Point Of No Return

Tatiana’s heart sank at her words but it faded quickly though her stomach wanted to tie itself in knots. Her steely composure now regained she replied in a much more stoic voice.

“Then I offer you this, as payment for what you’ve done for me and for Russia. A man...a creature called Corvus Glaive knows where the Dark matter is but I highly doubt that this is what he’s truly after. Take care Natalya Sokolova,” she said in a very motherly way then hung up.

The shadows in the office began to coalesce and Natalya would know it was Evan coming back. He stepped into the room and held a large bundle in his arms. “I found what we need, hurry, get dressed, these helmets should hide us to a degree,” he said as he dropped the bundle on the floor. “I sized you as a 4, is that about right? He asked with a smirk then began to disrobe in front of her. While they were dressing he did look at her. Such chances to were rare and though they had had sex several times he still liked looking. Natalya was a very beautiful woman, even if she were as cold as ice to him right now. He stepped up to help her clasp her collar. When he did he pulled her face up to look at him.

“Natalya...You can play at being an ice cicle toward me all you want. I don’t care,” he said though it was quite nearly a lie. He did care, alot, especially now.

“These people are SHIELD agents. Please try NOT to kill them if you can,” he said and then bit his lower lip at the cold way she looked at him. “I’m not like you, I can’t just harden my heart like this. I feel something for you and regardless if I think its a mistake or not, it’s there. We are here for the cylinder. That’s all. When we have it we can take it to my father like you suggested, alright?” he said as he held her face in his hands. It was difficult not to kiss her right then. Very difficult. He certainly wanted to.

Natalya gripped the phone slightly before hanging up. She felt confused about how she felt right then. Tatiana had been the closest thing she had had to a mother and part of her felt guilty for betraying her. But she couldn't turn back now...she wouldn't. She was prepared to risk her life for this because she knew this was the right thing. She didn't care if she died, but she would keep Evan safe. He had a life ahead of him, and Natalya knew that she didn't.

She saw the shadows move and knew Evan was returning. She stepped away from the desk and the phone as he reappeared with a bundle in his arms. She wanted to tell him what Tatiana had just told her, but that would mean explaining how she had come across this information and that would only cause him to distrust her even more. And so she remained silent as she began to undress. She felt Evan's eyes upon her, but she ignored him. However, as she began to clasp her collar she felt him step up to her and take over. A mixture of strange feelings came over her as he pulled her face up to look at him. He was so handsome and there was a flash of a strong feeling that she didn't understand. It caused her to feel as if she couldn't breathe. But that feeling faded when Evan suggested that she were nothing more than a cold, killing machine. A flash of anger filled her eyes and she felt hurt by his words. She yanked away from him and trembled with anger as she pulled her hair up.

"If that is what you want," was all she said in response.

Evan was no longer surprised by her responses. And regardless if she seemed upset with him or not he still felt warm whenever he was close to her. “It’s not what I want,” he said as he checked the SHIELD weapon then put the machine pistol into his holster. He wasn’t facing her and instead had his eyes closed as he studied the sensations he received from the shadows. “I want to kiss you and make love to you again...if I’m being truly honest. But since ‘that’ isn’t going to happen right now...I suppose we get this over with,” he said. He hoped she wasn’t just doing this because she felt she owed him. He hoped she had some feeling for him. Something!

Meanwhile Corvus and his Black Order soldiers had began their assault on the complex. He and a few others ran ahead as the bulk of their forces created a diversion. Even as Evan began to gather the shadows to him the room was rocked by an explosion. And men shouted as they ran past his office. Evan swallowed hard as he held out his hand toward Natalya. He needed to be in physical contact with her to shift them into the large shadow and out of another that was in the lab, in a corner behind several mainframe computers.

