The Avengers: A Change of Fate

Part 2: Chapter 4

Stella cruised through the city on her motorcycle. Tonight, she was alone, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed viewing the city by herself sometimes. She took in all the sights and sounds as she sped by in a blur. She was driving on a less busy street when two other motorists began to pursue her. They too had black bikes and black suits. Their faces were hidden under helmets.

Stella sped up with her eye on the mirror. Tony had made some more upgrades on her bike; nitrous, cloaking, anything short of lasers. He had tried to put everything on her bike. She considered using the turbo, but didn't want to wreck in the oncoming traffic. She wove through it, hoping to lose them, but they quickly caught up to her. The motorist on her right rammed into her, driving her off to the side of the road.

Her bike morphed around her as it hit the ground and she skidded conveniently into an alley. Conveniently for them anyway. She lay there helpless in her cocoon as they pulled into the alley. They pried her bike open with a crowbar, and before she could react, one of them stuck her with a needle. She cried out in pain and struggled against their grasp. She lashed at the one with the needle, but the drug had already kicked in, and she fell to the ground.

The men handcuffed the girl, put a sack over her head, and tossed her into a van. The girl's bike was a heap of transfigured metal, and after failing to get it back to its original shape, they tossed it into a dumpster with some effort. After stowing their own bikes away for pick up later, they got in the van and drove off in the dead of night. Tony Stark was in his office when he received a call from Captain America.

"Hello?" Tony answered his cell phone.

"Tony? This is Steve-"

"Well, well, Rogers. You finally figured out how to use a phone."

"Phones aren't that new," Steve retorted.

"Wait, are you using a landline or a cell phone?"

"Tony, it doesn't matter. This is important."

"Isn't it always," Tony sighed.

"Tony, Stella didn't come home last night."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"She went out for a bike ride last night, but she never came home."

"Alright, Rogers, calm down. Maybe she has some secret boyfriend. In any case, her bike has a tracking system in it. I'll come get you and we'll go find her."

Tony arrived at the Avengers Mansion in his red Lotus convertible. After taking a brief moment to track Stella's bike, they took his car to its location. Steve felt absolutely absurd in Tony's sports car, but he had to admit it was fast. They sped through the streets of Manhattan until they reached an alley where the tracker had pinpointed the bike's location.

After it became obvious that the bike was not in plain sight, they began pestering the homeless who hid under the shade there. They checked behind trash cans and piles of discarded boxes after Tony figured that it might have taken its shield shape. They finally found it in a dumpster, peeled open.

"Well, it looks like I needed my armor after all," Tony remarked looking at the heap of metal.

Stella awoke in a dark room suspended by chains. As she gained consciousness, her cell door opened and she was blinded by the light that filled her room. She was caught in darkness briefly before a white buzzing light flickered on in her room. The room was completely concrete with a drain in the middle of it. The man that approached her held a needle in his hand. He brushed the hair from her face and caressed her. She flinched away as far as she could from his hand.