(MCU) Arcs Collide: Chapter 29 – Real Difference

Chapter 29 – Real Difference

Summary: The Rouges react to their results which leads to a new test for them.

“What do you mean, failed?!” Barton was the first to yell once the shock wore off.

Rhodey simply sent him a glare. “The four of you failed the moment you ignored orders and decided to do your own thing.”

Barton snapped again. “We only follow Cap’s orders!”

Carol gave him a deadpan look and said flatly, “Yes, you’ve said that before. Let’s see the results of Rogers’s orders.”

Rhodey took over. “All the civilians are dead. The city was destroyed. And while the portal was closed, the enemy still won—they even took all of you down.”

Romanoff had a smug look on her face as she pointed out, “Your simulation was wrong. After the portal was closed, the Chitauri were supposed to drop dead, but they kept fighting.”

Carol facepalmed before saying, in a tone that conveyed how done she was with them, “As you were told multiple times, it wasn’t about the portal. Tony used the missile he was carrying to blow up the mothership—that’s why they dropped dead. You just closed the portal, but the mothership remained intact, so they remained active.”

Carol noticed Romanoff clenching her fists tightly in annoyance. Carol couldn’t tell anymore why. Was it because Romanoff forgot such an important detail? Because her ploy to embarrass them failed? Because she couldn’t save some pride? Carol really didn’t care.

Rhodey spoke again in his calm voice. “And the worst of all this exercise was Maximoff. First, you gave her an order in complete contradiction to the goal. Then she goes on to attack our allies without a single exchange of words—let’s not even mention her obvious misuse of power by mind-raping a man who was supposed to be on her side.”

Rogers frowned at the two leaders before saying disapprovingly, “This simulation was meant to fail us. I expected more from you, Rhodes.”

Rhodey glared at him. “It was by no means meant to fail you. You’re the ones who focused your efforts on a single point while the entire city was under attack. You didn’t even try to defend the civilians while you were fighting.”

Rogers shook his head again before saying what Carol considered his catchphrase, “We can’t save everyone.”

Carol, too tired of hearing it, shot back, “You didn’t save anyone! You actively allowed them to die instead of following simple orders. You sacrificed the civilians so you could go fight the villains and act like some conquering hero. But in the end, you failed to do even that.”

Barton’s face turned red, and he screamed in fury, “Watch it, skank! Cap’s the best leader there is. If his plan requires a few people to die, that’s what people do. Just ask the would-be cripple next to you.”

The moment Carol heard that insult, her fists began to glow as she shook with fury, while Rhodey’s repulsors started glowing brighter.

But Barton didn’t seem to notice the danger he was in and added with a sneer, “You think Stark would’ve done any better? He would’ve killed all those people himself and blamed someone like Wanda again. Our team can take any of you, any day.”

Now Carol’s eyes were burning with power; she could feel the energy coming off her body in waves, boiling under her skin. But before she could blast the bastard, Rhodey’s voice cut in, authoritative as ever, “If you’re so sure about that, let’s make a deal, Mr. Barton.”

Romanoff raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, “What do you suggest?”

Rhodey gave them all a hard look and said dryly, “Rogers, Maximoff, and Barton each have a strike on their records for breaking their restraining orders. We’ll have a fight— all of you against the two of us. If you win, we’ll erase your strikes. If we win, you’ll all receive another one.”

“Wait a moment,” Wilson called. “Bucky and I have no intention of getting involved in this fight, so count us out, whatever you decide to do.”

Barnes nodded in agreement. Rhodey nodded back and said, in a much calmer voice, “Very well. You won’t receive a strike, no matter the outcome. Your work today was exemplary. You followed your orders, and even when your teammates went down, you held your own for a while longer to protect your locations. Good job.”

Both men seemed to stand a little taller at the compliment and went to the corner of the room to watch things unfold.

Before Rogers or Romanoff could react, Barton snorted and said, “As if we care about your damn strikes. If we win, Cap’s getting back the leader spot.”

Carol wanted to immediately refuse, but Rhodey seemed to consider it before nodding once and responding, “Very well. But if we win, you’ll have to follow our orders in training and in the field.”

