GENOSHA, BEAST'S LAB, APRIL 27, 8:00 UTC
"Worldwide broadcasts should now be online for the very first time." Beat proclaimed to the room of mutants.
Beasts laboratory was considered one of the 'hideouts' for the older X-Men when things needed to get done, they could buckle down and get it sorted. His laboratory was huge mostly because of the fact Hank had needed everything to figure out how to stop the Legacy Virus from spreading any further.
There was a huge screening room, and there were many hospital beds for immediate testing, cryo chambers which had been vital in trying to isolate the virus, multiple computers and scanners and of course ample space for the X-Men.
"Well, let's see what's on TV." Kitty said with a large sigh, and turned on the TV in Hank's room, for the first time in a long time American TV was allowed beyond Genosha's borders. It hadn't been simply because Ultron had been able to track that. The funnier thing might have been the fact that there actually was TV during Ultron's reign.
"Switch it to FOX or CNN, they always seemed to have the latest on every situation." Emma said with slight disdain. Kitty popped the channel over to CNN and immediately the updates on the USA situation were clear.
"Two months from today will mark the official two year anniversary since our very own Avengers broke Ultron's hold over America and 70% of the free world. Today we take another deep dive into how they got it done, and how the efforts continue. I'm Alice Gleason, and this is the Avengers Deep Dive."
The eldest X-Men watched the broadcast with interest. Beast, Emma, Kitty, and Laura the X-Kids protectors were almost hesitant to believe what was right in their faces. Those kids saved the world. And as Emma saw James Rogers face covered in dirt, blood and grime, looking younger than she remembered, shouting orders at his team who looked much the same, she felt bad. Terrible even.
"Those kids shouldn't have been forced to go through all that." Kitty said with a sad sigh "I don't know Hank, I just couldn't really believe you when you confirmed it. But seeing it live, it looks so wrong to see those kids doing work us and the original Avengers would have to do."
"Well there was a need." Hank explained "The world needed hope and they provided it, The world needed salvation and they brought it, The world needed someone to pick them up and help them every step of the way on it's road to recovery. The world needed heroes. And they answered the call."
"The X-Men have never been heroes, Hank." Emma told him defensively "The world never wanted us to answer a call, they would rather die before letting us help."
"I don't think that's true. We were hated for sure. Probably still hated right now. But the world would have accepted anyone with open arms, especially when you end 13 years of tyranny."
"Regardless." Laura spoke up for the first time "What does this all mean? Where do we go from here? It's now clear that those kids told no lies, they did what they said they did. America is indeed open along with other countries."
"What and were just supposed to leave Genosha?" Emma questioned, "No we have to stay here."
"Stay here? Why?"
"These are the kids' homes, uprooting them away from that immediately would be terrible. Especially when it's arguable Genosha is in better shape right now."
"These kids have no familial ties or binds holding them to this place. If you ask them to move they'll do it in a heartbeat."
Emma's annoyance only grew as Laura continued to contest her demands "So you'd like us to move out?"
"I just don't know." Laura admitted "I think to myself, keep the kids safe. Hide them in Genosha, let them live out their lives. They might not like that but it'd be good for them. But then I remember when I was a child I was never satisfied being still. I had wanted to help but I couldn't because I had always been scared of myself. When I got over that however. It got hard to sit and watch injustices around me."
"Your saying our kids are going to have that same mentality?" Kitty assumed, starting to agree a little with Laura's points.
"Yes. And it won't be all of them but it will be enough to push others to do what they say anyway. Emma, if Megan tells those kids she wants to go help, is anyone disagreeing with her?"
"Blue team." Emma argued
"Maybe, but not when it comes to this, and especially not when Jimmy is hellbent on helping, Blue team will be the first ones gone."
"Everyone would agree and help. Especially if Oli and Megan said something." Hank agreed with Laura
"And could we stop them?" Kitty posed the question, already knowing the answer for herself "No they are our kids, they make a decision and like most parents we'd be left behind scrambling to help them out and then scold them later. And they'd be fine with that."
