Although invisible Sue stepped back from Reed, completely shocked at his sudden elasticity. Her voice could be heard. "Reed?!" She cried out in complete shock as her clothes were seen to be floating through the air. The light waves were reflecting off of Sue's body in such a way that she wasn't visible to the naked eye. She looked down at herself, seeing nothing but her dress. In the height of confusion she panicked. "Reed what's happening to us?!" She looked back at him once more seeing how stretched his entire body had become. She only worried further for his well being. Were they being attacked?

The shock of Sue's vanishing act, even though her clothes were still there and now yelling at him in her voice. Reed though had to suddenly maintain his balance as he had an arm stretch down to the sidewalk to help him stay upright. Balancing like this was strange, feeling like his legs were stilts when he never handled his balance on them in the first place. Still it was even harder to focus since his brain was rushing through everything in his mind was going haywire with the impossibilities of what was happening to them.

"Uh-er...I-I don't know! Hold on." Reed stammered in fear before re-actively grabbing Susan by her hand (At least he hoped he grabbed her hand, he couldn't tell) and started pulling her towards where the hospital was. At least to go somewhere where people wouldn't look at them with everyone in awe, shocked, and pointing out the invisible woman and the stretchy man.

"Something must have been with the area the transporter used and done something to us." It wasn't just what happened to Susan and himself that worried Reed, but now the possibilities of whatever was going on with Johnny, Ben, and especially Harvey. In all his internal panic though Reed couldn't avoid the amazing scene that started and happening across the street.

"Johnny! JOHNNY!" Ben screamed out as he was running after Johnny Storm, who was completely on fire and despite not really feeling any pain or burning Johnny did what came naturally in such a situation. Run frantically and scream like a girl. He saw Reed, or at least what Reed looked like after being pulled like taffy, and clothing that was floating in air. Running up Johnny let out a series of noises that could only be described at panicked talking...

"REED REED HOLY SHIT I'M ON FIRE AND BURNING I MEAN I DON'T THINK IT HURTS BUT HOLY SHIT FIRE WHAT THE FUCK REED YOU LOOK SCARY AS HELL WHERE'S SUE FIRE FIRE AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Johnny continued his frantic panic attack, now just going in circles with his arms flailing, Ben almost more just too freaked out to even speak. Just now his hands grasping at the top of his head, looking at whatever was happening in front of him in disbelief.

Reed, even in all the panic, knew he had to figure out how to get Johnny to stop being on fire. Quickly he glanced around and realized they were in front of the Bellagio Hotel and its large body of water. Reed stretched not realizing how effortless it was, with his body over to the water. Glancing down at his hands Reed tried to figure out how to get water from the massive body of water in front of him and at Johnny. Suddenly Reed's watched on and felt his hands grow in size, Reed almost completely fascinated by what he was doing until he had to stop and remember Johnny was running around on fire. How Reed forgot that, even briefly, he'll never know.

Scooping up a surprisingly large amount of water in his massive now cupped hands. Reed turned and in a huff threw the water towards Johnny. Who could only stop in his frenzy of fear to realize the large tidal wave coming towards him. Dousing him and putting out the fire on him.

"Oh man... thanks Reed." Johnny sighed in relief and tired from the long distance running, both down a sidewalk, across streets, and around in circles. Reed stretched back, his hands shrinking back to normal as he also was relieved. Though it was short lived when he realized that Johnny being on fire meant to his clothes. Reed coughed awkwardly before starting to pull his shirt off. "Uh Johnny, please cover up."

Johnny needed a moment to realize what Reed was talking about, then he felt a gentle breeze on his manhood and the glaring eyes of the people around them. He quickly grabbed Reed's shirt and used it to cover as best as possible with his cheeks a surprisingly deep red. Only giving the crowds a meek grin in complete embarrassment.

Finally by now the embarrassment of everything subsiding the four of them were finally able to breathe. Johnny having to wrap Reed's t shirt around his waist, Susan still not visible, Reed occasionally having a limb or legs moving or stretching out in an unnatural way, Ben strangely seemed unaffected. Something that was bothering him deep down inside seeing whatever happened to the others and how it affected them. Reed though was deep in thought glancing around at them. "Alright we need to talk to your guy's dad immediately about this. Something is clearly wrong here..." Reed stated aloud as Johnny folded his arms, "Oh you think!?" He snipped at Reed, too worried about everything to even think how he was coming off saying it.

As Johnny snapped back at Reed though he was too busy not paying attention. He reached for his phone to call Dr. Storm to call him about this startling new development. Only he paused looking at Dr. Storm's number in his phone when he remembered what he was doing when Reed last saw him. "Oh crap." Reed muttered.

Susan went over to Johnny and touched his shoulder. “Johnny it’s me Sue I’m here! I’m just...invisible.” Her voice called out in mid air. The touch nearly scared Johnny half to death. Sue, although could not be seen, turned to Reed to watch him call her father. Three out of the four had strange symptoms and then it hit her. “Harvey!” She grabbed Johnny’s arm out of a panicked concern. What could have happened to Harvey? She worried as she pulled her brother down the road to a cab. “TAXI TAXI!!” She screamed and shoved Johnny’s arm out. Worrying about his clothing situation later. A taxi driver pulls up, looking rather confused at the three young lads and hearing a girl’s voice calling out in distress. They pile into the car, Sue in the back seat middle between Johnny and Reed as Ben got in the front. “HOSPITAL!” The girl called out and the driver raised his eyebrow. “STEP ON IT NOW!”

The brief pause in the confused driver caused Ben to sigh angrily, slapping a handful of money onto the driver’s dashboard. “Here break some speed limits but just go!” Finally the driver nodded and they were off.

When they got to the hospital things were chaotic to say the least. The taxi driver peered out of the window and saw what was happening. “Yeah you know what you four are crazy!” The driver muttered as he shook his head and got out of there as quickly as possible.

Reed couldn’t blame the guy, as even in all the commotion it wasn’t hard to figure out where Harvey was. As a looming figure was stand well over part of the now destroyed hospital. Reed had to slowly pull up his glasses just to make sure he wasn’t crazy when he looked at it, he was too stunned to say anything but Johnny perfectly cleared the air with what Reed was thinking.

Johnny simply muttered, “Holy crap… that’s Harvey?”

The monster, for lack of a better term, seemingly stood well over 50 feet high. It best resembled a mixture of different animals and something served straight out of a drug fueled nightmare. Large beady eyes with a dark green and brown mixed like hairy skin. WIth arms disjointed and massive feet. Seemingly things even seemed to be coming out of the creature periodically. Its howls were terrifying as they pierced the night sky with something screeching.

Reed couldn’t bring himself to even move for a bit. Glaring up at his mistakes all now a freak show that was once a good friend. Reed couldn’t even breathe right anymore as his stammered breaths left him trying to grasp whatever he could understand about what had happened. Finally though Johnny’s hand on his shoulder pulled him back into reality.

“Uh Reed I don’t mean to interrupt things but… what do we do?” Johnny’s voice seemed a bit shook up as his fearful tone was notably rare. Still Reed pondered the question for a moment. Realizing in his heart that he only had one option. Reed glanced down at his hands, clenching them before glancing back up at the monster Harvey had become, fear being over ridden by determination.

“I made him like that, so I’m stopping him.” Reed told the others before stepping forward to go after it.

Sue’s gasp could be heard from next to Johnny. A hand reached out to grasp at Reed’s wrist. “No. We’re stopping him. Together.” Her voice was reassuring to say the least. She moved to Reed’s side and then something appeared around Sue - it was a shimmery transparent version of herself. She was just about visible to the naked eye as she concentrated her mind toward the creature that was once Harvey. Her body shimmered and the city street lights reflected off her, which is how they were seeing her now. Johnny looked even more disturbed at his sister.

Reed glanced back and now seeing Sue, even if it was in an interesting looking reflection of nearby lights, was reassuring and made him feel better about the daunting task ahead of them. Smiling a bit back to her Reed breathed looking back up at the monster.

“Wait hold on we’re seriously not doing this are we?!” Johnny quickly piped in wide eyed as he realized what the others were talking about and planning. His eyes darted between Susan and Reed hoping one of them would start laughing for the sick joke. Only getting a glance from the both of them that said everything left Johnny shaking his head in disbelief. “Uh alright sure… commit suicide… sounds great.” Johnny muttered shaking in fear just a little. It only got worse when Johnny looked over to Ben for some kind of support in how insane everything is.

Ben was looking on at the monster, with the kind of focus in his eyes you’d only see from him on a football field. “Yeah let's do this.” Ben nodded to himself as he spoke.

Susan felt a growing powering surge within her, an energy she’d never felt before. She saw what Reed could do, she only wondered what she could be capable of. It was time to find out. The four broke off into separate areas to counter the spawn of the gigantic creature that Harvey used to be.

As police were trying to keep the bystanders at bay Reed stretched his legs up around ten feet over them, walking right over them to nearby amazement. The officers tried to warn him to not go any further but Reed was well beyond listening with his laser focus. He had to think of a plan for how to stop Harvey, in a way that wouldn’t kill him but at least knock him out. Still even with the four of them and their powers, or at least what the powers appear to be at the moment. It was a daunting task to say the least.

As Johnny followed suit with the others he was in a panic, especially running past cops wearing only Reed’s shirt awkwardly clenched around his waist like a weird cloth diaper. He knew he was well past talking the others out of this and now had to figure out how to make himself burn again. Seeing as when he did it last he never got hurt or even a little singed. So maybe he could use it again? “Come on Johnny think think… burning… fire…” Johnny muttered to himself as the creatures spotted them and were coming quickly. “Uh FIRE!... GO! BURNING TIME! Err…

Flame on!”

Feeling and watching the fire engulf him again Johnny chuckled awkwardly to himself as he felt some resemblance of control again. “Alright fire! Yeah! TIME TO BURN YOU… UH THINGS YO…” Before Johnny could finish his admittedly weak insult though he felt his legs slowly lose contact with the ground. “Whoa whoa AHHH!” Johnny lifted into the air. But in trying to not fall started realizing he had control still. Able to lift up higher to the sky and swoop around a little. Now the previously nervous Johnny, soaring through the Las Vegas air, leaving a small flame trail behind him as he flew was all smiles, all confidence back, and just plain Johnny. “WOO! YOU GUYS SEEING THIS SHIT?! YEAH! TIME TO BURN THINGS!” Johnny was screaming from the top of his lungs as he came back down, flying through a patch of the creatures which knocked him into the air in a burning explosion of bodies which disintegrated before hitting the ground.

Reed looked up in brief amazement. He had to admit, he didn’t see that coming, and this whole situation, frightening though it may be, was becoming more and more fascinating by the second. Still he had work to do and with his legs still stretched up high he clinched his hand, letting it grow again as it started to look like a mallet. Swinging it down and through some of the creatures as they came after him. Knocking them out hard.

Sue watched Johnny in amazement when all of a sudden the creatures were running straight for her. She ducked but they ran past her, they couldn’t see her. She looked back up and blinked. Then she knew she could dodge them all to get to Harvey. She had to try and get through to him. Somehow. So she picked up pace and ran around these smaller hideous things. Dodging their projected pathways, she then got blocked of by ten more than broke off the giant creature and landed in her way. She felt the urge to push this surging energy outward. And so she brought up both her arms and pushed a barrier wave out into the monsters, forming a sort of bubble like effect around her. The creatures then get knocked away by the forcefield and the path was clear again. She jumped up onto the rubble and began to climb higher, not being noticed by the giant yet. She stopped as high as she could get and suddenly she reappeared. “Harvey! Harvey it’s me Sue can you hear me?!” She yelled up at the giant form that once was her friend.

Reed watched her now girlfriend run on ahead, including launching some kind of force field which knocked a group of the monsters over. Reed continued keeping himself above them all, smacking them away with his enlarged mallet. He tried to pick up the pace, though it was hard as the creatures grabbed his legs and leaving him having to swat them away. Worse though was when he looked over and saw what was happening to Ben.

Sure enough the football player was practically gun ho in leaping into the fray. Swinging haymakers left and right which were battering creatures to and fro. However the numbers game was catching up to him and creatures began to hog pile on him as the numbers grew. Soon Ben was seemingly gone from sight as he was swarmed. “Ben!” Reed called out to him trying to get over to him to save him, however he wasn’t ready for what he saw next.

Pieces of clothing, but more horrifyingly skin were being flung into the air as the creatures seemingly tore into Ben. Though no blood could be seen it seemed like Ben was a long goner. The pile on top of him though seemed to bloom upwards, and movement stirred as something bigger and bigger was inside of it all. Suddenly though the creatures went flying. As a massive orange monster rose up from the mess. Reed almost went after it before he realized suddenly that it was Ben. Certainly not Ben as he knew him. Tufts of skin and his shirt dangled off of him as he was now a colossal seven foot tall beast that looked like an orange rock golem of mythical proportions. Ben stood upright, his fist clinched as tightly as possible as he let out a scream that was almost primal in nature. “Alright no more mister nice guy. IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!” Ben called out before he went back to striking down any monster that got in his way. Though now any creature that his fists connected with got launched seemingly a mile away. Plus anything that tried to slow him down seemingly got thrown farther by him grabbing hold of them and just throwing them. Reed had to admit it was amazing to watch. All the more so with Ben in such a zone Reed wondered if he even realized yet this strange form he had taken on.

Sue tried to reach out to Harvey in vain. It took one look at her and then lifted one of its arms up and smashed it down upon her, nothing but rubble lay there when it lifted its arm back up. Johnny flew past. “SUUUEE!!!” He screamed out and dive bombed a few more creatures from mid air. But then Susan reappeared with a bubble around her. She was concentrating so hard on her forcefield that her nose began to bleed. She then put her arms down and fell to one knee in exhaustion. Clearly she needed more training on her new powers to use them more efficiently without getting tired.

Reed finally was able to clear out the area a bit of the brainless beasts before glancing over at where Susan was down, surrounded by rubble and on one knee. “Shit!” Reed had to think of something quickly especially since now Harvey was spewing more of the creatures out. Seemingly spawning them like some amphibian creature in a nasty looking display. Johnny had flown down to fight the monsters away from Sue but Reed knew they needed a plan to end this quickly. Glancing back up at Harvey he realized Harvey, even in this monster form. Still had human like qualities to his shape. Forming an idea Reed made his way over to Ben who was finishing taking out creatures around him. “Ben I have an idea but… how strong do you feel right now?” Reed asked, he would love to have a concrete plan but considering he just realized what was happening to Ben he could only guess what was capable.

Ben glanced over at Reed with a weirdly at the moment chuckle. “Man at this rate I’m some rock thing and I’m punching monsters that monster Harvey is crapping out I don’t even know what’s happening anymore!” Ben’s laugh after that freaked Reed out a little. As it seemed like his friend was enjoying this insanity just a little too much. Then again he could only assume Ben was on some adrenaline high.

