The Pre-Powers, chapter 1
"It is now 2014, two years since Loki tried to enslave the human race. Before then, the Avengers were scattered around, all over the world, even the universe. The world, luckily, has seen nothing but peace, except for a couple…oddlings, you could say. Six teens, five of them living in the United States," Fury noticed Steve crack a grin, " have interesting powers. For what reasons, we don't know. All of them have been reported missing in the past month. We know for a fact that they weren't kidnapped or taken for ransom, or things of that nature."
Fury watched as the Avengers let out a deep breath, either in annoyance or relief. "They have all become runaways, due to fear of the government and of ridicule and disdain, much to the government's disappointment. Most suspect the teens are an urban legend, but SHEILD thinks otherwise. That's where you come in," Fury finished, turning from the giant projector screen to them.
Natasha looked blank, as did Bruce and Clint, while Tony looked annoyed and vaguely pissed off. Steve just looked serious, as always, and Thor was twiddling around with his hammer boredly. Finally, the ever blunt and brutally honest Tony Stark spoke up.
"And this involves us how? Where do we come in at exactly?" he demanded, thinking back to the date he had been on with Pepper when he had received the call, and becoming even more annoyed as a result.
"I second that. I fail to see the point in you bringing us here," Thor agreed.
"I'm sure Director Fury will emphasize the teenagers' importance in a moment," Captain retorted tightly. "Please, continue."
"They all have powers similar to your own. I assigned each of you one to look after-"
"Wait. You called us here to BABY-SIT? Who the fuck do we look like, Daddy Day Care?" Iron Man seethed. Natasha glared at him a delivered a swift slap to the back of Tony's head. "Ow!"
"First, it would be just day care, because I'm a woman. Second, they're teens. I highly doubt they require as much attention as a child," she scolded. Director Fury shook his head.
"That, Agent Romanoff, is where you are wrong. They may be able to walk and talk, but their powers are growing at fast pace, with not the slightest idea on how to control it. Too much power and not enough control equals chaos, as you can all relate to." Dr. Banner looked down. Fury continued.
"Here is footage of a security camera at a local park near Denver." The screen lit up a paused image of a dark haired girl on it. Her short choppy ebony hair was pulled into two low mini pigtails. Her pale skin and freckles gave the girl an appearance of youth, even though she was quite tall for her age, 5'9" or 8". The blue eyes held a spark, a spark of defiance and a strong will. The sun seemed to be rising, indicating it was early morning, as a bunch of elderly people were shuffling their feet, obviously proud that they were jogging.
"This," Fury used a laser pointer to circle it around the girl, "is Kathleen Rays. She is 15, used to live in Durango, Colorado, and went missing two weeks ago. The footage is only about four days old." He pressed play, and all of the Avengers stood still and watched, only out of curiosity.
The brown haired girl walked calmly around the bike trail, as if she didn't have a single thing to do that day. Tony instantly thought her current state reminded him of "The Lazy Song". Natasha yawned, as did Clint a few seconds later. Everyone else seemed indifferent.
An orange and very fat tabby cat walked up to her, sniffed her curiously, and immediately started hissing and trying to scratch her. Kathleen backed away from it, as if the cat's reaction had burned her.
"Now come on, you stupid fucking cat. You don't wanna pick a fight, do you?" she growled, starting to sweat. The cat continued to hiss. Collapsing and holding her lower abdomen in pain, Kathleen's hands started sprouting tufts of honey gold fur.
"She's a shape-shifter?" Hawkeye exclaimed, shocked at the reaction of just seeing a snappy tabby cat. Her winter ice blue eyes morphed into irises of gold mixed with amber. The pale skin was now completely coated in a lush gold fur, and was on all fours.
"A Golden Retriever?" everyone asked flatly in unison. It was quiet for a moment before Tony burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his cheeks. He ignored the screams of fear and shock coming from the footage as the dog girl chased around the tabby in pure hatred. Everyone else, even the stiff Captain, was struggling not to do the same as Stark, except for Banner. He sat there, stone-faced.
Eventually, Kathleen had turned back to normal, and was bare to the bone. Everyone had almost gotten his or her laughter under control.
"So what, she gets arrested for public nudity?" Hawkeye asked boredly. During his question, a sixty-year-old man had taken out his Swiss Army knife and aimed it at the ragged girl, who was struggling to get her breath back. It landed right in the middle of her chest. The girl howled, literally howled, in pain as the blood meandered down her torso.
"Demon," one couple screamed in rage.
"Spawn of Hell," one old lady squeaked in fear.
"Freak-show," a pretty young couple yelled angrily, throwing a plastic bottle at her. It didn't actually hit Kathleen, but the action and meaning of it hurt all the same.
"I'm sorry! I don't like cats! I'm sorry! I d-d-didn't m-m-mean t-t-t-to," the girl, cried, standing up, and wobbling away from the scene as quickly as possible. The screen turned blue, signaling the end of the footage.
"I take it those people actually like cats," Tony tried to joke, a little worried by his fellow Avengers' faces. They all looked like they were going to be sick, or their faces were frozen in a look of disbelief and pity. Steve punched him in the arm.
"Not the time, Stark. If this happened to just one of them, then what happened to the other five?" Captain asked, feeling his chest clench, then unclench, then clench up again in pure anger that a girl, almost a woman, was being treated in such a foul manner.
"What do you want us to do?" Bruce asked, finally regaining his sense of composure. He knew what it was like to have to go through horrid transformations and then deal with the consequences. He knew the overwhelming nausea and cramps that overcome right before the shifting begins. He felt bad for the poor girl, he really did. At least he was a bit older when he first transformed, but 15? Going through puberty and having to deal with more transformations? That really sucked.
"I want each of you to find your assigned pre-power, as I like to call them. Bring them back here to Stark Tower, and we introduce them to SHEILD. We help them control their powers and to contain them, so no further damage occurs," Fury answered.
"To society or themselves?" Tony asked suspiciously. He once again had a feeling that Fury had more to this plan than he was letting on, just like the last time. Fury looked him straight in the eye.
"Both, Agent Stark."
"When do we leave?" Bruce asked. Fury tried and succeeded to hide his victorious smirk.
"You leave tomorrow evening, 11:00 PM. Don't be late." And with that, the Avengers had a new mission.