Chapter 9

Decisions

Coney Island

Wolverine went after Sabretooth.

Dean sat down for a minute, he needed a breather. He looked at his arm that was bleeding from the gunshot wound.

He put his finger in the wound, pulled out the bullet, and held back a loud cry. That was painful but at least now he would heal faster.

Sabretooth swiped with his talons but Wolverine blocked with his claws.

Wolverine then leapt forward thrusting his claws into Sabretooth's chest to the point where his claws were sticking out from his back.

Sabretooth yelled from the excruciating pain.

Sabretooth grabbed Wolverine's hands, removed them from his chest, headbutted him and slashed his chest leaving four slash marks.

Dean watched as Logan's wounds healed instantly, 'Whoa, I wish I could heal that fast'

Sabretooth threw a heavy right hook.

Wolverine jumped over him and slashed his eyes.

"AH!" Sabretooth was stunned from his temporary loss of vision.

Wolverine slashed his back.

Sabretooth lashed out not knowing where his opponent was, "Come here!"

"I think it's time to end this" Dean grabbed a metal pole and ripped it out of the ground with some effort.

Wolverine saw him and backed away.

Sabretooth's eyes finally healed.

"Hey fur ball!" Dean shouted.

Sabretooth turned around and was smashed hard into the ground by the metal pole.

Dean then repeatedly hit him with the metal pole in a frenzy.

Logan stopped him, "Kid I think he's out for now!"

Dean stopped for a second, "Piece of shit" he hit him one last time before he put the pole down.

Logan was impressed, the boy would have lost without his help but still no small feat to take down Sabretooth.

Dean picked up his leather jacket and put it back on.

Logan doesn't know from where but he's sure he's seen him before, "So what's your story bub?"

Dean looked at Logan who was dressed in a black and orange outfit, 'Now what can this dude's deal be?' he wondered. The man said he wasn't with SHIELD but he still helped him.

"SHIELD agents didn't seem to be doing the job so I stepped in to help" Dean said.

"I'm guessing you thought you had the power to do that" Logan said.

"Well…yeah" Dean said.

"I saw you hurl that thing at Sabretooth, you have powers right?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, and judging by those blades that come out of your knuckles you have powers too" Dean said.

"Right, I'm Logan" he gave him his hand.

"Call me Dean" he said.

Just as he said that 3 SHIELD Helijets landed in front of them.

About a dozen more Shield soldiers came out of the Helijets with a single man leading them.

He had dark hair with multiple streaks of grey implying his old age and an eye patch over his left eye chewing on a toothpick. Agent Nick Fury, director of SHIELD.

Fury pointed at Sabretooth, "Detain that mutant" he ordered his men.

The SHIELD soldiers cuffed him and then moved Sabretooth into one of the Helijets.

Fury looked at Logan, "Been a while Logan, or should I say Weapon X?" he grinned with satisfaction.

Logan growled "Fury"

"Actually you're going by Wolverine now right?" Fury asked.

"What took you so long? I figured you would have sent the Widow, not some untrained punks to do you're dirty work" Logan said.

"Agent Romanov is on another mission at the moment so I used what I had" Fury said.

Logan raised an eyebrow then smiled, "You sent her to watch Stark didn't you?"

"That's classified information" Fury said sternly.

Last summer Tony Stark was abducted by a terrorist organization and held prisoner which led him to create a suit of armor. Since then he's improved on the original design and he's become a bit of a superhero. Mr. Stark calls himself Iron Man and ever since then Fury has made sure to keep a close eye on the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

Logan grunted "Whatever patch"

"Anyways I'm not here to see your pretty face Logan" Fury said.

Logan ignored the comment and raised an eyebrow, "Then what do you want bub?"

Fury looked at Dean, "What's your name kid?"

Dean knew this was the Director of SHIELD, it was probably best he answered truthfully, "Dean Nobili"

Fury recognized the name, "You Eli's boy?"

Dean was surprised, "You know my father?"

