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: 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: 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)