Reed glanced back at Harvey. “Do you think you can throw me up at Harvey’s head? If I can apply enough pressure I might be able to choke him enough to make him pass out.” Reed pondered the thought to himself as he once again had to go on suspicions which made him nervous and upset. Not having facts to go on made this very risky and normally Reed wouldn’t even consider something to brazen. However given the situation Reed wasn’t left with much of a choice. He got to work preparing as Ben glanced back at Harvey himself.

“Okay I feel pretty good right now, and even if I could throw you that far and high how am I supposed to…” When Ben looked back at Reed he had to pause at watching Reed fold and mold himself into a ball. Finally though you could see limbs intertwined into it, Reed had folded himself into a perfect basketball sized sphere. He bounced in place a bit, finally hopping into Ben’s surprised grasp.

“Alright I’ll give this a try… but Reed?” Ben asked as he started to wind back for a throw.

Reed sighed in the mounting fear growing inside him, “Yeah?”

“This is beyond fucked up.”

“Yeah...”

Ben took a deep breath and lined up his target, “Alright, one fastball special coming up!” Then with a mighty heave sent Reed in his ball shape flying through the night sky. Reed screaming “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” All the while as he didn’t count on just how freakishly strong Ben had become. Finally as he got close Reed unfurled out. Stretching out in midair to grab hold of Harvey and start wrapping around his giant mutated friend’s neck. Trying to make it as tight as possible. Harvey though began jostling his neck violently to try and shake Reed off. Leaving him trying to hang on while he tightened himself harder and harder.

Sue looked up in horror at seeing her now boyfriend risk his life. “Oh my god REED!” She cried out in fear of his reckless action. Johnny had to keep her from running to him. “He’s got this.” He reassured his sister and she buried her head into her hands, she just couldn’t watch. She just didn’t know how to deal with the possibility of losing Reed.

Reed finally got himself tightened in on the throat of the mutated Harvey. “Alright come on buddy, time for beddy-byes.” He called out. Slowly but surely Harvey’s hard shaking was slowing down, leaving Reed to only hope it was working. “Go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep…” Reed could only mindlessly drone on with as he just hoped the mutated Harvey would just pass out already. Though in the movement slowly dwindling the monster would occasionally burst out some energy to try and fight more only for it to not work. As Reed could feel the mutated Harvey’s heart rate slowing on being so tightly on him. He looked up as a blinding light suddenly engulfed the scene. Something got launched towards him and wincing away from it he realized it was some needle projectile that lodged itself into Harvey. Causing him to cry out in pain before seemingly fading faster. Reed felt and watched on as the monster struggled one last time before falling over. Untangling himself and leaping away from the monster as he crashed hard onto the sandy ground. Reed landed into the sand with an unflattering splat. Groaning as he got up awkwardly after a moment in an almost cartoony half flattened state.

Sue picked up her feet and ran immediately over to Reed. She flings her arms around him, though as soft and squigy as he felt. “Reed you dumbass, what were you THINKING?” She had her angry voice now but she was actually relieved he managed to subdue Harvey, as painful as it was to see him in that state. “You were amazing though.”

Shaking the sand off of his head and subvertly reverting it back to normal Reed was up on his knees when Susan tackled him back to the sand. “Yeah no I fully admit that idea was stupid…” Reed assured Susan as he finally brought his arms up to embrace her. Ben ran over to the both of them, causing small vibrations in the Earth with each step as he did so. “Holy shit Reed you’re the man!” Ben told Reed as he pointed to him. Johnny had also shown up and landed on the sand. “Flame off.” He said aloud as the flames around him vanished. “Dude Reed did you just pull some MMA shit on him? Holy crap!”

Before anyone could say anything else though a balding man in a suit came up to them. Surrounding him were countless guys with logos on their uniforms to make each of them realize it was SHIELD. “Reed, Susan, Jonathan, Benjamin.” The man started with a simple tone. “Agent Coulson, SHIELD, and I think you four have had enough excitement for the night.”

--------------------------------

“We’ve been keeping track on what happened to each of you since the incident the night before. SHIELD has been keeping a close eye on you Mr. Richards for your experiment, and not just because of the potential if it worked…” Coulson and his men had finished off the rest of the monsters spawned out of the mutated Harvey and on top of working to clean the damages to the hospital and surrounding area were placing the mutated Harvey into a large enough holding vessel. “Basically we knew once things went south that we were going to be needed, maybe not to the capacity that we ended up needing too.”

The four were changed out of their clothes, or lack thereof in Johnny’s case, and had SHIELD issue shirts and sweat pants on as they followed Coulson in the haul of the large SHIELD transport ship. “Uh Mr. Coulson right?” Reed nervously started, “What about Dr. Storm? Is he okay?”

“We have your father Susan and Jonathan, his hurt but should be able to recover.” Coulson in once again a fairly straight forward tone which made Reed a bit nervous.

“What about Harvey? That thing you shot him with wasn’t lethal is it?” Johnny piped in.

“No its a tranquilizer powerful enough to level a herd of elephants. We were… saving it for something else. But it was needed at the time, though you had an impressive modified rear naked choke going Mr. Richards if I do say so myself.” Coulson noted with did get a nervous and brief chuckle out of Reed. “Still we’re going to figure out a containment option for him until we can figure out if there’s a way to bring him back to normal.”

“Okay but what about US though is what I want to know.” Ben looked visibly uncomfortable in the clothes he was forced into, as it was the biggest pair of shirt and sweatpants they had, and even then it didn’t leave much room for him.

Coulson stopped on cue and turned to the foursome, “Well while the four of you seem fine, albeit mutated a bit. We’re going to bring the four of you back to HQ and make sure none of you will pose any threat. Which brings me to the here and now. Protocol says we have to keep the four of you in separate containment for the night while we travel back to HQ. Just in case any of you have any further mutations that could cause you to turn into something like your friend.” Coulson’s statement caused a nervous gulp from the four of them. “Still we don’t want want to take chances so just go ahead and rest up for the night. If any of you need something or want something to eat I’ll have an officer on hand to help out. Just bang on your door and let him know. In the meantime I’ll see each of you tomorrow.”

The containment cells weren’t exactly a four star hotel room but weren’t prison either. The small bed was pretty good to sleep in, the toilet was clean, and there was even a sink and mirror. Still laying there in his cell Reed was lonely as Hell. He was roomed next to Susan on his left and Johnny on his right. Though the walls were notably thick he could hear Johnny yelling at the officer to get him a sandwich. Which was funny but didn’t do a lot to raise Reed’s spirit. Finally though he started to get an idea. Glancing over to the wall that separated him from Susan he stood up from sitting on his bed to examining it. Feeling it slightly and trying to figure out if there was something he could exploit with it.

Finally he realized the very slight opening between the wall and floor. Glancing over at the door to make sure the officer wasn’t looking he tried to push his hand into the opening, and to his amazement though it took a bit of an effort he pushed it in. “Hmm..” Reed quietly pondered the idea to himself, and got to work.

Susan sat on her cell’s bed with her knees bent up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees as her face was buried into them. Her long blonde locks cascaded down her legs, now only in just a t-shirt and shorts seemingly ready for sleep. She just felt lonely and depressed. Worrying over her father’s condition and not being able to see him. She wondered what SHIELD had in store for her and her friends. She just didn’t know what was going on anymore, the world had gone completely mad and the only person who could comfort her was on the other side of a steel reinforced wall. Until a sound made her lift her head up and look at the wall next to her.

Resembling something of squishing mixed with grunts and scapes Reed pushed and pulled with everything he could until he saw the underside of the bed Susan was on. Finally he pulled himself into the room more, clinching his sweat pants so they would come with as he finally popped into the room. “Agh, they need to clean that space in there.” Reed quietly joked, pointing at the wall.

Susan leapt back on the bed at Reed’s, shocked at his sudden appearance in the room. “Reed?!” She looked back at the wall and then back at him. He did not cease to amaze her. “How in the-..” It didn’t really matter, she got up and immediately hugged him tightly. “This is insane….” She despaired as she buried her head into his chest.

“Shh…” Reed quieted her, not just to reassure her but because the SHIELD agents probably aren’t going to be happy to find out he did this. “Its okay Sue I’m right here.” He told her caressing her hair a little. “Just relax, I’m not going anywhere.”

Susan nodded and pressed her ear up to his chest, hearing his heartbeat which calmed her down and relaxed her. She felt her own heart racing a little bit faster being so close to Reed, and being alone, finally. She squeezed her arms around his waist a little bit tighter, not wanting to let go. For she feared she may not even see him tomorrow at this rate with how things were going.

Reed smiled a bit, though not wanting to stay on the floor any longer carefully lifted himself up off the ground and let Susan get to her feet even as she continued to grasp him tightly. Which was making his upper half slightly puffy in amusing sort of way. “Here sit.” Reed patted the side of the bed next to where he took a sit himself. Though as Susan did so he carefully laid himself out on it. Gently pulling Susan on top of him. “Now what are you all worried over? I thought we just got through the hard part.” Reed asked her with a smile. Though he was filled with as much dread over the future as she was, especially more so his friend Harvey. He didn’t want the night to end on a downer.

“My father. I hope he’s okay...” She rested her head on his chest just underneath his chin, cuddling up to him. She wondered how Johnny was holding up too. His yelling seemed to have stopped for the moment, hopefully it was distracting enough to keep them from spotting Reed’s deception.

Reed gently placed his hands over her. Using his powers to flatten and enlarge them so they made an impromptu blanket over the both of them. “That agent guy said he was fine and I don’t have any reason to doubt him.” Reed told her snuggling in a bit. “Look whatever happens tomorrow happens. But don’t think for a moment I went through everything the last 24 hours threw at us just they could do something bad to us or keep you and me away.” Reed told her. “Fact is we’re all in this now, together. Just like you told me earlier right?”

Susan smiled at him and lifted her head up to look into his eyes “Together.” She said with a hopeful tone and a warm glint in her eye. He always knew how to cheer her up, like nobody else could. Sure she had her brother Johnny but that was a different kind of love. With Reed, it felt like they were the only two people in the world right now.

Reed looked deep into Susan’s heart and felt that funny feeling deep inside as he smiled a little more. She was everything he didn’t realize he wanted in someone but there she is. Laying atop of him in a moment he couldn’t ever forget if he tried. Finally Reed leaned in, lips out, and slowly coming towards her. A brief pause happened, force of habit from the last two times, before finally the two planted their lips together.

Susan blinked at him during the momentary pause, also expecting someone to burst in and stop them. Again. But their lips touched properly without interruption. And she smiled through it slightly. After everything they’d been through, at least they had each other’s love. And it would make them stronger. Finally, after the longest time of imagining this moment it was here.

Everything around Reed felt like it went into a stand still. Kissing Susan was everything he had hoped and more, the love between them made everything he went through, and the horrors of what was to come nothing anymore. Finally as he pulled away he gave Susan an assuring smile. “Everything will be alright Susan, I promise.”

“Who the fuck is this clown?” Quentin exclaimed, gesturing at the room’s most recent arrival.

The mutant did have a point, that was for sure. America herself was confused, as despite everything she had seen during her travels throughout the multiverse, this was entirely new. This had been her first ever encounter with someone who shared her ability to hop between dimensions. To be honest, she had expected something different. Someone fearsome and all powerful! Least of all, not some two-bit punk. It took a few seconds to even take in everything about the guy. This guy, Pusher Man as Derek referred to him as, certainly had a weird idea of style, with the man wearing a mismatch of different types of clothing, from a purple fedora atop his head, to a long flowing cape with a fur collar. On his fists, the man wore what appeared to be a pair of high-tech gauntlets, no doubt having the power to deal a whole fistful of pain.

“Name’s Pusher Man, dawg. You better respect or I’ll be givin’ yo a whuppin’”

America realized in that instant that she had never wanted to punch someone in the face as much as this guy. Quentin seemed to share that opinion, with him giving America a look as if to say “Please tell me this isn’t actually happening right now.”

Wishing to get this over with, America stepped forward in an intimidating manner. “Ok Chicos. I take it that you’re the guys behind the mutant growth hormone back on my Earth?”

“I thought that would be obvious, Ms America.” Derek proclaimed, moving back to sit behind his desk.

“Yeah, we’re know who you are, shawty” Derek’s adolescent friend chimed in politely. “And after we’re done with you m’ rep will be flyin’, you know what I’m sayin’?”

America felt embarrassed for herself that she even knew what he was saying. Did people seriously think that it is “cool” to speak like that? If it was, then America definitely didn’t want to be cool or anything of the sort. That’s not the only thing that confused her about this encounter. She nearly pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. This couldn’t be happening. Were the villains really monologing about their evil plan?

“So I met Mr B ‘ere, and told ‘im about my mad skillz.” Pusher Man explained, leaning back against Derek Bishop’s desk. He jolted forward however before continuing due to an irritated cough emerging from Derek who obviously wasn’t a fan of anyone touching his desk. “Sorry bruv. Anyway, back in da day, I was just a regular gangsta from the hood. Then boom! I’m a mutant! Teleportation powers baby!”

“Quite so. With my colleague’s abilities, we started our little side project.” Derek continued. “Selling Mutant Growth Hormone across the multiverse! How quaint! Pusher Man provided the first sample of the drug...”

“Yeah boi! Came across this shit ages ago! Was well crazy!”

“Then it was just a simple matter of recreating it. It was a flawless plan.”

“Until you came along, Shawty.”

Ms. America had had enough. Now, it was punching time. She moved forward, cracking her knuckles, intent on sending Pusher Man’s head flying off of his shoulders when Quentin stopped her.

“Wait. Why’d you do this Bishop? Surely your wife wouldn’t have wanted this!”

What was Quentin doing? Why on earth was he asking about the man’s wife? And how did he know about her? America raised her eyebrow at the thought. Quire’s telepathic abilities must have started working again. She just had to trust that the mutant knew what he was doing.

The question certainly caught Derek off-guard too. He rose from his seat, moving around the desk and back in front of the two teenagers. The question had put a strange smile on the man’s face. He paused for a few moments in thought before letting out a small chuckle. Was this funny to him?

“You see, running a delivery business isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be! Sure everyone’s shopping online nowadays, but there are hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of other companies out there doing the exact same thing. Thought it was time to try something new” He explained. He paused again for a few seconds before continuing. “As for my wife? Well you’re right. The bitch didn’t agree. So I had her killed. Didn’t take much. Just a few faulty screws on the ski lift at her favourite resort in Boulder. Everyone believed that I was an accide…”

“How…How could you!”

