Author's Note: Welcome to A Game of Heroes, the fourth story in my Avengers series! If you have not read A Game of Trust yet and are interested in reading my series, please read that first. Story order: A Game of Trust, A Game of Enemies, Agent Tolvar, A Game of Winter, A Game of Heroes. I also have A Game of War which is based on my OC from this series, but is a stand alone story as well.

If you have read all of my stories up to this point, I'm so excited for you to read this! Thank you so much! I enjoy writing these stories so much, and it is still incredible to me that I have readers. A Game of Heroes will include Age of Ultron and Civil War. It's going to be longer. I'm not quite finished writing part one, but it's going to probably be 11 or 12 chapters instead of the usual 8 per part. I really wanted to get posting though since I've been taking forever to write it. Chapter one is my favorite so far. We get to see some banter and fun dialogue between the characters which will be a reoccurring thing throughout the story. I'm so excited to finally get to write ALL of the Avengers. What a fun challenge. I'm also really excited to delve deeper into some stuff that Age of Ultron left wanting... But that's part three!

Thanks again for reading!

Part One: Vigilantes

Prologue – May 15, 2008

Smoke issued from the two-story house across the street. The dark-haired boy sat on the cold cement curb watching the firefighters douse the flames with their hoses. The jets of water did little at first as the flames continued to consume the structure, but eventually the flames succumbed. It was too late for the three people inside. They would be ashes by now. There would be no bodies for the gurneys to roll out into the waiting ambulances.

"I can take away your problem," a voice said, startling the boy. He looked up to see a man standing beside him. He hadn't heard him approach.

"What problem?" What did this stranger know of his problems?

"You couldn't control those flames any more than you could stop them. I can make them stop."

The boy froze. "Who are you?" He got slowly to his feet and stared the man down. There was nothing threatening about him. He looked like a professor or a lawyer in his worn suit and novelty tie but his eyes held an understanding as if he could see straight through the boy to the very core of who he was.

"Professor Peter Stewart," the man replied, holding out a card. The boy reached for it. It listed all the PhDs the professor had attained. "I teach over at Columbia University," he told the boy.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"I also work for an organization called A.I.M. or Advanced Idea Mechanics. We work with people like you. We can help you."

"I want to get rid of it," the boy said emphatically. As if to prove his point, the business card turned to ashes in his hand. "I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"Then it's lucky I found you," Stewart said. "Come with me and we'll make sure you don't hurt anyone with your abilities again."

…

Sirens sounded several blocks away and the boy hurried down a dark alley. The flames flickered at his fingers, never out for too long. He was always on the move, always running ever since he'd learned the truth: no one could help him. He was alone and would have to stay that way if he didn't want hurt anyone else.

Rustling to his left had him jumping. Flames leapt up on his palms and he frantically tried to put them out. The last thing he needed was a witness to his curse. "You gonna light a fire or are we going to freeze out here?" a voice said from the shadows. The boy nearly jumped out of his skin. A cardboard box to his left shifted slightly and a girl emerged. She had dark skin and curiously gold eyes. She took him in, flames and all, but didn't blink at his ability.

"Everyone else usually screams and runs away by now," he said. He felt himself relax and the flames went out.

"I don't scream or run away," the girl said.

"That's a first." He was so used to being alone, so used to avoiding anyone who might think he was a monster or worse, something to be studied. This girl was the first person to look at him like there was nothing wrong with him.

"You been running a long time?" the girl asked.

"Ever since I caught my girlfriend's house on fire and killed her and her parents."

"I've been running too," the girl said. "Guess I do run away, but not from people like you."

"Are you…are you like me?" the boy asked eagerly.

"See for yourself." The girl held out her palms. For a moment nothing happened but then a streetlight flickered on the street beyond the alley and electricity sparked up and down the girl's fingertips. "I found out I had this ability when I was holding my boyfriend's hand. He died. So I guess we both have skeletons in our closets."

The boy was speechless for a moment. "I'm Julian," he said finally. He almost held out a hand but stopped himself.

The girl seemed to catch the motion, but she didn't seem offended. "Amber."

"What's your story, Amber? Were you born like this?"

"My powers just sort of sparked to life that day I killed my boyfriend. I tried to tell my parents what happened but they didn't believe me. They sent me to a clinic that tried to cure me. They did everything they could think of short of ripping me apart and putting me back together. I escaped. I've been hiding from the world ever since afraid of who might try to find me."

"There are monsters out there," Julian agreed. "They think we're something to study. They don't understand."

"But you do." Her golden eyes looked desperate for a moment, and he realized she was just as lonely and scared as he was.

"I do. But I also can't control them. I'm afraid of hurting someone else. Maybe the world would be better off without me."

"You can learn to control them, Julian. I learned to control my powers."

"You did?" The hope that sprung up inside of him was painful, rusty. It hadn't been used in years.

"I can help you," Amber said. "We could stick together."

"Are there others like us out there?" Julian asked. Were they hiding, scared like him?

"I'm sure there are."

"We need to find them. We need to save them from the monsters that want to study them. We need to show those monsters that we're not test subjects. We're human beings. We're better than humans. We're elite."

"First we get you under control," Amber said. "Then we form a team. No one will ever hurt us again." Electricity buzzed, lighting up her palms. "I'm tired of hiding." Julian let the flames shoot up along his own palms and they stood together in the alley, lighting it with their fire and electricity. Julian felt a trill of pleasure at the power he suddenly felt. It was time for the rejects of the world to stand up and make a place for themselves.