"They are too young for this." Emma tried to tell them
"They've trained all their lives." Laura disagreed
"Look I understand what you've said, but now it's time you understand what I'm saying." Emma told the group evenly
"Bless those Avengers kids and their helpful little souls. I'm sure they are fantastic kids, and their hearts are clearly in the right place. But you understand there is a reason they came to us right? Things are not perfect there, Not even close. It's not as peachy as it looks on TV and we can't risk our kids...our kind for a slim chance to make things right, or better than they were before. Things can't get better than the way they were before, I feel bad for those children because they don't know that yet."
"Isn't that a defeatist mentality Emma? If those children could hear you right now they would tell you your wrong without hesitation. Hope. Hope is what they bring to a multitude of countries with the promises things will get better. And for many of them? Things have gottenbetter." Hank argued to his old friend
"And yet not one person can change the world. I like to think that saying applies to five people as well." Emma fired back
"And yet those five are doing their damndest to make it happen. And I'll always respect that." Hank told the group.
"Look we may not have to do it now, but at some point I'd like us to make a decision. Because I believe Genosha has been beneficial. We have abilities and could be speeding up processes for millions. We have to decide if we're sending out a response team, even for just a little." Laura commanded
"Fine." Emma sighed with annoyance. She didn't like where this was headed, when had the X-Men ever been asked to do something and weren't given the short end of the stick? When had the X-Men been asked to do something, and hadn't been backstabbed at the last second? They weren't loved, not even liked and that was okay when it was her...but these children, she just couldn't bear to see them go out like how some of the others had.
She just couldn't.
ARCTIC CIRCLE, BIODOME APRIL 28, 16:40 UTC
"Hurry up." James called to the Avengers as they slinked into the meeting room. He didn't understand the attitudes of his teammates.
Francis and Torunn seemed to be in their own little world, chatting about whatever they liked, not even worried about James in the meeting room. Pym had his eyes glued to a tablet, something James had taken notice of the past few days. After the mission he'd ask him what had him so unfocused.
Azari on the other hand seemed…Ready. Like, ready for anything. He was the same kid but he seemed more aware, when they fought it almost seemed like he had leveled up since last time. Still it was nice to see someone else focused on what was important.
Tony and Banner walked, chatting about something bothering them in the midwest, and Riri and Amadeus walked in shortly after. Even Jocasta was there. That meant they were waiting on one person. Or...Android.
"Where's Vision?" James questioned the room.
"Dunno," Francis dismissed and went back to his conversation with Torunn, there wasn't even time to be pissed at the archer as time was of the essence.
"Well? Has anyone seen Vision?" James asked once again.
"Don't think so." Pym answered from behind his tablet "I haven't seen him in a little bit to be honest."
"What's up with that?" James directed towards Tony.
"Truth be told, I don't know." Tony admitted "I guess he has been acting a little strange lately."
"Great, we lost another superbot." Francis moaned
"Vision is more than just a superbot." Azari told Francis pointedly "He's one of the main reasons we've stayed alive for so long. Without him a few of those earlier missions simply aren't being completed. We aren't alive today without Vision. We all know Vision pretty well, so if he's not here I say we give him the benefit of the doubt."
"Right." Pym agreed "knowing him he's probably doing something to benefit us anyways."
"Alright." James nodded, considering this "You guys are right. It's unlikely anything is seriously wrong. We give Viz the benefit of the doubt, still we have to get through this without him so eyes up and stay focused. Riri, I'm handing it off to you."
Riri got up and was ready albeit a little nervous to present to the team for the first time, but as the familiar red and green robot phased into the room everyone paused.
"Sorry I'm late." Vision said cordially as ever. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Not at all Viz. We were just about to start. But why are you late anyway?" James questioned. The android had a habit of being on time. It was abnormal for him not to be.
"I'm afraid I've had a few problems within my circuitry in the past few weeks. I'm sorry, I haven't exactly been myself."
"Oh, well how come you didn't come to any of us?" Pym asked curiously "We would have fixed you right up!"
"These past few weeks have been the busiest the team has been in years. I couldn't be another unneeded distraction, especially as you had recently returned from your mission in France."
"That is true." Francis nodded, feeling a little bad for judging their old friend earlier "Well as long as he's okay right guys?"
"Is the problem fixed?" Tony asked him
"I believe so. I'm ready for any Mission duties." Vision confirmed.