The sudden sound of the sobbing young woman surprised everyone in the room. Well everyone but Quentin. She was around their age, with dark hair and apart from the eyes which was now red and blotchy from the tears, a pale face. She seemed to have been training, evident by the yoga pants she was sporting and the purple tracksuit jacket. Evident by that, and the bow and arrow in her hand. America couldn’t tell which was more threatening. The sight of the notched arrow, or the furious look on her face. A quick smirk from Quentin clearly told America that he knew that she had been there in the doorway the entire time. And judging by her anger, she certainly wasn’t happy that her father had ordered her mother dead.

“Katherine… what… it’s not… it’s not how it sounds darling!”

“Shut it father. I’m going to fucking kill you!” Kate Bishop screamed, firing the arrow.

“Agent Parrington?”

The SHIELD agent carefully approached Sigyn after the nasty argument she had with General Ross. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’re needed in the medical area, Tony Stark has just been brought in and has severe damage from an altercation with Tarene.” The agent informed her.

Victoria’s head lifted upward to regard the SHIELD agent. “Tarene?” Where had she heard that name before? Back in Asgard she suspected. Nostalgia and distant memories were becoming all too frequent, she wished they’d just stop. She then realised they were on about her friend, Tony, she had to get up help. Despite feeling slightly weakened, she jumped out of her bed and changed into her SHIELD uniform that she wore around base and headed straight for the medical bay with haste.

“No seriously is this considered international grounds?” Tony asked as he was wheeled on his stretcher into the medical bay. The agents who were bringing him in looked like they couldn’t wait to get away from the 19 year old CEO. Which they were finally able to when they put Tony at his part of the area. By now his broken and mangled arm was a deep red and turning purple, and his waist was blue. Both of which were almost starting to get numb from all the pain he had felt with them. Tony sighed frustrated as he waited on the stretcher by himself.

“Jesus Christ Tony! What in the Hell happened to you?!” Came a familiar female voice from the doorway as she walked in, all clad in black leather resembling Black Widow’s attire. She sighed and folded her arms looking at the state of her younger friend. This was going to take some work…

Completely relieved to see his friend Victoria Tony relaxed just a bit letting his head lay down into the small pillow under it. “Oh I learned that crazy women with hammers don’t take to listening very well.” Tony remarked as he was looking upwards at the ceiling lights. “Especially when said hammer can break through every conceivable metal possible on someone’s Iron Man suit. Never try to grab weird hammers being thrown at you, that's the moral for the day.” Tony noted with a wise nodding of his head.

Agent Parrington walked over to his bedside and peered down at him with her slightly sparkling blue eyes, with her head tilted slightly. She was confused. “A hammer..? A hammer that can break through anything?” It sounded similar to Dragonfang’s characteristics. After all, the two weapons were siblings. Her thoughts wandered back to the man in a red cape wielding a hammer, who had a sort of brotherly feeling to him.

“No no not… whatever it is you just said it was…” Tony tried to recall what he heard her saying to Loki. “Mlojir? Mlonor? Mlonir? Something like that. Anyways not to ruin this nice conversation but can we get on with making my arm not a mangled muscle and bone stew anymore please?” Tony asked gesturing to it.

‘Mjolnir…’ The name rang a bell, she knew it. She nodded down at Tony and began to lift her arms out over him and a gentle warming light emanated from her hands and down into his mangled arm and his broken bones, slowly the light spread throughout his entire body, making him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. “And Pepper? Is she alright?” She asked with concern written on her face. She hoped she was not caught in the crossfire, having just began her new job as his secretary today.

“Oh God yeah that’s the stuff…” Tony muttered as already he started to feel much better in his arm. “You know when you’re done with this whole SHIELD business you know what you should do? Learn messaging and that kind of work. You’d make millions. Not to mention I would totally hire you on a weekly basis. If not bi-weekly. I’m not hard to please.” Tony rambled a bit as he felt life slipping back into his arm. Letting out a breath of relief. “Pepper and James are perfectly fine. Hell Pepper actually helped save my stupid ass. Seriously already very happy hiring her as my secretary.” Tony noted.

A small chuckle escaped Victoria’s lips. She then realised that she had a friend who made her laugh. Although she did not see him very often, when she did, he was a delight to be around. Despite what everyone else thought, she thought him to be sweet and endearing as a person. She looked past his arrogance and irritating habits that put off most people and she could never feel intimidated by his intelligence, because she knew that if he tried any of his smartass alecks he knew he would get a serious beat down. “I’m glad they’re okay. But how did-...I mean….WHY did this happen to you? What was this Tarene even after from you? Not the suit…right?” She inquired curiously.

Thinking back Tony was able to feel his arm start to really come back around to normal. Even able to clinch his hand into a fist again. “Well she wanted our company’s satellite systems to track down Loki. You know that guy from the party not long ago? Well I told her in my nicest tone how she could go screw herself. She didn’t like that and we started fighting. The suit sucked royally but thankfully Loki showed up and talked her out of messing me up any further. When the rest of your SHIELD buddies showed up she surrendered and I guess is being put into whatever maximum security crazy lady room you guys have.” Tony was happy to see the guy come and save his butt. Though in a much more ideal work his piece of crap armor wouldn’t have failed him so quickly and he wouldn’t have needed it.

“I….see….” Her blue eyes seemed to glow brighter and she blinked taking it all in. It was obvious something bothered her. She thought back to how Amora had painted Loki in a bad light, yet here he was again saving the day again. Victoria looked to the side a little sadly. She didn’t know how she felt anymore, she was lost and confused. But she knew one thing was for certain, she felt all alone without anyone to explain to her what to do. All her life she had followed orders but Amora made her realise she could make her own choices, could live her own life, free of all this hurt and pain. She looked back down to Tony and her arms fell down to her sides at having healed him over completely, she felt a little dizzy having just recovered from Team X’s beating. She had to grab onto the nearby side table to prevent herself from falling over. She waited for the dizzy spell to pass.

When Victoria almost fell over Tony quickly sat upright on the stretcher. His newly healed arm not even on his mind anymore as his friend looked like she was going to pass out. “Victoria you okay?” Tony asked before holding his healed arm. “Jesus it wasn’t that bad was it?” He asked concerned he made her put a little too much energy into healing him.

“N-no it wasn’t. I’m just a little fatigued. I...was sent in to recover the Hulk and about eight highly skilled individuals took it’s toll on me. A formidable force indeed. I think SHIELD needed more than just I to deal with them. But I held up as much as I could. They found me passed out in the Canadian rockies. I thought I was honestly, going to die out there in the freezing snow.” She mused sadly about the situation. “On the bright side, one of them called me pretty.” She let a chuckle leave her mouth as she tried to make light of the situation. But on the downside, General Ross gave her hell for ‘letting’ the Hulk get away. No-one just lets him get away, he forces himself out if need be.

Tony listened in and suddenly didn’t feel so bad about his situation. As Victoria sounded like she had a Hell of a day. “Well… shit.” Tony muttered a bit clueless what to say, which considering him was impressive to pull. Letting himself sink back down onto the stretcher a bit before hopping off, pulling up a chair to sit down next to her. “Well I guess it’s probably for the best I’m getting out of this Iron Man business then I guess.”

Victoria’s eyes widen at him in disbelief. “No...you can’t! That Iron Man suit is your baby. You’ve worked so hard for it to just quit now.” She protested at him in a firm voice, resembling that of an older sister. “So what if a hammer wielding crazy lady nearly tore you to shreds. Just think of what they would do to any normal person. Take from this experience, make the suit better.” She then gave him a warm smile. “I know you have it in you, Tony Stark.”

Tony glanced over at Victoria a bit surprised by her response. After the day she just had any other reasonable person would’ve told him to get as far away from this kind of insanity with no regrets. Victoria though wasn’t quite like that. Even when they were little and she wouldn’t let anything slide when she didn’t think it was right. “Well I guess I need to think about this. I don’t know if I have it in me to make this work but… that suit was pretty sweet when it did work.” Tony remarked to himself scratching the back of his head.

“Then there you have it. You know the answer - never give up.” She nudged him in the shoulder gently and reassured him with a smile. Quite ironically, she was always good at giving inspiration to others but she never took her own advice. She needed to take a leaf out of her own book more than ever recently. She was sick and tired of being beat down with little appreciation that was for sure.

"Enough!" The Dooms surrounding the Rhino all let loose energy blasts at once forcing the beast to the ground. A concentrated E.M.P burst eminated from the centre of the circle where the attacks all met when colliding with Rhino, the blast knocking out all the systems in the airport including the equipment weilded by the Sokovian military. The Dooms however all remained standing. One of them moved to the centre whereas the others returned to where the jet was now returning to land. Surveying the Rhino he signled something out, grabbing a chip and then ripping it of the suit. Little did those on the airport know this was being broadcasted live to Latveria and surrounding nations, it would only be a matter of time until it was cast worldwide.

"This country, Sokovia. A gem on the European continent has seen enough bloodshed. Enough war. The Government has betrayed it's people and it's neighbours. I will be dispatching forces to disable any and all facilities or personnel utilizing stolen Latverian Technology. Once that is done all over the country I shall set up safe zones for votes to join the new Latverian Union. Should the people wish it I will then step in to aide this country, and once it is liberated with as little bloodshed as possible elections will be held to appoint it's own leader. Until then-" He pointed towards Latveria. "Anyone seeking refuge is welcome to enter Latveria and shall recieve the warmest of welcomes until the country is stabilized. Worry not about your luxuries, I had hoped to announce this at the UN conference however I will announce it here."

Back in Latveria Doom stood onfront of the control console, directly controlling the actions of the Doombot. He hit a button and the entire country lit up. The Doombot back in Sokovia, being recorded by one of the other bots, spoke when he did. "Latveria is now fully powered, I know some abroad question my leadership in the fact that I do not even offer people electricity but now it flows free all over Latveria. The reason it took so long is I wanted to ensure that everyone recieved this luxury and right at the same time." The bot turned back to the Soldiers. "You too, should you chose to stop serving a corrupt Government are welcome to lay down your arms, and welcome in Latveria or if Sokovia choses to join my new Union you will still be welcome here. You are merely men and women trying to help make your country stronger. Do your service to your fellow countrymen, and I respect that." The bots slowly filed back into the jet. "Any Sokovian soldier who wishes to lay down their arms, has twenty-four hours to do so. However, I will also try my best to ensure that no-one is harmed in the fight against the corrupt Government. There are no acceptable losses, and no acceptable collatoral damage. Any damage done will be repaired no matter Sokovias decision, and any loss of life will be extremely regretable. Thankyou."

With that the Doombots turned and entered the jet. Letting go of his control of the bots he just sighed. His plans had... temporarily been delayed. However that was only a temporary setback. Nothing he couldn't handle, now for his next plan... He could do more than one at the same time afterall. For he was Doctor Victor Von Doom, ruler of Latveria and the (He was sure) soon to be quite prosperous Latverian Union.

He'd let his message settle in first, and then he'd speak to other neighbouring countries. He was sure they'd be more than willing to join. Feeling left out by the EU and the rest of the world. He'd represent the little man, his plans were coming to fruition.



The Quinjet landed on Heli-Carrier Alpha. He wasn't entirely sure on the name, the other ones were Hermes and Luxor. Alpha... it just wasn't nearly as exciting. Despite the fact that he was based here and quite a few of the other more powerful gifted were. Such as Agent Parr- Valkyrie. As she had apparently called herself. That would get some getting used to, he hadn't chosen his own name. He wasn't entirely sure wha the would chose if he had to pick his own name. He had been Agent Wilson and then when they found the shield of Captain America buried in the ice he became Captain America. There was no time he had really chosen his own name. He'd probably chose the name of some form of bird of prey, that would probably work.

He just sighed when he saw the General wading towards him. "Agent Wilson-" Well, at least that suggested what mood the General was in. It wasn't even Captain, let alone Captain America. At least he wasn't just calling him Soldier, or Wilson. That'd be really bad. Wilson stood at attention. "Yes Sir?" Ross pulled out a file and threw it against Wilsons chest and Wilson braced against it to prevent from being pushed back. "This is yours. You trained her, you know what she did? She let the Hulk go." Wilson just gave it a quick glance. "I am sure there is a reason behind it, in fact I am about to go see Agent Parrington herself, Sir." Ross just shook his head. "I know you're working on a little project, Avengers. I want Hulk to be a priority for that team." Wilson shook his head.

"We aren't forming to tidy up after your mess, Sir. With all due respect." Ross paused for a second as he obviously had to collect his thoughts. "You will go, and do what you are ordered to do Soldier. Don't think you're so untouchable just because you carry that shield. Don't forget who you work for, I'll be in touch." Wilson went rigid and offered a salute before walking in the opposite direction grumbling. He soon learned however, that Valkyrie wasn't in her room. She was instead in one of the main med bays. He found out why when he entered and he just sighed. He was really hoping Hyperion would go to see the kid. At least Fury had agreed only to ask him to be a consultant. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about taking a kid into a fight after all.

"Agent Parrington, good to see you. Though I have to ask, Mr.Stark what are you doing here?"



"I am pretty sure this Kree has the power to hurt you, or damage you. However exactly that works. They've wiped out several planets but since you guys seem to have a lead on him already... I guess we're all in this together. At least for now. Where too then?"

Tony Stark had to really think about the pros and cons about the suit, the thrill and good it did compared to the risks and fact he is a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He never was one to give up but he wasn’t an idiot either. Either way Tony could only hope to have time to ponder the issue before things got ugly again.

Before Tony could really dwell on the thoughts for much longer some guy in a suit that was needless to say wasn’t leaving the wearer’s nationality in question. All it needed was a cheeseburger and an assault rifle and it’d be perfect, maybe something xenophobic too. “I’m sorry did I need a members card and overly American suit to get healed up around here?” Tony snipped out quick as only a Stark could. Remembering that he should probably try to be civil Tony Stark stood up and held out a hand to Sam. “Well since I’m as internationally known as I thought I was, what’s your name mister…. America?” Tony asked still puzzled by the suit a bit. If nothing else he was craving Wendy’s. Do they have one on the ship?

Sam shook his hand. “Well, I guess kids these days don’t watch the news. Sam Wilson, Captain America. I would have thought a Stark would recognise the Uniform. Guess not.” He looked at Valkyrie giving her a questioning look. “Also, S.H.I.E.L.D is an international agency. The Captain America suit and shield are a throwback to the original Captain America who was lost in World War Two, surely you at least know of him?” He turned to look at Valkyrie. “I don’t know if Ross-” He said the name with some hint of disdain “- Told you this but I’m putting together a team. Here’s your formal invitation, and Mr.Stark. I’d like for you to be a tech consultant.” Keep it short, keep it simple.

