The Vault
Iron Man flew while carrying a ship full of A.I.M prisoners. While approaching the facility, a voice came through on his comms. "Iron Man this is Vault Security. You are clear for landing." As Iron Man touched down on the platform, numerous armed SHIELD agents approached the ship, securing the prisoners.
An agent walked over to the armored hero. "Thanks, Stark. A.I.M's been a thorn in SHIELD's side for a long time."
Iron Man gave him a look. "Yeah. Well, helping SHIELD is not on my to-do list."
He nodded. "I've heard about the disagreement with Director Fury."
"There's a reason why I didn't like their newest addition to their arsenal. You saw what A.I.M's capable of. These guys are dangerous, and they used my tech to do it. I'm not a weapons dealer anymore. I took them down, and if SHIELD becomes the same, I'll do the same."
The agent sighed, "Should the day ever come when SHIELD becomes a danger to innocent civilians, I wouldn't stop you from telling us 'I told you so.' In any case, there's something else I need to talk to you about."
Stark rolled his eyes. "I don't know where the purple crystal guy went, so don't bother asking."
"Believe me, SHIELD has someone else looking into that matter. As for here, we've had an incident last week regarding the Hydra soldiers from the UN attack.
Tony frowned at the mention of Hydra. "What kind of incident?"
The agent shook his head. "I can't give you the full details, but Hydra losing at the UN was intentional. They wanted to get sent here, and they got their target out." He closed his eyes. "Not everyone from security came back."
Seeing the same look in the agent's eyes that he once had, Stark relented. "I see the problem. Whoever Hydra took must have been vital to their operations to pull a stunt like this." He sighed. "Listen, I have other stuff to do, but I can look over it tonight. Send Pepper documents with everything I need to know and what you want. We'll discuss the contract from there." With that Iron Man turned around and took off.
New York
SHIELD Helicarrier, The Big House, Level 5
The SHIELD Helicarrier flew above New York like a watchdog over the people. One one would have thought that the object over them also contained many superpowered criminals. What appeared to be a model of a building on a table turned out to be the world's smallest super villain prison in the world: The Big House.
Hank Pym wore his hero suit under his white lab coat as he walked over to one of the prison cells.
Within the cell, a man with graying brown hair sat in a chair. This was the Mad Thinker. His past was as much a mystery to SHIELD as anyone else. He had a manic expression on his face seeing the doctor.
Hank leaned against the wall. "SHIELD monitored the conversation you had with Whirlwind." He grew concerned. "You said that something was going to happen? We would like to know what."
Mad Thinker chuckled, "Can you not feel it, Ant Man?" he asked sarcastically. "The better question is not what but when?"
Ant Man's expression continued to sour as he wrote down his response.
SHIELD Helicarrier, Level 3
Janet van Dyne and Maria Hill walked down a hallway. "Director Fury's offer was very serious, Wasp."
Wasp sighed. "Hank- uh Ant Man is against it."
Maria huffed at the answer. "That's what he thinks, but I want to know what you think?"
After a few seconds, Wasp spoke. "All I want to do is help people, and I want to be able to do more."
The assistant smirked at Janet. "If that's what you want, SHIELD will let you do more. We can even help you and Ant Man track down your mystery insect. We have suspicions, but nothing solid."
"I've heard rumors about a demon showing up too, but I think they're just exaggerating Also, I don't think Stinkfly wants that kind of attention, and Hank might give him a bad impression of humanity" Before Wasp could reply more, another woman with long red hair walked by them. "Who's that?"
Maria's tone turned dark. "I'm afraid that's classified."
Wasp rolled her eyes before glaring at her. "Ugh. I can appreciate SHIELD's goal of helping people, but I'd prefer more transparency. SHIELD might be a little too dramatic for me. Everything's always so mysterious." As soon as she said that, the lights flickered on and off before the red back-up lights came on. "Kind of like that."
At that point, security all across four superhuman prisons went dark, releasing the criminals back into the world unchecked.
SHIELD Helicarrier, The Big House, Level 5
Just as Ant Man finished his report, he noticed that all the cell's energy shields all shut off. One by one villains were walking out. "Oh no."
Mad Thinker looked at him with a smile. "Boom."
For unknown reasons, the prison and people that once fit on a table expanded to full size, ripping through the walls, floors, and hull of the SHIELD Helicarrier.
SHIELD Helicarrier, Level 1
On the Bridge, Director Nick Fury glared at the static on screen as alarms went off, "Someone get the engineers and tell them to keep us in the air! And shut that damn alarm off!"
A SHIELD agent approached him. "Director Fury a report just came in from the Vault."
Fury frowned. "Does it look like I have time for this, Quartermain?"
He grabbed Fury's arm to get his attention. "Listen to me! Automated reports are coming in from the Vault and the Cube! Their systems have gone offline, and no one is responding from down in the Big House. Something is seriously wrong!"
Fury's one good eye narrowed at the news.
SHIELD Helicarrier, Level 3
Down below, SHIELD agents were still recovering from the explosion. Unfortunately, they didn't know about the prison break. From the shadows, the hand of the Grey Gargoyle grabbed an agent's shoulder, turning him into stone.
Whirlwind started attacking any agent he could on his way out.
A trio fire team shot at the chimeric supervillain Griffin, but two of them were taken down. The last one was grabbed by a laughing Constrictor. "Payback time." However, before he could even start, he was shot down by yellow bolts, releasing the man.
The Wasp and Maria bolted through the halls. "This is crazy. How did this happen?!"
