUT THIS HAS ME SQUEALING AND SUFFOCATING WITH HAPPINESS. (*wink wink*) Just remember this is an alternate universe, so have of the first Avengers movie hasn’t happened, and neither have Thor 2, Cap 2, and Avengers 2. Just a reminder… Carry on, now. New? Read past posts here.

A moan escaped Natasha as she opened her eyes slowly. Her vision came into focus, and her breath caught in her throat. Clint. He stood with two others in the center of the clearing. She was pretty sure that the guy with the red skull was Red Skull, and the other guy looked familiar, although she couldn’t place him. She closed her eyes and did a mental assessment. No broken bones, but her right temple was throbbing and she felt a little woozy. She could feel some dried blood caked on the right side of her face, probably from when she fell. She was tied to a tree, judging from the rough bark.

“Glad you’re awake, Romanoff,” Fury’s voice came from nearby. Natasha opened her eyes and saw that he was tied to a tree near her, Banner on his other side. She turned her head to the right and saw Thor, who was grumbling to himself and tugging on his ropes.

“Barton brought you in,” Banner said, shifting a little in his ropes. “We’re weaponless and outnumbered.”

“And Hulkless?” Natasha asked, lifting an eyebrow. Banner nodded. “This seems like quite a predicament.”

A noise close behind her tree made Natasha try to turn her head unsuccessfully. Something flew into the clearing, straight into Red Skull, knocking him back into a tree. His head hit the bark and he crumpled. Clint leapt into action, an arrow on his bow as his eyes scanned the forest. Natasha gasped as she saw what had hit Red Skull. Roger’s shield. He’s alive.

“I believe you said it would come back to us,” a voice whispered harshly behind her tree.

“I don’t know how he does it!” another voice growled back.

Natasha moaned. Tony and Loki. How had they gotten ahold of Cap’s shield? Barton crept slowly towards them, but with a sudden “oomph” he stumbled to the ground. Bucky stood behind him and relaxed his metal arm, then pulled out a knife and made his way over to Natasha. “He’ll be okay in a minute,” Bucky said. “Cognitive recalibration.”

“Don’t you dare,” Tony said, stepping out and trying to look angry as Bucky approached, but he really looked freaked out. Bucky rolled his eyes and used the knife to start sawing at the ropes.

“You could untie your other friends,” Bucky suggested casually.

Tony looked at him in surprise, then looked behind him. Loki moved into view and shrugged. Natasha frowned at them. “Where’d you get the shield?”

“We found it buried in the sand close to the water,” Tony said, moving over to work on Fury’s ropes with a knife Bucky gave him. “We used it to fight off the walking trees.” He shuddered.

“The what?” Banner said, frowning.

“Mechanical,” Bucky said. “And I put the shield there. You guys really should have left a guard, you know.”

Fury looked just as surprised as Natasha felt. “Why are you helping us?” Fury asked suspiciously.

Bucky straightened as Natasha’ ropes fell away. “SHIELD Agent James Buchanan Barnes, at your service,” he said, bowing.

Yay for the fifteenth Avengers’ Isle post!!! *throws confetti* You know the drill! Like if you want a piece of Avengers’ Isle birthday cake, comment to see Bucky’s SHIELD badge…

Avengers’ Isle: Coming Alive

‘Ello, ev’ryone. In spite of the protests I received from some of you last week, I decided to go ahead and skip Steve and move on to Loki and Tony. I’m sure you won’t mind… If you’re new, I suggest you check out past posts here.

Tony opened his eyes slowly, blinking away sand. If only the dream was true. If only he was back at home, with Pepper and a steak. Or even a Big Mac.

Instead, he was here with Loki and sand. Natasha was a big plus, but…

He sat up. Where was Natasha? He scrambled to his feet, accidentally kicking Loki’s arm as he stood. Loki flew up, ready to tackle Tony, who threw his arms up and scrambled backwards. Loki took a deep breath. “Has no one ever told you not to suddenly wake a sleeping Asgardian?”

Tony ran a hand through his sand-filled hair. “I thought that was just Thor. I now know better. It was completely an accident. Have you seen Natasha?”

Loki rubbed his forehead. “I have not. She may have simply gone for a walk.”

Tony shook his head. “Not after everything that happened.” Although she might be just trying to make them nervous. But she would be crazy if she was doing that. “We should check in the forest, make sure she’s not laying around somewhere, unconscious.”

Loki looked at him skeptically. “Last time we went in the forest, you came out unconscious.”

Tony nodded. “Exactly. Let’s go.”

Tony was pretty sure Loki didn’t follow his reasoning, but he wasn’t sure he understood it himself, so he didn’t bother to explain. They had only gone a little ways when they found a small spot of blood on the forest floor. Loki bent down, studying the leaves. “It seems she was fighting someone.”

