After everybody became acquainted with each other they began their trek towards the way that Snake Eyes said led to the nearest town. He and Robin had agreed that since they were the most agile and stealthy in the group that they would stick to the treetops and keep a lookout as they moved out of the forest. Since Tracer was on the ground and still had ammunition left it had been agreed that she would watch the rear so Falcon didn't get overwhelmed as he had run out of ammo after the last attack and his wing pack still needed repairs to be functional again, which left him with only a knife and his skill with hand to hand combat. Every once in a while on their trek they ran into a lone "Black creature" as they had dubbed them since there were more than just wolves that shared those traits. But it surprised them at what happened when they killed them.
Earlier when Falcon and Tracer were fighting them they didn't pay attention to the wolves after they died since they acted like "Hydra" to Falcon with throwing two more at him for every one of them he managed to take down. But they found that now since they didn't need to worry about the threat of being overrun by an entire horde of them they were able to pay attention. At first it was Snake Eyes who pointed out the black smoke coming off of a "Black Bear's" dead corpse that Tracer had shot to death and was assisted by Snake Eyes. Then the smoke turned into full blown dissolving as the body just began to fade more as the smoke got higher until it just disappeared leaving everyone with a mix of shock and surprise. They however decided it would be best if they moved away from that area since if they stuck around then the smoke was most likely going to draw others of its species to it and by extension to them.
"What the hell are these things?" Falcon asked no one in particular as he observed the spectacle of the most recent one that tried to attack them but failed.
The others of the group didn't say anything to him about his statement, deciding Falcon didn't want an answer to It and that it was rhetorical and not at the same time. Apart from Snake Eyes it seemed Falcon was the most serious person in the group since he had that type of personality and his rank as default leader since he had taken charge of the group. That was primarily because Snake Eyes wouldn't be an effective leader due to him not talking and only Tracer being able to understand his sign language, and Robin and Tracer not having the right personalities to lead which only left him. Still he couldn't complain about that since he had been watching Steve back when they were on the run and felt confident he could hold a team this small together.
"Snake Eyes! Any foreseeable town in sight?" Falcon asked the ninja who responded by halting his treetop movement for a moment before turning and shaking his head.
Falcon cursed under his breath since if the sun was anything to go by here darkness would start to be upon them at any moment and they would be out in the elements for the night. Not that he didn't think they could survive but having an actual room to sleep in and cooked food to eat were luxuries that pretty much everyone preferred. But that just meant they had to pick up the pace and hopefully they could make it to a small town or something similar like a village.
"Alright guys lets go double time!" Falcon said as he motioned for everyone to change to a faster pace.
"I thought we we'r goi'n that fast already luv." Tracer joked as she ran up beside Sam not even using her Recal ability.
Falcon ignored he comment as he sped up himself, seeing Robin and Snake Eyes a few feet in front of him up in the trees. Now they were pretty much sprinting through the forest instead of the jog/walk pace they had previously and were going much faster. Of course they still ran into the occasional beast that tried to attack them but those events were getting much less frequent now, which if Sam's military training and experience were correct wild beast's tend to avoid civilized areas. That was unless they planned to attack it but if they were able to take them out like this then he doubted they were attacking a full on town anytime soon. And if that was the case then that meant they were getting close to civilization which would mean…
"STOP!" Falcon called as the others (Minus Snake Eyes) nearly fell from the sudden decrease in speed and velocity.
"What is it?" Robin asked shakily as he steadied himself on the biggest and lowest Branch he could find.
"We're getting close," Falcon told them. "From here on we take it slowly but swiftly, no running."
"Whys that?" Tracer asked from right next to him, dusting herself off from her near tumble.
"If these people see us running out of the forest they're bound to assume somethings coming and panic," Falcon explained since that wouldn't bode well for them if they wanted to stay at the town. Which now that they were stopped and paying acute attention to their surrounding they managed to catch the usual smell of food, gas, and smoke most cities had which further proved Falcon's point. "We wouldn't want our first impression to be causing a mass panic and we'd probably get locked up or become fugitives in that case."
