After 4 years, 8 stories, 828,300 words, and a whole lot of anticipation; we are finally here.
Quick Note - This story will take place seven years after the MAIN events of The Story of Emily Stark, The Enigma of Loki's Daughter, The Princess's Choice, and Antibiosis.
If you're new to any of my stories/this series, you do not need to have read any of the other stories to understand this. You could if you like but it's not mandatory or necessary.
Chapter One: Welcome to the New Age
Location Classified – 21:15 PM
"Council, it's time to start Project: New Generation."
Agent Xavier Rogers stands in the middle of five holographic screens, each one with a different member of SHIELD's council looking at the young man standing before them. There is no immediate response but silence as they all look at him in deep analysis. Each of them begins to whisper to each other, discussing Xavier's bold statement. Xavier crosses his arms and shifts his weight as he watches the holograms become skeptical. With that said, he begins to mentally prepare himself for a possible convincing that may be needed, judging by the current looks of doubt on their faces. After a brief moment, the five council members separate and face the agent once again.
"Do you plan on starting this initiative all on your own?" A member asks him. "The other members aren't with you."
"Do you even know where they are located?" Another asks.
"I don't know of their present location this very moment but I will be sure to find them," Xavier responds.
-o-
Harare, Zimbabwe – 6:55 AM
In the humidity, Agent James Pym sleeps on his hard-as-a-rock bed with three electronic fans blowing not-as-hot air on him at top speed. This isn't his best sleep but he's still managing to still have some sweet dreams. He didn't want to come here, especially since the country's currently going through a terrible inflation crisis so his money, even when exchanged into its many acceptable forms of currency, is literally worth nothing. His only reason for coming here was work.
He shifts his position and hears a sound coming from outside his room. He shoots up in his bed, sitting right at the edge, as he hears the unfamiliar noise slowly come closer.
"As if this trip couldn't get any worse..." he mutters negatively to himself, throwing his bedsheets onto the floor.
James lights up his fists with his bio-electricity as he stands up cautiously. Whatever is making the noise is suddenly at his door. James stands prominently, ready to attack, just as his door unexpectedly gets blown off. He flips over his bed at the impact of the explosion.
James shrinks down and flies above the room to lower his chances of being killed. He looks through the black smoke and sees a man standing behind it all. James grows back and huffs in frustration.
"You know, there was a lock on that door," James says to the man. "You could've just picked it silently and killed me in my sleep."
-o-
Location Classified – 21:18 PM
"Agent Rogers, you have not contacted the other members," another council member tells him. "You do not know whether they're ready or not. You cannot just start an initiative like this on your own."
Xavier straightens his posture. He knows that the council is trying to talk him out of his plan because it is a risky gamble to play on his own without directly telling the others.
"We have been ready our whole lives," Xavier responds, "even if our parents weren't aware of it, they were training us. They have exposed us to the real world and raised us like normal children - which is what we all really wanted. In a way, we were training ourselves with our mundane situations. Now that we've been exposed to a higher routine and predicament, we're more than ready to apply that prior knowledge towards missions. I am just here to ask for your consent...and a quinjet."
"What about the other members?" He gets questioned about again.
"You and I both know that the ones who went to SHIELD Academy will obviously join when I tell them the news, granted that you give me permission first. As for the others, I'm not so sure." Xavier shrugs. "Stark's trying to balance her love for technology with her responsibility towards Stark Industries, Princess Iqadi has a country to maintain, and I have nothing on the Asgardians but it's most likely the same as the other two. But five members is better than one for a start."
"Just because they went to SHIELD Academy, doesn't mean that they're ready for the field." The council lady folds her hands on her desk, proving her point.
Xavier has no response for that.
-o-
Venice, Italy – 20:11 PM
One dark evening, on a dusty rooftop, Agent Merida Barton walks to the very edge. She kneels down in the darkness and puts on a pair of night vision goggles to enhance her sight. She pulls out her folded bow and thrusts her arm to form her whole weapon in one swift movement. She looks down at the quiver hanging on her waist and pulls out a fresh, standard arrow. Merida slides the arrow in her quiver as she begins to scope the city.
"I'm armed, now looking for my target," she whispers into her earpiece.
Merida looks down at the dark city, trying to find her target in the crowded tourist-filled city. She scans through the people eating gelato, drinking cappuccino, or laughing away with the utmost Italian joy in their atmosphere. She changes her glance towards the canals and focuses her gaze on a gondola driver, knowing he's who she's been looking for this whole time.
Merida points her bow and takes a breath, aiming her arrow at the man.
"I've got eyes on the target," Merida says softly. "I'm going to take the shot."
