BIRNIN T'CHAKA, WAKANDA - APRIL 22 19:00 UTC
For Azari getting in touch with his Aunt Shuri wasn't hard. But it was...intimidating. Using his Kimoyo Beads he contacted her quickly and asked her if he and some of his other friends would be able to visit. Of course she immediately agreed. But he couldn't help but be nervous. He had been there twice and each time he felt like a disgrace to what should have been his culture.
He was educated on Wakanda, Tony had always made sure of that. But there was a difference between knowing, and experiencing and every time he went to the country it felt like they knew that, like he was a phony. The fakest Prince in Wakandan history.
He looked out the window and stared at the beautiful city of Birnin T'Chaka. The wondrous coastline, the tall buildings, and tons of people, they just didn't have cities like that anymore, not anywhere else. He was sure that even when his Father was alive they hadn't made cities like this anywhere else.
You could see the large statue of his late Grandfather. The Black Panther of over thirty years ago. The statue stood proud, its vibranium shining as the T'Chaka statute took on a wild snarl. That was a true king.
"Don't worry Azari." Torunn placed a hand on his shoulder "I know what you're feeling. But relax, this is your home! You feel like a foreigner. For my return to Asgard I felt the same, trust me you will get used to this. And the people of this country will get used to you as well. And trust me they will be proud."
Azari nodded amber eyes gleaming. "Thank you Torunn." and he meant it. He appreciated the closest thing he could call a sister giving him help. But he felt like he had to ask himself. Did he even want to get used to this? Royalty?
"We're about to start our descent." James called from the cockpit. Pym may have been the best pilot but he could put in a shift.
Azari took a deep breath and put on a look of complacent. Regardless of how he felt he always wanted to impress the residents of Wakanda. And looking the part was the easiest way to do that, no one could question his maturity. It was the other things like how he sounded so American when he spoke that seemed to turn the people off from him...
"Azari you take the lead." James called as he put his shield on his back "Torunn and I will back you up."
"Sounds good." Azari nodded. Slowly the plane's hatch opened up and immediately as Azari walked out his Aunt Shuri and her Royal Guard stood waiting. It seemed like just a precaution but their spears were pointed straight at the group.
Azari walked confidently towards the Dora Milaje up until the very point the spear touched his armored suit before bowing and speaking to the group in Xhosa. "Yima phantsi. Asizizo iintshaba zakho. Endaweni yoko yiNkosana yakho u-Azari T'Challa T'Chacka Evan." (Stand down. We are not your enemies. rather it is your Prince Azari T'Challa T'Chacka Evan.)
As he spoke the spears went down even though it was clear prior who they were dealing with. "Mna iNkosana u-Azari, unyana ka-King T'Challa ndiza noTorunn Princess wase-Asgard, kunye noJames unyana ka-Captain America ... ngoxolo." (I am Prince Azari, son of King T'Challa and I am coming with Torunn Princess of Asgard, and James son of Captain America ... in peace.)
Shuri gave the Prince a once over before allowing a tiny smirk to come on her face "Yima nkosana uAzari. I-Wakanda iyabuqonda ubukhosi bakho, kwaye abahlobo bakho njengoonozakuzaku bamanye amazwe."(Stand up Prince Azari. Wakanda recognizes your royalty, and in turn your friends as international diplomats.)
Azari stood and nodded at Torunn and James who easily nodded back. James didn't know exactly what they were saying but whatever Azari and his aunt Shuri were talking about was definitely relaxing the Dora Milaje.
"We will head into the Tower." Shuri told the group of people, speaking english for the first time. T'Chaka Tower was one of the many places in Wakanda that were designated for the Royal family.
Azari hadn't wanted to go to the Royal Palace simply because of the heavy expectation he always felt when he walked in there. It was palpable. But right now, as he walked through the Tower with his friends, surrounded by Dora Milaje and his aunt. He was more relaxed.
"What brings you to Wakanda?" Shuri finally talked as they walked through the large halls. Ornate decorations covered the place. It was so far away from the reality that was America.
Azari nodded to James and he immediately started talking "We came to ask for your aid. America...North America, South America, Central America is in a serious struggle. I'm afraid it's getting harder for our people to keep a lid on things."
Shuri was quiet as they led them through the building, taking a leisure pace as she walked through the tower. "It seemed prior your people were managing just fine."
"Managing is a broad term." James replied as he walked "Surviving might be a better term, and I fear were struggling to even do that. Things are well now. I'll concede that. But with us just finishing off liberation efforts in Europe, and the crop drought in Central America, add that to our own North America efforts which are nowhere near done."
"What's stalling your progress?" The Queen questioned as they paused in front of a room and she started entering passcodes.
"Your reach is vast, your highness. I'm sure you've heard the country of Madripoor is planning some sort of takeover. We've been trying to handle it, but it seems at each corner were learning that attacks are more dangerous at every corner."
"So you want our vibranium." Shuri said pointedly, there was a dangerous edge to her voice, and for James he was so sick of being the politician.