"Perfect. Vision take a seat, and Riri you can start your explanation." James directed. Riri nodded and took a deep breath before explaining what she knew
"So James asked me to do the best I could to get any information about the state of Madripoor and this is basically the best I could find." Riri started and pulled up the video feed of James and Francis' interrogation of Radioactive Man and Crossfire.
"James and Francis were correct Chen and Cross didn't actually say much, there wasn't much if anything to work with, but this one line gave me a little to work off of."
Riri pressed play on the video, and the team watched as James paced around the room with Crossfire heavily chained and guarded in his cell.
"What do you have going down in Madripoor?" James asked the villain, getting straight down to business.
There was a long pause as the man seemed to ponder on how to answer, before he responded simply "Nothing that you and your friends could hope to stop."
James seemed to think about this before shrugging his shoulders and smiling "We stopped you didn't we?"
"That's not the same."
"We stopped Ultron." James said once more, this time with a serious edge "Gave people like you a chance to crawl out of whatever hole you were hiding in just so you could try and terrorize more people."
The man looked surprised at the venom James held in his voice, but quickly schooled his expression. And James simply continued
"Ultron had ruled over most of the earth for 13 years. It's taken another two for you to pick yourself up and pick up where you left off."
"The grind never stops." Crossfire said cockily
"Correct. It doesn't." James continued "A man like you only knows fear and death, the only thing you've proven to be good at in this life. So tell me, who's paying you so much money that you decided to come out of retirement, and why Madripoor?"
"You're not a man kid. Certainly not your old man. You don't scare me."
"I should." James retorted easily "I've spent two years carrying that shield on my back, and you think some wannabe has-been mercenary is going to throw me off my game because he tells me I'm not my father? That I'm a child? I am a child...And I'm still more man than you'll ever be. I'll ask again, who's paying you and why Madripoor?"
This lit a fire under Crossfire, he didn't even care if he was letting James know that he got to him "You don't know a thing!" He sneered "It's not even the money this time around. I don't give a shit about that, most currencies went to hell after Ultron anyway. It's what we're going to do to people like you that gets me going every morning. This world is begging for someone to come in and save it and we aren't going to let this opportunity slip through our hands. And I promise you we will destroy you and your group of friends. No mercy."
"We, so you belong to some type of team or organization. Who's spearheading it?" James questioned, except this time Crossfire seemed to know he had messed up and was keeping entirely quiet.
"Do you follow Taskmaster, maybe Radioactive Man? You don't say much about Madripoor. Where has Viper been these past years?" James questioned, he didn't get a single answer but he had made him squirm in his seat.
Riri paused the video, ending the interrogations and pulling up another screen this time with loads of Information on Madripoor.
"It's obvious James struck a nail so I dug as best as I could into Madripoor as I could. Forums, Dark Web, whatever I could scour and I've found that it's become a safe haven. But for the big bads that used to terrorize people before Ultron."
"How many do you think are there?" Azari asked
"I don't know. It's almost impossible to tell. It may seem bad, but most of these guys aren't doing anything and don't plan on doing anything for a long while."
"How come?" Francis questioned "Crossfire is right that this is the perfect time to strike, we are vulnerable."
"We weren't the only ones living in fear." Riri provided "Everyone was scared of Ultron. Not to mention it's been 15 years. People have gotten very old, they aren't in fighting shape."
"Exactly. The people who came to fight us were Crossfire who's some sort of cyborg, Taskmaster who apparently took a special serum, and Radioactive Man who's well...Radioactive." Pym added
"That's right. But Madripoor is a state known for its intense criminal activity. It was run by criminals before a lot of superpowered people moved there. The number one woman was Viper."
"Do you think that's the 'We' Crossfire talked about?" Francis asked
"Most likely yes. Crossfire, Taskmaster, Radioactive Man, and whatever forces Viper can cook up sounds dangerous."
"Dangerous but incomplete." James pointed "It wouldn't be possible for Crossfire to be so cocky if 3 out of 4 of them were locked up. There is more to them than we know."
"Most likely." Riri admitted "From what I could research Viper is a woman who surrounds herself with power, and those 4 are pretty strong, but you all could take them out easily. My report is that you need to be extra careful in Madripoor as it's impossible to tell just how many people are on their side. There could be a couple more. Or a couple hundred more."
