Rath’s love

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

I rose to my feet and growled when seven HYDRA soldiers floated out of the window I'd broken to start shooting at me. "Let me tell you something, stupid HYDRA Iron Man knockoffs!" I roared as they shot at me. "Dumb purple beams aren't enough to stop true love!" I leaped up, trying to pull one down so I could probably beat his face in, but he rose out of the way. "Stand still so Rath can beat you up and present your broken bodies to Rath's beloved!"

To my frustration, they responded by shooting me in the face and chest with bright beams of purple light. "All right, that's it! Now Rath's going to have to improvise because Rath left his giant fly swatter at home!"

I took a page out of Creel's playbook and ran to a vending machine, grabbing and tossing it with great speed. "HAYLEY'S FLIGHT!" The HYDRA soldier I threw it at tried to dodge but fell out of the sky when the vending machine full of candy bars and gummy bears slammed into his legs, shattering them. I grabbed another one, but HYDRA separated to make it hard for me to aim. I roared.

Then a hail of bullets came out of the sky. They hit one of the HYDRA men shooting me, sending him to the floor in a pool of blood.

"Hey, kid!" Rhodey flew over to me, firing two repulsor beams. "These the guys?"

"Yeah!" I yelled happily. At the same time, Davida rose up from the remains of the pillar I'd sent her through and started striding towards us. "And that's the woman Rath loves!"

Rhodey looked at me through the facemask of his helmet. "Wait, what?"

"Hey, shoot her!" I yelled. "Rath wants to see if she's bulletproof!"

"You need to work on your romance," Rhodey mumbled. Then his minigun spun around and shot at Davida.

She walked through the hail of bullets, letting them bounce off her skin with no effect. Her leather jacket was torn to pieces, her tank top and jeans were ripped, but her face was unchanged. Then she started to grow. Slowly, she rose in height and weight until she was only an inch shorter than I was, her body expanding with muscle, growing denser in general. Her jeans and tank top stretched as well, but held strong despite her growth, leaving her looking kinda badass.

She looked over at Rhodey with a familiar smirk. I moved in front of him and smiled at her, not affected when her red eyes hit me. After all, I already loved her.

"You take HYDRA!" I said.

"Seriously, what is going on?" Rhodey asked as he rose up to start dogfighting the HYDRA soldiers now trying to kill him, dodging their purple beams to fire his repulsors.

"Let me tell you something War Machine!" I yelled joyfully, rushing towards the now massive Davida, who raised her fists up. "Rath's about to ask her to marry Rath! If you're lucky, Rath might just ask you to be Rath's best man!"

Davida dodged around my charge, then grabbed me by the waist and spun to throw me through a wall. I crashed through the concrete and landed in a classroom. She ran after me, punching at my face as I rose up, but I blocked her fist on my arm. I clawed at her face, and she winced as the razor sharp weapon on my fist bounced off her chin, though it did leave a small cut in the process. I grabbed her by the shoulders and headbutted her. "VREDEFORT HEADBUTT!" She took the blow, then returned it with a headbutt of her own.

With that, we began punching each other, our massive forms tearing through the school.

Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine

Rhodey shook his head as he watched the giant tiger and woman throw themselves into the school. "I miss normal sometimes," Rhodey said to himself.

Then he was flying after a HYDRA soldier. The man tried to shot Rhodey as the pair flew in the air, but Rhodey dived around the glowing purple and fired a single repulsor blast into the other man's chest.

As though signaled by the death of the first soldier, other HYDRA came out of the building.

"All Quinjets!" Rhodey yelled as he fired the machine guns on his arms and shoulder at the dozens of men rising into the sky. "Prepare to engage hostiles, ones in power armor!"

"Roger that, War Machine!"

Several aircraft spun to face the school. Rhodey dived into the HYDRA fliers and smashed one in the chest with a hard kick, spinning to shoot another one with a repulsor blast as his minigun aimed fire at several more, hitting one in the legs and another in the chest.

A HYDRA agent flew into Rhodey's back and held on, shooting him in the back with his gauntlet weapon. War Machine yelled in pain as his HUD sent him warnings, and spun in the air to throw the guy off him before his minigun spun around to kill the man.

War Machine rose up and fired off repulsor blasts and bullets as fast as he could. HYDRA soldiers spun around in the skies and tried killing him, their purple beams sometimes slamming into him. Rhodey grunted as he took a couple hits to the chest that scared his armor, but thanked god for Tony when the suit held strong.

The Quinjets joined in and started shooting as well. Some of the HYDRA fliers swarmed one of the Quinjets, their gauntlet fire tearing the aircraft apart.

Rhodey dived down suddenly when he saw a group of HYDRA fliers trying to get to the parking lot. He went under a bridge while shooting one in the back with a repulsor, stopped to grab one by the leg and spin the HYDRA flier around to throw him at a stone bench, then flew forward shooting with every bullet he had.

The men in the parking lot that had been turned into an evacuation point saw the HYDRA fliers coming towards them and began firing upon them. Bullets and purple beams flew back and forth between the two groups. Rhodey joined in, shooting at the HYDRA soldiers. One of them flew at Rhodey, screaming.