"Honestly?" James started "I could care less about your damn vibranium. Over half of our country is in shambles and you think we came to ask for vibranium, one of our cities got turned into a metal warzone for Ultron to control the world from. Tens of millions of people died over a war they had no clue they were even fighting. And that was just in America. A country like yours is sitting here basically, on top of the world economically, and you think we're after vibranium? I told a woman before that we've got all the vibranium we need here." He pointed to his shield. "And I meant it."
"But the people in our entire hemisphere are suffering. We desperately need something, or someone to intervene, and better things for this part of the world. As much as I wish it was true we can't do everything on our own."
It was quiet before she finally spoke up "That would be the first and last time you speak to me with such disrespect young one. Your father was a man my brother truly respected, and for that I allow you into my country. But do not act like the entirety of this isn't your own doing. Your friend in the metal suit played God and now you all pay the price for it. We all do." Shuri finished softly
"But it shouldn't be like that." James said exasperated "look, your highness, I apologize for my tone and lack of respect, you truly have no obligation to help us. I understand that but think about it this way. What would King T'Challa do? Or Queen Storm? The world is suffering, and honestly I don't believe I ask for much. If not America, then Canada, or Mexico, or South America, all of those countries and continents struggle and could really just use a touch from a country that is actually in a good position."
Shuri looked at James with some form of anger before composing herself. They were in front of a door that seemed to lead to a meeting room, hopefully more productive talks could happen there.
"Just Prince Azari." Shuri said as she entered the room.
"Bu-
"Thank you." Azari nodded and gave a look to James. He felt bad for his friend as anywhere else what he was saying would probably work. But he words didn't garner that much respect here. It took a magnitude of things for Steve Rogers to get the respect he did. And even then it wasn't that much.
A 16 year old kid who looked like him wasn't instantly going to get that same treatment. Especially when he talked like that.
The Dora Milaje tried to enter as well but the Queen quickly blocked them "If I can't handle myself against my nephew, I'm not fit to be the Queen." which was pretty sound reasoning.
As Azari took a seat he watched his Aunt. They way she sighed right when the door closed and the regality of her walk disappeared a little as she slumped into her seat. He wasn't sure how to approach things so he waited until she was ready to speak.
"You know a few years ago your friend might have received a slap, and most definitely could have been kicked out of the country."
"James is passionate." Azari explained "Especially about this, he cares about the people, it's what makes him a good leader."
"I don't doubt it. Your father always seemed to come back stressed from meeting with the Avengers. I can only imagine how it must feel on this scale, and at your ages."
"It is tough...but it's worth fighting for." Azari insisted
"Most of Wakanda doesn't believe it is worth fighting for. A noble cause, but not one worth getting our hands dirty in."
"Wait you've talked about helping out?" Azari asked surprised
"On numerous occasions." She confirmed "People believe you and your friends are fighting a losing battle, and as the Queen I need to appease my people and especially when the people clearly don't have the best intentions for Wakanda. I had to make a deal. For our country."
"I do not envy you Aunt Shuri. And I understand that there are people who don't want to help, especially after what happened to their last King and Queen. But this is bigger than Wakanda. Please auntie, if not North America. The South is just as vulnerable and could use some aid."
Shuri sighed "I will see what I can do Azari. But I want you to explain to me what is going on down there. What is Stark doing." She said the inventor's name with disgust
"Well we've been finishing the liberation of Europe. Though I have lately been out on my own, scavenging the Savage Lands, we were searching for the leads on the X-Men, they came up mostly empty, and we have now landed here switching our tactics considerably, spreading thin on three fronts. Those of us here, those defending against the Madripoor Intelligence, and those on a local mission, trying to find people with the brainpower to help us."
"X-Men…" Shuri murmured
"Yes Auntie…" Azari confirmed "Do you...Know something?"
"While I don't believe I can help you in regards to America's problems. I could hand you some information. Supposedly long ago the X-Men moved into Genosha. A small country off the coast of Africa that specialized in Mutant trade. It soon became the home to Magneto, which was soon destroyed, and after Ultron presumably became their hiding spot. Years ago the tip seemed like gold, and checking up on it, it was correct. But it's been nearly 10+ and we've got more radio silence than not."
"Still that is incredible news!" Azari exclaimed "It is very useful thank you."
"Just be careful, Genosha is a dangerous country. And as the Prince of Wakanda we need you to be healthy."
Azari laughed and rubbed his head awkwardly "Yes of course."
This caused Shuri to sigh "Azari your the Prince of Wakanda. You can't keep ducking this responsibility."
"I'm not trying to duck it...I just don't feel fit." Azari admitted "I come to Wakanda, and I feel like an outsider!"
"You are not. Azari the people love you. They respect and recognize T'Challa as one of the greatest Kings we've ever had. They see you and see the potential to even surpass him. The people want you back home. They want you here, studying to become the next great king of Wakanda."
"But why me?" Azari questioned
"You don't understand do you?" Shuri asked with a laugh "Do you think your father was the only one to eat the heart shaped herb?"
"No, all the royal Kings and of course you Queen Shuri took the heart shaped herb when they were going to lead."
"So why is it that you were the only one born with the powers from the heart shaped herb? None of the Kings prior inherited the traits from their fathers despite coming from the same royal line? Your Mother was one of the most unique and the most powerful Queens our country has ever seen. A goddess to our people. Azari, face it, you are special. When you were born you showed an early affinity towards the Panther Spirit. Some thought you were more Cat than human! Azari you were born for this. Only if you could see it."