The others had to admit he was right, even though they didn't know he was technically a fugitive from where he was from due to the Sokovia Accords, they didn't want that pressure on them here. Plus, the fact that they were oddly dressed and that Falcon actually looked the most normal in his suit wasn't an improving factor since Tracer had her Chrono-Accelerator on her chest, Robin was in red, green, and yellow tights basically, and Snake Eyes didn't really have a good look going for him with his full body and face armor on. Still they're outfits in themselves were bound to cause suspicion wherever they ended up going since they doubted normal people wore comic book, and superhero like outfits there.
'We'll cross that bridge when we get there.' Falcon thought to himself since there was no use worrying about that now, since even if they had to stay on the streets for the night it was better than them staying in the woods.
"Alright let's get going, remember slowly." Falcon said as they resumed moving through the woods towards the smell that identified a populated area.
Eventually Snake Eyes raised his hand for them to stop, and motioned forward towards a tree line where the faint sounds of cars, people, and other things could be heard. That at least meant they had reached a form of civilization close to them, and they had a good while before true nightfall set in and it got dark. Still now they had to actually get into the city without drawing an excess of attention to themselves, and that still left a small problem for them to deal with. None of them had any money on them and didn't know what kind of currency was accepted here, which meant they were essentially poor. So that meant they either had to get a job or start begging for money, and none of them felt like they were that desperate yet since they haven't even seen or been inside the town yet.
"So who's goi'n in first?" Tracer asked as she walked up towards the front of the group, Snake Eyes and Robin hoping down onto the ground.
Falcon gave thought to Tracer's question before deciding not to continue further. If they got separated, then that put to many possible scenarios into existence and many of them were not good. The best way for them to approach this was as what they currently were, a team.
"We all go," Falcon said sharply and waited a moment for any argument from the others, receiving none. He was sure he, Snake Eyes, and Tracer could pass if this community was like a normal one, the only one he doubted could due to the red, yellow, and green would be Robin. "You got a cloak or something Bird Boy?" Falcon asked as Robin nodded.
"Cape can act as a cloak when needed." Robin replied as he pulled up the back of his cape throwing a yellow hood on, and his cape going longer to cover up to his ankles.
"Good keep it on, hood off though." Falcon said as after Robin complied, they began moving forward.
As they neared Falcon debated sending Redwing out since he could still fly, just not fire ammunition but ultimately decided against that since he didn't know how the people would react and didn't want to be confused for a terrorist or something of the like. Still it would depend on how they act on four people coming out of the woods and into the area that he was worried about. The other problems they could deal with later as just BEING in a civilized place was good enough for now, but first impressions made the entire difference. He watched Tony's debut as Iron Man back when he fought the Iron Monger on TV live and then later revealed himself at a public event. And then with the Avengers during the Chitari invasion which made a key difference in how they were seen. In fact, up until Wanda accidentally blew up a building saving Steve the Avengers had a particularly good public image as far as he knew.
As the broke through the tree line and into the open area they were met with a large amount of buildings and activity around them. Granted now it would be less difficult to actually get into the area, but that still didn't change their appearance any. Moving quickly and silently as they could they managed to get close enough to where they were in the limits. Observing the people, they found most things to be relatively the same as normal. They weren't aliens or cyborg machines, or even other things in fact they even spoke English which was a huge relief since there wasn't a language barrier to overcome now. The most common difference that they noticed where the small animal horns that protruded from some of their heads, or their skin color had shades of green to it. After a quick silent debate, they all decided not to point that out or act confused to them in any way since that could be taken as rude, plus apart from that they looked the same as regular people without animal traits do and they could research that later.
"Look around and see if you notice anything useful like a library or something of the like." Falcon said as the other nodded and they made sure to keep an eye out.
They resumed walking like they had in the forest except Snake Eyes was in the back with Tracer. They also made sure to keep watch of the people without making it obvious they were doing it, to see if there were other things they needed to know. So far the people hadn't noticed them yet and hadn't given any indication of shock at their entrance into the town. In fact, the more Falcon looked around the more even the city looked normal, there were appliance stores, restaurants, libraries, and other stores. One thing that caught his attention though were these "Dust" shops that were sprinkled here and there. Looking through the windows he saw that it was full of large tubes of shiny multi colored powders, and many different crystals of the same colors in display cabinets with only one elderly shopkeeper managing the counter.
"Wait here." Falcon said as he stopped in front of the Dust store he just looked in.
"Why?" Tracer asked inquisitively as she leaned forward raising an eyebrow. "Watcha gonna go on and do?"
