Across the Universe

Clouds covered the night sky and thunder rumbled over the Big Apple. Lightning struck as snow fell, a rare occurrence anywhere on the globe, but unheard of on the Eastern Coast of the United States. None of it was natural, not for a moment but the photographers stepping outside of their Manhattan homes to document the phenomenon would never know that.

Power fluctuated in the buildings surrounding Central Park and police officers surrounded the perimeter to keep onlookers from finding out exactly what was hiding in the eye of the storm. Every so often the earth shook and buildings groaned but nothing so severe that it would let onto what was going on just half a mile past the limits of the park.

Light shaking that spooked the city of cities was violent quaking in the park. The ground began to collapse in on itself. Further and further it sunk, leaving a six foot gap between the edges of the trap and where the ground fell beneath them. Back arched, consumed by shadow, the monster bent nearly in half. His head lay near the ground the rest of him standing tall and menacing over the group of misfit heroes before him. Creaking, the mirror-like portal stretched and spread, opening further and with a blast encompassed the entire electronic barrier.

Sound became muted.

Scarlett covered her ears in agony. Low ringing numbed her senses. It felt as though her ear drums were about to burst! About to bleed! The ringing became more intense and the air suddenly mustier, thicker. She felt light headed as gravity forced her onto her knees. Gagging on the stench of rot and death that burned her senses, Scarlett stole a glance in hopes of finding her comrades. Mitchell and Clint were nearby each trying to remain upright. Mitch was doing so much better than Clint was, being half demon after all. She could catch no sight of Thor or Steve but she suddenly felt a hand grasp her shoulder and lift her off of her knees. Captain America stood there, hunched over and looking weighted, his mask half torn.

His lips were moving but no sound made it to Scarlett’s ears. She shook her head and tried to speak in response and Steve understood. Panic gripped Scarlett’s insides. What had happened to Central Park? Was this phenomenon spreading? Had they lost? She could see the dirt along the edges of the portal but just barely. Where were the electronic poles? Scarlett couldn’t even see the lightning unless she looked straight up.

Where was Natasha? Was the ex-assassin alright? Where was Clint? Where were her friends?

Most importantly, where was Tony? Was he okay?

Her cries for him fell on deaf ears. Her lips moved but no sound came out! Tapping the earpiece she hoped it would pick up something, anything, but nothing came. The portal was going to kill them. Or worse, it was going to kill those on the other side of it. There was no way the trap that Bruce and Tony had designed would contain this sort of power for very long. How could they have anticipated this?

Scarlett should have let them kill the girl.

This would all be over with. Before she’d realized it her hand was on her gun.

Her eyes caught Steve again and he was mouthing to her that it was going to be okay. Did she look hysterical? Scarlett had to get a hold of herself.

She signaled toward the exterior of the trap. They couldn’t stay in those conditions much longer. The air was toxic, sickening. If they didn’t get away then something terrible was going to happen, Scarlett could feel it. How had Caitlyn survived such a hostile environment for so long? The girl had to be much stronger than she had appeared to be. That was why Scarlett knew she had to keep fighting. Her hand fell away from her gun.

Caitlyn didn’t go through that hell for so long just to die.

Suddenly a sound broke through the oppressive silence.

Caitlyn was crying.

All at once the portal lost its grip on them. The ground crumbled again beneath them. Pieces of earth jutted through the air, higher than it had once been. Shadow seeped through the cracks in the ground, filling the air in place of the toxic atmosphere from within the portal. Sound returned, they could hear the crackling of electricity and the sounds of those calling to them from outside.

Scarlett’s headset was going crazy. Tony was the loudest voice by far, but the others were trying to figure out what to do. Bruce was arguing to turn off the trap but Natasha was refusing to allow it to happen. It was their one chance. If it had done that to them in such a small place, Scarlett could only imagine what it would do to the rest of the New York.

“Are you understanding any of this chatter?” Steve was catching his breath, gesturing to his earpiece and sort of leaning away from it.

“I don’t think they could hear us.”

“Well, I couldn’t hear us so that makes sense.”

“They’re back!” Jinx interrupted the garble of radio talk through the earpieces. “Everyone quiet! They’re back!”

“What happened? Scarlett, are you okay? Are you safe? I swear, Rogers, if you let…”

“We’re fine!” Scarlett snapped into the earpiece. There would be time to remind Tony later just how capable she was but now wasn’t it. She in no way needed Steve, or anyone, to keep her safe.

“Not for long.” Clint grimaced and while the radio chatter continued on, no one within the electronic barrier paid it any mind. The shadow seeping from the ground began to take shape, mimicking those who remained inside of the broken circular net. Having shrunk drastically in size and demeanor, the portal now waned in an out of existence, struggling to keep hold. The shadow had risked its power to expose them all to the other side.