-o-
Location Classified – 21:23 PM
"Your team has a couple of wildcards," a councilman points out to Xavier, "and I'm talking about the SHIELD Academy agents, not the others even though some of them do pose differences from what we originally expected. Certain members will be willing to give out their assets to their full extent except for one."
Xavier takes a breath. "I know who you're talking about and I never plan to use that card. Ever."
"You can't plan combat, Agent Rogers," another tells him, "that's what makes us human."
Xavier laughs a little as he reminisces a sudden nostalgia that hit him. "You sound a lot like my father."
"Be serious. Bringing a hulk that neither you nor the user knows how to control is a risk to yourselves and the people we vowed to protect."
"Director Fury did that with New York and look at where we are now."
-o-
Suzhou, China – 19:46 PM
Dr. (or Agent) Daniel Banner stands in a quiet laboratory holding a test tube up to his eyes. He adjusts his glasses as he reads the measurement engraved on the side. As he proceeds to pour the chemical substance into a beaker, it changes from yellow to green. He takes notes on what he's observing, scribbling them into a notebook with a pencil and illegible penmanship, also chatting quietly with himself on what's set before his eyes. Daniel puts his notebook down and adjusts his lab coat.
Daniel hears a knock on the door and heads over to open it. When he does, he sees a small package on the foot of the door. Daniel looks at both sides repeatedly, looking for a delivery man, but nobody. Skeptical, Daniel picks up the package, and puts it on a countertop. He notes how shockingly light it is but is careful not to suddenly shake it and cause a reaction with whatever contents may or may not be inside.
Curious, he begins to open it.
-o-
Location Classified – 21:32 PM
"Are you expecting yourself to take charge of this team?" A council member asks. "This isn't just another football match, Xavier; some of your teammates will disagree on the strategies and orders you will give. There is more pressure on the leader even if he isn't the one firing the shots."
Xavier notices that he wasn't addressed by his rank but by only his name. He tilts his head a little, never losing eye contact with the council since they will expect him to buckle under the pressure they're putting on his shoulders. If he were to crumble, it would show unpreparedness and the inability to lead. Instead, he clears his throat to show confidence.
"I will be fully responsible for whatever will happen," he states firmly. "Despite what they may say in times of trouble, they will act under my order so I will take the blame if things are to go south."
-o-
Miami, Florida – 1:47 AM
On a rainy night in a bus terminal, a heavily pregnant Agent Angela Rogers speed-walks up to the ticket booth and buys a ticket for the first bus leaving to whatever destination. Once she gets her ticket, she puts the hood of her gray sweater over her newly chopped blonde locks and begins walking over to her terminal, calmly, while listening to the televisions blaring above her. She tries her best not to look shady but that she can't help it.
'All police are to be aware of a mysterious blonde suspect who fled from a robbery at the Miami museum after a fight with the security. She is described to be tall, Caucasian, thin yet toned, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.'
Angela eyes the terminal security crew as she puts her hands on top of her baby bump. She loses eye contact and continues walking. She takes a deep breath as she side-steps traveling people with their families and luggage all while avoiding any kind of camera from the security ones in the corner of the ceilings to even the cellphone camera.
'The blonde suspect is highly dangerous and holds a valuable artifact from the museum with her. Citizens are warned not to approach her and notify the authorities as soon as possible.'
Angela brushes her uneven shoulder-length hair under her hood and away from her face. She turns around and sees the terminal security subtly following her, trying to act as if they're doing their usual border patrol on everyone else when they're primarily on her tail. Angela faces forwards again. She picks up her pace, hears the security try to call her over for an inspection, but she breaks into the fastest sprint her legs could manage.
-o-
Location Classified – 21:35 PM
After a short, private meeting amongst themselves, the council members give Xavier one final look. Xavier takes a breath, ready to accept the rejection. The stone-cold faces of the council say that he will be getting a 'no' right in his face, but the edges of their cheeks unexpectedly soften up.
"You have our permission to begin Project: New Generation," they tell him.
Xavier smiles brightly and gives a respectful nod. "Thank you, Councilmen."
He turns and starts to walk out, thinking of a way to get his team, but stops when he hears his name being called again - his first name without his rank.
"But be warned, Xavier, your teammates are people that you have known since birth and have spent an enormous amount of time with. Over that duration of time, your relationships have evolved from friends to lovers, to even a family. From now on, your bonds with these people will never be the same; especially since the ones who did not go with you to SHIELD have been exposed to a completely different life path than you and will have prior commitments for themselves and not this team. You also have to know when to expect the absolute worse and make sacrifices that would've never crossed your mind as a teenager. This will be tough and difficult in the long-run. You're no longer in high school, Agent – or should I say Captain Rogers, but the battlefield. Do you understand?"
Xavier takes a long and deep breath. "I do."
Isn't that quite the start?
Stay Tuned – Xavier is going to recruit the first members of his team.