“Oh really? Here I thought you were just playing dress up.” Tony Stark already was not enjoying Sam’s tone with him. There was an aire of superiority to it that made Tony want to use his now healed arm and put it through the guy’s face. It was the kind of crap he had to put up with constantly when he took over his dad’s job. Just because he was 19 years old people already assumed he couldn’t handle the position and responsibilities. Tony took it as an insult, as he knew his dad was preparing him for the role from the day he was born. To insinuate Tony wasn’t ready to run the family business meant belittling his father to him. The biggest insult you could do to the young Stark.

“Look I happen to run a multi-billion dollar organization in case you don’t read the news past the funny comics. I don’t have time to pay attention to every little detail of the world, especially any news considering a guy who runs around pretending to be someone else.” He was familiar with Captain America, even the interesting urban myths that the person who did all the public appearances wasn’t actually the man himself, and that the real Captain America was either a woman, an African-American, even a Native American depending on who you ask. Either way all the stories about him made him come off as very respectable, something Sam Wilson clearly had no idea on.

Still the tech consultant role sounded good to Stark, it meant good publicity for Stark Tech to work with something that would be incredibly high profile. Plus if nothing else Tony knew he needed to do something to get back on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s good side. While Fury never said anything directly to him or anyone else. Tony had heard through the grapevine that the director wasn’t pleased at all that they lost a big supplier in their weapons because of what Tony did to the company.

“Now as for the consulting position, eh sure why the Hell not.” Tony responded with a shrug.

“I don’t pretend to be anyone else. You’re in the big world of adults now, sometimes a title. An ideal needs to have a physical presence. I was chosen to do this, I didn’t chose it. I’ll do this job till I die or someone else comes along. I spent years training for this, and was lucky enough that my blood would accept what little of the super soldier serum S.H.I.E.L.D has left. You might have your fancy tech, but I have training kid. Hell, maybe if this all pans out Iron Man can become more than a pipe option-” He raised a hand and indicated Valkyrie. “-After all. You wouldn’t be the first Rook I trained.”

“Oh I’m in a big world of adults now?!” Tony feigned shock with his hands up to his cheek. He was getting fairly sick of Sam’s belittling tone and was ready to just get back to the company so he can get started on getting things fixed up. When he is confused on choices or frustrated, like Sir ‘Murica was making him. Work was usually a good way for him to unwind. “Hey it’s great you have a ‘rah rah’ heartfelt story to tell all the good little boys and girls. But don’t assume for one second being an adult means violence towards someone who disagrees with you and war with lots of people who disagree with you.” Tony planted a finger right onto Sam’s chest. “Hell you wouldn’t last a day in the world of business. I’ve dealt with people who would talk you out of anything you had just because they felt like it. People who make Chinese water torture look like an afternoon on the beach. People who make any terrorist you deal with look like a cheap bitch. You can think you’re a big boy all you want, truth is, you probably don’t even know what being a grown up even means.” With that Tony gave Sam a very mocking salute and headed out of the medical room to get a transport back to work. “Oh and Cap?” Tony paused at the exit and turned back, needing to get this last part off his chest. “I don’t know if I’m keeping the Iron Man program going or not, but if I am, I’m sure as Hell not wasting it on you.” With that, Tony turned and left.

Sam just turned to look at Valkyrie as the, well, brat left. “You know, I faced a telepathic pterodactyl earlier and an army of dinosaurs. I’d rather take the pterodactyl again than go through that again.” He shuddered. “How the other half lives eh? I don’t know how you did all the political and business maneuvering back when you were with your family Valkyrie. I’m sorry but I really don’t. I hate fighting as much as the next guy, but I’d rather go into the fight myself and perhaps lose my life in the process than let some innocent person who wasn’t prepared take the bullet for me.” He sighed. “Anyway, I know you’ve known Stark for a long time. If you want to go after him, on you go. I’ll be in touch but until then-” He turned to leave the room as well. “Our glorious leader awaits.”

“Hey! Who turned off the gravity?” The Blob yelled as he began to levitate due to Jean’s telekinesis. While the Blob spun in midair, as if he were in the vacuum of space, the Beast rushed up towards where the Blob was floating and leapt up towards him. However, when the Beast crashed into his target, the only thing that happened was the Beast ricocheting off of the Blob’s body.

“If you wanted to use my as a trampoline, you should just have asked!” The Blob joked again, even though he was in no position to be of such light character. Meanwhile, as the Blob jested at his own expense, Vanisher had reappeared next to Lorelei and safely escorted her away from the battle via his teleportation powers.

While all that was happening, Carol slowly pulled herself out of the shattered remains of what used to be a tree. This was the second time that Carol thought that she should have received a fatal injury when in fact she did not. While crashing down into a tree and causing it to splitter did hurt momentarily, Carol was surprised that she did not have any bruises from the impact, let along broken bones.

The better question was how Carol got there. The last thing Carol remembered doing was sitting in the living room as she was finishing up some homework. Her parents had just ran out to Lowes. One of the few times where her parents were not arguing, although Carol knew that something would happen at the store. One second, Carol was working on her homework. The next, she was wearing this ridiculous outfit while being in a body that seemed to be a version of her own body that was a little less than a decade older than her current age.

From the corner of her eye, Carol noticed some kind of tiny projectile flying towards herself. With a reflex that she did not even know she had, Carol stood up and snatched out of the air whatever was soaring towards her before it had a chance to strike her torso. Even with her gloves on, Carol could still feel a moist, sliminess in her hands. When she looked down to see what she had caught, Carol realized that she had caught a green tongue. On the other side of the tongue was the Brotherhood member, Toad.

“Ay, I usn’t amying four hose!” The Toad tried to plead with Carol, while his pronunciation was inhibited by his extended tongue. “I us owning four oar ed.”


“You’re a pervert.” Carol muttered under her breath before she yanked back on the green tongue and swung it around her head. After a few rotations, Carol released Toad’s tongue, sending him flying towards Avalanche. Right when Toad struck his teammate, Vanisher had appeared to escort the Greek mutant from this losing battle. Since Toad hit Avalanche during the teleportation process, the hunchbacked mutant was transported along with the other two mutants, although they would feel the impact once they reached wherever Vanisher had taken them.

Then something struck Carol, metaphorically speaking. What had caused her to do that, to swing some mutant by his tongue? What was wrong with her? First it appears that she has near invulnerability. Then she somehow has fighting reflexes that she did not use to have. How could this get any weirder?

Suddenly, Carol saw a yellow glow arise in the palm of her hand. With each passing moment, the light grew, first being contained in within the crease of her hand, but then encompassing her entire hand. Carol stretched out her hand, pointing her palm out in front of herself so that she could see how this was affecting the back of her hand. However, she instantaneously felt a recoil in her arm. Somehow, Carol had shot a blast of energy that was composed of the same light that had formed around her hand.

Unfortunately for her, Carol had accidentally aimed her arm towards one of the X-Men, Jean Grey to be exact. Carol’s face grew so red that the color of her skin would have matched the same hue that was used for the red in her costume. Furthermore, she was so embarrassed at having shot an energy blast at someone whom she assumed was not her enemy, since it was an easy assumption to make that one group of mutants who are attacking the other group of mutants who had attacked Carol were probably not her enemies, that as a result she could not even speak. All she could do was stand there, frozen by her embarrassment.

Looking around at the trashed penthouse suite around her, America Chavez tried to put together exactly what had happened. At her feet lay countless unconscious body guards. Among them was the infamous Pusher Man. Thank God that he was out as one more word from him and America wouldn’t have been able to control herself. To his left, sat Quire, who was slouched against the desk massaging his forehead slightly with him fingers. He gave America a short, half-assed smile before she moved on with her eyes. Derek Bishop lay unconscious too, a short distance from the desk. The only noticeable difference between him and the rest seemed to be a deep red cut across the side of his face. That had been the second arrow which Kate had fired.

“Oh, Kate…” America murmured to herself as she turned to look at the girl. She sat away from the group by one of the penthouse’s bay windows in silence. America had mixed feelings about the girl. She was skilled, she had to give her that. The girl had just finished her archery session, hence the bow, and boy was she good with that thing. Quentin had quickly telepathically told her during the conflict that archery wasn’t the only thing she was good at. The mutant had read Kate’s mind. Apparently the girl regularly took part in training sessions for a whole range of things, from martial arts, to sword fighting and archery. Again, she was good. However she had been reckless. She would have probably killed her father with that first arrow if America hadn’t had stopped it. America couldn’t exactly blame her for lashing out though. The man had literally admitted to killing her mother. America would probably have done the same.

Glancing back towards the numerous unconscious henchmen and the two ring leaders, America began thinking about what to do next. She couldn’t just leave them all hear. They’d just carrying on as normal and continue their mutant growth hormone trade. Nor could she kill them, regardless of how much Pusher Man made her want to. That was when America remembered the card that lay in her pocket. S.H.I.E.L.D. could help. This was totally their kind of thing! She swiftly pulled out the card and glanced at the number before turning towards Quentin.

“Hey, Q. You mind…”

Before she could continue, the mutant shot her another smile and sprung to his feet. “On it boss.” He said mockingly before grabbing the phone on the desk and began punching in the phone number. America grimaced slightly as he did it. Obviously her psychic defences weren’t as strong as she had thought. Shit.

Now however wasn’t the time to worry about that. As Quentin began mouthing off at the S.H.I.E.L.D. secretary on the phone for putting him on hold, America decided it was time to something important.

“Hey chica…” America spoke calmly as she came to sit next to Kate. She was frozen, staring down at the city below through the glass. America, noticing a tear running down the girls face, moved her arm gently, gently wiping it away. “You did good today.”

A series of sobs followed from the young girl who burrowed her head into her hands.

America wrapped her arms around her. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok.”

My head felt like it was on fire. Couldn't see anything. Couldn't feel anything. No noise or taste or smell. Just void. Nothingness. I toyed with the idea that I've finally found my healing factor's limit and was now paying for my sins in hell. 'Course I knew better than that; I'd been like this before. Last time somethin' similar occurred 'cuz I was chasing down Nuke in Vietnam and got caught inside a napalm bombing run. Napalm. Nasty stuff, burns people to nothin' but charcoal. That was the second worst pain I'd ever experienced. 'For a while it had been cemented as numero uno. Today was worse. Much worse. Somebody once told me that you don't feel nothin' after the first 500 degrees. Bullshit, I say. I felt at least 1000 there before my nerves were fried. Professor Dickbag had the place rigged with a frickin' nuke. A frickin' nuke! That freak was so paranoid that he managed to smuggle in a nuclear weapon just 'ta use as a self destruct fail-safe. Well, Thorton, your stupid bomb worked just fine. Everything's gone. Now there's a square mile of Canadian wilderness that'll be unlivable for the next hundred years. Not 'ta mention the hundreds of dead base personnel and my own current predicament. I can't believe I let Romulus get in my head. Shoulda seen the signs a long time ago. Been nothin' but a puppet ever since...well. As long as I can remember. 'Cuz that piece of crap scrubbed my brain clean of any memories that didn't feature his sorry ass.

And then there was light.

Really, really blinding light.

It took a second for Logan's vision to clear up. The first sight he was greeted with was a helicarrier descending from the clouds, Quinjets swarming around it. Ah, crap. On top of everything else, Wolverine was minutes from being captured by SHIELD's cronies and strapped to a table in some dark bunker to be experimented on for the rest of eternity. No way. Not if James Howlett had anything to say about that. Only, he couldn't move his arms. Or anything besides his eyes for that matter. Wolverine strained to examine the burnt out clearing for any means of escape. Or even just somewhere to hide. Nothin'. The entire facility had been turned to ash and the forest was splinters. If SHIELD saw his body, they'd take it in a second. Even if he was dead, an entire skeleton's worth of primary Adamantium was priceless. There wasn't enough money in the world to buy something so rare and so valuable. A quinjet touched down at the edge of the crater just in time for Logan's hearing to return. The roar of the plane's engine shook his new eardrums, threatening to burst them. Come on come on come on. Heal faster, damn it! The jet's ramp lowered itself into the snow, and a pair of agents dressed in hazmat suits made their way out. Based on how they were wielding their weapons, neither expected to find any danger here. A third agent exited the Quinjet, pointing a Rad detector towards the crater.

The threesome slowly made their way deeper into the crater. Wolverine's organs were healing as fast as they could; but until his muscle and sinew started to reform, there was nothing Logan could do but watch. One of the SHIELD agents pointed straight at Logan. "Hey, you see that?" He whispered. "Yeah," the other guy responded. "Is that a metal skeleton?" The agents picked up the pace of their little jog. Crap. Wolverine thought. "Is- Are his organs...regrowing?" The hazmat agent holding the rad detector asked, astonished. "Whoever that is, they're not dead. Look at the eyes. It can see us." The final agent pulled a radio from his belt and reported Wolverine's location to whoever was on that helicarrier in the sky. No no no no no NO!!

One of the agent's raised the butt of his rifle, slamming it against Wolverine's unprotected metal skull. Darkness enveloped his mind as his eyes went limp. "Yeah. Yeah. He's definitely alive. Of course, director Fury. We're taking him in now." Were the last words Wolverine heard before his mind was blanketed in unconsciousness once more.

@Gowi and @Sep present you with: Ant-Man, Earths Smallest Avenger!

Agent Laskov tried to ignore the quips and remarks on the trip back. It wasn’t the easiest task ever and she had to admit, she found it hard to refuse knocking him out. Though she did, somehow. Thankfully it wasn’t the longest drive, there had been some questions on the building of S.H.I.E.L.D's main base, the Triskelion, within driving distance of New York but all the old work done to Camp Lehigh was too good to pass up on. Some of the older buildings like the armory and garage still stood, with a large industrial looking building sitting behind it. Most the extensive work was naturally done underground however, just to keep the true scale of it secret.

She turned back to look at Pym as they neared the looming cylindrical main building, centered between two long curving arms that turned in an almost hugging gesture to the old campsite. Before they got there however, they reached a flag in the middle of a roundabout. Behind this flag stood a statue of Steve Rogers, the original Captain America.

“We’re almost there now Mr. Pym. Captain America will meet with you as soon as you’re checked into the facility so if you have any questions before meeting the Captain I suggest you get them off your chest now.”

Hank’s quips seemed to go on stand-by mode when the agent mentioned Captain America. It was hard to realize that he’d be in the same room with someone who carried that mantle and Hank had some experience knowing stuff about legacies. He crossed his arms as he looked to Agent Laskov and thought for a moment about what he’d exactly say here.

“Well, it’s Captain America for one.”

His eyes drifted from building to building.

“I don’t even know what questions to ask, outside of the big ones that are classified. Hell, I don’t know why you guys are pulling me out here either. You said that was classified too. All I know is that it is about Ant-Man.”

Laskov nodded.

“So, I guess we get this over with and find out what you guys need to talk to me about beyond what you are ‘allowed’ to tell me. I guess I should ask one thing though.”

“What?”

