Sudden attack

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

Vanguard looked like Joe Manganiello. Kraven looked like Manu Bennett. Both of whom had played Deathstroke. Did that mean something? Other than both men being very badass looking?

I had plenty of time to think it over as I stood behind the bar, making a milkshake for myself. Coulson was nice enough to get me some ice cream, milk, and bananas since I didn't drink. I made myself a coffee milkshake this time, turning around to see Skye.

"Mind if I get one?" she asked hesitantly. She was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans, though I could see her armor standing on the other side of the room.

After a moment, I nodded. "Yeah, of course. If you like coffee, I mean?"

"I love it," she watched as I poured the milkshakes into glasses. "This is all so weird, right? Super monkeys and Russian Avengers, I mean."

"Is it that weird?" I handed her a cup. "I mean, we spent a lot of time fighting dinosaurs and all that in Rio."

"Youdid," Skye corrected. "I was mostly hacking computers and phones. Still, that is a good point. When did life get so crazy?"

"May 4th, 2012," I smirked. "When aliens fell out of the sky."

"Oh, right," she sipped at her drink, then winced. "Too many bananas."

I took a sip as well and shrugged. "I like it."

Skye leaned back in the seat in front of the bar. She looked thoughtful Coming upon an idea, I picked up a rag and started wiping it down. "You know, I don't drink. But people tell me talking to bartenders helps."

She laughed. "Helps with what?"

"Hell if I know, I usually talk to my friends," I said with a shrug.

"Well… I'm just a little nervous. This will be the first mission we've been on in a while without full Avengers support. Or BRIDGE soldiers. It's just us."

"And the Winter Guard. And me and Creel," I reminded her.

"You know the battle plan," she responded. "I'm probably going to have to fight. For real, this time. And I don't know if I'm ready…"

I put a straw in my drink, shaking my head. "Hey, none of us know. But you've been getting your ass kicked right next to me for the past few weeks."

"Oh yeah," Skye's brown eyes flashed with mirth. "Nat and Steve aremean."

"Ruby doesn't help. Getting my ass kicked in training by that mean midget is the highlight of my day," I sipped at my milkshake slowly.

"...Is this awkward? Me and you, like this?" Skye asked uncomfortably.

I stopped sipping my drink, placing it in between us. "Are we still friends?"

"Of course we are," she said without thinking.

I couldn't help my relief at that. Ridiculous, that I'd be relieved about that as though it was in question, but I still felt it.

"Awkward is fine. Means we cared enough that we were worried," I held out a hand placing it on one of hers. She smiled down at our joined hands. "Whatever happens, I'm your friend. And I'll always have your back. Okay?"

She turned her hand in mine, gripping it. "Yeah. Thanks, Mahmoud."

I smiled. For some reason, I felt like, like something had been released then. I pulled my hand back and sighed. It was a sigh of relief. Like something that had been tight in my chest for a while finally released. There was just another thing I had to do. But that would have to wait till I got back home.

"How long until we get there?" Fantasma asked later. The young Russian woman was leaning back in her chair, Chernobog roaming around us while I passed her a drink, one I'd poured from a bottle I noticed her eyeing. Didn't know what the drink was, but she seemed pleased with it, so I must have guessed right.

"Should be about fifteen minutes," I told her. "We'll land in the forest outside the base. I figured, since the three of us are team 3, we might as well talk."

"That is so nice of you," Chernobog said softly, just behind me. "Although, I wonder why you didn't offermea drink."

"Because you don't. Drink. Wine," I said softly.

"...Heh. Dracula," Chernobog smiled. "One of many things I love about this new world. So much pleasant entertainment."

"Yeah, you seem like a real nerd," I returned. "Seriously, tall, dark, and freaky, you want something?"

"Blood," I raised an eyebrow. "...y Mary," he grinned as he said that.

"Well, I don't know how to mix that, so," I waved at the bar. He let out a dismissive snort, walking around to the bar. Fantasma looked between us while sipping at the drink I'd given her. "You know, you're real friendly sometimes.

Why do you switch between that and being a manipulative asshole?"

He chuckled, somehow grabbing the ingredients he needed with finesse despite his massive hands. "Well, I said it before. I love this new world. So much more fun. I love seeing all the little ways people act out."

"So you're a troll," I said simply.

The darkness shrugged, apparently unoffended. Fantasma, on the other hand, frowned.

"A troll? Like the mystical creature?"

I thought of Ulik.

"Not so mystical," I said with a scowl before shaking my head. "But in American culture, a troll is someone who acts like an asshole specifically to get a reaction."

Fantasma let out a little 'ah' of understanding. "Troll. Makes sense."

"Only for a purpose," Chernobog came back to us. "I rarely go on rampages anymore, so I get my kicks elsewhere," he sat down next to me, placing a massive arm on my shoulders. I pushed him off, got up, and moved to a different chair, getting a mock pout for my troubles. Fuck me, even his pouting was horrifying. "Actually, if I ever get to visit America I'm going to do some sightseeing."

I frowned at the sudden change in topic. "Okay?"

He chugged back his drink, tossing the glass aside when he was done. "Oh yes. Look," from out of nowhere, he handed me a paper list. I looked over at Fantasma, who seemed as confused as I felt, before hesitantly grabbing it and reading it.

"...This is nothing but places in different states named Bald Mountain."

He gave me a toothy grin. "Well, after watching Fantasia I can't help but laugh, thinking of how people will react to me showing up. Even downloaded the song."

I opened and closed my mouth. "I...Damnit, I don't know if that's hilarious or cruel."