"Yeah, I know your father" Fury said that in a strange way, "Eli and I served together in Vietnam"

That's something Eli failed to mention. His dad was an ex-marine, one of the greatest to ever serve. But he never knew he served with the Director of SHIELD, he'll have to speak with his father when he gets home.

"So what do you want?" Dean asked.

"I want to make you an offer" Fury said.

Dean looked at him weirdly, 'What does he want with me?' he wondered, "What kind of offer?"

"I watched you from far away kid, and let me tell you, I'm impressed. You almost took on a very dangerous person single handedly" Fury said.

"Key word almost, I'm nothing special" Dean said.

"Do you know how hard it is to do that? Let's just say a normal person's chances are slim to none. You have potential kid, so much that one day you could be better than him" Fury said pointing to Logan "And he's supposed to be second best fighter in the world"

Dean looked at Logan, second best in the world was a strong claim. He didn't get much of a chance to observe his fight but it was obvious he was really good.

Once Fury said second best the first thing that popped in Logan's head was one name…..Steve Rogers…..he really was the best. He was the only person who ever really beat him in a straight up fight. But never mind that now those are thoughts for another day.

Logan snorted, "Don't push it patch, yeah I admit that the kid's got potential and he can eventually be very good. With the right teacher, and the right team. But SHIELD doesn't fit that bill" He glared at Fury "They keep secrets from you and don't entirely trust you either" He looked at Dean, "Look, I live at a place where people can learn to use their powers for good while still living a normal life. With us you won't get anything but total honesty, I guarantee that. Plus you'll be around people your own age, I train teenagers for a living. Join the X-men"

Dean looked at Logan, then turned to look at Fury,

"Make your choice, I won't hold it against you whatever you do" Fury said.

Dean thought hard on this one, "If I pick one will the other offer still stand in the future?"

They both nodded.

Then he at least could theoretically try both.

"Look Fury, I appreciate the offer. You knowing my dad and all is good too but SHIELD is like the next level to a soldier and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet" Dean said. Being a teenager was not something he wanted to give up just yet.

"I respect that. If you ever change your mind" Fury gave Dean a card, "Let's move out!" He and the SHIELD soldiers went back in the Helijets and left.

"So you're joining?" Logan asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I want to hear more about this place you live, maybe you can come explain it to me and my parents" Dean said.

"Sure kid, although right now might not be the best time" Logan said.

"What about tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"Sure" Logan paused as he spotted blood dripping from his jacket sleeve, "You're hurt"

Dean looked at his arm, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. One of those SHIELD guys accidentally shot me"

"Let me take a look at it then" Logan said.

"It's not that bad, really. I took out the slug" Dean said.

Logan looked at him weirdly, "I've seen grown men whine like little girls over a bullet wound, and you just brush it off?"

"I'm no stranger to pain" Dean admitted.

Logan found that answer a little odd. He wonders what the kid might have gone through in the past, "Sure. I'll give you a ride home. Save you some time"

On the Helicarrier

Director Nick Fury entered the command deck.

"Director on deck!" someone shouted and then everyone stood at attention.

"At ease" Fury said.

A woman with short brown hair approached him, "Director Fury, was the mission a success?"

"If you call a public massacre a success Hill then yes, it was a success" Fury said accessing a control panel to add Sabretooth to the list of superpowered criminals they've captured.

"We've already removed any evidence of Victor Creed being a mutant and have released a suitable front for civilians to believe" Maria Hill said.

She was like Fury's second in command, not because she was the best soldier no. The Black Widow, Hawkeye, and a couple of others are better than her in that category. She's the most capable leader out of all of them. If anything were to happen to him he'd have no doubt she could handle things, although she could be a little stubborn at times. Fury would have to fix that.

"Good" Fury simply said.

"Sir, If I may, which of the four prisons do you plan to put him in?" Hill asked.

"I don't know, maybe the big house, it doesn't matter" Fury sighed.

Another agent walked over, "Sir, there's someone waiting for you in the meeting room"

Fury straightened, his source was here. He looked around at the room of agents, "I'll be in a meeting for the next ten minutes. If you have something world ending or human race threatening, give it to Hill. I am not to be disturbed, is that understood?"