“I’m hungry. So if you can be a good gofer when I’m talking to Captain America and grab me a slice of pizza that’d be wonderful.”

Laskov rolled her eyes.

“Well you know what, the Captain is planning on meeting you in the officer’s mess. So he must know it’s lunch time. So you’re in luck.” She turned to face forward in time for them to pull up to the large door structure. She walked out of the door and waited for Pym to hop out of the car.

The entire massive entryway was made of glass, and just inside was the black eagle to symbolize S.H.I.E.L.D. Though it wasn’t visible at this distance the entire statue was a plaque with roughly the top half of it containing the names of the fallen or the lost in the history of S.H.I.E.L.D. While they weren’t officially members of S.H.I.E.L.D, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were atop that list.

As Pym left the vehicle another female agent, this time a blonde, walked up.

“Agent Carter. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Pym.” She offered her hand.

“If you’d like to come with me, we’ll get you signed in and to the Captain as soon as possible.”

Hank Pym was admittedly very nervous despite whatever it appeared on the surface. As he exchanged hands and respect with another agent of the quasi-federal agency he began to get the depth of the circumstances he was here. This wasn’t for role call or consequences of vigilantism. He wouldn’t be here if it was so simple as that. He had to wonder what scenario called for this though since he wasn’t exactly the highest profile hero in New York or even the United States.

“How can I refuse? Lead the way.” He chuckled, responding to Agent Carter as he shuffled his hands in his pockets.

She turned leading them into the main atrium. “Well, I am sure you could refuse by changing to… what was it again? The size of an insect?” She shook her head slightly. Some of the things they learned about some people were just weird… Though apparently this was one of the more legit theories to be walked through the front door so to speak, with the fact apparently there had previously been an Agent who had held the mantle of Ant-Man.

She first walked him up to a reception type area where his fingerprints were taken and he was given a biometric tag to keep track of him and ensure that he could access any area of the facility he had permission to enter, and keep him out any he didn’t have authorization for. It wasn’t until the elevator that Sharon properly spoke again.

“I’m glad you decided to come Mr. Pym, and I’m sure the Captain will feel that way too. I’ve had the privilege of helping oversee this project and I must say, from what we know you’re an excellent fit.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice.” Hank commented as he carefully looked at every bit of the federal facility that he could analyze. Didn’t hurt to be cautious, after all.

“A fit for what, exactly? The other agent couldn’t really give me a straight answer.”

“That’s the question, some call it the Avengers Initiative, which is my personal favourite, others call it a response team and the more fanboyish amongst us are calling it a group of Earth's Mightiest Heroes” She shrugged.

“Really, I’m just the Captain's aide. My job is to review potential applicants and help members of the team get used to being on the team. Really think of me like a personal assistant to the team.”

“So it’s a job interview. Heh.”

The elevator dinged and the door opened, she then indicated down the corridor as she lead them down the corridor and into one of the first doors on the left. Opening the door, Agent Carter leaned in before Hank was at the door and then turned to stand at the side of the door in a defensive position.

“The Captain will see you now.” She smirked at the comment.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Hank muttered under his breath as he stepped forward, deciding it was time to get this over with.

There was some silver lining to all of this, as he remembered what the other agent had said previously about this meeting be in the equivalent of a military cafeteria and him getting a meal out of it. His budget in the current week had kind of gone to the dogs and all he had back at his apartment was what was left of a two-day old pizza and two cans of some dollar store brand soda; not exactly a great meal for someone who exerted as much energy as he did.

“I heard there was lunch!” Hank exclaimed as he walked in the mess hall.

Sam Wilson sat at the back of the small hall, the shield was off to the side leaning against the wall and the red white and blue uniform wasn’t currently being worn. Instead he was wearing a more grey style jumpsuit/flight suit with clips and straps all likely related to the flight pack. Sitting on front of him were two pizza boxes.

Wilson pointed at one of them. “There you go Hank, one pizza. Freshly made in one of the best joints in New York. If that’s not acceptable, I’m sure there’s something in the base you’d like to eat.”

“I didn’t know Captain America was psychic.”

Wilson chuckled as he used his left leg to kick out the chair opposite him. “I’m afraid not. You can thank your file for me knowing you like pizza. I tell you those case officers really don’t leave anything out.”

Hank smirked as he took the seat. Hank liked a lot of things beyond pizza, but this was a good start to this interview for… what did the agent call it? The Avengers? That didn’t sound wrong, but what were they exactly avenging in the first place? What a dumb name. He really hoped they had a better name than that, but he supposed it wasn’t the worst name they could think of.

“So how much do they have on me? I’ve done some naughty stuff, I’ll tell you.”

Wilson shrugged and pushed Hank’s file forward. “Take a look if you really want. Though I’m not really interested in any of the naughty stuff you’ve been up to. I just care that you’ve done some heroic stuff, have skills and have the tech. Any questions?”

“So what are we avenging?” Hank casually commented as he slid his file and opened it with his left hand as he reached for a slice of pizza with his right.

“Okay, I’ll admit. The name is a work in progress. Don’t ask me where Fury got the Avengers from. It sounds overly dramatic, I’m trying to push for Defenders or something like that personally.”

He shrugged as he took a bite of his own pizza. “Basically as there are more and more super powered people appearing all over the globe, the more and more powerful the bad guys seem to be becoming.”

He hit a TV remote with his other hand, showing some screens from his recent adventure to the savage land. “A single man or woman isn’t really enough to stand in their way, a team of people however… working together as a single unit. Well that, that’ll do the job.”

Hank swallowed his bite of the pizza, “So you’re asking me to join the army? This feels like a bad hollywood movie, Cap; dashing rogue down on his luck gets enlisted by the government to take down some big bad guys? This is basically Lockout but instead of the prison being in space it’s… in wherever this place is. Critics give it a thumbs down.”

Wilson just sighed. “You want out, there’s the do—”

Hank cut SHIELD’s top ‘superhero’ off right there, not letting him finish his dissatisfied “Well, there’s the door.” remark. “Hold on, Cap. I didn’t say no. I happen to like Lockout. Critic’s have no idea what they are talking about.”

“They rarely do, you should have seen all the critics and fans losing their minds when they made Captain America a black guy. The internet went crazy.” He picked up another slice, eying it up before taking another bite out of it.

“I guess the whole thing does seem like a bad movie. I guess that’s what makes it interesting, where else are you going to make a global difference, get to punch bad guys and use… whatever concoction it is what lets you shrink to the size of an insect.”

“Science. Science let’s me do that.”

“Science is underrated these days, it gives me wings and what little actual super human abilities that I have.” Wilson shrugged. “Does this mean you’re onboard?”

“Ever since I took this mantle up, I’ve been realizing what I can do with it. When I was travelling all over Europe when I was a little younger I saw lots of oppression and other issues that something like this could’ve helped.”

Hank smirked as he looked to the soldier in front of him. “I want to help people. Call it a trial run, but I’d like to see what helping people with Captain America looks like in person.”

“I think the only difference is, when you’re with me you get to see someone flying around throwing a shield.” He pointed over to the shield, probably one of the most famous objects when thinking about America. “It’s a nice shield, though you have your own little hat tricks of course.”

Wilson pushed over a card, Hanks basic details already on it. “ID card. Lets us know where you are if you have it on you. Means of communication and can also relay a pretty handy looking map.” He tapped his own ear piece as he stood up, walking over to the shield and picking it up.

“I got one more port of call to make, you need anything before I go?”

Hank chuckled. “How about some intel on my soon-to-be teammates? And some soda, I’m thirsty.”

Wilson pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it over to Hank. “Use one of the machines to get your drink, as in terms of your team mates.” Wilson shrugged as he started walking towards the door.

“We have one possible god, one god, one being who is essentially a god, a super soldier, a girl who can travel between dimensions and take a hell of a punch and we have a tech advisor who's a billionaire and pisses me off. For a full briefing, please see Agent Laskov or Agent Carter. Either will get you situated anyway, I’ll be back shortly.”

“Got it.” Hank nodded as he did exactly that— the soda first, of course.

After he had some cold sugar water in his system, Hank peaked his head out of the mess hall’s doorway looking for Agent Carter; as she had separated from him at the door before he had met Captain America.

“Agent, can I have a minute?” He called out as he noticed her still standing at position.



@Bright_Ops and @Sep present you with: Villain or Hero?

The trip to what appeared to be the mobile, flying headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D had been surprisingly relaxing for Loki; It gave him some time to sit down, lean back and relax after such an emotionally stressful morning. He had already made up his mind that he was going to have to check up on Tony sooner rather than later in order to see how well he was healing up after his first direct encounter with an Asgardian, but there were some matters that needed to be taken care of first.

The first of which required him to be sitting in a chair in a waiting room, tapping his fingers against his legs as he waited to meet with the man in charge of SHIELD that went by the name Fury. One way or another, this was going to be an interesting conversation.

Fury walked in without even glancing at the God, slapping a file on the table in the middle of the waiting room. It was more of a lock box, as tight as they could possibly make it at the flip of a switch. One of the few things they still managed to buy out of Stark Tech without getting grief for the whole “No weapons” thing. He then sat down opposite the so called God. “That’s everything we have on you.”

He let Loki sit at the table and pick up the file. “If you can’t tell, that’s not a lot. We’re the world's top most spy agency, I can get a bigger file on some randomer who owns a cabin in the middle of nowhere near a small town.” He slapped down another file on the middle of the table. “Then, a couple of days after we learn you exist, you move the Hulk to Australia, fight Giant Snakes and save Tony Starks life from a woman with a serious grudge who says she needs to protect the world from you. So, why don’t you explain.” It wasn’t a request.

Loki didn’t even flinch as the flip was slapped down and whom he could assume was Fury (Unless they decided to send in a body double for security reasons) before the two of them sat down to talk. More out of curiosity than anything else, Loki accepted the file that SHIELD had on him before flicking through the pages in order to see what he had actually given away.

Turned out, not that much. Most of it seemed to be due to his recent activities, but there did seem to be some situations in which they seemed to suspect he had been apart of in hindsight but couldn’t actually prove… Removing two of the sheets, he placed them aside as he explained “As much as I would love to take the credit for these two, they had nothing to do with me. The rest seems good though.” Okay, maybe taunting the spy agency might not have been the best of ideas, but after the day he had been having Loki needed something to make himself smile.

“To answer your questions, I will start from the start.” Taking a small breath, Loki closed and put down the file so that he could turn all of his attention towards Fury. “Before the showdown at the docks in New York, I had actually been trailing the Hulk myself for a while, prepared to step in if the situation called for it. Do you know what I saw? I was something that was trying to escape a highly populated area with a minimum of fuss. The only times he fought was when someone rather foolishly started to shoot at him. It was only once General Ross blocked off the quick escape and forced a confrontation that the situation completely went to the Nether. As to why I moved him to Australia… quite simply, I took him somewhere that was free of people.”

“The Giant Snakes were a present offered up by an old ally of mine who disliked the fact that the last time we worked together I didn’t hold up to my end of the bargain. Honestly, the fact that she actually survived that betrayal in the first place surprises me but alas it is merely yet another regret I bare from a time long past.” Loki’s shoulders actually slumped a little as he confessed to this. Almost as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“In truth… I would rather not talk about the events that Tarene no doubt mentioned. But alas, my discomfort about what happened is the least of the punishments that I must deal with for what I did. Consumed by hatred, pride and madness, I led a genocidal war against the people of Asgard. While there were faults and betrayals committed by both sides, in hindsight I can see that I went to far. To many innocent people were caught up in it. Tarene was one of them and was obsessed with vengeance against me. I don’t blame her… and I am glad that she proved she was better than I had been when she listened to reason and stopped before she killed Tony.”

Taking a moment of silence, Loki asked “How are Tarene and Tony doing?”

“Thor, Tarene…. whatever she is called has went off grid. We’re currently trying to track her down so we can bring her in for questioning. Tony is doing much better now he enlisted Agent Parrington to skip the entire healing process. Also I’ll be honest, I don’t give a damn what you’ve done out there. I care what you plan on doing.” He leaned back in his chair, a bid to remove a bit of the intensity of the discussion. “It’s a vulnerable world out there. Beings like the Hulk, and I heard what you said about him but that’s a discussion for another time since we’ve now lost him somewhere in Canada. Then you have people who can throw hammers that can tear through metal or people as technologically advanced as Doctor Victor Von Doom who control their own country.”

He pushed a file into the middle of the desk. “If you want something really crazy read that. We have someone who can fly, is virtually invincible, super strong and has laser vision. Glad he’s on our side, because not long ago he faced off a telepathic pterodactyl with Captain America. Though I suppose this isn’t that dramatic for a god, but it’s dramatic for us. What I need to know is if you want to make a damn difference in this world.”

Loki actually had to raise his eyebrow a little at the list of powers that Fury had listed off. True, virtual invincibility and super strength were fairly common but laser vision? That was a new one. Taking the file and opening it up, he started to read through it carefully. “You don’t have to tell me how vulnerable the world is Fury. I know for a fact how easy it is for things to go bad. I’ve seen both world wars… I would rather avoid seeing a third.”

“So what exactly do you want from me?”

Fury hated to admit it, he actually kinda liked this guy. “That’s what we all want to avoid, and exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D is all about, about meeting all the people who can’t be matched or controlled under wraps. Now, this isn’t my most popular idea with the World Security Council but I’ve got the green light to go ahead with it.” He slid forward another file. “With training, preparation and a little time of being on the side I’d ask for you to join a new initiative we’re starting here at S.H.I.E.L.D. One where we gather some of the most powerful people on the planet, all intent on doing good. Put them together in a team and make them Earths Mightiest Heroes.” A screen behind him lit up, showing Captain America in several news “action” shots.

“Being around for both World Wars you probably know about Captain America, and the original one at that. Not just the latest incarnation. He’s always been a simple for peace and freedom the world over, though as you probably know such a symbol can’t combat everything. We want this team to do the same job as the mantle of Captain America has always done. Give the world some peace of mind, in knowing that there’s a group of individuals ready to take on any threat they might face. I guess the simple question is, will we need to try and trail you to make sure you aren’t going to end up being a threat or are you willing to make a difference?”

Loki nodded his head. He had recalled some of the exploits of the original Captain America and he had to admit that the man had intrigued him back then. He suspect that Thor would have charged in and tried to punch Captain America in the face in order to see if the man would be a good fight; Loki wasn’t that stupid, but he would have been lying if he said that he hadn’t been interested in seeing how well the superhuman would have done against someone from Asgard. Just more proof that the mortals of Midguard had always had the potential for great things when they were given the chance.

Still, as he listened to Fury’s plan he couldn’t help but think about it. There were some merits to it without doubt, but there were some concerns that he felt the need to raise. “Two things before I say anything one way or the other. The first is a matter of jurisdiction; What can and can’t we do as ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ and who are we accountable to if something goes wrong?”

