UPDATE! WHOO! I love this chapter as well, and I hope you guys do too!

Danny POV

The excitement in the air is almost contagious.

Almost.

This was their first official mission outside the walls of the training rooms, and it was an adequate cause for excitement, but to be quite honest, it seemed like a giant waste of time to him.

Still, when he wasn't bitter about being drawn from his studies, Danny would admit that tonight even he was caught with the air of adrenaline.

Ever since their training mission against Alpha 8 and her team, there had been a shift within their team.

Everything was still tense, and it was painfully obvious how much they all wanted to be anywhere but together in a training room, but it's changed too. They weren't fighting with each other anymore. Rather than blatant comments and sneers, they've fallen into a routine.

Cheliceri called the shots, short and to-the-point strategies that got them to their goal the quickest way possible. While they all begrudgingly followed him - even Cheliceri whom begrudgingly explained their battle plans – it was the best strategy they could come up with. As long as they looked like they were getting along, it brought the disappointment from their superiors down to a minimum.

Their every interaction was still tense and awkward, but they made it work.

If only to get this blasted team-phase they'd make it work.

Zver didn't fight with them as often, although her hissing and glares were still present. Guard Dog had become somewhat easier to work with, and Novae might've even been warming up to them, if but a little.

They're progress, while shaky and tense, was enough to get the approval of their mentors. Baron Mordo expressed his satisfaction in Danny's performance whenever he got back from the training rooms, weary from the spells that had sapped his energy and eager to get some mediation in to replenish his strength. He'd admit that Baron Mordo's praise lifted his heart and he much preferred it over his scathing lectures.

They'd been given the day off to conserve energy for this very mission, and after getting the debriefing, Danny understood why.

Their target was a SHIELD base somewhere outside of Queens. It was in an old abandoned mall, deserted and filthy. Taskmaster's intel insisted that it was actually one of Nick Fury's most secure hidden bases and had the locations of several prison holds containing some of the world's most deadly villains. They're mission was to infiltrate the building, take out whatever security measures were inside, and come back with as much information on those whereabouts as they could – preferable all the information if they could manage.

Danny went through the plan again, silent in their convoy. The rest of the team was equally quiet as they waited, strapped down in their seats, ticking down the time till they made it to the destination.

It was an awkward span of time and Danny was relieved when the jet started slowing down and their pilot told them to prepare for the drop-point. Silently movements, almost robotic, Guard Dog and Zver took the parachutes from the side of the wall and hooked them on. Cheliceri, Novae, and Danny stood off to the side, eagerly waiting for the latched door to open.

The other two joined them quickly and only a few more minutes passed before the pilot gave them a quick prewarning and the door opened. Cold night wind rushed in, nipping at their fingers and faces, and slapped any sort of daze they might've fallen in.

Wide-awake, they all looked to Cheliceri who gave them the signal to go. Guard Dog went first, then Zver, Novae lit up and followed, and Danny jumped, already mumbling a levitation spell. Behind him, Cheliceri followed in suit, and then it was all open skies.

It was cold for an early-autumn night, but it did wonders to Danny's line of focus. His body lightened from its free-fall as he got closer to the ground. Below him, Zver and Guard Dogs parachutes were open and falling airily through sky, whereas Novae was stood with his arms crossed, scowling at them, already waiting on the ground. He was ordered to land as soon as possible so his light didn't attract any attention.

Danny glanced up to where Cheliceri was clutching onto a small, white parachute. It took Danny a moment to realize that it was made from webs. Huh, interesting tactic.

He landed next to Guard Dog, who was already shrugging off the parachute harness, and turned toward the dark abandoned building in front of them.

"Their alarms will be armed at all obvious entry points and the roof," Cheliceri told them in a whisper, "We'll go through one of the broken windows – I'll go first to dig up any pressure plates or traps and disable any alarms." With that, he seemed to melt into the shadows, not even pausing to clarify that they would follow.

