Chapter Ten: Trust Is A Precious Commodity
The new day starts out dreary as storm clouds hang lazily over the city of Manhattan. The high heat and humidity smother the air and make it difficult for most to breathe. Most welcome the impending storm that is brewing to break the current oppressive weather that the city has been facing. Yet one house in particular, though it has no air conditioning, remains quite cool. It is at this house that mystic energy emanates and obeys the will of those that wield it powers in the dwelling. It is here that three very close friends have gathered to have a very private discussion.
"So it's been a couple of days, have we learned anything new about our friend?" Ben asked.
"No, I only know what the files have told me and it appears as though those scientists didn't really have that much of an idea of who Tommy was anyway." Elias said.
"So what now?" Kyle asked.
"Well we have to wait until Tommy wakes up in order to find out any further information." Elias said. "For right now all we know is that his name is Tommy and apparently when he says the word Kimota, which is atomic backwards, he is changed into a being of immense power."
"But we could already assume that from seeing him in action." Ben said.
"This is why we have to wait." Elias said.
"Alright, until then what do we do about this Steve taking over the Mighty Avengers thing?" Ben asked.
"Well it is clear that they are going to be coming after us, so I propose something radical." Elias said carefully.
"What are you thinking?" Kyle asked suspiciously.
"Well, we are going to need to be underground for a while and we also should probably be together to be a team." Elias began.
"What are you getting at?" Ben asked anxiously.
"I think we should move out of our respective homes into a new base to be an actual team." Elias said quickly as he tried to gage his friend's reactions.
"What?!" Kyle yelled.
"That's insane!" Ben said.
"Listen guys-" Elias began.
"No, Elias this is crazy." Ben said. "I don't want to leave my family."
"Yeah, my parents would freak out." Kyle said. "Not too mention my aunts, uncles and cousins."
"Guys, think about it." Elias said. "Steve is not going to let us just live our lives. He is going to convince Iron Man to come knocking on our doors and force us to become part of his initiative. Then do you really think that we are all going to be on the same team. They are going to ship us all to god knows where and all be separated."
"But what about our families?" Ben asked.
"I am not saying that you can never see them again, but I think it would be best for us to actually have a base of operations and to live there so we can function more as a team." Elias said. "Though I loathe admitting it, we were at our best at Camp Hammond and we can continue that by doing this."
"I don't know about this." Kyle murmured.
"This is a pretty big step and I thought we still didn't trust them" Ben said.
"I have a plan for that." Elias said.
"Which is?" Kyle asked curiously.
"Well I feel like the only way we can know for sure is if we talk to them about this and read their minds to know if they are with us or not." Elias said.
"But you don't that amount of telepathic ability." Ben said.
"But I know someone who does." Elias said.
"Do you think it is right to do this to them?" Ben asked. "I mean they have yet to do anything to us to prove that they are not trustworthy."
"Well neither did Steve but we all see how that worked out." Kyle grumbled.
"But what right do we have to judge the rest of the team because of one traitorous member." Ben argued.
"Yet they all have SHIELD affiliation." Kyle argued. "They all are going to have stronger ties to them than us."
"But we have no proof of that." Ben said.
"Look, remember when I said that the game has changed and we are going to have to make tough decisions." Elias said. "Well these are them. Moving out, getting a base, trusting each other, are all things that Steve's decision has made us have to change our way of thinking about them. I would really like your support for these things. You guys are my closest friends and if you don't want to do this then I won't pursue it any longer."
"Well I think that I am going to need time for this to sink in." Ben said nervously. "I mean this is a lot to handle."
"Yeah, I think agree with Ben." Kyle said. "This is big, really big. But when it comes to trust, I think I would rather know for sure this time."
"Alright, how about we meet with others tomorrow evening?" Elias said. "I can call my contact; we can hash everything out and decide about the base thing then. Sound good?"
"I think that is a good idea." Ben said.
"Alright." Kyle said. "Well I am going to get going."
"Yeah, me too." Ben said as the pair got up and left.