Romanoff looked alarmed and tried to stop Rogers by calling out to him, “Steve…”

Unfortunately for her, Rogers ignored her and agreed. “Deal!”

Rhodey looked up at the ceiling and called, “Fri, you’ve got the agreement on record, right?”

The response was immediate. “Yes, Colonel-man. I’ll start the simulation.”

A moment later, Carol and Rhodey stood across from the four Rogues in the former Avengers compound training field, so they wouldn’t complain about home-field advantage. Rhodey had a feral smile on his face, just like hers, as he said, “The fight begins with the sound of the bell.”

With that, the helmet of his suit closed around his head, while Carol’s cowl covered the upper half of her face and made her hair look like a mohawk.

Barton prepared an arrow, Romanoff drew her guns, and Maximoff’s scarlet magic swirled around her fingers. Rogers unfolded his shields.

Once the ‘ding’ sound echoed in the space around them, Barton released his arrow, which War Machine blew away with a missile close enough to the Rogues to send them scattering around the room.

Rhodey launched himself straight at Rogers, so Carol had to satisfy herself with going after Romanoff and Maximoff, who had landed close to each other.

Carol chose to embarrass Romanoff by fighting her without her powers. Once Romanoff noticed she couldn’t keep up, she glanced at Maximoff, whose face was red with frustration, and demanded, “Wanda, tell me what she’s thinking!”

Wanda’s answer was outraged. “I can’t tell! It’s like there’s a wall around her mind.”

Romanoff looked at her in shock, and Carol smirked. “Stephen taught Tony how to block the witch’s powers, and Tony integrated it into all our suits, just in case. Along with a few other things.”

Romanoff now looked angry, but nowhere near as furious as Maximoff, who, with a deranged scream of “STARK!” sent a wave of her powers toward Carol.

Carol activated her powers and flew out of the attack’s path, releasing a blast of her own at the crazy lady. Carol’s attack struck Maximoff square in the chest.

The crazy witch was sent flying back several meters before landing on the floor, smoke rising from where the attack hit her.

Romanoff took the opportunity to launch as many Widow Bites as she could at Carol, but they simply hit her costume without effect.

The redhead blinked twice to make sure she was seeing it right. Carol laughed mockingly. “Oh yeah, I forgot. Tony made the suit electricity-resistant.”

Now Romanoff looked just as pissed as Wanda had a moment ago. She ran at Carol, but Carol was tired of it and simply punched her in the gut when she got close enough. The ex-spy doubled over in pain before falling limp to the floor.

Carol turned to check on Rhodey and saw Rogers struggling against him, while Barton had many burn marks on his skin and clothes with no arrows left.

In a desperate attempt, Barton ran to tackle War Machine, but Rhodey didn’t even turn. He used a small burst from his repulsor, smacking Barton away with the back of his hand.

Barton was sent flying into the nearest wall before collapsing to the floor, unconscious, and once again with a broken nose.

Rhodey then used the same hand to punch Rogers in the face. When the oaf staggered back, Rhodey hit him with a high-powered blast, knocking him out.

With that, the four Rogues were defeated, and Carol felt a hell of a lot better than she had a few moments ago. Actually, now that she thought about it, she looked up and asked, “Fri, how long did it take?”

The amused voice of Friday responded quickly. “A little over four minutes, Mom. I recorded the fight and already sent it to everyone.” After a few moments of silence, just as the Rogues were coming around, Friday spoke again. “Director Coulson replied. He says the strikes will be added to the records and thanks you personally for kicking the crap out of Rogers and Romanoff. His words, not mine.”

Carol snorted at the quick addition from the Irish AI. “They better be, baby girl.”

A groan from Rogers drew her attention back to the criminals.

Rhodey smirked at the downed man. “And now you know what one of these suits can do to a super soldier when the pilot doesn’t hold back.”

“You cheating bastard!” Barton yelled, his voice slurred slightly from the broken nose.

Rhodey just looked at him with satisfaction, while another voice responded to Barton’s accusation. “And how did they cheat, Barton?”