"I simply don't want to disappoint anyone. All of that and what if I'm just a fake Aunt Shuri? A phony, a kid playing God? What makes you think I have the wisdom to lead this country?"
Shuri sighed, clearly her Nephew did not understand, and it would be hard for her to make him understand. But she knew something else that might. "Azari you are special. I knew it 15 years ago, and I know it now." Shuri said as she pulled out a briefcase, it seemed to have special locks and of course was made out of vibranium
"Take this case, do not open it or show it to anyone. All I ask is that when you get home you read what's in it, you take a good look and follow the instructions, if you don't want to come home after all of that then fine. But at least give this a shot."
"I will. I promise." Azari said honestly as he took the case
"Good." Shuri nodded "Sometimes I can't help but feel like I failed your parents, that they'd be disappointed if they knew I was leaving you on your own."
"You shouldn't, they would get it. Half the world is being held together by strings, and my heart can't take sitting on the sidelines, and they would understand because they are the reason I'm like this." Azari tells her.
Shuri smiled and walked up to her nephew giving him a small hug. "Good luck then Azari."
"Thank you again." Azari hugged her back. He exited the room with the briefcase which Torunn and James immediately spotted. As Shuri came out James looked to her for the verdict.
"Wakanda will start efforts to help the South American countries recoup what they lost. That is the best we can do."
"And it is more than enough." James nodded "Thank you, your highness."
"Safe travels." She nodded at the three before walking away with the Dora Milaje. And with that she gave them the go ahead to leave the building. Azari couldn't stop his eyes from flicking to the briefcase, wondering exactly what might be in it.
"Did anything important happen in that room Azari?" Torunn asked her friend
"Actually yeah." Azari looked up at them with determination in his eyes "James we have to plot a course for Genosha."
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA APRIL 22, 16:00 UTC
Francis really couldn't act like he was happy. He truly did believe James was wrong. But no one would say anything because he was Captain America, and Francis was just the guy who shot arrows.
That might not have been fair on James. He worked hard for everything he got. He was a great leader, with a good set of strategies. And to be fair he was rarely ever wrong. But he always got the benefit of the doubt whereas Hawkeye would be the one eternally questioned.
Francis sighed as he put on his helmet and sat on his motorcycle in the Quinjet. They were waiting to get close enough to the ground before they would drive the rest of the way to the warehouse down in California.
Francis, Agent Johnson, and Agent Bradley. Those two were the only agents Francis was willing to take on the mission, many of the others didn't meet his standard. Plus these two were some of the Scavengers he knew the longest.
"Just like old times right Hawkeye?" Eli directed to his old friend. "Running missions for you old man, doing our best to avoid Ultron."
"Heh, yeah Eli." Francis reminisced "We'd be dodging Ultron bots and looking for food or materials. We'd do something stupid and avoid a couple of close calls."
"That's mostly how I remember it " Daisy chimed in "Except it'd usually be me pulling your asses out of the fire, saving our skins before you two screwed us."
"Ehhh, maybe." Hawkeye smirked at his old friend, before putting on his helmet "Were hitting the dropzone. I'm pretty sure you two already know but we want to be discreet. As soon as possible we will be splitting off into three directions. Daisy you go through the Golden Bridge, I'm going to take the Richmond, and Eli you take the Embarcadero Freeway. We should end up in the same place eventually. You all copy?"
"Copy Hawkeye." Daisy said oh so seriously. When she was in work mode, she was in work mode. And her drive sometimes seemed like it could only be matched by James.
"Loud and clear Hawkeye." Eli put his helmet on as well.
"Perfect." Hawkeye sat on his bike "Open the hatch Tony." He told the man who was virtually watching their mission.
Hawkeye revved up the engine as the hatch opened and the three motorcycles came flying out, driving on the back road before splitting off on the highway. Francis looked back to see the Quinjet going into cloak mode. The mission was one now.
San Francisco was in pretty good shape. Or at least, however well he's known it. It, like Chicago and the entire state of Texas had recovered faster than others, probably because they were some of the largest cities, more people to help, and more people who wanted to get back on their feet.
Still on the highways you'd see many beat up cars, and the highway definitely wasn't perfect, Francis had to drive and avoid certain parts as they still hadn't been reconstructed. A third highway in San Fran couldn't be as important as saving a whole city.
Still while James was right about the Restoration efforts taking a long time. When you looked at a place like San Francisco you could quite clearly see that it was at least working...Unless you were talking about Ultra City. That place was a lost cause unless you were looking for scrap.
"Hawkeye you should be the first to arrive at your location." Tony told him "Then Daisy, and Eli after. Don't do anything until you have backup."
"No problem." Francis responded as he pulled up towards the large warehouse. He hopped off his bike taking off his helmet and grabbing his Bow and Arrow. He looked around and was still surprised. So the bad guys were going to manage to take some information from a dormant Citadel Hub previously used by Ultron.
And this was a problem because, apparently they might also be able to take their own information since it was technically run on the same server. And Crossfire was supposed to manage this, and he was a merc so obviously he was supposed to be working for some serious higher ups. Because he couldn't manage this on his own.