'I hope this is a good idea.' Elias thought as he prepared to contact the others.
Across town, located in the one of the training rooms of the sophisticated building at the Avengers Mansion, another trio of friends has gathered to workout out some of the recent frustration of recent events. The room they are all standing is vast and appears to be just an ordinary room.
"Begin simulation: Ultron Combat 0035." An electronic voice announced. "Level 5 scenario activated.
"Level 5, but we've only done up to level three at this point." Vera said worriedly as the landscape changed to reflect downtown Manhattan.
"It'll be fine, since camp Hammond I think we can handle it." Cap said.
"And an Ultron exercise too; aren't you feeling adventurous today." Marvel said.
"Hey, just because we are not at Camp Hammond, doesn't mean we have to get rusty." Cap said. "Now enough chitchat. Let's get our heads in the game. Both of you take to the air and scout."
"Sure thing Cap." Vera said as she propelled herself toward the sky.
"Alright" Marvel said as he lazily followed.
Cap proceeded to scout the grounds trying to see if there was any sign of the murderous robot that had been a treacherous enemy to the Avengers in the past. Though he has not been seen in a while, there is not a doubt in the minds of the older Avengers that his return is inevitable. While Cap is searching, her mind began to wander.
'Why haven't the others contact us in a while?' Cap thought to herself. 'Elias and the others know how important it is to make sure that we keep team cohesion. I hope nothing bad happened to them. No, we would've heard something by now. I hope they don't think that we were involved in that whole Camp Hammond mess. No, we definitely trust each other more than that. Oh, better pay more attention.'
Cap is broken out of her thoughts when three silver robots that bear a resemblance to Ultron land in front of her. She grips her shield and prepares to fight. In the air, Vera and Marvel are looking around for any disturbances. Marvel is looking rather intently while Vera seems troubled. She looks at Marvel for a few minutes.
"What Vera?" Marvel said not looking at her in the slightest.
"Do you think we did something to offend the others?" Vera asked.
"What are you talking about?" Marvel asked lazily.
"Well, they haven't contacted us since the Camp Hammond thing." Vera said.
"Maybe they've been busy." Marvel suggested.
"For once can you just play it straight with me and actually have a real conversation." Vera said.
"Would you guys mind giving me a hand here?" Cap shouted as she back flipped out of the way of three lasers.
Marvel reacts quickly upon seeing three more lasers aimed at the spot in which Cap was going to land. Marvel fades from sight in the air and suddenly appears between Cap and the lasers. The blasts hit him with enough concussive force to knock him through three buildings.
"Marvel!" Vera screams about to go see if her teammate is alright.
"No Vera, Marvel is fine." Cap said. "We need to focus on these Ultrons."
"Okay." Vera says as she charges up a blast.
One of the Ultrons ran toward Cap. It held up its hands and fired another powerful blast at Cap. Cap held up her shield at an angle and the blast reflected off of her shield. Cap quickly throws her shield up in an arc, which catches the beam and deflects off of it again, launching the blast right at the Ultron. The blast momentarily stalls the Ultron which Cap capitalizes on by catching her shield and smashed it through the throat of the Ultron, completely decapitating it. Meanwhile, another Ultron rockets over to the exposed building where Marvel landed. The Ultron scanned through all of the debris to try and find where the superhuman landed. Sensing a distortion is space behind him, the Ultron blasts the newly appeared Marvel. More prepared than before, Marvel focuses and absorbs the powerful blast. He then concentrates the new found energy into a blast that shreds the asphalt and leaves a gaping hole through the chest of the Ultron causing it to explode. Vera, on the otherhand, is still in the skies trying to avoid the last Ultron that is on her tail. She performs brilliant evasive maneuvers which cause her to avoid major damage. Nevertheless, she begins to tire as the Ultron keeps up its pursuit. She decides that she needs to finish this quickly. She decided that she is going to fly straight up as fast as she can. The Ultron unit followed as she dodged the blasts. Suddenly, she stops abruptly and lets the Ultron rocket past her. She concentrates a powerful blast of photons at the rockets propelling the Ultron and lets it fall to the hard concrete below.