The latter most likely wasn't true but they definitely couldn't take the chance it was. "Alright thanks Riri. After that you should understand why I've called for a stealth mission. Me, Azari, Francis, Vision, with Tor and Pym as backup should things head south."
"Makes sense." Azari agreed "When do we leave?"
"A couple of hours." James told them. "Get your things in order, and get ready. Here's hoping we stop them today."
After that the team started to file out of the room, and James couldn't help but feel a little worried about this mission. If things went well, they might not have to deal with anything like this again. But if things went wrong…Man, for their sake he hoped it didn't.
Riri was one of the last to leave and she was pretty happy with how everything went. It was her first presentation and it seemed to have gone pretty well. And she loved being able to help. But she couldn't help but feel like she could do more.
That's why as she was alone in the laboratory she opened her schematics, Ironheart V2 the graphic once again made sure there was no one coming and began to work on this suit.
"I can help, I know I can." She whispered to herself, she wasn't allowed to go out yet, but that wasn't going to stop her. As far she was concerned nothing would.
HEROES OF TOMORROW
Francis and Torunn were back in the empty cafeteria, the place was quickly becoming their spot. The archer had been hesitant earlier in the morning, wary of what Torunn was going to say but when she seeked him out and they talked he was optimistic. But now he needed confirmation.
"So Tor." Francis started, the girl immediately turned to Francis already knew what was coming as she had spent hours thinking this over. Francis was in no way a bad guy. She liked him well enough, and it was obvious her and James' relationship wasn't going anywhere. Not with Daisy all over him.
It hurt to see because he had just told her he wasn't focused on a relationship, but clearly he had just meant he wasn't ready for one with her. As she looked at Francis she felt a lot of emotions that were hard to identify, but the one that was the most prominent was unease. She and Francis had made such a habit of breaking up, that after the first or second time no one cared when it was announced anymore.
She could only hope that it wasn't going to be the case. If they were to get together again this was going to be a real relationship.
"Yeah Francis?" She finally responded
"Well it's been a few days." He started "And I was just hoping that I could get a response on the whole dating thing."
Torunn took Francis, hands in her own and looked him dead in the eye, trying to relay just how serious she was about this.
"When we were younger, we weren't the most mature when it came to our relationship. I don't want it to be like that. Constant arguing and getting back together days later. I just want us to take it one day at a time. I don't want us to break up for the same reasons once again. That would mean we haven't grown one bit."
"I agree. I'll do my best." Francis nodded with a grin, "And maybe...we keep things a little quieter this time. I'm not sure how everyone would react."
"Agreed." Torunn nodded, there was a little pause, the both of them looking at each other in anticipation. If there was one thing Torunn enjoyed with Francis it was this. The physical aspect of their relationship had certainly never been lacking.
As they shared a kiss in the Cafeteria they both couldn't help but wonder how their mutual red haired friend would react to all this.
As Francis and Torunn enjoyed each other's presence, Azari moved away from the Cafeteria feeling a little bad about hearing things he shouldn't have, but he hadn't meant to. He only wanted to get a little advice from Torunn as she was usually pretty wise, but she was busy with Francis.
And he wasn't going to lie seeing them together made him question just how wise Torunn could be anyway? Those two had as many battles as the Avengers with Ultron, and she still was going to get back together with him. They both needed other people, but in the Arctic Circle it wasn't very easy to find love.
Regardless he had more important things to deal with. He had needed to figure out how he was going to go about this Kenya business. At this point it seemed like he needed to go with his gut, and his gut wanted to know his mother's fate. With that he headed to the labs.
Riri was in the smaller one all by herself, she probably wouldn't want any distractions. He hadn't known the girl long but he knew she didn't like to be around people all that much.
Pym, Tony, and Banner were doing their own thing in one of the larger labs, so Azari went into one of the labs where Amadeus was very focused on whatever was on his screen, furiously typing in different codes and whatnot.
If there was one thing he could say about the new recruits it's that they were dedicated.
"Need something Azari?" Amadeus asked without looking from the computer.
"I don't think so. I'm just going to be using one of the computers." Azari told him, Azari started off simply enough. Coordinates on Balobedu, the region where his mother was from, and what was it like? How was he going to get the information needed and what was his timeframe? Those were all things he needed to consider.
