Marvel: Iron Age - Mockingbird the Avenger part 3

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PrinceIMC

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#1  Edited By PrinceIMC

THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY ARE BASED OFF CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS THAT ARE THE PROPERTY OF MARVEL INC. AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, I THOUGHT OF THE STORY BUT THE WORLD IS THEIRS
 
(Continued from the previous chapter: Mockingbird the Avenger - Part 2)
 
North of France

~Is he going to keep me waiting all night?~

Mockingbird thinks to herself. Why is it that the world's most impatient woman always has to wait for other people? This is why she works alone...well that's not the only reason.

She's waiting in an old lighthouse in an abandoned village on the French coast; from here she can even see the Sea Wall that surrounds Britain. In order to find out more about that 'Project: Thunder' she's decided to find out where in Britain the thing as assembled. To do that she needs to sneak into Britain past the Sea Wall and all the Iron Soldiers who guard it, not an easy task.

Luckily despite the whole of the British Isles being used as a prison there is an 'Underground Railroad' sneaking innocents out. After all this is Ferrum we're talking about, sometimes just speaking out against the government is enough to earn a life sentence. The underground doesn't get people out of the detention camps, it’s too dangerous to try and most people are safer there. However on occasion people do manage to escape the camps and try to survive in the wilderness and abandoned villages.

Of course being a giant genetic experiment lab means that the islands are also covered with genetic monstrosities, 10 times the number in places like North America. The odd wildlife isn't all Ferrum's fault either. It is said that during the war MI:13 opened some dimensional portals allowing through creatures that only existed in myth. So a few people within the country try to find those wrongly convicted people in the wilds and get them to safety. However this might be the first time someone has asked to smuggle themselves in.

~I'll give them another hour then I'm out of here.~

After twenty more minutes Mockingbird finally sees the signal she was looking for. Someone in the abandoned bakery in the center of town turns on the lights. Not something visible from the road (not that it's used anymore) or the water (or more importantly the Sea Wall) but perfectly visible from her raised position.

Circling around the other side of the lighthouse she leaps the railing and hits the ground forty feet below. Thank God for Vibranium soles. They also help her sneak through the village without making a sound. There shouldn't be anyone else to hear her, her contact is supposed to be alone, but a girl can never be too careful.

As she approaches the bakery she doesn't see anything out of place, maybe this will be easier than she thinks. However once she makes it to the bakery's roof she hears someone talking. A man on a radio maybe? They never did say no contact, so maybe it's nothing out of the ordinary but then someone else answers the first voice.

Voice 1: "There's nobody here. We should just go; we don't even know how long ago they used this town as a meeting place. The information could be months old."

Voice 2: "Well we're supposed to check it out anyway; there isn't any going home early. Maybe next time you get to be the one on sentry duty instead of Murray."

~Well this meeting is blown, if it ever was an actual meeting anyway, this trap could have been laid for me. Though hopefully anyone capable of setting me up wouldn't be stupid enough to talk amongst themselves when they knew I was waiting for an individual.~ She thinks to herself.

Instead of bothering to fight these two she decides that escape is the better part of valour in this case. She's about to turn and sneak back out when she realizes they said there was another one on sentry duty. Just then she feels the muzzle of a pulse rifle in her back.

Voice 3: "And I thought this was going to be a waste of time. Guys, we've got one." He calls to the others inside the bakery.

Mockingbird turns and looks at Murray the sentry who managed to get the drop on her. He's got powered armor but it looks patched together, like a local militia who doesn't have the funds for all the best equipment. The other two that emerge from the bakery look similar.

"Listen fellas I was just going for a stroll while wearing my skin-tight purple outfit....and mask. I saw the light, thought I'd get a dozen Kaiser Buns for the pantry."

The one with the pulse rifle to her back prods her causing her to drop down from the roof to be joining the other two from inside. One checks her out from head to toe paying extra attention to the gauntlets and boots, while the other is just checking her out. They don't keep their distance though. Three men in powered armor should be able to handle one unarmed 25 year old girl even if their armor is second hand.

