Author's Note: Hey this is Green Gallant with my first ever Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes fanfic. Growing up I've been a fan of both Marvel and DC animation. Though admittedly I'm more of a DC fan. I've watched this show since its inception and I have to say the new show is kind of addictive. I love it. I've been wanting to do a fic about this series since it first premiered but could never think of an effective plot until now. I have several ideas stored away, which may end up seeing print one of these days. Till now I submit to you my first foray into the fandom.
The Avengers' Crusade
Chapter 1
Daken
On a hilltop several miles from New York City a young man with a Mohawk stood on a grassy cliff with arms folded as he overlooked the part of New York that'd been devastated in the Avengers' first mission against Graviton. He was a sixteen-year-old man dressed in a sleeveless shirt and pants as the wind blew over him with a stone cold look on his face. The corner of his lip twisted into a smile.
"Soon they will be gone." He said.
The young man stretched out his right arm and a set of claws shot out of his forearm in a tripod formation. And turned his arm towards himself looking at his own bone claws, two on top with one underneath.
"And I can hardly wait." He said as he let out an evil chuckle.
At Avengers Mansion almost 30 miles away within the city, the team went about their daily routines. With the majority of the Avengers above ground in the mansion part of the base, downstairs in the base Tony Stark was on monitor duty as Iron Man sans helmet. In one of the mansion's many hallways strode Steve Rodgers in costume as Captain America with Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp close behind him.
Steve looked over his should and noticed that she'd been following him for some time. The soldier didn't seem to mind at first glance, but at the same time seemed a bit bothered by her following him.
"Is there anything I can help you with miss?" he asked ever the gentleman.
"Nope. Just taking a stroll with you Cap." She smiled back.
"Very well." He said trying to hide his embarrassment while turning his attention back to the forefront. And nearly walked into Black Panther. The onyx-suited teammate ducked around him just barely missing the Captain catching Steve off guard.
"Uh sorry Panther didn't see you there." he apologized.
"That's all right Captain." T'challa told him.
Steve ducked into the den to get away from Janet for a while. It wasn't that he minded his teammate but her flirtatious attitude towards him and the other Avengers was a little unnerving to Steve at times. He just wasn't use to a woman being so open. Or maybe he'd been in the service too long? It was clear he still hadn't gotten use to this era just yet. Having sat down on the couch to relax, he found a book on the coffee table and grabbed it and started reading.
"What troubles thee friend?" someone asked. He peered over the top of his book to see the Asgardian sitting in a chair next to him.
"Oh Thor. Um, nothing is wrong." He said shaking his head.
"Thou art a terrible liar." He mused good-naturedly.
"It's Ms. Janet I'm afraid. I don't know what it is about her." he said looking down at the floor.
"Indeed she is quite spirited." Thor replied.
"That's one way of putting it. Has she been like to anyone else here?" he asked.
"What doth thou mean?" Thor inquired raising an eyebrow.
"I think she may have…an interest in me." Steve replied.
"I see. And hast fair Janet confirmed any of this?" Thor asked.
Before he could answer the alarm sounded grabbing their attention while simultaneously Steve pulled out his Avenger that was activated by Tony.
"Avengers Assemble." Said Iron Man.
A few minutes later the team entered the command center with Tony standing at one of the computers.
"What's wrong?" Cap asked as they rushed over to him.
"Some kid with claws is on a rampage." He said turning to them.
"Do we know who it is?" Steve asked.
"That's just the thing he doesn't show up on any records." Tony told him.
"So we know absolutely nothing about him." Hawkeye stated.
"Exactly." Said Tony.
"If it is not one of the escaped villains, then me thinks it might be a trap." Thor said as Tony looked back at him and contemplated it.
"Or it could just be another baddie wanting to cause trouble." Janet countered earning a look from the Thunder God.
"No offense." She added.
"None taken." He replied. The Hulk scoffed and folded his arms.
"If stupid kid looking for trouble, he found it." Hulk said.
"Well at this point we don't have much of a choice. Let's take care of it." Tony said.
The crew piled into the Quinjet and left Avengers Mansion. A dozen blocks away in midtown Manhattan the young man terrorized unsuspecting New Yorkers with his claws drawn and held his arms out of his sides with a sadistic grin on his face as people ran. The Quinjet appeared overhead moments later as the Avengers leaped from the plane and landed collectively in front of the young man. The villain stopped short but didn't seem surprised to see them, on the contrary he seemed all to eager to meet them as evidenced by his malicious grin. Even as Iron Man pointed his Repulsor Gauntlet at him.
"All right who are you?" the hero asked. The villain's smile broadened revealing his teeth.
"The name's Daken." He answered nonchalant.
"All right then…Daken so then what are you doing here? Aside from scaring people." probed the iron gladiator.
"My mission." He answered revealing his claws and flew at them.