"Why was that so easy?" Marvel asked. "Those were Ultron units; they should've been a lot tougher."
"I set the system to include only the first and second upgrades to Ultron." Cap said. "This was just a warm-up, I have something else planned. Computer, activate Avengers protocol 09."
"There is an unknown energy signature manifesting, force shutdown initiated." The computer stated as the holograms breakdown into an empty room.
"What is going on?" Vera asked.
"I don't know." Cap said.
"It's magic." Marvel said.
Suddenly, a green energy fills the room as an amorphous shape. The shape swirled above the trio until it took more and more of a humanoid shape. Soon enough, a translucent image of Elias appears before them.
"Elias!" Angela exclaimed. "I thought we would not see you again."
"Hey guys, sorry it's been a while." Elias said.
"Yeah, what is up with that? Angela asked.
"There is something that I must discuss with you." Elias said.
"What is it?" Kim asked warily.
"I think we should meet up to discuss this." Elias said.
"Can you at least give us some idea of what needs to be discussed? Tim asked.
"It is a big discussion about the future of our team and I feel like we all need to be there to talk about it." Elias explained.
"Alright then, where do you want to meet?" Kim asked.
"There is a warehouse on east that I think will the perfect spot." Elias said. "We are going to meeting there at 8:30 tomorrow tonight."
"Alright then, we will meet you there." Kim said.
"Excellent." Elias said disappearing from sight.
"So what do you make of this Kim?" Angela asked.
"Even in his astral form, he still had all the signs that he was not being completely open." Kim said. "I don't know what to say to this. I mean his expression was serious but there was something in his eyes… doubt, concern, and just something else that makes me wonder."
"What do you make of it Tim?" Angela asked turning to Tim.
"I think we are done here and there isn't any reason we should be speculating Elias or his friends actions or their motives behind their actions." Tim said. "It is clear that we are going to be meeting with them and we can work all of this out then."
"You've got a point Tim." Kim said. "Alright, let's get back to this session."
As Kim was about reengage the system when suddenly the door opened. An affluent dark haired teen wearing clothes that could buy small countries entered the room with stride in his step the told all of how superior he thought he was. He looked over at the three other teens staring at him and softened his face into a false look of cheer.
"Tim, Angela, Kim, I have been meaning to speak to you." Steve said as he put his hand out to shake theirs.
"About?" Kim replied glaring at him.
"Look guys, I really had your best interest at heart with all of this." Steve said.
"Really?" Angela asked sarcastically.
"Yes, despite what you may think of me I like to plan ahead." Steve said. "I am like my father in that I always look to the future. I see great potential in all of you but what the world needs right now is a team that has things under control. They need a team that is trained and experienced enough to handle things like the Mighty Avengers do. I am not saying that you can never be there, I am just saying you're just not there yet."
"So we are not good enough for you?" Angela rebutted.
"Quite the contrary, I want you guys to register and be a part of my team." Steve said.
"What?" Angela exclaimed.
"What are you getting at Steve?" Kim said.
"You guys were born into the system; you know how it works best." Steve said. "Elias and his friends know that too. Do you think that thought has not occurred to him? Do you think that they are not wondering how long it will be until you choose heritage over them?"
"We would never betray them like you did!" Angela exclaims. "We all trust each other and that is what makes us a team."
"Do the rest of you agree with Angela's assessment?" Steve asked as he looked over at the other two teens.
Timothy and Kimberly looked at each other; they shared a glance which reflected the shared thoughts of confusion and mistrust that surrounded the New Young Avengers team. Angela turned and looked at them expectantly which broke them out of their thoughts.
"I think that we are made of fibers that are tougher than that what you believe us to be." Tim said. "The matter is not a matter of trust; it is simply a matter of you wanting to keep an eye on us. If you want us to genuinely join your team, then the argument of Elias would not have even been an issue. Therefore, I think I am going to leave it at that."