Daisy pulled up beside Francis quickly taking off her helmet, and jumping off her bike, immediately pulling out her energy blaster and looking around
"Place looks secure." Daisy commented
"Infrared looks pretty good too. Really we just need to go in and actually scope the place out. Cause realistically Crossfire can be here at any moment." Francis told his partner. As he spoke Eli parked his motorcycle beside the others.
"Let's scope this place out." Hawkeye called as Eli got ready
Eli nodded and grabbed his own energy blaster, and just like that the trio was ready to head into the building.
The warehouse was vast and somewhat dark. But it was clear that they had not been the first to traverse here.
"I'd say someone has been here in the past week." Daisy called out as she turned and watched the teams back at every corner. Sticking together against a merc like Crossfire was the best thing to do.
"The Information hub is on the second floor, we should head there first and keep your eyes peeled for anything else on the way. Maybe our friend let something here." Francis ordered
"Could be something else that's been here. A kid, a random person. Security isn't great at places like these, especially knowing no one really has the technology available to access the towers." Eli added
"Maybe." Hawkeye considered as they pushed forward past some broken glass and into another dark corridor "But I doubt it."
"Same. I can't help but feel a storm is brewing. And were understaffed as it is." Daisy told the group.
"Were working on that. It's why Pym and Banner have been stuck in the lab, hoping they can get us more recruits." Hawkeye
"Recruits who can fight?" Eli questioned
"We both know that fighting isn't the only important trait we're looking for. Especially not in this war." Hawkeye told them quietly.
The stealthily moved around the old warehouse Hawkeye giving commands as they checked every room. Most were filled with nothing but dust and broken glass. Some had little bits of cracked metal, probably from the Ultron bots they kicked in.
The place was slowly coming back to Francis' memory. The routing they did of this place, destroying robots, blowing up buildings, moving as fast as possible to get to their next destination...it never even seemed important back then, all they could focus on was reverting and taking back Ultra City.
To this day they were still trying to do that.
Hawkeye pushed towards the room tapping his domino mask twice switching to infrared. As they closed in on the room the lone figure near the information centre became abundantly clear. They were typing in something, and it was time for the Scavengers to act.
"Daisy with me, Eli go around." He commanded quickly, he nocked an arrow in his bow and waited for Eli to get in position.
It felt like forever before Eli's voice came on the line "Ready boss."
And Hawkeye wasted no time before kicking in the door and shooting an arrow straight at Crossfire who didn't even blink. He dodged the arrow and chucked a grenade toward Daisy and Hawkeye, forcing Hawkeye to push Daisy out of the way and just barely avoid getting singed himself.
Eli took a couple of shots with energy blasters and managed to tag Crossfire, but the man was stronger than expected as he brushed off the hit, and took something from the information tower before running towards the window and jumping through with no problem, that was at least three stories high.
"We gotta move!" Francis commanded quickly, shooting up from the ground he ran towards the window and shot a grapple arrow "Come on!" He grabbed Daisy and quickly the two went after Crossfire.
It didn't take things long to go wrong however as a bullet went through the line when they were halfway to the ground sending them plummeting towards the pavement.
"Gahhhhh." Francis grabbed his throbbing wrist, he could barely hear himself over Daisy screams though. The young girl was in pain, and it wasn't surprising shoulders shouldn't look like that.
"Bradley I need you down here, and do you have eyes on the shooter, because there's no way Crossfire could have pulled off a shot from that angle."
"Yeah, watch your six!" Eli called "I'm on the way. But a man with a shield and a sword, a white hood, and a skull mask made that shot. Looks like another Merc."
Hawkeye had no time to think about the description as Crossfire was taking off from the construction sight, even with a bum wrist he could make the shot. He quickly got an arrow and shot it at Crossfire, it quickly covered his legs in hardening foam, forcing him to stop moving. He'd be stuck for a while.
"HAWKEYE WATCH OUT!" Daisy called from the ground, and Hawkeye narrowly avoided being swiss cheese as he rolled and hid behind the large crane. Eli's description was on the money, but he had no clue who this guy was. Thankfully Eli provided some cover fire forcing the man to stop shooting at Hawkeye for a second, but things weren't looking up for the team as Crossfire was breaking out of the hardening foam. He came prepared.
"Tony I know you're seeing this." Hawkeye told the man from his position.
"Vision is on route. Just hang in there Barton." Tony quickly told the young man.
Daisy had crawled towards the Crane and sat beside Hawkeye. They didn't have much time as Eli was now getting return fire from Crossfire and the Skull man.
"Don't move an inch." Hawkeye told Daisy seriously "Stay hidden, Tony who is the guy in the white hood?"
"That's Taskmaster, possibly the greatest hand to hand combatant on earth. There isn't a Martial artist he can't replicate. There isn't a weapon he can't use. Heed your own advice Francis, stay hidden."
"Can't Tony." Hawkeye said through gritted teeth "We can't let that information go out, we both know that."
And with that the young archer jumped out sending an arrow at Crossfire who dodged and started firing his own wrist mounted gun at Hawkeye. Francis jumped out of the way and sent two explosive arrows at Crossfire, forcing the man back.