"I'm going to find out some stuff about where we are," Falcon said as he turned to go into the store before turning back to the others. "Stay in the area and see what you can learn, we meet back here in one hour."
Falcon received a nod from Snake Eyes as usual, a "Roger that Govn'a," from Tracer, and a "Yes sir," from Robin. Next thing he knew they all walked past him and split into different directions with Tracer taking a left down a corner, Robin taking a right doing the same, and Snake Eyes going forward before turning and disappearing like the others. As Falcon returned to what he was doing he looked up at the sign of the shop.
"From Dust till Dawn," he read giving whoever named the store minus points for the offshoot of the phrase "From Dawn till Dusk.". Finally opening up the door, he heard a bell chime signaling his entry as the shopkeeper who was busy with wiping the counter to stop and look up.
"Welcome," The shopkeeper replied in an old voice. "What can I do for you?"
Sam walked up to the counter and looked around the store further seeing the difference from what he could see through the window. Noticing how Sam was looking around the store the shopkeeper decided to speak up.
"Would you like to look at one?" He asked motioning to the crystals in the display case.
Falcon considered his offer before replying. "Yes, I would.". Slowly the shopkeeper slid open the display case and grabbed a red crystal, that Falcon could only assume was the Dust and the powder in the tubes was a more refined version of it. Taking the crystal Falcon used his magnification lenses to get a closer look at the surface of the Dust crystal to see if anything was off about it. But all he saw was just a few rough and smooth edges with a scratch here and there, but all in all it was just a perfectly normal crystal which made Falcon wonder what was so valuable about it that there was an entire store dedicated to it. Placing the crystal back on the counter he removed he goggles, sliding them up on his head Falcon leaned forward onto the counter.
"Know a place where a guy can earn some money?" Falcon asked, and the man took a second before nodding.
"All over really, everybody is hiring these days," The shopkeeper said as he further examined the man before him, with the weapons he had on him and the military like high tech equipment he could see and made an assumption. "Although I assume a Huntsman like yourself has no need for extra money."
The man's response confused Sam to no end as he pondered exactly what he meant. "Huntsman?" what did he mean by that, sure he knew there were people who hunted animals for a living, but Sam hardly looked like he did that for a profession with his Exo-7 Falcon suit on. Plus, by the way the man said it he made it seem like it was a common job that paid extremely well since he said that Sam shouldn't need excess funds. Sam decided after a quick second of thinking it over that it would be best for him to delve deeper into it, since if it is a normal job and pays well then it could give him a chance to earn a decent amount of money.
"Sorry but I'm not from around here, what is a Huntsman exactly?" Sam asked as he tried to seem casual and relaxed so as to not make the shopkeeper feel threatened or like he was being forced to tell.
The shopkeeper gave no outside indication of shock or confusion at what Sam just said, but internally he was very confused. After all who didn't know what a Huntsman was, since after all it was the most famous occupation that every kid seemed to want to be when they grow up. Heck, with the new school year starting at Beacon soon he had new applicants coming in and buying a bunch of dust for themselves. Maybe he should just give the man the benefit of the doubt and just assume he had been living under a rock for his entire life, that may be rude to assume that but at least he was being nice.
"Well a huntsman is a protector you could say," The shopkeeper began as he continued polishing his counter that held the Dust crystal display case his eyes keeping down on his work. "They act as the guardians of our civilizations to those that would destroy it."
Sam paid close attention trying to absorb every detail, so as to make sure he learned all that he could about the place he was currently in since he was sure he wasn't on Earth anymore after the last hour or so of trekking through the woods and fighting those beasts. Plus, it wasn't to surreal to think he had been sent to another planet since there was other life out there in the universe, Thor proved that point on his own let alone all the other invasions that have happened since. Still if Sam wanted to survive then he would need to adapt and learn about his surroundings, that was one of the first lessons Steve taught him while they were on the run was to blend in and learn about your surroundings and culture. That led to him developing a good poker face and being able to hold basic conversations in foreign languages, consisting of Spanish, French, Italian, Egyptian, German, and Portuguese. Point being Sam had become rather adept at blending in and lasting for a while in a foreign culture given time to learn about it and experience it first hand, which was exactly what he was doing right now which was gathering information and possibly experiencing it with the Dust substance that was all around him.