With his last words, Tim faded from sight. Kim stepped up and stood face to face with Steve.
"I think Tim said everything that needs to be said. Come on Angela." Kim said pushing past Steve out the door.
Angela followed in suit, leaving Steve alone in the training room. He brought his hand up his ear and tapped a small device.
"They are planning to meet tomorrow tonight, no one is joining and this now constitutes illegal activity." Steve said. "I am sending coordinates of the warehouse. We will plan an assault minutes after they enter.
With that, he closed the connection and left the room with a smirk. The next day, Kyle Storm can be seen in his room lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He is tossing a fireball in the air and watching it dissipate. His face is painted with feeling of contemplation and confusion. Soon enough, he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in." Kyle said.
"Hey sport, what's going on?" Johnny said entering his son's room.
"Nothing much dad, I just have a lot on my mind." Kyle replied.
"I heard you have been having trouble with your cousins and now with the Camp Hammond disaster, it is probably a bit wearing." Johnny said. "I know, do you want to do some extreme biking at the Storm Skate Park?"
"Not right now dad." Kyle said.
"Now I know there is something up." Johnny laughed. "Really, what is going on?"
"Dad, did you ever think that you would have to make a really hard decision that would separate you from your family?" Kyle asked with earnest.
"There have been times where I have loved someone and thought about leaving the Fantastic Four." Johnny said. "But we always stayed together. Family is really important, but it should not hold you back from doing what you want to do or what team you want to be on."
"Dad…" Kyle began. "I want you to be completely open to what I am about to say."
"Kyle, you are my son." Johnny said assuredly. "We've always been close, so no matter what you say it will be alright."
"I think that it would be a good idea if I lived with the others." Kyle said. "So that we can have better team cohesion and become a better team."
"Kyle I don't think that is a good idea." Johnny said firmly.
"But you and the others lived together as the Fantastic Four." Kyle argued.
"That was different, we were family." Johnny said.
"Only you and Aunt Sue were family." Kyle said angrily.
"Ben and Reed were like family." Johnny said. "You all are too young to be left alone without supervision."
"Elias, Ben, Tim, and Kim are like my family." Kyle shot back. "We can take care of ourselves and each other."
"Where are you going to live? Where are you going to get food? How are you going to pay for things?" Johnny said. "And what about school?"
"We'll figure it out." Kyle said.
"Well when you do, we can talk about it. Until then, no." Johnny said with finality.
"But dad-" Kyle began.
"No, your mother would kill me if I just let you leave here and go off with a bunch of teenagers." Johnny said sympathetically as he left the room. "Sorry sport, but it's a no."
"I'll show him no." Kyle said as he grabbed a bag and started to pack.
Kyle angrily threw his clothes and most of his possession into a few bags. He soon started to devise a plan to sneak out. In another part of town, Ben Parker had been deciding what he wanted to take with him if he were to leave.
"What am I even doing right now?" Ben asked himself. "I can't leave my mom and dad. They have always been there for me and I don't know if we can even make it on our own. Steve has the full support of Iron Man and SHIELD. We've got a bunch of teens that want to start an illegal team. Also, we can't even trust half of our team because of their connections to the government. It's all a messed up situation."
Ben continued to argue with himself as he debated whether or not to leave his family and life for his friends and team. In the midst of his mental debate a tingling feeling crawls up his brainstem which indicates his spider sense is warning him of some sort of danger. Ending his mental tirade, he turned quickly to see his door open and his mother come in with a plate of dark chocolate chip cookies.
"A cookie for your thoughts." Mary Jane said as she offered her son his favorite treat.
"Thanks mom." Ben said as he grabbed a cookie.
"So what's on your mind, it seems as though you might be just up and leaving." Mary Jane joked.
"Yeah, it sure seems that way." Ben said with a fake laugh.
"Yeah, but seriously you have been in a funk ever since you gotten home from Elias' house. Did you two get into a fight?" Mary Jane asked.
