Below Antarctica - (Avengers x reader) - AVP AU

Chapter 6 - Exploring

Holding a red flare above her head, (Y/n) took the lead as they searched the buildings. Going past them, they found themselves at a frozen over water cylinder with larger structures in front of it.

"What are these?" Tony asked, leaning in to take a closer look.

"Whale bones." (Y/n) answered, grinning as he not-so-subtly leaned backwards again.

"This station was abandoned in 1904." She explained, hoping he wouldn't mind the little history lesson. "Everyone just disappeared overnight. It was a big mystery back then."

She winced as a chilly wind hit her and fired another flare out, which lit up the cliff and the watery depths below them.

---

Meanwhile, Clint had already broken the first rule as he had wandered off on his own into one of the houses. He looked around giddily and took photos of the objects he found for his kids. Reaching the main room, he decided to place his camera on top of a shelf to take a bigger picture of himself so he could fully confirm that he had been there.

As soon as the photo had been taken, something was knocked over behind him, rattling loudly in the quiet of the base. Clint gasped and turned back around, heart racing as he suddenly regretted leaving the group.

He hesitantly flashed his torch around the old house wondering where the sound was coming from. He finally found the source of the noise, backing slowly away from it, only to bump right into (Y/n).

"Ah! (Y/n)!" He screamed, before quickly turning back to the place hoping that nothing would jump out again.

"No one goes anywhere alone." (Y/n) repeated her number 1 rule, feeling uneasy as Clint continued to be afraid.

"Shhh!" There's something there. Listen."

However it was short lived as a cute penguin waddled out from the house, earning warm smiles from the both of them. Deciding to tease him once again, (Y/n) raised her eyebrow and looked back at Clint.

"Careful, they bite."

---

Quietly sulking after (Y/n) had left him, Tony looked curiously at a destroyed house, seeing a perfectly circular hole drilled into the snow behind it.

"Hey!" He shouted, happy to have found something. "Over here!"

"What is it?" Mr Rogers yelled, quickly running over to check what had been found. Tony knelt down to look once more. "Can you believe that?"

Soon enough, the others had gathered around the hole. Mr Rogers lit a flare stick and threw it down, watching as it lit up the seemingly never-ending tunnel. Everyone gaped in awe.

"Its drilled at a perfect 30 degree angle," Steve commented.

"How far does it go down?" (Y/n) asked, wondering if everything was too good to be true.

"All the way down to the pyramid." Fury had confirmed her thoughts.

He showed them the satellite images which confirmed that someone or something had dug the tunnel out overnight. It was impossible yet the evidence lay out in front of them.

"How was it done?" Clint asked, still gazing at the two images.

"Thermal equipment of some kind." Steve answered as he examined the hole again.

"Like yours?"

Steve looked back at the broken house, seeing the break in the roof in the exact same angle as the hole.

"It must be incredibly powerful. I've never seen anything like it."

Tony lit another flare as he continued peering down the hole while Steve kept speaking to Fury.

"I'm telling you there's no team and no machine in the world that could cut to this depth in 24 hours."

This puzzled (Y/n). What exactly was going on here? It almost seemed like someone wanted them to go down to the old pyramid. Did Fury know anything about this?

As everyone got to work with securing a safe passage down the hole, the masked humanoids were gearing up. Knives were being sharpened, armour was being polished and hair was being brushed.

A gloved hand reached out for the masks that were sat on the chair, picking it up and inevitably pulling it over their head.