First Battle

"Your Highness, wake up!"

The fields outside of Boston had been interrupted by a spaceship that had been waylaid by hostile fighters and crashed on Earth's surface. They would have been destroyed too had a third party not intervened and distracted the fighters. The crashed ship was a streamlined transport ship carrying only two passengers. One, a young man in Asgardian knight armor, was hauling the second, an orange skinned young girl with black hair and in a black adventurer's tunic and pants, out of the ship. Right now, the guard was trying to wake her up.

Come on, wake up! Hurry!" he said smacking her face. Suddenly, a ship flew down, landing next to the crash. It was different than the ships that attacked them, and the boy recognized it as the ship that had destroyed the attackers. The door to the ship opened, and a young man in a red and blue armor, Star Knight, emerged. Grabbing a medkit, Star Knight ran over to the boy and looked at the unconscious girl.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Not sure," the boy replied, "She won't wake up."

Star Knight knelt down and opened his medkit, taking out a scanner to check for injuries. After moving the scanner over the girl's body a few times, Star Knight looked at the results on the screen.

"She's fine," he said, "Just a bit of a concussion."

"Well, that's something." The boy said.

"Who are you guys?" Star Knight asked.

"My name is Tyserian. Her name is Princess Talia." The boy replied.

"She's a princess?"

Tyresian nodded: "Or at least was before our homeworld was destroyed. I'm her bodyguard."

"Right." Star Knight said. "Well, you can call me Star Knight."

"Pleasure to meet you, Star Knight."

Star Knight nodded: "So, what did you guys do to get on the Trisectoids' radar?"

"The Trisectoids destroyed our homeworld. Talia and I were some of the very few to escape."

"Ouch. Well, sorry for your loss."

"Don't be."

Just then, Talia shot awake and sat up, coughing as she did.

"Talia!" Tyserian said: "Are you okay?"

"I-I guess so." Talia replied, "Where are we?"

"Earth. We made it, but our ship's too damaged; we're not leaving anytime soon."

Suddenly, Talia's necklace began to glow an orange color, and she gasped in fright a few minutes later.

"We have to get out of here!" she said.

"What is it?" Star Knight asked.

"Something's coming. Some kind of hunter."

"A hunter?"

"HIT THE DECK!" Tyserian shouted tackling the other two to the ground just a bolt of energy soared over their heads and hit the ground a few feet away. Star Knight immediately recovered and stood up to see a Trisectiod stalk up to them, a plasma weapon in its pincer.

Star Knight pulled out his laser pistols and aimed them at the newcomer.

"Back off, pal." Star Knight said, "I'm warning you."

The Trisectiod chuckled: "I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, there two are fugitives that I have been ordered to hunt down. And Shade always brings back his quarry."

"Let's break that streak, shall we?" Star Knight retorted, charging up his pistols.

Shade raised his own hand to strike, but was suddenly blasted back by a beam of energy. Star Knight whipped around to see a man in a red and gold suit of armor, followed by a jet, fly into the fray. The jet whipped around and opened its back, letting out the new team. Artillery and Crimson Crusader, being flying heroes, shot forward, unloading heavy fire on Shade. Shade put up a shield to defend himself, but was surprised by the sheer amount of firepower just those two had, unaware of Nightlock running towards his legs, and then proceeding to slice at them with his katanas.

Shade shrieked in pain and stumbled back, only to be crushed by Jake as he dropped down in Lizard form. Lizard than continued to smash Shade's face in repeatedly, and at first it seemed like it was working, but then Shade caught one of Lizard's fists in his claw. As Lizard watched in amazement, Shade slowly started healing from the attack. Then, he threw Lizard across the field, straight into the crashed ship.

Meanwhile, Liz Ock had made her way to Star Knight and the other two.

"Everyone okay here?" she asked.

"For now." Star Knight said, "But what is that?"

"He's called Shade," Tyserian said, "A Trisectoid hunter that's been following us ever since we escaped from our homeworld."

As they watched, Shade slowly stood up, healing from the barrage the team had put on him. Assimilate watched closely at how he regenerated, and widened his eyes in recognition.

"It's a symbiote." He said, "We can't attack it the normal way."

"What do you mean, the normal way?" Nightlock snapped.

"It's weak to loud sound and fire." Assimilate replied, "Does anyone have anything that uses either of those two?"

"I have something," Crimson Crusader said. Flying towards Shade, he activated a part of the gauntlet on his suit, sending out a massive sonic blast. Thinking it was another attack, Shade put a shield up again, only to stumble back, clutching his head and screaming in pain as the high frequency hit him full force.

"Nice going, Crusader," Iron Man said, "Anyone else got an idea?"

Star Knight stood up: "I do."

Taking out his pistols, he activated the incendiary setting, and fired multiple shots at the Trisectiod. The shots burst into flame on contact, making Shade retreat in even more pain.

"Damn you, humans!" he said, morphing one of his pincers into a whip and swinging it at the nearest hero he saw: Artillery. The tendril slammed into Artillery, sending him flying towards Star Knight. Seeing this, Star Knight braced for impact, but never felt a thing; Ock had caught Artillery just in time with her mechanical arms, setting him down on the grass. When the other turned back around, Shade had vanished.

Iron Man flew down and landed next to Artillery.

"You okay?" he asked.

Artillery stood up and said: "Yeah, I felt like I just got slapped by the Hulk, but the armor held up."

"It should. Asgardian steel doesn't easily break."

"True that." Then, turning to Star Knight, Tyserian, and Talia, "Who are you guys?"

"Name's Star Knight," Star Knight said, "And this is Tyserian and Talia. They're refugees who were trying to escape that Shade thing. Their ship crashed here."

"They must be the ones we we're looking for." Lizard said.

"Indeed." Iron Man said.

"If they're here," Nightlock said, "And Shade's after them, then we need to know why."

"I agree," Lizard said.

"We'll come with you," Talia said, "Just keep us safe from Shade."

"You have our word," Artillery said, and a few minutes later, everyone was back on the jet and off towards the Helicarrier.

…

Meanwhile, back on the Helicarrier, Karmi slowly opened her eyes in the med room. Groaning, she slowly looked around at where she was. A medic noticed the movement and walked up to her.

"Hello, Karmi," he said, "how are you feeling?"

"What happened?" Karmi groaned.

"You got electrocuted badly, and I think it did more than just stun you," the medic explained, "We're here to help you. Do you feel any different?"

As Karmi slowly regained her senses, she realized she felt slightly tingly on the left half of her body.

"What's happened to me?" she said.

"I don't know." The medic said, "But I need you to help me out so I can figure that out. Now, do you feel any different?"

"I…I think so."

"Here, I'm going to scan you with this real quick, okay?" the medic said, taking out a small device and proceeded to put it on Karmi's left arm. However, as he did, a surge of electricity shot from her arm and electrocuting the medic, sending him flying into the wall. The medic slowly recovered his senses and picked up a radio.

"Director," he said, "We're going to need to put this one in temporary containment. And make sure it's insulated."