Avengers: The Initiative

In

"Counter Initiative"

Arc 1, Chapter 1 -Strange Bedfellows, or "Introductions"

Disclaimer: None of the characters or events depicted here are of my creation, save for my original characters that appear throughout this piece of fiction. Unless stated otherwise, all characters are the property of the Marvel Comics Group and their subsidiaries.

Author's Note: If some of the situations here seem a bit out of character for some of those here, there are perfectly reasonable explanations that shall be presented in later chapters/arcs. Please bear with me until then.


The woman in the bed stirred as a stray ray of light shone on her face, making her groan and stir. "Ugh…" the woman sat up with a groan, feeling very warm, damp…and sticky. Very sticky…She touched her cheek, and with a giggle, remembered the events of the night before…the very passionate, and sticky, night before.

This woman was Janet van Dyne, more well-known as the winsome Wasp, and this was the first night in a long time that she'd slept that good…though in recent years it hadn't been that often that she'd been in a marathon love session with an attractive young man. As she lay back on the bed, her neck length hair brushing against the damp pillow beneath her, she sighed happily, and looked up at the roof, crossing her arms over her covered breasts, cheeks flushing a bit.

There was a clicking sound as the bathroom door to the almost-sparsely decorated apartment, and a man in his early to mid twenties stepped out, with a fairly slender form, but tall, and with a fair amount of muscle, and long reddish-blonde hair tied in a ponytail, with a towel draped over his shoulders, and wearing a silken bathroom, his clear blue eyes unblinking for several moments as he turned his head at the giggle he heard, and smiled softly to the older woman. "Oh, good morning, Janet…I didn't want to wake you…"

"It's alright, Erik. Mmmm…god, last night was amazing…best I've had in a while…" She purred, stretching out against the bed while the young man chuckled, and began to get dressed, pulling on a pair of underwear, then jeans, and a t-shirt, finally putting on a leather jacket, and waved to the brunette. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I have to go out to meet someone…don't worry, I'll be back in an hour or so…there's plenty of food in the kitchen, if you get hungry." He exited the bedroom, walked to the main hall of the apartment, then exited through the front door.

With a nod and a wave, the Wasp lay back in the bed, yawning, and closed her eyes, a relaxed smile on her face.


The young man known as Erik was walking down the streets of New York, with a great deal on his mind. He was a member of the new Initiative group for the State of New York, with high chances of ending up an Avenger in the future if he kept up the good work. He was assumed to be at least half Titanian Eternal, leading to the codename of Titan. The powers they knew about were cosmic enhanced durability, strength, flight, forcefields, and longevity. However, it was what they DIDN'T know that made Erik nervous.

He possessed a 'euphoria' power, similar to that of the Avenger Starfox, able to persuade any woman to do what he wanted, and to make them obsesses over any person, thing, or whatever, that he wanted them to, including himself. That was how he bedded Wasp, and a number of other superheroines, including Tigra, Ms. Marvel, to name some. However, his power was more refined than Starfox's, not wearing off at all, but rather 'turning off' when Erik so decided it. He had been taking things easy, until a mysterious figure confronted him one day and revealed that he knew the young man's secret, and that he was perfectly willing and able to provide this information and evidence to Iron Man and others, and have Erik imprisoned for the rest of his life.

And so, he was on to a meeting with that figure, as he finally got in touch with Erik again, and wanted to meet with him, and get him to do something for him. Which probably wasn't a good thing, but would keep the blonde out of jail longer…

When he made it to the meeting place, which happened to be a small bistro on a corner of Times Square, he found a young man – younger than him, actually – with medium length raven hair, a healthy, almost glowing, tan, and wearing a dark overcoat, pants, and shirt, with matching boots and gloves. He was wearing a pair of stylish sunglasses, mirrored, and was sipping on a cup of coffee, grimacing after a few moments, and motioning for Erik to take the seat across from him.

"Well…glad you made it."

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want a lot of things, my friend. For one, Tony Stark's head on a platter…though these days that's a very hard thing to achieve. So I'll settle for ruining the perfect little world he's trying to create." He used his left foot to push over a satchel to the blonde, who picked it up, and looked inside, promptly going a bit red in the face.

"Uh, what the hell is this thing?"

"That's gonna be your new costume. See, you're just the person I need working for me in my little endeavor…the problem is, if you get caught and exposed, my plan goes up in smoke. So this outfit, as revealing and bizarre as it is, will conceal your identity from your former allies, as well as confuse them in regards to any possible connections to your 'true' self." The young man nodded, smiling wickedly. "A friend of mine helped me create it…though we won't go into particulars now."

"And why exactly have you conferred this 'gift' upon me, exactly?"

"I expect you to partake in a little 'exercise' I've arranged for Stark's new Avengers…it should be quite fun, if it all goes well. But for that, you have to play your part…but if things start to go wrong, escape as soon as possible. You being arrested would put a significant cramp in my plans…"

"Right…" the blonde closed the case, and stood up after a few moments, while the other finished his coffee, and stood as well, and began walking into an alley, and vanished upon turning the corner…or so it seemed. "Hmph…what have I gotten myself into…?" the Eternal mused as he began to walk the other way, not paying much mind to the myriad voices cheering as the face of Registration flew overhead, the cherry red and gold figure of Iron Man soaring through the skies of New York.


