Maddy, Clarke and Cisco all jerked their heads upwards from the television in unity to see the Hydra building explode on the skyline. A pillar of smoke drifted up into the sky like a ghostly serpent.
No-one spoke. Everyone thought. Clarke walked over to the door and started putting her boots on. She brushed her silver hair out of her eyes and gestured to the others. They all simply stared at her.
'No way in hell I'm going back there.' Contested Maddy.
'What she said.' Cisco agreed.
'Do you want to sit here and rot, or do you want to go and save lives.'
'We're not heroes.'
'But we're not dangerous convicts. We need to clear our names and find out who the hell dirtied them in the first place.'
'I don't care. No-one's gonna find us here anyways.'
Cisco butted into the argument and reminded Maddy to the presence of their portraits on the news.
'What the hell. I was never gonna live to 102.' Maddy gave up fighting and put opened the wooden front door.
Once Cisco and Maddy had recovered from the second worst experiences of their lives, they were amidst the rubble of the Hydra tower. You could almost begin to wonder how a nazi organisation was allowed to build a skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan.
Charred corpses provided delightful decorum for the crater, and the fire brigade's sirens wailed into a soundtrack as Clarke walked deeper into the wreckage. She cleared a heap of detritus to find a smashed motorcycle helmet and a torn purple wig.
'Crap.'
Maddy screamed as a figure loped towards her and Cisco through the carnage. It was a woman with shaved hair and a charred leather suit. She carried a cracked sword burning purple. Stephanie Wyndham was still alive. Clarke instantly appeared in front of her and stopped her. Cisco clenched his fists.
'What were you doing here?' Clarke questioned.
'I.. I... You need to... Prometheus is coming for you. Get away from here.' She mumbled, wiping blood from a broken jawbone.
'We need to get you out of here.' Decided Clarke out loud, and then heard Maddy's swiftly silenced yell from behind her.
A man with skin glowing like the Sun stood over Maddy's unconscious body wielding a white-hot crowbar.
'I'm Prometheus. You're new around here, ain't ya?' He announced in a thick London accent.
A colossal fist formed and then battered Prometheus off into another mound of scrap. Cisco cradled his fist as it cracked and morphed back into it's regular size and density.
Clarke grabbed the team and jetted off away from Prometheus. Their feet touched the ground again about a meter away from the burning crater, and Maddy looked around with panic in her eyes. Clarke lay down Steph's unconscious body on the ground, and took a deep breath in.
Flames raced through the crumbling streets and Prometheus took a bow as he appeared at their faces. He blew out a plume of smoke into Cisco's face and then threw a spiked boot into his knees, cracking bone.
'Where the f*** are the Avengers?' Yelled Maddy in the frenzy as electricity jolted up her spine and through her arms. Her hands started to hurt and crackle. She put out her hands towards Prometheus and let her control slip away. White noise zoomed through her head and then sudden clarity replaced it.
Prometheus once again turned his body into flame and teleported straight at Cisco wielding his crowbar and smacked it across Ramon's face. Enjoying the sensation of knocking out teeth and shattering bones and eating away at a life, Prometheus continued to beat down on Cisco - hit after hit after hit after hit. He briefly paused to savour the feeling of sweet revenge and fulfilment of his cause.
The images of the gunshot that changed his life that one night flashed before the eyes of the superpowered pyromaniac just before a silver streak tore across his sadistic pleasure. Prometheus lay on the debris-laden ground gasping for air through the tiny blade stuck between his ribs.
He screamed with raw power and felt the metal melt on his flesh. He crawled to his feet and looked at the silver-haired girl. She had picked up some-kind of massive sabre blade from the rubble, and was now twirling it whilst physically dripping with adrenaline. She wiped blood from her nose and coursed through the villain once more, wracking the metal through his fiery chest.
Another man rose up from the rubble like a ghastly angel. He shook and clawed at himself, extinguishing the fire covering his body and then snapped his gaze towards Prometheus. The last tufts of Brock's hair turned to ash and he tore the charcoaled leather biking gear off his body. His scorched muscles twitched and flexed as he ran towards Prometheus screaming to bloody hell.
His whitened fist collided with the magma-hot cheek of Prometheus, and the pyro stammered backwards with the force of the touch. Crossbones, in a wild fury, bit down on the neck of the flaming murderer, and ripped at his burning flesh. His teeth stung like a swarm of wasps, but he kept punching long enough for Maddy to send another blast careering into Prometheus.
'Reporting live from the scene. A serious fight has broken out in mid-town Manhattan. There appear to be superheroes involved, however the Avengers or the X-Men have not yet been sighted. These powered individuals are not known to have registers under the Sokovia Accords, nor are they known to have been approved to operate by SHIELD. Evacuation of the city is currently underway.'
News helicopters circled overhead like vultures, and police searchlights reaped for targets.
Maddy Rowling was caught in one of the lights and froze like a deer in headlights. Prometheus threw Crossbones at her, and she was whisked away by Clarke who then swerved back around to inflict another gash to Prometheus' stomach with her sabre.
Stephanie staggered to her feet and rubbed a battered and bruised eye. Purple energy ignited over her body, covering it in the starlight glow. She let out a agonised howl and the energy exploded over the battle; incinerating and vaporising the assailants.
Cyanide lay on the floor amongst piles of ash and death. Brock Rumlow was finally at rest - Hydra wouldn't let him die, but Stephanie Wyndham would. A shield made from rippling airlessness had formed around Maddy, Cisco and Clarke. The latter of which appeared to be projecting it with great effort.
Prometheus was nowhere to be seen.
Cyanide gasped as flames licked and formed themselves into the nightmarish villain in front of her eyes. He held out his hands and grinned in boyish pleasure.
'I'm gonna give the gift of fire, bitch.' He laughed as flame spewed forth from his hands and enveloped Stephanie Wyndham.
Cyanide. Stephanie Jane Wyndham. The runaway's saviour. Tanis' sister. None of these names meant anything any more.
Cyanide finally left her life behind and died.
