SHIELD and the Avengers watched as the missile arrived at its target. It looked as if the surfer was waiting for it to explode, accepting its fate of death. But it lifted its human-like knees, pulling the board up to use as a shield. The missile was consumed by the shiny object and the rumble of its inbound was silenced. The team below were in disbelief, watching the surfer lower its board to balance on as normal
Director Fury would have called for more missiles to be launched, but was in awe from the consumption of the military-grade weapon. The surfer moved from its position and stopped when it was above the clearing. From where the missile had launched, everyone's noses were up in the air. The surfer raised his board once more and the missile it once consumed, was sent back towards them.
The clearing was full of screams as the missile hit the ground and exploded. A cloud of fire and smoke expanded, blowing agents across the clearing and destroying Stark Industries equipment. A chain reaction ensued as other weapons were ignited from the blow, ripping through tree trunks and sending leaves everywhere. Small fires blazed through the forest, crackling and filling the once quiet space with mayhem.
The Avengers were also blown from the explosion, sending each of them in different directions. Tony called for his suit, the armour encasing his form before he collided with an uprooted tree trunk. His handheld device shattered in the explosion, the screen glitching from a malfunction. FRIDAY powered up within his mask and showed that the tachyon field was ready to be activated. A hundred-percent bar glowed in his vision, and he had never been so happy to see it.
Sue was able to send her chilling sensation to her feet, using the invisible force to alter the spin the explosion sent her into. The air under the soles of her feet shimmered from the light blue, allowing her to land safely and upright. Bark from the fallen trees had ripped through the skin on her cheeks, but her body was protected from her unstable molecule-suit. Tiny cuts littered her face, the stings making her wince in the slightest.
Johnny was also unharmed from the explosion, as he ignited his flames with the intention of leaping into the air before the missile hit. But the g-force had sent him backwards, altering his actions. He was able to regain his stature and looked up to see the surfer descending into the clearing.
Wanda had been the only one to land ungracefully. She flipped in the air and leaves were blown through her hair, making it a bird nest. She landed on her stomach, making her wince from the ache in her torso. One of the ready-to-launch missiles exploded a mere four metres away from her, but she shielded herself with a wall of scarlet mist. Shrapnel tried to penetrate the glowing crimson, but the witch held her power steady.
'Don't, Johnny!' Sue cried when she saw Johnny's eyes lock on the silver entity. 'You could set this whole forest off!'
Johnny angrily held back to urge to send flames across the clearing. Director Fury stumbled as he got to his feet, the side of his head leaking of blood from a collision with some artillery. He looked up at the surfer, who looked down at them and rode its board around the area.
'Fire! Get that son of a bitch out of the sky!' Fury motioned for his agents to begin shooting their weapons up at the entity. Its human features narrowed at the director, before seeing the agents aim in its direction.
Shots of purple waves fired at the silver surfer, each hit attempting to electrify or stun the alien. But all attempts were consumed by its reflective body, sinking down its chiselled chest and lean legs before it disappearing into its board. While SHIELD attempted to take it down, the team watched the way it absorbed all the attempted kills. It acted like it felt nothing, eating up the power and storing it in its silver surfboard.
Sue threw her upper half down in a headbanging motion, sending a wave of transparent force up to the entity. It sent the being back a few inches, before regaining itself and looking down to the source. Sue was able to see its empty eyes that were uncannily human. Its features twisted; eyes focused on the woman who prayed her suit would protect what was most important to her.
'You are carrying young,' the voice was smooth and void of tone. The noise carried from where the entity hovered, the firing from SHIELD continuing to hit it, but eaten by the board. Sue's eyebrows raised at the statement, unsure whether to send another attack. The surfer slowly descended further, heading for Sue with its eyes locked on her.
'Oh no you don't, baldy!' Tony's voice came from within his suit as his thrusters kicked into action. 'That's my wife!'
Tony tackled the entity, encircling his arms around its middle and throwing it against a tree. The alien was caught off guard but caught itself before it could crash against the trunk. Its knees bent and it prepared to send its board forward to attack. Johnny decided to intervene in the action and blasted it with flares, making the surfer put up a silver arm to protect its face. SHIELD agents continued firing their weapons up at the being but couldn't keep their targets, as the alien moved around at the speed of light.
'Stark! Initiate the field!' Nick called out. The surfer reared its arm back, about to send an unpredictable attack. They couldn't be sure what the alien was capable of and judging by its interference with technology, they feared what other devastation it could cause.
'FRIDAY! Light him up!'