They trailed behind him as he made it to a wide window that had been smashed open. His steps didn't even disturb the glass on the ground as he neared the open pane and peered inside. He stopped for a moment, then shook his head.

"Alarm," he said, and moved toward the next window.

Danny's always wondered how he did that. Detecting something that seemingly couldn't be detected. During training he always seemed to know when something was coming for him. He was an expert at dodging and avoiding hits that he couldn't even see.

Danny had wanted to ask how he did, didn't want to care, but he would admit that he was curious. No one else had asked and he didn't want to be the one to address Cheliceri. That guy was as pleasant to commune with as a demon from the Dark Dimension. Just as bright, too.

They got a better stroke of luck with the next window. It was slightly smaller than the last one, but Cheliceri nodded, satisfied with this one, and climbed in. A moment later his head popped back out.

"Alarms been deactivated,"

Guard Dog went in first, to compensate for his size. "Why didn't you just do that to the last one?" he whispered harshly.

"This one was easier," Cheliceri muttered briskly, and was back in the shadows again. Dog's head jerked slightly, as if he were rolling his eyes, but stepped out into of the way to allow room for the rest of them. Danny was the last to come in, snagging his cloak on a jagged piece of glass as he did and nearly ripped it. Huffing irritably, he unhooked the fabric and followed them grimly.

"Why did we all need to come on this mission?" He demanded quietly, following in Cheliceri's footsteps as he acted as their personal danger-detector. The spider could easily have done this mission himself.

Cheliceri seemed to agree, "I don't know," he griped, "It's supposed to be our final assessment. At least I think it is. There's always one big mission that a team goes on before they officially complete their training together."

"You think we can stop teaming up after this?" Novae whispered, somewhat hopefully. "I'm kind of sick of being on this plant," he kicked a stray piece of garbage as if to emphasize.

"If we have any luck, we won't have to see each other ever again," Zver said, scowling at Novae as he kicked another piece of garbage.

"Well, then let's just get this over with," Dog said, "I don't want to be out here for long."

That was something they all could agree on. They fell into a silence as Cheliceri picked their way along the mall grounds. They passed the food court, a barbershop, and stopped in an old, locked up arcade. There were still a few games in there.

Cheliceri stopped at the doorway.

"Disciple," he said, "Lasers."

Disciple moved to the front of the group, muttered a spell, and fog seeped from his hands, filling the room to reveal dozens of thin red wires zig-zagging throughout the room. It was a little trick he'd learned in one of their exercises a few days ago, while they had been working on infiltration.

Cheliceri looked to Zver, "There are two control panels, one on each side of the room, at the far end. Without a SHIELD activation pad, we're going to need to shut them off from there."

Zver nodded mutely, already staring at the lasers as if coming up with the quickest route to the box on the far wall. Cheliceri said nothing else. Together, they moved to opposites ends and jumped in.

Cheliceri climbed up along the wall and ceiling, dropping down on occasion as he twisted his body agilely and climbed past the lasers. Zver was there with him, twisting and curving as she expertly trekked her way through as well.

Danny could only hope the spell Baron Mordo outfitted them all with would hold up. It was a complex spell that would make them go unnoticed by any cameras or video feed. It did not protect from layers or traps, though.

They two made it to the other side within minutes where Cheliceri talked Zver through shutting the systems down. Moments followed and the lasers all disappeared. Novae stepped, swiping his hand as if to make sure they were truly in the clear, then crossed the threshold.

They maneuvered around the old arcade games, looking for anything that looked used or bore the SHIELD logo. Some time passed before Novae made of noise of victory and beckoned them toward an old blaster game.

Cheliceri got to the front and didn't even bother to wipe the dust from the screen as he grabbed the controls and began sifting through it. For a moment all that could be heard was the peppy ping ping ping as he went through the control option before it suddenly lit up and filled the room with the loud, flashy gun noises. They all winced, quickly glancing around as if concerned they'd been heard.

Cheliceri grumbled something under his breath and quickly sifted through the menu again, and a moment later a SHIELD logo popped up on the screen.

