The Avengers ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! by THEHAWK

This is a repost to celebrate the one year anniversary of this story. If you’ve read my work on here then you would have probably noticed that many consider this to be my best work. I’m not sure if I feel the same way about it, but it is one of my favorites. This story was written long before we had any casting news about the Avengers, and only a week after Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston were announced as Thor and Loki respectively. Fan debates still raged about who should be Cap, whether it be Jensen Ackles or Sam Worthington. We didn’t know if Black Widow was going to be a good girl or a bad girl. Now we have a Captain cast, an Iron Man sequel and pictures from Thor.

When I realized this anniversary was coming up, I decided the best way to celebrate it was to finish my sequel for it. I started the sequel shortly after this story was completed. Unfortunately I got distracted with writing stories of mutants and supermen. I had to change some things in it, in order to fit with the revelations of Iron Man 2 and with news of other films. In a few days, the Avengers will b e assembled once again to face the greatest threat the world has ever known. The Avengers will soon come to know death itself.

So, enough blathering on my part. Here it is, the original Avengers fan story, by THEHAWK
Anniversary


Here it is, in all of its glory.

This has been a story that I have been working on for quite some time. I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think of it. It is not as long as it seems, it has quite a few pictures in it, as well as a casting video at the end.
Let me know what you think of it, enjoy.


The Avengers

It is dark in New York City, normally the city would be alive with activity, but now it is a battlefield. The streets are shown from above, there is an explosion and a building collapsed. A Buick with a family is thrown through the air, the people inside scream as they hurtle towards their deaths. They are save only a few feet from the side of a building; they look down to see Iron Man in what remains of his armor, no helmet, holding their car. He lowers them to the ground and looks around the city, or rather what remains of it. He hears a blast and a round shield with a star emblazoned on it comes lying through the air and embeds itself in the wall near Tony’s head. Tony grabs it, and activates his thrusters and lifts into the air, one of the thrusts sputtered but roared to life; Tony soared through the air towards the battle. The sounds of mighty blows, cries of pain, explosions and mayhem grow louder as he approaches. He hears a crackling sound; Tony looks up and sees a huge thunderbolt shoot down from the sky, enveloping the battlefield. Tony is deafened by an impact and thrown back by a giant shockwave which shattered all of the windows in the immediate area as well as leveling some of the weaker buildings. Tony shook his head dazed and looked up in the air to see a large green figure fly through the air. Tony stands up and surveys what’s left of the city “How did it get this bad?” He says aloud thinking back.


High in remote British Columbia, hidden amongst the foliage, a large contingent of elite government agents silently move into position around a cabin in a small valley just before dawn.


High above the tree line a marvel of modern science views the troop movements below it. This is more than a mere machine, it is more than a man, it is Iron Man. Tony Stark, the man behind the mask was occupied at the moment with more than the task at hand “Don’t worry Nick, the new SHIELD prototypes will be ready on time, that’s assuming you don’t draft me for another of your jolly green giant hunts.” In a control room far from the action, a man stood with a crew of technicians behind a bank of computer monitors, this man was Nick Fury Director of SHIELD “This time, we’re sure, and if not…SHIELD will reimburse you for your time, again. Anything about the cabin?” He waits for a reply, but it’s not the one he expected from Stark “Terminate it, now!” The men move into position, while Fury panics “What? No all points ignore that last order. Tony what are you doing?” Stark responds with his typical tone “Huh? Oh sorry, I’m in the middle of a board meeting about a supply contract, managing a multibillion dollar corporation can be time consuming Nick.” Fury shook his head as he monitored the surveillance video of the area, just then a thermal image pop up on the screen, and it was moving, fast “Hold on, there is some activity in the valley, he’s making a break for it, everyone move!”

Stark looked down from above as the tree line seemed to part as something tore through it “It’s show time” he muttered under his breath as he shot towards the trees. He vaguely heard Fury order the men to engage at will, the forest was alive with gunfire, explosions, and less conventional weapons like sonic cannons. Stark pulled up abruptly as a tree flew through the air, after he dodged the projectile he saw something much more fearsome soar through the air towards him, the HULK! “Aw crap!” Tony cried as he tried to maneuver away, but was too late; the green monster wrapped its powerful arms around Iron Man, nearly crushing him! The weight of the Hulk was enough to actually cause the suit to drop in altitude, Iron Man strained to break the grip of this monstrosity as it’s held its face inches from his helmet. At that moment Fury’s crackled over the comm. unit “Tony we lost it on radar, do you have a visual.” Tony laughed nervously for a moment “Uh, you could say that, yeah I have a visual, and he looks pretty mad.” Tony angled them so they flew towards a canyon in the mountains, he turned so the Hulk was on the same side as the rock wall, Tony gritted his teeth and slammed them against the rock. Tony was jarred violently by the impact, but rather than throw Hulk off of him, this effort only succeeded in dragging the Hulk through the rock, leaving a deep furrow behind. “Gotta rethink my tactics here.” Tony said “Reroute all power to chest thruster.” Jarvis, Tony’s computerized butler, confidant, friend and wet nurse responded with its typical dry voice “Sir, I’m not sure if that’s wise in the close confines of this canyon to-““Stow it Jarvis!” Tony shouted, the suit acknowledged him with a building thrum.

Hulk looked down confused at the metal man he attempted to crush in his arms, was the metal man’s chest glowing brighter? This thought crossed Hulk’s mind just before a blast of energy shot from the glowing spot on its chest. Rather than harming Hulk, the blast only succeeded of sending Iron Man flying away from Hulk and slamming violently into the gorge wall. Iron Man’s suit sparked and the eyes in the mask dimmed as he began to roll down the canyon walls. He hit a sharp cliff and bounced off of it and fell to the canyon floor below, landing in a cloud of dust and gravel. Hulk looked down at the heap in the canyon and began climbing the wall; he reached the top and began running. Iron Man had flown them far from the rest of the operatives so it was only a short matter of time before Hulk was gone.

Nick Fury shook his head as Hulk disappeared off of the tracking system “Send a team to collect Stark, and inform General Ross that it looks like Banner is heading back to the States.” Fury turned around to see one of his aides approach him “What is it Maria” The woman handed Fury a folder “Pym says he is ready to begin testing a new substance a sub atomic particle he named ‘Pym Particles’. Humble isn’t he?” Fury chuckled slightly “Tell Pym he has permission.” Fury grabbed a heavy jacket and headed towards a door, he opened it to reveal a raging blizzard. Fury walked out of the mobile ops unit and walked past several SHIELD techs in snowsuits to a large imposing man with a beard. The oddest thing about the man was the fact that he didn’t have any protection from the snow apart from an odd type of leather armor, a helmet and a hammer. Fury stopped by this man and nodded “Thank you for letting us know about this Thor, if it is the real deal, a lot of people back at base will be very happy.” Thor looked down at Fury “Do not doubt me soldier, if I say this is the location, then it is so.” Fury pulled his jacket tighter against the snow “Look don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you told us about this, I just wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make sure. Have you given any thought on my offer?” Thor turned away from Fury “Aye. I have considered your offer and I must admit that it is tempting, but some concessions must be made.” Fury followed Thor over to the tech team’s work area “What kind of concessions?” Thor looked at Fury “When large organizations are formed with the intentions of helping others, often the cause I lost by what they think is best for the people, but not necessarily what is right. The minute I think what we do is wrong, I leave. And one other thing” He said handing Fury a slip of paper. Before Fury could respond he was called over by one of the techs “We found him General Fury!” Fury turned to Thor only to see that Thor was gone.



Dr. Hank Pym stood in his lab preparing to test his newest creation, a substance he discovered and named Pym Particles. He discovered that there were two different types of Particles, which he classified as A and B. His lovely wife Janet stood next to him studying readouts on monitors as they prepared to activate the experiment. SHIELD had given them enough funding so they could have a private lab in an isolated area, a little too isolated for Janet’s taste. Hank hits a switch on a panel; the computer informs him that type A has been released into the machine. He studies the readouts on the monitor when he hears an alarm go off in the lab “WARNING CONTAINMENT BREACH IN FORTY SECONDS.” Hank bolted up in alarm as the lab doors began to seal, he grabbed Janet and pushed her through the door as it closed, trapping him in the lab. He looks back at the machine containing the particles, it was sparking, and suddenly it exploded bathing the lab in a bright white light. Janet shielded her hands as the light enveloped her husband, when the light finally died she looked into the room to see that it was empty! Janet opened the doors and rushed inside, she saw no sign of her husband, she began crying and slumped to the ground, and she laid her head on the concrete floor and closed her eyes sobbing. She heard a noise, barely a sound, but it sounded like Hank! “Janet call Fury, I think we have something.” She opened her eyes and gasped, there before her was her husband, but he was barely an inch tall!



Tony Stark sat in a chair in his new home with an ice pack on his head; he had the news on, but wasn’t paying attention. He barely looked up when his red headed secretary Pepper Potts walked in busy inputting information into her PDA “Good morning Tony, you’re looking…” She glanced up to see that Tony was bruised and cut in several places “You have a board meeting at 2:00 and General Fury is waiting for you.” Tony nodded as he suddenly became enwrapped in the TV Pepper shook her head and walked out the door, shortly later Nick Fury walked in “How are you feeling Iron Man, I’ve got to say that was one of the more…unusual tactics I’ve seen.” Tony didn’t look up “Yeah, well I don’t recommend trying it, feedback burnt out the servos of my armor.” Fury took a seat in the chair opposite Tony and pulled a packet out of his jacket “Well, I believe I have everyone for the team, they should be here in a few days.” Tony reached into a cabinet near his chair and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, he poured a glass for himself and Fury “Who do we have?” Tony asked as Fury accepted his drink. Fury downed his shot to see Tony drinking strait from the bottle “We have confirmation from most, one way or the other, and we have some changes in the plans as well. Pym has officially moved up from technical support to active member, Sam Wilson aka Falcon has turned us down.” Stark looked up “Why?” Fury shrugged “Doesn’t want to leave Harlem, but since we will be based out of New York, he said he would stay on reserve status. Clint Barton, Hawkeye is a yes.” Stark interrupted him “Hawkeye, oh joy!” Fury raised an eyebrow “I know you two have some history, is this going to be okay?” Stark nodded as he continued to watch TV and Fury continued “Dr. Strange says it would be improper for him to associate with a government sponsored group. Carol Danvers is a go, as soon as some business in New Mexico clears up, she’s all ours. Dane Whitman is unable to commit due to family issues. There is one more on my list, we were having trouble reaching him, his movements are erratic, but he came to me.” Tony turned up the TV “You talking about him?”