Alyssa was there with several SHIELD agents, scientists and soldiers. In the lab they had the cylinder in a tank of dark liquid like before and energy was being sent into it. Corvus and his soldiers just fell down out of the ceiling, a large, gaping hole of twisted metal left where it had been just a moment ago. Alyssa had to dodge out of the way and a SHIELD guard was crushed by the falling debris. The Black Order soldiers were in all black, with black helmets. They used some kind of energy weapon that shot cobalt blue bolts of energy. SHIELD soldiers fired back with their machine pistols and Corvus engaged an agent with his long blade of blackness. Even peered from around a large server wide-eyed at the carnage. He looked back at Natalya and she’d see the concern in his eyes. Not fear though, never fear, just a concern they would fail.

Corvus towered over everyone and looked to be some sort of Grim Reaper figure in a dark cloak and robe. His face was a dark skull’s face and he chuckled as he ran the Agent through with his blade then tossed him aside like a paper doll. His chuckle was a low boom in everyone’s ears and scientists scrambled for cover.

Natalya glanced over at Evan slightly, but then looked away. She wanted to tell him what she was feeling, but she wasn't even sure what it was. It was all completely new to her and it terrified her. She swallowed back her feelings, knowing that they both needed to have their heads in the right place in order to succeed at this. Just when she was about to suggest that they go, the room was rocked by an explosion. Natalya knew then that the Super Tatiana had told her about, Corvus, was here. The room filled with dust and smoke and she saw Evan reach out a hand to her. She took it and a moment later she found they were in another part of the lab near some large mainframe computers. Near them, she could hear fighting and as she glanced around one of the servers she saw what was happening. She looked back at Evan and her eyes met his for a brief moment. She then pulled out her gun and stood and took aim at some of the Black Order soldiers.

There were several things that forced Evan to rethink his strategies. The most obvious one was the futility of blinding everyone. He couldn’t pick and choose who saw and who didn’t or who was deafened and who wasn’t. So darkening up the room was abandoned by him. In order for Natalya to fight, that is. Instead he drew in the shadows and hardened them on the exposed side of her. As the soldiers in odd, black armor fired at her, their bolts hit his wall instead of her. He also made thick, black tendrils rise up out of the shadows near the floor and grab at as many figures as he could see. There was one though that drew most of his attention. A man...if it were a man was taller than everyone else. He wore a black robe that looked tattered and old. Very old. And his face was just a skull with black eyes. There could be flesh there but his hood was dark and Evan’s attentions were on the long, black Glaive or Scythe he held. Where ever that blade struck flesh that flesh blackened immediately and that guard or agent writhed and screamed and died in agony. What it did to them or how was not in Evan’s thought. Only what it did and it turned and took notice of Natalya.

The scientists in the lab were safe behind a thick wall of glass. In their hazmat suits they moved and pressed back against the back of the test room. The main fighting was just outside of that room in the larger observation lounge. White couches, chairs and fixtures were either trampled, destroyed outright or upheaved as men and women fought either hand to hand or with weapons. A few of the more experienced SHIELD guards had melee weapons and were fending the large…thing off.

Natalya's aim was perfect and deadly. She had been trained in snipe shooting and was very good. She was able to aim quickly, enabling her to take down many of the black armored soldiers. She had been attempting to keep herself protected, but it wasn't until Evan put up some hard shadows on the exposed side of her that she was truly protected. This enabled her to take bolder shots and it paid off. She soon ran out of bullets and she threw down that gun and pulled out the other and began to fire again. She glanced back at Evan, unaware that she had begun to draw the attentions of the one she suspected was the Super.

"Reload that gun!"

Evan caught the weapon and began to pull out clips from the cargo pockets of his pants. He had several kinds so it took time to figure out which ones went to the gun she tossed him. This wasn’t how it went in the stories! He thought. Heroes just reloaded and looked good doing it. He must look like an idiot, he decided. Trying to fit clips into that single gun. He had never been in a situation like this and the severity of the moment was not lost upon him.