There in front of them, balancing on the broken earth beneath them were shadow versions of all those who had remained within the crater. Scarlett, Steve, Clint, Thor, and Mitchell stood in front of them, no longer their original forms but stronger and more solid than they had once appeared. Menacing laughter of the demon that was their puppeteer rang through the air and at once the marionette shadows sprang to life.

“I’ve had enough of this thing!” Tony flipped in the air and started toward the crater.

“No! Don’t!” Natasha shouted, rushing toward the crater and standing in front of the electronic net. “Do what you can from here, there’s enough interference in there as it is! Do you remember what happened last time you got tossed into this thing? It’s one thing for them to be thrown around? But you? You’ll take out that net faster than any of them.”

“They need our help! That thing keeps getting stronger! How is it doing that? I thought this stupid trap was supposed to stop that from happening!”

“Didn’t you help design it?” Natasha spat back.

“I obviously haven’t been in my right mind lately, Natalie! You expected us to build something when we didn’t have all the details! Yeah, it’ll work to catch the thing we met the other night but this is a completely different bag of worms! If anyone should be in there it should be me, I should be altering and adapting the trap as we go!” Tony practically growled in annoyance, referring to the name that Natasha had used when she had pretended to be an employee for Stark Industries. “You really are heartless, aren’t you?” Natasha’s eyes flashed dangerously but she didn’t say a thing.

“Enough! Help from outside as much as you can, Dr. Stark. Miss Romanoff is right! We have to get them and Caitlyn out of there.” Bruce instructed. “If we can get them all out of harm’s way then we can launch the trap.”

“And if not?” Tony challenged.

“Then we have to trust that they’ll do what needs to be done.”

“So we’re supposed to just leave them alone in there with those creatures?” Mickey seemed unsettled by the whole thing. Part of her wanted to go in there and help them but the other part of her knew that she should do what she was told. It didn’t feel right to simply abandon half their team, but it was true they would only add to the chaos.

“We won’t intervene until we absolutely have to.” Natasha had faith in at least one of those fighting within the crater and she had to hope that it wasn’t unfounded. “We stay out here and make sure your machine does what it’s supposed to.”

Mitchell knew what could happen to her if she crossed the electronic and radioactive barrier between her and the rest of Central Park but she was considering risking it. Muted powers for a short period of time would be a small price to pay to get out of the way of the shadow creature. When it had sucked her into this world initially she had felt that same, terrible, crushing darkness that had consumed them when the portal had grown. Now, swirling through the shadows was that horrible monster, trying to confuse them, trying to scare them into backing down. This creature was a thing of nightmares; it was far beyond any demon that she was familiar with.

When her mirror image came at her she readied herself to jump out of the way. She hoped to avoid confrontation with it while she worked on a plan to escape. Instead the wicked version of her summoned the dark portals, mimicking Mitchell’s unique gift. She grabbed the woman and sent her flying through it, crashing into the electronic barrier Mitchell had been so avoiding. Collapsing to the ground, Mitchell made an attempt to crawl out of harm’s way. The shock sent through her had hurt and she wasn’t sure what kind of an effect it would have on her abilities. Whatever the cost she might as well try to get outside of it now rather than repeatedly sent into the electrical bridge that sparked between the poles overhead.

Grasping at the edge of the crater she made to flip herself up but out of a portal above her shadow twin flew. Mitchell was grabbed and forced away from the edge. In mid air, Mitchell flipped the shadow attacker beneath her and smashed her into the ground hard. Weakened but not defeated, the shadow kicked Mitchell over her head and the fox demon caught herself in the air and flipped onto her feet.

Instinctively she turned, blocked a swift kick from the shadow and grabbed her leg. Much to her surprise the shadow broke free, leapt in the air and made to kick her again. Mitchell ducked, rolled to the side and then leapt backwards again as the shadow came punching at her and quickly at that. These shadows seemed somehow stronger than the ones they’d fought on previous occasions. Desperation gave this creature an edge it hadn’t yet shown.

Finally Mitchell took the offensive, leaping toward the shadow, punching at it. Then when she was blocked she swung high into the air to bring her heel down on the shadow’s head. It tried to spin her by her ankle, but instead Mitchell swung around and kicked the shadow onto the ground. Behind her, Mitchell could see the silhouette of the little girl, crouched in the darkness, holding her head and seemingly out of her wits. Maybe Scarlett had been right about the little girl being the key to their victory.

“I found her! She’s over here!” Mitchell yelled through the blasts and wind but Scarlett had her mind on other things.