"This might take a while," he muttered as he leaned forward in concentration. The team managed to stick together for the first few minutes before they dispersed boredly.

Novae inspected the other arcade games in shrewd interest, whereas Guard Dog and Zver stared critically back out into the dark mall as if wishing for something to come along that they could hit. Danny leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, and waited.

Baron Mordo taught him the art of patience, but it was something he struggled to get down as of late. Even while mediated all he could feel was an anxious twitch in his chi. He was restless. He didn't like sitting back and waiting to see what would happen. He preferred to get things done and spend his time doing things that were actually useful.

Given a few minutes though, he watched as Guard Dog left the room, followed by Novae who was whispering fiercely, then Zver who looked irritated. Danny glanced back at Cheliceri, who was completely enamored into his task and quietly followed the other three outside.

He tracked their hushed whispers to a barbershop, where Novae and Dog were whispering rapidly inside.

"-not supposed to be wandering off," Novae was saying.

"It's boring in there," Dog muttered, scrunching his nose at Novae as if he smelled like a piece of trash. "Besides, I'm just checking out the rest of the space here. I'm not going to activate something."

"You don't know that," Zver hissed sharply, looking around at the shadows as if she expected her master to appear.

Dog rolled his eyes, "You all need to stop worrying so much, we're in a barbershop? What could SHIELD possibly be hiding in here?"

They all shrugged, silently. Though Danny couldn't help but agree. The Barbershop looked empty and desolate, and completely unimpressive.

Novae still didn't seem convinced, "We should head back. Stick to the mission, like we're supposed to."

Dog waved him off over his shoulder as he picked up an old brush, examining briefly, before tossing it back on the table.

Zver, who seemed to have forgotten her worry, was looking at shelves of hair dyes and products that were all probably poorly out of date. Out of all of them, Novae looked the most concerned about getting in trouble – which seemed to irritate him.

His hands strangled each other as he glanced fervently outside, looking shifty and on edge. Guard Dog seemed to notice this too and inched silently toward him when his back was turned, jumped and shoved him.

Novae shouted, turn around and shot two thick beams of energy which collided with Dog and sent him careening into the opposite walls, right into the shelf of hair products. It all came down with a loud crash, and they winced.

Not even a minute later, Cheliceri appeared inside the room, upside down, and looking none too happy.

"Are you kidding me?" He hissed. "This is supposed to be a QUIET mission, why the HELL are you all in here? What happened?"

Novae pointed at Dog, who pointed right back at him. "He did it," they said together.

Cheliceri looked far from amused. "This is why I work alone," he muttered, jumping upright and landing in the center of the shop. "You guys are completely incompetent!"

Zver rolled her eyes and sat one of the barber chairs, leaning back with her hands behind her head. "We can take SHIELD," she said easily, bopping her leg.

"Oh, can you." Cheliceri griped, "Well, you might just get your wish. SHIELD is probably headed this way right now."

"Let them come," Danny spoke up, irritated with his whining. They were more than capable to take out a few SHIELD agents or bots. "We can take care of them."

"Yeah, but what will Taskmaster think?" Cheliceri demanded, turning on him this time. "What will Baron Mordo think? Or Taskmaster? Or Titus and Scorpio?"

Danny froze at the mention of his teacher's name, same as the rest of them.

Cheliceri continued, "This was supposed to be a quiet mission. In and out with our information – how do you think they'll feel knowing we failed to do that because – because you guys are acting like a bunch of rookies."

Danny thought about Mordo's look of disappointment. The way he'd look down at Danny. How incompetent Danny was suddenly feeling.

How was he expected to save his power if he couldn't even take simple orders?

As much as he hated it admit it, Cheliceri had a point. None of their teachers or mentors will be happy if they were caught by SHIELD.

Novae was looking particularly queasy given the news and Danny worried that he was going to throw up. "Well, did – did you get anything from the SHIELD server?" He asked desperately.

Cheliceri nodded, "I did get some, but it's not enough. I need more time before to get into the servers. I don't think I have enough time anymore."

