Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. All rights belong to Marvel, etc. Not my best work, but wait until the next chapter. Things get better, I promise! Hope you enjoy!
The Remnant Squad: Prologue
March 20, 2012. It all started on March 20, 2012.
It was a fairly peaceful day at Avengers Mansion. The "main" Avengers team, the one that was led by Captain America, was out on a mission, leaving Luke Cage's team, the New Avengers, alone in the Mansion.
Of course, peaceful wasn't exactly complete where the Avengers were involved. All suffering from a bad case of boredom, the team decided to spend their time training against each other.
They split into two groups: Thing, Mockingbird, Wolverine, and Doctor Strange formed the red team, while Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, and Daredevil formed the blue team.
"Oh, come on now," Spider-Man said. "They got Wolverine and Doc Strange! That's enough scariness to take down anyone!"
"Put a sock in it, web head," Wolverine growled. "We're here to train, not talk!"
"Geez, who put web in that guy's cereal?" Spidey asked. "Oh, wait. I did."
Having heard enough pre-battle talk, Thing charged. "It's Clobberin' Time!"
With that, the battle began. Spidey and Daredevil teamed up against Thing, Luke Cage took Wolverine, Iron fist faced off against Mockingbird, and Ms. Marvel launched an attack against Doctor Strange.
The fight went on for at least an hour, neither side really gaining the advantage. The fact that everyone knew how everyone else fought made a victory that much harder. Neck in neck, both sides fought like they were in a real battle, to no avail.
Eventually, Luke Cage called an end to the match. "All right, it doesn't seem like any of us are going to win this. Why don't we call it a day?"
The rest of the group agreed, and heading to their rooms to get some much-needed sleep.
For Doctor Stephen Strange, though, sleep was not an escape as much as a torture room.
"Stephen!" A voice shouted, breaking through his normally-dreamless sleep.
"Who...?" The Doctor began.
Immediately, an image of his friend, Reed Richards, appeared. His costume was torn and shredded, and his face was a mass of bruises and cuts.
"Reed?" Strange began. "What happened to you?"
"It's what we always feared, Stephen," Reed regasping pausing to gasp in pain. "He's back. Just like they said he would be."
"He? Reed, who are you talking about?"
"You know who he is," Reed said. "Warn the others, all of them. The Avengers, the X-Men... Call the Defenders, if you have to. We can't let it happen again."
Before Dr. Strange could reply, the dream faded, and he was awoken by the sound of screams.
Jumping out of bed, he teleported to the source of the disruption. What he saw made his mouth drop open in horror.
The Mansion was in flames. The New Avengers all lay sprawled unconscious on the ground, all severely wounded. The only one of them who was still moving was Wolverine, who was suffering from third-degree burns and several deep cuts. He crawled towards the Doctor slowly, groaning in agony.
And in the middle of it all was a man, covered in shadows. The only thing you could make out about him was that he was wearing a long cape, which flapped around in the wind. He seemed to radiate pure power, dark and tainted.
"Hello, Stephen," The man said. "I heard you've been hearing things about me. We can't have that."
Rushing up to the doctor, the man grabbed him by the throat, choking him. As he black out, Stephen thought he saw something of the man's face.
No, he thought. It can't be. He's dead.
Those were the last thoughts to enter his mind.
Sorry it's so short, but it's just a prologue. Things should get longer when I get into the actual story. It might seems like a pain, but please review. It would mean a lot. Thanks!