Past Friends

Part 94: Bad Bug

You sat in the side room waiting, playing with the necklace Tony gave you, singing and humming to yourself, enjoying your buzz while you waited for Loki to come back. You could hear some of the people you employed for the party, they were chatting quite loudly as they were packing up all of their equipment and the like to leave. Not that you minded, you were just happy that the party was a huge success and you were even more overjoyed that Loki loved your surprise. You felt hungry all of a sudden and remembered that you set aside a plate of your favourite little appetizers, so you wandered out and over to the little kitchen the Cathedral had to get them. 

As you walked back over to the side room you felt weird, you didn't hear anyone talking anymore, but currently being intoxicated you didn't pick up on the obvious red flags. You called out to them, knowing most of them by name, you started listing them off one by one but there was no answer. You stopped walking, unsure of what to do now, they couldn't have finished up and left already, could they? You walked over to see some of the equipment scattered around but no people, unaware of where they went. You then spotted a lady you knew as Ava, she was one of the mixologists, she was hiding behind one of the pillars and as you looked around you noticed several more people hiding. 

"That was quite the performance," you hear from behind, the voice was unfamiliar but from the tone, you doubted they meant well by their statement. "Oh, fuck," you said out loud, you didn't mean to but what else were you supposed to say, when face to face with the Beetle. "You finally say something bug boy, and that's what you come up with?" you say trying to mask how scared you really were. Actually, it was a pretty decent line, you had to admit but it didn't change the fact that you were alone, without your suit or sword, and surrounded by civilians. How were you supposed to protect these people, get them to safety and escape the Beetle this time? 

You didn't know but the Beetle was staking out the party, he was there the entire night, waiting for his opportunity to grab you. Now with your "guard dog" gone he could take you without any problems but knew he would have to work fast, knowing the God of Mischief would be back soon. The Beetle also knew you wouldn't come quietly, and that you could be quite tricky, so he came prepared. He threw small disks in your direction, but you managed to dodge them, surprisingly well considering you had been drinking. As the small disks made contact, they let out a short electrical charge, no doubt meant to knock you out or make your body go all numb like before.  

Unfortunately, when several of the disks hit they ignited a fire, and with the Cathedral being as old as it was, it started to spread in no time at all. You had to lead the Beetle away from everyone so that they could escape without getting hit or killed. You threw your plate at him, hitting the Beetle right in his helmet but it did little more than block his vision for a few seconds. That's all you needed, you sprinted towards the door, taunting the Beetle and his "stormtrooper" level skills knowing that it should piss him off enough to automatically make him follow you.  

You were right on the money, and part of you was regretting how right you were about the Beetle and his inflated ego. He chased you through the gardens, shooting multiple explosives near you, he needed you alive but the newly formed craters would block your path or at the very least slow you down. But they didn't, not as much as he was hoping anyway, you found yourself able to make it to the nearby trees finding a spot to hide and catch your breath for a minute. You took that time to try and focus, to remember old you's hand-to-hand combat skills, but the Beetle was soon on top of you. 

Your eyes go all misty and you remember what to do, you then blink hard so your eyes would go back to normal, just as the Beetle arrives. You managed to catch him off guard again, to be fair last time your combat skills were nowhere near this good and no normal person would have been able to get this good in under a month. You match him blow for blow, you blocked attack after attack, but you knew with his armour and you without a weapon you wouldn't be able to physically harm him. All you had to do was hold him off long enough for backup to arrive, Steve and Bucky were on their way and Loki should be back any minute.  

"You can do this, just a few more minutes," you repeatedly thought to yourself, as you began struggling to keep up. Yes, you had years of combat training from your past self, but you were still a bit inebriated and the adrenaline coursing through your veins couldn't change that. He eventually got the upper hand and knocked you back towards a tree and onto the ground but as you tried to recover, the Beetle zapped you with an electrical charge that knocked you unconscious. As he lifted you up to fly off and make his escape your corsage came off, falling to the ground. 

You began to wake up in the arms of someone you didn't recognize carrying you onto an aircraft at an airstrip in the middle of nowhere. He noticed you waking up and sat you down, holding you up with his hands, firmly gripping you by your neck and shoulders. Your head was pounding, your vision a little blurry, as a well-dressed man approached you with a smile. You then looked around quickly noticing the Beetle who was standing off to the side, leaning up against the wall. Your vision started to fully clear up as the well-dressed man crouched down, looking directly at you. 

You glared at him intensely, and you didn't know if it was the alcohol in your system or what but you remained unafraid as you told him, "if you brought me here to kill me, just get it over with,". The man let out a chuckle before grabbing your face, squeezing your cheeks somewhat hard between his fingers as he remarked, "the fire in this one, that will come in handy soon, very soon,". You looked at him a bit confused, was this not about revenge for taking down that Alien Weapon Smuggling ring? The well-dressed man notices the perplexed look on your face and says, "Oh sweetheart, I didn't spend all this time, money, and effort to get you here just to kill you,". He paused for a moment, thinking about how all the pieces were falling into place, "I have plans for you, my dear," as he started playing with your hair.  

He then gave orders to his men in a language you didn't understand or even remotely recognize, and they carried a briefcase over to the Beetle, no doubt his payment for kidnapping you. The well-dressed man sat down next to you, wrapping his arm around you, whispering in your ear to watch closely, insisting you wouldn't want to miss this. In an instant, he grabs your face again, making you watch as his men summoned fire melting the Beetle's armour, cooking him alive. Bad guy or not it was a gruesome sight to behold and a terrible way to die, you found yourself starting to feel terrified. The man sees this and pulls you close, as you found yourself frozen in shock from witnessing such a terrible thing. You couldn't help but start to cry, letting a few tears fall down your face as the well-dressed man began caressing you. He whispered for you, his new pet to be quiet, everything would be fine now, he was going to take good care of you. He then injected something into your arm putting you to sleep, he then ordered his men to be extra careful with you, he needed you in tip-top shape to survive the upcoming procedures.