Zver straightened in her chair, pointing an accusing finger at Cheliceri, "Then what are you doing out here? You should've just kept digging for information!"

"I can't do that when I'm expected to babysit you," Cheliceri bit back.

Zver leaned forward, intent on saying something else, but was interrupted by a sharp click from her chair. She barely had the time to glance down before the entire floor gave out, and they were all falling.

It was a short fall, and Danny didn't have time to try a levitation spell before he hit the ground. They all fell in a piled heap. There was a furious growl under the mound of bodies as Cheliceri threw everybody off him, looking even angrier than before.

"Great, look what you did!" he turned on Zver, who simply hissed back at him.

"Where are we?" Novae inquired, taking a shaky step out to peer around.

Guard Dog glanced around the room, "Looks like a secret SHIELD room to me," he said. Danny followed his eyes to a door opposite to them. Large, thick, and made of metal. He approached it, running a hand along its smooth surface.

The rest of the entourage followed.

"What do you think is behind it?" Novae though aloud, digging his fingers between the thin crack in the door, as if to pull it apart. It didn't budge. Cheliceri rolled his eyes and examined the device by the door, rubbing his chin as if thinking of the best way of dissecting it.

"Probably something important," Dog said, rapping his knuckles against the hard steel. His lips pursed, thoughtfully, then he pulled his leg back and crashed it into the door. A giant dent blemished the surface and got deeper than more he hit it.

"What are you doing?" Cheliceri demanded, yanking Dog back with a web-line.

"There's gotta be something important in there," Dog said, pulling the web off and throwing it at Cheliceri's feet.

"You don't think SHIELD is gonna know you're trying to bust down their door," Cheliceri said.

"They're on their way anyway," Dog shrugged, hitting the door again. "Besides, why go through all the trouble to hide it if it's not important? Like you said, the missions already ruined. We can at least try to get something out of it."

Cheliceri thought about that.

"Sounds good to me," Zver said, who was always eager to do anything to please her master. Danny thought about the incompetent look Baron Mordo would give him if they came back empty-handed.

"Alright," he shrugged, "Let's do it."

Novae didn't look quite as confident, but given a second or so of thought, he nodded. "Alright, fine."

Cheliceri was the last one. He paced quickly, a hand on his head as his thoughts raced. When he noticed everyone watching him, he glared.

"Tick-tock," Dog reminded him.

"Fine," Cheliceri burst. "Fine, open the damn thing. Might as well, since we're going to get in trouble anyway."

That was all Dog needed to hear. He took a running start and slammed his shoulder into the door, and the metal flew outward. One by one, they peered inside.

It was an immense room, lined with cables and cords, servers, and software devices. In the center, was a giant, spherical dodecagon, surrounded by an outer-platform to walk on. Cheliceri scuttled up the wall, the way he did when he thought something might pop out and attack, continued up to the ceiling where he observed the structure from a high vantage point.

"What is it?" Novae asked, approaching the immense sphere.

Zver knocked on it. "It's hollow," she announced. "There's something in there."

Dog strode over there and punched it. There wasn't even a dent to show for it. "Tough stuff," he commented, somewhat appraisingly.

Cheliceri jumped off from the ceiling and landed on the platform, right in front of a maintenance board. He hesitated for the barest second, before shaking it off and diving into its systems and matrixes.

"I think I can get it open," he said, "But I need to concentrate so I don't trip any security measure, and for heaven's sake everyone shut up."

Novae stuck his tongue out at him and Zver flipped an incredibly rude gesture, but they remained quiet all the same. Cheliceri seemed to forget they all existed as he worked on the computer and its programming. After a few strenuous minutes, he made a noise of victory.

"Got it,"

There was a loud hiss as air was released, and slowly the sphere opened to reveal another room. This one was decorated abundantly with sofas, table, a bed, kitchenette, and tv. On the TV, a news channel was playing. The Bugle, of all things.

Wearily, the rest of them clambered onto the platform and entered the sphere.

"No one is here," Danny duly observed.

