THE MARVEL GAMES: THE NEXT AVENGERS

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3- MEET THE REBELS

“Anthony! Get your ass back in here right now!” I heard Officer Donavan yell out my window. By the time he got there, I was down in the alley with my skateboard.

“You get yours down here first, bitch!” I yelled back, not trying to keep back a smile as I ran down the street. Once I was around the corner and out of earshot, I hopped onto my skateboard and headed for the abandoned house at the edge of the city. The houses at the edges of NYC were all empty, leaving them for us to hide out in.

I kick flipped over the curb and flicked my board into my hand. I jogged up to the porch and used my key to unlock the door. The basement of the house had a hidden bomb shelter under it. We had been lucky enough to find somewhere that well hidden from the Council. If they found our bases, we were toast. I went downstairs and pushed the disconnected washing machine aside to reveal the secret trapdoor into the bomb shelter.

“Hey guys.” I said when I jumped down through the hole in the floor. The bomb shelter was a single room about as big as the basement itself. Only my sergeants knew about this base. We didn’t want the younger kids sneaking around.

Most of the elite team was here: Leo Rodgers, Griffin Black, Rachel Oliver, Seth Kyle, and my second-in-command Nyssa Mason. Nyssa was my age and a total bad-ass. Nyssa could probably beat the shit out of me in a heartbeat. But lucky for me, she was about as nice as ‘rebel girls’ get. And let me tell you, the few girls that are in the rebel alliance are good with a gun but not with people.

“Right on time, five minutes late as usual.” Nyssa said.

“Come on, I had to ditch commander crud.” I said jokingly.

“You ready?” she said.

“Whenever you are.” I said. We were about to go on another mission. I was leading the elite team in another attack on the Council. This time we were free running to the roof of one of the office buildings they’d turned into a conference building. We’d sneak in and attack. That easy. We tried not to kill any civilians, even though they were working for the enemy. Our target was HYDRA and the Council.

“Let’s roll.” I said, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at the trapdoor.

“Tony! Get down!” Nyssa tackled me just as rein of bullets sailed over our heads. After they passed, she was back on her feet, shooting back.

“Let’s jet! We’re screwed if we stay any longer!” Griffin yelled over to me.

“You take Rachel and Seth. We’ll keep them busy!” I yelled back, taking out another HYDRA soldier. Griffin started leading his patrol out of the room and I saw them make it back out into the hall out of the corner of my eye.

I continued fighting for another 5 minutes or so before yelling,“Retreat!” and running for the door with Nyssa and Leo close behind. I pushed them ahead of me as the HYDRA soldiers came after us. One of them shot a round of bullets and my reflexes kicked in. I held up my wrist and they bounced right off. I had learned long ago that the metal probation rings were bullet proof. Leo and Nyssa were waiting for me at the door to the roof.

“This way!” I yelled, running down the stairs. I couldn’t lead the soldiers up to the roof where Griffin and the others were. We had to find another way out.

We lost them in the stairs but the HYDRA soldiers caught up to us around the second floor. “Only one thing left to do! Duck and roll!” I yelled, turning a corner into an office. It was a crazy idea, but I smashed the window and looked down. We were low enough to jump. I took a running start and jumped out the broken window, scratching my cheek on a piece of glass. I landed on my feet and turned to see Nyssa and Leo land safely.

HYDRA soldiers burst out of the main building doors. But we were already running. Another successful rebel mission completed. As I ran down the street, I couldn’t help but wonder where Allie was.

I always did after a mission. I hadn’t seen her in over half a year. I always left for riots not knowing if I’d ever see her again or even if I’d come back at all. It was a scary thought but it was reality.