"Kenya is pretty far." Amadeus pointed out, in the quietness of the laboratory.
"Yes it is." Azari sighed. "It's also a longshot but If I can get more information about my Mother I have to try."
"I understand. You know I could help you out, take a look at the area. Do some research if you want."
"You aren't too busy?" Azari questioned
"Nah." Amadeus waved away "This program I'm running for the Ultron files is going to take a little while and there's nothing I can do to make it go faster. I'm free until then. If you need the help I'm here to give it."
"Well I'm afraid there isn't much to go on. I'm looking for leads on my Mother and it's possible the best place to look is Kenya. That's all I have."
"And that's all I need. If there is something, I'll do my best to find it." Amadeus promised
"Thank you." Azari said wholeheartedly. He didn't know what the return was going to be, but he sure hoped he found what he was looking for.
With Pym he spun around a digitized version of the Raft that was going to be built. The prison was large and was going to be so state of the art. It was weird but the idea of it was almost exciting. It was probably wrong but knowing they would have something to do, that the world was going back to the way it was before things went to hell was great to him. It meant progress.
As he looked at the Raft on the waters of NYC it shifted his mind to another and it made him frown. Atlantis. Looking around it was just him, Tony, and Banner so there probably wasn't a better time to spring this on them. He'd find out what they were hiding.
"Tony?" Pym questioned
"What's up Pym?"
"Are Atlanteans real?" He asked plainly. No skipping around the question, just telling him straightforwardly. He wanted to know and they would respond to him.
Tony and Banner looked at each other, both clearly shocked at Pym's knowledge before going back to work.
"Did you process the last schematic?" Tony asked Pym, clearly trying to make him forget about everything.
"Yeah it's done." Pym huffed "Did you hear what I asked. Are Atlanteans real?"
"I mean I'm sure they existed at some point. You know what they say, where there's smoke there is fire."
"Tony, I mean do you know Atlanteans? Do you know about Atlantis? Who's Namor?" Pym questioned quickly "These are things I want to know, I know they exist. Tell me the truth."
"He's right Tony." Bruce said honestly "He clearly already knows, there isn't any harm. Yes, Atlantis, Atlanteans, and Namor do exist." Bruce confirmed for Pym to Tony's dismay.
Tony looked at Pym in a bit of new light before letting out a loud sigh "Wow. You kids keep surprising me. I mean, before I start, what put you on this trail anyway?"
"It was the gun I took from the Savage Land mission. It was old but the technology was still exceptional." Pym explained "the more I looked into it the closer I got to this myth of Atlantis. Some of your files confirmed my suspicions."
Tony wanted to slap himself for being so clueless. How could he forget that the Atlanteans had a huge impact on the Savage Lands? If he had, maybe this could have been avoided.
"Stop overthinking it Tony. There are only so many things we can avoid telling them. They are only getting older and smarter. This isn't a big deal." Bruce told him before turning to Pym "What do you want to know?"
"Who are the Atlanteans? What is Atlantis really, and who's Namor?" Pym repeated his earlier statement
"FRI, pull up everything I have in the Mermaid Man files. Password, Neptune's Trident." Tony spoke.
"Access Granted. Pulling up everything in the Mermaid Man files." FRIDAY said, to Pym's shock. Quickly tons of Tony's locked files appeared in thin air and Pym simply marveled at it all, seeing things and names he had never heard of, Dorma, Attuma, Namorita. It was all so much.
"Homo Mermanus." Tony started "A genetically evolved species living underwater in the city of Atlantis. Capable of enhanced senses, feats of extreme strength and speed, and even other things depending on the person. You found out that they are commonly referred to as Atlanteans."
"Wow." Pym exclaimed "It's like a bunch of underwater mutants."
"Kind of." Tony agreed "They are one of two evolutionary offshoots of the human race that we had discovered, the other of course being mutants. There weren't many, not compared to the Human race. But with the average Atlantean being able to lift a couple of tons they are an extremely dangerous species."
"An extremely dangerous, annoying and elitist species." Bruce spat, but the harsh words didn't properly convey how he felt, rather the faint smirk was more telling "Great fighters though."