"Who would want to destroy it?" Sam asked calmly keeping his well-practiced poker face on.
"Well the Grimm for one thing, creatures of darkness people call them. Drawn to negative emotions and the like," the shopkeeper continued and then paused for a moment having a quick internal debate. "And the White Fang for another."
Falcon immediately put the pieces together and assumed that the black creature that had attacked him and the others of his group were what the shopkeeper meant by Grimm, since the description of them being creatures of darkness and being drawn to negative emotions fit perfectly. Now that he thought about it the Grimm only attacked them when they were either bickering with each other for some reason, or when Falcon was worried and afraid about his situation since he still hadn't forgot about Thanos and the Infinity Stones but tried to simply focus on the matter at hand since it would do him no use to start rambling like a mad man about someone trying to wipe out half the universe. Focusing back to what he was told he didn't know what this "White Fang" was, but he could assume it was an organization by the way the man said it and his tone of voice as well. He also didn't miss the hint of fear in the man's voice that signaled his uncertainty of speaking about that subject in particular, which let Sam know not to try and continue with him at least but it did give him a warning to watch out for this group.
"Thanks, care if I look around your shop any?" Sam asked since he was sure by his questions and the mans confused looks that he probably thought he was a mental patient, but Sam didn't want to overstay his welcome since he got more than enough information to be satisfied at least. That sounded way too much like Nick Fury for his liking as he thought about that.
The man's face contorted giving away his mind having a serious debate with himself before waving his hand signaling Sam to go ahead, which Sam returned with a nod. Walking off into the various aisles of the store Sam could feel the shopkeeper's eyes on him every so often as he moved through the store. Sam did his best to not make it seem like he was bothered by or even knew about it and casually walked from shelf to shelf he made note of the price-tags on different tubes filled with what he guessed was powdered dust that had a weird symbol he hadn't seen before, but it seemed like from basic math and drawing a possibility conclusion that Sam could assume they were the same as regular dollars which would make it easier for him to manage when he can earn some in the future.
The stores front door bell rang again signaling Sam to a new arrival in the store. He casually turned his head to see who it was as he wouldn't put it past either Tracer or Robin to come in early and mess with him. To his semi relief it was just a teenage girl in a red cloak and black clothing walk in with headphones on. He turned back to what he was doing before not wanting to raise any flags for himself, after she sent a nod to the shopkeeper and moved on to the other side of the store. As Sam was browsing through the aisles more he felt that he stepped on something on the floor, looking down he saw it was a magazine laying open face down. Bending over and picking it up Sam saw that not much to his surprise that it was written in English, which he was still thankful for, but that it was a magazine on the dust substance that was all around him. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to study up on whatever the substance was since it may prove useful in the future, he began flipping through it trying to take in every detail of the small print used. Basically from what he could gather was that there were different types of Dust that were different elements which depended upon the color of said Dust. It was pretty easy for him to tell which was which since they were all basic and were the same type as games that had element features in them back home. Going further in he read that Dust apparently reacts with a person's soul to activate and to be used properly, which gave him more questions than it answered. What exactly did they mean by "Soul", he also read something about an Aura that the Dust worked with and assumed they were tied together.
Before he could read any further though the door to the shop once again opened, although this time more loudly like it was being slammed and Sam was sure he heard the bell break off and fall to the floor. Sliding his goggle back down as he already could tell where this situation was about to go, he found no surprise when he saw a bunch of uniform Dime a Dozen thugs armed and a gun pointed at the shopkeeper. Then he saw an orange haired man in a white jacket with a cane walk in acting like he didn't have a care in the world and being flashy about it. Just from his body language Sam could tell that this was the leader of the group, but that he was also more powerful than the thugs that surrounded him. Sam heard the shopkeeper tell them to take the Lien and leave him alone, which was met with a polite shushing and a reassurance that they were just there for the dust.
