MCU: Skull and Bones

Chapter 57: Rats at the Door

2013

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Warehouse District

A Few Days later

(Omniscient POV)

In the old dilapidated warehouse district of Hell's Kitchen, one building stood out amongst the others as flashes of purple light illuminated from within the building every now and then. Moving inside, we see several computer servers humming softly, their noise barely audible over the sounds of traffic from outside the building.

Next to the servers was a young man, typing away at a keyboard as seven small silver nodes moved about the warehouse in a whirlwind of activity. A few of them could be seen carrying fragments of mechanical parts toward a partially finished machine that took up most of the center floor.

The machine looked like a tall cylindrical chamber with several thick cables coming out of it, connecting various pieces of machinery scattered throughout the room. One end of the cylinder was attached to a massive power supply unit while the other end was plugged into a socket in the ceiling above.

As the nodes near the huge machine, bright purple sparks would flash as they began attaching the various mechanical parts to its base. Once all the components were secured, the nodes would start wiring themselves into the circuitry within the machine.

The process continued like that until eventually, the machine came alive with a low humming sound emanating from it.

Zeru finishes entering data into the terminal and sets aside his laptop. He stretches and yawns widely before moving over to a shelf where he retrieves a small duffel bag. He pulls the bag over to himself and unzips it, grabbing a few vials of the glowing blue liquid that was inside before moving back to the machine.

Putting on thick black latex gloves, Zeru carefully uncorks the vials as he empties them into tubes that are connected to a larger container that holds a green substance that looks very much like algae.

After filling the entire compartment with the solution, he attaches a hose to the top of the reservoir which connects directly to a small vent hole located on the backside of the casing. Every last drop of the chemical mixture enters the processor as Zeru plugs the remaining ends of the tubing into the vents. With a final push of air pressure, the tube seals itself shut, cutting off the flow of oxygenated water.

After a minute passes without any malfunction, Zeru lets out a hopeful sigh and stands back to admire his creation.

His eyes widen in awe when he sees the large chamber fill with a glowing teal-colored fluid. It starts to spin rapidly as the machine continues to hum loudly. Within seconds, the spinning slows down and the tank fills up faster than expected. In less than thirty minutes, the machine is full to capacity.

Zeru leans forward and touches the side of the cylindrical chamber, feeling the cool surface beneath his fingertips. He smiles broadly and shakes his head.

"This is incredible!" He exclaims excitedly, "I did it!!"

"What do you mean?" A voice asks from behind him.

Zeru jumps in surprise and spins around quickly, only to see Brock standing behind him wearing a wide grin. "You scared me," He says sheepishly.

"Sorry," Brock responds, "Did you really create this yourself?" Brock asks as he looks over the huge machine.

"Yeah," Zeru answers proudly as he steps closer to Brock, "It wasn't easy though, I'm not exactly a scientist."

Brock raises an eyebrow skeptically, "And this thing will cure Ava? How can you be so sure?"

"Well, I haven't tested it yet, but I think it should work," Zeru explains, "Using the information from Pym's research papers and the samples of the Blue liquid that we collected, I figured out how to stabilize the mass chaotic quantum energy that's running rampant throughout Ava's body. This should allow her system to start functioning properly once again."

"How soon till we find out if your theory works?" Brock presses.

"Give me another hour...two max," Zeru assures him, "Once I'm certain that the machine is working at 100% capacity, we can begin the procedure."

"Alright then," Brock says, nodding his head, "Let's hope that it does what you say it'll do."

***********

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Burren Club

Two Hours Later

Inside the Burren club, a hideout for the New York chapter of the Irish Mob, two men sit across from each other in a dimly lit booth inside the basement of the establishment. Both wear dark suits, white shirts, and black ties. Their faces expressionless as they stare silently at each other. An older gentleman was sitting between the two and sips on a glass of scotch, watching intently as both parties speak candidly among themselves.

Both men turn their heads toward the elderly man as one of them gathers the courage to speak first. "So, Mr. Nesbitt... do you believe my plan to take out the rest of the Dogs of Hell will succeed?" He asks in a heavy Irish accent.

The older man shrugs nonchalantly, "Only time will tell sonny boy. But you need to make sure that none of our boys do anything stupid because if they get caught... then the tenuous peace between the other crews is broken and it'll be all-out war. So you'd best make sure that no witnesses see them doing it. Otherwise" He pauses briefly before continuing, "they won't live long enough to regret whatever decision they made."

Nodding his head, the younger man agrees, "We understand sir," He says solemnly, knowing that he needs to follow orders precisely just in case something goes wrong during the operation. "Just let us know when you're ready to move against them. We'll hit them hard and fast."

"Of course," Nesbitt says as he pats the two young men on the shoulder reassuringly, "Now, why don't you boys go ahead and call it a night, eh? Seems like you lot are gonna have a busy day ahead for ya." He says calmly.