The TV showed a passenger plane with a wing on fire going down over the Swiss Alps; a figure flies under the plane. A gust of wind blows the flames out and the man grabs the plane and brings it down for a safe landing. A reporter begins speaking “Once again the mysterious hero that goes by Thor has used his unknown abilities to save the innocent. After landing the plane, he personally flew its passengers to wherever they wished to go.” Tony muted the TV “A powerhouse like that would be useful, do you really think he is a god like he claims?” Fury shrugs “All I know is he is hard as hell to get in touch with. He says he will join us, but it’s over the minute he gets the feeling we aren’t doing right. And he has a personal demand for you.” Tony took another swig from the bottle “What?” he croaked from the burning whiskey. Fury pulled out the slip of paper and handed it to Stark, Tony read it shook his head and took another drink of whiskey “He wants me to give that much, it’s not even tax deductable! It’s outrageous, blackmail, and just wrong… Okay I’ll do it” Tony sighed “Oh well, I’ll have Pepper set everything up. Have you had any luck with the super soldier program, your emblem for the team, what’d you call him US Agent?” Fury smiled and stood up to leave “Oh I have something alright, you’ll have to wait and see like the others, see you then Tony, oh and you might want to lay off the sauce.” Tony looked down at the bottle in his hand and took another drink.

A skinny man walked along the side of the road in tattered clothes. To Bruce Banner it seemed like he had been walking for an eternity, he heard thunder and looked up as it began to rain. It seemed like nothing would ever go his way that is until a car stopped on the side of the road and opened its door. Bruce, not having many options, ran to the truck and got in “tttthank you.” Bruce said to the two other occupants as he shivered from the cold. The man in the front passenger seat laughed an odd laugh “It would be inhuman of anyone to leave you in the cold traveler, Laufey is the name. No mere man should be in this weather. This young man next to me driving says his name is Rick Jones, you?” Bruce shivered from the cold “Bruce.” Jones looked at Bruce in the mirror “Hey man, pull down that middle cushion and grab a blanket out of the trunk, don’t want ya to catch a cold. Where are you going?” Bruce wrapped himself in a blanket and looked out the widow “Anywhere but here.” Bruce said sadly, Rick turned around to look at Bruce “Well, since you’re going nowhere, and we’re going nowhere, what’s say we go there together?” Bruce knew he shouldn’t risk traveling with these people, but he felt strangely drawn to them, he felt like he could trust them, so he surprised himself by saying “okay.”

New York City is known for large and beautiful buildings, but none of these rivaled the magnificence of Stark Tower. Now the tallest building in New York, the tower’s shining sides acted as screens displaying some of the amazing technology developed by Tony Stark, the image most shown was that of Iron Man. Taking several years to build the top floors of the tower were created for Tony Stark’s personal use, now these floors were to be used for SHIELD’s new project. In front of the building two cars with blacked out windows pulled up, a woman got out of the car with a long coat on, Janet Pym. A man carrying a case exited the second car, he wore a trench coat and dark glasses, and he nodded at Janet as they walked to the door of the tower.



Tony Stark and Nick Fury and three women stood together in a conference room surrounded on all sides by windows at the top of Stark Tower, a set of double door opened and Janet and Hawkeye walked in. Tony glared at Hawkeye, who seemed unphased by the businessman’s stare, as he removed his coat revealing leather combat armor and arm bracers. Nick Fury smiled and kissed Janet’s hand “Mrs. Pym, always a pleasure to see you, where’s your husband?” Janet smiled and took a seat at the table “Oh, you know Hank; he wants to make an entrance.” She said opening her jacket, a small object leapt from the inside pocket of the jacket and grew in mid air to become Hank Pym, but he was wearing red and purple body armor and an odd silver helmet. Fury clapped his hands in mock applause, he turns towards the window just as a blonde woman in a skintight black outfit wit hip high boots, and a red sash about her waist landed on the balcony. The one thing odder than her appearance was the fact that she had flown there by herself, without a plane. Tony walked over and opened the doors to the balcony; the woman strode in confidently and spoke with a voice as fine as silk “Hello. I’m Carol Danvers, but you may know me better as Warbird.” Before anyone could respond to her it clouded up outside and began to thunder. Lightning began to streak the sky as the wind howled, suddenly lightning struck the balcony, nearly deafening the people in the room, lightning continued to strike that spot until in a flash Thor stood in the spot, lightning spewing from his hammer, he brought the hammer down quickly and in an instant the storm stopped. Hank was the first of the heroes to speak up “Well, so much for my entrance.” Thor walked into the room and addressed those present “Greeting comrades, I am Thor Son of Odin, the All father; I have come to offer my assistance for the good of the world.”

After a few minutes everyone had taken a seat at the table, Fury stood at the head of the table to address the group “This is the first official meeting of a joint national team, dedicated to protecting the world from, extra normal threats. If this team is successful, it will be the first of many global teams. Before we get any further, I’d like to introduce you to the team and the heads of our support staff, Ms. Betty Ross will head our scientific research division in conjuncture with Dr. Pym.” He said indicating a dark haired woman who sat with a sorrowful look which she tried to conceal. “Dr. Henry Pym was originally going to be the head of our science team, but his will now be serving as an active member of the team under the alias ‘Ant-Man’. Next to him is Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Next to him is Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, he is one of the best marksmen in the world, he also has considerable infiltration and combat experience, from his less scrupulous days. Beside him we have Thor, Thor, as many of you that have completed high school may know Thor here is the, umm, God of Thunder and son of Odin; he can control lightning and is super strong.” Thor nodded with a smile, next Fury indicated Warbird “This lovely lady it Lieutenant Carol Danvers, she was an Air Force when she had an unfortunate run in with an as yet identified alien race. The encounter granted her flight, super strength, and projection of energy she absorbs.” Fury then indicated a woman in a blue jump suit “SHIELD Agent Barbara Morse, codename Mockingbird, she will act as a field liaison between the team and various governments. She is also an infiltration and espionage expert. Next to her is SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, It is her job to coordinate the teams missions, needs, and take care of any problems, she will be in constant radio contact, coordinating team movements when not in the field. She is the only official government presence on the team, as my position prevents me from being too involved with the team, translation the pencil pushers think I’m too old for field duty.”This comment drew a small laugh from those at the table, after they stopped Fury continued “Next to her is Janet Pym, wife of our very own Ant-Man, she will be the teams PR expert, she will help keep our image intact here on the home front. And now, I am about to introduce you to the leader of this team, I know many of you were expecting Iron Man, Agent Carter or myself to lead the team, but we all agreed this would be a better candidate, and I think you will too.” Fury gestured as the doors opened and a man walked in, the man wore a predominately blue outfit with red and white on it as well, the material resembled scale armor. As modern as his outfit was, the man himself was a remnant of bygone era, a symbol lost but not forgotten “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to THE Captain America!”



The people at the table were among the most powerful beings on Earth, and yet they were all speechless and intimidated by this man who seemed to barely be barely out of his twenties. And yet they knew he in reality was older than all of them, except Thor, if his story was to be believed. Captain America walked to the front of the table to address the others “Well, first of all let me say it is nice to meet you and I look forward to working with and getting to know all of you in the future. I know I have been gone for a while and a lot of things have changed, but it is good to know that there are still people willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I hope that we can make a difference together…That is all.” Captain America finished taking a open seat at the table, Nick Fury stood up to address the rest of the group “Now as I have stated before this will not be a government team, so those of you with US military ranks, with the exception of Ms. Morse and Carter, will be removed of your ranks and placed in the reserves, Lieutenant Danvers, Captain Rogers.” Carol Danvers spoke up from her seat next to Thor “Why will the team be separate from the government, and we have to give up our ranks?” She said with obvious ire in her voice, before Fury could respond Thor spoke up “I’m afraid that is my doing fair lady, I insisted that the team sever ties with all governments, so we can protect the people without the worry of politics becoming involved. So now the team will be privately funded.” Warbird just turned to glare at Thor “So the whole team dropped its funding, just to accommodate some pretty boy prima donna with a hammer?!?!” She shouted standing rising to her feet, Thor too was beginning to lose patience “Woman, you dare address the Odinson with such impertinence?” As Thor spoke it began to cloud up and thunder outside “I will forgive your ignorance this time, but I ask you to refrain from such blatant disrespect in the future!” Carol looked at the man in disbelief, but regained control of her temper and set down again “Well Son of Odin, where do you expect us to get the funds for the team?” Tony spoke up from his seat “That’s my superpower, you have flight energy manipulation and super strength, Thor controls the weather and has a big hammer, me I have a bottomless checkbook, that’s my superpower.” Fury walked to the door “Well, if everyone is done there are some photographers downstairs that want to take some pictures of the team.” Everyone filed out of the room, but Captain America stopped Fury as they walked out “General. Since the team and I will no longer be affiliated with the military, may I make some changes to my uniform? Nothing drastic, just some alterations to make it less dark and more patriotic.” Fury laughed and put his arm around Cap’s shoulder as they walked.

Bruce Banner and his new traveling companions had stopped at a rundown motel that had a bar, they had gotten a room and now that morning had come they sat in the bar watching the news the big item was the new team of superheroes just formed in New York. The news showed a video from the press conference, seven heroes in very different uniforms, including a newly revived Captain America. Also present at the conference were two other women, both of them were part of the technical team; there was Janet Pym, and someone who caught Bruce’s eye, Betty Ross. She was the team’s chief science officer. Bruce listened to the news; they were asking the team questions, on reporter asked what the team name was, they were at a loss for words until Janet Pym spoke up “They’re called the ‘Avengers’” One reporter asked if the team would attempt to track down the Hulk. Bruce looked about the bar nervously, the patrons that were watching the broadcast seemed in genuine awe, all of them that is except for Laufey, and his usual smile was replaced by a look of sheer disgust. Rick walked up to Bruce “Hey man, radiators busted, if it’s okay we’re going to have to stay here a night or two.”

Tony Stark had made a huge dinner for the team; they all stood around, socialized, and got to know one another. None of them were wearing their costumes, for a brief time they weren’t heroes, they were just people. Everyone was dressed casual, Tony wore a suit, Carol Danvers wore a tight top and jeans, Captain America wore a dress uniform, Thor wore his usual outfit, Hank wore slacks and a polo shirt, and the rest wore similar clothes except for Fury he wore all black and a black leather trench coat. Tony and Thor stood speaking with Captain America, who had revealed his name to be Steve Rogers, Cap and Thor were comparing past exploits. Steve was telling them his experience on D-Day and his final battle with Baron Zemo, while Thor regaled them with tales “And that my friends, was how I killed Geirrod, lord of the frost giants.” Tony spoke up holding his drink said “And that was before you dressed up as a woman to get back your hammer?” Thor smiled embarrassedly “I see you know your history Stark.” Tony smiled “No. I just enjoy a good cross dressing story, which reminds me, when Rhodey gets back I need to tell you about that time he was in Atlantic City. Whiskey?” Steve took a shot glass while Thor did reluctantly “Aye, I would prefer the sweet taste of mead, long has it been since I have tasted it.” Tony smiled and walked to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle with an odd label “Well my friend thou needest not wait any longer.” He said tossing the bottle to Thor, who smiled and opened the bottle, Tony turned to Steve Rogers “So Steve, how do you like the Twenty first Century?” Steve shrugged “Just fine, what I’ve seen of it, I’ve been in a research facility since they thawed me out.” Tony stopped him for a second “Hold on all you’ve seen in sixty years is a lab and this building. I mean this is nice building and all, but it’s not that nice. How many women have you seen in this time?” Steve shrugged “Not counting the ones on the team, three.” Tony sat his glass on the table “Well we’ll just have to rectify that.” He said grabbing Cap and Thor by the shoulder “Come on big guy, you could use some loosening up to. Hey Hank, Nick! Want to go with me and the boys here to have some fun? Hell, we’ll even take Barton over there.” Pym looked at his wife who said “I’ve heard about your type of fun Tony, and I’d like to keep my husband thank you.” Tony shrugged as he, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Nick Fury walked out of the room, leaving Hank Pym looking longingly after while they abandoned him with the girls.