"It doesn't matter! Right now we have to get to the bridge!"
Wasp stopped flying, "No! Ant Man was in the Big House when the explosion happened. He was with all the Super Villains. We have to help him now!"
Europe
Tony Stark flew through the air, and his helmet started ringing.
"Incoming, call from Potts, Pepper." answered Jarvis.
Picking up the line, he smirked. "Hey, Pepper. Guess who I ticked off this morning, Here's a hint. His name rhymes with boom!"
Unfortunately, Pepper was not in the same light-hearted mood. "Tony, something has happened to the SHIELD Helicarrier, some kind of explosion. Tony it's bad."
Jarvis spoke up. "Sir, there appears to be a problem at the Vault. They have stopped transmitting data."
Connecting the dots, Tony got serious. "Alright. Pepper, keep monitoring the Helicarrier Situation. I'm going to check on the Vault." He quickly made a U-turn.
New York
Ciro's Café, Earlier
Thor Odinson, Jane Foster, and the shapeshifter sat at an outside table, enjoying some snacks. The alien hero and thunder god just finished taking a picture with two teens.
The alien was a feline-like alien with a black suit-like color scheme There were spike-like blades on his arms and legs, and he had black sideburns and beard, He wore a dark green uniform with a thunderbolt-like design down his torso, leggings, and wristbands. (See FASTTRACK BY Artmachband196)
Seeing the teens leave, Jane couldn't help but ask the obvious question. "How are people so calm around you two?"
Fasttrack shrugged. "They think we're cosplaying."
Thor looked down at himself. "During my time on Midgard, people have said that 'I have it going on,' whatever that means."
"Her thought leaking out, Jane whispered. "You certainly do…" Realizing her words and the snickering Fasttrack, she coughed and softly kicked him in the shin, earning a hearty complaint.
Some young adults walked past the trio, and looked to Ben for a moment and whispered. "Woah, dude. Check out the furry."
Hearing the accusation, Fasttrack quickly retorted. "I'm not a furry!"
Realizing they've been caught, they turned away and continued walking down the street.
"To be fair, your coat is quite soft." Jane reached out and started lightly scratched under his chin, sending him into a brief blissful state.
Recovering from the action, he lightly swatted her hand away. "Stop that."
Thor blinked at the expression. "I do not understand. Are you not one of fur. What is this furry they speak of?"
Ben quickly waved off his question. "Just forget them, Thor."
"It's nothing important," added Jane. "Anyways, let's go back to your dad. He sleeps for a week?"
Thor nodded solemnly. "The Odin's Sleep, once a year he replenishes his power which in turn gives life to Asgard."
"From what I heard around the castle, it's a big deal. It seems to be his only weakness," added Ben.
Jane blinked. "Wow… Must be some sleep."
"Aye. It is but during its time both he and Asgard are vulnerable to attack." Thor looked to his left to see a little kid at another table looking at him with a confused expression.
Ben agreed. "I was surprised that the Frost Giants and Loki were able to push that far into the city against Balder and the others before we got there."
"My father chose not to intervene even though he could have stopped them easily. He wanted me to come home."
"It could be that he didn't want to collapse into the Odinsleep in the middle of a fight."
Jane raised a brow. "In any case, now that he is asleep, why aren't you there?"
"Yes. It seems to be a popular question for me," admitted Thor. "It is… complicated."
Jane tilted her head. "Really? Because it sounds like you're just mad at your dad. There's nothing less complicated than that."
Ben took a sip of his coffee. "Throw in a bit of his future responsibilities, and I think that about covers his issues."
The thunder god scoffed at their deductions. "The mortals, you-." Thor coughed before crossing his arms, "I am needed here!"
"I'm not gonna lie and say that having a living deus ex machina is a bad thing, but you have to take care of your personal life too."
Janet smirked. "He's right, you know. Humanity has managed to survive up to now."
"I mean, we did have a few close calls in the 50s and the 80s," added Ben.
She slapped the alien on the arm before speaking calmly. "Nowadays, we have Police, Firemen, Paramedics, and even a few Superheroes of our own." She gestured to Fasttrack next to them "If you need to, take the week off and go see your family. I'm sure, Earth will still be here when you get back."
"Yeah, man. I can handle things over here till you get back. I've made friends all over the country. I'm sure they'll be willing to help out too.
Thor thought about that before an explosion caught their attention. They turned to see smoke rising from beyond some buildings.
From the Omnitrix, Azmuth reported on the situation. "Eyewitnesses are reporting that the SHIELD Helicarrier exploded over the harbor. We might be looking at a crash landing in the city."
Fasttrack's face turned sour. "Shit. Anything else?"
"The systems at the Cube Facility have gone dark."
Upon hearing that, Ben was conflicted for a moment before steeling himself. "It seems that Banner was right. I can only hope that he can cover things there until we can return."
Thor looked back at Jane. "What was it you said about the Earth still being here?"
Jane blinked. "Touché." She quickly started calling her hospital to report the emergency situation.
Thor twirled Mjolnir around before taking off into the air, and Fasttrack became a blue blur in the streets as the two made their way towards the explosion.
Omnitrix DNA Entry:
Name: Fasttrack
Species: Citrakayah
Home World: Chalybeas
Powers and Abilities:
Much like Kinecelerans, Citrakayahs have enhanced speed and agility. However, while Kinecelerans are quite known for their assassination skills, the Citrakayah are well known for their tracking, hunting, and close-quarter combat. To complement these skills, the Citrakayahs possess enhanced strength to face much larger opponents.