“The second is a matter of publicity. I am...uncomfortable with the idea that a powerful team of extraordinary individuals dedicated to preserving peace and keeping any major threat to the planet at bay would be common knowledge. In part it is a matter of escalation but it also has to with the fact that if the bad guys in question know that we exist, they can start accounting for us within their plans. After all once you know that the security measure is there you can start trying to find weaknesses or blind spots that you can take advantage of in order to defeat it.”


Fury just nodded. “Anything within the law, you obviously can’t break it. We’re also accountable to the World Council. The World council has representatives from all over the world on it. We have our own organisation in place to repair any damage done while fighting.” The second question was a bit more complicated.

“It’s inevitable in our line of work that the bad guys are going to find out about you, unless you plan on killing them all and I won’t stand for that. What we can do is stop you becoming from public knowledge. While we do have a symbol, like Captain America. I plan to try and keep the rest of the team on the down low as much as possible. Not to mention countless back up choices in terms of replacements. I’m not going to lie, it’s not a flawless plan. You join, you have ideas. You’ve got the experience. I’ll listen to you.”

Loki shrugged a little in return. “There are workarounds I can use to make things a lot more interesting for the bad guys when it comes time to discuss what actually happened afterwards. You make a fair argument and since this is going to be going ahead if I join or not I might as well join and be apart of it. I do ask for three things but they should be easy enough to work out.”

“Firstly, do you know where Tony Stark is currently? I would like to check up on how he is doing personally.” It was a simple enough request; Sure Tony had gotten magically healed from the sounds of it but it was worth making sure he alright anyway.

“The second one might be a bit harder because while I know you have a great deal of influence I suspect you can’t just clap your hands and make this happen, but I want the person in the US military in charge of pursuing the Hulk removed from the project. I believe his name is Ross from what Bruce has let slip. I don’t know the whole story between the two, but from what I’ve seen it’s easy to tell that there is something personal going on there and if what happened in New York is any indication leaving Ross in charge is just going to get people killed.”

Giving his second request time to settle, Loki pushed forwards with the third, more light hearted condition. “Lastly, I would like to discuss the possibility to Shield working out an arrangement with one Bruce Banner. Nothing too fancy, maybe just setting him up somewhere isolated where he can be comfortable and have access to the equipment he needs to research pretty much whatever he wants to in his own time with the odd supply drop to make sure he is all set up. In return Shield gains access to his scientific abilities and directly benefit from the results of his personal projects. Of course the exact details would have to be between you and him but I am more then happy to be the middleman here.”

Wasn’t often terms were dictated to Fury. He forgot how much he hated it. “Stark is wherever Stark goes. I heard that he was taking the shortcut in order to heal so he’s probably getting ready to leave the facility. I’ll have his craft put on hold so that you can go catch him.” He looked down as he typed something into his tablet.

“In terms of Ross and Doctor Banner, that’s something I don’t have the power to do. Your best bet there, is proving yourself and taking your case to the Chief of Staff or even the President of the United States in order to be the one to take Hulk in and what happens with him once we’ve managed to locate him. Ross will follow orders, so will I. In terms of your third request I’m not above putting a good mind to use but I can’t do it unless he gets a pardon from the President. Again, that is something you will need to work on.” He handed Loki a card.

“We’re using these as a means of identification and communication. Just tell it when you’re ready and it’ll relay the coordinates to the facility where we’re going to be basing the team out of. Any final questions?”

Hyperion and a squadron of four Quinjets arrived outside Bishop Packaging in record time. Helicarrier Alpha, where Hyperion was stationed, happened to be the closest of the helicarriers to New York City when SHIELD got the call. Someone named Quire had reported that he and a fellow metahuman, the one Wilson referred to as Miss America, had taken down a clandestine operation within Bishop Packaging. Allegedly, Mr. Bishop himself had been selling Mutant Growth Hormone that he was buying from another dimension. It had sounded ridiculous at first. But a cursory search of SHIELD data files on Mr. Bishop brought him up on numerous watch lists. Cross referencing the location of Bishop Packaging's headquarters with recent tears in the space time continuum and this Quentin kid had a couple of legs to stand on. That's when Marie Hill decided to send in Zhib-Ran and a specialized team of agents who dealt with matters concerning the multiverse as well as the Mutant Growth Hormone drug. The flight took roughly ten minutes, with the first Quinjet setting down moments before the hour struck.

The monstrosity of metal and wires settled down on the roof of the skyscraper. A trio of SHIELD agents, decked out in full combat gear, stepped confidently down the jet's ramp. The officer took point, his standard issue assault rifle held in his armored hands as he kicked down the emergency access door. The now-opened door revealed a set of dark stairs leading into the service entrance of the penthouse below. The team maneuvered tactically down, breaching the service door with a loud shout. "Freeze! SHIELD!" The officer commanded. He waved his weapon towards the few individuals still standing; the agents on his flanks moved to clear the rest of the room. Hyperion floated through the entrance, his feet hovering a foot or so off the ground. "Lower your weapons, men. Everyone at ease. They're the good guys." Zhib-Ran said with a wave of his hand and a polite smile. Four more squads made their way into the penthouse from the roof, one by one. They lacked the armor and automatic rifles of the first team; rather, they carried handguns and various types of futuristic equipment. Commanders barked out orders to their subordinates. Agents rushed to and fro, checking on the fallen security guards.

Hyperion dodged gracefully past the SHIELD agents and stood next to the young hero and her mutant telepathic friend. He also made note of the girl in what appeared to be sporting gear. She seemed distraught. Silly humans, they were always crying. What weak and fragile creatures they were; in both body and mind. Well, most of them. Zhib-Ran tried to look as empathetic of her plight as he could. He was a decent enough actor. Anyone who saw through the charade could reasonably guess that his strange behavior was due to his being from a different planet, where the cultural customs and even physiological make-up of his species had to be vastly different from those on earth. Agent Milton waved over one of the unarmored officers. "This is Agent Baker." He introduced the woman. She was tall, athletic and muscular. But she looked more genuinely concerned than any of the other agents in the room. "She's our resident medical officer and psych examiner. She'll do whatever she can to help you, ma'am. I couldn't possibly understand what you're going through."

With that hopefully dealt with, Hyperion turned toward Miss America. "I'll be on the roof. Come speak to me whenever you are able." With that, Hyperion left America to wrap up with Kate. He waited on the roof for (an unspecified amount of time).

Once Miss Chavez finished her little heart to heart with Miss Bishop and came up to the roof, Hyperion didn't waste any time and got down to business.

"Hello, Miss America. Let's not beat around the bush. I'm not just here to take in Mr. Bishop and.." He paused, sighing. "Pusher Man...I'm also here as a representative of Captain America and the Avengers Initiative. The Captain seems to think you would make a valuable member of the team. He wants your help protecting the world from threats too powerful for any single hero to take down. That is, if you're planning to stick around in our dimension." Hyperion paused, crossing his arms. "We could really use your help. There are threats on the horizon that're making Fury nervous. I can take you to Helicarrier Alpha to meet Captain America now. But if you want to take some time to think it over, I understand completely. Joining a team is a big commitment." Zhib-Ran said with a smile and an awkward cough. "Uh, by the way..Is there a me where you come from? What's he like?"

Tarene felt oddly ... naked without Mjolnir by her side. It was as if a huge chunk of her was exposed, a massive piece of armour ripped away. She hadn't counted how many hours ... days ... whatevers ... however long it had been since she'd lost Thor's magical hammer. She couldn't bring herself to hold out her hand and command it fly back to her, a fear rooted inside her that the hammer would no longer listen, no longer work for her. She'd need to return to Stark towers and lift it up herself before her nerves would settle.

She'd changed her mind about her surrender halfway through her arrest and easily overpowered the SHIELD agents she'd willingly submitted to only moments before. As Loki and Stark were taken away she'd fled and with no tech or paper trail to leave behind, SHIELD quickly lost track of her. After the first few hours of running she began to feel guilty. Loki was a coward who'd fled punishments and escaped prisons, she was no different, and yet ... on this planet he was the good guy ... So she just kept running, hoping her thoughts couldn't catch up with her but they inevitably always did.

Dwight was losing his mind, sick with worry but no one could give him any answers, no one knew where Tarene had took off to and she didn't dare go to him because SHIELD would find her there. SHIELD had questioned him but it was clear that although he was on her side and helping her out, she'd acted on her own and left him completely in the lurch. He couldn't tell SHIELD anything new, and SHIELD didn't give him any info either.

Running got dreadfully lonely dreadfully fast. Although she'd spent months, years even, wandering on her own when she'd first come to Midgard ... that had been quite some time ago and she'd grown fond of her small routines and familiarities. Her neighbours, though they thought she was a bit mad, were pleasant and she liked to chat with them in the halls whenever they crossed her path. She saw Dwight regularly and had even made friends with some of his friends. Now she hadn't seen her apartment nor any familiar faces and she'd missed those things immensely.

She eventually made her way back to New York city ... the only familiar place she knew, but didn't hand herself in ... SHIELD would catch up with her eventually and she had no energy left to run. She was thin, not skinny-thin, but certainly thinner than before, and filthy. If Thor, or Sif or even Loki of all people, saw her, they'd be ashamed to call her Asgardian. Her clothes were ruined and her hair a mess and she was visibly exhausted. She could still bench-press a cement truck, but if she were to fight Stark again, he'd probably stand a greater chance at giving her a bit of a beating than before, not that he'd utterly defeat her, even without Mjolnir she was a formidable foe.
Now ... She was a shell of her former self.

She peered up at Stark tower and debated going up to seize Mjolnir once more, she knew it would still be there ... Instead she took a detour to the museum. She'd pay Dwight a visit and commit one last crime before she truly changed her ways.
Dwight was ecstatic to see her ... but not so pleased to find her swarmed by security, alarms blazing, museum visitors fleeing ... SHe'd smashed through the glass that protected a precious ancient sword, none other than the Sif's sword, and was now weilding said-sword.
"Good to see you again, friend" she said, though between his horror, anger, and overwhelming joy, Dwight was speechless. He just about managed to warn the security to stand down.
"You had me worried sick, where were you? You look frightful what happened? Wheres your hammer? Did you kill Loki?"
"I'll answer in great depth another time ... Loki is not the enemy, I see that now, Mjolnir is ...resting for now. I need to borrow this. I will pay you back I promise."
Dwight didn't bother explain that 1. The ancient sword was a priceless artefact and 2. if she had money, there was no way she could afford it anyway. There was no point arguing with her on that.
"Where are you going this time? Good grief I can't keep up. Take this!" he said, pressing a cell phone into her hand, of course she had no idea how to use it.
"What does this do?"
"It's a cell phone, you can contact me with it when you go off on adventures. Ask someone to teach you to use it, but for goodness sake, when you figure it out, USE IT!"
Tarene smiled, she was a shadow, but part of her seemed to be her usual vibrant larger than life self for just a split second.
"I shall."

She assumed Stark would be lurking in his tower now ... she could properly apologise, figure out how to help out ... she could do right by the world this time. Firstly, she stopped back at her apartment, the locks had been changed, but the door was flimsy. She washed, ate, and changed and already felt a great deal better. Her brief exile had given her time to clear her head and this was her fresh start. Again... It would go better than the other time. Tarene was herself this time, and she knew deep down it was her job to do good, even if that meant fighting for the same team as Loki, she still wasn't entirely sure how pure his motives were, and didn't dare trust him with a guppy much less something more significant. Perhaps in time he'd earn her trust, but that would take a very very long time. Right now, her first goal was to find out who was in charge, there seemed to be lots of "leaders" but who was in charge of everything? Who was the "Odin" or "Thor" of Midgard? Tarene wasn't a leader, she was a warrior, without someone to issue command, she was at a loss regarding what to do.

Refreshed and dressed in civillian clothing for a change, she stepped out of her apartment and decided to take a break before beginning her new mission. She indulged in her FAVOURITE beverage in all of Midgard, a decaf Mocha-latte at the cafe on the corner past 5th street. Sif's sword was tucked away in her backpack, it half stuck-out but no one seemed to notice really, she could have been one of those actors from the local theatre lugging around a prop, or a LARP enthusiast or cosplayer, no one cared. It was sheathed in its scabbard, its true deadly sharpness hidden away so no one had to know she was armed with a real weapon. She debated her next move, returning to Stark Tower ... seeking out someone from SHIELD ... finding someone else to run with ... each had their own advantages and disadvantages.

Jean Grey levitated Blob higher and higher after the Beast had propelled himself into him and ricocheted off. As she held out her hand toward the fat blob of mass and held her other free hand to the temple of her forehead, her long red locks swirled upward around her shoulders and body majestically as if she were a mermaid in the sea. Her emerald eyes sparkled with a fiery glint as she then snapped her hand back and let the Blob free fall to the ground below. Hopefully the force of his gravitational impact would render him unconscious.

Then she turned just in time to see a bright flash of light heading straight for her. Thinking quickly on her feet, she had no time to move or dodge the attack. She had to rely on her powers of telekinesis in order to block it or avert the beam away from her. Was she strong enough to manipulate light molecules at such a level? Little did she know her body was heating up, exponentially. Psychic fire was beginning to build up within her very mutant DNA. She didn't even realise that as she extended her hand out to form a psychokinetic energy shield around her, that her body was slightly glowing in response to such a focused manoeuvre.

However, as the light bolt recoiled off the invisible shield and into the ether, Jean did not harbour any feelings of resentment toward the blonde superwoman from which the attack came. She instead, could feel Carol's embarrassment, as if her crimson cheeks were not indicator enough, Jean's telepathic sensors were resonating with Carol's emotional state. She could sense Carol was confused and did not mean to attack the red head. And so Jean merely let her hand slip to her curvy hip and regarded Ms Marvel with a warmer expression. She was used to dealing with mutants who had not yet fully comprehended their powers and mishaps were bound to happen. She was just lucky enough to spot it in time before being knocked off her feet. Despite being a level five mutant and a formidable opponent, Jean wasn't physically that strong to withstand an attack from Ms Marvel.

'Don't be embarrassed. I know it you did not mean to harm me.' Came Jean's soothing voice in Carol's mind like a gentle wave washing over you. She rarely invaded people's minds but this situation called for it in order to calm Carol down. Jean then gave her a small smile. “I'm Jean Grey. And we're the X-men. And we help all who do not know the extent of their powers.” She spoke aloud after she looked around and saw that most of the Brotherhood had been dispatched.

She then took out a small business card from her black long trench coat pocket and gently levitated it toward Carol. “Should you ever need to seek us out again for support or help. You can find us there. The Professor makes for a good mentor.” Jean added as she saw Storm and Beast readying to depart the scene now their work was done. Jean's body still felt warm, she felt like was in the tropics and a bead of sweat trickled from her brow.