Tony Stark’s idea of fun wasn’t what Captain America had in mind. Tony took them to an exclusive club where you could have anything for a price, anything.


This included a dozen or so girls, which spread themselves about with the room’s occupants. Hawkeye stood by the bar taking whiskey shots and throwing knives and silverware at the dartboard, he already had consumed more whisky than most men could take standing up and yet he was still striking the board in the bulls eye each time. Tony, Thor, Fury, and Steve all sat in a large booth area surrounded by girls. Tony had one in each arm, they were trying to find ways to convince him to by them Ferrari’s. Thor had three girls on his lap; he fascinated them with tales of old, things they were supposed to learn about in school, but seemed to have forgotten over the years, one of the girls asked Thor “Are you like in a rock band or something?” Nick Fury sat laughing with two girls that at his arms. And Steve, well Steve wasn’t enjoying himself too much, he had attempted to ask one of the thong clad girls on his lap what kind of music she liked “Eminem!” She replied, he looked back at her confused “The candy?” She laughed at what she thought was a joke, she leaned up close to him “You know, you’re pretty cute soldier boy, what do you say we head to the back room?” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow “What do we do there?” She smile and leaned close and whispered into his ear, after she did she bit his ear a little bit, she looked back at his face to see his eyes wide with embarrassment and confusion. Steve abruptly stood up dropping the girl in his lap onto the floor, he walked to the door and left. Tony and the others looked at each other; Barton looked at the door, while he threw another knife, hitting the bulls eye yet again. Tony excused himself and followed Steve out the door. Tony found him out on the sidewalk pacing about nervously, Tony walked up to him “What’s wrong man, aren’t you having a good time?” Steve looked back at Tony and put his hand to his head “No Mr. Stark, with all due respect, I am not enjoying myself.” Tony walked up to him “First of all, call me Tony, your older than I am. And why aren’t you enjoying yourself.” She said she wanted us to go to the back room, do you know what they do in there?” Tony looked at him confused “Yeah, of course, that’s why I brought you here; I mean you’ve only seen a handful of women since the Roosevelt administration.” Steve interrupted him “Well that’s not how we did it in the Roosevelt years.” Tony was fixing to say something until something occurred to him “Wait a minute, you mean you’ve never…you know.” It took a moment for what Tony was implying to dawn on Steve “I never said that, I definitely didn’t say that, it’s just I don’t know. We did things differently back then, and now…everything is so, so different. I feel like I gave my whole life to the world, a cause an ideal, and the world has left me behind and that ideal is dead.” Tony put his arm around Steve “Come on man, your Captain America, the world will never forget about you, you are a symbol for everyone, not just America. Hey, what did you do before the war?” Steve smiled “Believe it or not I was an artist, a pretty good one to, if I may say so myself.”

A few days passed and members of the team were trying to settle into their quarters at Stark Tower, except for Thor, he seemed to come and go as he pleased. Steve Rogers was feeling a bit restless and he decided that he would like to take a walk and see the city; Sharon Carter offered to accompany him. They walked downtown, she holding his arm as she pointed out the sights to him, until they came to one area, where there where two giant square impressions in the ground and a memorial stood “And this?” Steve asked, dreading the answer. Sharon looked at it with sorrow “This was the World Trade Center, one of the worst terrorist’s attacks on American soil. S.H.I.E.L.D. should have known it was coming, but we read the signs wrong, while this was happening we were in LA stopping a terrorist cell from releasing a chemical weapon, when the towers fell.” Steve sunk to his knees “We are in a war now trying to stop the people that caused this right?” Sharon nodded and suggested that they move on. Steve and Sharon were walking down the street near a bank when they heard shots fired, they both hit the ground and watched as several men came rushing out of the bank with two women hostages, they pointed their weapons at the crowd and piled into a car “Stay here.” Steve ordered Sharon as he got up and ran towards the car, he ran faster than anyone she had ever seen, Steve ran out into the middle of the street, he saw a manhole cover and reached down and tried to lift it, he strained at first, but was able to lift it out. He turned to see the bank robbers rushing to their car; he held the heavy metal disc out and spun like an athlete throwing a discus. The heavy manhole cover sailed through the air and slammed into the two robbers that were holding the hostages, the men collapsed to the ground. The other men rushed into the car and sped away, they made it about two blocks, when a figure stepped out into the road, and it was Thor! Thor raised his hammer and slammed it onto the hood of the car, causing it to flip into the air, and slam into a light post. One man crawled out of the passenger side door and pointed a gun at Thor; he shouted “You can’t do this to me! Don’t you know who I am? I’m Crusher Creel!” he cried as he opened fire at Thor, who held out his hammer and struck the bullets with small bolts of lightning, he walked up to the car, grabbed and threw Creel into a building. Steve and Sharon ran up to him, Thor lowered his hammer and smiled “I thought I would join you for lunch, tis such a nice day.” Before Sharon of Steve could respond several reporters showed up and began asking questions.

Tony sat in his new lab going over some new modifications for his armor when he heard someone approaching, he turned to see one of his least favorite teammates approaching, Hawkeye.



“Barton.” He said flatly, Hawkeye leaned up against a computer terminal behind him and looked at the hologram projection for the new armor “So this is going to be your next toy, very nice, very…shiny.” Tony sighed and turned towards him “Is there any reason that you came down here Barton?” Barton shrugged and went over and turned up the news “Hey look at this!” The newswoman was in the middle of her report “Captain America and Thor in their civilian identities, along with a woman, whose name and picture has not been released, stopped a bank robbery and captured wanted criminal Carl ‘The Crusher’ Creel. Creel was wanted in twenty-eight states for multiple crimes, including robbery murder rape and arson.” Barton muted the TV “Wow, goldilocks looks pretty good on TV, can’t same the same about Cap though; he looked like he wanted to crawl under something.” Tony sighed and opened up a bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass “What was the reason you came down here again?” Barton looked up “Oh, almost forgot, Fury called. He wants to know if the team would help SHIELD with a mission.” Tony downed his glass and poured another one “Well, I guess we better call the others and see what they think.”

The team took a vote on the mission, all of them agreed to do it except for Thor “No. I will not be a politician’s puppet.” Sharon stood at the end of the table “Thor, this facility is training soldiers for terrorist organizations. Everyone from the Ten Rings and Al-Qaida to HYDRA. And this facility is on American soil, in Nevada. It falls within our jurisdiction.” Thor stood up and walked out of the room, Sharon sighed “Well, here are your assignments: Mockingbird, you are on recon duty, you have to get close enough for us to know what is going on there. Hank, you are to be escorted by Mockingbird to infiltrate the base and disable their exterior defenses. Warbird, you and Iron Man will take Cap and Hawkeye to the base, and provide support. Cap and Hawkeye, you are responsible for making sure our target is acquired.” Hank spoke up from his seat “Who is our target? Sharon pulled up a holographic projection of a man in body armor, he also had a hood and a skull like mask.



“His name is Taskmaster, which is his only known alias, he is a mercenary and is extremely dangerous. He has never been beaten in combat, as far as we know. Several months ago he stole a device from SHIELD that allows him to mimic any weapon it scans, and reproduce an exact copy from pure energy.” Hawkeye snickered from his seat, everyone turned to look at him “Sorry guys, it’s just, his name is Taskmaster, I mean am I the only one that thinks that is funny. No time for jokes? Okay, I’m easy.” Steve stood up “Well, unless anyone has anything else to add, we meet at the hanger in twenty.” As they were leaving Tony caught up with Steve “Hey man, would you mind coming by my lab for a minute, I have something for you.” Steve followed Tony into his lab, Tony went to a table and picked up something that Steve thought he would never see again, his shield “I lost it when me and Bucky boarded that plane to stop Zemo’s bomb, I thought it was lost forever. Thank you.” Steve said as he held the shield reverently, Tony went off to the machine and instructed Jarvis to help him put his armor on “No problem Steve. I bought it from a man in London a few years back, I hoped to reverse engineer it to create more of em, but I couldn’t, and it’s been collecting dust ever since.”

The Avengers gathered atop of Stark Tower outside of a hanger on the roof, everyone was there except for Captain America; he walked out of the elevator on the roof alone. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He was wearing a variation of his previous costume, but this one was much less militaristic, instead of a helmet he had a simple cowl with an A on the forehead, and on the sides of the mask was a pair of white wings. The chest armor was made out of a blue chain mail like material with a silver star on the chest, and red gloves. Around the abdomen were red and white bars.



Hawkeye smiled at him and laughed “I can handle the stripes and the little red boots, but what’s with the wings? I mean honestly, wings? Who designed that thing?” Cap stood there and strongly said “I did.” Tony stood there in is new Iron Man armor, and jabbed Hawkeye in the stomach with his elbow, Hawkeye doubled over coughing while Tony stood there “While I’m not going to be as rude as Barton here, but I got to agree, what’s with the wings?” Cap shrugged and put the circular shield on his back “Well, the wings represent the freedom that we are fighting to protect. My old uniform was very militaristic, and I got to thinking about what Thor said about us needing to separate ourselves from governments.”
Tony shrugged and addressed the team “Alright, well I’m sure you are wondering how we are going to get to Nevada, since not all of you can fly, well I have something you are going to love.”He said as he hit a concealed button on his arm, causing the hanger doors to open and a plane to be automatically pulled out onto the roof, the team gathered around the futuristic jet, while Tiny went into an automatic sales -pitch “This baby is the fastest jet in the world, it features arc powered quad-engines, of my own design. It can lift off vertically, and fly into space, or dive to the darkest depths of the ocean. It features special alloy armor plating that makes it resistant to most known weaponry; it has a fully equipped Ops station form which battles can be monitored by team members like Agent Carter there.” Sharon smiled and nodded as Tony continued “It can become virtually invisible, it has radiation shielding, AC, fully reclining seats, XM radio, CD/Mp3, live TV feeds from all over the globe, a fully stocked galley, 8 track player, and a fully equipped bar. It also has compartments where each team member ca store extra gear and weaponry, of personal effects. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Quinjet, alright let’s load up.” He said as he picked up his helmet and walked up the ramp into the jet.