Not only had the shadow version of her appeared in front of her with her hand twitching and sparking, but so had the woman who looked remarkably similar to her with the green eyes, holding her glowing staff. Scarlett had decided that this second woman was not a clone of her but rather of someone who had the unfortunate luck of looking just like her.

“A little busy!” Scarlett called back to Mitchell. Yes, it was imperative that they got to Caitlyn but Scarlett would be no help to anyone if she were maimed. “Alright, ladies.” Bracing herself, Scarlett looked to her cracked glove and grimaced, wondering if it would even make it through the fight. Scarlett dodged left as the crackling shadow glove came at her. She kicked her doppelganger backwards then spun beneath the staff as it came at her, grabbed it and twisted it away from the woman’s hand with ease.

With a yell her shadow double came at her with the electrical glove. It seemed the shadow wasn’t quite sure how to duplicate Scarlett’s invention, at least not accurately. Scarlett spun the staff and smacked her foe’s hand away. Then she turned and smashed the staff into her head, watching as it disappeared in a puff of smoke before rematerializing. Turning just in time to block the green eyed woman, Scarlett nearly lost the staff as she was kicked backwards but then switched hands and reaffirmed her grip on it before stabbing the pointed end toward the shadow. It made contact with her stomach and instead of disappearing into smoke she howled in agony. With as much force as she could muster Scarlett rammed the staff harder until with a sickening tear the end of it pierced straight through her body.

Stumbling backwards, the green eyed woman lost her balance and Scarlett at once seized opportunity and smashed hard onto the staff so that it would stick into the crumbling earth beneath them. She hit it a second time and then was surprised when she heard Tony in her ear.

“I got this!”

A blast came from outside of the electronic barrier, right into the staff, and forced it straight into the earth only a foot of it remaining outside of the shadow of the woman who was struggling to escape it.

“Nice shot!”

“You’re welcome, honeypie!” Tony spoke in her ear. Laughing, Scarlett blew a kiss in the general direction of the blast. “That’s all I get? Really?”

“You didn’t save my life or anything. I had it under control.” Scarlett turned just in time to step out of the way from an attack from the shadow still after her. “We’re going to have to talk about pet names if that’s where you’re going with this, by the way.”

“Behind you!”

Scarlett ducked instinctively as Tony shouted and just in time as the woman who had been impaled on the pole came flying at her. She’d since removed herself from where it now lay piercing the ground. Shadow dripped from the top of it as it began to fade from existence. Flipping backwards, Scarlett dodged another blow from the shadows that became more desperate with each attack.

Her twin grabbed at her and spun her around, pinning both arms behind her. The green eyed woman came toward her and kneed her in the stomach and then smashed her hard in the shoulder. Scarlett felt the pain rush through her. It temporarily blinded her, even as she was knocked in the stomach a second time. Usually she could control the amount of pain that she was in, but not now, not this time. Something about this damn wound on her shoulder was causing her so much misery it couldn’t be ignored.

Gritting her teeth, Scarlett elbowed hard into her double’s stomach, loosened her grip and then ran head long into the green eyed woman, knocking her on the ground. Laughing maniacally the green eyed woman dissipated into a puff of shadow and then engulfed Scarlett. Unable to breathe, Scarlett gasped and choked on the shadow, desperate for air. Attempting to pull away and escape she felt something grip her hair and shove her back down into the ground.

When she managed to break free and try to roll away, she was hit hard in the shoulder again and this time with an electrical shock that nearly made her throw up. Scarlett had had enough! Jumping to her feet, ignoring the shadow that attempted to weigh her down, Scarlett caught the gloved hand of the shadow, felt the shock run through her and kicked her hard in the stomach. She kept her grip tight despite the pain.

Making a mad attempt to escape, the shadow woman pulled and tried to leap backwards but Scarlett pulled her closer, kicked her hard in the stomach again and then grabbed her shoulder and flipped her over her head and into the ground, still holding onto that gloved hand. Just as she was about to turn and block the green eyed woman, another shadow flew toward them.

Thor was ramming with all his strength into his shadowed counterpart and they smashed right into Scarlett’s double who, with a scream, faded back into shadow and melted into the ground. The Asgardian God had a bloodied lip and fire in his eyes.

His shadow rose from the ground, swung his dark hammer and Thor met it with his own. A spray of electricity splattered through the air. Scarlett grabbed onto the green eyed woman and spun her around then kicked her right into shadow Thor, knocking him backwards.

“Impressive, Madam Damien.” Thor looked scraped up but not anywhere near weary.

