Chapter 34: Clash of the Avengers

"Remember why you started." —Unknown

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LEIPZIG-HALLE AIRPORT

LOCATION: LEIPZIG, GERMANY

JUNE 24, 2016

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ONCE they decided what the team was going to do, they split up into their positions and waited for Steve's signal. Rogers strides through the underpass to create the distraction, heading towards the chopper in hopes of going after the doctor. However, an electro-disabler dart slams onto the aircraft, causing him to look up and find Tony and Rhodey in their Iron suits. The pair landed directly in front of him within a few feet away, Stark's mask disappeared, and sarcastically started to talk with his friend, "Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," James responded with the same tone, they also had a plan of their own after Steve and the others escaped from the terrorist center. Tony discreetly began scanning the airport for where she could be, nonetheless, was still annoyed with his pal Captain America.

"Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this," Steve explained briefly, not letting his eyes wander around. Suddenly, Black Panther leaped over a truck and settled far but close enough to Rhodey.

"Captain," T'Challa greeted yet Rogers knew not to confuse the acknowledgment as kindness. The soldier saluted in return, nodding his head while doing so.

"Anyway, Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" Stark remarked as he slowly walked around to somewhat intimidate him, his facial expressions serious for once.

"You're after the wrong guy," The blonde persisted, hoping to continue stalling for time.

"Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday," Tony shouted, his bruised black eye was in view as he stared directly at him.

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't." Steve didn't let him finish, the more they waited it's likely the man would get to the elite group first.

"Steve... you know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?" Natasha emerged behind Rogers, he immediately knew who it was as his face maintained its neutral expression. His eyes however told a different story as the two friends had a fallout, Black Widow knew that too.

"All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" Iron Man signaled his recruit after Steve refused to answer, suddenly his shield was taken away and his hands webbed together. The new superhero landed on top of the baggage service cart, the shield on his right hand as Tony congratulated him, "Nice job, kid."

"Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit... Well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-it's perfect. Thank you." The new guy in spandex rambled, everyone turned to Tony who seemed a bit stressed at the moment.

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation," Stark replied swiftly, wanting to dismiss him from continuing. Persistent in finding Aurora and planning on returning her home before Athena could kill him after explaining what happened.

"Okay. Cap... Captain. Big fan, I'm Spider-Man," He finally introduced himself, doing an awkward salute at one of his role models in slight awe. The chat carried on for a short period, Steve could guess the newcomer was on the younger side which showed how inexperienced he was with handling these kinds of situations.

"You've been busy," The soldier perceived as Tony also assembled his own little group, hearing from the earpiece faint bickering voices of Aurora and Sam saying something.

"And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. Taking her away from me— I'm trying to keep... I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart." The billionaire bickered at him, holding back his tongue from saying something he might regret.

"You did that when you signed," Steve sighed at the thought of how they split up from their different views.

"Alright, We're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. NOW! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys... with no compunction about being impolite." Tony shouted exclaimed in desperation, looking at him briefly in a silent pleading to give up. Immediately after Wilson radioed his friend that they found the Quinjet, Steve raised his hands to signal Clint to cut it.

"Alright, Lang," Rogers called out to Scott, the man transformed himself into his human size with the shield after knocking Spider-Man down. Everyone around Steve became confused about what was happening, Ant-Man giving back the shield as he addressed him.

"Oh, great. Alright, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you want to take Cap?" Stark grunted at the satellite footage he received from FRIDAY, firing up his suit to go after them as he sent Rhodey the next scan he got.

"Got three in the terminal, Wilson, Barnes, and—," James informed the others, the scan displaying the trio running through to reach the hangar as a diversion.

"Barnes is mine!" T'Challa cut him off, running in that direction without a second to waste. Rhodey too was going after them until Steve threw the shield at him, keeping him at bay from getting his friends.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, what should I do?" Spider-Man called out to Tony, unsure what to do as Natasha went to Scott. Leaving him alone and spotting the Captain chasing Black Panther from getting to them first.

"What we discussed. Keep your distance. Web 'em up." His mentor swiftly replied, nodding his head and going to the three fugitives by swinging. By then, Aurora stayed behind in case someone decided to follow them and give Bucky a chance to escape. They jogged to their next target however someone went through the glass and kicked Sam backward. The Winter Soldier through a punch yet the unknown hero caught it with ease.

"You have a metal arm? That is awesome, dude!" Spider-Man inquired in a bewildered tone as he lifted the arm, while the man just stared confused. The teenager noticed the intruder, running forward before doing a roundhouse kick that knocked the person away a good few meters. The masked hero grunted at the new injury, scanning around to find a newcomer walking toward him with a deadly look.