"No we didn't fight, it was more that he gave us something to think about that I don't know if I am ready to think about." Ben said.
"Well, don't let anyone dictate how your life should be." Mary Jane said with a frown. "You should not feel forced to do something that you don't want to do."
"It's not like that mom, it's just a weird situation that we have been placed into." Ben said.
"Well, I would say that you and Elias have been friends for a long time." Mary Jane said. "I think you should follow your instincts and Elias seems to always have good intentions and tries to lead you down the right road, but never let him or anyone else change who you are. Just be yourself and do whatever you feel is right and we will be okay with whatever you do in life."
"Thanks mom." Ben said. "No matter what happens, I love you and I will always be here for you guys."
"Thanks Ben." Mary Jane said. "I'll leave you the cookies."
Mary Jane set the cookies on the dresser next to his bed, kissed him on his head and left the room. Ben sat there for a moment and thought for a couple of minutes.
"Elias, you'd better be right about this." Ben said as he continued to pack.
Ben packed his stuff well into the night until he realized that it was time to meet up. He wrote a note and left it on his dresser, then he suited up and webslung out of his room. At the warehouse, a green glow appears out of nowhere as Elias appears soon enough. He looks around and sighs as he thinks about what could happen. Thoughts run through his head of no one showing up or the arguments that could ensue. His thoughts were broken by the wind picking up. The doors of the warehouse open and a white haired teen comes in as the wind settles.
"Hey Brent!" Elias said. "I am glad you could make it."
"Hello Elias." Brent said. "It is good to see you again."
"So, how is the new team going?" Elias said.
"Pretty well, still working though some kinks but getting along pretty well." Brent replied.
"So I presume that since you are here you are willing to do what I have requested." Elias said.
"Willing, yes but do I think it is a good idea, no." Brent said.
"What do you mean?" Elias asked.
"I think that you should found your team on trust." Bren said. "I did that and then squandered it. Don't let yourself squander it from the start."
"But I am doing this for the good of the team." Elias said. "We got blind sighted at Camp Hammond and I don't want it to happen again."
"I can understand being prepared more than anyone, but there is no good outcome to what you plan on doing." Brent said. "If I read their minds, I invade their personal space and if I tell you what they are thinking, I have now overstepped a line that can never be repaired."
"Well how do I know whether or not I can trust them?" Elias asked.
"By just going ahead and trusting them." Brent said. "That's the only way you are ever going to have a great team. No matter what I say here, you are always going to wonder if and/or when they are going to turn on you. The only way to get over that is by having faith in them as people, getting to know them and not giving them a reason to go against you."
"Maybe…" Elias said as he thought about what Brent just said.
"Well I sense them approaching, what is the verdict?" Brent asked.
"There is a window over there, would you mind?" Elias said after a moment of silence.
"I think that would be best." Brent said as he walked over to the window. "If you ever need anything, don't be a stranger."
"I won't." Elias said as Brent flew out the window.
Elias shook off his nerves as the doors of the warehouse opened. Soon enough Kim and Angela walked in. They greeted with each other and hugged. It felt good to Elias to finally see the other part of the team. Before too long, Ben and Kyle arrived and they were just waiting on Tim. The four of them were busy catching up and having a good time until suddenly the figure of Timothy Danvers appeared out of nowhere.
"Well now that everyone is here, what is the deal Elias?" Angela asked.
"Alright, so I am just going to get straight to the point." Elias began. "I think that at Camp Hammond we had great team cohesion and it felt like we were an actual team. So I think that in order to regain that sense of team spirit we should have a base of operations that we live and work out of."
"So you want to simulate Camp Hammond by having us all live together." Kim said.
"Well I am not thinking of calisthenics at 0600, but we had great team unity and we are going to need that as we approach the future as a team." Elias said.
"Well I agree, but isn't that a little extreme, it's not like they are going to be crashing in to arrest us or anything." Angela said.
Suddenly, an explosion occurred as Steve and his new Young Mighty team comes bursting through a wall.
