The Uncanny Avengers

Chapter 25: Meet The Avengers

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- 'You wanna get Capone? Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That's the Chicago way!'- Jim Malone (The Untouchables)

Avengers Mansion-

Mary Green, the mother of the fluffy-tailed Avenger known as Squirrel Girl, sat patiently in the back of the taxi cab as it pulled up outside the home of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. She peered out of the window and saw another taxi cab parked outside the mansion. It seemed that she wasn't the only person visiting.

Mary got out of the cab, paid the driver, and gathered her cases together as she walked towards the front door of the mansion. A blond man and an auburn-haired woman followed her up the path. Mary did a double take once she realised who the woman was.

'Oh my goodness…' Mary gasped in surprise. 'Janet Van Dyne! I can't believe it!'

'Heh. It's always a pleasure to meet somebody who's a fan of my work.' Janet smiled as she shook Mary's hand. 'You must be Squirrel Girl's mother. I heard you were going to move in.'

'I think Tony will have to think about building an extension onto the mansion if any more people move in.' Hank Pym, Janet's companion, chuckled. 'It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Green. We've heard a lot about your daughter's work.'

'We haven't actually had a chance to meet her face to face yet.' Janet explained. 'She joined up shortly after Hank and I went on a leave of absence. I was doing my thing designing new fashions while Hank had all that science-y stuff to deal with, but now we're back.'

'Here, let me take those cases for you…' Hank offered. 'It's the least I could do for the mother of one of the most feared heroines there ever was.'

'I would think that Elektra would have something to say about that, honey.' Janet pointed out.

'Ah, but Elektra hasn't ever taken on people like Doctor Doom and Thanos single-handedly, has she?' Hank responded.

'My daughter does seem to have a lot of enemies.' Mary sighed. 'I just hope that something bad doesn't happen to her.'

'There's no need to worry about that.' Janet reassured her. 'Squirrel Girl has Earth's Mightiest Heroes watching her back. Anybody who tries anything would soon find out that we look after our own.'

A little while later-

Mary Green was now standing in one of the spare bedrooms in the mansion. Even though Avengers Mansion seemed to be full to the brim with people, there were still plenty of spare rooms. The Avengers always felt that it was a good idea to have plenty of spare rooms in case a former member paid a visit and needed somewhere to stay.

Squirrel Girl was helping her mother unpack her cases.

'You've couldn't have chosen a better time to move in, mom.' The bushy-tailed heroine smiled as she hung up some of her mother's clothes. 'The big parade's only a week away.'

'It's all over the news.' Mary remembered. 'The parade's to celebrate the anniversary of when the Avengers first formed, isn't it?'

'Yeah.' Doreen nodded. 'I still can't believe that I'm part of the Avengers. I'm going to be so nervous standing on the float with everybody else. I'm going to be standing there with the original Avengers! Well, apart from the Hulk. He quit soon after the Avengers formed.'

'Wouldn't your other friends feel left out?' Mary asked. 'You know, the Great Lakes Avengers, or whatever they're calling themselves now.'

'I'm sure Mr Immortal and the others wouldn't mind.' Doreen told her mother. 'They were never the ones to get jealous. Although, I'm kind of curious to see who took over my place on the team.'

'Why don't you give them a call?' Mary suggested. 'They must be curious to see what you've been up to since you hit the big time.'

'Maybe I should. I do kind of miss them.' Doreen admitted with a nod. 'Besides, they still have my Squirrel-A-Gig. I didn't think there was any need to keep it when I joined the Avengers, they have all those Quinjets after all.'

Meanwhile-

Hank and Janet had finished unpacking their things and had joined Captain America and the Scarlet Witch for coffee. They had much to catch up on.

'I can't believe that this old place is still the same after all the time we've been away.' Jan smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. 'Sure, new members have joined, but that's always a given.'

'Life's never quiet when you're one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, I suppose.' Cap nodded in agreement. 'Although, I don't think that it's all too unusual to see the mansion in one piece. It's not like we're the X-Men.'

'Heh. How many times has that place been blown up in the last few years?' Jan chuckled. 'I'm surprised that Professor Xavier still has enough money to keep rebuilding it.'

'So, what have you and Hank been up to since you left us?' Wanda enquired. 'Are we to be expecting wedding bells again any time soon?'

'Oh, goodness no.' Janet laughed. 'We're having far too much fun living in sin. Isn't that right, honey?'

'I wouldn't have it any other way.' Hank smiled as he kissed his partner on the cheek.

'What about you two?' Jan asked as she turned back to Cap and Wanda. 'Isn't it about time that you tied the knot?'

Cap spluttered in surprise.

'I don't think that now is really the time to talk about marriage.' Wanda said as Cap cleaned up the coffee that he had spilled when he let out a surprise splutter.

'Aww, that's a pity.' Jan shook her head sadly. 'Superhero weddings are always so much fun. Plus, I always get to design the dresses. I designed the dress for Reed and Sue's wedding, remember?'

'I wonder why the X-Men never ask you to design their dresses…' Hank thought out loud.

'The X-Men wouldn't know fashion if it came up and slapped them on the face.' Jan shook her head.

'How long has it been since the X-Men last had a wedding anyway?' Hank added. 'They keep on getting married off like it's going out of fashion.'

'I thought you were friends with Emma Frost.' Wanda pointed out.

'Just because I'm friends with Emma doesn't automatically mean that I like her fashion choices.' Jan explained. 'You wouldn't catch me dead wearing white leather.'

A little later-

Jan had finished her coffee and was talking a walk through the mansion. She soon found herself on the floor where the bedrooms were. She stopped outside Squirrel Girl's bedroom, adjusted her hold on the costume she was carrying, and knocked on the door.

'Doreen, are you there?' Jan asked. 'It's Janet Van Dyne. I never got a proper chance to introduce myself before.'

The door opened and Doreen peered out.

'Oh, Ms Van Dyne. Hi.' The bushy-tailed heroine smiled sweetly as she opened the door. 'What can I help you with?'

'Please, call me Jan.' The Winsome Wasp told her young teammate. 'There's no need to be so formal, we're all friends here.'

'Come in, come in.' Doreen motioned. 'Can I get you anything? Hazelnuts? Macadamia nuts? I'm trying to give up macadamia nuts, they make me hyper.'

'I'm fine, thank you.' Jan responded as she laid the costume onto the bed. 'I designed this for you by the way.'

'For me?' Doreen blinked in surprise. 'Why on earth did you do that?'

'No offence, sweetie, but that brown furry thing you wear is so early Nineties.' Jan explained. 'You need to sex your image up, honey!'

Doreen picked up the new costume and took a look at it. The new outfit was black whereas her old costume had been brown and furry, and that was about it.

'Oh, gosh…' Doreen blushed. 'Where's all the material? If I wear that I'd be falling out all over the place. I can't wear that! What if I'm fighting a bad guy and end up making an exhibition of myself?'

'Hmm, perhaps you're right.' Jan tapped her chin thoughtfully. 'Perhaps that's a bit too sexy. Oh, well. Back to the drawing board…'

TBC…

Next: Avengers Parade

The Avengers attend a parade to celebrate the anniversary of the date they first formed. Nothing could go possibly wrong, could it?