"No? Well then how about this then, MB-1."

But before the men can ask what she means by that a short staff appears in each hand. Using their surprise to her advantage she smacks the one checking out body in the face on principle. Before the others can react she drops down and sweeps the legs out from under the second one who came out of the bakery. As Murray tries to get a bead on her with his pulse rifle she snaps the two short staffs together and smacks the gun from his hand.

The first one she smacked in the face though has brought his pulse rifle to bear and fires. If Mockingbird had still been there she would have been knocked unconscious for sure. Instead though poor Murray is hit full force into the actual bakery. The armor is the only thing that kept him from passing out from the force but he did get the wind knocked out of him. In the meantime Mockingbird had relocated to standing on the chest of the man she swept the legs out from.

"You like the boots? Here have a closer look."

Her Vibranium boots glow a moment as she stomps down on his face shattering his helmet and knocking him unconscious. The one with the pulse rifle brings his weapon to bear on her again but another leap and she's on top of the bakery.

"You really should have had more than three people if you wanted to bring me in."

Voice 2: "Who said there's only three of us?"

But 'Voice 2' said that 'Voice 1' could be on sentry duty instead of Murray....Of course Murray was on sentry duty doesn't mean that Murray was the only one on sentry duty. The truth of that deduction appears just before she sees two more people approaching from the rooftops. A quick glance at the scanner in her mask shows another 3 people approaching behind me too. Eight people? She's never taken down that many Iron Soldiers down, even in hand-me-down armor.

~I could try to fly away, but then it would just be a shooting gallery and I'd be the bird. Looks like I fight.~ She thinks to herself again.

"Alright, let’s do this." She turns to face the greatest number of opponents.

Then she realizes that one of the people approaching from behind wasn't wearing armor like the rest of them. He was just wearing regular clothes and a leather jacket and seemed to have a bow slung over his shoulder and a sword in his hand. He was also probably the best looking man Mockingbird had ever seen in real life, which is something she didn't expect to find here in an ambush.

Nor did she really expect him to be on her side but when he stabs the nearest Iron Soldier through the back with his sword she realizes she has an ally. And now the odds are 5 against 2 which is much more her style.

"I'm sorry that I'm late milady but you didn't need to replace me with France's Used Armor Brigade." The handsome stranger says.

The next nearest Iron Soldier raises his hand and aims it at the handsome stranger that is extracting his sword from the other Iron Soldier. The one who seems to be the only one with still working repulsors fires at the swordsman but is shocked to see the repulsor beam deflected by the sword. That shouldn't be possible.

Not to be outdone by a handsome stranger with a sword Mockingbird breaks her battle-staff into two pieces again and throws them into the bakery. Murray has nearly recovered but the battle staffs actually ricochet off the surfaces in there and knocking into him repeatedly knocking him out. 3 down, 4 to go.

One of the Iron Soldiers tries to grab her from behind but she grasps the hand and throws him over her shoulder into one of the two soldiers still approaching them. It was a pretty safe guess that if most of them don't have repulsors they wouldn't have working boot jets either.

"I couldn't replace you....I mean I didn't...they were here waiting for me. Your security sucks."

The stranger with the sword has dispatched another Iron Soldier and is coming up to give her a hand with the remaining three.

"Well then allow me to clear your dance card."

He steps in front of her with his sword drawn. She doesn't really know what he plans to do with that but as the Iron Soldiers begin to open fire with their pulse rifles he spins the sword and deflects the beams right back at them. Two more are down.

Mockingbird can't just let him handle all of them so she leaps towards the remaining soldier. Claws emerge from the fingertips of her gauntlets and she slashes at his armor. Huge chunks fall off where she scratched and he's clearly bleeding beneath it but with that much damage it went from being powered armor to an expensive paperweight. Just shocked that the armor he inherited from his father is trashed he doesn't even see her a round energy shield appear on her wrist and smacks him in the face knocking his head back leaving him unconscious.