“I’ve had enough of this doppelganger nonsense.” She responded and then ducked as shadow Thor turned his attention to her. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen where my sword wound up?”

“I’m afraid it has been swallowed by the earth! Stay down!” He instructed and Scarlett kept low as he swung his hammer and knocked the shadow version of Scarlett away, watching as she flew backwards but then caught her footing.

“Well, that’s a shame.” Scarlett had guns, she had her damaged glove, but other than that she was unarmed. While that wasn’t really a problem, it was more exhausting than she’d like to admit. Her left arm was aching, sending shocks of pain down her back and through her chest. It had considerably weakened her. While she was doing her best to ignore it she knew it would eventually wear her down. Maybe if she could get a few seconds to look at her glove she could fix whatever had been broken. There was a risk she would electrocute herself, but it wasn’t like she would be all that bothered by it at this point.

“You should meet my good friend Lady Sif back in Asgard. She has an affinity for blades as well. Her collection is magnificent!” Thor grunted as he swung his hammer back at the shadow version of himself that kept coming for him, relentlessly. Scarlett stood behind him and readied herself to fight as the green eyed woman came at her, swinging the renewed staff through the air.

“Sounds like a woman after my heart, Thor. But for now, could you buy me a few seconds?” Scarlett blocked the woman, ducked as the staff came toward her and was surprised when Thor lifted the shadow woman up, swung her around and threw her at his shadow self. There was a crash in the distance as both shadow versions went flying into what they could only assume were the electronic poles.

“Yes, of course. Do you think I did any damage to your technology?”

“Since this thing isn’t making a run for it, I think you’re alright.” Scarlett nodded her head. How were they going to compete with the shadow of an Asgardian God? Even the actual Asgardian God was getting hurt and she had a feeling that was no mean feat.

“Your glove of lightning seems to be malfunctioning.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of uncomfortable.”

“Perhaps you should be rid of it.”

“I’m going to fix it.” Scarlett pulled the hatch on the side of it open and grimaced at the smell of burnt wires and the puff of smoke that followed.

“Right here? Is it such a good time for weapon maintenance?”

“Yeah, I work best under pressure.” Scarlett crouched low behind Thor. “Just give me three minutes and I’ll be up and running again.”

“I will give you five.” Thor swung his hammer at her side and she could hear the rush of wind that it built up. Thor would do exactly what he was instructed. He even blocked several dark arrows that flew toward them.

“Are you feeling even just a little freaked out right now?” Clint shouted through the darkness over his shoulder to Captain America who was engaged in a furious battle with his shadow clone.

“A little bit, yes.” Steve hadn’t gotten much of a chance to think about it. He’d known it was possible after having met the shadowed version of his partner but seeing his own face, carved from darkness, his same eyes staring back at him, it was admittedly a little unnerving. Shield met shield as Steve spun toward his counterpart. The shadow leapt backwards, then came ramming toward Steve who blocked him and tried flipping him over.

He retaliated, knocking Steve backwards. His footing was easily regained and he leapt and punched down at his opponent who blocked the blow with his shield. The shadow shield dented. There was no way the demon could recreate such a strong alloy. Steve spun and kicked the shadow which grabbed his leg and twisted him around. But Steve caught himself and then ducked low as the shadow rammed at him. They were evenly matched. The fight would go on forever at this rate. This shadow seemed to know everything he knew, have whatever strengths he had. The only difference was in their shields.

Clint swung his bow toward his shadow twin and kicked him away before pulling an arrow from his quiver and launching it. The tip hit its target and burst into flame but the shadow seemed not bothered one bit. Instead his attacker pulled out a far more sinister looking bow made of shadow and aimed a shot. Clint ducked narrowly out of the way as the arrow whistled by his head.

“Ow!” Steve yelped at the arrow hit him in the back of his shoulder and sent him stumbling. His shadow smashed him in the head with his shield and sent Captain America stumbling.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Clint winced. Even though it wasn’t his arrow that had done it, it still felt like it had been. Turning, Clint fired another arrow and this time toward the shadow Captain America and stuck him right in the chest. The arrow fractured and came rocketing out through his backside like the spread of a shotgun, knocking the shadow backwards.

“Look out!” Steve yelled and ran in front of Clint, holding up his shield as several more arrows flew toward Clint while he’d had his back turned. It seemed that for every arrow Clint fired, his shadow had fired five more. The power that was causing them to be replicated in the darkness couldn’t seem to mimic the different attachments Clint had for his so there was at least that tiny bit of an advantage. Reaching for another arrow to fire from his quiver he grasped at the air finding that he’d completely run out.

“You look out!” Clint shouted, making an attempt to pull Steve out of the way but watched as he was struck with another shadow arrow in his side, narrowly blocking one that came toward him with his bow.