She wasn't going to push Ms Marvel into anything, she was merely there to open the channels of invitation and extend forth their helping hand. After all, that's what the X-men did. She looked around once again. “Pietro? You ready to go?” She asked as her eyes darted the scene for her speedy comrade. “Well you know where we are if you need us, Ma'am.” Jean waved her goodbyes as she levitated her team mates over to the Blackbird and they departed the area back to the mansion. Little did Jean Grey know that later that night in the mansion, something sinister was awaiting her....



Valkyrie just shook her head at Tony's defensive remarks toward Sam. She just wished the two would get along. She was good friends with them both and hated this feeling of animosity and tension within the air. It sure brought her spirits down. Her expression was one of sorrow as she watched Stark leave the room.

Upon turning to Captain America she blinked at his tale of a telepathic pterodactyl? Was she even hearing him right? Did Hulk give her a bigger bonk on the head than she had thought?

“Well, I'm glad you're back safe and sound now, Sam.” Formalities were not required when it was just the two of them alone in a room, without their Director. She could feel more casual and at ease around Agent Wilson than some of the others. After all, he taught her how to use her wings and soar through the air like a graceful bird. Or maybe that came with the natural agility she harboured as an Asgardian.

She felt that going after Tony was the only option now to help sway him into this new team project that she had already had the heads up from Natasha previously. She nodded at Sam as he left the room and she looked toward the mirror, catching a glimpse of her slightly messy wavy locks that cascaded down her shoulders and ended at her rear. “Hopefully, I can catch him before Fury wants to see me as well.” She mused and tightened her fist to get some blood flowing in her circulation again. She felt weak but her energy was slowly restoring. She, however, sensed another Asgardian presence nearby that caused her some discomfort. And not like Amora before...

She shook it off and then ran for the door. She just hoped she wouldn't have to bump into Ross either. Or she may end up throwing him over board now she found her spunk. She ran out to the landing bay where they were preparing Tony's shuttle. “Tony! Wait!” Now out in the open she opened her beautiful white wings and gently glided over to him and landed softly without her boots even making a sound. Still in just her tank top and shorts, not having the time to change into her usual SHIELD uniform from waking up in the medical bay, having Ross rant at her, having Tony demand to see her right away and then having to catch up with him before he left.

“Please...don't leave things this way. Captain America...Sam...he's a good guy. And I think this new team is something special you could really be a part of. And besides, I'd love having you, and Pepper, around as consultants.” Victoria flashed that warm and gentle smile. “Just promise me that you'll think about it?” She asked with those pretty big blue eyes. “Pretty please?” This was one of the rare occasions you would see Agent Parrinton truly be herself. And much more like the Sigyn of the past. A Goddess of Fidelity. An always loyal and trustworthy friend. With that she placed both her hands on Tony's shoulders and patted him. She presented him with her own personal SHIELD card. “In case you lost my old one.” She joked, she knew Tony knew how to reach her if he wanted. His new Iron Man AI could pretty much pinpoint her anywhere in the world it seemed.

And she turned around to head back inside the SHIELD helicarrier in case Fury decided to call upon her shortly for any Avengers Initiative preps. Or if Ross wanted to send her out with his special ops on a wild Hulk chase. Again.

Banner sighed as he picked up the blood sample, looking at the Doctor the nurse had kindly introduced him too. "Is this it? All that exists of my blood?" He chuckled. "At least, all of the stuff here that exists outside of my body." He offered the Doctor a kindly smile as he eyed up the vial of blood. The power in this one vial... it was more than anyone could ever imagine. If someone ever found a way to replicate it the power could destroy the Earth. It pained him to know that that wasn't an over-exaggeration, it was quite likely that such could be the fate of the world. He sighed again, this time a sad sigh.

"Yes, it's quite fascinating. Preliminary tests indicate your blood has high levels of-" Banner raised his hand to stop the Doctor. Then lowered it again after a moments thought.

"What computer are these results on?"

The Doctor looked taken aback. "Oh, they aren't on any." He tapped a file. "I haven't had time to transfer them over yet." He handed over the file to Bruce. "I'm sure you'll find it fascinating, from what I can tell you should be dead! Instead somehow here you are. Healthy as a horse."

Bruce smiled. "Yes well, I need to take this data with me." The smile dropped from his face as he finished speaking, this was no longer a joke. It was deadly serious, he couldn't leave any data here. It was bad enough that he wouldn't get a chance to wipe the cameras of his image but he couldn't give S.H.I.E.L.D or Ross anything to go on. S.H.I.E.L.D had honourable intentions he'd give them that, but he didn't doubt that they'd try to turn this power to try and save this world. Ross, well. Ross wanted what every general wanted. To destroy his enemies. The greed in that mans eyes, Bruce had watched recordings of Hulks rampage at Vista Verde.

On Ross' face was not a look of horror like everyone elses, but a look of longing and excitement. He had seen the power of the Hulk that day and now he wanted it for himself. Part of Bruce wished he could give it to him, get rid of this curse. The shadow that he couldn't evade even in the shade. It was itching at his skin clawing to get to the surface ever since the promise had been broken. Hulk wanted back out, and it took everything in Bruces power not to let him come to the foreground.

That is why, when the Doctor stood to block his way Bruce sighed again. "Please Doctor, you don't want to make me angry."

"I can't just let you leave with my work, this could be revolutionary!"

Bruce just ignored him. "You won't like me when I'm angry. Please move." The Doctor did move, but instead walked over and picked up a phone.

"Yes, this is Doctor Crawford. I have a patient being uncooperative in my lab. Please send security right away, and contact the authorities. He has threatened to become violent." Bruce looked at him, genuine pleading in his eyes.

"Please Doctor, just let me go. This is a hospital, with the ill and the injured. I don't want anything to happen." It was the Doctors turn to chuckle, and Bruce didn't really like the sound of it.

"My dear Doctor Banner-" The surprise must have been evident on Bruces face as the Doctors face shone for a second. "-Yes, I know who you are. You're pretty infamous, especially within those of us who have worked extensively in the field of radiation. You are going to be the cure to every ailement known to man. Whether you like it or not."

Bruce just sighed. Did none of them understand the danger with what they played? It was like giving a three year old access to a nuclear arsenal. Yet every step he took, every turn. Someone thought they knew the Hulk better, thought they understood it better. Felt they could control it and bend it to their will. Bruce knew that as much as Hulk was strong, as much as he was dangerous he was equally uncontrolable. Nobody told Hulk what to do except Hulk. He knew, he'd tried after all. Why wouldn't he have had? Bruce didn't want to be remembered as the Hulk, as a monster. He had tried to turn the Hulk into a force of nature for good. Into a hero.

Of course he couldn't quite remember what happened but it hadn't worked. Hulk needed to be eliminated, not controlled or studied. Though at the same time, Hulk was his only way out of this situation. It was the ultimate dilemna. He could be captured and risk someone learning how to recreate the Hulk and risk the world, or he could let the Hulk out and risk everyone in this hospital.

He silently cursed the experiment that brought him here, to a choice he couldn't make. Had he been a military man the choice would have obviously been that the World was the better choice but to him? All life was precious. Who was he to chose between one group of people and another. It all came down to one thing, who was he?

Doctor Bruce Banner? The Hulk? Or maybe, something else?

“Where’s Nightcrawler?” Cyclops barked to Peter from atop the roof of a nearby building.

“How am I supposed to know? It’s not my job to keep track of the blue imp.” Peter retorted to the X-Man’s question. As he had already said, why would Peter know where Nightcrawler was? He and Bobby have been looking for Angelica this whole time.

“Just give yourself up now so that we can solve this without anyone getting hurt. If you don’t, well, don’t say I did not warn you.”

“What are you even talking about? Don’t you all live in Westchester? How would I even get up there?” However, Peter saw that Cyclops was not quite giving his full attention to him. Instead, the X-Man was pressing a device on his torso, which seemed like a communicator. While Peter could clearly see that Cyclops’ mouth was moving, he could not quite discern what he was saying. Nevertheless, even though Peter could not hear what Cyclops said, he soon found out what the gist of it was.

Out from one of the nearby alleyway walked out a giant of a man. His skin seemed as if it were made out of many bands of shiny silver-colored metal. With each step, Peter could hear the heavy thumps of the man’s feet striking the ground.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Spider-Man.” Colossus told the red and blue clad teenager, “I would break my heart seeing Angel break into tears over this. However, I hope she’ll see the necessity if you refused to cooperate.”

As Bobby stumbled out of the fog as it began to clear, his eyes widening at the sight before him. Where had once been the Rider, their most recent arch-nemesis it would seem, now stood an all so familiar face. Colossus. Questions plagued Bobby’s mind as he stopped in his tracks, looking awkwardly between Piotr and Peter. That was when the sight of Cyclops above caught Bobby’s eye.

It would, that Scott and Piotr were under the assumption that webhead here had done something to Kurt, the X-men’s lovable teleporter. Bobby laughed out loud before loudly telling his teammates that this was impossible.

“What the hell are you two whackos on about? Pe… Spider-Man’s been with me all day!” Bobby stated loudly, placing his icy body between the two Peters.

“Iceman, let us handle this.” Cyclops spoke to the young, ice-covered X-Man. “We have video evidence showing that Spider-Man kidnapped Nightcrawler from right under our nose. Stand aside so we can solve this.”

“Video evidence?” Peter marveled at what Cyclops had said with a sarcastic tone, “Please don’t tell me that you have ‘evidence’ equivalent to what Jameson usually throws at the general public! I was at least hoping some people wouldn’t just accept his slander without scrutinizing his arguments!”

Bobby shifted nervously from foot to foot as he listened to Cyclops speak. How on Earth did he have video evidence? There was no way Peter could have webbed all the way over to Westchester and back during that toilet break earlier. Sure it was a number two, but still! Something here was fishy, that was for sure. What could Bobby do though? Going up against Scott and Piotr was suicide. Even with Spidey’s help. Besides, they were his teammates!

No. That didn’t matter now. Peter was innocent. He couldn’t back down now.

“Cyclops, let's be calm here, okay?” He said, trying to sound threatening, despite the fact that inside he was bricking it. “You’re not going to lay a finger on him!”

“Iceman, step out of the way.” Cyclops commanded his fellow X-Man, point his arm in the direction in which he wanted Bobby to go. “Anyways, what does an innocent man have to hide?”

“Well, do you really blame me with all the slander that Jameson spouts about me? Whenever he even mentions my name, let alone blame me for something that I didn’t do, Jameson makes Fox News look like a respectable news outlet!”

However, before Cyclops, or anyone else for the matter of fact, could make a response to Spider-Man, a small, spherical device rolled under Iceman’s feet. Mere seconds after the contraption had stopped spinning on the ground, a blinding flash of light radiated from the sphere, a light similar to the flash grenade that Firestar’s kidnapper had used.

Once the four superhumans regained their proper vision after the flash grenade attack, they all saw the dark figure whom Spider-Man and Iceman had been fighting up until Cyclops had interrupted the confrontation. His black cape was billowing in the wind as the Rider stood there, folding his arms across his chest.

“You all are imbeciles.” The electronically scrambled voice said, “It is obvious that someone is trying to set us all up and it seems to be working.”

“And who are you?” Cyclops demanded from the shadowy figure.

“That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that if you’re missing some mutants, I would check out the local branch of the Brand Corporation. Word from the criminal grapevine says that they might be developing a cure for Mutants.” After the Rider revealed this vital information to Spider-Man and the X-Men, he turned his back and began to walk away.

“Wait? You’re going to just walk away?” Spider-Man said.

“I work alone.” The Rider muttered to the four of them over his shoulder, only momentarily glancing back at them. Then, he dashed off into the darkness of one of the alleyways, securing his own retreat. For the most part, the Rider had only been dealing with the maggia, but since superhumans have been popping up around the country and the world, it looks like he will need to adapt to the times so that, when some superpowered wacko emerges, he would not be surprised. Anyways, the Rider had more pertinent matters on hand than to run around with brightly-colored vigilantes.

Quicksilver glanced around as he watched the Brotherhood retreat, the few moments, fleeting and possibly not seen by his teammates. Saw members of The Brotherhood glancing over at Pietro's direction, and there was some kind of look between them. Understanding? Contempt? Either way Pietro sighed as he watched them all leave, glad to be done with work for the night hopefully. Still a sudden burst of light caught his, and needless to say Jean Gray's, as Ms Marvel shot a beam towards her. Even though the hero in question looked embarrassed Pietro wasn't having any of that crap. Immediately going up to her in a burst of speed.

“Hey the fuck is your problem lady?! You Could've killed her!” Pietro jabbed a finger into her chest as he vocally gave her hell. “Oh don't tell me you're just another piece of sh...” Before Pietro could use another part of his sparkling vocabulary on Ms. Marvel both Storm and Beast pulled him aside. “Pietro enough! The poor girl has already apologized!” Storm sternly told Quicksilver had to quietly grit his teeth a bit. Sighing finally and holding up a hand to Ms. Marvel. “Sorry...” He meekly said aloud before Beast spoke up.

“Speaking of your unprofessional behavior I find it both a bit puzzling and troublesome that you didn't engage The Brotherhood...” Beast let the intention of what he was insinuated linger for a moment as Pietro was both stunned by the accusation and having to realize he never did in fact touch any of them. Sure he clocked the fatty in the head with a bat, but fat boy doesn't count.

“Hey I was taking care of the crowd ya ape, don't start accusing me of...” Pietro's phone rang as he growled angry to himself. He wanted a nice night of loud angry music and alcohol and instead his getting this garbage thrown at him. He held up a hand to Beast, “Hold on its Cyclops...” He told him, thankful it was one of the few people who'd call him that would warrant an end to that little investigation by Beast. “Whats up?” Pietro asked, Cyclops' orders to come back to New York City were one thing, but apparently something big is going down and they might have an answer to Spider-Man kidnapping Nightcrawler. Pietro normally isn't thrilled about extra work, but needless to say the questions about everything were pretty inticing, plus now Pietro was in a fighting mood, and while fighting Beast would be wreckless (not to mention a great way to get kicked off the team). He could instead channel the fury onto something else by the sound of things.

“Gotta run, Cyclops needs me in New York for the Nightcrawler situation. See ya.” Pietro gave a faint wave before being gone in a blur. He knew he shouldn't be the way he was with Beast back there, however this has been a frustrating night. He should at least say something to the fur ball later. Either way Quicksilver didn't need as long to get back to New York, seeing as how he didn't see much of a need to stop by and 'borrow' any equipment this time.

He screeched to a top next to Cyclops and Colossus, looking over at Bobby and his BFF Spider-Man. Man Spider-Man's costume looked like one thing in the pictures but good God it was bright in person. Then again based on what his heard about the web slinger subtly wasn't the guy's strong suit. Then again Pietro wasn't really in a position to accuse someone of that.

