Pain Only Makes Us Stronger

The Gauntlet

Natasha collapsed on the floor sliding down into the sinkhole as the compound's floor caved in. She desperately tried to grab onto anything around her but couldn't. As she fell down the massive hole, she saw how all the compounds' floors crumbled around her layer after layer. As she fell, she looked on with a pained expression as she saw Wanda's room fall apart and thought about all the movie nights. Then everything went black.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Mayday Mayday! We're drowning! Does anyone copy?" Rhodey yelled over coms.

"Where are you?" Ant-Man replied quickly.

"We're west of your location," Rhodey said.

"I'm on my way," Ant-Man replied.

Natasha gained consciousness as she heard their voices over the coms. She groaned as she slowly blinked her eyes open to see the compound's red emergency lights flashing all around her. As her eyes briskly adjusted to the lights, she realizes her torso was pinned down by a big slab of concrete. She tried to take a deep breath but could only manage short quick gasps.

"Shit" she groaned out.

"This is definitely not a cool way to die." she thought. 

She laid back down and prepared herself to at least try to move the slab.  As she sat up her muscles instantly tensed up as a sharp pain shot through the left side of her torso. Taking a few quick breaths, she inflated her lungs as much as she could and swiftly grimaced.

"Yep, definitely a broken rib." She thought.

  Taking a minute to still her mind. She quickly sat up and pushed up against the slab with everything she had. Huffing out quick pants as she pushed the slab upwards until it was a few inches off her chest. She quickly sucked in a breath and willed her body to continue to push the concrete off herself until it fell over. She fell back on her side taking in as much air as her lungs would allow with a broken rib.  As her breathing settled, she took in her surroundings noticing she was in the compound's enormous sewer system, and she could also tell by the foul smell. She looked around for a way to escape when she saw it. The gauntlet is a little way down the pipeline.

"Guys I have eyes on the gauntlet," she said as pressed her hand to the com in her left ear.

"Protect it, Romanoff. We'll have company soon." Steve replied out of breath.

"Steve what's going on?" she spoke.

"Where on the surface. Thanos and his outriders are on their way to us. The rest of the Black Order is on standby. He knows we're outnumbered. He's toying with us." Steve panted out.

"Just hold on I'm on my way," she said running to the gauntlet.

She grabbed it and headed down the tunnels looking for a way out as the sewage plashed every time her feet made contact with the ground. Midway through her run she heard multiple splashes further down the tunnel behind her. She turned her head eyes widening at the view she saw. A small wave of outriders was swarming the pipes gaining on her. She quickly turned and took off down the tunnel. Taking various turns down different pipelines hoping to create some distance between herself and them. As she rounded a corner, she saw light peeking out of a small hole in the rubble. Despite not being religious she prayed to any god that is listening that she could make it through the hole. She pumped her legs heaving out short breaths straining her muscles and lungs to help her move faster as she closed in on the light.

"Come on. This is nothing. You've been through worse." she said psyching herself up.

She heard the creature howling as they gained on her. Quickly pulled out a grenade from her utility belt she pulled the pin out. She willed her body to push beyond its limits as she ran closing the distance and jumped through throwing her body out the hole. The grenade exploded as soon as she flew out killing the outriders as they let out a ghastly screeching howl. The grenade not only killed the outriders but made the tunnel collapse stopping any remaining from getting to her. She held the gauntlet in an iron grip as she landed on the ground of the surface level hard rolling in the dirt. Gaging her momentum, she quickly curled up bringing her legs inward, and then speedily extended them out as she used her elbow to push herself up into her signature pose sliding across the ground as she dug her feet into the Earth coming to a stop. She quickly jumped up into a defensive stance as she looked over to check for any more outriders.