Everyone nodded and watched as he strode across the room and entered a doorway just beside the main entrance.

He walked all the way down the hall until he reached his private meeting room.

The room was darkly lit, only a table and two chairs occupying the space. A man in a pinstripe suit stood half in shadow, a scowl on his face. His beard looked like a thundercloud had attached itself to his face, and he thought he saw a flash of lightning. But it was only the lighting.

"I assume you already know how it went" Fury said taking a seat.

"Actually no, I was occupied at the time" He said also taking a seat not to be rude.

"He declined" Fury said.

The man sighed, "Not unforeseen, however I predict you'll get another chance in the future"

"Since when was foresight apart of your package?" Fury asked curiously.

The man laughed, "All of us have a little foresight Fury, my son simply has a knack for it"

"Good to know. Now that I've finally seen the boy I'd like to know how much time we have until the day" Fury said.

"You have 3 years to prepare for the Pharaoh's arrival, use your time wisely" The man rose from his seat and proceeded to walk out.

"That's it?" Fury asked. He got up and put his hand on the man's shoulder, "You can't even give me a date?"

"Take your hand off me mortal, or I will bring down the wrath of the sky on this place" The man threatened, his electric blue eyes flashing like a thunder storm.

Fury immediately did as the man ordered, "I apologize, 3 years will suffice" he said.

"Good, I'll be seeing you Fury" Fog entered the room and surrounded the man. Then the fog left through the cracks of the door and when it did the man was gone.

Fury sighed. 3 years. 3 years to help mold the heroes of earth into a fighting force.

He left his meeting room and returned to the command deck. Fury accessed a control panel and put in a new entry for top secret programs.

Hill strode up to him, "Sir, what are you doing?"

"I'm creating a metahuman program" Fury said.

Hill was surprised, "What's it called?"

"The Avengers Initiative" Fury said.

Brooklyn

They reached Dean's house.

The X-jet was currently in camouflage allowing them to land without anyone noticing.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Dean stepped out of the X-jet.

The X-jet blasted off.

'Now how am I going to explain all this to Mom and Dad? This is just so much to absorb, even for me. Well I guess the best thing I can do now is just tell them everything and hope Dad doesn't get another heart attack. The last time was a disaster, Dad almost died' Dean frowned as he entered his home.

'C'mon stop worrying, that'll never happen, Dad is the strongest guy I know and he is gonna live for a long time. At least until he sees your kids' With that in mind he cheered up, 'I'll let him sit down anyways just in case'

The minute Dean closed the door he heard "DEAN!" he flinched.

'What the hell happened now?' Dean wondered.

He walked into the living room where his mother was waiting for him with a sad face. The minute she saw him she embraced him in a hug, "Thank god you're alright" her eyes started tearing.

"Mom, I'm ok" Dean said oblivious to the TV showing the news.

Agalia looked at him angrily, "Don't give me that, look at the TV" she pointed to the flat screen on the wall.

Dean realized what she was stressing about. The news report was showing a replay of the fight that happened not so long ago with that guy Sabretooth. The video was blurry around Dean, which was strangely convenient.

At the Institute

Kitty was in the lounge watching TV. Very rarely did she get a chance to watch whatever she wanted, seeing as she had to share TV time with all the other teens in the house.

Rogue walked in and jumped on the leather couch, "Time's up"

"Already? It couldn't like have been that long" Kitty said not wanting to give up the remote.

"Well it has" Rogue snatched the remote out of her hand.

"Hey! I still have half an hour left of the Kardashians" Kitty said grabbing half of the remote and tugging on it.

"There's no way in hell I'm watching a minute of that garbage!" Rogue tugged on her half of the remote.

They unintentionally started changing the channels.

"Give it back!" Kitty shouted.

"No way!" Rogue shouted back.

The two teenage girls' focused was on the TV when they heard, "We now report to you live from the scene" the image switched to a lower quality one that is moving towards what appeared to be a boardwalk by a beach.