Eli was shooting at Taskmaster still but the man was now dodging the shots with his shield and his sword and running towards him to fight him head on.
"This isn't a fight you can win boy." Crossfire grinned, speaking for the first time "Give up, and maybe I'll let you live."
"Your dreaming." Francis scoffed and shot another arrow which was deflected, and was forced to fight Crossfire up close.
Hawkeye wasted no time throwing a solid punch at Crossfire which was blocked. Crossfire didn't have many weaknesses, he was a great martial artist, a great marksman, and an even better tactician, Tony did say that he had a cybernetic eye, and ear, and that without them he obviously loses two of his senses.
Crossfire blocked the punches and returned quickly with a kick towards Hawkeye's head that was blocked before he sent a palm strike at his chest that couldn't be avoided.
"That's all you got?" Francis growled angrily and charged forward regardless of the aching pain in his wrist and now chest. He sent punch after punch at Crossfire all of which he managed to block, before going for a leg sweep that missed its target, Crossfire countered with a punch to the gut which forced Hawkeye to nearly keel over.
"Crossfire is a master at delivering killing blows." Tony's voice rang out in his head.
He was toying with him. He was toying with him and Francis was still getting destroyed. With a little maneuvering Francis managed a knee to Cross's gut and managed to backflip away though in considerable pain.
The Taskmaster however came out of the construction building dragging Eli's body, the man definitely had seen better days, he was unconscious, and his face was bloodied and it was clear his arm was not in a particularly fun position, he had been thoroughly beaten. And he was a good fighter even though he had no powers.
"Your buddy could use a little help." Taskmaster said as he threw his body towards Hawkeye "Don't think he's having too much fun."
"Like I said kid." Cross wolfishly grinned "Give it a rest. You're not half as good as the last guy who wore those colors."
Francis pulled out his bow, he was outmatched but what could you do? "I could but...nah." and with that Daisy threw a shot with pinpoint accuracy, her energy gun at Cross's head taking off his cybernetic ear.
"Shit!" The man yelled
He barely had any more time to react as Hawkeye shot two arrows at him sending him to the ground.
"Time to dance ugly." Hawkeye charged Taskmaster with a kick.
"I could spare 10 seconds." Taskmaster quipped easily deflecting the kick and sent a punch with lightning quick speeds towards Francis that was blocked at the last second. He was way better than Cross, and Francis struggled massively against him. Taskmaster avoided a point blank arrow and sent a kick towards Hawkeye's face that connected, sending him to the dirt.
They were so done. Cross looked like he was struggling without his sense of hearing and the arrows in his chest, but he got up regardless
"Your finished kid." Taskmaster held up a gun towards Francis' face. He never thought it'd end like this.
"Fuck you!" Francis spat, before Taskmaster could finish the job however, a large grey robot flew through the air and landed in the construction site. It's face had the signature mask of Iron Man, even if it was bulkier and more clunky than usual.
Immediately Taskmaster shot at the robot but it didn't seem to do much, it picked up a truck and threw it at Crossfire and Taskmaster forcing them both to run away
"Nice save Tony." Francis whispered into earpiece, as he gingerly got up "But you really shouldn't be out here."
"That's not me." Tony replied back "I have no clue who that is."
Francis watched in shock as the large robot went to throw a punch and a large piece of the arm just came flying off. Okay this definitely wasn't Tony.
Crossfire and Taskmaster started shooting at the Robot and Hawkeye realized it was doing more damage than they thought, quickly he started shooting with his own bow and sent Taskmaster and Cross back. But the damage was already done, it seemed there wasn't much of the suit left.
A helicopter quickly appeared in the air and Taskmaster and Crossfire both shot grappling hooks off and flew up making their escape.
"Can you shoot a repulsor?" Hawkeye asked the suit. He wasn't even sure if someone was in there.
But he got his response from a fairly robotic but female voice "No...Sorry."
Hawkeye sighed "You have nothing to be sorry about. You saved my team's ass back there thanks. How'd you get your hands on an Iron Man suit anyway?"
"I built it." She said cockily
Francis nodded, fair play "Well, me and my friends are always looking for people who want to help, and you seem like one of the persons. How'd you like to come back to base with me? Whoever you are?"
"I don't know...I was just messing around a little, I saw you and I had to help so-
"And that's enough for me." Francis insisted "Good people take one look and make a decision to help someone without a second thought. I'm telling you as an Avenger, we could really use your help." Francis said "Say what's your name?"
She flipped up the mask revealing a young teenage african american girl, in the large Iron Man suit of armor "It's uh Riri. yeah. Riri Williams."
"Say Riri. Could you come back to base with us, please? It doesn't have to be anything permanent, but I'd really appreciate it if you came."
"Alright." Riri agreed hesitantly "But...but it doesn't mean anything."
"Of course not." Francis said with a smile, and went to check on Eli and Daisy who at some point seemed to have passed out. Francis sighed they should make no mistake this was a loss, they were saved by a rookie and the Mercs got any with the information. When everyone returned to base he'd be making a fuss.
"Hey Hawkeye." Riri started with an awkward laugh "Uh...do you think you could help me get out of this thing?"