“I’m really grateful he doesn’t have any of your special ones.” Steve winced as he grabbed at the arrow and pulled it free of his flesh. Even in his hand the arrow melted into shadow and disappeared into nothing. However the wound it left was very real, bleeding for a short time before it began to heal.

“Man, that’s weird.” Clint grimaced as he watched the phenomenon then placed his bow away in the quiver before looking around. “What do we do? We can’t keep this up!” As he spoke, shadow Thor rushed at them, crashing into the ground with Thor on top of him. Scarlett came running after him.

“Excuse us!” She shouted, running between them and firing her rigged up glove at the shadow god. They were all pursued by the mirror image of Scarlett who fired that dark lightning toward them.

“We need to get everyone out and trigger the trap!” Steve racked his brain, blocking another blow from the shadow. With the arrows removed and his wounds healing, he felt renewed. Finally he was able to strike his double and knock him hard to the ground. Clint ducked as another arrow came flying toward him and Steve shouted again as it hit him in the back.

“But what about the girl?”

“I don’t know! Maybe the trap won’t affect her.” Steve wanted to do the right thing. He really did, but they were fighting a losing battle. All around him his comrades were growing weary. None of them were super human, save for the Asgardian God and the fox demon but even they seemed exhausted.

Steve knew that even he couldn’t fight like this forever. Eventually he would grow weary, it would take much longer but it would happen. What other choice did they have but to use the trap that Bruce had designed for this exact purpose in the first place?

“And what if it does?” Clint countered and then stumbled as he felt an arrow graze his arm. Blood immediately dripped from the wound.

“Hawkeye, are you alright?” Steve watched as he Clint fell to the ground and cursed repeatedly under his breath.

“Not Hawkeye.” Clint felt something metal beneath his fingertips and pulled it from beneath the dirt. “Ronin.” Eyeing Scarlett’s discarded sword he got to his feet and started after his shadow clone as he fired another arrow toward him. Clint slashed the shadow away and cut, thrust, stabbed at his opponent with a renewed ferocity. Blood dripped down his arm but he didn’t care. They had to regain an advantage over these shadows and maybe they could do that by not being themselves.

“Is now really such a good time to switch identities?”

“This thing can’t mimic what didn’t go through the portal, right?” Clint jumped at the shadow clone and sliced right through the bow he held, watching as it faded into shadow, oozing onto the ground into nothing.

“I suppose not.”

“Ronin didn’t go through the portal. Hawkeye did.” Swinging the sword confidently, Clint dodged the blows of his opponent who seemed at a loss of what to do. Long range didn’t bode well against close range, at least not in this situation. Clint had always used his bow to defend him when enemies got too close, but the shadow didn’t know that.

“Smart thinking!” Steve grunted as he smashed his shield into his clone’s face again. A tremendous crash called their attention to the far end of the electrical barrier. Thor had been tossed right into one of the poles that kept the portal trapped within the crater. The shadow had done so on purpose.

“Enough is enough!” Thor shouted and held his hammer high over his head. Clouds in the sky above rumbled and gathered in strength. Lightning struck so brightly they could see it from within the barrier.

“Thor, no!” Scarlett shrieked, blocking an attack from glove of her shadow clone who had kept trying to rematerialize and come after her. It seemed the shadow didn’t have enough power to keep them all in existence anymore, not with them fighting so hard to keep the clones at bay.

Lightning struck the hammer and Thor directed it toward the electrical poles. The power spiked and electricity sparked every which way, setting trees and grass on fire outside of the net.

“Oh no…” Thor couldn’t seem to keep in control of the bad weather that had grown to such heights outside of the barrier. The force that was keeping the portal at bay seemed to be doing the same for his powers. Seemingly from nowhere the horned shadow man came after him and threw several small shadowy knives. In an attempt to dodge Thor ran straight into a blow from the shadow hammer of his counterpart and was smashed into the ground with a resounding thud.

Scarlett knocked the horned man back with a solid punch to his jaw, then turned and did the same to the green eyed woman. This was getting to be a little too much. They were outnumbered by far and without outside help they weren’t going to succeed. Then there was a blast from outside of the barrier and the clone of Scarlett who had been coming at her with her glove ready disappeared with a haunting shriek. Tony was taking pot shots through the net, trying to aid them without getting in the way.

Glancing around her, Scarlett found the staff of the green eyed woman, planted blade first into the ground. Picking it up again, Scarlett twirled it in her right hand then grabbed it with her repaired glove. The green eyed woman came toward her, angry and ready for a fight. Her mouth opened as if to try and taunt her but instead nothing but a demonic gurgling emerged.