At Tony's command, the tachyon field was formed and the surfer' arms were thrown back as if hurt. Its body contorted and it pulled its hands into its chest, its power draining and the board descending to the forest floor. The alien fell to the left and rolled along the floor, landing in front of Sue. The board stopped its descent and hovered in the air, waiting for a master to serve.
Sue looked down at the silver being. Its eyes were closed in a look of pain, the browbone pinched in the middle to show the anguish it was in. Without its board, Sue could see that it was powerless. She found herself feeling sorry for the alien, as its expression was too human to have no sympathy. The way it looked down at her when it said she was carrying young made her think that it had some human emotions as well. Her attack should have made it retaliate, but it didn't.
'God, I'm good,' Tony lowered to the ground, FRIDAY cutting his thrusters. His joints creaked as he walked, filling the tense air of smoke and bark chips. With fires blazing around the clearing and SHIELD agents picking themselves up, everyone began to gather around the alien they prayed was defenceless.
'We have the containment you gave us, Stark,' Director Fury said with a handkerchief against his wounded head. 'But we need to keep him seperated from the board. It must be where he gets his power from. Agent Hill, if you could escort our surfer to the-'
'Wait,' Sue stopped the director's commands. She held out a hand to stop the agents who prepared to handcuff the alien, making them halt in their pursuit. Tony, who was also on his way over, stopped and looked at Sue through his mask questionably.
Sue looked down at the human-like creature, even crouching to be at its level. Its eyes opened at the sound of her voice and looked up at her, the anguish it was once in gone. She tried to read any sort of expression or feeling that flashed onto its human face, but it had turned to stone. She could see her reflection in its silver skin, making her doubt herself. What was she doing? Was she stupid enough to put her and her baby's life in obvious danger?
Wanda was stood to the side, her hands at the ready with her crimson flares. The woman was prepared to step in if needed. Johnny hovered in the air, watching the interaction intently for any sign of danger. He didn't trust the entity one bit, and with it being so close to his sister, he couldn't be more on edge.
'Susan,' Tony's voice warned in worry. He also didn't like how close she was to the being. All it had to do was reach up and grab her by the neck, and its power was yet to be determined. He wanted to pull her away and ensure that the thing couldn't even look at her, but he wanted to believe Sue knew what she was doing.
'Why are you here?' Sue said, her voice low and soft.
'To observe.'
Once again, its voice was smooth and toneless. It was loud enough for everyone in the clearing to hear, their eyes drawn to the reflective entity. Sue bit her lip at its response, hoping that she could hold its attention. No one had tried to talk to it yet and she wasn't sure if it was willing to speak as much as they would want. She would need to get as much out of it as possible.
'Observe what? Us?'
No response.
'For who?'
'The one I serve.'
'Who do you serve?'
No response again.
'You said before that all that we knew will end,' Sue tried a different subject. 'What did you mean? Are you here to destroy us?'
'I am not the destroyer.'
'That's comforting,' Johnny rolled his eyes from the air. Susan's eyes moved up to him before down at the being that gave her some answers. She could sense that Director Fury was itching to contain it, and Tony had moved closer since the beginning of the interrogation.
'I attacked you,' Sue asked what she personally wanted answered. 'Why didn't you attack me back?'
'You are with young,' its voice chilled her bones. 'And you remind me of...'
'Spit it out, Bruce Willis.'
'Tony!' Sue hissed to the man who was now beside her crouching form. Iron Man glared down at the being whose voice was too much like caramel and warm coffee for him. The mention of Sue's pregnancy rubbed Tony the wrong way, and the fact that it replied to Sue, as if she was the only one it trusted, irritated him.
'Who are you serving? Who's the big boss?' Tony whipped out questions, his mask's eyes glowing down at the forest floor. The alien remained silent, eyes flickering to the metal suit before remaining on Sue. This made Tony furious, and he stepped forward to put himself in front of his world.
'Tony!' she called again, standing up from her crouch and glaring at the back of his helmet.
'Look, pal,' he pointed down at the alien, his broad suit protecting her from its stare. 'You've threatened Earth and that means you're dealing with us, now. With me. Now make this easy by telling us why you're here and who you serve. Why are you serving someone? You've got a board. Surf off into the sunset.'
'My service spares my world,' its eyes moved to Sue, who slipped from behind Tony and stood next to his tall suit. 'And the one I love.'
'Let me guess, Sue reminds you of her? Your silver one and only? Well guess what, pal, she's not to be observed. Go observe somewhere else. Leave Earth alone and-'
'Stark,' Nick's voice cut in, full of warning and sternness from the man's tangent. 'That's enough.'