The Quinjet flew through the air at incredible speeds towards their destination, while inside its occupants, the Avengers, prepared for the fight ahead. Captain America stood by Sharon Carter and went over readouts and information about Taskmaster, Hank Pym, who now called himself Ant-Man, was on the phone with Janet, who was monitoring the mission back at base along with Betty. Hawkeye was in the process of inspecting his arrows and bow, trying to talk to Mockingbird, who was doing her best to ignore him “I’m an excellent marksman, I like using a bow instead of a gun, cause it is quiet. I’m probably the best marksman alive, I’m also a damn good fighter, and come to think of it there isn’t much I can’t do.”He said with a smile at Mockingbird, who put on a fake smile “Except be modest.” Tony sat across from them and chuckled “Ah young love.” He laughed as he swallowed another shot of whiskey and poured himself another shot, Captain America looked at him “Uh, Tony, are you sure you should be drinking before a mission, I mean you said you haven’t even tested that new armor.” Tony looked at him and laughed “Take it easy Boy Scout; Iron Man has an iron liver, I can handle twenty bottles of this stuff. And besides, do you think a sober man would leave a building full of gorgeous secretaries, super models and air conditioning, to go bake out in the hot desert in a five hundred pound suit?” He said with a laugh. Sharon spoke up “We are coming upon the target now; I’m pulling it up on the screen.” She said as she pulled up an image of what appeared to be a small abandoned gas station, Hawkeye looked at the screen “I don’t get it, we flew cross country to look at a gas station, I say we ditch this idea and hop on over to Vegas, it’s only a hundred miles, I’m sure moneybags here will pay our way.” Mockingbird sighed “It’s cloaked Barton, that’s why me and Ant-Man are sneaking in to deactivate the field. My suit can cloak for a short time, its similar tech.” She said as she put a black mask that covered her eyes on her face, she stood u and took off a trench coat revealing a tight blue armored jumpsuit with a bandolier with pouches on it. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at the sight of her as he put on his own mask, a full faced cowl that left only his mouth revealed; the mask was the same color purple as his body armor.

The cloaked Quinjet flew over the station; Sharon hit a switch which opened the back hatch. Ant-Man reduced in size and Mockingbird picked him up and put him in a pouch on her chest, she grabbed a pack from a rack near the door and strapped it on. She flipped on the pack and hovered gently off of the deck of the aircraft, she hovered out the hatch and dropped out of sight, as she fell through the air she hit as which on her belt, bending the light around her, rendering her virtually invisible. Hawkeye whistled “I gotta get that.” Tony smiled as he flipped his visor down on his helmet “Which that?” Hawkeye smiled as Iron Man grabbed him and flew out of the jet, Warbird grabbed Captain America and followed the pair. They came to a rest about two miles from the facility and awaited Ant-Man’s signal.

Mockingbird fell cloaked through the air towards their destination, she heard the voice of Ant-Man through their comlink “Hey, can you quit jostling me out there, it’s kind of rough in here.” Mockingbird laughed “Well, it’s kinda hard to keep still when you are free falling.” She said as she activated the pack and hovered a few feet above the ground, only visible by the dust kicked up around her. She dropped silently to the ground and made her way to the gas station, walked beside it and entered the cloaking field, revealing a large prison like structure with guards along the wall. Mockingbird climbed silently up the wall, and vaulted it into a large courtyard, she dropped as a bullet passed over her head, and she had landed in a firing range! She rolled over and began crawling away, she reached the end of the range and walked pass several men in black uniforms practicing combat moves, she saw one man on the far side of the courtyard, he was a fearsome man, with dark body armor and a hood that covered a skull facemask, the Taskmaster.



She watched as he berated one of his students, he jumped down from the wall and pulled out a small rope, he wrapped the rope around the man’s neck and pulled quickly, the student dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Mockingbird made her way into the main building and went several stories underground, until she found the control room just as her cloaking field collapsed; she kicked the one guard in the room upside the head and sealed the door. She opened up the pouch and pulled out a dizzy Ant-Man, who jumped from her hand and grew in mid air “Screw Ant-Man! After this is over I’m going to find a way to create some wings and call myself Yellowjacket!” He said as he went over to a control panel and typed in several long series of codes into the computer, after a few moments a light came on and the cloaking field collapsed, “Mockingbird, never rent yourself out as a taxi.” Mockingbird smiled “Fine, just lock the doors, now we wait.”

Sharon Carter sat at the ops station in the Quinjet, she say the derelict gas station disappear and a large facility appear, she hit a switch on a mike and signaled the Avengers “GO!”

Captain America signaled the attack and held on as Warbird flew him through the air and dropped him into the courtyard, hit the ground rolling and jumped to his feet and slammed his shield into the face of the first enemy he saw. Hawkeye landed in a crouch and pulled out arrows and began firing at his enemies, he had regular arrows as well as special arrows, one of which he fired burst into a large net and collapsed on about six of the enemy. Iron Man fired a pulse blast into a crowd of the enemy, scattering them. Captain America deflected bullet fire with his shield and then threw it like a discus towards a crowd of the enemy the shield slammed into the face of one man, bounced off of him and into the backs of two others, from there it bounced off the wall and took three men out at the knees, the shield the shot back towards Captain America, who was in the middle of fighting three men, threw one of the men into another, and turned and caught the shield as the last man went to punch him, Captain America slammed the shield into the man’s chin, knocking him out. Captain America then turned and looked up into the air at Warbird “Go and rescued Ant-Man and Mockingbird!” he shouted up to her, she nodded and flew down through the roof of the main building, knocking the men on the roof towards the ground. Iron Man angled towards Taskmaster, who had not moved except to hit a switch on his wrist, which caused a pink shield made of energy to appear on his arm, Iron Man charged up a pulse blast to take out Taskmaster. At that same moment Hawkeye stood next to Captain America and pulled out an unusual arrow from his quiver, Cap looked at it “What’s that?” He said as he kicked a man in ht head, Hawkeye took aim at Taskmaster “An electric stunner, this thing could bring an elephant to its knees.” He said as he fired, at that moment Taskmaster decided to move, he threw the energy disc towards the arrow, the disk struck it and deflected it towards Iron Man! The arrow lodged into his boot thruster, causing him to lose control of the thrusters and shoot off into the air “Damn it Barton!” he shouted as he shot a way out of sight.

Taskmaster leapt to the ground and generated another energy shield; he slammed it into Hawkeye, sending him flying into the wall. Taskmaster then turned and blocked a blow from Captain America, he matched Captain America blow for blow, Captain America jumped backwards “How are you matching everything I’m doing?” Taskmaster laughed “Welcome to the world of photographic reflexes, my mind automatically learns any physical action I see, allowing me to replicate it. I watched you fight my students, and now I can match you and all of your partner’s moves.” He said as he jumped into the air and performed the same kick Captain America had earlier, he struck Cap in the jaw, causing him to fall back, Taskmaster heard a crash from behind him, and he turned to see Warbird burst from the remains of his control building carrying Mockingbird in her arms. Mockingbird dropped from Warbird’s arms and prepared to deliver a devastating kick to Taskmaster, who simply raised his energy shield and used it to throw Mockingbird on top of Hawkeye. Taskmaster then rolled over to Hawkeye and pulled another stun arrow out; he threw at Warbird, dazing her. Taskmaster prepared to deliver the final blow to Mockingbird, when he howled in pain and dropped to the ground in pain and eventually collapsed. Captain America, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Warbird gathered around Taskmaster, Cap looked at Mockingbird who had a smile on her face “What happened to him?” “That would be me.” Ant-Man said as he enlarged himself to normal height and a ridiculously large amount of ants poured out of Taskmaster’s armor “I used my helmet and ordered all the ants in the area to attack him, they put him in shock.” Pym said proudly as Sharon Carter’s voice crackled over their comm’s “Congratulations team, it looks like our first mission was a success!” Hawkeye nodded “Well, all except for one thing, where’s Tony?”

Tony Stark stood on the side of the Vegas strip in his armor, but without a helmet, getting a breathalyzer test, behind him was what remained of the sign for the Mirage hotel and several other neon signs sparked from holes in them all along the strip.



The cop checked his results and raised an eyebrow “Alright Mr. Stark, you’re under arrest for…flying under the influence.” The officer said as he decided on the correct name for Stark’s wrongdoing, Stark looked at him “You’re kidding?” The officer shook his head as he struggled to get handcuffs over Tony’s armored arms “You have at least twice the amount of alcohol you can legally consume.” Tony looked down “Huh. I’m surprised; usually it’s a lot more.”


Crusher Creel stood in the courtroom, the judge had announced that he was too transferred to a maximum security prison at a later date. He was led by several armed guards out of the courtroom, as he passed through the halls under armed guard, a man whose face was hidden by shadows smiled sinisterly.

Betty Ross sat in her lab going over some data that Hank Pym had asked her to look at from the battle. It was readout of Ant-Man’s bio scans from the battle; it showed that there were no irregularities from his size changes. Tony Stark was on the speaker phone “I’ll be leaving Vegas, just as soon as I pay my fines and sign an autograph for every family member of the police force, I should be back in three to six days.” Betty laughed at this “Take care of you Tony.” Tony laughed “well, I was wondering if you would want to go and get some dinner when I get back, nothing big, I know this great place in Monte Carlo.” Betty sighed, “You’re a persistent one isn’t you Tony, and this is the third time you’ve asked me.” Tony laughed over the line “Well, I figured that this time it would have more meaning, since I used my one phone call from jail to ask you, what you say?” Betty shook her head “Fine Tony, but it’s just dinner, no funny business.” She said as she heard a crash over the phone “What was that!?!?” Tony coughed and replied “Uh, some of the guards confiscated my gauntlets and just took out the east wall with a pulse blast, I got to go.” He said as the phone clicked. Betty sighed and pulled up some pictures on her computer, the picture she pulled up was of Bruce Banner from just before he battled the creature the media dubbed ‘The Abomination’. She had made him smile, he’d hoped that Dr. Stern would have been able to help, but once again she lost Bruce, and the good doctor had disappeared. “Bruce, wherever you are, I hope you are well.” She said as she began to tear up slightly.

Bruce Banner sat alone at the bar in the hotel where he nursed a beer, he heard the door open behind him and saw Rick Jones come up to the bar and sit beside him “Hey Bruce, Laufey is goin over to see the mechanic, we should be leaving by nightfall.” Bruce nodded and Rick ordered himself a beer “Bruce, you don’t remember me, do ya?” Bruce shook his head “No, should I?” Rick shrugged “I didn’t expect ya to. It was just after your…accident, the military swooped in on the campus and everything went to Hell. I was just a dumb kid; I was a student then, wide eyed and innocent. You had gotten away from the MP’s and were looking for a ride, I gave you one, boy that’s a ride I never forgot. We got pass the state line and they hit us, a Humvee came from a side street and slammed into us, it rolled the car, they came at us with guns, and that’s when you, you… got green. You turned into that thing and tore through those guys, and left. They picked me up, I didn’t tell the General I think his name was Ross, he wanted me to rat you out, but I didn’t know anything. He thought I was holding out, so he threw me in jail, for a year. By the time I got out, I couldn’t go back to school, and the General had me accused with harboring a felon, so no one would hire me.”