Charging the Tesla glove, Scarlett sent a shock through the staff and watched as the electricity bounced across the blade at the very end of it. Her arm twitched as she held the staff. Keeping it electrified hurt like hell but she knew it would make a brutal weapon. Maybe it would finally give her the advantage she needed to get rid of the green eyed woman. Spinning the staff in front of her and standing at the ready she waited for the woman to attack. She did and brutally at that. With every strike she sent shadow off of her, hoping to engulf and consume Scarlett whole. Her hands shifted and altered into the blades that had come at them earlier.

Scarlett wasn’t going to fall for such cheap tricks, not again. She blocked each blow with the charged staff, disarming the shadow in a flurry of sparks and electricity. When the green eyed woman leapt in an attempt to knock her to the ground, Scarlett swung the staff hard, knocked her in the side and watched her stumble. Turning around, Scarlett hit her back again the other way with the staff, then knocked her hard in the face.

Heart racing, she smashed the green eyed woman hard enough in the head that she fell onto the ground and didn’t get back up. Turning the staff so she held it face down she smashed the blade hard into the chest of the woman and the shadow screamed, gurgled and then faded into the ground. When she turned to help Thor she was smacked hard in the face by the horned shadow. Scarlett barely kept her balance as he knocked her backwards a second time. Utilizing the pole as leverage Scarlett spun around and kicked the horned man backwards.

She made to slice him into the ground but he disappeared and appeared as two in front of her. Blasting the glove at the one on the left it disappeared and she hit the one on the right but it also disappeared. From behind she was kicked and barely managed to keep on her feet. Just as she turned to block another blow from the horned man he was smashed hard into the ground by Thor and his hammer.

“Thanks. You’ve got good timing.” Scarlett tossed the staff away as it had begun to disintegrate without the woman who had wielded it.

“I fear what fate has befallen my brother.” Thor mused, out of breath but still on his guard. “That horned figure reminds me very much of his Asgardian helm.”

“We’ll have to worry about that later.” Scarlett grimaced, though it had answered a few questions in the back of her mind as to what that might have been a copy of. “On your nine!” Thor narrowly managed to get out of the way as shadow Thor came at him in a rage. It seemed as though the anger the demonic creature felt was coming out in full force in the shadows that remained. Shadow Mitchell appeared next to Thor, kicked him into one of her glowing portals and he fell from the top of the electronic barrier just to be smashed by the swinging hammer of shadow Thor. Clint came running toward him just in time to knock the shadow hammer out of his hand, gathering arrows along his way to refill his quiver.

Thor got to his feet and just as shadow Captain America came running toward them. Scarlett grabbed onto the shield and triggered her glove and was surprised when he went stumbling backwards. Shadow Steve was nowhere near as strong as the real deal. As if on cue, Steve joined the fray. Scarlett shocked what remained of Shadow Clint and held fast until he finally crumbled onto the ground. Shadow Thor came at her and lifted her high above his head but before he could toss Scarlett across the net to stop her from destroying anymore creatures she grabbed hard onto his arm, swung around and perched right on his shoulders. Grabbing his face she shocked him with as much juice as she could still get out of her Tesla glove.

The beast howled and grabbed frantically at Scarlett to stop her but she held fast. Finally he grabbed at her wrist, crushed as hard as he could until the metal of her glove completely split in half and the Tesla glove was rendered useless. Scarlett twisted away, shaking her wrist and barely catching herself on one foot.

“Blackbird!” Clint shouted and tossed her sword in the air toward Scarlett who twisted out of the way of the blade and caught the hilt. Removing his bow immediately after, he shot toward shadow Thor who smashed his hammer into the ground and the resulting shockwave sent them all flying off of their feet.

When shadow Mitchell came toward her, Scarlett wondered what on earth had happened to the real Mitchell. Had the shadow gotten to her? Distracted, Scarlett was grabbed and tossed through one of the portals but thankfully caught by Steve before she could crash into the ground.

“Mitch? Mitch, where are you?” Scarlett shouted, searching the chaotic scene for the portal traveling half demon.

“There!” Clint shouted, spotting the woman at the far end of the chaos within the electronic barrier. “What’s she doing all the way over there?”

“Keep the shadow busy!” Scarlett knew at once what was going on but wasn’t going to say it out loud.

Mitchell was trying to reach Caitlyn. They had to buy her time.

When she’d discovered the girl early on Mitchell had thought it would be best to send Scarlett or Steve over; anyone who already had some kind of a connection with her. Mitchell didn’t have that luxury. It seemed that the demon had thought the same thing: that it was only those two that could get through to Caitlyn. Instead, Mitchell had decided to give it a go. It couldn’t hurt, right?