"You're... you're Phantom—." The boy, Peter Parker stuttered at the sight of the infamous assassin, observing how she took out two small blades from the holster. He's heard rumors about her, a former HYDRA assassin that turned good(?) after being rescued by the Avengers. Although, he somewhat imagined her with the bright pink hair he's seen in the recent news. And maybe a bit taller and older... but the more he looked at her, she looked like a young woman.

"I see my reputation precedes me... shame I can't say the same thing for you." Aurora mocked him, of course, she lied but it didn't matter since she took a swipe near his face, barely dodging it and giving her the advantage to kick him down again. Surprised by the sheer strength she held back, he started getting annoyed by both the comment and how he was being pushed around. Not noticing how she signaled her partners to wait until she gives them a clear chance to attack together.

"I'm-m Spider-Man," He announced weakly, silently groaning as he advanced at her running only for him to be flipped onto the ground in a loud thud. Feeling pressure on the chest immediately, seeing she placed her boot on him with a widening smirk. Both struggled to gain an inch, testing each other's strength as he thought of changing the game for once.

"And I don't care." The young Stark answered, grinning how his lens twitched into anger as he lifted his wrist and sprayed a white substance on her face. Staggering backward to take it off, sensing another substance on her legs yet she trusted her partner will take care of him since she heard some commotion. With all her might, Aurora stained herself to pull it off, after a few moments she managed to swat it away before proceeding with the legs. Regaining her vision, they were already near the end of the terminal, deciding on harnessing some energy and converting it into heat to disintegrate it.

"Now you pissed me off," She calmly stated, racing across the station while spotting Sam flying through the rafters to try to disarm him. Aurora went to Bucky and hid behind the pillar before he got a large metal debris and aimed it at Spider-Man, however, it came flying back towards them. Luckily, she used her energy shield that bent the metal wall, meanwhile, Sam was less fortunate and crashed into a nearby kiosk.

"Are those wings carbon fiber?" Spider-Man asked Wilson after webbing him onto the rails, the former assassins used their old tactics to ambush him. Stalking closer yet away from each other behind some more pillars, hoping to use the distraction to get rid of the hero.

"Is this stuff coming out of you?" Sam retorted in response, looking somewhat disgusted at the texture he was feeling. She knew that too since it felt slimy and cold, and the teenager hated how her hair was now ruined by some pieces still attached.

"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio... which, gotta say, that's awesome, man." The boy rambled to go on about the wings, ignoring Wilson completely. Perfect, he hasn't been alerted yet by the duo, nodding discreetly as Bucky advanced ahead.

"I don't know if you've been in a fight before but there's usually not this much talking," Sam told him seriously, rolling his eyes through the goggles.

"Alright, sorry. My bad." Spider-Man apologized before using the webs to swing over to Falcon, however, Bucky jumped out only to be thrown down as the kid kicked them through the balcony railing. Both webbed onto the ground, making it difficult for them to escape so Aurora looked to find him on one of the display signs. The masked hero declared to them, "Guys, look, I'd love to keep this up, but I've only got one job here today and I gotta impress Mr. Stark so I'm really sorry. Wait... There were three, where is she?"

"Missed me already? But the fun has just begun," Aurora teased as she playfully twirled her hair as if she was flirting although she already wanted to hurl at herself. At least it was working that he couldn't form a sentence at what she was doing, knowing Sam had something planned on his sleeve... literally. She smirked as the girl spoke in an amusing tone, "There's one thing I forgot to mention, I don't like guys that ditch me after our first date. But the good thing is you didn't realize I was the distraction."

"What—?" The boy barely mumbled as Redwing drags Peter through the glass wall after latching onto the wrist. Grinning that he was taken care of, deciding to head down as she leaped off the second floor and landed softly near their feet. Already concentrating to convert the energy to heat yet felt a strain on her head as it was slowly becoming unbearable but ignored the pain.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky complained about preventing everything if he did that earlier. Aurora could only chuckle as she first took off the webs from Barnes before Wilson, resting a moment to calm down the nerves. 

"I hate you," Sam announced with a stubborn tone, glad he was no longer stuck but waited to take a breather.

"You alright, little star?" The Winter Soldier leaned to examine her, using the nickname for the first time as she softly smiled. She thought he forgot about it but the teenager was more concerned for him, nodding to them to keep going forward.