Francis got up and put on a grin for the brave girl even though he was anything but happy "Sure thing Riri."
ARCTIC CIRCLE, BIODOME APRIL 22, 16:40 UTC
"So I'm pretty sure we've got some more test results in...It's not looking too good." Pym looked at the computer "Why would they even take the test?"
"Many people are going to be taking this." Bruce explained to Pym "If it weren't for the fact that we've done it online, it would probably be too much for just us to handle. The Avengers sent out a message so of course everyone who can respond is going to."
"Yeah, that's true. Sometimes I forget how big we are. Seems like everyone loves us." Pym watched the computer screen scores flicker as people completed the tests different names would move to the top like an arcade games high score list.
"In the 'superhero' business, there are few things as important as a good name. Regardless if the Hulk did good or not it seemed like nothing ever mattered. He had ruined too much already."
Pym nodded, Bruce seemed to always be giving important advice. His viewpoints on the superhero community were much different then Tony's. "Do you think we're actually going to find any geniuses?"
"I don't know." Banner said honestly, "Your idea is smart, but there's a lot of factors. Can all those people get to the access kiosks, do they even want to take the test, maybe they somehow haven't heard, all these thing-
"Hold on!" Pym shouted, cutting off Banner quickly. "Look, this guy's score keeps rising!"
Banner ran to a computer and started typing quickly "What's his name?" He barked
"Duh, uh, Amade...Amadeus Cho. Holy shit he's past my score and he's still going! He might pass your, or Tony's!"
The score did slow down and stop briefly before Bruce's own score and didn't get to Tony's either, but still third was not bad by any means. Pym wasn't sure anyone was going to pass him, but this was amazing
"Amadeus Cho, 16 years old, lives in Tucson Arizona, any school grades do clearly show his genius. But his score on the Banner B.O.X. puts him miles ahead of anyone we've seen."
"We got to ring him up." Pym said excitedly "As fast as possible."
But before then they got a call from Hawkeye that Pym quickly accepted "Hawkeye, how'd the mission go?"
"Like shit, but there is some good news. I think I found one of the smart people you were looking for."
"Really what makes you think so?" Pym asked, even Banner tuned into whatever Hawkeye planned on saying.
"I don't know, maybe cause she made a working Iron Man suit from old Ultron bot scraps and pieces of Tony's old armor, and saved my ass. That takes smarts doesn't it?"
Pym and Bruce shared a look with each other that simply didn't need words, it conveyed what they were thinking so clearly. Jackpot.
"Francis I want you to put her on the Quinjet console. We want to set her up with a Banner B.O.X. test the faster we can ballpark her brilliance the better!" Banner exclaimed
"Gotcha Doc. Hawkeye out." Francis turned off the transmission.
Pym smiled and started setting up the test for Riri "Oh man this is really good."
GENOSHA, APRIL 22 21:00 UTC
"How did Hawkeye's mission go?" James asked Tony
"Not well...It was honestly pretty bad from his mission report. He's also furious with you." Tony recounted
"Did they bring Vision?" James asked
"No. They should have, instead they were saved by a teenaged girl who managed to scrape together an Iron Man suit using old scrap metal. She and another young man are with Banner and Pym now."
"We are about to land." Torunn called
"Alright then." James acknowledged "Were about to head out Tony."
"Stick together, Genosha is uncharted territory." Tony told him
"No worries. Cap out." James ended the transmission and picked up the shield "Any information, eyes on anyone out there?"
"I mean there are definitely heat signatures, but other than that, I can't scan from the Quinjet like that, we've got to get to ground level." Azari explained
"Do you believe we will find any X-Men?" Torunn asked her friends. James looked out the window and it was getting dark as it was nearly nighttime in Genosha. "I think that if we are ever going to find any X-Men. Then it's probably going to be here."
The Quinjet finally descended beneath the clouds and it was clear the city of Genosha was active, more active than a city that was bombed by sentinels had any right to be. "Landing in 10. Stay sharp because there could be hostiles." Azari stood with Torunn and James.
As the plane landed in relative no man's land, the radar showed that they were being surrounded. The team braced themselves. James turned to Azari and Torunn and nodded, and they quickly nodded back.
"Open the hatch." He commanded the Quinjet. As James and the Avengers came out a multitude of people surrounded them giving them no chance for exits.
In front of them was a Raven haired woman with claws, a normal looking brown haired woman, she was fairly short and other than the angry look on her face there was nothing special there, a big blue...beast was there, except he was on a walking stick and if anything looked like a major liability, could he even stand?
There was a bit of an older blonde woman who was scantily dressed and looked furious, she stood in front of a group of kids the Avengers age. Around five of them. A young blonde girl who imitated the older one. A man with a glowing eye and a white streak in his brown hair. A boy covered in metal, another girl with the same white streak in her brown hair, And a girl who looked of indian descent with black hair.
James looked them over and took one more step forward before the clawed woman stepped up and snarled making sure they got the message that this was their turf.
"State your name and purpose." The brown haired one demanded
"My name is James Rogers. That's Azari, and Torunn were a part of the Avengers...we came here because we were looking for the X-Men..I think we found them."