“Take her down!” Corvus bellowed as he pointed a honey finger at her. At his command more soldiers in black and more SHIELD soldiers poured into the room. Evan formed a large hammer of hardened black shadow and he used it to crush the skull of one of the Black Order Soldiers that had moved to stab Natalya in the back. He fell to the ground, his black blood squirting from the blunt force of the large, black hammer. Natalya was deadly efficient, a few shots center of mass and one or two in the head or face. The closer they got the more direct her shots. The SHIELD soldiers took notice of her and of Evan but since they were helping them they only moved up to help them. When Natalya turned back to throw him another weapon Evan tossed her a freshly reloaded one. Her grunt of disapproval at having to cock the weapon before it would fire made Evan want to blush.

“Sorry!” He said loudly over the din of fighting. Corvus shifted, leaped then landed in front of Evan suddenly. His large Scythe came down toward him but a large curved shield of black blocked his stroke. The force of it however forced Evan onto his knees. “So, it is you making these constructs. Well, it’s time to die Mutant!” Corvus said confidently. “You know, I thought you might smell bad. With that old robe and all,” Evan said in a strained voice. His tone carried with it a certain amount of levity too which was more or less just his way. “Now...I’m certain you stink,” he added in between breaths.

Natalya's mind had gone into full soldier mode and she was unconcerned with her own possible death. However, she would keep Evan safe. She owed him that after he had saved her life back at SHIELD HQ several days ago. It seemed like weeks had passed since then. Had it only been a few days? She felt that if she could give Evan time to get the Dark Matter and then get it to his father it would be worth her own death. And so she kept firing shots, even as the black soldiers got closer and closer to her. As she fired the last shot of that gun she turned to toss it to Evan to reload and she caught the freshly loaded one. However, as she went to take her first shot she found it wasn't cocked and that wasted precious moments, moments they were running out of. Her disapproving look was all Evan needed to see to know she was not happy. Natalya glanced over and saw that the SHIELD agents were fighting with her and she was thankful for all the help she could get.

As Corvus drew closer to them Natalya saw him focus on Evan. Then, in the blink of an eye he was in front of Evan. Natalya now turned her full attention to Corvus, letting the SHIELD agents continue to fight the black soldiers.

"Leave him be!" she said in a commanding voice as she aimed her gun at him. "I'm the one you want anyway, right? Because I'm the one that stops you."

Out of the corner of Natalya’s eyes she saw several soldiers in black break through the outer door to the test lab. It all came clear to her in a moment. This Corvus WAS the distraction. While his men took the cylinder he instead took up position to draw their attentions. The soldiers in black shot at the scientists with their energy weapons and moved up to break into the tank of dark liquid. However their shots had done something to the controls and the whole room began to vibrate as the dark matter was bombarded with anti-neutrinos, a form of energy that was being used as the first test for the dark matter today. The power thought had bloomed due to the damaged controls.

Evan felt the immense power of the tall...thing, was it a man? As he continued to strain against the pressure and threat of being crushed. His taunt hadn’t really worked and Corvus turned and looked over at Natalya. “Oh you will suffer Natalya Sokolova!” It cackled eerily. “I will feast upon your soul!” It said in its loud, deep voice. As he said that the thick glass cracked with the strain of the large amount of pressure inside the test lab. At the same time Corvus shifted and instead of a downward pressure he spun then swung his other arm right at Evan. The blow flung him into the glass and he crash through it and landed inside the test room.

Corvus swung his black blade at Natalya but she dodged nimbly though the blade struck the woman behind her. The SHIELD agent screamed as her soul was rent from her body and sucked up into his blade that had a shiny, black sheen to it. Her body folded into a heap lifelessly and Alyssa bent down to check her pulse. She had a machine pistol and surprisingly tossed it to Natalya as she drew out her sidearm. Whatever was happening in the test lab, the black soldiers that entered began to writhe as they were bombarded with a violet energy that appeared to be burning them. Corvus was poised near the door to the test lab and Natalya knew if she even thought to try and get around him he’d cut her down.

“Let’s take him...together Natalya!” Alyssa said as she cocked her sidearm. She was dressed in her gray uniform but her face was determined and without fear.