"I'm sorry to break up this touching reunion, but you all are under arrest for non-compliance with Superhuman Registration Act." Steve said.
"But we all registered at Camp Hammond." Kim said.
"Yes, but you all have to be registered with a team." Steve said. "And this is not a legal team, so you can choose the easy way and come with us quietly or the hard way."
"Skaar want to smash puny team!" Skaar shouted.
"All in time." Steve said.
"You know Steve that arrogance is going to be your downfall." Elias said. "Young Avengers, Assemble!"
Suddenly, the Young Mighty team strikes out tactically against the New Mighty team. Elias flew straight towards Steve and started exchanging blasts with the armored foe. Angela flew over to the shrinking superhuman and began to battle him. Kim ran over to Steve and began to help out Elias. Ben webslung over to Thor Girl and began to battle her and Skaar ran over to the remaining combatant of Tim. Tim and Skaar were engaging in a difficult melee match. Both combatants were swapping and dodging punches while each trying to gain an advantage over the other. Skaar threw a punch that Marvel side stepped and responded with an uppercut. This hit threw Skaar into an even greater rage and caused him to punch Marvel with incredible force. Marvel went flying and Skaar chased him. Crossfire went on the offensive against Vision. He tried attacking the cyborg with molten lava projectiles. The Vision merely reverted to an intangible form and flew toward Crossfire. Crossfire quickly flew around to see if he can try and gain some sort o avantage against his ghostly foe. Crimson Spider shot web shooters at the Asgardian warrior who shrugged them off.
"Pitiful Insect, dost thou not know the power with which thou art trifling with?" Thor Girl said as she launched several bolts of lightning at Crimson Spider.
"Well, apparently I am looking at some Thor knockoff that couldn't hit the broad side of a, well I don't have an Asgardian term to put in here but the sentiment is just the same." Crimson Spider said as he webbed her in the eyes.
"Insolent fool!" Thor Girl said as she summoned a wind which knocked Crimson Spider into a wall. "Thou will learn thy place beneath my feet."
Thor Girl summoned a bolt of lightning to strike Crimson Spider. Suddenly another bolt of lightning crashed through the roof of the building and intercepted Thor Girl's.
"What in Odin's name?" Thor Girl said. "That should not be in thy insect's arsenal."
"No it's not!" Brent said descending down in front of Crimson Spider. "Crimson Spider, Crossfire needs your assistance! Let me deal with this false goddess."
"Whatever you say dude." Crimson Spider said as he webslung over to Crossfire.
"Thou darest call me a false goddess!" Thor Girl exclaimed. "I wield the forces of the elements and shall crush under their might."
"It might be fair to warn you that I am called Tempest for a reason." Brent said as his eyes glowed white.
The two elemental titans began their fight of superiority by unleashing nature's fury against each other. Cap and Mage in the meantime are exchanging blows with War Machine. War Machine unleashed a powerful unibeam in the direction of Cap. Cap put up her shield and deflected most of the damaging effects of the blast but was knocked back from the force. Mage looked over at him and summoned forth the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak. War Machine easily broke them and looked back at Mage.
"So it looks like science is superior to your magic Elias!" War Machine shouted as he launched a unibeam at Mage.
"Only for so long!" Mage shouted as he summoned the Shield of Seraphim to protect him.
"Give it up Mage!" War Machine said. "My team is already trampling all over your team."
"He is right Elias." Brent said telepathically. "You need to teleport your team to the safeouse. I will cause a distraction and get away."
"Alright, let me know." Elias replied telepathically.
Suddenly in the midst of battling Thor Girl, Brent raises his hands and summons forth a localized F5 tornado that rips through the warehouse. Once the tornado touches down, Elias glows with green energy and suddenly the rest of his team has a green aura surrounding them. In minutes team is teleported out of the warehouse. When the tornado dissipated, the Young Mighty team looks around confused and frustrated. War Machine fires a unibeam to the sky in anger and calls for the team to clear out. In the meantime, six green images of energy appear in the living room of what appears to be a large apartment. The energy begins as formless blobs but soon take on a humanoid shape. Before too long, Kim, Tim, Angela, Elias, Kyle and Ben fall to the fall.
