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Chapter 5 – Blood and Blows
Fire rippled through the air, violently throwing Ophelia, Natasha and Bruce through the glass window of the lab. The three heroes hung suspended in the air for a few moments before gravity slammed them mercilessly to the metal grating below. Glass rained down on their bodies from the lab, a treacherous ground of shrapnel and debris.
Ophelia could hear alarms blaring around her, the comms in her ear crackled to life with the panicked voices of agents scrambling for order. The wind was knocked out of her from the earlier fall, lungs struggling to take in enough air.
She turned her body on its side in an effort to regain her breath quicker and caught sight of Natasha's prone figure to the right of her. The spy's leg was trapped under fallen pipes and rubble, twisted at an awkward angle.
Ophelia pushed herself up to her front, minding the broken glass, and dragged herself to the wreckage to get Natasha's leg free.
"I'm okay." She heard Romanoff reply to Fury on the comms, "We're okay, right?"
Ophelia looked up to see a struggling Bruce Banner leaning on his hands and knees. His breathing laboured and his fists tightly clenched, sweat dripping from his skin as he fought for control of his own body. Fear shot through her like lightning, her heart racing as she reached Natasha's leg and started frantically pulling the pipe.
"Doctor... Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me." While Natasha tried to reach Dr Banner and keep him from losing control; two crew members called out to her and Ophelia in concern. Natasha waved them away as Ophelia became more and more panicked at the pipes not budging from her non-powered efforts.
Ophelia's enhanced physical strength was entirely reliant on her ability to channel energy through her body; the nuclear power within her allowing for huge amounts of force behind her punches. So, the obvious choice would be to use that energy to lift the pipes.
But there was a problem.
If Ophelia used too much the pipes would melt from her touch, effectively burning Natasha to death. And she had no idea what the minimum intake would be to both lift the pipes and not heat them.
"Delacour! Sorry to rush you but can you hurry up?" Natasha voice shook with raw panic, her eyes fixed on Banner about to transform into a violent green ball of rage.
"I can't do it. I'm sorry I can't do it." Ophelia's voice shook in fear of hurting Natasha, of becoming exactly what everyone feared she be. Natasha took her eyes off the unstable doctor for a moment, turning her body to look at the terrified girl crouched at her feet, her jaw clenched to hold back tears.
"I believe you." Natasha asserted to Ophelia, causing a brief look of puzzlement to enter her face.