As a few thugs walked over to the walls where the large tubes that held the powdered dust were and began filling canisters with them, some came towards the area Sam was at. It was then that he remembered the girl that walked in earlier and saw her busy reading a magazine and listening to her music. Sam cursed under his breath as he couldn't alert her to the current situation without exposing himself which would leave her vulnerable to the guns and "large glowing red swords?" the thugs had. Knowing that they likely wouldn't kill her and just have her as a part time hostage until they left, Sam decided to sulk into the background and be ready for one of them to get close. However just as one was walking towards his direction Sam heard another one telling the girl to put her hands up a few times, which drew the attention of the one coming towards him. Just when Sam was worried enough to start going over the shelves and go what had been dubbed "Steve Rodgers Style" on all the thugs, the one that had been telling her to put her hands up was sent tumbling backward onto the floor of the main area. Next thing Sam knew that girl had attacked another thug that came over pointing a gun at her, and launched both of them THROUGH THE WINDOW! As Sam tried to get a view of what she was doing, he saw something that made all of Starks suits look like cheap windup toys, as in the girl's hands unravelling itself was a large giant red and black scythe.
"What in the hell is this place?" Sam asked himself under his breath as he watched all of the remaining thugs charge out of the building and attack the girl.
He watched as the girl used her scythe to bat away and slice at every one of the thugs and even sometimes firing a bullet from it as a mean of propulsion using the recoil.
"So apparently that thing is also a gun?" Sam said in disbelief as for once he wished Stark was present with him just to see the look on Tony's face.
As he resumed watching the girl fight the thugs, he began making his way to the front of the store where the white coated person was walking out. On his way he noticed a few of the thugs that had been knocked out in the store start twitching, which he remedied by stepping painfully on their chests. In the split second he had looked away from the scene of the girl fighting to check on the shopkeeper, a large flash of light occurred outside drawing Sam's attention back to the conflict outside. Looking out he saw the girl looking around confused before spotting something out of Sam's line of sight and running off. Before Sam left he tossed the magazine onto the counter before making sure the shopkeeper was alright, and then ran outside. He didn't see any of the others in his group so he assumed they were still away doing their own things for the moment. Upon looking around he spotted the girl climbing a large fire escape ladder chasing after the white coated villain. Doubting her ability to take him on and not be seriously injured or killed Falcon began running towards them, but was stopped by the thugs that had rushed outside now picking themselves up.
"Do yourselves a favor and stay down." Falcon warned as he didn't feel like he had time for this.
Still they didn't listen to him, which just made him even more peeved at the moment. One of them came at him with their sword and swung at him, which Sam dodged easily since it seemed these were basic people without advanced combat training and he was an albeit extreme EX but still an Avenger who had helped saved his world in the past and these were street thugs at best not Hydra Agents. Moving forward and grabbing the thug's wrist, Sam proceeded to bend the man's arm causing him to drop his blade and then received a quick kick to the stomach followed by a knee to the head. By now the remaining few thugs had gotten up and had noticed Sam's arrival into the conflict and proceeded to draw and retrieve their weapons. Knowing that he was out of Ammo and that his wings wouldn't be useful in this situation Falcon drew the combat knife that he kept on his person and readied himself for the other thug's attack. Two of them rushed at him with their blades while the remaining one took out his pistol and began firing at Sam. Dodging the bullet shots which were very poorly aimed at him, Sam ducked under the swing of the first thug and rolled out of the swing of the second one. Since he was on the ground Sam used his leg to kick the first one in the shin sending him to the ground clutching his leg, and using the second one's confusion to get up and knock him out with 3 quick head punches. Before the second thug fell completely Sam grabbed the sword from his hand, and while turning kicked the first thug still clutching his leg unconscious, threw the blade at the back thug with the gun injuring him and causing him to faint which Sam honestly wasn't expecting but he could accept that and move on.
"Should've stayed down." Sam told them as he sheathed his knife and prepared to go after the girl to help her out and make sure she doesn't die. Although with the fact of her wielding a giant mechanical gun scythe thing he doubted that was a real possibility, but why take chances when you could be safe.
Sam had been listening to the sounds of fighting coming off the rooftop the two people went up and prepared to start running up after them. That was until a large explosion occurred on top of the building sending two figures off the roof, and what looked like a transport airship getting away smoking like it was damaged. Noticing the danger that the two people that fell off were in, Sam thinking quickly activated his wings and prepared to take off to catch the two. Even though he doubted whether or not he could do it due to his damaged wing, he pushed that doubt aside and focused on saving the two from falling to their death or being crippled. As he shakily left the ground having a difficult time controlling his flight path due to his wing not working properly, he managed to at least get high enough to be able to catch and or grab them safely. It was then he paid attention to the other person that was launched off with the girl. She was another female, and a woman to be precise in what looked like a weird teachers' outfit, with a cape because why not. He managed to snag her by the hand and was pulled down by both the sudden change and addition of weight and his damaged wing. Hoping to avoid being pulled down to fast he had to use his other hand to hold onto her, but thankfully the girl noticing his arrival managed to grab onto both his legs securing herself.
