Back in the Golden Age, New York City used to be the super hero capital of the world. It was the most diverse area, with the most diverse people, all in one city. Although it looked almost the same from a distance, the new world was so much more different. Today, the streets were closed off, and the population of New York was there cheering on the main event. The New HYDRA military force was parading through the city, all marching, and saluting. The crowd was going crazy, and started booing as soon as the featured people appeared. Mutants and gifted people were being dragged along, chained, while things were getting thrown at them.

One man didn't seem to be too interested in the parade. He wore a black jacket, jeans, a backpack, and boots. His dark brown hair was neatly done, and his dark blue eyes scanned the area. "Found them. I'm moving in." the man said very quietly to the hidden comms device in his ear. The man followed the parade down the street. He noticed they were marching right in front of what used to be the Avengers Tower, and his blood started to boil. Everything it stood for was being demoralized. It was now rusted, broken down, and dying... just like the hope for a better future. But that's what he was there to prevent.

James Rogers and his group of friends with the same interest had a job to do. To protect and save the people being paraded by HYDRA. James looked around, and the more he did, the angrier he got. People against the parade were being detained, or shot, with people cheering for it. Children were crying over the intense cheers, none of this was right. But they had their plan. They had to wait for the right time, for the perfect opening to save the most amount of them.

Grandpa Steve would have never allowed this... and Grandpa Logan's rage started to fill him. But Tony made it very clear that the mission was more important than doing the right thing. He hated to admit it, but he was right. James' heightened senses were crazy right now. He could hear conversations, smell the food, and the sweat, and taste the gunpowder in the air from the shots from earlier. Then, he heard something distinct. A small "Ting"... James scanned the crowd, and found the sound of the noise almost immediately. A grenade!

"Fuck HYDRA!" A voice yelled. And before James could stop the man, he threw the grenade into the air, towards the soldiers. One of the giant mechs stopped the grenade in its hand, and it blew up with little damage. "Open fire!" A Hydra commando yelled, towards the man who threw the explosive. James didn't think, or hesitate. He grabbed the cowl out of his backpack, put it on quickly, and charged for the man who started this all. He dove in front of the man, as bullets went towards him... and James was struck. He hit the ground hard, laying there motionless, with a crowd shocked and confused. James gave a small grunt and stood up.

His cheek was grazed with a bullet, and he was shot a couple times in the shoulder, and the leg. In a matter of seconds his wounds started to heal, and the bullets slowly fell out of the wounds. "Shit... Alright, bub." James grunted, activating his watch, to reveal the red, white, and blue energy shield from his wrist. He rushed towards the group of soldiers forming, and went to action. He swung the shield at a man's head, kicking his leg in backwards with a sickening crunch. James dodged oncoming fire with his shield, jumping up and kicking two men with the swing of his leg. He headbutted another, punched another in the jaw, and then hit the last one in the throat with the edge of his shield. The Super Soldier serum inside him made him punch a lot harder, and it showed.

The crows was in a frenzy, and the HYDRA parade was now focused on James. "Alright, guys... Showtime! Get the targets to safety! In the broken down building!" James knew that Tony's old building would have some sort of defense, he told James himself... But James blew their cover trying to save a crowd of mutant haters from getting gunned down. He couldn't take it anymore though, his anger was too pent up. He would hear about it later, but for now, he and his friends had a job to do!

Kate sat atop a building, hammer and helmet at her side as she scrolled through her tracklist of music pumping into her ears. She brushed her hair back, watching the parade from an almost eagle eye view as the totalitarian fascist army of HYDRA marched its way through the streets to roarous applause. It was at times like this where she began to question if what she was doing was right. The masses obviously supported the extradition of anyone even remotely different and the fascist regime didn't seem to bother them at all.

But then, of course, she remembered the Nazi's in almost an instant and gave herself a light punch for being an idiot.

She kept an eye on James as best she could. To tell the truth she hated missions like this. What use is a hammer in a stealth operation? She was an almost literal bull in a china shop in these types of situation. She rested her chin on her hand, tracing the intricacies of her helmet with her spare hand almost wishing for a fight to break out.

As if to grant her wish, the would-be terrorist's yell echoed through her earpiece before gunfire began crackling through the air. A small grin grew on her face as she rose to her feet, equipping her helmet and readying her hammer, but not before a snarky comment was sent James' way.
"Wow, that must be a new record, pretty boy, what was that 10-15 minutes before the gunfire?" She joked as she began swinging her hammer in what was now routine fashion.

In a flash she was racing down to the ground, hammer in front like some sort of faux missile. She torpedoed through one of the mechs, before sending a sickening crunch to the jaw of a nearby soldier with a well placed punch. She dodged under gunfire, swatting back a bullet here or there with Mjolnir. She wasn't going to be a huge amount of help with the evacuation, her method of travel only left one hand free. Nevertheless she broke the chains off a few of the mutants before grabbing one of the more visible mutations and arcing back over to the avengers building. Setting him down as quickly as possible before leaving back to the scene of the fight with only an almost cold
"You'll be safe here."