"Can't I be both?"

Fantasma rolled her eyes. "You really are-"

Boom!

The whole plane shook suddenly, sending us all tumbling. I got up to my feet at the same time as the others. "What the hell was-"

An explosion came from the wall behind me. I shouted a wordless scream as I was sucked out of the plane.

For a breathless moment, I tumbled through the air. The stars and clouds were replaced by the ground, then came back, around and around.

"FUUUUUUUU-" I kept shouting as I reached for the Omnitrix. Still screaming, I flipped through the menu. For a breathless moment, I had to fight off the urge to just smack the Omnitrix. Instead, I pushed it down.

My skin was replaced with soft black and blue spots, like that of a moth. I unfurled my wings with a shout, my descent slowing until I was floating thousands of feet in the air.

"Big Chill!"

I stared up at the plane. Its lights were flickering. I could see strange figures buzzing around the Bus, purple lights flashing from them as they ripped into it. "What the hell was that?"

"Dial!" Fantasma floated down to join me. "You're okay!"

"Same to you!"I said back."Didn't know you could fly!"

Fantasma's boots were surrounded by purple sparks, making it look like she was somehow dancing on air. She looked up as darkness floated down to join us.

"That was fun," Chernobog was somehow standing on nothing, the way Soul Reapers from Bleach did, helped by a pair of bat wings he unfurled from his back. Wings he'd had no indication that he had before. He looked up at the plane. "Ah… food."

"Come on!" I shot upwards, Fantasma and Chernobog following. "This fight ain't over!"

As we flew up, Fantasma came along to my right, her boots releasing sparks at a faster pace. She had to yell to be heard over the wind of the chill Russian skies. "You think it's servitors?!"

"Does it really matter?"I asked with a look toward her.

Fantasma frowned. "I suppose it doesn't!"

"-Dial! This is Coulson, can you hear me?!" the Omnitrix symbol on my chest shouted.

"I'm here!" I shouted back.

"Thank god!" Skye yelled through the Omnitrix as well.

"We're under assault by unknown aerial enemies!" Coulson shouted. "I'm going to fight back with the cannon turrets. Skye and Dynamo will join you in the air! We need to take these things out and land as soon as possible."

"See you soon!" with that I charged forward.

The enemies flying about the Bus seemed to notice, because a bunch of them spun in the air, spinning to come toward us.

"Lunch!" Cherobog barked. Weirdly, unlike the last time he'd spoken in his real voice, I felt nothing.

The enemies came close enough that I could finally see them. A face of metallic fangs and fuzz, eyes of flickering light as tiny arms ending in tubes aimed at us. They had wings of metal and rockets set into their backs. And they were babies. Very clearly baby apes.

"Cherubim servitors. Baby servitors,"I realized."Dude has problems,"I mumbled in reference to Kragoff. Before I could say anything else, the flying monkeys with lasers were firing at us.

I quickly went intangible, letting the shots pass through me. I flew through one of the monkeys, freezing it in mid-air, then spun around while going tangible. I raised my hands and blasted out two beams from my palms, freezing another monkey, going intangible again when a monkey flew down to blast me. When I fired back at it, our shots met in mid-air.

According to Tony and Fitz, plasma shots tended to be ionized gas that was fired through magnetic fields with extremely hot temperatures, unless I waswaymisremembering. Whatever the case, when plasma met a beam that could freeze anything instantaneously, it exploded.

"The wicked witch gave you some upgrades!" I shouted at my opponent.

The monkey only fired another beam. I tucked my wings in and dive away from it, unfurling my moth wings again to fire at it and freeze it.

Fantasma raised her hands and made some elegant hand motions, another purple mandala coming to life in front of her. Several servitors fired at her, their plasma shots making ripples across the mandala shield with no effect. She clenched her fists, clapped them together, then swirled them outward, a sword of violet fire appearing in her left hand. With an intricate flowing motion of her right fingers, she let out a blast that flew through her mandala, knocking a servitor out of the air. When one flew around her shield, she slashed at it, cutting an arm off, then blasted it again.

Chernobog was nowhere near as elegant.

"Hehehe!"he charged forward, ignoring the plasma shots tearing into his form. He opened his mouth wide, and something flew out of one of the servitors, a ghostly wailing figure. The servitor shuddered in place, still firing, but somehow with none of the energy of the others. The wailing ghost flew into Chernobog's mouth. He swallowed."Hm. Artificial, mangled and stillborn. Not the least bit filling,"he smiled."But I don't mind overeating!"

With that, he roared forward, grabbing a monkey out of the air and digging his teeth into it. Sparks flew, blood and viscera pouring down his gold chest armor in streams, the sound of him eating sickening. It didn't help that he was still joking around. "Um num, num, num!"

"Take them out and get to the Bus!" I shouted, diving aside from another plasma shot. I flew to go back to back with Fantasma. We rotated together, me firing at anything that came towards her back while she protected mine. I blasted a monkey, then froze another plasma shot to explode it. The monkey I froze was about to fall to the ground far below before Chernobog grabbed it and took a bit.

"Mmm, like ice cream," he said pleasantly, diving through the air to claw at another.

"Hurry up!" I shouted at him, breathing out a cold mist before continuing. "We need to join the others!"

"Agreed!" Fantasma slashed out at a monkey, cursing when she missed. Chernobog flew by and tackled the servitor she'd missed, tearing it apart in a spray of blood and oil as black teeth tore through red flesh. Fantasma waved a hand and blasted another servitor apart. "Come on!"

Flying together, we charged upwards, fighting our way toward the Bus