(MNIBP)Chapter 50 - The Quinjet

The Highlands, New Jersey, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Ben and May then went on to train as usual, with the exception that May started learning new spells instead of practicing the Basic Technique. Similar to her husband, the tall brunette possessed an affinity for the Five Elements. Unlike him, however, she chose to learn specialized spells from each Element instead of focusing on the fusion of the Five Elements. From her own mouth: “I feel like being a jack of all trades might be better in the long run than being focused on one thing.”

As the muscular man did not have any opinion on that particular point, he supported her decision before going on to practice his own magic spells. After a day full of sweat and gains, Natalia arrived with a special guest. “Is that you, Barton?” Ben asked the dirty blond man who seemed to have aged back to his late twenties and gained a few inches in overall size.

Chuckling at his reaction, the Male agent replied with a playful smile. “That was my wife’s reaction when she saw me after my breakthrough. Followed by...” Fearing the worst, the silver-eyed man interrupted him, exclaiming. “Brother, there are people around.” The other man quickly replied ‘innocently’. “I was about to say that she ordered me to take a shower because of the impurity discharge making me smell like I’ve been living in a landfill for weeks.”

Looking at his friend with a deadpan look, Ben commented sarcastically. “Right! That’s definitely what you were about to say.” The friendly banter made the people around burst into laughter, with Barton and Parker swiftly joining them. A few moments later, the group regained their calm, with the silver-eyed man briefly hugging the other man and claiming. “Joke aside, I’m glad you succeeded. Kicking ass without you would’ve sucked, man.”

Clint’s smile turned warm at the tall man’s words, prompting him to reply. “Well, you’ve always needed someone to cover your crazy ass, so I thought I might be the only one stupid enough to do it.” His remark made Ben snicker before the latter turned toward the other people present. “Like I briefed you this morning, tonight I’ll participate in a mission with Nat and Barton here.”

As the words left his lips, his face turned extremely serious. “The three of us should be plenty enough for this operation. Although, that’s not the main reason behind my decision.” Pausing for a second, the man moved his gaze around everyone’s faces, taking note of everyone’s facial expression without making any comment. Instead, he added. “You’ve probably guessed why.”

“To protect the kids.” May commented, with her certainty coming from the fact that he waited until she broke through to commence the operation. Nodding his head, he explained. “I want the two of you...” He gestured toward Flint and Andrew. “... to be the front line defense in case of an attack on the safe house while I’m absent. May will be the second line of defense and the unknown variable since no one should be aware of her current cultivation base. Madeline will stay with the kids.”

Meeting her gaze, he added. “You’ll stay with them before bringing them to the Arena. Unless the hostiles have an Elite Rank or a missile, you guys should be fine. Of course, you’d still need to be really careful.” Pondering for a second, his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by someone else’s voice. “What about me, Captain?”

Turning his eyes in Kate’s direction, he hesitated for a moment before answering. “You... You’ll go protect your mother. With your current cultivation, if Marco and Cross aren’t able to deal with the threat, there’s no way you would make a difference. You’ll be a lot more useful over there.” His words may be perceived as harsh, but a good Captain needed to understand their subordinates’ capabilities well and use them where they were needed.

Fortunately, despite some brief hesitation, the woman quickly resigned herself. “I’ll follow your instruction, Captain.” Feeling amused at her reaction, he thought. ‘Why do I feel like I’ve got one more kid.’ Before declaring out loud. “Cultivation is a process, Taylor. From what I observed those last few days, it shouldn’t take you that long to reach the Novice Rank. At that time, your capabilities will expand exponentially.” Nodding her head at his words, the woman’s facial expression relaxed slightly.

Satisfied, the silver-eyed man continued. “Natalia brought some gear for you guys. For the Novice ranks, you’ll get a special gun, the same one I’ve got. It’s as powerful as a strong sniper rifle, so pay attention to where you’re aiming it. For Taylor and Mady, you’ll also get a handgun. Because of the recoil, however, you won’t be able to efficiently wield something like the one the others got. But you’ll still get something as strong as an automatic rifle. The only downside is that you’ll only get as much ammo as a normal handgun.”

Halting for a second, he noticed the uncertain looks on their faces, prompting him to remark. “As long as you remember your daily shooting training, you’ll be fine. It’d be better if you had more practice, but with your physical and mental capacity, I’m sure you’ll be fine. And it’s not like the chance of you guys getting attacked is high. All that preparation is simply to cover all our bases.”

His words of reassurance seemed to have the intended effect as his inexperienced team visibly relaxed before May commented. “Don’t worry, honey. With me here, no one will hurt the children.” With a wry smile on his face, the tall raven-haired man replied, while embracing the elven-looking woman. “The kids are important, but you...” Hesitating for a second, he then continued as his gaze fell on Madeline.

“You and Mady are as important to me. So, I only ask the two of you to be careful. If something happened to any of you...” The brunette with her arms encircling his torso reacted to his words by tightening her embrace while Madeline’s previous neutral expression turned delighted, with her cheeks reddening slightly. He also noted a ‘strange’ emotion in the latter’s gaze. However, he was aware that it had to be left for later. ‘After this operation, I’ll make it official. I can’t delay the matter anymore.’ He thought before letting May go and turning toward the two ‘original’ SHIELD agents.

“Shall we go?” The two nodded, with Nat handing him a heavy duffel bag. The latter was similar to the ones containing everyone else’s gear, prompting him to ask. “Is that...?” With a small grin on her face, the redhead replied. “Your gear, yes. You already had a gun so I’ve only gotten some ammo for it. I also added a few... ‘goodies’ that we may or may not need later. The last thing is your suit with the mask you asked for a few days ago.”