A stealth mission! Light hadn't been with this 'liberation' team for very long. Heck, she was just found the day before! But they seemed like much nicer people than these hydra goons. Sure Hail Hydra was catchy and had great alliteration, but the people were cruel and Light couldn't stand that.

Unlike a few of her other companions though, Light planted herself in the crowd. It took quite a bit of clothing to make herself seem normal, most notably a large almost cartoonish trenchcoat and hat/sunglasses combo. But people tended to shy away from her than ask questions, even the hydra goons tended to look her over unless they were relatively high ranked. She waited for the signal to make a move, and a bit after an explosion was heard, James was on the ground, the focus of attention while Kate, the one with the super hammer, flew down and did her thing.

Taking this as the signal, Light put away her disguise, stuffing it into her pocket space, and jumped in as well. Unlike the others who were relatively human, Light looked like a monster. A cute one, but still not human. James was still the focus of attention though, and Light had to change that. And the best way would be to land in the middle of the hydra forces. She really wouldnt' be too useful for freeing mutants, without her disguise she'd stick out way more and she didn't have any way of getting them out of the area.

Figuring out a plan, Light slashed the air near her, the civilians near her having already fled, and popped out of a hole high in the sky. Plummeting to earth like a missile, Light landed with a loud yet dull thud on top of one of the Hydra soldiers. She was hoping to land on the ground, but considering this hydra soldier was covered in really spiky armor, this was far more painful. Course the Hydra soldier really didn't appreciate being landed on and was easily incapacitated, even if his armor saved him from fatal damage.

This definitely got the attention of quite a few soldiers though. And having a piece of spiky armor in your back doesn't make having to deal with gunshots all that more pleasant. Especially when some of those bullets went through Light, bounced off another hydra soldier's armor, and went into Light again.

This didn't have the effect the soldiers wanted though, as no matter how much they shot her, Light didn't go down. And in the end they were left with a few empty guns, a few soldiers injured with friendly fire, and a white and blue lady who was already healing all the bullet wounds and pulling out the armor that was stuck in her back.

"C'mon. If you wanna hail the hydra, you guys have gotta be stronger than that! Have you sen a lady hydra?" Light said, moving over and overpowering one of the nearby hydra soldiers and using him as a half human shield half teddy bear. "You guys need more people shooting me! Its the only way to save Jimmy from a gruesome death by comedy!

Michael was originally ecstatic about the covert mission. Missions like that was his forte, considering his speed. It was easy to blend in with all of the people too. And now here he was, in the midst of the crowd, watching Hydra flaunt their newest captures - mutants. The people were cheering very loudly for the success of the army. It was so loud that Michael wanted to put some earplugs on in hopes to block it out. But of course, he couldn't do that.

He surveyed the area. He could see Light - the cartoon-like lady who had joined the day before. She was an odd one but she fit in well. Kate was somewhere out there and James was at the other side of the parade. Michael was positioned near the Avenger's Tower. It was sad that it fell to a state of disrepair. With no one there anymore, it was bound to end that way. Stark made it clear that some of the defenses might still be active despite the facts so he guessed that tower wasn't really going anywhere for a long time.

A child wondered towards him, bawling his eyes out. Michael let out a sigh before ducking down to her height. "What's the matter child? Are you lost?" He asked, his accent heavy as he did. The girl looked up to him while wiping her tears and then nodded. "Where is the last place you saw your parents?" He asked once more, hoping this would lead to some answers but the girl only shrugged. Irritated but not to the point of anger, he guessed he had no choice but to do that. Michael stood up and then held out his hand. "Come, I'll help you find your parents." The girl smiled at him before grabbing his hand.

And then he was plunged into her memories. It was pretty recent so he didn't have to look for too long. It would seem that her parents had been much too busy cheering for Hydra to remember that they had a child to take care of. But then he was pulled in another memory - one of another man taking care of her. She was calling him her 'uncle'. The uncle seemed to be a superhuman of some sort but the memory was too muddled for him to be sure. Though his face was as clear as day.

The sudden explosion snapped him out of his thoughts and he whipped his head to the parade. He saw James leap out of the crowd, mask over his head. Kate had already landed and was now fighting. Light was also doing the same thing, he guessed she was trying to tear the attention away from James. Michael felt the girl's grip tighten. He had to get this girl to safety. He quickly took out a mask and placed it over his head. He carried the girl and then used his superhuman speed to enter the building and then placed her safely behind one of the desks. "Stay here alright? You'll be safe and I promise I will get back to you." He tried to sound as reassuring as possible. The girl nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around it.