“You’ve given up, haven’t you?” Mitchell crouched in front of the little girl. It had taken her some time to lose the shadow version of herself, but it was easy to distract her with the bigger targets and the chaos that had ensued. The poles had begun to malfunction. The whole thing was going to collapse. If they didn’t get Caitlyn out of their soon they would have to let her go or let the demon out into the world.

Not everything had a happy ending.

Caitlyn stared up at her with sad, sunken eyes.

“That’s the worst thing you can do.” This wasn’t Mitchell’s forte, to give empowering talks of any kind. Never had she been much of a negotiator, but even if it meant not being completely honest she would give it a go. “I know what it feels like, you know… to be different than everyone else.”

“Right.” Caitlyn rolled her eyes and looked away. “Sure you do. Everyone knows what it’s like.” Her voice didn’t seem real.

“I’m the last of my kind, the only one left alive. I was born with powers that no one else has. I was alone for a really long time.” Mitchell glanced to the side nervously but then resolved her strength and did something she rarely did. She put her faith in the team behind her to keep her out of harm’s way. “Not only was I alone but then I was hunted for what I was. I’ve been on the run for as long as I can remember.”

Caitlyn’s gaze snapped back toward the fox demon.

“It’s tough and I don’t think that feeling of loneliness ever really gets easier to deal with. With time you just learn to handle it better. I never gave up though. I’m still figuring it out, I mean… heck I was chased here.” Mitchell could see that what she said had actually at least made it through to the girl. “You can’t give up either. You have to do what’s right. Yeah, it seemed like fun in the beginning but I know you see what this monster really is. If you don’t then you really have given up. I don’t think you have. I think you can still fight. You know what you have to do, right?”

“How do I do it?” Caitlyn’s eyes blurred with tears and they dripped down her cheeks. “How?”

“You have to take your power back from him. You’re still letting him use you.”

“Mitchell!” Scarlett’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Busy…” Mitchell warned but then turned and stood when she saw Scarlett’s ashen face.

“We’ve got trouble.”

“What?” Mitchell could see that the shadows were beginning to regain their strength and come after them, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“It figured out what we’re doing.” Scarlett watched as Thor batted shadows away from the center of the crater. “They broke the trap.”

“What?” Mitchell was breathless and Caitlyn sobbed quietly behind her, seemingly giving up hope all over again.

“You watched them put it together. Do you think you can fix it?”

“I can try.” Mitchell nodded her head and looked back to Caitlyn.

“I got this.” Scarlett watched Mitchell run toward the others. Steve, Clint, and Thor were trying to keep the shadow creatures at bay. No matter what they’d tried, Shadow Thor and Shadow Captain America were just too strong to vanquish like the others. They had been torn apart so many times by the demon that whenever they were renewed they had grown weaker and weaker.

Much to Scarlett’s surprise, Caitlyn rose to her feet and turned away from her, facing the portal.

“Leave them alone! I’m done playing with you!” Her cries fell on deaf ears. The shadow laughed and the ground shook again, crumbling further beneath their feet. If they didn’t put a stop to this soon they’d all be buried alive. “He’s too strong! I can’t do this!”

“This is a pretty big mess, but only because you’ve let it become so big. I know about your gift. Whether or not you knew exactly how to use it before this I don’t know.” Scarlett shook her head. “You’ve got to fight it. Only you can stop him!”

“I am fighting!”

“No you’re not.” Scarlett scoffed. “You think you’re the only kid who had a hard time growing up? Look, you had it rough, I saw that. It only got worse because of what you did, not because of anyone else. You made some serious choices to isolate yourself from everyone. Do you really think no one else in the world has special powers or deals with things they don’t understand?”

“No one understands…”

“Really? There’s a whole school up north that says otherwise. People like you who didn’t give up. Everyone thinks they’re lost once in awhile.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“I’m not lying. There’s this place up north, this bald as a cue ball professor in a wheelchair runs this weird school full of kids with powers, just like you. You can go there and call it home, learn how to use this… whatever it is you have and maybe if you let anyone get close to you, you’ll find a family!”

“Family? What do you know about family?”

“Look kid, I’m nearly forty and I’m just now finding my family. Even if I had the choice to go back and take it easy, go be part of some fairytale or lock myself in my head with it, I wouldn’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not real. None of that is real. None of what that monster promised you is real. As shitty as it is, what’s going on around you is real. What good is a fairytale if you don’t get to live it? What good is family if you don’t get to love them?”