"But someone was here," Cheliceri said. "The couch is damp."

"And there's a sandwich," Zver pointed out, gesturing to the half-eaten sandwich on the table.

It was hot in there too. Humid. It was sticking to the material of Danny's close and making him sweat. He tugged at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably.

"I think we should get out of here," Cheliceri said, and Danny noticed that he was tense. Looking around suspiciously, fingers rubbing against his palm. So sooner did he say that, did Danny notice a drop of water fall from one of the pipes up.

Cheliceri reacted quickly, webbing at the water and jumped away.

They all burst into laughter.

"A little tense there," Novae laughed mirthfully. "Getting scared?"

Cheliceri glared at him, still looking at the water apprehensively. "Guys, I'm not joking," he said. "We need to get out of here."

Their laughter got louder.

"I agree," a new voice said, and all laughter ceased.

The pipes above them suddenly burst and a high cascade of water inundated them. Only there was something wrong about this water. It seemed to swirl and twist of its own accord, switching direction as tendrils flew out to surround them.

"Told you!" Cheliceri said, narrowly avoiding a streak water. Zver dodged as well, as did Danny, but Novae and Dog weren't as fast. They hit with a strong geyser that pushed them against the wall.

Novae squirmed, suddenly panicked and burst into a pillar of searing light. The water evaporated off him with a shout of pain, and he flew quickly away. Dog wasn't so lucky. He kicked and punched at the water, but it did little to free him.

More water burst around them, and Danny barely had time to summon a shield before it slammed into him. He pushed back and shot a beam of energy that sliced through the liquid. He wasn't prepared, however, when a wave of water overcame him from behind.

"You pests!" The water shouted at them, as it rose in high towering walls. Danny covered himself in a sphere of energy before the wall fell over, grunting as it swirled around him, pressing down on his orb of protection.

Outside, Zver had jumped up on the table in order to avoid getting sucked in and quickly jumped up again, hanging from the pipes and swinging from them like some cat-monkey gymnast as she observed this new threat. Dog was still in the air, unable to get free, and Novae flew above them all, zapping any pillar of water that tried to get him. Cheliceri was being hit back and forth despite his best attempts to get to high ground.

Danny was struck with the old nursery rhyme, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and refrained from snorting. Now wasn't the time, despite the humorous similarities.

The water pressed down on him further and Danny grunted, pushing back out with all his might. He could feel his strength sapping every second he kept this up. He needed to get out of it as fast as possible.

But he couldn't find an opening.

Outside, a figure rose up from the water. It was in the shape of man, but it was like an invisible mold filled completely with liquid. The longer he stared the more the form solidified. Colors appeared within its murky depths, forming the shape of pants, a shirt, arms, and a face.

A tall, clean-shaven man with a buzzed head sneered at them. He wore an outfit bearing the SHIELD logo.

Here Cheliceri was so concerned about tripping security measures and he had released one. Great.

Though, he supposed the Spider wasn't completely to blame. They were all in on it.

But still, the irony was both irritating and amusing.

"Who are you clowns supposed to be, anyway?" The water-man sneered, glancing at them with a disheartening grin. "Some new superhero out to make a name for yourself? Let me help you out with that!"

The buffeting got stronger and Danny's bubble shrunk more.

"We're not supe-" Cheliceri tried to say, before getting a face-full of water. He was slammed into the wall, vainly trying to block the barrage of water enough to take a breath of air.

The man watched him choking with a feral grin as if the Spiders' torment was somehow amusing. While Danny could understand the humor in pushing Cheliceri's buttons, and despite how annoying he could be, he didn't necessarily want the guy to die.

The water was beginning to furl around Dog now, encasing him in a water bobble that moved and morphed away from him when he tried to hit its walls. He would run out of air soon too.

Zver was still hanging from the rafters, regarding the man with distaste as she maneuvered around to find a good angle of attack.

Novae was going in a frenzy trying to blast any bit of water that got near him, which was getting more and more frequent. None of them would last much longer against this adversary.