He then moved his gaze in Barton’s direction with a silent question hidden inside, bringing out a quick answer from his friend. “I’ve already my own gear. I also had to remake them since...” Noting the man gesturing toward his taller and more muscular body, Ben instantly understood. “Got it.” Pondering for a second, he questioned. “When we went over the mission details, you didn’t mention how we’d go there...”

Following his words, the two looked at each other with a similarly playful smile on their faces. Turning back toward him, Clint commented. “It’s a surprise.” before Natalia added. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. It’s much better than the rides you’ve used in the past.” Her statement intrigued him greatly, especially as a former Green Beret, he was ‘lucky’ enough to experience many different ways of transportation. Some were amazing, while others were objectively terrible.

Despite his curiosity, he kept silent, and then, followed the duo to the unmarked van parked in front of the entrance. The trio only spent fifteen minutes before arriving at a well-maintained but empty low-rise building. The female agent halted the vehicle as soon as they reached the adjacent parking lot, quickly turning off the ignition and exiting the van, with the two men immediately following behind.

Throwing a brief glance at the empty lot, the silver-eyed man felt confused. “Our ride’s supposed to be here?” With a mysterious smile, Nat gestured for him to follow her as she replied. “Patience, Parker. We’re almost there.” Unlike his previous expectations, the redhead led them inside the building before taking the staircase until they finally reached the empty rooftop.

Contrary to the previous lot, however, Ben felt like there was something different. As if the space was... With a childish grin on her face, the beautiful woman took out a small device and said. “Behold! The Quinjet!” Immediately after her words left her lips, a massive futuristic-looking jet appeared in the middle of the previously empty roof, startling the silver-eyed man.

“Damn! THAT’s our ride?” He asked, doubtful. Indeed, the plane seemed to have been pulled straight out of a science-fiction video game, giving it a somewhat unreal feel to it. Chuckling at his reaction, Clint responded. “Yep. A real beauty, isn’t she?” While examining the vehicle, Ben replied absentmindedly. “That she is...” The two veteran SHIELD agents did not utter a word, instead letting him admire the jet to his heart’s content.

A few moments later, Ben felt satisfied and turned his gaze back to the other two and claimed with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I got a bit too caught up when I saw it.” Snickering at his words, Natalia replied. “Don’t worry about it. Barton’s reaction was even worse the first time he saw the Quinjet.” Freezing for a second, the blonde man had an expression of betrayal appearing on his face before exclaiming with indignation.

“How could you?! I trusted you, Nat!” His melodramatic reaction made the other two burst into laughter, only regaining their calm a few moments later, after which Nat gently clapped her hand and declared. “Now that we’ve had our fun, why don’t we depart? Otherwise, we’ll never finish this operation.” The two men nodded and followed the slender woman through the opened cargo hatch.

Once inside, the redhead pushed a button on the wall which quickly closed the hatch. Turning toward the two men, she instructed. “Suit up, boys! We’ll get to our target location in a few short minutes, so let’s get ready as quickly as possible.” As soon as her words left her mouth, she started taking off her heavy jacket, and non-descript pair of pants, leaving her in some kind of skintight black suit, with a grey belt holding several compartments that seemed awfully similar to the ‘Batbelt’.

She completed the look with a white-colored full-faced carnival mask painted with black spider motifs that she set on her visage. On each side but the bottom one, clasps in the form of arachnid legs went through her fiery red hair, their aim being to hold the mask in place. The only part of her face still visible was her striking green irises protected by a glass-like material embedded into the eye part of the mask.

The suit emphasized her alluring curves while hiding her charming visage behind a veil of mystery, creating a strong attraction despite unconsciously being aware of the lethal danger behind her appearance. She reminded Ben of a poisonous rose or even her own namesake. “Black Widow indeed...” He mumbled unconsciously.

Tilting her head slightly, she set her hands on her hips and asked playfully. “Like my superhero costume?” Nodding his head, the man replied while his lips could not help but tilt upward. “You look as charming and lethal as your superhero name implies.” His words elicited a few light giggles from the redhead who retorted. “I’ve had to bother Fury for a while before he agreed to order someone to make it.”

Feeling intrigued, the silver-eyed man asked. “Is it a normal suit, or does it have some special uses?” Crossing her arms under her sizable bust, she replied. “Of course, it’s the latter. Both the suit and the mask are made with some special materials capable of resisting a normal bomb explosion. The mask also got other features, like sound transmission, gas mask, etc. They’re pretty neat!”

Scratching his bearded chin, Ben started. “I bet! You sh...” His words were suddenly cut off by the male agent beside him. “Hey, Parker! Stop ogling Nat and tell me how I look!” Turning his gaze toward the blond man, his sight was suddenly greeted by Clint wearing a dark purple futuristic-looking rogue armor with a hawk-shaped helmet in place of the ‘normal’ combination of hood and facemask prevalent in medieval fantasy movies he watched with May in the past.

Feeling impressed, the silver-eyed man commented. “You look great! Is it new? I don’t think I’ve seen you with it in the New York attack footage I’ve watched recently.” With a nod of his head, Barton responded. “I’ve got this toy after I broke through a few days ago. You can only get one if you’re a Novice Rank or higher. I think it has to do with a normal human not being able to use it fully or something. That and the cost should be extremely high.”

“Makes sense.” Ben replied before his eyes turned toward the bag containing his own suit. Feeling a bit of anticipation, his fingers pinched the zipper before pulling it open. Through the wide gap, his gaze suddenly met what would be his signature costume for a long time. “That’s...” He mumbled as his hands started grabbing the items inside the bag.