“Scarlett!” Mitchell shouted from the center of the crater. She was huddled over the trap, trying to put it back together, trying to salvage what was left of it. “I need you here!” Scarlett looked back to Caitlyn and was reluctant to leave. But the girl had stopped crying; there were no more tears in her eyes. Something had changed. They weren’t vacant anymore. In fact, she had very clear eyes. A strong look of determination had come over her. Maybe something they’d said had finally gotten through to her.

Scarlett didn’t care what it was as long as it had worked.

“I have to go.” Scarlett didn’t look back at Caitlyn. She had to trust that the girl was going to help them. If Caitlyn didn’t the trap would destroy her too. Scarlett felt something ache deep within her chest as she thought of abandoning the girl. Could she really do that? Was Scarlett still capable of doing something so cold?

Running from the girl, she felt the unnatural warmth of the shadow pass over her. It was hovering in the air, spinning all around them and it made her sick to her stomach. Ducking underneath Shadow Thor, Scarlett rolled to the side when an arrow from Clint came screaming past her. Her left arm hung at her side and she cradled it against her chest. She’d done too much, it had been hurt too severely.

“You alright?” Steve nodded toward her and allowed her to get past him to where Mitchell stood in between them as they kept the shadow monsters at bay.

“Fine.” Scarlett nodded. The others were bloodied and exhausted. Even Steve looked like the battle was beginning to take its toll on him.

“Let me see!” Scarlett looked down at the trap in front of them and saw that several pieces were actually missing.

“These wires are fried, I need replacements. I might be able to jury rig it together but without the tools what’s the point?”

“What if we overload the system?” Clint shouted from his area standing guard. “Just blast the thing back to hell.”

“No, hold on.” Scarlett pulled the broken and battered glove off of her wrist and tossed it onto the ground. Parts of her skin were bruised and swollen from where it had been crushed, but it didn’t matter. That arm was doing her no good now anyway.

“That looks good. Can you even feel it anymore?”

“Can we fix it or not?” Scarlett pulled apart the glove, removing pieces that were broken artfully. If it hadn’t been cracked and the coils hadn’t been damaged she may have even been able to repair it on the spot.

“I think we can…” Mitchell started pulling out the burned wires and trying to replace them with ones that were undamaged from Scarlett’s Tesla glove. Scarlett tossed her sword out to Clint while Mitchell did the repairs. He was almost out of arrows again and there was no time for him to go and retrieve them. Besides, he needed as many arrow heads as he had arrows and those had to be running low by now. It was a mere few minutes before Mitchell spit the wire out of her mouth that she’d been holding between her teeth and placed the trap back beneath her. Scarlett helped her bury it just enough beneath the ground to offer it some protection. “We’re good now.”

“Bruce, the trap is back online.” Scarlett couldn’t hear him in her earpiece anymore and then realized that her earpiece was completely gone! It must have fallen out during the fray. “Steve, you got this?”

“Yes! Did you hear that Dr. Banner?”

“We’re running out of time, we’ve got to trigger the trap!” Bruce spoke into the earpiece. “You have to get out of there, all of you! Now!”

“Scarlett, you hear that? Time to go!” Clint shouted behind her.

“It’s going to kill Caitlyn too, damnit!” Scarlett shook her head in objection. “Let me grab her and then we can go.”

“There’s no time.” Steve shouted. “What if she’s still attached to this thing? What if we bring her past the barrier and it comes with her?”

“I’m willing to take that risk!”

“Well, I’m not!” Clint shouted and grabbed Scarlett’s good arm. “Time to go! She’s strong, let her get out on her own!”

“No!” Scarlett swatted him away and then Mitchell grabbed her other arm and Scarlett nearly fell onto her knees in shock.

“Sorry.” Mitchell winced but then helped Scarlett regain her balance. “He’s right, we have to give her a chance.” With much yelling and pushing Clint and Mitchell dragged Scarlett to the edge of the crater. Thor helped pull her up and the rest of them climbed their way past the electronic net that stung as they passed through it. Snow and rain were pouring from the thunderous clouds overhead. Scarlett could finally breathe properly.

“I’m going to trigger the trap!” Bruce shouted and Scarlett could hear it from Mickey’s radio a few feet away. Scarlett stared past the barrier and into the shadow. Just in the distance she could see Caitlyn on the ground, scared, huddling. She was yelling for something, yelling at the demon to stop.

No she wasn’t.

“Help! Help me!” Caitlyn was pleading with them to save her too. She couldn’t get away. Scarlett moved closer to the barrier and Clint grabbed her shoulder. Instantly she twisted out of the way, tossed Clint onto the ground and jumped back inside the crater.

Caitlyn hadn’t given up and neither would Scarlett.