Read Online The Ultimates: Against All Enemies by Alex Irvine - Free Book Online
Authors: Alex Irvine
Tags: United States, Science-Fiction, adventure, Fantasy, Comics & Graphic Novels, Heroes, Movie-TV Tie-In
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Joe cartoon," he said to the tech closest to him. The tech looked up from bagging a bloody piece of acoustic tile. "A what?"
"Never mind," Steve said. He should have known better. Might as well have made a joke about a political cartoon from the Civil War.
Resentment was so thick in the back ot his throat that he could practically spit it out. God, he hated them. Hated them worse than he'd ever hated the Nazis or the Japs. He would have killed them all himself, shot them in the back as they fled. If God Himself came down and gave Steve Rogers the gift of prophecy, and he knew that the Chitauri would leave tomorrow and never come back, he would still have killed them as they filed onto their ships. And they could have done some thing about it . From the circling cluster of choppers, one detached itself and came down to land on the sea-level helipad. The blast of prop wash blew away some of the smoke that still hung over the dock. When General Fury got out, Steve looked to the skies, searching for some resolve that would help him stop himself from saying something he shouldn't... and there was Tony Stark, showing off in his suit, blasting back and forth long after it might have done any good.
Steve knew at that moment that he couldn't hide from it any more. Admiral Garza had been right. Fury strode through the wreckage to Steve. "Tell me," he said.
"Chitauri in human form. Suicide bombers," Steve said. He bent over and picked up a stringy gobbet of flesh, now sparkling with scales. Holding it up for General Fury's inspection, he snapped, "They lose their cohesion when they're dead. Only when they're dead."
"Hold on there, soldier," General Fury said. "Aim that anger where it counts." Steve dropped the bit of flesh into a collection bag, sealed it, and put the bag in a plastic tote not unlike the one that had carried the detonator. Then he stood up, looked General Fury in the eye, and said,
"With all due respect, sir, that's the problem here. It might have counted."
"I don't follow you," General Fury said.
Pointing up into the sky, Steve said, "If Tony's tech had been installed, they would have been tagged. I could have done something." Whatever resolve he'd been looking for failed Steve, and he kept talking.
"But instead Washington wanted to be careful. Well, this is what careful gets you when you're fighting an enemy who isn't afraid to die. We've got sixteen in the morgue, and who knows how many others burned. People died, Nick. Excuse me. General."
Fury didn't answer right away. Eventually, after Steve had bagged and tagged two more pieces of Chitauri tissue, he said, "You're relieved. We can find someone else to do that."
"I'm not doing anything else," Steve said.
"I am relieving you of this duty, soldier," General Fury said, and let it hang. Not hurrying, Steve bagged one more piece of tissue and then stood. "Yes, sir," he said.
"That's more like it," Fury said.
He was about to say something else when Tony came in for a landing on the ruined dock. "Perimeter's clear out to a mile," Tony said. "Can someone give me a hand with the helmet here?"
"I'll do it," Steve said. He worked the helmet's seals and clamps loose and lifted the faceplate away, releasing a flood of greenish gel.
"Hell of an upgrade," Tony said. "Although I guess we can talk about that later." Steve leaned in close to him. "One thing," he said quietly, not wanting Fury to hear. "Your screener would have stopped this." .
Caught up short, Tony looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face. He wiped some of the gel away from his eyes. "You're not blaming me for this?"
"Not a bit," Steve said, still keeping his voice down. "I don't blame you. But I wanted you to face what happened here because I might need your help."
"My help?"
But Steve had already turned away. "General," he said. "I was here. I'll take media point on this. What we have is two Chitauri suicide bombers. I don't have to tell you that this is a new tactic for them, and it
"Never mind," Steve said. He should have known better. Might as well have made a joke about a political cartoon from the Civil War.
Resentment was so thick in the back ot his throat that he could practically spit it out. God, he hated them. Hated them worse than he'd ever hated the Nazis or the Japs. He would have killed them all himself, shot them in the back as they fled. If God Himself came down and gave Steve Rogers the gift of prophecy, and he knew that the Chitauri would leave tomorrow and never come back, he would still have killed them as they filed onto their ships. And they could have done some thing about it . From the circling cluster of choppers, one detached itself and came down to land on the sea-level helipad. The blast of prop wash blew away some of the smoke that still hung over the dock. When General Fury got out, Steve looked to the skies, searching for some resolve that would help him stop himself from saying something he shouldn't... and there was Tony Stark, showing off in his suit, blasting back and forth long after it might have done any good.
Steve knew at that moment that he couldn't hide from it any more. Admiral Garza had been right. Fury strode through the wreckage to Steve. "Tell me," he said.
"Chitauri in human form. Suicide bombers," Steve said. He bent over and picked up a stringy gobbet of flesh, now sparkling with scales. Holding it up for General Fury's inspection, he snapped, "They lose their cohesion when they're dead. Only when they're dead."
"Hold on there, soldier," General Fury said. "Aim that anger where it counts." Steve dropped the bit of flesh into a collection bag, sealed it, and put the bag in a plastic tote not unlike the one that had carried the detonator. Then he stood up, looked General Fury in the eye, and said,
"With all due respect, sir, that's the problem here. It might have counted."
"I don't follow you," General Fury said.
Pointing up into the sky, Steve said, "If Tony's tech had been installed, they would have been tagged. I could have done something." Whatever resolve he'd been looking for failed Steve, and he kept talking.
"But instead Washington wanted to be careful. Well, this is what careful gets you when you're fighting an enemy who isn't afraid to die. We've got sixteen in the morgue, and who knows how many others burned. People died, Nick. Excuse me. General."
Fury didn't answer right away. Eventually, after Steve had bagged and tagged two more pieces of Chitauri tissue, he said, "You're relieved. We can find someone else to do that."
"I'm not doing anything else," Steve said.
"I am relieving you of this duty, soldier," General Fury said, and let it hang. Not hurrying, Steve bagged one more piece of tissue and then stood. "Yes, sir," he said.
"That's more like it," Fury said.
He was about to say something else when Tony came in for a landing on the ruined dock. "Perimeter's clear out to a mile," Tony said. "Can someone give me a hand with the helmet here?"
"I'll do it," Steve said. He worked the helmet's seals and clamps loose and lifted the faceplate away, releasing a flood of greenish gel.
"Hell of an upgrade," Tony said. "Although I guess we can talk about that later." Steve leaned in close to him. "One thing," he said quietly, not wanting Fury to hear. "Your screener would have stopped this." .
Caught up short, Tony looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face. He wiped some of the gel away from his eyes. "You're not blaming me for this?"
"Not a bit," Steve said, still keeping his voice down. "I don't blame you. But I wanted you to face what happened here because I might need your help."
"My help?"
But Steve had already turned away. "General," he said. "I was here. I'll take media point on this. What we have is two Chitauri suicide bombers. I don't have to tell you that this is a new tactic for them, and it
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