The White Phoenix 10: An Avengers: Endgame Fanfiction

Chapter 6: Corrosive Emotions

Steve walked outside of the Avengers compound, now completely lost in thought. Among other things that had happened in the past few days, now their only option to save the universe did not go as planned. He was disappointed... and slightly angry. Suddenly, the loud noise of a car made him look up. A sleek, black car sped into the driveway of the compound and sped up to Steve, going just a little too far, then reversing. The car stopped and Tony rolled down the window.

'Why the long face?' he asked. Steve still looked at him thoughtfully. 'Let me guess: he turned into a baby.' The person in question happened to be none other than Scott Lang. Long story short, Bruce Banner had agreed to help the disbanded team of the Avengers, which at this point included Steve, Rocket Raccoon, Natasha, Nebula and Scott... and had miserably failed to pull off the very concept of time travel through the Quantum Realm.

'Among other things, yeah,' Steve replied. 'What are you doing here?' Tony got out of the car, almost ignoring Steve's question.

'That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it.'

'You did.'

'Oh, did I?' Tony asked, acting like he hadn't. 'Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it.' He held up his right hand. On it was some sort of bracelet-like thing. 'A fully-functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace.' He held up two of his fingers in a peace sign. 'Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.'

'Me too,' Steve admitted.

'We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities,' Tony replied, in a more serious tone now. 'Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got: I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying will be nice.'

'Sounds like a deal.' He extended his hand, and Tony shook it. Walking around to the back of his car, he opened the trunk and pulled out a good-as-new vibranium shield for Steve. Steve took a step back.

'Tony...'

'Why? He made it for you (referring to Howard Stark, Tony's Dad), Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.' Steve took it and fit his arm into the shield.

'Thank you, Tony.'

'Will you keep that a little quiet?' Tony joked. 'Didn't bring one for the whole team. We are getting the whole team... yeah?'

'We're working on that right now. Speaking of that, where is Adelaide?'

The answer to that question lies in Japan. I was in Tokyo with Clint Barton, now known as Ronin, to take out some cartel guys who were on some bad business. So, yeah, vigilante stuff.

In a hotel, I sharpened my Asgardian-made blade as Clint put on his suit.

'Are you ready for this?' he asked me.

'I was born ready, Clint. I am well-acquainted with going on grief-filled rampages. It's quite fun.'

'You have no qualms?'

'Nope,' I said as more sparks flew off my sharpened katana. 'Never did.' I placed it on the bed, then zipped up my suit, which still did up in the front like the old red one. I let the cape fly as I studied myself in the mirror, brushing my brown hair. The hair now had a bronze-red colour at the edges and it still flowed over my shoulders like it always did, which complemented the white cape well.

'Then let's go.' When I finally finished putting on my suit, I placed my sword in its sheath and went out of the hotel window with Clint, not wanting to draw attention by the weapons.

Later...

'Soreradesu! Karera wa Akihiko no atodesu (It's them! They're after Akihiko)!' a Japanese cartel guy, known as yakuza, yelled before being pierced with one of Ronin's shurikens. I ran through the old nightclub, stabbing one member, before grabbing another and snapping his neck with a ferocity that I had never felt before. Every life I took was for each and every thing taken from me that I had loved. We fought, making our way through the yakuza, until we found what we were looking for. The man they called Akihiko. Smashing through the window with Ronin and the other guy, I landed and rolled, cursing at the pain in my back that flared up during this maneuver. We stood, facing the Japanese man.

'Naze anata wa kore o yatte iru? Watashitachi wa anata ni nani mo shimasendeshita (Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you)!' Akihiko begged with a surprising ferocity in his voice.

'Shinikakete iru dansei e no tsuyoi kotoba (Strong words for a man who is about to die)!' I yelled out to him. Ronin, taking out his katana, reversibly wielded it, as did I.

'Anata wa ikinokotta... Chikyū no hanbun wa ikinobinakatta. Karera wa sanosu o teniireta... anata wa watashitachi o eru (You survived... half the planet didn't. They got Thanos... you get us),' Ronin threatened. The Japanese yakuza drew his katana and us two fought against the man. I gained the first slice across the man's stomach. He didn't seemed fazed and attacked us again. We withdrew from the fight for a momentary second.

'Anata wa hito o kizutsukeru koto o oemashita (You're done hurting people),' I said to him.

'Hito o kizutsukeru? Anata futari wa kureijīdesu (We hurt people? You two are crazy)!' the man retorted. He attacked us again. 'Shinu (DIE)!' he yelled out in rage and pain. In the middle of the second confrontation, the leader aimed a slice at Ronin's neck. He ducked, sliding under the blade, and gained a slice on the man's stomach, in the same spot as mine. Akihiko dropped his katana, now mortally wounded. He gasped in pain and attempted to plead with us.

'Matsu! Tasukete! Nani demo agemasu! Na ndeshou (Wait! Help me! I'll give you anything! What do you want)?' the man gasped, obviously dying. Ronin and I both walked up to the man, our katanas stained with the blood of many.

'What we want...' Ronin spoke, 'you can't give us.' With that, he drove his blade into the man's abdomen. Akihiko was dead before he hit the ground. There was silence. I still felt the adrenaline and rage pouring through my veins and I wanted to keep taking it out on other people. I didn't exactly care; I just wanted revenge. That was the mere truth of revenge; that you couldn't, wouldn't ever get satisfaction in killing, violence and death. You would never get it. It was a high, a high that I was living on. For now, I felt good. It felt good. We cleaned our blades. Just then, we both noticed a presence behind us and turned to see none other than Natasha Romanoff standing there, facing us, with casual clothing on and an umbrella over her head, for it was raining in Japan on this night. Clint removed his mask and I, desiring to stay in a defensive position, kept my katana at the ready.

'You shouldn't be here,' Clint called out.

'Neither should you,' she replied.

'We've got a job to do,' I replied bitterly.

'Is that what you're calling this?' she asked, gesturing to the dead Japanese yakuza around us. 'Killing all these people isn't going to bring the ones that you love back.' I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back the tears that I had saved for so long, letting it build and bottling it all up. She stepped forward to the two of us. 'We found something. A chance, maybe...'

'I told you I wouldn't help, Nat,' I said, tears spilling down my cheeks. 'I told you I wouldn't.'

'Don't...' I looked over at Clint. He was crying too.

'Don't what?' she pressed.

'...Don't give me hope,' he replied softly.

'I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner.' She reached forward, and he clasped her hand with a gloved grip. I smiled softly and sheathed my blade.