A/N: This story is set after the first Avengers Movie, and before Captain America: Winter Soldier, so S.H.I.E.L.D is still in operation. ENJOY!
"What do you wanna call it?" asked a young man with pale skin and a shaved head, his voice thin and raspy.
"I'm thinking Upgrade, or Level Up, I dunno, something…"
"Modern?" coughed the pale man.
"Marv, you know me too well" the dark-haired girl sighed, leaning back against the wall and taking a swig from the bottle in her hand.
"So, how 'bout we go with Upgrade, sound good?" wheezed Marv as he took a drag from a cigarette. The girl nodded as she drank. "And we'll write that on the packet too, okay?" Marv added.
"Yep" the girl replied, "What do you think we should print on 'em?"
Marv leaned back and stared at the ceiling, trying to glean inspiration from the opulent room in which he sat.
"Well, with the limited room, you'd only really fit, say, two letters" Marv began, his mind swimming in smoky haze.
"So, we'll go with an image" the girl suggested, looking over to Marv, communicating with her eyes that he needed to have an idea.
"An arrow? Like an 'up' arrow, like 'Upgrade'?" Marv coughed, nodding as he saw a smile forming on the girl's face, "and we'll press a Lotus into the back." Marv paused, "Oh, and, do you want 'em purple?"
The girl turned to him, her dark eyes meeting his and locking them in a stare.
"Marv, you know this. They aren't purple, they're lilac, and if they're not lilac, they're not ours. It's a quality guarantee", the girl purred, as she turned on her heel and left the room.
"People" shouted Nick Fury, demanding quiet from the chattering congregation, "You have a new objective." The small group seated around the table ceased their conversations and turned their eyes to Fury's piercing stare.
"A new drug has been released onto the market" Fury began, speaking slowly and letting his gaze move around the table. Tony rolled his eyes. "Is there a problem, Stark?" Fury demanded.
"Isn't, you know, the local drug ring, a little below our usual, um-"
"Shut your hole!" screamed Fury, interrupting Tony.
"This drug isn't any ordinary drug. It enhances human abilities and experiences, producing somewhat 'superhuman' abilities in those who take it. One of the side-effects of the drug however, is that it warps the user's senses and emotions, causing them to feel nervous and under-threat in even the most mundane of situations. So not only are drug users equipped with superhuman speed, agility, reflexes, strength and eyesight, but also superhuman anxiety and aggressiveness."
The group seated at the table began glancing at each other with grim faces and nervous eyes.
"Okay" quipped Tony, "so there's a couple of geared-up people running around the city. We take 'em out, and take the drug off the streets, maybe make a trip to whoever's making it…" he paused suggestively.
"In theory Tony, that's great, but the manufacturer of this drug is a little different" began Bruce, flipping through the Briefing Package on the table in front of him.
"Usually, new manufacturers hold on tight to a recipe for as long as possible, creating demand, but also, limiting the spread. This group, they have a habit of selling their new recipes immediately. We need to know who else the recipe has been sold to, and also, what other drugs they have been producing. We can stop the spread in New York, but a world-wide spread of super-powered people would be impossible for us to stop. And we don't even know what the other side effects are yet."
The group at the table nodded, all agreeing on the seriousness of the situation.
"I'll grab my laptop. The sales can be easily traced with a little know-how" smirked Tony.
"Something tells me it's not gonna be that easy, Tony" warned Natasha, leaning forward in her chair. She could see Bruce's frown and Fury shaking his head.
"Trust me Tony" said Fury, "Either their tech is so good, it's untraceable, or they're running their operation old-school."
"Old-school?" cried Tony.
"Ahrgh!" grunted the dark haired girl as she hurled herself towards a kickboxing bag, performing a series of kicks, punches and dodges.
"Why don't you take something like Upgrade when you're boxing? You could be like, Chuck Norris on crack" wheezed Marv, sitting in the corner of the gym, his eyes never leaving his laptop.
"Hun, I'm already Chuck Norris on crack" huffed the girl, "Plus, I don't wanna get addicted to that shit, it's fucking evil".
"But you're selling it!" squeaked Marv, his head shooting up to watch the girl. He was shocked to hear her say something like that about her own product.