Bruce looked at him “I’m sorry Rick, I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”Rick looked at him and smiled “Hey it’s all good man, I don’t hold any grudges, that was probably the coolest thing I ever saw, and it gave me the excuse to something I always wanted to do, see the country, I get to travel place to place and see the sights, it’s not that bad. I saw your fight in New York; I guess you’re still on the run.” Bruce nodded and smiled “Well, it’s nice now, to have someone to travel with.” He said as the door opened and Laufey walked in “Hey guys, we can go now.”

Tony Stark sat in his office with Nick Fury, Captain America, Sharon Carter, and Janet Pym, they were discussing the mission’s success, Sharon filled Fury in on the tactical ramifications “Well General, we captured over a hundred HYDRA trainees, and Taskmaster is on his way to the Helicarrier med bay to recover from approximately thirteen hundred fire ant bites.” Fury nodded “I hope he recovers, that special talent of his would be pretty useful to us.” “You would use a killer?” The voice of Thor said as he walked into the room, his cape billowing behind him. Before Nick could respond Tony spoke up “Hey Thor, where have you been?” Thor took an extra chair in the room and sat his hammer beside him “I have spent my time engaged in battle with the malevolent Midgar Serpent.” Tony was about to say something, when he looked at Thor, who replied “Yes, the Midgar Serpent.” Janet spoke up from her seat “Well the public for the most part likes the fact that we worked in juncture with the government, except for one or two things. Thor’s refusal to take part in the mission leads many to believe that there is some dissension in the ranks. And the media is having a field day with Tony’s little trip to Vegas, look at some of these headlines ‘Iron Man’s Iron Liver’ ‘Iron Bender’ ‘Hero’s FIU(Flying Under Influence’ Not as bad as it could have gone, the media is playing up Hank’s part in the fight, they seem to like the idea of the person who seems the weakest taking out the enemy, with ants no less, I’m worried how he will feel about some of them though.” Thor looked at his companions “I apologize if my actions have caused us any trouble, I promise to participate in the next engagement.”

Tony sat across the table from Betty in a lovely restaurant overlooking Central Park; they had a nice dinner and took a walk in the park afterwards. Tony put his arm on her shoulder, she shook it off “Sorry Tony, I like you, but I’m still in love with someone else, someone alone.” Tony smiled ‘Don’t worry I understand.” They finished their walk in silence.

Rick, Bruce and Laufey drove through the night on a dark and lonesome highway, east of Omaha. Laufey was behind the wheel, while Rick slept in the back seat and Bruce stared absentmindedly outside the front passenger window. Rick sat up and patted Laufey on the shoulder “He man pull over, I gotta go.” Laufey nodded and pulled over to the side of the road and everyone got out of the car and stretched while Rick went into the woods. Laufey looked out into the traffic while Bruce leaned against the hood. Rick came back a few minutes later and patted a dozing Bruce on the shoulder; Bruce was surprised and jumped to his feet, knocking Laufey out into the traffic. Laufey looked at Bruce with surprise and rage and was hit by an eighteen wheeler. He was knocked on top of the truck and bounced along on top of it before he was thrown into the other lane of traffic and was hit by a car and knocked into the woods. Bruce and Rick looked at each other in shock and made their way across the road and into the woods, they saw a man on the edge of the woods who rushed into the foliage, they followed him until he stopped in a small moonlit clearing with a small still pond. They man turned towards them and uttered a small laugh “Well my friends, it seems that my secret is out, I had hoped to real myself to you under better circumstances.” Rick looked surprise as the man smiled at them “Laufey?” Bruce put his arm out to stop Rick “Wait, there’s something wrong here.” Laufey smiled “Indeed there is Dr. Banner.” Bruce looked at him wearily “how did you…” Laufey laughed sinisterly “There is much more to both of us than meets the eye. Dr. Bruce Banner pelted by Gamma rays, turned into the Hulk. Ah but how rude of me, I have traveled with you for so long and I have yet to introduce myself.” Laufey said as he began to glow and hover in the air, in a flash was transformed, he had green armor and a large helm with a pair of large horns coming from it, and a cape “Permit me to introduce myself, I am Loki, the God of Mischief, and future ruler of this world.” Rick stared at him wide eyed, while Bruce became instantly suspicious “What do you want with us?” Loki smiled and hovered before them



“I come to offer you a chance to join me in creating the new world order. All you need to do is help me destroy my hated brother, Thor, and his teammates these Avengers.” Loki said with obvious disdain, Bruce and Rick began to back up “Think about it Bruce, you could have General Ross’s head brought to you on a silver platter, you could have her Bruce, your Betty.” Bruce looked down for a moment “No. I won’t help you destroy people who are trying to make some difference in the world.” Loki scowled down on them “Fine, I will fine another, who would be willing to accept my offer, you will not join me, but you will be my pawn.” He said as energy shot from his hands igniting the forest as he disappeared in a flash. Bruce and Rick ran through the burning woods as they ran to the car and started it up. The sky above them crackled with a strange energy as bolts of energy shot through the sky. Rick sped off down the road “What the Hell is going on? Where are we going?” Bruce shook his head and tried to slow his pulse as his monitor started beeping “We have to warn someone, we have to get to New York!”

Loki appeared in a flash on top of a snow covered mountaintop; he closed his eyes and said an incantation. A gateway appeared out of nowhere leading to another realm; Loki stepped through it and entered into a different world. He emerged through the portal and into a ruined castle in the snow. Loki walked down the halls and opened a room revealing a pedestal, the pedestal held an ornate goblet in a blue light, Loki smiled as he reached out and grabbed the goblet.

Rick and Bruce sat in rush hour traffic on the George Washington Bridge, trying to get to Stark Tower. Rick looked over to his companion “You know they will arrest you the minute you walk in the doors.” Bruce looked at the New York skyline, remembering the last time he was there “Probably.” Unknown to them a traffic camera on a post several hundred yards away captured their image and was being processed through the S.H.I.E.L.D database. General Nick Fury stood on the bridge of the awe inspiring Helicarrier, hidden high above the city of New York behind a cloaking field. Dum Dum Dugan rushed onto the bridge “Nick! We have him! He is on the George Washington Bridge!” Fury spun around “Whom?” Dugan looked at him “Banner!” Fury turned to look out the observation window at the city below them, he muttered in a voice that was barely addible “mother [frick]er.” He spun around to Dugan “Contact Ross, Ensign get me the Avengers!”

The Avengers gathered around the conference table as a holographic Fury explained the situation to them, he was midway through his explanation when Betty rushed into the room “You’ve found him!” she cried as she burst into the room, slightly embarrassed. Fury nodded “Yes Dr. Ross, we have. The Avengers have agreed to try and capture him, hopefully he will come peacefully. And your father knows as well, his Hulkbusters are on their way to the city as well.” Betty paled at the mention of her father, the man who spent most of his time pursuing her love. Cap stood up at the end of the table “Well, we are all in agreement, we are going to bring this Banner in, hopefully before he can become the Hulk. Thor are you with us?” Thor looked down for a moment before addressing the others “I gave my word that I would participate in the next engagement; I will do all in my power to keep the innocent out of harm’s way.” The team rose from their seats and went to leave. Iron Man, Thor and Warbird flew from the roof, while the others rushed through the building, as they passed through the lobby a man bumped into Hawkeye and quickly apologized, as Hawkeye rushed to catch up with the others the man was revealed to be Loki!

The police tried to clear the streets and set up a road block to catch Banner, Bruce saw this and he and Rick abandoned their car and made their way down the sidewalks until they saw policemen trying to hurry people from the streets, they turned to go another way when a voice shouted from above them “Bruce Banner, you and your companion are ordered to cease and desist all activities, and surrender yourselves peacefully to our custody.” Banner turned to see Captain America, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Ant-Man standing in the street behind them, while Warbird, Thor and Iron Man hovered in the air above them. Bruce breathed a sigh of relief “Thank God we found you! We have something important to tell you, its Loki he-“ Bruce was interrupted as an arrow flew from Hawkeye and struck Rick I the chest, knocking him back several feet, Bruce leaned over his fallen friend while Cap turned to see a dazed Hawkeye who looked from his bow to Rick confused.



“I didn’t! At least I don’t think I… Did I?” Thor looked down at the fallen youth and back to Hawkeye, his reverie was interrupted by a cry from down below. Captain America motioned for the others to assume combat positions as Banner stood before them, eyes glowing green as his mussels began expanding and his skin turned green, his cloths tore leaving him in nothing but tattered pants, Bruce Banner had become the HULK! Cap swore to himself “Everyone scatter!” He cried as Hulk charged forward after Hawkeye, striking Ant-Man as he ran, sending him flying into a car knocking him out! Hulk charged after Hawkeye, Iron Man saw this and swooped down and grabbed him “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” He said as he flew Hawkeye to safety.

Captain America and Mockingbird dodged Hulk’s powerful blows as he rampaged through the city, trying to find Hawkeye. Mockingbird flipped through the air and two small staffs shot out from a hidden location on her tight outfit, she brought them together creating a six foot long staff that crackled with energy. She swung it through the air as she fell and struck Hulk in the head, Hulk howled and swung out, knocking Mockingbird into a car. Warbird flew down at incredible speeds from high in the air, she slammed into Hulk, knocking him back several feet, but not dislodging him from his feet. Hulk reached around and grabbed Warbird’s hair and cried “HULK SMASH DUMB BLONDE!” he shouted as he swung her into several cars, causing them to explode. Warbird fired and energy blast from her hands, freeing herself from Hulk, she flew up into the air and struck him with several more energy blasts as Iron Man flew up beside her and started shooting Hulk with Plasma and pulse blasts, they didn’t even notice as the sky clouded up and began to lightning. Captain America stood a good distance from Hulk, looking for something to use that might hurt Hulk, then he saw it, just behind Hulk was several ruined cars and one of them was leaking gas. Captain America carefully aimed and threw his shield, it bounced off of a building beside Hulk and angled down towards the pavement near the fuel leak, it hit the pavement, sparking a flame that ignited the gas tanks and caused the cars to explode! The explosion caused Hulk to stagger on his feet.

Sharon, Jan and Betty watched from Stark Tower. As Hulk was hit by the explosion, Jan turned towards Sharon, tears in her eyes “Are you sure can’t get into contact with them?” Sharon shook her head solemnly “there is some sort of powerful electric interference.” Jan held her head down and cried “Poor Hank.” Betty got to her feet and ran out of the room, unnoticed by her companions.

Iron Man was prepared to fire another pulse blast when he was hit by a large lightning bolt from behind, causing his armor to short out and he dropped down to the building below, crashing through the roof. Warbird turned to see Thor behind her.



