Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

5. Protecting the Stone

"You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos," Smaller Alien told us, in a voice that sounded a lot less menacing than he looked. "Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to-"

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today," Stark shouted over to him, cutting him off. "You better pack it up and get out of here."

Smaller Alien caught sight of the locket around Strange's neck, sensing the power of the Stone within it. "Stonekeeper, does this chattering animal speak for you?"

Strange took a step forward. "Certainly not, I speak for myself." He held his fists up in a threatening manner, encased with magical orange shields. Wong emulated his stance, also showing his own shields. "But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"It means get lost, Squidward," Stark added, making me smile despite everything that we were about to go through.

Smaller Alien turned to Bigger Alien. "Bring me the Stone."

Bigger Alien grunted an agreement, dragging his giant hammer along the ground as he slowly made his way towards us.

Immediately I pushed an arm towards him, encasing him in electricity that stopped him from moving. Even though it incapacitated him, it wouldn't hold him for long.

"Banner, you want a piece?" Stark asked, because if any of us were going to be a match for Bigger Alien, it would be Hulk.

"No, not really," Banner sighed. "But when do I ever get what I want?"

He tensed, ready to release his secret weapon. But to our surprise, nothing happened. He tried again and again, groaning with the effort. But apart from a slight green tinge to his skin, nothing changed.

I threw a few more volts of electricity towards Bigger Alien when he started to recover, frowning at Banner. "Are you okay?"

"I just... I need to concentrate here for one second."

He tried again, but there was still no sign of our not-so-jolly green giant.

"Where's your guy?" Stark asked in disbelief. In all the time that he'd known Banner, he'd never seen this happen.

"I don't know," Banner confessed. "We've sort of been having a thing."

My latest voltage faded too quickly, and again, Bigger Alien was making his way towards us. This time I encased him in an electrified force field. He tried to fight his way out of it, and I could feel his attempts getting stronger.

"I can't hold him," I warned the guys. "If one of you has an ace up your sleeve... now would be a pretty good time."

Stark caught Strange's look of disappointment and fixed Banner, still not green, with a glare. "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"Tony, I'm sorry," Banner said, looking and sounding ashamed. "Either I can't, or he won't-"

Stark's slightly annoyed glare instantly became sympathetic and understanding. "It's okay, stand down," he said, pushing his friend backwards gently. "Wong, keep an eye on him."

Bigger Alien moved forward. My impenetrable force field slowed him down, but rather than stopping him completely it moved with him, pushing me backwards.

"Tell me you have a plan," I ordered Stark through gritted teeth, digging my heels into the ground while not taking my eyes off of the target.

Stark caught my eye, pulling away some of my concentration. "I've got it."

Walking forward, he touched the arc reactor on his chest. Immediately an Iron Man suit formed around him, adapting to his steps. I released Bigger Alien from the force field just in time for Stark to punch him, before a set of blasters knocked him flying backwards. To my surprise, Smaller Alien threw him aside with the flick of his wrist, demonstrating the difference between brute strength and actual power. With that power, he unearthed the ground underneath Stark's feet, throwing him into the air. Then he extracted two trees from the ground and tossed them in our direction. Wong used his shields to deflect them.