It was later that day, and the foot traffic had picked up in Times Square. All in all, it was an idyllic day, with shoppers, tourists, and natives all milling about and just taking in the joy of a peaceful day. That is, until HE arrived.

With a loud explosion, a metal figure burst from the utilities tunnels under the street, and began firing blasts of red energy from its eyes. As the smoke cleared, and the people could see the attacker, they would scream, cry out, and make sounds of terror as the sunlight glinted off that unbreakable body, the eerie glow of the red eyes and jack o'lantern mouth of the robotic menace known as Ultron began his attack on the people of New York.

"Foolish humans! Nothing can withstand the might of Ultron!" His distorted, booming voice echoed as he began walking forward, raising his hands and firing bursts of energy from his palms, ionic energy escaping his mouth as his reactor began pumping up the juice. This continued for several moments, and after so long, finally attracted the attention of the Avengers…but the wrong ones.

A blast of magical energy struck Ultron from behind, and chunks of pavement were thrown at him at superspeed, while a large green figure clad in black slammed a fist into the robot's chest, only to fall back with a sprained wrist.

"Agh!"

"Teddy!"

Ultron was stupefied. He had expected the Mighty Avengers, and he had gotten…the Young Avengers.

"What's this?! Children?!" He barked, lashing out with his right arm, smashing the adamantium limb into Hulkling's chest, knocking the half-Skrull/Half-Kree shapeshifter away, prompting his significant other, Wiccan, to send out another blast, which jarred the nigh-unstoppable robot forward a further three inches, but then caused him to turn his attention to the dark haired boy, his antennae tilting back, and firing off the encephalo ray, knocking him out cold for the time being.

"Wiccan!" This came from Patriot, who slung his shield at the robot's head, only for it to ricochet off and smash into a car, causing no damage to the genocidal machine. An explosive arrow struck the ground beneath Ultron, which caused the robot to tip over, falling through the damaged street until he pulled himself back up with a low growl. "Uh oh…I think you pissed him off, Kate…"

"Oh, you don't think?" Hawkeye snapped as she fired off another arrow, striking Ultron in the ionic exhaust port in his 'mouth', snapping the death machine's head back for a moment.

"Accursed children! I shall show you what true power is! The power of Ultron!"


Standing several feet away was the mysterious young man who had met Titan earlier, watching the fight with a scowl and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Penny for your thoughts, lover?" came an electronic purr as a red and silver arm linked with one of his, and a heavy metal form gently leaned against him. A silver shoulder 'pad' rubbed against his own shoulder, and he sighed in frustration for several moments.

"This is NOT how this is supposed to happen? Where the hell is Stark and his tools?"

"Well, I'd assume they're elsewhere…but you're right, this is surprising, even for them…" A metal head leaned against his, a slightly sharp 'fin' grazing his ear, as the blank, almost featureless face of Alkhema-2 pressed against his cheek, mimicking a kiss. "But why are we bothering with this? There are plenty of other things we can do…more fun things…killing heroes…killing bystanders…mating…" She counted off on her other hand, red segmented fingers extended, an amused tint to her slightly distorted voice, a near-perfect replica of the deceased Avenger Mockingbird's own voice, while the young man harrumphed.

"Ever since I rebuilt you, you've been showing a discomforting interest in me…"

"Well, dearest, you're far more compatible to me than my previous husband had been…you share my interests in killing as many of these sheep as you can…you hate the Avengers, and their little tools…and you're far more than a human…you're on my level, someone I can be on equal footing with…and I must say, I'm having an absolute ball watching Ultron being used like this." She giggled, stroking his chin with one finger, prompting a small smile from the dark haired youth, though it was a tad grim.

"I suppose you're right. Though with these children's deaths, Stark will be forced to show himself eventually…all I need is time, in that case…"

"Your little double-agent better not let us down, dearheart…or we may not live to regret it…"

"Hmmm…"


During the fight with Ultron, the Young Avenger know as the Vision, the second such Vision, and still a creation of Ultron, was floating high in the air, preparing to do his density trick, when he spotted a costumed figure and a number of armed men moving through the alleys. Hesitating for a moment, he floated down after the men, and attempted to get in their way.

"Pardon me…but I do not think you belong here…" he said in his cool, almost-emotionless voice, though he was somewhat taken aback by the costumed person's outfit – it consisted of a red leather corset, matching pants, thigh high boots with heels, long gloves, a collar with a leash, and a black mask with rounded eyes slits with a leather strap going around the back, like that of a certain street fighting matador's. The person had long reddish blond hair, whipping about from the breeze created by Vision's landing. His eyes were a reddish color, and they glared at the 'teen' hero as he motioned for his men to stop moving.

"Get out of our way, you walking harddrive…or we'll crash you."

