The Valiant (An Avengers FanFic) {COMPLETED}

Chapter Twenty-Three: Let's See How Far We've Come

(Chapter Twenty-Three: Let's See How Far We've Come)

As soon as I woke up, the first thing I let my hands searched for was my iPod. I needed to know the time. I quickly found it under my pillow and pressed the home button. The screen revealed the time; 1:54 a.m. Agent Hatfield arrived to escort me to wherever I'll get evaluated and I jumped off my bed to wear my boots. Then, we left the room.

As we walked through the corridors, we passed by Mr. Stark and I gave him a smile. Though, with his hand on my shoulder, he pulled me back and told me this, "RAFT's out of surgery and, I made a buddy for her, which is also a gift from me to you."

I smiled. "Thank you! Thank you! Than you! Thank you!" Then, at a glint of a second, I felt some glasses get broken and asked, "What does RAFT's buddy look like? What is it, though?"

"At the training center, you'll find out. But I'll tell you what it looks like; it looks like a five-inch pipe bomb, only it's not a pipe bomb and it doesn't have that string on one end. But, it has buttons."

Okay. I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I know what a pipe bomb looks like, in a matter of fact (thank Left 4 Dead for that), but if it isn't a pipe bomb, then what is it?

"Alright. Thanks for the tip?"

He, then, let us head to our destination.

Now, we're in a different training room, different than the training rooms I've been in with Agent Romanoff and Thor. Though, like the others, the room has a plain blue mat, not just in the center but all throughout the floor. I stand in the center of the room and Agent Hatfield says her goodbye before leaving the room.

"Good morning, Ronica," says a man's voice from somewhere I could not pinpoint. "It's alright, I'm no harm. I'm just here to evaluate your performance along with some other people." Finally, I recognize the owner of the voice.

"Yes, sir, Agent Barton, sir," I say with a salute, looking around the ceiling. Then, I look around and spot the huge mirror paralleled to the door. I think me looking at the mirror might creep them out, not because I'm looking at myself, but because I figured out where they are watching me from. What I want to know is who's watching me along with Agent Barton.

"You can choose your weapons in the closet on the left wing," says a different voice, and this one belongs to a woman—Agent Romanoff.

I walk to the camouflaged closet on the left and open it, finding a variety of weapons. There are varieties of guns, both handguns and large guns; different types of knives, small and large; there's also a compound bow and a quiver of arrows. Should I go Katniss Everdeen on this 'Gamemakers' and shoot at the two-way mirror that's having us separated to show them what I can do? Maybe I can score an eleven on this. Mmm, better not. I should be myself bestowed in an event like this. Actually, I should be myself whenever.

In a matter of seconds, I remember what Mr. Stark said about a pipe bomb-ish thing in the weaponry. I start looking for it without shuffling aggressively through the weapons. Then, I finally find a pipe-bomb-like thingy on the upper right shelf. As I take it, I notice that there is a note underneath where it was. I take the note and it reads:

Hey, kid! Here's my other gift for you. I call her 'HAFT' which stands for Handled as Arms Fixated for Tactics. I hope you'll like her!

—The Mechanic

I simper, murmuring the last line. Then, I return the note back to where I found it. As I examine HAFT, I notice that it has buttons, four to be exact; a blue one, a red one, a green one and a gray one. Wondering what each of these buttons do, I press the blue one and hope for it to not self-destruct.