Their time was running out.

Danny needed to get out of this water trap if they stood a chance. Once he was free, he'd find a way to get Cheliceri clear and Dog free. Despite the increasing pressure around him, Danny focused inward, calling upon the power he feared for.

Gradually, his fist began to glow, crackling and burning, enlightening the water around him in gold.

"ENOUGH!" He shouted and slammed his fist into the ground. Cracks appeared under his knuckles, spreading out across the ground and the water burst away as if it had been burned. Some of it felt through the cracks he made.

The waterman growled, in pain or anger, Danny could tell, but it got his attention enough that the water slamming into Cheliceri ceased and the mercenary took a mighty inhale of air as he coughed and spit up water.

Danny was already muttering a spell as the water-man lunged for him, and great fiery chains erupted from either side of him and bound around the man tightly. The man made a sound of pain, but went still, and melted into a puddle of water, which melded in with the rest around the room. No sooner did a great wave rush at Danny.

For a split-second, he debated using his Iron Fist energy again. But the thought made him wary and he quickly encased himself in a bubble of protection again. The water was swirling faster now, too quickly for him to see what was going on outside. The pressure was getting worse with each passing second.

He could feel his Personal Energy slipping between his fingers, leaving him more and more drained the longer he kept using it. He couldn't keep his spell up for much longer. Sweat dripped down into his eyes, but he couldn't wipe it away, too afraid of breaking his concentration.

"Getting tired?" A voice sneered around him.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the quaking tremor shaking his entire body. He was...so...tired. If he kept this up, he was going to kill himself.

He....can't...

His concentration broke and he slumped, feeling as though he'd been injected with lead. The bubble of protection melted away, and through blurry eyes, Danny saw the water crashing down on him, just before it collided. He was so tired. Too tired to even hold his breath.

If not for Novae, he's positive he would've died.

There was a hiss of evaporating water and the water-man screamed, receding from Danny just as quickly as he covered him. Danny gasped into the hard floor, coughing water from his burning lungs as a blue light above him chased after the water-man. He sagged against the floor, breathing deeply past the pain is abdomen.

"Keep it up, Novae," Cheliceri said, kneeling down next to Danny. "Don't let up. We can't give him even a moment to collect himself."

Somewhere to the side Novae kept shooting blast after blast, while in front of him, Cheliceri moved Danny so he was laying on his back and untied the clothe still wrapped over Danny's mouth, which was sopping wet and performing water torture on him. As soon as it was free, Danny took a great inhale, chest still burning. With gentle fingers that Danny didn't expect from Cheliceri, his teammates pressed lightly on Danny's abdomen.

"Slight swelling," he murmured to himself. "But I think you coughed most of the water up already. How's your breathing."

Danny didn't say anything, but shrugged, making a weak so-so gesture with his hand.

"Take this off," Cheliceri said, unclipping the wet cloak still tied over Danny's shoulders. As soon as it was free, Danny felt as though a lead weight was lifted off his back. He nodded, giving Cheliceri a thumbs-up as a thanks, that's better.

"Come on," he helped Danny up, looping an arm under his shoulders to keep him on his feet. "We need to get out of here. Dog," he shouted this, "help Disciple out of here. Zver, help Novae. We need a distraction."

It was then, that Danny noticed Novae was still shooting at the water-man. Steam was filling the air and the man looking substantially smaller. Zver was circling around him, tossing pieces of clothes and absorbent materials that soaked the water in, which Novae blasted as well.

"GAHHH!" the man roared and tried to lunge at Novae, who veered quickly out of the way, pausing his attack.

Danny was handed off to Dog, who supported his weight easily – even with all his armor. Once Danny was secure, Cheliceri bolted off to help Novae and Zver.

"You good?" Dog asked, somewhat nicely.

Danny nodded. "Fine," he rasped.

"D'ya think you could conjure up a portal to get us out of here?"

Just the thought of using any more of his Personal Energy made him want to puke, but he nodded anyway. He would not be the weak link in this group. He refused to be.