Something tapped Tony’s shoulder, and he spun around, distracted. He didn’t see anything, but there was a suspicious looking vine hanging down. He reached out slowly, slowly, and grabbed it. Suddenly it yanked him up off his feet. “Help!” he yelped, grabbing onto a nearby branch for dear life.

Loki yanked on his feet, breaking the vine, and they tumbled into a heap on the forest floor. They scrambled to their feet and dashed madly for the beach.

“What. Was. That?” Tony panted, gazing back at the forest. He froze. One of the trees was moving, coming towards them, like a human slogging through thick, waist-high mud. Another tree started moving, then another.

Loki grabbed Tony’s arm. “I think we should run,” he said calmly.

“I wish I had an axe,” Tony groaned. He stumbled back through the sand and felt his heel hit something hard as it sank into the wet sand. “Hey! Maybe there’s something here. Maybe it’s an axe, or a blowtorch, or something…” He fell to his knees and started digging frantically through the sand.

“The current would prevent anything useful from landing here. We need to–” Loki stopped. Tony slowly pulled his hand away from the object as a wave fully uncovered it. Loki sucked in a breath. “Is that…”

Tony’s voice was quiet. “Cap’s shield.”

Thanks to erinkenobi2893 and sarahtps for both contributing ideas to the post unintentionally. 😉 Like to get a bag of trail mix, comment for shawarma.

Avengers’ Isle: Tic Tac Toe

Hello, everyone! Again, I apologize for not posting a part last week. Time keeps seeming to run away from me. I guess you can expect an Avengers’ Isle post every other week now… but we’ll see.

Red Skull threw aside the stick he was writing in the dirt with, making Banner wince. “Tell no one,” he growled at the guy with the metal arm. Banner was pretty sure the guy’s name was Bucky, but he wasn’t sure. Red Skull wiped out whatever they’d been writing for the past half-hour and motioned for Bucky to follow him out of the clearing. Apparently Red Skull didn’t like being beaten by his minions in tic tac toe.

Banner glanced around. There were still a few natives. Thor was still unconscious, and Fury was leaning his head back against the tree as he slept. How could he sleep?

“Quit staring at me.”

Banner looked away, uncomfortable. So maybe Fury wasn’t asleep. But his one eye was closed, and the other still covered by the eyepatch. “Sorry. I thought you were sleeping.”

Fury opened his eye and looked over at Banner. “You make a habit of watching people while they sleep?”

Banner shook his head. A grunt somewhere in the forest drew his attention away from the director. Two more natives entered the clearing, carrying an unconscious Natasha Romanoff.

“Good,” Fury said, leaning his head back against the tree as the natives tied Natasha to the tree next to Thor.

“Good?” Banner asked. He frowned at Fury. “It’s good that half of the Avengers are tied to trees now?”

“No,” Fury said without opening his eyes. “Good that she’s alive.”

Thor stirred a little and moaned quietly, but didn’t wake up. Banner felt like moaning himself. If he wasn’t in such an uncomfortable position, he’d fall asleep in a heartbeat. He wished this was all over, that he was back in India, working and not hurting anybody, or being hurt.

Red Skull stepped back into the clearing, followed by Bucky. “Well, I trust you two have been resting well, correct?” he asked.

Banner looked over at Fury, who didn’t move. He shrugged. “Not exactly.”

Red Skull sighed and motioned to the clearing. “I’ve been as hospitable as possible.” His eyes went to a spot behind them. “The job’s been done?” he asked.

“Yes,” someone said.

Fury’s eyes popped open. Banner frowned. For once he looked surprised, even shocked. “You’re…”

A guy with brown hair stepped into their view. Banner had no clue who he was, but Fury apparently knew him from the expression on his face. “Miss me?” he asked.

Fury’s eye closed. “Barton.”

Like to wake up Natasha and Thor, comment to start shaking some sense into Hawkeye…

Avengers’ Isle: Bird Call

I apologize for not posting an Avengers’ Isle episode last week. I plead life. I also apologize that this section is short, but I must admit, it ends quite well. 🙂

Natasha walked quietly into the forest, avoiding overhanging branches and twigs on the ground. The complete silence around her was making her more edgy than usual, and the dim not-quite-morning light didn’t help. Calm down, she told herself. Nothing was going to happen. Tony was wrong. They were alone.

She knew that was a lie. In fact, she embraced the truth. After all, not being alone was better than strange arrows just randomly flying through the air.

The sound of a bird call made her freeze. It wouldn’t be out of place… except that there had been absolutely no sign of birds on the entire island.

Another bird call echoed through the silent forest, sending a chill down Natasha’s spine. She shouldn’t have wandered into the forest alone. She should have waited for Tony and Loki to wake up. Fun how she wouldn’t mind having Loki by her side right now.