"Thanks for the assist but I still can't help but feel this is sort of your fault."

She says to the handsome stranger before she turns. But when she sees his face again she kinda wants to forgive him.

"But anyway I'm Nora....I mean Mockingbird."

Why did she tell him her real name? Yeah he's handsome but she's acting like some kind of school girl or something.

"Pleased to meet you Nora the Mockingbird. I am Arthur, the Black Knight. Are you ready for your all expense paid trip to Britain?"

------------------------------------------

Las Vegas, Nevada

"Willie wake up, you're going to be late to work!"

"I'm up, I'm up and how many times have I asked you to call me Will?"

"Okay, okay but you don't want to be late. Nelson had to pull some strings to get you this job; you don't want to get fired on your first day."

William never really cared for learning. That is why instead of bothering with finishing high school he has decided to join the workforce the day after he turned 18. There aren't that many jobs available but luckily his mother dated a guy who worked at the power plant who was able to pull some strings for his benefit.

Leaving the small below-ground apartment he shares with his mother Will begins to make his way through the tunnels to the power plant.

Back two centuries ago when a hotel or casino became old and outdated they would be destroyed and build something new on the same spot. Well some time a hundred years ago they did that with the whole city. The city was rebuilt into a massive, glass and metal structure glowing in the desert. It takes up approximately the same area it once did but now it is actually one big, climate controlled vacation spot. Not just anyone can go to Vegas anymore; road traffic is discouraged due to the creatures that live in the wild. Massive high speed trains the size of 20th century cruise ships carry those that can afford it to the city. The upper echelon of society, mainly Ferrum executives, tends to come by private plane, helicopter, airship or even teleportation.

Despite Vegas catering to the rich there are still plenty of poor people that live there. But they are forced to live in the apartment blocks below the city. They're looked down on or not even looked at at all by the rich who come to Vegas. But Will is about to start a job at the power plant, the most important part of Vegas, it powers the whole city.

Nelson: "Okay kid; are you ready for the tour?"

Will: "Yeah, sure."

Will has heard the rumors about the power plant. That it's powered by an alien space craft, or by a super-human power source. But could one person really power all the lights in every casino in every hotel as well as all the apartments underground?

Will: "So what generates the power?"

Making their way into the main power generation chamber. Five stories tall the room has a giant metallic cylinder in the center with cables that trail to what four two story tall turbines. Nelson just gives him a sceptical look.

Nelson: "Are you asking do we have a super-human in that thing? I've heard the rumors as much as you have, but no it isn't true. What powers the city is just an experimental power source, a classified experimental power source."

In fact Nelson has no idea; he isn't high enough at the plant to actually know what the power source is. As they approach the cylinder Will can hear a banging, must just be part of the machinery but the banging isn't regular. It sounds more like someone trying to break out. The lights all over Vegas flicker.

Will: "But that knocking....it sounds like...."

The giant cylinder explodes. A piece of shrapnel cuts through Nelson's stomach killing him. Will is relatively unharmed bit is bathed in strange energies and knocked unconscious. All of Vegas goes dark.

Half an hour later plant technicians manage to make it through the debris to Nelson and Will. A task made much harder by the fact that the power is still off.

"Hey that's Nelson's kid there. He's alive. How's Nelson."

"Dead. Piece of metal in his gut. The kid never even knew that Nelson was his dad. How about the power source?"

Within the now destroyed cylinder is a desiccated husk that used to be human. It must have used the last of its power to explode in an attempt to escape, an attempt that killed it.

"Well looks like we're going to need a new ionic power source. Better contact Ferrum and ask for a replacement."

"Maybe not. Check out the ionic power readings of the kid? Pack him up and get him sent to Britain, they can turn him into our new generator. I hope you like your new job kid."