Natalya felt a wave of fear come over her as she realized that the black soldiers were getting into the lab. She could only hope that they would not be able to get the Dark Matter. If Corvus was able to get it, she couldn't imagine what the consequences of that would be. She had to give it her all to ensure that that didn't happen. She needed to first get Evan away from Corvus. However, before she could do anything he flung Evan through the glass and into the test room. Natalya's heart nearly stopped as she began to think he might be dead. In that moment she felt she had failed him. She could see the soldiers inside the test lab begin to writhe in pain as they appeared to be burned by a violet energy coming from the Dark Matter. She couldn't see Evan from where she was, but she hoped he wasn't suffering the same fate...if he was even still alive.

Just then she felt someone come up beside her and she looked over to see Alyssa. She was surprised when Alyssa tossed her the machine pistol she had and she nodded to her. She then took aim with her gun and opened fire on Corvus.

Corvus continued to try and strike Natalya down with his long, black scythe but each time she dodged his attack, shot back at him and then dodged again. Alyssa shot at him too as the remaining SHIELD agents and soldiers engaged the black order soldiers. Evan hit hard and rolled and as he did he let go of his power. He tried to stand but a Black Order soldier jumped on him. He became embroiled into a melee and he quickly found out that these soldiers in black armor were strong and fast. He took a fist in the cheek and then blocked another with his elbow and forearm then grabbed hold of the man and used his own weight and flipped him right into the water tank. It shattered and the cylinder dislodged from its bindings and fell out of the large glass tank with a rush of dark water. Natalya noticed it roll between Corvus’s feet as Corvus held up his arm to soak the damage. Their bullets seemed to hurt him but they missed his vitals.

Alyssa saw the cylinder too as she loaded another clip in her sidearm. “I’m going for it!” She said to Natalya as she pushed her weapon into her. Natalya was a much better shot and Corvus seemed to be on the defensive now due to how much damage they’d done to him. His robe looked like it was riddled with holes and black blood stained it in several places. As Alyssa moved so did Evan. As Natalya tossed aside her empty machine pistol she took up Alyssa’s offering and pointed it at Corvus. Corvus saw what was about to happen and instead of going for the cylinder as Alyssa thought he would he went after her instead. His large, boney hand slapped her hard and in the moment it took for her face to turn to the blow he snatched her up and held her up between himself and Natalya. “I think you’ve become far to much of annoyance to ignore...SHIELD, AGENT,” he said in his low, slow speech. Alyssa struggled to pull his hand free of her throat but he began to squeeze and he shifted her to keep her between himself and Natalya as Natalya moved to get a shot.

Natalya could see that the bullets were affecting Corvus, but he wasn't going down like a normal human being. She could see Evan fighting one of the black soldiers. She watched as he flipped him into the water tank, which then shattered. The cylinder slipped from its bindings and she could see it roll across the floor. Either Evan, Alyssa, or herself needed to get that cylinder...and quickly. She nodded to Alyssa when she said she was going to go for it. She discarded her empty gun and took Alyssa's and continued to assault on Corvus. However, just as Alyssa tried to get by him he went for her instead of the cylinder. To Natalya's horror, he held Alyssa between her and himself. She couldn't fire without possibly killing Alyssa. She needed to think and fast. As an SSB agent, she would have just killed Alyssa. But now...she hesitated. She couldn't do it. Instead, she tossed aside her gun and in a quick movement she began to move past him to get to the cylinder...

Evan thought the same thing as Natalya did and so he used his power as he staggered out of the test lab. There was still one soldier there and he saw the cylinder too. As Evan seized the cylinder with a large, thick tendril of shadow the soldier behind him aimed his energy weapon at Evan’s back. The shadows around Evan roiled in dark anticipation but Evan ignored it. They couldn’t let this ‘Thing’ take the cylinder. He still didn’t know why it was so important but Alyssa was in trouble and in desperation his tendril of shadow slithered toward him to deposit the cylinder onto his arms. Corvus’s eyes followed the cylinder and he growled when he saw who held it now. “Let her go and I’ll give it to you!” Evan lied. But it was a convincing lie. “Just let her go!” Evan shouted.

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