"One head falls, two shall rise!" Rhodey blocked the punch the HYDRA soldier threw at him, then fired a hail of bullets into the chest of the man, the HYDRA fliers armor shattering under the bullets before he fell.

"Guess I should take out two more," War Machine quipped. With that, he raised his arms and kept shooting, sparing a moment to wonder what the massive booming noises behind him were.

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

"You're good at this!" I complimented, hoping she liked me as much as I liked her. "STEDIZIAN REVERSAL!" With a twist of my hips, I threw her to the ground and started punching her in the face. She took a bunch of blows that shattered the floor under her, then raised her legs up and kicked me in the chest. I flew up and crashed through the ceiling. She leaped up after me through the hole I'd made, punching me in the face.

"Yes!" I roared in joy. "Rath knew you liked Rath!"

"Are you a masochist!?" Davida replied, giving me a kick to the rips that sent me flying through some desks.

"Rath doesn't know what that means!" I replied honestly, rising up as she ran towards me. I punched at her, and her fist smashed into mine. A shockwave was released by impact, destroying the area around us. "Rath would be honored if you married Rath!"

"There is something wrong with you!" She yelled, stepping back.

"We're all crazy when we're in love!"

Davida dropped low and wrapped her arms around my waist, pushing me back and slamming me into a wall, then through it. I raised my arms up and slammed my claws into her ribs and back, over and over again. She yelled in anger, lifted up and pushed me through another wall. I back-flipped as soon as I was through that wall, and rose to look at her.

"Damn it!" Davida grabbed a teachers desk and threw it at me. I punched it out of the air, ignoring the shattered pieces with ease. "You're supposed to be in love with me! Why are you fighting!?"

"To prove Rath's love! How else would Rath do that!?" I shouted back with a grin. I leaped forward and she did the one thing that could have made me like her even more.

She slipped under my attack, grabbed my waist, then bent backwards to slam me into a suplex that sent me down through the floor.

I landed on the next floor with a massive smile on my face. "You're a wrestler!?"

"Yeah," Davida dropped through the floor and glared at me. "So?"

"Let me tell you something, Pretty-Lady-Who-Looks-Like-Michelle-Rodriguez-But-Is-As-Big-As-Me," I rolled to my feet and rushed her. "It means Rath can fight for real!"

Davida's Michelle Rodriguez face twisted into horror when I reached out and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back. "ANTARIAN ARM BAR!" I sprinted forward with her in front of me, slamming her through a wall, then pressing her face into another one. "OPHIUCUS FACEPLANT!" She yelled, twisting to throw me down the hallway we'd crashed into. I grabbed her arm to try and flip her, but she pulled a perfect counter to send me flying instead. I backflipped in the air and slammed my claws into the floor, slicing through the linoleum to come to a stop. Davida grabbed a water fountain out of the wall and threw it at me. I took the blow to my head and let the metal and plastic shatter around me. I ran towards her and slipped around a punch to go for a suplex. She countered by dropping from the grab before I could complete it, spinning to slam an elbow into my neck.

I eyed her, trying to look unfazed by the blow. Then I pointed at the spot she'd hit. "Wanna try again?"

Davida's eyes widened. Then she grinned.

Boom!

I grinned as she stepped back, the shockwave that followed her hit sending a crack of noise in the air. She stood still when I stepped forward and swung my elbow at her.

Boom!

She smiled in challege, not moving an inch.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Back in forth, in a game of dominance, we slammed our elbows into each other's necks, chaining our attacks as we grinned at each other. After a bit, we stepped back. My neck hurt like hell, but I didn't react to it. Neither did she.

I rushed forward with a running knee, and she stepped aside and clotheslined me. I slammed into the floor and rolled aside when she came with an elbow drop. I rose to my feet and grabbed her as she tried to rise up from the floor. At a disadvantage, I got her head between my knees, squeezing, then grabbed her hips. With a lift I raised her up so her legs were on my shoulder, then began to throw her back first towards the floor.

"PORTIA POWER BO-"

Her legs wrapped around my neck. She spun around, pulling me with all her strength. "TITANIA HURRICARRANA!"

With a picture perfect counter, I was sent flying, slamming into a trophy case, past that through another wall, then into a desk. I blinked for a second, then rose up and walked towards the hole my entrance made. Davida stared at me as I walked up.

"Titania like the moon?" I asked.

She shook her head, panting. "No, it was my name when I wrestled."

I nodded seriously, then groaned slightly in pain. She was strong, stronger than even Creel in his vibranium form. But I knew I could beat him even then, that only the Omnitrix timing out had stopped me. Rath was unbeatable. And I knew I could beat her now, bruises or not.

Rath had to prove he truly loved her after all.

I ran at her, and Davida tried to duck my outstretched arms. But I grabbed her by the hair and used my vicious grip to knee her in the face. Over and over, until blood dripped from her nose. As she looked at me blearily, I got behind her and wrapped arms around her stomach. "Finishing move!"