"There are no X-Men here." The old blonde lady snarled
"You're not mutants?" Azari asked confusedly, and all eyes landed on him and the old ladys seemed to be startled by his presence, along with the brown haired lady.
"We are mutants, just not X-Men haven't been for a long time." She replied
"Since Ultron?" Torunn questioned
"Exactly." The black haired one confirmed
"Well we beat Ultron. Two years ago." James told the group "There is no Ultron now, just a free country."
"What do you want us to do with that information?" The old blonde one asked defiantly
"First off. Could we get your names?" Azari asked
"I'm Kitty Pryde." The brown one started "That one over there is Laura, This is Beast, and Emma Frost. Were the only ones that you should be worried about."
"Look Ms. Pryde, the Avengers are here because we wanted to ask the X-Men for help. Things are getting intense and we need extra hands."
"No, plain and simple." Emma scoffed "Were not helping you Avengers, end of story."
"If you don't mind me asking...how did you beat Ultron?" Beast asked, the only one who seemed interested in results
"It took some effort. But the three of us and our friend Pym or Wasp and Hawkeye managed to take him down. With some help from Iron Man and the Hulk."
"It's funny because Stark is the reason the world is like this anyway!"
"We could go back and forth on why the world is like this for hours. The most important thing is we have a chance to change it, make it better than it once was." James argued to the X-Men.
"Even if we believed we could make a better world." Emma argued back "Why would you think it'd be the same without the people who made it. The people who matter to each of our worlds? Because it wouldn't be and it can't be."
James looked at the X-Men and he couldn't lie one thing was moving through his mind. Stumped. Why couldn't they just appreciate the fact they had the choice of freedom now?
"If you don't mind me asking…" Azari spoke up "What exactly happened to the X-Men during the Ultron War...And what's the Legacy Virus?"
It went unsaid that Azari was curious and anxious to actually know what happened to his Mother. Of course the Wakandans didn't know, but there was a great chance that the X-Men would have been in the middle of it.
Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost looked at each other in silent communication, and yet it was Beast who stepped forward and started to speak up.
"A long time ago there was a man named Nathanial Essex." Beast's old voice grumbled on "He was a long foe of the X-Men, he was smart, strong, and particularly interested in Genetic Manipulation."
"Genetic Manipulation?" Torunn questioned
"Cloning." Beast explained "Even more so the cloning of Jean Grey and Scott Summers. The X-Men had no clue about this...Ultron robot. At this time I don't even think Tony Stark knew what he had unleashed on the world, but alas the X-Men had been focused on stopping Sinster's latest scheme. It seemed to involve one of Scott Summers estranged sons, from the future."
"The future…" Azari mumbled in surprise and awe. It was hard to remember how different the world was back then, according to Tony stuff like that was a regular tuesday for them.
"Yes, the future, I understand it's hard to believe now. But back then things like that were more common." Kitty added in
"Ms. Pryde is right. Regardless, 'Stryfe', the man who worked with Sinister, Scott's son, was killed by a man who went by Cable. Stryfe had left Mister Sinister a gift which had been an empty canister. Of course it wasn't empty, instead it was the virus they had just released on the mutant populous."
"What made the Legacy Virus so dangerous?" James questioned
"The Legacy virus was supposedly composed of 2000 years worth of the Summers bloodline. 2000 years in the future. Legacy-1 was able to search for a target's organism's X-factor, which is the sequence of mutant genes that gave a mutant their mutation. If the viroid didn't find an activated X-factor it would die off. However if it did find an x-factor it would begin inserting introns into the transcription codings of the victims mutant RNA."
"What Hank is saying is that the Legacy Virus basically injected junk DNA sequences into Mutants bloodstreams. It's very disruptive." Kitty explained a little easier
"Yes. This process would become deadly when a mutant used their powers after contracting the disease, It then started to kill healthy cells. The process all-around was killing mutants everywhere. And this was before it mutated." Hank explained
"All this, years prior to Ultron?" Azari asked
"More like a few months. Our war against the Legacy Virus was still going on when the Avengers had gone to fight Ultron and died." Kitty told the group "At the time no one really understood or believed the rumors of the death of Avengers. 1) Because they were the Avengers. 2) It was just a stupid robot."
"What made you believe it?" James asked curiously
"Ultron did." Emma explained annoyedly, but she seemed to have a sad reminiscent vibe to her "Ultron live-streamed after killing the Avengers...It wasn't exactly pretty. We had seen bodies, he had given us proof. If you had seen what we saw...By all intents and purposes the Avengers were really dead."
"But you didn't believe it?" James questioned "How come?"
"Because we weren't focused." Beast sighed sadly "The Legacy Virus had hospitalized thousands of mutants while I was holed up in a laboratory, just me, and an isolated version of the virus. I hadn't left that room in days. I personally hadn't known of the Avengers demise. Cyclops was dying. Rogue was dying, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Jubilee, Dazzler. All hospitalized. Quite frankly...we hadn't cared."
It was a little shocking to hear such renowned heroes say they cared nothing about the Avengers deaths. Especially since the Avengers were the good guys, they helped the X-Men.
"But my Mother?"