A lady appeared "This is Channel 7 eyewitness news reporter Jackie Burk reporting to you live from Coney Island where as you can see there are unconscious Shield Operatives and—"The lady paused to assess what she was seeing.

"Wait what?" Rogue said letting go.

The camera turned from the unconscious Shield soldiers to what appeared to be Sabretooth fighting a dark haired youngster, "Ladies and gentlemen, unless I am mistaken, you are looking at the man responsible for this manhunt fighting with a…..a teenager?"

Kitty took a closer look at the live video, "It's way too blurry around that guy, I can't see what he looks like"

Rogue stared at the TV and her eyes started bothering her. One second it was blurry like Kitty said and the next she could see the boy clearly. It shifted back and forth a few times before Rogue looked away and rubbed her eyeballs, 'Maybe TV does ruin your eyes'

Just then on the screen you could see the X-jet landing a few meters away from the fight but before the camera could catch Logan coming out of it someone blocked the view, "Excuse me Ma'am this is a restricted area, for your own safety please evacuate"

You could see on the screen that a SHIELD soldier was dragging her away from the fight, "Hey you can't do this to me! What about freedom of the press! The people deserve to know what is going on!"

"By order of Director Nick Fury, this area is to be cleared of all civilians. That means you too Ma'am" The SHIELD soldier said.

"Fine, you win for now but this isn't over with!" she yelled. She fixed her outfit before returning to the camera, "This has been Channel 7 eyewitness news Jackie Burk reporting to you live, have a good day" the broadcast went back to the news team and the girls lost interest.

While Kitty was distracted Rogue took the remote, "Aha!"

"That's mine!" Kitty chased her.

Dean's House

"Wow" Agalia said.

After he took a shower and cleaned up Dean spent the last hour explaining the events that had happened earlier today.

"So where's Dad?" Dean asked.

Agalia sipped her coffee, "He's resting, that news report gave him quite a shock so I helped him to bed. Who knows what would have happened if he stayed up to worry with me"

That made Dean feel guilty, the last thing he wanted was to hurt Eli.

Just then Eli walked in. His back was hunched over as he walked with his cane, in his prime he stood as tall as Dean does and just as muscular and it showed.

"How are you feeling?" Dean asked.

"I'll live. Can I say the same for that guy on the news with you?" Eli asked.

"Yeah he's alive. SHIELD took him prisoner" Dean said.

Eli raised an eyebrow, "Hmmm, did you win?"

"We ummm…were interrupted" Dean said awkwardly.

Eli smirked, he only talked like that when he gets his ass kicked, something that rarely happens.

"Ok" Eli said.

Dean raised an eyebrow, "You're not mad at me?" he asked with a confused face.

Eli shook his head, "No way son, you did the right thing. If I had your body I would have too"

That made Dean laugh, "Oh by the way, I met Nick Fury. Said he was an old pal of yours" he said expecting a good explanation.

Eli grinned, "I knew him, a long time ago" he admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dean asked.

"Didn't seem important, I didn't know him that well. He did try and recruit me for SHIELD once" Eli said.

"Why didn't you join?" Dean asked curiously.

"Family seemed more important at the time. Now I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation with your mother, so what about this X-men guy?" Eli asked avoiding the subject.

"He's the one that interrupted me" Dean replied.

"I like him already. Are you considering looking into it?" Eli asked.

"Well before I decide anything I arranged for him to come over tomorrow, I want to hear what he has to say first" Dean said.

"Well that's goo—"his father was interrupted.

"Oh My God! I have to clean the house!" Agalia got up from her seat and ran for the broom to start sweeping the house.

"Well I guess you should have seen that one coming" Eli said sarcastically and they shared a laugh.

Elsewhere in New York a boy was doing his school work in front of the TV, or at least he was attempting to. His name is Percy Jackson. Once falsely accused of being the lightning thief but he cleared his name during his first quest last summer.