Good. Michael stood up once more and then exited the Avengers building and into the chaos. He saw Kate rush in with one of the mutants. While they're busy fighting the army, Michael's gonna do what he was best at. Getting people to safety. He prepared to run and a second later - he was a blur. He grabbed one mutant and then circled back to the building and placed the mutant inside it and then headed back to take another - punching a soldier in the face without stopping making the soldier drop.

He was enjoying this rescue missions more and more.

A beautiful, busty, red headed woman walked up to the Hydra goons. She looked to pose no threat at all, but with the other Capes attacking they took no chance they fired at her. She dodged every shot, most with minimal movement. Which caused the Hydra goons to shoot more. She leapt into the air and while in midair she transformed into Venom. She came down hard on one of the standard Hydra goons crushing his skull. She grabbed two more and slammed their heads into the ground crushing them. One of them was in some mech armor or something she didn't know what to call it but sure did look like he was over compensating, she ripped the armor off his arm in one place and bit him with her poisonous fangs. The guy writhed in pain, he would eventually die, if strong enough he may live as a weak pathetic shell of a man never capable of fighting again, but the odds of that were remote.

Somewhere outside of the city...

The facility wasn't big. In fact, all that you would find if you looked form the outside would be a tool shed on the edge of a large field, nothing special, save perhaps for a button on the side. If you had a proper key, you could push the button to reveal the shed was no shed at all, but rather a disguised elevator that went far below ground. The inside was simple as well, nothign more than a holding facility. The most sophisticated piece of technology would be the arc reactor powering it for the last 50 years. Now though, the power source was running low, and it's occupant was about to be released.

Speaking of the sole inhabitant, it appeared to be a young woman sitting crosslegged in the middle of an empty room, the only other space other than the engineering level with the reactor in the facility. Power lines were hooked to her back, but other than that she jsut seemed to keep staring at the door.

Until now.

"Power level critical: Engaging release protocols." echoed a voice for a maintenance crew that has long left the facility. The girl didn't seem to notice yet, but her eyes suddenly twitched and she started moving, looking around.

Ugh. This must be what headache feels like for a human. Alex thought, looking around confused. Something was wrong with her memory, and yet her self-diagnostics spat out no errors. Was this planned? Did her memory deteriorate over the time she spent here? She thought she just sat down, unable to recall anything form the time she spent here.

Suddenly, an icon flashed on her HUD and a message opened. Alex smiled, seeing her crea- her father on the screen. "Hey kid. I know this has to be confusing, so let me give you a heads up. You may notice your internal clock is not in sync with your perceived time. That's because I have temporarily disabled your memory saving - you've been basically living the same fraction of a second over and over, and if you're seeing this message, it's been around 50 years."

That information got her to stand up and rush out of the room. Fifty years! She was supposed to be hidden for a week, month tops while the avengers dealt with a large threat she wasn't yet ready for! Is dad even still alive? I need to find him! Alex thought, a bit of panic settling in.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Past tony shouted form the message, actually getting ASTRA to stop. "I know you, no rushing out just yet!" He sighed, looking like he didn't know what to say for a few seconds - or didn't want to say it. "Look, we have no way of knowing what state the world is in. I might not even be around anymore, I'm sorry. You'll have to get above ground and make and judge for yourself. Unfortunately I couldn't transport your armor here in time, it is still below the tower. You should go fetch it before someone else does. They wouldn't be able to use it but it would be bad if the tech got in the wrong hands. Until then, I left you something of mine." Past tony smiled, and the message shut off. Alex looked on the ground and smiled upon seeing a suitcase. She picked it up and headed for the elevator.

Near the avengers tower...

She stared at the ruined tower in disbelief. "This is beyond fucked up." she cursed, feeling some of the rust set in just looking at it. The whole world has gone to hell, every superpowered individual being a target of monumental hate. Last time, as she recalled form her history lessons, this level of mass brain wiping happened in the Third Reich. "Look at them, like a herd of sheep." She frowned as she took sight of the crowd cheering as the mutants were paraded around.

She was pulled out of her melancholy soon enough as she heard shots being fired. "BEYOND FUCKED UP INDEED!" she exclaimed, climbing the fire ladder on the adjacent building to get a vantage point. She took in the situation - it seemed like some misguided souls wanted to free the mutants despite the heavy HYDRA presence. That was until she saw her. It. Whatever. Venom could not be mistaken for anyone else. Perhaps they would be able to tell her what happened in the last 50 years, seeing as none of the others seemed to be that old.

Unfortunately, the youngsters seemed to be in a spot of bother, their plan likely not involving a random person trying to do what they wanted to do as well, and failing miserably. She looked at the suitcase in her hand and smiled. "You always knew what to give a girl, dad."

