SHE | Marvel's Avengers [10]

Chapter 21 - Sacrifice

Abila's POV

"I have broken the encryption, so there is more to see," JARVIS reported, pulling up the footage. This time, there was the footage I had recovered, and footage of the reactor. There was blue gas everywhere, and Tarleton was typing on a console. 

Cap and Snake appeared, running into the lab. They, or at least Cap, looked nervous but determined.

 "George! We have to shut down the reactor. It's pulling us towards that heat signature," Cap and Snake ran into the room, where Tarleton was fighting to stabilize the reactor. 

"I-I've tried, but there's no way to disengage the crystal!" he explained. 

"Then get out...and seal the door!" Snake ordered.

 "What?!" he exclaimed. 

"George...go!" Snake insisted.

I felt sick. 

Everything I had believed about the footage was wrong. 

Tarleton was just following orders. "No, this can't be right," I muttered. Everyone around me had looks of shock on their face as we watched.

The doors closed on the two as they looked at the monitors. "Head to the command deck!" Snake shouted. 

"What?!" Tarleton shouted. 

"EVACUATE NOW!" Cap ordered. Tarleton paused, but then took off.

My hands, hell, my entire body was shaking. I was in shock. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, even though it was right in front of me.

 "No, no, no, Cap, Snake. What are you doing?!" Tony exclaimed. 

He voiced my thoughts exactly.

Snake pulled off her mask, revealing a young girl, who looked at Cap. 

"We have to smash the reactor," she said. 

"I know," he responded. 

"This will kill us," she pointed out.

"As long as everyone else is safe," he responded. 

"Yeah. Yeah. What're 2 lives for a million, right?" She sighed, running a hand down her face. 

"On the count of three," She said, letting go of her mask, which fell to the floor in a pile. 

"One..." They both got ready to slam into the reactor, Snake hovering a few feet off the ground.

 "Two...three!" She shouted.

They both went headfirst into the reactor at top speed, their cries echoing as the screen when white.

"No..." I said. 

"Cap and Snake smashed the reactor," Dr. Banner said faintly.

 "They had to have a reason," Ms. Romanoff said. 

"What reason?! Hundreds of people were infected, people died, Nat!" Dr. Banner shouted.

 "Just...take it easy," Tony urged.

"You take some responsibility, Tony!" he snapped. 

"Oh, there's the Bruce I know! Throw everyone under the bus, why don't ya?" Tony spat. 

"Now is not the time," Ms. Romanoff said. 

"No, it's okay, Nat. See, he's been waiting to do with ever since Golden Acres, haven't you? Haven't you?" Tony snapped. 

"This is our fault. All of ours. How do you not get that?" Dr. Banner said quietly.

"Hey, what I get is that you actually believe all that crap you said at the hearing," Tony spat. 

"I believe that we are dangerous," he insisted.

 "You really think the world is better without us?" Tony asked. 

"Yes," Dr. Banner spat. 

"I'm out of here," Ms. Romanoff said, leaving.

"You all have not changed," Thor said, annoyed as he left. 

"Look at them...They can't be fixed. They can't be cured. I've done the experiments. I've checked their DNA over, and over, and over again. You and I created the PERFECT disease," Dr. Banner spat. 

"No, actually? I do the job, I make the tough decisions," Tony yelled. 

"DON'T!" Dr. Banner warned. 

"I stand by the people who made me who I am," he said.

"I am warning you," Dr. Banner said, his eyes turning emerald. 

"What's a matter, Bruce? I make you angry?" Tony jeered as Dr. Banner's shirt ripped, the noise audible in the room. 

"See, that's always been your problem. Running from who you are. What you are! Maybe that's why Monica got the better of you!" Hulk let out a bellow, grabbing Stark by the chest and pinning him against the railing.

 "I was just agreeing with you, big guy. That Banner's a coward!" Tony fired his repulsors on Hulk, making him back up.

 "Guys! Don't do this! This is exactly what Tarleton wants!" I shouted, trying to mediate the situation.

"I'd stay out of this one, kid,"