One suplex. "FINAL!" Another one, this time shaking the academy. "ATOMIC!" I leaped upwards, crashing through three floors before we ended up outside of the school, in the open air. I could see Quinjets battling HYDRA soldiers, War Machine flying by to shoot one in the face. Then we began to drop. "BUSTER!" Floor by floor, Davida's head leading, we crashed through the school. Finally, we came to a stop on the bottom level. I rose up and looked down at Davida. As I watched, she slowly began to shrink until she'd returned to her former size. When she didn't move, I took her pulse, actually showing a bit of intelligence beyond fighting. Her heartbeat was there, she was just knocked out.

"Rath wins! When you wake up we should get married," I said idly. "Although, if you say otherwise, Rath will respect your decision!"

Feeling warm towards the love of my life, I placed her on my shoulder and walked away, leaving the various holes in the ceiling and the crater we'd created behind.

When I got outside, there were dead or injured HYDRA everywhere. A few of them had been captured, however, getting pushed into a Quinjet. Two of the Quinjets had been downed, but I didn't see more than a fraction of dead SHIELD soldiers compared to HYDRA. Natasha was speaking to an embarrassed looking Tomas when I walked up, still in Rath form. Tomas glared at Davida, who was still unconscious on my shoulder.

"She dead?" He asked angrily.

I shook my head. "Naw, just sleeping off the beating Rath gave her."

He scoffed. "She deserves a bullet in the head. I don't know what she did, but I don't like having my mind played with."

"Davida Devito," Natasha said with a sigh. "An Enhanced with the power to grow in size and strength. Making people fall in love with her is new though, otherwise, I wouldn't have gone in there with so many," Natasha looked at me. "Do her powers not work on you?"

"Are you licensed to do marriages?" I asked suddenly instead of answering, focusing on the real issue.

Natasha and Tomas stared at me, surprised. "Uh... no, no I am not."

I wilted in disappointment.

"Hold on," Tomas said. "If you're in love with her, why did you still fight her?"

I scoffed. "Let me tell you something, Agent Tomas Calderon of SHIELD! Appoplexians like Rath know the best way to show true love is to show off your FIGHTING SKILLS! Throwing a punch is how we show we care! Whoever wins gets to marry the other one!"

"Wait, you mean you get married no matter who wins?" Natasha asked, looking confused.

"It's a WIN-WIN!" I shouted proudly. Then I got worried. "Unless she says no. Then Rath will be respectful."

Right about then is when I timed out and became human again. I dropped Davida in surprise and blinked. I looked around.

SHIELD agents were staring at me. A couple were trying not to laugh and failing outright. Rhodey was floating nearby, his faceplate up so he could grin at me. "...Well that's embarrassing." I stated.

Understatement of the freaking century. Rath, why do you cause as many problems as your fists solve!

Natasha grinned at that. "I can't wait to tell Tony about this."

Yup. Any respect I'd gained from my fellow heroes had gone down the drain. I sighed and decided to start finding a nice place to dig a hole for me to live in.

"Thank you so much," Jennifer Weaver said as her students ran out of the school to head to Quinjets moments later. Davida had been placed in a cryo unit I'd turned into Jury Rigg to make, suspended animation until we could jail her someplace she couldn't physically break out of.

"Not a problem," Tomas said, a band-aid on his head from where Natasha had apparently kicked him while he'd been in love. "Is this everyone?" Tomas said, ushering the students into the Quinjets.

"Almost," the grateful look on Weaver's face became a scowl. "All the members of HYDRA are going last. I'm not putting them together with the others," Despite her anger, there was some sadness in her eyes.

Tomas nodded, though he also had a sad look on his face as he watched some of his men get put in body bags.

I watched from a bench nearby, Rhodey standing next to me. "Man, that was a lot crazier than I expected," I admitted to Rhodey.

"Yeah," he said. "I haven't had a routine mission since the day I put this thing on, to be honest. And my adventures still aren't that crazy. Sometimes I try to tell Tony about some crazy mission, and it's like he's trying to stay awake."

"Well you did just fight a small army of HYDRA soldiers while flying around Quinjets over a school of geniuses while a giant tiger and giant woman fought inside of it," I noted. "That has to earn a few points."

"Nah, pretty sure the Battle of New York still beats that," Natasha said, walking up to join us.

Rhodey nodded in annoyance, though he clearly didn't mind that much. "So what now?"

"We go back to the helicarrier," Natasha said. "You going to join us?"

"...I should report to my superiors... But I can do that at the carrier," Rhodey said. "I'm still needed in this fight if you all will have me."

"Well, it's not up to me," I noted, rising from my seat. "But it's good to have you here. So," I pressed on the Omnitrix and pressed on the dial.

"Upgrade!"

Standing up I looked at Rhodey and Natasha. "Wanna fly back in style?" I asked.

The pair shared a look. Natasha grinned.

"You just want to distract us from telling Tony anything, don't you?" Natasha said.

"...Do you want to fly in an Upgraded Quinjet or not? Jerks." I turned and walked away as Rhodey chuckled.