-------------------------------------------

Australian Outback

Two special hunters are traveling through the radioactive outback together. A Stalker Creed 3 and a Stalker Creed 5 are trying to find any trace of the Golden Hulk for their master, Sinister. But after days of searching they haven't turned up anything so they change tactics and begin slaughtering. The Golden Hulk is known to protect wild mutants from Iron Soldiers so they figure they can slaughter their way to being noticed.

They're attacking a family of mutants when they finally get results. The Creed 5 is one of the largest of the Creeds but isn't much better than an animal, they can't even talk. But he manages to go blow for blow with the family's father who has the ability to increase in size and strength. The mother who fires energy blasts from her hands tries to tag the Creed 3 to give her children a chance to get away. However the Creed 3 has the advantage of rapid teleportation and manages to get close enough to slash her with his claws. He's about to go after the kids when the so-called Golden Hulk arrives.

"Leave them alone!"

The golden behemoth claps his hands together sending out a shockwave knocking the teleporter back into a rock disorienting him. The Creed 5 is done stalling and bites the family's father in the neck killing him instantly. He turns just as the gold creature’s leaps at him. They collide in the air and crash into the dust while trading blows. The sound is like thunder. No matter what the Creed 5 does though he can't damage the gold creature. Even his claws have no effect on the creature's golden skin.

The Creed 5 though can't say the same, even with a healing factor he can feel bones breaking, healing and breaking again under the Golden Hulk's blows. The Creeds don't care about their own survival though, they were sent here to bring the creature back by any means necessary. Pretty soon #5 is too weak to continue fighting; its healing factor is stretched to the limit and is rendered unconscious. He was only the delaying factor though, the teleporter has recovered. Stalker Creed 3 leaps onto the golden creature's back and teleports. It knows that it won't survive such a long teleport with such a big mass but the Golden Hulk will be delivered to its masters.
 
(Continues in the next chapter: Mockingbird the Avenger - Part 4)

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joshmightbe

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#2  Edited By joshmightbe

I like it I'm glad we got a new Black Knight and can I assume that Wonderman was the Vegas power source

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PrinceIMC

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#3  Edited By PrinceIMC
@joshmightbe: Maybe.....if you want I can tell you what's going on and who's who in a PM. But I can promise you all will be revealed eventually.
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joshmightbe

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#4  Edited By joshmightbe

@PrinceIMC: I'm good with waiting to find out who the Golden hulk is but if you'd like to PM me as to whether I was right or wrong that'd be great if not that's fine I'm enjoying reading these either way

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The Impersonator

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#5  Edited By The Impersonator

Awesome!

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batkevin74

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#6  Edited By batkevin74

Dude! Great stuff

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InnerVenom123

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#7  Edited By InnerVenom123

Love all the insane ideas these Iron Age stories are churning out. Keep it up!

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batkevin74

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#8  Edited By batkevin74

I am still curious on who the Golden Hulk is?

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PrinceIMC

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#9  Edited By PrinceIMC

I'm kinda surprised nobody noticed that the kid in Nevada is named Willie and his dad (who he didn't know was his dad) was named Nelson.....Willie & Nelson....

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joshmightbe

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#10  Edited By joshmightbe

@PrinceIMC: I noticed but I wasn't sure if it was intentional

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PrinceIMC

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#11  Edited By PrinceIMC
@joshmightbe: Heh, I knew I wanted the character to be named Will but I wanted his mother to have a childish name for him. So originally it was gonna be Willy. But then I had to come up with a name for his father that was going to be killed in the accident and after I had Willy all I could think of was Nelson so then Willy became Willie.
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batkevin74

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#12  Edited By batkevin74

Willie Nelson here, Mark Miller having sex with Elektra in DD...

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#13  Edited By 4donkeyjohnson

Well written, nice story, throughly engaging and my apologies for not getting around to this sooner @PrinceIMC