Citizens were screaming in fear as they ran as fast as they could to safety. But where was safety? All around them buildings were exploding, cars were flipped over and thrown through the air, smoke clearing from holes in the floor where beams of pure energy had hit and exploded.

It started as such as beautiful, peaceful Saturday morning in downtown New York, everything had been rebuilt after the battle between the alien threat and the Avengers, people felt safe as they glanced upon the giant tower in the distance, shining brightly in the sun as the giant A symbol set them at ease.

Then suddenly, there was a loud explosion as a car flew up into the sky and landed a few feet away from them. As the smoke cleared, all that was left standing were a couple of silhouettes. A taller and a shorter one, one with a petite build while the others seemed rough and broad. As the light reached their outward appearance, fear struck the civilians upon what they saw. The taller, broader silhouettes belonged to something that couldn't be classified as human. It was some sort of creature, smooth and metallic skin that reflected the bright sunlight, surrounding someone that seemed like a young girl. Was she a captive? She looked nothing like the other creatures, but she showed no fear either.

In a blink of an eye, more creatures appeared as they started hurling cars against buildings, breaking lamps and crashing through glass windows. It was an act beyond juvenile behavior, but nothing as bad as they had witnessed several months before.

The girl standing in the middle of it all glanced around slowly, a single light in her icy blue eyes seemingly spinning around her pupil as she was scanning for something. Something she found not long after. She raised the palm of her hand towards one of the buildings as a small spark started forming from the center of her hand, sparkling around her fingers as the bolt of energy grew bigger and bigger, ultimately firing towards the building and in one loud blast cleared the entire wall, revealing the now damaged safes from the bank. The corners of her lips curled up ever so slightly as she stepped towards her prize but before she could get close enough something flew past her.

She followed the moving object with her eyes and watched as two of her fellow creatures had crashed into the ground as one pile of scrap metal. She turned back just in time to see a round object hurling around her like a frisbee. Was that… A shield?

Behind her she could hear more destruction going on, however none of it belonged to the creatures that escorted her here. She picked up the signal of approaching life forms and turned around to witness the entrance of New York's heroes.

Captain America had rode in on his bike, his unbreakable shield once again attached to his back as he slammed aside some of the creatures in order to protect the civilians it was approaching. A car came crashing in as two other people jumped out, one carrying a bow and arrow who proceeded to fire away on the creatures with explosives, while the other - a red haired female - spun around some of them with high kicks and guns.

Glancing up at the sky she noticed a red blur passing by, landing not too far from where she was standing. Iron Man had arrived.

Scanning… Scanning… Scanning… Target confirmed.

She held up her arm once more, her palm aimed at the iron clad hero, ready to fire towards him when something pulled her out of the way just in time for a car to land on the spot she was just standing at. She had her eyes pinched close for a moment as she felt two arms wrap around her petite frame for a moment, before glancing up at the masked hero who was under the impression he had just saved a young civilian girl from death.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a hurried yet concerned tone as he released her from his grip just in time to grab his shield and hold it up, effortlessly blocking some rubble flying their way. He caught her eyes and stared into them for a moment. There was something unusual about those eyes, like nothing he had ever seen before. Not in a romantic kind of way, either. Just something… Strange.

Scanning… Scanning… Scanning…

"Hey! A little help here!" Natasha's voice called over to her partner as she shot at some of the creatures that didn't seem to take no for an answer.

"Stay here." Steve told the girl before getting up and running back to the battlefield.

Target identified.

"Retreat." A voice rang through her ears as she reached up for her inner earpiece. "Not today."

"Understood."

"Initiating command; self destruct."

Suddenly, the remainder of creatures that were left standing stopped moving as sparks escaped from the inside of what seemed to be their bodies, running through their entire being until eventually they exploded into a million tiny particles.

"Well, that was… Odd." Tony remarked as he looked around at the mess that was left.

"What were those things?" Clint wondered, storing away the arrow he was preparing to fire just seconds before their targets self-destructed.

"They looked like robots…" Natasha frowned slightly, from what they looked like as well as the remains that were now scattered over the floor, they definitely seemed like it.

"Another failed prototype created by S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Steve wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't exactly have the best track record after all. He then remembered the girl he saved before and looked to where he had left her, only to find the spot abandoned. Looking around there was no sight of her anywhere.

"Looking for something?" Tony caught his partner searching for something and couldn't help his curiosity as usual. "Lost your marbles again?"

"Very funny, Stark." He let out a soft sigh, Tony had a certain sarcastic humor with which he spoke that created a banter that either irritated or amused the star-spangled hero. "There was a girl, right there…"

"Scouting for girls while on a mission?" Tony's voice perked up in amusement. "I'm both surprised and proud."

"Not like that," He quickly shook his head. "There was just something… Never mind. Let's take some of those particles back to Banner, he can figure out what in the world we were fighting."


"Iron Man. Confirmed."

A series of analytics popped up on the screen as the girl held her hand on the scanner.

"Captain America. Confirmed."

Her mission today was simple, cause trouble in the city and make way with the cash. If the Avengers showed up to save the day, bonus points. And that they did.

"Black Widow. Pending."

However, due to the chaos she was unable to scan every member of the team.

"Hawkeye. Pending."

This meant she didn't succeed in her mission.

"Thor. Missing."

But this meant there was a new chance for a new plan to be set into motion.

"Hulk. Missing."

And he had just the right plan in mind.

"Excellent, number eighteen. Excellent work."