“What are you doing?” She demanded angrily, Thor hovered in the air before her, his hammer crackling with energy “He is not our enemy. This not but a trap set by my evil brother Loki.” Warbird sighed and clenched her fists “You idiot, drop the damn god act! No one believes you, you nut! Tony checked, your name is Donald Blake, you disappeared on a trip to Norway the same day Thor appeared, you are not a god, you’re just sick. Banner probably saw you rant on TV about Loki and decided to use that to get to you!” Thor shook his head as Captain America deftly dodged the Hulks powerful blows below “You know not of which you speak fair lady, it must be Loki, and why else would Hawkeye attack?” Warbird grew angrier “It was an accident; the kid had a gun, whatever! It doesn’t matter, either you’re with us or against us.” Thor gripped his hammer tighter “I have no wish to fight you, but if I must.” Warbird smiled and cracked her knuckles “I’ve been waiting for this.” She charged towards Thor who raised his hammer to strike her, she dodged it and struck him in the jaw, he laughed lightly “Not bad, for a mortal. Now let me show you the powers of a God!” He said as he fired a powerful lightning bolt at Warbird, the blast caught her in the chest and sent her crashing to the concrete below.

Meanwhile Hulk continued to attack Captain America, who was barely able to dodge the rampaging behemoth. The Hulk swung low and Captain America leapt over the arm and rolled between the Hulk’s legs and threw his shield at Hulk’s back, the blow was strong enough to dent steel, and yet it only served to further anger the Hulk. Cap crawled backwards as Hulk stood over him, Cap saw an opportunity for a low blow, he jumped up on his feet and roundhouse kicked Hulk in the testicles. Cap expected Hulk to flinch or budge, but all the kick did was further anger Hulk “oh shit.” Cap said as Hulk raised his fist to crush Hulk, as he did, there was a bright flash on the Hulk’s face and he stumbled back a little bit, he was dazed long enough for Cap to deliver a leg sweep, taking the titan down. Captain America saw Ant-Man enlarge “I didn’t think the stingers I was working on would work.” Captain America grabbed Ant-Man “I’ll keep him busy, find Mockingbird.” “Got it!” Ant-Man said as he miniaturized again.

Captain America saw a flash of light and jumped out of the way as Warbird crashed through the pavement and into the subway tunnels below, Captain America looked up to see the storm growing worse as Thor brooded above. Iron Man shot up from the remains of a building and dove for the Hulk at full speed, Thor pointed his hammer at Iron Man and said “Sorry, my friend.” He said as he shot a powerful blast from his hammer towards Iron Man, who shouted “Steve! Aim for the hammer!” As the blast burrowed him into the concrete below. Captain America threw his shield with all of his might at that same moment; the shield flew through the air, ricocheting off of buildings, until it hit Thor in the arm. The shield sliced through the strap that held the hammer to his arm and caused him to drop it “No! Mjolnir!” Thor cried as he tried to catch the hammer, at that very moment a glow could be seen from the hole Thor had sent Warbird into. A devastating blast of energy shot from the pit and struck the Thunder God as he reached out for Mjolnir, Thor cried out as the energy blast enveloped him, causing him to drop down to the ground with a crash.

From atop the Chrysler Building the malevolent figure of Loki stood watching the battle unfold below him with glee “Finish him.” Loki said with a smile.

All of the combatants, including the Hulk were held captivated by the dust cloud from Thor’s landing, when the dust cleared it revealed Thor to be a lanky blonde man, who was only able to mutter “Mjolnir.” Hulk on looked confused as all of the other Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Warbird, Ant-Man and Mockingbird, gathered around Thor. Iron Man opened his helmet and reached down to help the transformed Donald Blake up, Blake shook off the hand and limped away from the others on his own, as he did he patted Hulk on the shoulder and bent down to pick up a stick that he used as a cane. The team looked at each other then at Blake, Tony held out his hand “Blake, stop we can help you.” Blake looked back at them “I tried to help you, but you didn’t listen. Now it is on your heads.” Hulk looked back and forth between Blake and the Avengers “You hurt Hulk friend! HULK SMASH!” He said as he raised his fist high over his head “Hulk No!” cried a voice, Hulk turned to see a woman approach from behind a pile of rubble “B Betty?” Hulk said confused as he slowly moved towards Betty, completely forgetting about the others.



Betty’s presence had a calming effect on the Hulk as he slowly changed back into normal Bruce Banner, who collapsed to the ground.

Loki scowled down from the top of the Chrysler Building “It would seem that I require a suitable replacement for the Hulk, someone that has a hatred for the Avengers.”

Tony Stark entered his lab, which had been turned into a holding area for Banner, who sat strapped to a chair in the center of the room “Well Bruce, that was the hospital, the arrow did not hit any organs, your friend will be fine.” Bruce breathed a sigh of relief “Well, what are you going to do with me, now that you’ve finally caught me?” Tony shrugged and went to a cabinet and grabbed a whiskey and two glasses, he offered one to Bruce, who made a motion with his manacled hands “Ah, I almost forgot.” Tony said as he hit a switch on Bruce’s chair deactivating his restraints, he handed a surprised Bruce a drink “Why are you releasing me?” Tony shrugged “Well, those restraints wouldn’t have held your other side, and why would you want to hurt little old me? Actually Betty has spent a while explaining your situation to us, and we want to hear you out in the morning. But for now we’ll put you up in a nice room. We aren’t worried about you escaping because these floors will only open if your bio signature is registered with Jarvis.” He said as he put his hand on Bruce’s back and they walked towards the door “SO, is it true that you go green whenever you get excited? No offense but that must be a real mood killer on a date.” Bruce laughed lightly and nodded.

Carl Creel sat across from an armed guard in the back of an armored police van; he was shackled at the hands and feet. The driver of the van looked out the window at some of the passing foliage; they were heading well into New Jersey to transfer the prisoner to another van, which would take him to a maximum security prison. The drive slammed on brakes as he saw a man in the road before them, the van stops mere centimeters from him. Loki laughed as he raised his hand palm outward towards the driver and guard in the front of the van, they looked from each other to the strangely dressed man before them, Loki smiled as a blast of energy expelled from his palm and eradicated the occupants of the van in a flash of light. Loki walked around to the rear of the van, he waved his hand and the doors flew off, the guard in the van brought his gun up to bear on the Loki. The man fired, emptying out his rifle, but the bullets hung in the air around Loki, Loki flicked his wrist and the bullets shot back and slammed into the guard killing him. Creel looked at Loki with no trace of fear, Loki snapped his fingers and the shackles that bound Creel vanished, Creel looked up confused “What do you want?” Loki stood there before him “You.” Creel looked at Loki skeptical “You seem to have amazing powers, what do you want me for?” Loki smiled and walked forward motioning for Creel to follow him, Loki opened a portal and stepped through with creel, into his hidden fortress “We both have common enemies that we would both like to see eliminated, and I myself am not a hands on person. That is where you come in I can give you nigh unlimited powers, if you promise to help me destroy the Avengers.” Creel looked skeptical “Who are you, and why do you want me to do this?” Loki spread his cape behind him and took a bow “I am Loki, the God of Mischief.” Loki put his hand to his chin thoughtfully and walked to an old throne and sat in it “As to why I’m doing this. It could be my overwhelming hatred of Thor, or my desire to rule the realm of Midgar, Earth to you humans. Or could it be that I am simply bored?” Loki leapt to his feet “Whatever the reason, do you still want unlimited power?” Loki said as he produced the goblet from earlier out of thin air. Creel smiled, grabbed the goblet and drank it, he stood there a moment before dropping the goblet and he fell to the stone floor clutching his throat, after a moment his body seemed to become stone. “What’s happening to me?” Creel said in a gravelly voice, Loki sighed “mortals, always so cliché. I am giving you the ability to partake of the energy of all things; you can absorb anything, and use it to strengthen you.”

Bruce sat with the Avengers a few days later, Tiny had run a series of test on Bruce and determined that the Hulk’s body generates Gamma radiation at a rate that accelerates when he is angry. Bruce had explained to them what Loki had said, and they promised him a safe haven from the military. But the media caused a panic in the city; many New Yorkers wanted the Avengers to be forced to disband. Finally after a few days, the government sent Nick Fury to deliver the bad news to the team, Bruce sat there with a feeling of dread as Fury made the announcement “The US government has requested that the Avengers disband, at least temporarily, until this unrest dies down.” Captain America spoke up from his seat “What about the threat of Loki?” Fury looked down “I’m sorry but the government doesn’t believe that he is an existent threat, just an excuse for Thor destroying several city blocks.” Bruce spoke up “I don’t know if he was a God, but he was powerful, I still say you should be prepared.” Fury looked over at Bruce “Dr. Banner, you should know from experience that I always have a plan. And by the way, I have orders to bring you into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, I’m sorry.” Two armed guards came into the room and shackled Bruce and led him out, Tony stood up “Hold on! I promised him protection, he has to be right about Loki, why else would Barton over there fire on a kid, and even he isn’t that big of an ass.” Fury shook his head “Look Tony, even I have to follow orders, I’m sorry, to all of you, about all of this, but it’s over.” He said as he walked out of the room. The Avengers sat in silence for a few minutes before they too began to leave; First it was Hank and Jan Pym, followed shortly later by Hawkeye and Mockingbird, Betty sat in a corner of the room crying softly to herself over Bruce, Warbird went over to her and walked her out. Sharon Carter stood in the doorway; she turned to look at Captain America “Steve, what about you?” Captain America took off his mask and looked down at the table “I have nowhere to go. I don’t belong in this era, I’m out of place. This is the age of the anti-hero the rebel, the dissenter; I am a follower of a corrupt system, a tarnished dream. I don’t belong here.” Sharon went over to him “Steve, there is a place for you, you see I…” She stopped as Steve held her chin in his hand they leaned together and kissed passionately. Tony sat there and looked away awkwardly, they broke their kiss and smiled, Tony cleared his throat “Well, despite its troubles, the Avengers did do one thing, it created two relationships.” Steve looked at Tony “Two?” Tony nodded and propped his feet up on the table “Yes Hawkeye and Mockingbird of all people. I went to check on Barton last night, and I uh interrupted them.” Tony said with a smile “Steve you’re welcome to stay here if you wish.” Steve nodded “I’d like that, thanks Tony.”

Hank and Jan sat in their new apartment on the other side of the city that evening. They sat together on a couch, sipping wine “Well Jan, it was fun while it lasted; at least Tony will guarantee to fund my robotics research.” Jan nodded “And I have offers from dozens of companies that want the Avengers publicist to represent them.”

Nick Fury led Bruce Banner through the halls of the Helicarrier, they met a man outside of the holding cell, and Bruce looked at the man coolly “General Ross.” He said as he was shackled into place in the cell, Fury stood outside as the door sealed. Ross leaned close to the cell door “you have no idea how long I’ve waited for this, we’re going to find out what makes you tick, and then we are going to find the biggest hole in the world, and we’re going to put you in it, for the rest of your unnatural life.” Ross said menacingly, Bruce looked at him unfazed “Well sir, you may have a problem with that, because you are the biggest hole in the world.” Banner said as he lay back on the cot, while Ross left Fury looked at Banner “Look, I am sorry that things went this way Banner, I really am.”