Iron Man fired a Repulsor blast at the teen that dodged it and blocked several more blasts crossing his arms before throwing himself in the air at Iron Man. Cap threw his shield that was deflected in the air by his arm and sent it behind him. Iron Man fired a full powered Unibeam blast from his chest at Daken who flew just over the beam's path and slashed Iron Man's chest and shoulder taking him out. Cap and Hawkeye immediately went on offense and attacked him before he could do anymore damage to Iron Man with Cap tackling his midsection. The blow was strong enough to knock Daken back but somehow recovered and threw the Captain over his shoulder. The Captain recovered with a series of flips, while Hawkeye and Wasp took aim and fired at him. Daken slashed through Hawkeye's arrows while Wasp's stings hit their mark momentarily stunning him.
The villain raged and hurled himself at the pair slashing Clint and throwing Wasp back. Ant-Man caught her while Thor went after him with his charged up Mjolnir. Daken vaulted over Thor's back as he smashed the pavement with his hammer and made a B line towards Hulk who did his own street makeover. Daken leaped to the side dodging his massive fists before recovering and going after the beast. The villain cut loose on the Hulk and started slicing and dicing him with claws. The Hulk roared as he cut through his skin with amazing speed to the point where Hulk couldn't keep up with him and yet fought back all the same.
Ant-Man shrunk and snuck up behind Daken growing to regular size and holding his arms in a Full Nelson lock. Unfortunately this backfired when Hulk punched Daken and sent the both of them flying into the street knocking Ant-Man out. Daken groaned and clutched his chest being momentarily phased by the Hulk's punch and was being fired upon by Wasp.
This enraged Daken as he charged at her with claws drawn. Wasp continued firing even as he advanced towards her and threw his right fist at her. Hawkeye jumped infront of her blocking the attack with his bow while Daken rammed his other fist through his stomach. Clint doubled over while Janet looked on in horror. But the archer chuckled to Daken's consternation even as blood fell from his mouth. Clint had chain mail underneath his costume that managed to cushion the blow and held his own against Daken.
"It seems as though I've underestimated you Hawkeye. I wont make that mistake again!" he yelled and started to push through the chain mail with his claws causing more injury to Clint.
Black Panther lunged at Daken and rammed his energy shards into Daken's chest. The villain roared and staggered back pulling out claws simultaneously. Panther flipped over him grabbing him by the shoulders and catapulted him as he landed on his feet. Hawkeye went down on his knee clutching his stomach and groaned while his teammates flew to his side. Daken recovered sliding back on his feet as Cap threw his shield at Daken one last time, Iron Man fired a repulsor blast simultaneously. Daken ducked to the side avoiding the dual attack as Hulk's shadow appeared over him and pounded him into the ground knocking the teen unconscious. His chest heaved and coughed up blood as he lay on his back in the crater and rolled on his side awake but severely weakened. Hulk's eyes widened in shock at the boy's resiliency and looked back at him defiantly.
"This is…*cough, cough* just the beginning…" he said weakly before passing out.
The Avengers looked at each other wondering what this could have meant. And more importantly who this kid was and how he was able to hold his own for so long? On a rooftop overlooking the battlefield stood a young woman with long brown hair in a leather jacket and jeans. The teenager narrowed her eyes at the defeated Daken as the wind blew behind her. The Thunder God looked up and caught sight of the young girl, who saw him and promptly retreated.
"Halt!" Thor yelled and flew towards the roof grabbing his teammates' attention.
"Thor? What is it?" Iron Man asked.
The Asgardian reached the roof a few seconds later and watched the girl take off in a dead sprint across the building before leaping to the next roof.
"Wait!" he yelled taking off after her.
The girl was incredibly fast having reached the other side of the building before leaping to the next one and tumbled across it safely before getting back up. Thor flew after her as fast as he could but was several steps behind the young girl who continued to run. Thor flew over the girl and landed infront of her a moment later catching her by surprise, and reacted by doing a roundhouse kick a long metal blade shot out of her foot towards his head.
The Thunder God dodged it at the last moment as her foot whipped through his mane slicing off a few golden locks.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" he questioned as she came out of the roundhouse and stared him in the face before taking off once more.
"Wait!" he yelled once more. The girl raced towards the edge and jumped to the street below
"No!" he yelled and flew towards the edge. And saw that the girl had already touched down and ran up the street to his amazement.
"Thor!" Iron Man yelled landing behind the Asgardian.
"You want to tell me what that was about?" he asked folding his arms.
The Asgardian watched as she disappeared into the city.
"I dont know." he answered.
Around the corner the young girl hid behind a building. Once she was sure she had lost him she held a hand up to her ear and spoke.
"It's me, they know I'm here." she stated.
"Yes sir, Hawkeye is still alive...for now." she added.
"Daken has been defeated by the Avengers known as Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk. What shall I do with him?" she asked.
"Understood...I will. X-23 out." she said.
Author's Note: All right like I said earlier, I've been meaning to do a fic like this for the longest time. Doing either a future fic, or one set in WWII or even one that features the return of a certain character from Cap's past. Anyway to be completely honest, this story the premise of which is in fact an homage to Rider Paladin's Avengers: Code of Hero story which is one of my personal favorites. And for some reason the idea of using newer Marvel characters in the future appeals to me. So I hope you guys like this, and let me know what you think.
Please review,
The Green Gallant.
Happy New Year.