Setting it on the ground she pushed one button to watch it unfold and two handles pop out. With a grin she took a hold of them, and soon the Mk V Ironman suit unfolded around her. Of course, JARVIS was not linked to the suit, but to her that was no problem at all. Her skin shifted in the armor, finding way to the circuits and soon she integrated it's systems into her own software, gainign complete control.

"Time for a distraction." Too bad the Mk V couldn't fly, but the palm repulsors still would do something. She took a couple of paces back, taking a repulsor assisted leap.

She crashed into one of the hydra mechs, staggering it. Her arm punched through the cockpit and pulled out the pilot, Alex swiftly taking his place. She modulated her voice to sound like Tony Stark himself - two reasons, perhaps that would give HYDRA the chills if they thought THE Ironamn arrived, and because why couldn'T she have a little fun on the heroes account as well? "Mind if I drop in? Get the mutants out, I'll hold hydra here!" She called out over the mech's PA system.

Dismounting one of the hands on the armor, Alex put her bare hand over the control panel of the Mech. The nanites flown into the circuitry, creating a connection she could exploit. In mere second she punched through the Mach's firewall and was in it's communication system, her mind spreading across the local hydra network and shutting the mechs down by wiping out their control software, rendering the walking tanks dead in the water. That should give the others some breathing room, especially since the mech she occupied was now under her control ad the only one still functional.

Alex grinned, uploading dad's signature song and blasting it out through the PA as she took aim with the Mech's gun and started mowing down the hydra soldiers with it.

HAIL HYDRA!
HAIL HYDRA!
HAIL HYDRA!

The roar of the crowd was deafening from Ian's position. He couldn't even hear himself yell out. This was both a blessing and a curse. Because he didn't want to be here. He never wanted to be here. But staying out of Hydra's attention requires sacrifice. Or more specifically, doing what everyone else does. Which in this case was attending this parade. The only other blessing was he was short enough and far enough back he couldn't see the poor people doomed to die. The thought of it always turned his stomach. From past experience he knew he'd lose his scant breakfast as soon as this was over.

Ian resisted the impulse to scan the crowd. There was always someone who was looking out for mutants and/or mutant sympathizers. Anyone without appropriate enough zeal was usually marked. Coupled with Ian's warn clothing he knew he was already marked. A lot of homeless and transient people were Hydra dissenters. The poor were always never happy with the "ruling" class. If it was still America Ian was sure that he would be against whatever political party that was in office. It was just the way things worked. The grass was always greener and all that jazz.

The parade was passing Ian and working it's way further down the street. The torture was nearly over. He wouldn't have to think about how this could have been him out there. About how it probably had been him when he was only a young boy. About how it could still be him all over again.

Ian's morbid train of thought cut off as a loud bang cut through the screaming, chanting voices. People around him flinched and ducked. New screaming started up, full of terror and pain. The sounds of guns firing warring with the cries, drowning them out. Ian shifted his body with the flow as people started fleeing. It was a mad house as people pushed, shoved and ran. Ian tried to keep a wary eye out as he was pushed along in the stampede. He didn't see much other then Hydra forces making their way through the press of people. Unlike the civilians, the crowd parted for them. Or else Hydra just cut them down and continued on.

One such person, a young woman, failed to move out of the path quick enough and got shot for her failure. She stumbled, failed and was lost under the sea of people. Ian balked against the flow and forced himself back to where he last saw her only to find her trampled to death. Other than the few stragglers the mass of people lad largely moved on. Shaking the man now had a better view of what could only be described as a battle.

Ian looked up as music blared loudly out of every speaker in the area. Ian couldn't help but stare as Hydra fought against what could only be Iron Man. But he was dead. Wasn't he? Ian was shocked out of staring by new screaming. One of the mutants who had been involved in the ghastly parade was trying to get away but a Hydra soldier had noticed him.

Ian's tongue darted out to moisten his lips. Ian wasn't a impulsive man. He was slow and methodical. Getting involved now would only mean his death.

But

The Hydra soldier raised his gun and Ian quickly snapped out his. Within the same moment he fired but so did Hydra. Both the soldier and the mutant jerked.

Venom was not impressed with this Iron Man wannabe. They clearly saw it was using an extremely old model, probably some poser who took to living in an abandoned Iron Man facility and found it. They were also none to pleased with the blaring of obnoxious music. They grabbed two Hydra agents and threw them at the Iron Man wannabe. Venom reached out with one of it's tendrils and started impaling Hydra thugs, as soon as one was skewered, the tendril went on to another, until a perfect Hydra shikabob was made then he slammed them to the ground hard, just to make sure they died.

Venom leaped into the air onto one of the buildings and surveyed the battlefield. The mechs were down. "IMW at least has some skill." They leaped down on to a Hydra agent that was about to create his own shikabob using only the Star Spangled Buffon. "Welcome."