Clint Barton and Barbara Morse lay together in a hotel room bed that night, holding each other closely. Barbara turned to him “Well after the thing with Banner and the kid is resolved, Fury is going to send me off on some other mission, what about you?” Barton smiled at her “You know Bobbi, I think I could get into the whole James Bond super spy thing, Hell if ole one eye can do it, it should be easy.” Bobbi looked at him “Yeah right, I’m sure Fury will give a position to a man that’s been convicted, and shot the Hulk’s best friend causing a huge battle in the city.” She said playfully, Barton lay there think “I’m going to prison, aren’t I?” Bobbi lay her head on his chest “Probably, jailbait.” They laughed lightly as they lay there together.

Tony sat in the Avengers conference room, alone in the dark, he looked down at his Iron Man helmet, he held a glass of liquor in one hand, he looked over to a picture that Jan had had one of the PR people create for a logo for the team, Tony yelled and threw the glass at the picture, shattering the glass and the frame. He slumped back into his chair and put his head in his hands.

Carol Danvers stood on the balcony to her room at Stark Tower simple jeans and a shirt, she had a duffle bag over one shoulder, and she looked back at her room and leapt off the balcony and into the air.

Steve Rogers sat in his room with the lights down low looking at black and white photos of his past and long dead friends, including one picture of him standing there smiling next to a younger man in costume with a gun “Bucky.” Steve said sadly. He looked up at a knock on his door, Sharon stood there in a sexy cocktail dress, and she threw him his dress uniform “Get dressed.” Sharon led him downtown to a club, they went in and Steve stood in shock, it was a Swing Club, playing the music he remembered. He looked at Sharon, who pulled him out onto the dance floor.

Donald Blake sat alone on a bench in Central Park, wrapped in a tattered jacket, with the stick sitting beside him, he looked up at the sky, and the clouds were gathering “A storm is coming.”

A few days passed with no major events, the members of the Avengers tried to adjust to normal lives; Tony stark was held liable by the city and was forced to pay for damages from the fight with Thor and Hulk. The news did not even mention the escape of Carl Creel, a fact that Loki made sure to point out “You see my friend, the world doesn’t respect Carl Creel, but if you destroy the Avengers, I guarantee they will remember the Absorbing Man. We have spent much time developing your powers until you were ready, and the time is now.”

Loki appeared in a flash of light atop of the Chrysler building, he raised his hands above his head in the mid day sun, he said a spell in Latin and shot a black ball of energy from his hands, it rose high into the sky and disappeared. After a moment an unnatural amount of clouds appeared over the city, blocking out the sun and casting the city in a dark gloomy haze. Citizens from across the city looked up at the sky with only rudimentary concern, surely a change in the weather would have no effect on their routines.

A man wearing a trench coat walked into the lobby of Stark Tower, he made his way to the public elevator, and rode it to the top floor, well as high as the public was permitted to go, the top floors were reserved for Tony Stark himself. The man pressed his hand against the blue elevator wall, his hands crackled with energy as his body took on the blue tone of the elevator, becoming the same metal! He raised his other hand and shot a blast of electricity that blew open the top of the elevator, he then shot a blast at the pulley system and the elevator began to rise. Stopped on the top floor and opened revealing a startled looking woman, she didn’t look at him as she was busy typing something into her PDA, Pepper Potts looked up and screamed at the metal man, who raised his palm and blasted her across the room with electricity. Tony was in his lab when he heard Pepper’s scream, he knew something was wrong “Jarvis!” He shouted as he ran to the machine that began to put on his armor.



He pulled down his facemask as the man walked in on him and dropped his coat, revealing Carl Crusher Creel, his body and cloths had become the same material as the elevator, Tony looked at him “Great now the Blue Man group is after me!” He said as Creel shot a blast of electricity at Tony, tony dodged and shot a pulse blast at Creel, tearing out a chunk of his metal shoulder. Creel looked at his shoulder in amusement then he launched himself at Iron Man, he struck the Iron Man square in the chest, and drove him back into a pile of machinery, as he did his body absorbed the metal in Iron Man’s armor making himself stronger. Iron Man activated his chest thruster and blew Creel across the lab, causing him to strike the doorsill just as Captain America ran into the room “Creel?” Cap asked in confusion as the man threw a punch at Cap, Cap threw up his shield and blocked the blow that was powerful enough to dent the floor on which Cap stood. Creel grasped the edges of the shield “Looks pretty tough, mid if I borrow it?” He said as he absorbed the properties of the shield, his body gaining a red tint. He grabbed the shield and swung it with Captain America still attached, Cap pulled his leg in and kicked off from Creel and back flipped to land by Iron Man. Iron Man charged up a pulse blast and fired it at Creel “Tony No!” cried Cap as Iron man fired, the pulse blast struck Creel, but since he had absorbed the properties of Captain America’s Vibranium shield, the blast only strengthened him. He smiled and rushed towards Captain America and Iron Man, Iron Man dove out of the way but Cap caught the blow with his shield and dropped back, throwing Creel behind him. Creel struck the wall and crashed through it; he fell through the air outside Stark Tower and crashed into the ground below leaving a huge crater. He rose from the crater unharmed due to the Vibranium, he smiled up at the tall building and planted his feet, is legs taking the texture of the concrete below, his body began to become more rocky and he began to grow. The ground rumbled below him as he grew larger than a ten story building, before stopping.

Tony pulled of his helmet and rushed to a computer terminal and typed in a series of commands, the SHIELD logo appeared followed shortly later by the face of Nick Fury “Uh Nick, we may have a little problem down here.” Tony looked at a screen that showed the giant monster “Make that a big problem.” Fury looked behind him and turned to Stark “I know. We are in position now. We are going to try that pulse cannon you developed.”

The massive form of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appeared off the coast of Manhattan, a point on its bow began to glow brightly unlit a huge blast shot towards Creel. Creel stood facing it, his arms spread wide, the blast hit him dead center in his chest, his rocky form cracked and healed. He smiled and clapped his hands together, a pulse blast shooting from them towards the Helicarrier. Fury stood on the bridge “everyone BRACE FOR IMPACT! “ The Helicarrier was struck just off the keel, blasting a hole all the way through it. The Helicarrier trailed smoke as it crashed in the water, trailing a cloud of jets that fell from its deck.


Tony looked at Captain America “Well, there goes that option, looks like we need reinforcements.” Tony said as he went over to a screen that activated the massive image screens on the outside of Stark Tower, as well as activating a loud speaker, Tony looked at Cap “This thing will be going coast to coast.” Captain America went up to a microphone and spoke into it “This is Captain America, New York is under attack by a fearsome creature, we request assistance from my former teammates, and we need you. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” Cap cried out as huge bolt of electric energy shot towards the tower, Tony looked down to see that the rock creature was rippling with electricity “Great, he has figured out how to access the cities power grid.” Tony said as he flew Captain America and Pepper’s unconscious form from the remains of his lab, as he flew he received a communications “Tony, this is Sharon, Dr. Ross, the Pyms, Mockingbird and Hawkeye are in route, Betty and the Pyms are going to Stark tower as am I.” Tony was confused “Why are you going back there? Rocky seems mad at the building, I’m taking Pepper to the nearest hospital, then me and Cap are going back to take him on.”Iron Man veered sharply to the left as a bolt of electricity shot past him “Oh never mind the tower are perfectly safe, he’s following us now.”

Sharon flew the Quinjet high over the city Sharon brought them over the rampaging Creel, she turned back “Hawkeye, Mockingbird, GO!” she shouted as she opened the rear ramp on the jet, Hawkeye and Mockingbird where on a motorcycle, Mockingbird revved the engine and raced down the ramp and out of the city, the motorcycle landed on Creel’s right arm. Mockingbird raced the bike down his arm as he turned his head to face him, Hawkeye sat behind Mockingbird with six arrows drawn back on his bow “Smile you son of bitch.” Hawkeye said as he shot the arrows, the arrows soared threw the air and struck Creel in the face. The arrows exploded with a tremendous force, cracking Creel’s entire form, Creel began breaking apart into large pieces of concrete, which rained down around the pair of heroes as they maneuvered the bike toward the road below. The hit the street and raced the bike as fast as they could away from the collapsing titan.

Sharon Carter landed the Quinjet on the roof of Stark Tower, she Betty and the Pyms quickly exited the vehicle and raced into the building, Pym rushed into the remains of the lab with Betty and Jan, while Sharon went to the communications room. Pym opened a vault like locker and pulled out his costume and gave Jan a similar one, he quickly put his costume on and took out several containers of Pym Particles and handed some to Jan “If this gets bad, if it looks like we aren’t going to make it I want you to take these and use them to disappear. This capsule will make you smaller, and these will make you grow. I love you Jan.” Pym said as he kissed Jan and jumped out of the hole in the wall, as he did he shrunk down in size and was caught in the wind currents, which carried him away. Sharon tried to contact the Helicarrier, but was unable to get a response.


Captain America and Iron Man stood beside Hawkeye and Mockingbird as they approached the rubble that was Creel warily. Suddenly the ground began to rumble and a massive arm formed from the rubble, the arm reached out and crashed through a power pole as the form of Creel began to rebuild, growing as tall as before. Iron Man shot up into the air “Get it!” He cried as he fired pulse blasts at the reforming Creel, an electric blast shot from Creel and struck Iron Man, sending him crashing through a building.



Cap looks up as his friend is taken out of the battle, when he notices a form beside him, Ant-Man “Cap it’s bad, I got a close look at him, he is absorbing the energy of this stuff at a molecular level, we can’t stop him, and he can reform himself from the very air which we breathe.” Cap looked at the now reformed Creel “We’ve got to try!” Cap said as he and the others backed up, he held his hand to his ear “Go ahead Sharon.” Sharon’s voice crackled over the earpiece hidden in his costume “Steve, Carol is in route, ETA less than a minute, I’ll patch her into the rest of the team’s comms.” Captain America held his shield at the ready “Alright team, Mockingbird, Hawkeye concentrate on his left leg, Hank distract him, I’ll take the left leg. GO!” He said as Creel raised a mammoth foot over him, Cap did a back flip and threw his shield in mid air, the shield flew through the air and sliced through Creel’s leg, causing him to balance precariously on one leg. He tried to focus on regenerating his leg, but a light flashed in his face distracting him, Ant-Man was using his stingers, to disorient Creel. At that moment Hawkeye fired several concussive arrows, while Mockingbird fired her staffs at him, the combined force shattered his remaining leg, causing him to collapse to his knees. “HANK MOVE!” a voice commanded, Ant-Man dove from Creel’s face, reinlarging as he did. He fell through the air as Warbird flew towards Creel with a velocity so fast, she broke the sound barrier. A sonic boom echoed as she flew towards Creel, she hit him with such a powerful impact, that he cracked so much; he shattered into millions of pieces of rubble, one large piece smashed into a jewelry store. The team gathered around the rubble, Iron Man landed beside them “Did you get him?””No.” A voice laughed from behind them, they turned to see the chunk of rubble reform into a ten foot version of Creel, before any of them could react, he grabbed a diamond from the case and his skin became that of diamond.