A twig cracked nearby. Natasha began to move slowly back towards the camp. Hopefully there weren’t any more dart shooting people out there. She picked up her pace, moving faster. More twigs cracked, heading in her direction.

Natasha whirled and took off at a dead run, dodging trees and bushes and overhanging plant growth. Footsteps pounded behind her, and she risked a glance behind her.

A tree root seemed to reach out and grab her ankle, sending her flying through the air and thudding to the ground. She could barely see Loki and Tony sleeping on the beach through the trees. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth. She felt a tiny prick on her arm and then went limp.

Mwahaha… A like gets you Fury’s spare eyepatch, a comment gets you Coulson’s vintage Captain America trading cards.

Avengers’ Isle: In A Pickle

You may have noticed that there are two people whose points of view I haven’t written from yet: Loki and Fury. I haven’t written from Loki’s point of view mostly because it hasn’t been necessary. He’s been with Stark and Natasha the whole time.

But Fury’s different. I haven’t written from his point of view because the task is… well, daunting. But it seemed like the best option. So here goes. We’re going to get some answers this time… New? Click here for past posts.

Fury slowly blinked. The world spun around him. He was standing, something solid at his back. Things began to focus – the trees, the forest floor, the ropes tying him to the unusual, almost oak-like tree behind him.

He rotated his head to the side, squinting to help himself focus. Banner was tied to a tree next to him, out cold. At least he still had his eye patch. He could feel the strap on his scalp.

It took a few seconds for him to remember. The natives had knocked him and Banner out, but not before Fury caught a glimpse of the man who had spoken. Fury closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree. They were stuck on the island with a monster. And it wasn’t the Hulk.

Banner finally stirred next to him, gradually regaining consciousness. Fury watched him. What had happened back there? Banner couldn’t transform into the Hulk? What was going on here, on this idiotic island? Banner blinked and looked over at Fury before closing his eyes. He grunted as he shifted against his tree. “Well. Seems like we’re in a bit of a pickle.”

Fury looked away and rolled his eye, scanning the surrounding area. “That’s quite the understatement.” He turned his gaze back to his fellow prisoner.

“Well, it’s good to see that you are all finally awake.” The crisp voice with the German accent floated through the trees as the owner stepped into view.

Banner looked shock as he took in the man, but Fury wasn’t. He’d already had time to ponder everything. “For some reason I was thinking that you were dead. I’m pretty sure I heard that from our good captain’s mouth itself.”

Red Skull laughed. “Clearly, he was mistaken.” A few natives stepped into view behind him.

Fury looked at the man doubtfully. “So you’re telling me that the Tesseract teleported you here? To this tiny island?”

“Oh, no, not in the least. The Tesseract deposited me on Vanaheim, one of the Nine Realms.” He paused, watching Fury’s face. “Ah, your Asgardian friend has not mentioned it to you. Ah, well. I’m sure he would explain it better than I could. The Vanirs quickly got fed up with me and therefore worked with the Asgardians to deposit me here.” He motioned around. “It was quite nice of you to stop by here. I never thought I would have company.”

Fury worked to keep his cool appearance. “I’m not surprised those… Vanirs… kicked you off their planet. Seems even aliens can’t stand you.”

Red Skull’s eyes narrowed as best as they could. “They’re as close to human as the Asgardians are. I’m sure your friend could explain it to you, if he were here.”

A form stepped through the trees and approached Red Skull. Fury almost felt like laughing. Now Rogers’ best friend, Bucky Barnes, was alive, too. “The message was sent,” he told Red Skull, who nodded.

A native said something to Red Skull in a language Fury couldn’t understand. It sounded almost like German, but with another language mixed in, too. Red Skull smiled. “Ah, well.” He said something back to the native and turned to Fury. “I guess he’ll be able to tell you himself.”

Four natives dragged an unconscious Thor into view. His head hung limply down, his blond hair dirty and tangled. They leaned him against the tree and quickly tied him to it. Red Skull smiled. “Don’t worry about your other friends. They’ll be joining us soon.”

Fury glanced over at Banner. “I think you’re right.”

Banner frowned in confusion, then nodded slowly. “Yep. We’re in a pickle.”

A like lets you give everyone sandwiches, a comment lets you meet everyone’s favorite Vanir… (Guess who below)

Avengers’ Isle: Not Alone

Hi, everyone! Did you like how last week’s post ended? Thought so… 😉 This weeks may not seem to end on much of a cliffhanger, but I’m pretty sure you guys will be looking forward to next week’s post…

Also, I metioned to writefury in a comment that I will post extra episodes when I reach certain milestones. There are a few you can help with: 10 reviews on Amazon, 50 sales, and 200 followers on here… New? Read past episodes here.