Percy prevented a civil war between the Gods by returning Zeus' master bolt and Hades' helm of darkness. An accomplishment that made him quite famous throughout camp half-blood.

After the summer he decided not to stay at camp half-blood all year round and returned home to his mother. Ever since he's been attending high school, trying to be a normal teenager and not the son of Poseidon.

Percy's mother Sally walked in his room with his lunch, "Hungry?"

"Starving" Percy said putting down his pen and paper without hesitation. He scarfed down his sandwich in seconds.

"Wow you must have been hungry" Sally said.

Percy took out a pen from his pocket, "I was practicing before" he clicked the pen and it transformed.

The pen morphed into a 3 foot shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs.

Percy now held his celestial bronze sword Riptide in his hand.

"It's still hard to get used to that" Sally said.

"Once you've held a lightning bolt in your hands nothing surprises you" Percy said.

Sally looked at the blank paper on his desk, "Sort of like how you not doing your homework doesn't surprise me"

Percy laughed sheepishly, "Yeah about that" he clicked the button on the handle and it transformed back into a pen, "I have no idea what to write"

"Maybe I can help, what's the assignment?" Sally asked.

"Write a page and a half about where I see myself in 10 years" Percy said.

Sally winced, "That's a tough one"

"Yeah no kidding. I'm a 15 year old half-blood who'll have to watch his back for monsters for the rest of his life. I have no clue where I'm going to be in 10 years" Percy said.

"It's just a school assignment, it doesn't have to be the real thing. Make something up" Sally said.

She looked at his TV, the channel it was on was showing the movie Transformers.

Sally knows Percy is better off having the TV on due to his ADHD, it's hard for him to focus without it.

"Try a different channel maybe it'll help" Sally changed it to a news channel and left her son to his school work.

"Yeah cause watching the news totally makes me wanna write an essay" Percy said sarcastically.

He went to change the channel when something caught his eye.

Two guys fighting on the boardwalk of Coney Island.

They both showed unnatural abilities, but one had him more interested than the other.

The one in the white T-shirt, the image of him kept on blurring in the video feed. The mist was concealing his identity from mortals, but Percy could clearly see him. If the mist was concealing him that much he must be a half-blood.

He was a teenager just like Percy, but he wasn't carrying any weapons or armor. Strange.

At the Institute

Logan returned from his encounter with Sabretooth.

The first thing Logan's going to do is find Charles, debrief him, and talk about the possible new recruit he met.

Logan made his way towards Charles's office where he usually is if he's not using Cerebro or out doing something else.

Logan knocked on the door, "Come in Logan" 'that is still creepy when he does that' he thought.

Logan walked in and spotted Charles sitting by his desk, "Was the mission successful?" he asked.

"Yeah, it went better than expected. I got there in time to stop the old fur ball and SHIELD took him off our hands. Also we might have a new recruit on our hands" Logan gave him the brief version.

The last part intrigued Charles, "Yes I saw the live news report, and I'm guessing you're referring to the young man"

Logan raised an eyebrow and said, "There was a news report? I didn't know about that, they must have been there right before I got there"

Charles nodded, "Yes, SHIELD secured the area of all civilians. Apparently they don't want the mutants to be revealed yet either"

"Yeah, helps us a lot. So you saw the kid on the news huh?" Logan asked as he put a cigar in his mouth.

Charles nodded reluctantly, "Yes, and he seemed to be doing a good job of handling Sabretooth. Are you certain he is a mutant?" he asked.

"Honestly Chuck I have no idea. But he seems like one, and I don't think a normal kid can tango with Creed" Logan said.

"Yes you might be right. I would like to speak to the boy as soon as possible" Charles said.

"We actually scheduled a meeting tomorrow" Logan said lighting his cigar.

"Good" Charles added, "We will pay him a visit tomorrow then and hopefully the boy's parents will understand our cause"

"Alright then, I'm gonna go clean up" Logan added before leaving.

"That would be best" Charles said with a smile.

Logan looked back at Charles with a weird expression before blowing a cloud of smoke at him.

Charles frowned as Logan laughed in his exit.