"Yeah – yeah, just...gimme a minute."

"I don't think we got a minute," Dog commented as one of the pipes broke and more water cascaded over the floor.

Zver barely managed to avoid getting swept into the wave. The water joined the man, making him bigger and bigger till he was towering over them, laughing almost manically. Cheliceri, Zver, and Novae backed up cautiously.

"Retreat," Cheliceri ordered. "We need to get out of here now."

Groaning loudly, Danny lifted his hands and performed the transportation spell. Sparks scorched through the air, spinning through the air as if it were being cut with a saw, as a portal opened, showing the straggly grass and tree's outside.

It was a smaller portal, barely able to fit Danny himself, and was getting smaller.

"Hurry," he gurgled, gut-clenching as if he'd been sucker-punched. "Can't...hold it...."

Dog went first, followed by Zver, Cheliceri, then Novae, who was still blasting at the water-man to ward him off. Danny's hands dropped. There wasn't any time for him to go through. It was too small, it –

A web shot through the portal, hitting Danny's chest and yanked him through just as it was closing. Danny stumbled, almost falling into the dirt if Zver hadn't caught him.

"Thanks..." he wheezed as she let him go, and slowly collapsed into the dirt. He didn't want to move for another few weeks. For months. He was going to sleep, even if it was on the dirty ground.

Cheliceri pulled him back up, "We can't rest yet," he said, and Danny almost sobbed. "This isn't over."

They all looked at the building, which stood quiet in the darkness. Then, all at once, water bursts from the top as if a geyser had opened beneath the edifice. Glass shattered and pieces of junk washed out as the mall was flooded.

"Cheliceri, requesting pick-up," Cheliceri was shouting into his comm piece, "I repeat, requesting pick-up NOW!"

"We've got company," Dog spoke up. They followed his eyes up into the sky where several jets were fast approaching. But they didn't look familiar, and when they turned on their sides, Danny noticed the white eagle logo they had been warned against.

Cheliceri cursed. "It's SHIELD. We need to leave before we're spotted."

"Disciple, think you have enough juice to get us out of here," Novae asked.

Danny shook his head extra hard. He wasn't even going to try to do another spell. He felt so stretched thin that if he so much as glanced at his Personal Energy again, he was going to snap.

"Into the trees," Zver said. "They should give us enough cover. We shouldn't be spotted."

That was something they all agreed on and followed her into the trees where they crouched low into the underbrush. The SHIELD jets were in combat with the water-man now, shooting large beams of laser-like lights that seared through him. With a roar of fury, the water-man erupted into a large wave and retreated through the tree's opposite of them. The jets followed him.

Novae took a relieved breath. "They're gone. We're good."

Cheliceri tensed. "No...we're not."

"Come out of the brush with your hands up. We have you surrounded."

SHIELD agents' bursts from the trees, guns trained on every single one of them. Danny was all-but leaning against Dog now, too drained to even think of stepping forward. Judging by the hard, water-logged looks in the rest of his team's face, he deduced they were feeling pretty exhausted themselves.

Even Zver, who would've happily torn these agents apart, was looking weary.

Danny didn't know how they were getting out of this one. They were out-gunned, out-numbered, and exhausted. Not to mention they completely failed their mission.

Before they could make up their minds whether to surrender or not, sparks erupted on the ground at their feet, and Danny barely had the time to look down and recognize a portal before they were falling through it.

With a startled yell, he and his group fell, landing on something painfully hard moments later. Danny blinked the light from his eyes, groaning as every ache in his body increased tenfold. When his eyes adjusted, he recognized the layout of the training room back in Taskmasters compound.

And there, standing in front of them, looking extremely cross, stood Taskmaster, Titus, Kraven, Scorpio, and Baron Mordo.

Danny shared a frightful look with his team.

They were in a lot of trouble.

And boom! Next chapter is Sammie-boys! YAY! :D And the next chapter it going to be a doozy, let me tell you.

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Hope to see you there! :D

OfficialUSMWriter out!