"Was an X-Men and an Avenger, and a Queen Azari." Emma sighed "When we had contacted Ororo about the spreading disease, and she was forced to isolate in Wakanda, she had taken an isolated strand herself for the Wakandan scientists to examine. But we hadn't had much contact, because your Mother and Father were planning on how they were going to stop the Avengers. To them it had been more important."
"Seems like they were right." James said honestly
"Pardon me?" Emma asked him icily
"I'm…" James paused and took a breath to find the right words "From what I understand you guys we're dealing with a virus that seemed to be decimating your people by the day. I'm sure it was looking bleak."
"It was bleak, very bleak it seemed like no one was going to survi-
"Yeah but it didn't matter anyway did it?" James countered, cutting of Kitty "Because Ultron dropped a bomb on New York City. Millions of people, humans and Mutants alike perished that day. And from the remains of NYC rose Ultra City, and spurned on 13 years of Ultron dominance...It sounds like it was more important."
The place was quiet and only then did Torunn take in the look of surprise on the children's faces. It seemed like none of them could fathom talking to this Emma Frost that way. They had to understand though, you didn't liberate the free world backing down the first chance you got. If you wanted something you had to earn it.
Still this Emma Frost looked quite mad. And the young blonde girl seemed to really key in on this fact.
"Mom…" She called hesitantly, but it was too little too late. "BRAT!" She yelled as she brain blasted James into the side of the Quinjet. And that had to hurt.
James shook it off but still found himself at the hands of a Diamond Emma Frost "You have no idea what we sacrificed, what I sacrificed." Emma angrily held his shoulder back and seemed to be rearing back a fist. Still James signaled his teammates to stand down
"You couldn't possibly fathom what our race has been through. Before you were born our race was scrutinized by the hands of flatscans like you. Before your precious Ultron took over the world we were already just as oppressed. When Ultron took control the only difference was some of us were gone. Coming to Genosha was our safe haven. 3 years ago. 3 years ago we found a cure for the Legacy Virus. Only a few years ago we were able to start living. Truly being Mutants again. And you come here with talks of Ultron? At least under Ultron we aren't under the scrutiny of every human in the world." Emma ranted
"First off." James said strongly "Your arm needs to be removed from my shoulder."
And in a bit of surprise to the X-Men she actually did, and she removed herself from her diamond form.
"Look you harbour hurt, rage, pain, and just genuine anger I'm sure I can't fathom to imagine...Some of it." James explained
"But I truly don't believe you understand. You look at me, us and you see them." He pointed to the X-Kids "A bunch of kids not ready to comprehend the danger that is outside these borders. Our entire lives was training if Ultron had found us. It was living in a dome in the Arctic Circle, hiding from the Robot that managed to conquer 70% of the planet. For a brief period of our lives we were kids. But from the moment we could fight it was what we knew."
"We beat Ultron. He's gone now. But there's so much more to this world than just a Robot who got lucky. There are new evils and powers rising from the ashes of a broken world, broken country and me and my friends are only 6 people. Tony's old and he can't fly the suit anymore. Banner's still the Hulk but-
"The Hulk is alive?" Beast questioned with eager surprise
"Yes he is. Without him I don't think we even beat Ultron." James said honestly "But honestly. Frost you talk about hate, bigotry, and race wars, I'm telling you the country down there has too much on their plate to think about that. Any ideas they had of pride have been dismissed. I mean that's over 250 million people begging on their knees asking for help. I wish we didn't need you, I wish I could leave you and your people in Genosha and let you live in peace. But there is a chance to build a better country than you or I have ever known."
"Humans will always be afraid of Mutants. Not even the destruction of the world could change that." Frost scoffed at James' speech. And for the Avenger it was more disappointing than they could ever know.
"So that's it then?" Torunn questioned, and when she got no response James sighed and turned back to the Quinjet. "Come on, we're leaving. There's no time left to waste here, they're not coming. End of story. We need to focus on getting back in time before the situation back home worsens."
"It was nice to meet some people from my Mother's past...thank you." Azari said respectfully before leaving toward the ship.
Torunn had looked at the group of kids once more, trying to gauge their reaction before nodding at the X-Men and entering the Quinjet.
James however stared at the X-Men, and as much as he pushed the team to leave, he wanted to get one last thing. At least direct more to the kids, they'd be the ones to change the adults mind.
"Look I understand fear...I think I probably know it better than most. But trust me when I say you're scared for all the wrong reasons. I don't know who you guys are." He referenced the kids "But come on, If there's one thing you guys need to do is make your own choices. If you want to stay in Genosha, be my guest. I wouldn't blame you… we have a few things in common: all of our parents were taken too soon, and they had another thing in common, Fight. I never knew my Father or Mother well but I do know they would always fight to their very last breath. And I'm at least going to honour them by doing that...Just know the world could use a couple of X-Men right now."
And with that James entered the Quinjet and took his seat "Get us out of here Torunn." and the Quinjet took off.
The plane was quiet as the three reflected on everything that happened in Wakanda and in Genosha...This had been a long day.
"I'm not sure what's worse…" James huffed with a tired laugh "Not knowing if we're ever going to get any help? Or knowing the help is there and they just don't want to give it."
Azari and Torunn looked at each and thought about the question over and over. No one voiced it but the three of them did end up thinking the same thing.
Nothing was ever easy.