"And I'm also looking to improve it" soothed the girl, hearing the anxiety in Marv's voice. She walked over to him, squatting down in front of him.
"Ugh, girl, you are messed-up, but I ain't gonna tell you to stop selling 'em. Anyway, I'm thinking of having a party tonight. Some new sellers are in town, they made contact with me. They're interested in selling Upgrade. Oh, don't give me that look, girl. We might meet up at a club, have a little drink, and a little something else…" Marv cooed, bobbing his head and smiling.
"Oh my god, just promise me you'll only take the purple pills, only take ours, okay? We have standards when we produce, other people don't, okay?", cautioned the girl, her tone like that of a concerned parent.
Marv nodded, rolling his head to the side, giving the girl a serious look.
"Girl, I know we have a good rep in terms of quality control and product. You know, pricing and purity. And purple pills are our trademark thing. It's only a matter of time before other manufacturers start dying their pills purple too. You know that right?" Marv asked, his voice very serious.
"Hun, other manufacturers have already started dying their pills purple. What do you think I hire all those hit men for? Trust me, I keep the copy cats under control" smirked the girl. Marv gave her a dead-eyed stare.
"Girl, you are messed".
"So how do you want us to find this drug?" asked Clint
"You'll be going to the source" Fury commanded, "But be warned, these people are good".
"Aren't they just, you know…" Tony began, nodding and gesturing, trying to find he words, "They're just a local ring. We're the Avengers".
Nick Fury pressed a button on a small remote he held in his hand. The screen at the opposite end of the room began lit up, before beginning to play video of a young boy, standing still and alone in a garbage lined alley. He held a tackle box in his hands, painted bright purple. A Lotus marked it's front.
"What are we meant to be watching?" asked Natasha, confused at the stillness of the security camera footage. Fury put his finger to his lips, and gestured to her to continue watching.
Two police officers came into view on the screen, approaching the boy with arrogant strides. They began to talk to the boy, reaching for the box in his hands. Within seconds the boy had both officers on the ground, unconscious.
A collective gasp echoed through the room. No-one had been expecting the footage to show that particular series of events.
The boy, still holding the box, began kicking the bodies over to the sides of the alley, where the garbage sat, partly out of shot. The camera panned to follow the boy as he shifted the bodies. It slowly became clear that the garbage wasn't garbage at all. It was a collection of Policemen's bodies.
"That's a lot of policemen" said Bruce, looking around the room, "Why hasn't someone noticed such a large number of missing officers?"
"Because someone did notice. S.H.I.E.L.D. noticed. He's just a local dealer" began Fury, clicking off the screen and turning to face the Avengers, "You'll be going up against their trained guards".
"So, they wanted to meet here?" asked the dark haired girl as she pivoted in her seat and pulled at her own hands.
"Lilac, I've told you this a million times, yes, here, our house, not at a club, they want to meet here" groaned Marv, clearly annoyed at Lilac's anxiety.
"We never have guests", Lilac whined.
"That's because we never deal with Americans, you know that!" snapped Marv, pivoting and facing Lilac, gripping her wrists.
"It feels strange selling to someone on our own turf, you know?" Lilac sulked as she yanked her wrists from Marv's feeble grasp, and began spinning 'round and around in her chair, knowing she was being silly about the deal.
"I feel ya hun" sighed Marv, sliding onto the edge of her makeup chair and attempting to calm her, "but this is a lot of money".
"I know" Lilac agreed and relaxed into the plush chair, "Have you done background checks?"
"In the process of it" replied Marv quickly as he saw Lilac's eyes narrow in disapproval.
Lilac frowned at Marv, watching him skulk out of the room, knowing the checks should really have been run hours ago. Lilac dressed deliberately, a large purple wig with purple flowers through it, dark jeans, a plain blank tank top, a dark blue shawl wrapped round her shoulders. She pulled on her heavy steel toed boots, and tucked a knife into the right shoe, as well as strapping a knife to her left arm, concealed by the shawl. She tucked a gun into the back of her jeans, and two small purple pills into her pocket. Just in case.
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A/N: I know there was a lot of dialogue and not much action in this chapter, but (lots) more action is on it's way!