With a slight bow of their head, the two younger men turn to leave but stop abruptly when they hear loud footsteps descending the stairs leading up to the main level of the bar. Turning around, they look up to see three of their fellow gangsters walking down the staircase toward them.

"Hey, lads," One of the men calls out cheerfully, "We got some news that might interest yah! Word is there's been some strange activity going on in the warehouse district lately. Heard someone talking about some weird light show happening in one of the buildings."

"And why should we care about that?" One of the men asks sarcastically.

"Don't know...sounds interesting enough ta me," The third one replies, "Maybe we oughta pay a visit ta the place and see what we can find."

"Who knows maybe we'll find some Draocht," The second guy adds jokingly.

All five of the thugs laugh heartily together as they walk by the table where the young men sat earlier.

Mr. Nesbitt watches quietly as they pass through the door and disappear up the stairs. "The youths of today are such arseholes these days..." He mutters under his breath as he takes another sip from his drink.

*********

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Warehouse District

(Brock POV)

"You sure you're ready for this?" I ask Ava as she stares at the machine in front of her with fear written clearly upon her face.

"No," She admits nervously, "But I've come this far already. If I stop now, then everything I worked for will be lost forever.. At least this way, I have a chance to save myself.."

My hand reaches out tentatively and rests lightly on her arm, giving her comfort as she stares blankly at the machine in front of her. She turns to meet my gaze. "Thank you for helping me Brock," She whispers hoarsely, "Without you, I wouldn't even have had a choice."

She moves closer to me and wraps herself tightly in my arms as we wait patiently for Zeru to finish prepping the machine. Her breathing becomes shallow; her chest rises and falls heavily as she tries desperately to calm her nerves.

Finally, Zeru returns holding a long thin tube filled with clear liquid. He walks up next to us and removes the cap from the end of the tube, letting the liquid trickle forth into the reservoir below the machine. Moments later, the whole tank glows brightly as the liquid absorbs into the circuitry.

"Is it ready?" I ask.

"Yes," Zeru reassures us confidently, "Everything has gone according to plan thus far. All that remains is to put you inside and activate it."

Ava nods weakly, still staring at the glowing apparatus in front of her. My fingers brush hers ever so slightly and give her support, encouraging her as she finally manages to muster up enough courage to step forward.

She reaches the base of the machine and begins to strip off her suit, revealing a tight-fitting black bodysuit underneath. Taking another deep breath, she climbs the small steps along the side of the machine until she reaches its top and is peering down into the vat of glowing liquid below.

Her legs tremble as she approaches the edge of the platform and eases herself down until her entire body was completely submerged underneath the liquid. She closes her eyes momentarily before opening them again and looking straight ahead.

"Beginning the activation sequence," Zeru announces softly, reaching into his pocket for a small remote control device. He pushes a button on the controller and waits expectantly for a response. Suddenly, there's a soft buzzing noise coming from within the machine followed shortly thereafter by a series of high-pitched whirs accompanied by flashes of purple sparks that shoot outward from every corner of the room.

Within moments, the machine comes to life, emitting a deafening roar that rattles our bones. The lights of the warehouse flicker wildly as the machine begins pumping a powerful stream of electrical current through all of its components.

Ava begins to scream in agony as the intense pain radiates throughout her entire being. Even I feel the effects of the electricity coursing through my own flesh and blood like burning hot waves of heat radiating onto my skin. But despite her screams of anguish, she doesn't try to escape. Instead, she grips firmly onto the edges of the chamber and hangs limply in the liquid while enduring the excruciating torture inflicted upon her body.

As Zeru and I watch helplessly from outside, the sound of an alarm blaring suddenly echoes throughout the warehouse.

"What's that?" I ask Zeru, who moves over to his desk and eyes the monitors mounted above his computer.

He punches buttons on his keyboard frantically trying to figure out what caused the sudden alert.

"Shit!" He exclaims, "We have intruders trying to enter the building!"

Slightly surprised by the sudden news, I move over to stand beside him and peer at the monitors myself. Sure enough, several figures appear on the camera feed moving clumsily toward the entrance. They seem confused as they search for a way in. When they realize they aren't able to break past the security doors, they begin searching for some windows to smash instead.

"You think it's S.H.I.E.L.D? Or maybe the police?" Zeru wonders aloud.

"Doubt it," I reply, "They're too sloppy. Not nearly organized or prepared enough for either of those groups."

"Should I activate the defense systems?" He asks, turning away from the monitor screen and settling down in his seat behind the desk.

"No, the last thing we need is everyone in the neighborhood wondering why there are turrets going off everywhere right now," I respond flatly. "I'll handle them, you keep monitoring things here."

"Understood boss," Zeru says without hesitation.

I nod approvingly at him and turn to move toward the heavy metal door that leads out to the front of the warehouse. Taking one last quick glance back at Ava, whose cries have stopped echoing throughout the warehouse, I open the steel door and exit the building.

*************

A/n: Hey Guys, hope you are enjoying the story so far, and as always thanks for reading!

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