Carol, along with everyone else, turned to see Nick Fury walking in, his presence as menacing as ever—even if they had upgraded their relationship from friends to family after her and Tony’s engagement.

Romanoff tried to take charge, pleading their case. “Sir, surely the fact that their equipment was built to counter ours must count.”

Nick rolled his uncovered eye. “Sorry. Give me a moment to contact the aliens and tell them to hold off their invasion because they aren’t playing fair.”

Maximoff snapped at him, “What the hell do aliens have to do with Stark destroying our lives again?!”

The ex-director let out an annoyed sigh. “What does Tony have to do with it? You’re the ones who turned on him and declared him your enemy. Can you blame a man for implementing means to defend himself from a known opponent?”

It wasn’t a question but a statement, and one Carol completely agreed with. But Barton still had his wounded pride to recover. “Wanda’s right. The aliens have nothing to do with it. When they come, we’ll kick their asses again. This is about Stark being petty.”

Gritting his teeth but ignoring the comment about Tony, Nick responded, “Are you that much of a fool, Barton? This enemy knows what you’re capable of. He saw you fighting the last army he sent to Earth. Do you think the mastermind behind it won’t take measures to defend his forces from the same methods again?”

Romanoff frowned, unable to dispute his words, while Barton and Maximoff stood in silent anger.

Rogers, on the other hand, saw an opportunity and pounced. “You have to see it now, Fury. I need my shield back.”

Nick raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “As far as I know, you’ve got a new shield. A couple of them, actually.”

Rogers frowned and spoke in his disapproving tone. “They’re not compatible with my fighting style.”

Nick regarded him for a moment before pointing out, “Considering your preferred method is punching your way out of things, I’d say they’re perfect for it.”

Rogers sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. “Look, Fury, I need my shield back to fight at my best.”

Nick shrugged and simply responded, “Not possible.”

Rogers clenched his fists and growled, “I don’t care what Tony says. I’ll tolerate a lot until he comes around, but I can’t let this go. This shield is mine, and I demand it back.”

Nick glared at the blonde before saying calmly, but with an edge to his tone, “You misheard, Rogers. I didn’t say we don’t want to hand it back to you. I said it’s not possible anymore.”

Romanoff raised an eyebrow before confidently saying, “Just tell me where Stark’s keeping it, and I’ll get it out, Fury.”

Rhodey snorted. “So the great spy still hasn’t figured it out.” When the redhead gave him a confused look, he added, “Tony let you break into his systems until now out of some misplaced trust. Do you really think someone like you can actually hack Stark tech?”

Carol laughed mockingly. “And don’t forget, Daisy is a master hacker, and Tony’s hired her to boost all the firewalls. My man knows talent when he sees it.”

Romanoff looked a mix of shocked and furious, but Carol didn’t care which or why.

Nick ignored the side comments and pressed on. “After Tony and Shuri reverse-engineered vibranium using the shield, Tony handed it back to Wakanda as a sign of goodwill. T’Challa ordered his sister to melt it down and use the metal to create a public toilet seat so, in his words, everyone could get the chance to crap on the man who killed their countrymen.”

Rogers was shocked into silence, but Wilson was confused. “What did the shield have to do with Wakanda?”

Nick gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “Howard hired someone to steal it from Wakanda, as they were the only source for it.”

Barnes spoke next in a rare moment. “If they reverse-engineered the vibranium, can’t they recreate the shield?”

Rogers looked hopeful at the idea, but Nick shook his head before answering in an indifferent tone. “That shield was polished for weeks to be in the exact shape it was. Howard never scanned it for specifics, and neither did Tony. The support team tried to recreate it a couple of times, but it came out as just a flying frisbee—nothing special could be replicated.”

There was silence in the room as no one could respond. Well, Rogers probably would have if he weren’t still in shock.

After another moment, Nick spoke again. “Well, it’s time for you to return to your dorms. Our leaders here are already late to a meeting.” He turned and began walking toward the exit before stopping and saying over his shoulder, “By the way, Barton, Maximoff, and Rogers—you all have two strikes. I don’t need to remind you what will happen the next time you break the rules.”

Carol wanted to burst out laughing at the look on their faces.