"Let's go, I bet they're already heading to the Quinjet," She uttered as they helped her up, however, insisted on being fine to not become a burden for them. The trio swiftly runs to the runway to get on the aircraft and the possibility that the doctor is already there by now. Steve quickly ushered them to regroup as the others were beside him sprinting towards the hangar. However, midway a strong light beam stopped them in their tracks and drew a curved line to divide them from Tony's side. 

"Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now," Vision called out peacefully, looking up at the android with a distasted expression and noted her father's team arriving on the other side. She couldn't tell what Tony was feeling right now, but Aurora was sure disappointed was one of them. In her mind, the Accords were a placeholder to signal 'peace' until the government would use them as their puppets... and she will never do that again.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam questioned Steve as they lined up with Aurora beside him, Wanda, and Clint. This was the moment... the Avengers will no longer stay united after this day, what once was her family will now be torn apart. It killed her that part of it was her fault, she agreed with Steve about Bucky but Tony just wanted to keep her safe.

"We fight," Captain America firmly declared, the two teams stride toward each other with grim determination on their faces. At first, they walked steadily before turning into a more high-paced jog, until once they got closer it became a full-on sprint. In front of her was Spider-Man, thinking of giving him a taste of her own medicine she went after him.

"Mister Stark? What should I do? Do I take her down?" Peter inquired as he spouted some webs on her, she used her energy shield to block them.

"Just stop her but whatever you do... don't piss her off," Tony responded nonchalantly, busy throwing some punches at Steve. No matter how much he tried to disarm her, she wouldn't budge an inch until he caught her wrist and dragged her down. Aurora simply pulled him forward to make him lose momentum, amused by how her idea worked.

"That's it? Come on, Bug-Boy. Let's see what else comes out of you." She hollered with a knowing smirk, her eyes becoming into a blue hue as the girl stood up as she snagged the web clean from the sudden adrenaline. Peter surely underestimated her, but he was also unaware of what else she possessed.

"A spider is a-actually an arachnid-d— and did you h-have to say it like that?" The male teenager stammered as he internally blushed at the comment, not realizing it was just another distraction.

"Just can't help it," Phantom shrugged her shoulders, creating small portals to step on and force him to follow her. He went after Aurora as it was evident she was trying to 'escape' yet somewhat stunned by her ability. Peter never saw anything like it, he bet even the Scarlet Witch couldn't do a cool trick like that.

"Can y-you please stop being so insanely... amazing." Peter awed at the mysterious girl, swinging as she stepped on top of a large airplane and looked back at him with mixed emotions.

"Are you seriously flirting with me? Even though we're from opposite teams?" Aurora scoffed before she channeled some energy to blast him away. He dodged unfortunately as the hero was turning into a nuisance, she just can't get away from him.

"You started it!" Peter shouted like a child that got in trouble and attempted to blame her, it only made the girl more curious about Spider-Man. Surely Tony didn't pick him just because he needed help... unless he saw something from him. Fine so she may be jealous, she wasn't stupid that the new hero got a new suit update or that Tony constantly checked on him.

"Now I know you're not a man," She announced firmly, logical to say that he can be a young adult or just an immature child.

"But I-I am one," Spider-Man stated with his voice slightly deeper to mask it. For a split second, he thought that she figured out something, observing the vigilante squinting her eyes a bit.

"My bad, Spidey. Guess it won't matter knowing once I'm done with you." Aurora provoked him, seeing how he released a string of web fluid and dangled towards her. Fortunately, she summoned a portal and he went right through within seconds later the web was cut and he landed harshly on the concrete. The girl approached him, hands glowing as she both intimidated and mocked the hero, "Getting deja vu yet?"

"Sort of... but Mr. Stark says your weakness is the arms," Spider-Man answered, squirting some webs on her arms and wrapping them around the torso. Trying hard to get loose but it seemed he tried a stronger web to contain her, grumbling to herself for falling for it. Now he had her dangle on the aircraft, feeling proud of himself for outsmarting her. Peter genuinely acknowledged her, "Seriously though, how does it work with your energy? The laws of thermodynamics say energy cannot be created nor destroyed."

"What?" Aurora snapped annoyed, wiggling around to find one of the daggers hidden on the thigh holster. Straining to reach it but also conceal her emotions so he wouldn't suspect anything, he started pacing around as the masked hero waited for Tony's next command.

"I mean, you're basically a living battery," Peter concluded, making Phantom look displeased that she had to listen to the boring conversation.

"Do you always leave cute girls stuck in web fluid?" The young Stark questioned, hoping to make him tick like before. Only he seemed to focus on something else as the hero hid something in one of his pockets.