“Business is all clear for the mutant hater in Boston.” Pietro gave a thumbs up to Cyclops who didn't look impressed. Then again he never usually did. “So Beast told me, along with your behavior which we'll be having a discussion about later.” Cyclops stated simply. Pietro rolled his eyes to himself at the news, great... because tonight was going so well already. Now he gets to listen to a Cyclops speech. Fucking joy.

Bruce sighed in resignation. He looked at the vial of blood, this was all they had. Assuming that security was far enough away he might just have a way out of this before this Doctor got himself into trouble or... S.H.I.E.L.D or Ross found out that he was here. He really couldn't linger anywhere for any amount of time after all. The longer he spent in one place the greater his chances of discovery were, and the greater the chance that either he was going to get captured and get in trouble or that Hulk was going to make an appearance and cause trouble. The papers, he hadn't read one since this had started. He could only imagine the things they were saying about him. Hell, that J.Jonah Jamieson from the Daily Bugle was probably having a right go at him, I mean if he tore Spider-Man to shreds what chance di dhe stand?

No, he needed to get out of here. "Hey Doc..." He threw the vial. "-Catch." Crawford naturally went for the vial as Bruce bolted for the door, months of running had built his muscles up to the point where while a few months ago he would never have been able to make it in time. He heard the vial smash, he smiled slightly as he did. While the blood would still be testable it would be sufficiently corrupted that it would take the good Doctor months to do so. By that time he'd surely have a cure so that if he did use it as a cure for disease when the inevitable side effects emerged he'd be more than ready.

Security came round the corner, and Bruce just lowered his head looking down and to the left where the floor met the wall to keep his face out of their visual. He doubted they'd recognise him but you couldn't be too careful these days - apparently that was the case anyway. He then came across a door marked laundry, pushing himself backwards into it the stench hit him first. He didn't envy anyone that worked in this room. The humidity alone could probably kill someone from exposure, and the smell... it was less than pleasant. Though the mixture of stool, urine, blood, pus and other excretions weren't going to exactly make a room smell like roses. He skipped out all the dirty clothes, looking for a clean batch. He would have opened his mouth with an ah-ha when he found them... if that wouldn't have proved deadly.

Regular trousers, shirt and a purple hoody. Purple wasn't exactly his colour but it fit so... it would have to do.



Doom paced the room. Everything was almost ready. A Doombot was currently impersonating him at the UN, announcing the concept of a Latverian Union and no doubt taking in all the applications. Especially with the fact that Latveria now boasted that each citizen within it's borders recieved free electirity. Tony Stark may feel like a good guy, yet despite all his attempts at being a good person he was still a corporate pig. Making tools for the people, and charging a fortune for them. No better than the likes of that Steve Jobs fellow. Though Steve Jobs had been significantly less annoying than Tony Stark... he also understood how to offer someone the respect they deserved. He was yet to speak with Stark, and would have to upon his return. There were several parts of his plan that could use someone like him.

Though for now he had another place to me, or rather another time. He eyed the machine, it filled the whole room. Transmission rods pointed towards the centre podium which would electrify his molecules and send him forward in time, or backwards if he were to so chose it. No doubt he would travel back, there were so many mysteries he had to solve in the past after all. For now however, the future was his destination. Three hundred years being his target destination. Technically he could chose a time period much closer however he felt that three hundred was a nice round number, given enough time for him to make his mark on the world and for the world to continue on in however he had shaped it. He had no doubt that he had saved the world, it would be better under his rule after all. No, this was to see how well his legacy had lasted. So that he could take any measures required in order to ensure that the peace and prosperity he would create would last as long as possible.

He stood in the centre of the podium, lights flickered. Not just in the castle but instead all over Latveria as the machine powered up. The entire room began to shake, electrical discharges flew around the room hitting the walls scoring and burning them as they amde contact. A poor Doombot that happened to be in the room was hit by a bolt, being of the more basic sentinel variety it exploded as it was overcharged. Then in one final flash of light he was gone. The room dimmed for a couple of seconds...

Then out of nowhere, there was a blinding flash and kneeling on the Podium, torn cape and cracked armour knelt Victor Von Doom. A doombot came running into the room. Doom looked up at it. "Damned it, the machine failed!"

There was a shadow in the corner of the room, neither Doom the Doombots or the sensors noticed it. It was almost a ghost...

Every raindrop was like the beat of a drum to him, and his ears rang with a cacophony of sound. It was something that had terrified him as a child, leading him to stuff his head between pillows on rainy nights. That was before his grandfather arrived, however. That was before Stick taught him to hone his senses. With a deep breath, Matt Murdock centered himself. Instead of the rain, he heard the echoes as it bounced off his surroundings. The chaos melted away as he gained a clear "view" of his surroundings. He could virtually see every cracked seam of tar on the roof and the splashes of water as they fell.

It wasn't seeing. Not really. Nothing would ever bring his sight back. That was something the doctors made sure he knew all those years ago. But this was the next best thing. Like a bat, Matt knew where he was going. He knew where to make his next step. He knew how to judge a leap. Most importantly, he knew where to throw a punch or where to land a kick. He had been doing quite a bit a both over the last few months thanks to these extracurricular activities. Sure, he was sore in court the next day more often than not, but the Kingpin's men were behind bars.

That was the most important thing.

He rolled on the balls of his feet, taking a deep breath before taking off across the rooftop. When he came to the edge, he kicked off and flung himself flipping through the air. He landed deftly on the roof across from the original building, slipping only slightly in the wet conditions. His sensei would not have been happy with that. Sloppiness could be deadly in the heat of battle.

Stick wasn't here though. He hadn't been in a long time. Ever since Matt originally told him that he was going to clean up the city in the confines of the law. That was before Murdock realized how truly gone the city was. That was before the war between Kingpin, the Rose, and Silvermane. Before Hell's Kitchen became a warzone.

"I'll see you later, man," a voice said as the door to the dive bar below creaked open. As the man stepped from underneath the overhang covering the entrance, he cursed as the driving rain began to soak him. "Fuck this shit."

He pulled a hood up over his head and trudged into the back alley next to the bar, mumbling as he did. From above, Daredevil stalked along the roof, making sure there were no other goons walking along with him. There were none. He was alone.

With another flip, the Devil was behind him. The vigilante grabbed his head and slammed him into the alley wall. The man stumbled back and fumbled for a gun in his waistband. With a flick of his wrist, Daredevil tossed his billy club at the dealer's hand, knocking it away. At the impact, Matt could hear several bones in the hand shatter. Murdock delivered a strong strike to the sternum, knocking the wind out of him so he couldn't scream before binding his hands.

"What the hell are you waiting for, freak!?" the man who spat at the vigilante. "I ain't telling you a thing!"

Joe D'Antonio was a drug dealer who peddled his poison to the high schools in the area, using students to sell directly to the others. Matt had managed to find him through one of said kids. He hadn't hurt the young man, of course. Kids were easy to scare. But D'Antonio thought he was a street hero. He had killed men in the service of the Kingpin. He had fought in the turf wars. He wasn't going to break by some intimidation.

Luckily, there were other ways to make street trash talk.

"Oh, you'll talk," Matt spun his billy club in his hand. "Or you won't be able to by the time I'm done. Where do your drugs come from?"

"Screw you, man," he growled.

Matt grabbed the injured hand with one of his own, covering his opponent's mouth with the other, stifling a yell. Daredevil felt the splintered bones shift under the pressure of his grip, "Now, I'll ask again. Where do your drugs come from?"

Daredevil put more and more pressure on the injured man's hand. He could hear the man's heart racing as pain shot through his body. Matt had to be careful not to send him into shock. He let off, and Joe let out a yelp of pain, "Fine...fine. I don't know who I get 'em from. I get a shipment every Tuesday. That's all I know. Someone recruited me. I said yes. I get me orders every Tuesday. That's all I know man. Please."

Murdock untied the man, who collapsed to the alley floor. When he looked up, the vigilante was gone.

One thing Warren knew about was a good cell phone. In no time he managed to GPS a number that showed up several times just before the lawyer's abduction from the plane a day earlier. Once he got a location he exited the apartment via the window and took off into the air with seagulls hanging around the bay area. Flying back towards the city, the location the GPS lead Archangel to was under a small bridge where it seemed two men, the lawyer AND 'Griffin', were in some sort of stasis field. Somebody, or something, was shifting into the Griffin...

"What the hell is going on here?!" Warren yelled getting the creature's attention.

The alien Skrull finished shifting, sprouting wings similar to Griffin on it's own back.

"I get to steal three identities in one day? This is a new record..." the Skrull bantered.

Archangel leaped back and hovered, flapping his huge wings preparing for an aerial confrontation. That's when out of seemingly nowhere a guy in green and red punched the shapeshifter right in the jaw flooring him beside the two guys in the stasis field.

"Hey! I could've just punched him if that's all it took!" Archangel commented on the more seasoned alien hunter.

"I can punch through brick walls, doubt you've got it in you bird-boy." 3D Man commented back pulling out his cell phone to call his older brother and the clean-up/containment crew.

"They call me 3D Man, by the way, because of the glowing red and green eyes..." Derek said kind of awkwardly, "..if you ever run across any of these guys, give me a shout. I'm sure we'll see each other around. Heroes and costumed nut-jobs all over this city it seems..."

"Will do, I go by Archangel... if it matters..." Warren replied, kinda bummed he didn't take down the villain while landing down next to the other hero and the three other individuals.

3D Man stepped aside and used the phone for a few moments, and before he hung up a two van crew showed up along with a hummer. His older brother got out of the hummer and instructed the soldiers and clean-up crew. Warren kinda stepped away and let the men do their thing and he could've swore one of them winked at the unconscious Skrull as they placed restraints on him. Archangel chalked it up to still being a noob when it came to heroics. His first confrontation he didn't do much, but he did manage to save that one plane passenger from falling to their death. He was grateful he finally met another hero, and one that seemed to have his **** together.

"You should get a weapon or something, man. Gotta be a little more versatile in battle with these kinda enemies.. you're new at this aren't you?" Derek asked walking back over to Warren.

"I planned on looking into it. These guys friends of yours?" Archangel asked.

"Yeah, my brother works for a group affiliated with the government locating and capturing what we believe to be aliens trying to infiltrate different organizations. My powers were a result of escaping one of their starships." 3D Man explained.

"I just grew wings the same time I did hair on my face..." Warren said with a bit of a laugh, "I'd better call it a day and get back to work. I'll see you around, 3DM!"

~KL~

Flint Macintosh. A 45 year old former world champion turned bottom wrung fight promoter. He was the hometown hero in his heyday. They called him "The Dagger" because of his dagger-like jab that used to slice his opponents faces up in the ring. Funny how the name took on a whole new meaning once he hung his gloves up. Flint went into the business as a promoter hoping to "clean the sport up" and "make sure the fighters are treated fairly." Ten years in this business and he's done more harm than good. From bribing judges, to paying fighters to lose their fights on purpose, and cutting said fighters' pay because of "promoting fees". It didn't take long for Flint to go from hometown hero, to rotten sleaze ball. You'd think shortchanging trained professional fighters would make for a stupid occupational hazard, but the old lion is still a lion, and his fangs are deadlier than ever.

"You want another one?" The bartender said, eyeing the new patron that Flint brought in with him. The newbie had a baby face look, but the guy was built like a tank. Celtic designs were tattooed on the sides of his shaved Mohawk.

"Nah, Marky." Flint cut in, sitting down next to the young man who made the ex champ look like a child by size comparison. "He's cut off. My boy Tiger Blood here is training for a fight."

"That never stopped you, Dagger!" The bartender laughed as he brought out a bottle of whiskey from under the table. The guy supposedly named Tiger Blood grinned, but Flint wasn't amused.

"Damn straight, so keep it goin." Flint grabbed Tiger Blood's glass and set it down on his own coaster. Tiger Blood groaned, but Flint raised his hand with the click of his tongue. "You win four world class titles and defend em 23 times, then you can do whatever the hell you want. Right now, you don't even have a dime to ya name."

Tiger Blood shamefully lowered his head, but after Flint took his shot of whiskey, the promoter drew in close and slapped the back of his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry kid. Before you know it your face is gonna be plastered all over New York so damn much, you're gonna get sick of lookin at ya self. You won't even need a god damn mirror, you'll be so popular!" Tiger Blood shook his head as he was being reassured.

"Just take a look at some of those bums from tonight's fight card." Flint continued, gesturing to the bartender for another refill. "You've got more talent in ya left nut than anyone in there. O'Donnell ain't got nothin on ya. Hell, anyone could beat that little Asian guy he fought."

Tiger Blood shook his head, mumbling incoherently and smiling right after. Flint busted up laughing. "You're damn right. Hell, my grandma could've beaten that Shang-Chi bum, and she's swimmin with the fishes!" Flint said. They both laughed.

The bartender and Tiger Blood watched as Flint raised his shot glass. "Cheers!" Flint yelled, turning now to face Tiger Blood's entourage that was strewn about the VIP section of the bar. They've been racking up Flint's tab with shot-after-shot, but the promoter didn't mind. He'll be profiting off of his budding prospect in the same way Tiger Blood's entourage is leeching off of him now. The big bucks were coming, and Flint has every intention of shortchanging his fighter, even if it gets him bankrupt and back out on the streets. It wouldn't be the first time he's done it. "To the future undisputed heavyweight champion of the world!"

There was a big crash, followed by loud screams from the clubbers downstairs. Tiger Blood's entourage peered down from the balcony, pointing and hollering.

"Oh shit! Guys check this out!" One of them called out to Tiger Blood and Flint. They both looked at each other, puzzled, and then casually walked over to the balcony. Crowds of people were stampeding away from the violent chaos. Bodies were being flung across the room.

"What's going o--" Flint gasped and went into panic mode. "Shit."

In that moment, Flint locked eyes with a madman in medieval armor. He was swinging a giant mace around with no regard for human life.



"DAGGER!!!" The armored man screamed from the top of his lungs, pointing his mace now up at Flint. "TIME TO COLLECT WHAT'S MINE!"



Just as the three bouncers were charging at Shang-Chi from all sides, the double doors of the front entrance busted wide open. People swarmed out in a dazed panic. The bouncers immediately switch gears to the more pressing matter at hand.

"Hey what the hell's going on in there?" One of the bouncers yelled into his walkie.

Someone from the other end instantly replied."Some costumed freak is attacking people with a mace! Get the hell in here and help us!"

"Let's go!" The bouncer said to the other two. "Leave the weirdo- hey! Where'd he go?" Shang-Chi took advantage of the situation and slipped away into the herd unnoticed. He entered the building, completely unaware of the trouble waiting for him inside.