Stumbling down through the air he tried to quickly but safely lower himself down to a safe height. He was so focused that he missed the look the blonde haired woman was giving him as he tried to land.
"Let go of my legs." Sam said quickly as the girl attached to his legs let out a sudden EEP! of surprise at him talking.
Before Sam had to ask again and be more forceful in his request the girl listened, and instead of falling like she thought she would she landed safely on her feet. With his legs back and useable now Sam lowered himself more as his wing began to falter and quit working causing him to start to fall, making him need to deposit the other woman onto the ground before he landed. As his feet slid to a halt he deactivated his wing pack and turned around to face them.
"Sorry for the rough landing," Falcon said as he felt the need to crack his neck which had become stiff during the flight. "Gears broken and needs repairs."
The blonde woman pulled herself up off the ground and straightened herself, looking first at Sam the girl and then back at Sam. "The apologies are unnecessary, but are appreciated," She said as she walked forward and pushed her glasses back up onto her nose, now standing in front of Sam. "However due to the circumstances of your intervention I would like to request you come with me to answer some questions."
Falcon didn't miss the hint of she was not going to take no for an answer and decided it would be best he comply. Even though he didn't know who she was, he could at least tell she held a position of power and authority, and that as of right now he was on her good side which was favorable. However, it was about time for the others to start getting back to the area and they had no doubt seen the giant explosion that had occurred and possibly had assumed he had a hand to play in that. In other words, it would be better to inform them of what was happening before he just up and abandon them and hope for the best.
"Will do. Just let me get the others of my team and we're all yours." Falcon said as the woman's expression changed into one of curiosity.
"Strange I was not aware of any huntsman teams being in Vale." She said as her eyes narrowed in an effort to intimidate Sam.
Sam was not intimidated as he had seen and experience far more menacing looks from the usual world conquering and or destroying villains he had fought. Still though the woman had given him the name of the town they were in so that was at least something useful that came out of the situation. But the fact that she though Sam was in a Huntsman team was a problem as if she had the position of power Sam thought, any lie he told about that could easily be disproved if she just so happened to check it. So better to clear that up now than lie about it and have it bite him in the ass later.
"Sorry but we're not what you would call a huntsman team." Sam said as the woman tilted her head at that.
"Then that make it all the more serious for you and your team to come with me for questioning," She started and the turned her head toward Sam's wing pack. "Considering your obviously military grade equipment."
Sam let out a hidden sigh as he figured that his Exo-7 Falcon Suit would have drawn suspicion after people had seen it in action, and this woman was very observant from what Sam had so far seen. It didn't help his situation when he heard the distinct British accented voice of the first person he met since waking up in this world. What was worse she was poking around the bodies of the unconscious thugs he had beaten up. So it was no surprise when the woman saw the change of his expression and followed his line of sight to see Tracer standing beside Snake Eyes and Robin, the latter two busy collecting the bodies of the thugs from both inside and outside the store and tying them up with a cord Robin had produced.
"I take it that's them." She said as her head turned back to face Sam who had lost his poker face and was rubbing his forehead.
"Yes," Was all Sam said as he tried to see if they had done anything else he should know about. And actually as he was thinking about that if they were here why hadn't they helped him when he was having trouble flying and trying to rescue two people when they knew his wing was broken. He could ask them that later after the whole ordeal with this woman was sorted out. "If you'll allow me to talk to them I'm sure we can work this out."
The woman gave a nod of her head as she replied to his response. "Very well," She began and then turned around quickly and looked at the form of the girl with the red cloak trying to tip toe away from the area. "And don't think I've forgotten about you missy! You will be coming with us for questioning."
'Great,' Sam thought as the woman's focus was now on the girl and she was busy chastising her about her actions, as he was busy approaching the other of his group who had noticed his appearance. 'Hopefully this goes better than the Accords situation.'. He could only hope for something as good as that.