Bruce Banner stood up coughing in what remained of his cell; the force of the crash had demolished the door to his cell, but had covered it under much debris. Bruce tried pushing against the door, but was unable to budge it. “Banner! Banner!” he heard someone call his name, he looked up to see Nick Fury come into his cell, Fury helped him pull open the door “its bad Banner. A criminal named Carl Creel has somehow gained the ability to absorb want ever he touches, including our pulse blast, he crippled the ship. Cap has called the Avengers for back up, but I don’t think they will be enough.” Fury explained as he led Banner from the brig and towards a hatch that led to the deck, Fury looks around at the damage and devastation done “I’ve had the same car since I was nineteen, never had a problem, yet this damn thing falls out of the sky every other Thursday. Come on Banner.” Banner looked at the damage on the deck “What are you getting at Fury?” Fury pulled Banner out onto the deck “I’m asking you for this.” Fury said as he kicked Banner in the genitals, dropping him to the deck, Fury then kicked Banner in the jaw, Banner looked back at Fury, is eyes glowing green. Fury backed up as Bruce Banner underwent the horrific transformation into the Hulk. The Hulk stood over Fury and roared, Fury did not seemed fazed, he pointed towards the city “Sorry Hulk, I had to do it, the mean man in the city said if I didn’t he would hurt Betty, if you don’t stop him, he will kill Betty.” Hulk growled down at Fury and turned towards the city, as he turned he swept an arm out, and knocked Fury across the deck of the Helicarrier and into the water. Hulk then braced himself and leapt of into the city.

Creel walked towards the team, which circled around them, Warbird charged up an energy blast and fired it, Iron Man saw her “Warbird, don’t!”



The blast struck Creel’s diamond form, which acted as a prism and spread the blast causing it to hit Mockingbird, Ant-Man and Iron Man. The blast knocked the former two out, while it hit Iron Man in the helmet, shattering it, and sent him flying into a building. Creel then approached the fallen form of Ant-Man when a large hand reached down and grabbed him, he looked up to see the angry face of Janet Pym, and she had used the Pym Particles to grow in size! “No one messes with my husband.” She said menacingly “Oh I’m so scared.” He said as he swung his hands out, breaking her grip. He landed on the ground “What do you say we settle this on more equal grounds bitch!” he said as he grew larger again, yet this time he was able to keep his diamond form, he reached Janet’s height and swung a blow at her, she barely dodged it, but ended u hitting a building, she ducked as he sent another blow his way, she jumped on him and wrapped her hands around his neck, he head butted her, knocking her out. She collapsed to the ground with a tremendous crash. Creel Looked down to see Captain America and Hawkeye running from him as Hawkeye shot arrows at him, he felt a tremendous blow on his back and turned to see Warbird pounding him with all her might, he brought his hands out and smashed them together into her, she fell to the ground in a heap. Creel heard a horrible snarl from behind him, he turned to see the form of the Hulk flying through the air, the Hulk struck Creel with tremendous force, enough to knock Creel several blocks away into Times Square. Times Square was empty of all life; the police had forced all of the people to evacuate the area, so thankfully no one was hurt. Creel stood up, his diamond form cracked from the force of the Hulks blow, pieces of razor sharp diamonds fell from his skin as he tried to restructure himself. The Avengers and Janet, minus Ant-Man Mockingbird and Iron Man, rushed into Time Square to confront the behemoth. Creel grows “I’ve had enough of this!” as he thrusts his fist into the Jumbotron and begins to absorb the electricity from the area, blacking out Times Square. Now practically glowing he raises his fists high into the air and slams them down to the ground, the force of his blow was increased by the massive amounts of energy he absorbed, his blow sent all of the Avengers flying back, and causing Captain America to lose his shield.

Several blocks away the people in cars tried to evacuate the city, felt the blast, one family in a Buick were caught by the shockwave and throw through the air towards a nearby building, the people inside scream as they hurtle towards their deaths. They are saved only a few feet from the side of a building, they look down to see Iron Man in what remains of his armor, no helmet, holding their car.


He lowers them to the ground and looks around the city, or rather what remains of it. He hears a blast and a round shield with a star emblazoned on it comes lying through the air and embeds itself in the wall near Tony’s head. Tony grabs it and activates his thrusters and lifts into the air, one of the thrusts sputtered but roared to life, Tony soared through the air towards the battle. The sounds of mighty blows, cries of pain, explosions and mayhem grow louder as he approaches.


Creel looked down at his feet as the dust settled below him, he saw the heroes down below him, dead or unconscious, but that’s not all he saw. Between his feet he saw a man holding a stick; the man looked up at him and shouted “Enough of this vile villain! Surrender yourself now or be destroyed.” Creel laughed “You are but a mere mortal, I have been empowered by a God, who are you to order me?” Blake lifted his stick above his head, the air crackling around him as he did “I am the Son of Odin, the Allfather. I have fought on countless battlefields and fought fiends far worse than you, I am THE MIGHTY THOR!” Blake shouted as he struck the stick to the ground with all of his might, the moment the stick touched the ground a colossal bolt of lightning enveloped the two, causing the already cracked Creel to shatter.

Tony hears a crackling sound; he looks up and sees a huge thunderbolt shoot down from the sky, enveloping the battlefield. Tony is deafened by an impact and thrown back by a giant shockwave which shattered all of the windows in the immediate area as well as leveling some of the weaker buildings. Tony shook his head dazed and looked up in the air to see a large green figure fly through the air. Tony stands up and surveys what’s left of the city “How did it get this bad?”

The smoke cleared and Thor stood over the remains of Creel, who slowly began to reform himself.


Captain America stood upholding his arm and called Thor to him, he whispered something into his ear and Thor smiled and stood over the reforming Creel. Creel’s face had reformed on the ground; Thor raised his hammer above his head and brought it down on Creel’s face, shattering it. Captain America saw Hulk running up “Hulk, Warbird, follow Thor’s lead.” The two complied and rushed over to where Creel was, every time he tried to reform himself, they would smash it before the diamonds had time for their molecular structures to strengthen, after doing this to him several times Thor raised the hammer over his head “You see foolish villain, every time you try to rebuild yourself we will crush you. As long as we may hit you, you will not escape us!” A wind suddenly picked up, and Creel’s voice could be heard on it “Then I will just have to become intangible.” He said as the winds began to build up to tornado strength “HE’S IN THE AIR! DO IT NOW!’ Captain America shouted over the tornado that was Creel. Thor raised Mjolnir high above his head and several giant bolts of lightning shot down from the heavens, Creel let out a cry “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!” as the bolts thundered and all went silent.

The team gathered around Thor, Iron Man flew over carrying Ant-Man and Mockingbird. Janet ran over and flung herself into the arms of Ant-Man, kissing him passionately, Hawkeye walked over and held Mockingbird tightly in his arms, he looked at Tony “Not bad Shell head.” Tony laughed “Not too bad yourself.” Warbird looked about “What happened to Creel?” Thor smiled and pointed to Captain America, who explained “I thought about something Hank had said, he said that Creel could form himself from the air, and that got me thinking, I had you Hulk and Thor trick him into becoming air, and then Thor destroyed him with a bolt of lightning. You see lightning creates a vacuum in the sky, because lightning is very hot, and creates a sudden expansion of the air. This compresses the air violently, supersonically if you will. This creates a shock wave called thunder. The vacuum from the hot air destroyed him.” “Bravo.” A voice said behind them, they turned to see Loki behind them clapping “Very well done, quite entertaining, if a bit long and drawn out, very climatic, and yet it seems that there is yet another act to this story.” He said as his hands began to glow, the Hulk instantly recognized Loki as an enemy and before the other battle weary heroes could react to Loki’s arrival, Hulk grabbed Captain America’s shield from Iron man and heaved it with all his might towards Loki. The shield cleaved Loki’s head form his shoulders “HULK KILL LITTLE MAN!” Hulk cried triumphantly as Loki’s head rolled on the ground, the head laughed “Hulk need better vocabulary.” Loki’s body picked up his head and placed it back on his neck “Now where was I? Hmmm Oh yes I was just about to kill my hated brother and his friends.” Thor looked up and then smiled at Loki “Nay brother, I fear that someone has other plans for you.” Thor said as he pointed up. The clouds parted revealing the rainbow bridge that connected Earth to Asgard, and on that bridge was all of Odin’s army, including Odin himself, Loki scowled at Thor “You win this time, brother, but mark my words I will return.” Loki said as he disappeared in a flash. When the Avengers looked up the sky was normal, the bridge and Asgardians had disappeared, and the clouds were beginning to part, revealing the sun. Tony looked about “Where’s Hulk?” the others looked about, Cap looked at Tony “Let’s go home.” Tony shrugged “Sounds good to me.” He said as Avengers began walking through the battle field “I’m going to have to pay for this aren’t I?”

Epilogue:
Scenes during the credits:

Captain America received the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his record of valiant service. Later Sharon Carter shows him pictures of a man that is a former Soviet assassin and bears a startling resemblance to Bucky.

The Avengers are honored by the country and allowed to operate. They each receive medals for their roles during the fight. Janet Pym has joined the team as the Wasp.

The team is later seen at Clint Barton and Barbara Morse’s wedding.

Betty Ross is shown speaking with Nick Fury, General Ross, Tony Stark and Rick Jones about a team to bring Bruce in unharmed.

Hank Pym is seen working hard on constructing a robot, with the name Ultron 1 on its head.


Post credits:
Somewhere in China:
Tucked away in the Tian Shan mountain range there is a military compound where the remnants of the Chinese super soldier program is housed. The facility is heavily guarded by China’s elite troops, and yet an unassuming man walks right past the guards. The man’s face is hidden in the shadows as he walks through the facility, occasionally passing armed guards and technicians until he comes to a containment cell with radiation warnings all around it. He looked at the door for a moment. The camera shows the inside of the cell and focuses on the shadowed figure now inside the room. The room is lit by a dim green glow “Dr. Chen Lu I presume?” The figure said with a laugh. The green glow is show to be a large glowing man “Are you an American?” Chen asked angrily “No, I am not an American, like you I am an outcast, shunned for my unique abilities. I know that you were created to stand up to America, well I have an associate that is willing to give you the chance to control your powers and put an end to the hated Democratic ideals that led you to become what you are.” Chen smiled revealing glowing teeth and laughed, the camera shifts to show Loki smiling sinisterly as the halls echoed with Chen’s laughs.

In Hank Pym’s dark lab the Ultron robot sits deactivated under a clear tarp, its eyes flicker to life and glow red.

Well, there you have it, my story for the Avengers, I know it was a little long, and I want to thank you for reading it. Below is my casting, let me know what you think about my story and casting choices.


Well I hope you liked it, here is a video of my casting choices set to the sound 'The Times Are A Changin' by Bob Dylan



Let me know what you think. thanks for reading.