Tony slowly opened his eyes. It took a second for everything to focus, but when it did…

He yelped and began to scramble backwards. Natasha pulled back, just as surprised and embarrassed. Loki wasn’t even trying to hide his smirk. “What were you doing?” Tony exclaimed.

Natasha pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, sighing in frustration. “It’s called ‘leaning down to inspect the odd welt on Tony’s neck’.” She made a face. “Loki wouldn’t do it.”

Loki snorted. “Of course not. Look what happened.”

At Natasha’s words, Tony reached up and felt the side of his neck. He shuddered as his fingers found the mosquito-bite-like bump. “What happened?” he asked.

“You and Loki went into the forest, and apparently you got poisoned, by a bug or a dart or something. We don’t know,” Natasha said. “You just collapsed, and then Loki brought you back here.” She smirked. “He carried you in his arms, too.”

Tony shot a look at Loki, who avoided his gaze. “Might I suggest that we don’t talk about any of this?”

Natasha nodded wholeheartedly. “What happens on this island, stays on this island.”

Tony smirked and was about to make a snide Vegas-themed comment when Natasha tensed. She turned towards the forest, listening.

The mood immediately darkened. Loki turned in that direction, too. Tony hadn’t heard anything, but clearly both of his companions had. The noise wasn’t repeated, and Natasha relaxed slightly. She turned back to Tony and opened her mouth to speak. There was a whizzing sound and a thud as an arrow burrowed into the sand next to Tony.

They stared at the arrow in silence for a second. “Clint,” Natasha breathed. She whirled to face Loki, her nose inches from his face. “What–”

“I have no control over him now,” Loki said evenly, not even flinching. “My magic is gone.”

Natasha growled, and Tony thought about how glad he was that he wasn’t on the receiving end of her fury. “How do we know that for sure? You’re a liar.”

Loki shrugged, a smirk crossing his face. “Do you think that I would be on this island if I still had my magic.” Natasha hesitated, then made a grumpy face and stepped back. “Besides,” Loki continued, “it’s most likely not Hawkeye. I believe his plane went down with the helicarrier. And if he was shooting at you, he would have hit his mark.”

Tony looked over at the arrow. “One thing’s for sure. We’re definitely not alone.”

A like lets you keep the arrow, a comment lets you find the archer… (in a couple weeks, of course)

Avengers’ Isle: War Paint

Hello, friends! So maybe I should’ve said this before, but future posts will assume that you know who the Winter Soldier is. If you don’t know and you don’t want it spoiled… 😉 Thank you all so much for all of your lovely comments on last week’s post! You guys are amazing! (New? See past episodes.) 

Fury and Banner made their way cautiously through the forest. They were starting to run out of Fury’s stash of trail mix. Apparently he wasn’t too prepared. Banner was actually a little glad. A limitless supply of trail mix would’ve made him wonder how paranoid Fury was.

Not that he didn’t already think the director was paranoid.

Banner followed Fury as he pushed through overhanging vines. He hated to say it, but he was pretty sure they were getting lost. He cleared his throat. “Fury. If we’re looking for food, shouldn’t we at least be looking at the plants and stuff?”

Fury turned to him almost ominously, staring him down with his single eye. That guy could accomplish more with one eye than anyone could accomplish with two. “You already said you don’t recognize any of the plants. I trust your judgment, and I assume you’ll let me know if you see anything you recognize.”

Banner felt a little sheepish. “Then what are we doing out here still?” he asked.

Fury sighed. “Looking for the others.” Banner stared at him blankly. “I saw smoke last night in the distance.” He turned and continued moving.

Banner hurried to catch up. “But that doesn’t mean it’s the other Avengers. It could be natives, or…” He shrugged. “Anybody.”

Fury turned his eye back on him again without slowing his pace. “Natives, maybe. But most likely not, and probably not anyone else.”

They came across a semi-bright clearing edged with shadows. Fury slowed, his brow furrowed as he gazed around. Banner stuck close next to him. Something about this put him on guard. He didn’t want to hulk out, but he would if needed.

A twig cracked nearby. Both of them froze. There was a quiet whistle, and the next instant they were surrounded by ferocious looking men covered in various colors of paint. “Natives,” Banner grumbled. Fury stepped back behind him a little.

“War paint,” he observed, almost as if he was looking at wax statues of the natives in a museum. “Wonder if they’re cannibals.” He glanced over at Banner. “Feel free to let the other guy out at any time.”

There was a pause as the natives crept silently closer. “Banner,” Fury said, still sounding almost perfectly calm. “What are you waiting for?”

Banner felt fear creep up inside of him. “He – he’s not there. The Hulk… I can’t…”

There was a menacing laugh nearby. “Of course not.”

A like gets you the chance to run into an Avenger in an elevator, a comment lets you eat shawarma with all of them…