"Ouch, jeez Elias could you try and be a bit softer on the landing." Kyle complained.
"Well I am sorry that you know we were kind of under siege and I had a few moments to cast this teleportation spell in the midst of a freakin' tornado." Elias replied rubbing his shoulder.
"Elias, what is this place?" Angela asked looking around in wonder.
"This, my friends, is our new home." Elias said proudly. "Take a look around while I cast a spell to summon your stuff here."
The five other teens looked around at the huge living space. It looked like a townhouse in the heart of Manhattan. In the living room, there was a 54" Plasma screen, sofas and couches organized around the screen. Connected to the living room was a large kitchen that was fully stocked with food and drink. Down the hall on the right were 6 rooms each of which had a member of the team's name engraved on it. When they walked back, they went down a hall on the left which had three bathrooms, a meditation room, and a training room. The group looked amazed at how big this place was. When they returned to living room, they found Elias surrounded by all of their belongings.
"So what do you think?" Elias asked.
"How did you afford this place?" Angela asked with wonder.
"Yeah, how did you get this?" Kim asked suspiciously.
"Well it is actually a very small apartment in the Bronx." Elias said. "Here is a sorcerer's trade secret, when we need money, we just go out and conjure gold. It takes a lot of energy to do and does not have much yield to it; however it was enough to purchase this place."
"Wait, this place is huge though." Kyle said crashing on to one of the couches.
"Well to answer that it is simply magic." Elias replied as the group looked at him suspiciously. "Look, I could go into extensive detail about all the complex spells and enchantments that I had to cast to get the place to look like this or we can enjoy it."
"Alright, so what now?" Tim asked.
"We have to find that Tommy kid." Angela said.
"No need, he's here." Elias said.
"What are you talking about Elias?" Kim asked.
"Alright, when we came back to the bunk that night and I went back to look for Tommy at Camp Hammond." Elias began.
"Yeah." Kim, Angela and Tim said.
"I really went back and teleported Tommy back to my house." Elias admitted.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Angela asked angrily. "What, couldn't you trust us SHIELD brats?"
"My initial thoughts were that and for that I apologize, but I also did not want to burden you with the secret that I knew Tony and Steve would be pressuring you to reveal." Elias said. "I wanted to protect you the best way I knew how."
"The thought is appreciative, but I still wish you would've trusted us." Kim said.
"I know and I am not perfect." Elias said. "But I see you all as family and I trust you all with my life. I hope you can all say the same."
The group looked at him for a moment, share a smile with the young mage and all nod in agreement.
"Okay so how do we know that we are safe here?" Kim asked.
"There are layers of different spells, charms and enchantments all over this building that conceal this apartment." Elias said. "Also, Brent was able to supply some shi'ar technology that the X-men use. So we are pretty set on being able to operate out of here without being discovered."
"Was that the guy that came in and tried to lay the smack down on Thor Girl?" Ben asked.
"Yep." Elias said.
"Did he get out?" Angela asked.
"Yeah, he's safe." Elias said as he dug through his robed pockets. "There are two things that you each need, the first is this amulet. Its power requires you to concentrate for a minute, and think of what you would want to look like and you will until it leaves your person. The enchantment on it is really powerful so nothing short of the Eye of Agomotto should pierce it. Also, here are communicators. It is how we are going to keep in contact in case we are not around each other. The line is encrypted and enchanted so nothing short of another sorcerer with very good electronic skills could crack it."
"So this is really happening then." Ben said taking the stuff.
"Yeah" Tim said taking his stuff.
"I can't believe it." Angela said taking the things.
"It was bound to happen." Kim said taking her things.
"Well here is to the team." Kyle said taking his stuff.
"Yep, we are now the Young Avengers!" Elias said before turning out the light.