The rain had been pounding the streets for the past several hours and by early afternoon there were puddles the size of kiddie pools everywhere. Alice attempted to jump over one of these small lakes and swore under her breath when water splashed up the back of her leg instead. Walking briskly she quickly ducked into a nearby café. The aroma of fresh brewing coffee and roasted exotic coffee beans tickled the tip of her nose and made her salivate.
Unfortunately Alice had no time for coffee. Sitting in a secluded corner booth she grabbed a few napkins and started a futile attempt to dry off. "At least I wore my boots today" She muttered as she dabbed at the soaked fabric of her jeans. She glanced at the television hanging up in another corner of the store. It was on the local news channel and the images flitted from one thing to the next. Nothing too interesting, Alice thought. That was until the breaking news bulletin flashed and live footage showed a press conference. The man at the podium stood casually with hands in his pockets. He wore a charcoal grey suit that was supposed to make him look more authoritative but on this man it seemed to lack the right amount of polish. Camera flashes reflected off the sunglasses he wore. His dark brown hair was tousled, though whether he woke up that way or styled it purposely, nobody really knew. He appeared to have a slight frown on his face as he waited to answer questions.
"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!" One reporter squawked louder than all the others in an attempt to get the man's attention. They were met with a direct stare and raised eyebrows.
Alice slowly began to zone out the television again, thinking to herself. It had been about two years since the destruction of over half of New York. Since then the Avengers, as they have become publicly know, have banded together and continue to save the world from itself. In the past year they also granted the Asgaurdian Loki Laufeyson clemency for his previous attempts to rule the world and being the one that almost destroyed New York. His adoptive brother Thor, a member of the Avengers, spoke for him at the time and it made waves just about everywhere. There had been an uproar for justice in D.C that was eventually drowned out by the older Asgaurdian and the rest of the Avengers. Besides politicians versus six superheroes? The winner was clear.
Glancing back at the TV, Alice saw that the press conference was over. Adjusting her soaked jacket on her shoulders she stood and disposed of the useless napkins and headed back outside. The rain had decided that it was being cute earlier and was now equivalent to mini hurricane status. The wind whipped around the same time rain came down in torrents. Alice started running down the street heading towards her apartment only a few blocks away. She hesitated for a moment before dashing across the street. Suddenly bright lights flashed at her and she heard a horn blaring. The large vehicle barreled towards her unable or unwilling to stop and she stood there unflinching. With no time to consider her options Alice flung out her left hand. There was the sound of a squealing engine and the air around the car and her seemed to be filled with static. A street lamp above shattered.
At that moment everything snapped back to reality. Alice watched the car flip and roll as if it had been flung casually aside by a giant. It crashed into a nearby car parallel parked on the street and the engine smoked.
"Damn.." Alice whispered. So much for laying low, she thought.
As Tony Stark stepped into the elevator at Stark Towers he sighed. Stepping into this threshold was like putting on a new persona, one that allowed him to relax a bit. Leaning against the wall he swore to himself that next time Rodgers could handle the press. He had the right personality for it anyway.
Tony had always hated the press. All the flashing lights and reporters barking at you for some kind of answer that they just wanted to butcher to fit their own agenda. As the elevator doors slid open Tony was thinking it was time for a drink. Casually strolling across the flat Tony reached the bar and grabbed a glass.
"I believe that can wait Mr. Stark"
That voice. That voice always made Tony's eye twitch and he set down the glass with a sigh.
"What now Fury? I thought my superhero duties for the day only included calming the press about Banners latest outburst on Coney Island?" Tony snapped lazily as he turned his head to look at the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Superhero. Hmph. You keep calling yourself that and I feel like I keep reminding you -"
"What do you want? And why does it keep me from drinking" Tony was getting impatient with the other man.
"Just head to the briefing room" Fury clicked his heels and walked to the elevator. He turned and looked at Tony and before the doors closed he spoke up, "Now Mr. Stark."
Grumbling Tony shuffled down a small flight of steps beside the elevator to a lower level. Walking down the hallway he saw Fury ahead of himself sweep into the briefing room dramatically. Rolling his eyes he strode in and plopped himself in a chair beside Banner. They all sat at a crescent shaped table facing a large screen which Fury stood at gathering some information. Across the table agents Barton and Romanoff sat with their arms crossed whispering to each other. Barton's eyes were narrowed as he listened to whatever Natasha whispered in his ear. Thor strode in and sat in the seat next to Tony making the chair creak. His face seemed perplexed and he glanced at Tony quizzically.
"What was so urgent friend Stark?" His voice was deep and sounded loud even though he spoke in a low whisper.
Tony shrugged and glanced at Banner to see if he knew. Banner just shook his head and waited for Fury to begin. He was still sheepish about the Coney Island incident. Rodgers waited anxiously at his spot between Loki and Barton. Even after a year Rodgers still had to act as the peacekeeper between the two. Loki leaned back in his chair inspecting his nails lazily.
Everyone gave Fury their attention when he cleared his throat. He was pulling up a video that looked like a street cam recording. It showed a car speeding towards a young girl who was in the middle of a crosswalk. Suddenly as if by the flick of the girls hand the car went summersaulting over her and skidding through the intersection smashing into a nearby car. Fury paused the video and turned to the group.
"This was brought to our attention just a couple of hours ago. Normally we'd take mild interest in something like this anyway, due to the fact that there was no logical reason for the car to crash like that. However we took greater interest when our facial recognition program identified this young woman as Alice King, known to the government as Chimera"
"Chimera? How'd a twelve year old get a nickname like that from the government?" Tony scoffed.
Fury sent a glare his way,
"The government didn't give her the nickname, she did, when she was registered as a mutant."
Everyone went silent. They had all seen the occasional mutant on the news. They stayed pretty low on the radar especially after the new bill forcing them to get registered passed. Professor Xavier, a spokesperson for the mutant community and founder of the mutant boarding school, had been able to stop the first bill but after his disappearance and the violent protests of the new cure ensued a second bill passed. It first forced all mutants to come forth and register. Anyone found that refused to register faced jail time. After that the different mutants were categorized on government lists based on the threat level of their mutations.
Fury sighed and went back to talking.
"Chimera was deemed highly dangerous. There were attempts to reason with her to take the cure which ended in two murders of two full grown men twice her size. She has been on all the watch lists since and has been off the radar for a long time but we have to assume she's gotten even more dangerous. She landed in our jurisdiction so she is our problem."
"Sir.." Rodger brows were furrowed as he spoke hesitantly. "This young girl..we're supposed to believe she murdered two men.."
Fury nodded. His face was grim as he pulled up the old crime scene photos. Banner turned his head looking like he was going to be ill.
"This young woman possesses powers classified as both telekinetic and telepathic. But she somehow liquefied these men's insides and then heated it up to a boiling point till they burst. I'd consider that very dangerous." As he spoke he looked around the room at every single team member.
"I cannot stress how careful we need to be. We need to bring her into custody ASAP before she disappears again. All information is in your files. Do your research on the plane, lets head out."
The team stood up and filed out of the room. Loki was the last one to be leaving and Fury grabbed his arm signaling he had something more to say.
"I don't trust everything in this girls file and I certainly don't trust those government whackos that headed the handling of mutants. I'd like to try and get her to surrender herself willingly but if not you and your magic could be the most valuable asset we have to subdue her. Got it?" Fury stared down the green eyed god.
Loki's thin mouth twitched and he glanced back up at the freeze frame of the young girl in the video. Looking back at Fury he nodded curtly and pulled his arm free as he walked down the hall. As he caught up to his brother Loki couldn't shake the feeling that Fury was right. There was no way the whole story was in that file.