"I do not take that sort of thing lightly…" As Vision prepared to unleash a solar blast, a beam of cosmic energy struck him from behind, flinging him out into the street, as a figure in white and green flew past, covered in shadows, and within those shadows, stars could be seen on his skin and outfit.

"It's about time…" The strange man hissed as he and the others began moving again, while the new newcomer continued to blast at Vision, knocking him around severely.


Before the rest of the Young Avengers could react, the mysterious, shadowed figure rammed into Hulkling, and sent the boy flying into a building, smashing through it.

"Stay down, bro…or I'll haveta hurt ya…" came a rather insincere remark as the figure floated there, somehow still enveloped in shadow, even in the bright light of the afternoon sun.

" 'Bro'?" Patriot cocked a brow, a suspicious edge to his voice, until the figure gripped his side, and pulled, tearing away what was now revealed to be some form of shadow cloak, revealing a well-toned man with close cut white hair, black-blue skin with stars on the black portions, a white shirt with green-black shoulders and a starburst logo on the chest, and green-black pants and boots, and gloves, and gleaming golden bands. "The Hell?! Captain Marvel?!"

"Nuh nuh nuh, bubbey. I'm Fredd…Captain Marvel's clone from an alternate future," the man wagged a finger, grinning as his white eyes blinked once, then twice.

"Uh…did anyone else just hear him say that, or was it just me?" Hawkeye commented offhandedly as she nocked another explosive arrow, and fired it, though it detonated about three feet from Fredd, and instead caught her teammate Wiccan in the blast, throwing the boy backwards. "Ooops…"

"Wow…you kids really do suck…" Fredd shook his head in disbelief, then raised a hand behind him, catching his half-'brother' by the face, and slammed him into the ground, making a head-sized crater. "So…you like the boys, huh? Well, I don't normally support that sort of idiocy, but I guess for you I can make an exception…" Energy crackled along Fredd's arm, and blasted into Hulkling's head, making the teenager scream in pain, as the attack was a psychic probe. "Normally this wouldn't work, but since you happen to be…ick…half-Skrull, I can just make you 'better'…"

In a panic, a result of hearing her friend's agonized screams, Hawkeye shot off another arrow, this one hitting the otherwise-occupied Fredd in the back of the head, exploding at just the right moment and throwing the Kree villain off of his 'brother', who was caught up in the explosion, and in the momentum of Fredd's arm moving upwards, thrown into a neon sign and crashing into the roof of a close-by building, and not moving, at least not consciously, though his body was beginning to shrink and reform, changing shape into something…unexpected.

Down below, Fredd looked to Ultron, who was dealing mostly with Patriot, as though he was simply humoring the teenager to keep him from figuring out the true purpose of the attack – not that that would be hard; no one would be able to figure out why Ultron was truly there. Not now, anyway.

"Blasted meat!" The robot snarled as he swatted the young African-american aside, and reached down below, fist tearing through the pavement and catching the Vision by surprise, his throat tightly in the grasp of his 'father's cold adamantium grip. "Vision…how lovely to see you again…you were once my greatest creation, and I can detect your increased power…but it is still not enough to stop me…you are weak, because you sympathize with these disgusting meatsacks…you fraternize, you mate…you make me sick, my child." With that, the metal menace slammed Vision into the ground, and began stomping on him at an increased pace, slamming the artificial young man into a gas main, which then exploded, and threw everyone nearby into the air, Ultron hurtling through a number of cars and coming to a stop, looking worse for the wear, while Fredd, grumbling, teleported out, shielded for the most part by a force field, his part in the afternoon's activities at an end. "Blasted…uuuurk..c-ch-children…" the robot managed to say, before sliding back a panel on its arm, and began punching in a number of keys.

"Stop him!" Patriot lunged for Ultron, but a blast from the machine's eyes knocked the boy backwards, and in a shimmer of light, the adamantium menace vanished from sight, leaving nothing behind. Nothing but destruction. "Damnit…"

During Patriot's little episode, Hawkeye went over to Wiccan, and slowly shook him awake, before resorting to a hard slap to the face, resulting in him crying out and jackknifing upright.

"AGH!"

"There we go…how do you feel?"

"Ugh…like I was trampled on…where's Teddy?!" The dark haired boy jumped up onto his feet, and then looked around. His 'twin', Speed, flashed by, having been preoccupied with crowd control during the major part of the fight, his only contribution having been the chucking of asphalt fragments at Ultron's head and upper torso.

"He's…up there. But you're not gonna like it…" the silver haired teenager sighed, pointing up to the roof where Hulkling had landed, out cold. Wiccan promptly teleported himself up there, and when he saw his boyfriend, he cried out in horror, while the changeling sat up, blinking in a very confused manner.

"Teddy! What happened to you?!"


Endnotes: Cliffhanger! Woo! Not my first, probably not my last. Please bear with any unusual instances in this story, for all will be revealed in later chapters…if I explained everything here now, you wouldn't have much motivation to read the later chapters, would you? Leave me reviews if you wish, with any suggestions to improve my writing if you like.