"No but don't worry, it'll dissolve in two hours. Sorry, gotta go— Mr. Stark needs me!" Spider-Man quickly left as she screamed at the coward to come back. The girl hurried in cutting the webs as he couldn't have gone far, however, her headaches got worse which wasn't a good sign.

Too many things were happening at once when she got down, Aurora couldn't find the red and blue spandex hero but decided to concentrate on their original mission. Finding Bucky hiding behind some cargo crates, eventually advancing to find Steve as they took a moment to reassemble their thoughts. Her guardian turned to his best friend with a slight grin expression, "We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

"We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get on the jet." Rogers agreed as he was willing to stay behind for him to escape. Aurora shook her head in disagreement, she wouldn't let him if it was the last resort of the plan. 

"No, you get on the jet! Both of you! The rest of us aren't getting out of here," Sam informed them, trying to get away from Rhodey who's been tailing him for a while.

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it." Clint reasoned as he shot some arrows to help Wilson. Wanda also listened in to the conversation but knew they were willing to risk it for Steve. They all owe him a favor... and it's time to pay it back.

"And I'll stay behind. It's the only way," Aurora promised them, the two men glanced in her direction with different expressions of disbelief and distress.

"No, Rory, we can't do that. I won't let you." Bucky reacted as his eyes pleaded for her to reconsider, they've both been through thick and thin so it'd only make sense for them to stay together.

"Just stop! Please listen to me and respect my decision. I'll make sure you get to the Quinjet." She protested at the stubborn man, her eyes desperately wanted to water down the cheeks yet refused to give in.

"It's noble of you to do that, but you don't deserve any of this." Steve calmly acknowledges the girl's plan, feeling the responsibility ever since he discovered Aurora two years ago.

"And he doesn't deserve to be framed for a crime he didn't commit. I'm willing to turn myself in if it means for you both to escape." The teenager pledged, placing her hand over the chest as Bucky hesitated to do the same. A gesture they make sure the first days they meet at HYDRA, a sign of trust and commitment.

"She's right— This isn't the real fight, Steve," Falcon concluded as he regretted that the girl he came to respect was willing to sacrifice herself. Seeing how they can't escape without the others finding them, the team needed to create some attention.

"Alright, Sam, what's the play?" The Captain cave in with a short sigh, glancing over at the others continuing to fight.

"We need a diversion, something big." Wilson briefly mentioned before Rhodey was gaining to him quickly, maneuvering higher in the air to manipulate the Iron Patriot.

"I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half... don't come back for me." Scott warned the team, Aurora sharing a similar glance at Bucky with what he meant by that last part.

"You're sure about this, Scott?" Steve called to him, unsure whether it was going to work but it was necessary. The teenager generated a large portal from a nearby cargo truck to sneak by her father's team swiftly.

"I do it all the time. I mean once... in a lab. Then I passed out. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the BOSS!" The new recruit shouted before suddenly transforming into a gigantic size that made everyone momentarily stare in surprise.

I guess that's the signal," Rogers told them, Aurora ushered them through before making another one to confuse whoever might follow them. Sprinting towards the hangar since everybody was distracted, Bucky grabbed her hand in worry that she would suddenly lose consciousness. Nonetheless, Vision formed a shining beam of energy at the control tower to collapse the entrance.

A sudden red mist appeared around the debris of the tower, knowing it was Wanda and without hesitation, they barely made it through. However, Natasha was waiting for them to arrive, her arm out towards the trio with slight disappointment to them. Aurora would hate to fight against her aunt, taking off the mask to plead with her to understand. She looked at them before saying, "You're not gonna stop."

"You know I can't," Steve answered, yet she held her arm out apprehensively at Bucky. The girl stood in front of him to make a barrier, but the man reached for her shoulder to stop her from risking her life.

"I'm gonna regret this," Black Widow announced before firing stunning T'Challa who sneaked up behind them. She urged them to leave, opening the hatch of the aircraft as Aurora slowed down and Bucky did too. Conflicted on whether to tell him or not, she lunged forward for an embrace, which he returned immediately.

"Goodbye... and thank you for everything." Aurora smiled bitterly with fresh tears in her eyes, cupping his jaw for a final look. He didn't say anything but knew he cared for her, his eyes told everything she needed to know. Letting go after seeing Natasha struggling to keep T'Challa at bay, she turned to help the woman.

"Forgive me little star... but I promise we will see each other soon," Bucky whispered before getting inside the aircraft and taking off. Black Panther attempted to catch them but Aurora wouldn't let him and used a portal to make the man land on the ground. Eventually, the German officials arrived and took them one by one, stealing a glance at the direction they were heading.

This time she couldn't escape.

(gif by crystallous !)