"The Atlanteans mostly populated Atlantis and some of the surrounding outskirts of the city. Bruce is right they were prone to elitist mentalities. They routinely referred to us as surface dwellers who were nothing more than nuisances in their way. They weren't afraid of threatening us with destruction."
"Oh, so they are bad guys."
"Not exactly." Bruce shook his head "They were just very intense. Neutrals at best, they fought for themselves most of the time at the direction of their king."
"King?" Pym questioned
"Yes King." Tony confirmed, and pulled up a picture of a man with slicked back black hair, large black armor on his shoulders and arms, his chest was mostly bare, and his legs were covered in the same black and green armour. Marine life of all sorts surrounded him and on his face he held a steady glare at what was probably an underwater camera.
The last thing Pym noticed was the large trident in the man's hands. He clearly meant business. "That's the king?"
"Yes." Tony confirmed once more "That is King Namor. Commonly referred to as the Sub-Mariner."
"Safe to assume he wasn't much nicer than the rest?" Pym questioned, already knowing the answer.
"Tch, where do you think they got the attitude from?" Bruce scoffed
"Namor was usually a good man." Tony explained "At least at the start. The more I got to know him, or should I say the more the Avengers got to know him, relations soured. It might not be a stretch to say that he really would invade the surface if he was annoyed again."
"So you don't think he would have helped with Ultron attacking the surface and everything?"
"Not a chance. Namor's a loose cannon." Bruce insisted "He couldn't care less about Ultron, it saved him the time of destroying Earth himself."
"Not only that but...Namor has fought in manmade wars before." Tony explained hesitantly "It's really no surprise he didn't get off his throne."
Bruce sat back seemingly deep in thought, it was rare to see the scientist like this unless he was with Betty. It made Pym wonder just how extensive the world was before Ultron. "Nonetheless." Bruce started again "Only a few things would truly get Namor moving to the surface. One was Steve. The other would be an attack on his kingdom. And third well, a certain blonde scientist."
To Pym, Bruce and Tony had never ever shown their age more than now. The looks they gave each other that conveyed grief and pain that could only be shared with one another as they were the only who could truly understand each other's turmoil. Never had Bruce's voice sounded so old, and for a moment Pym questioned whether he should have ever brought this up in the first place.
Tony quickly with a swipe of his hand dismissed all information about Atlantis, Atlanteans, and King Namor, and suddenly they were back to dealing with the schematics of the raft. "That's enough Atlantis talk for one day."
"Man, you guys are certain we can't get any help?" Pym questioned once more.
"If anything we should fear the sleeping giant that seems to be Atlantis." Bruce offered "With the way we are now, I'd be surprised if it took more than a week for them to wipe us off the map."
"Everything is fine Pym." Tony insisted with that familiar smile "I'm impressed you managed to find things out about Atlantis, but we need to focus on our missions. Because they won't be our now, or anytime soon."
Pym simply nodded at his two mentors and went back to focusing on the Raft. On this occasion he did believe them, but he couldn't help but wonder. An Underwater City...who knew how valuable that could be?
As the three scientists worked, James was in the mission room with his new partner in crime, Daisy.
James stood over the table, hands clenching the desk, staring intently at the holographic simulation of their infiltration of Madripoor. It would be hard but as everything went on the holograph accounted for 90% success. It probably wouldn't get better than that, but it didn't shake James' light feeling of unease.
"James, you're getting into your own head." Daisy called from the other side of the table. She got up from her seat and walked close to his side, in the time they spent he quickly became accustomed to her presence, feeling like he had gotten a handle on the whole treat her like a teammate thing.
"You think so?" James asked with a sigh, and Daisy nodded readily. "I just don't know." he admitted
"I can't take anything for granted and it's not often we get to fight unknowns. But at the same time I'm the leader for a reason. I have to scheme around this."
"And according to the simulations you've done that just fine." Daisy pointed out "Look this is a normal score you get on the simulations right? You guys have got this in the bag. You just need to be you."
"I guess. It's probably just because our last mission was a failure. I can't forget it...it feels like the first time I failed. I don't like the feeling."
Daisy surprisingly took his hand in her own and gave him a stern look "Well look, I think I and everyone else in this compound will tell you that nothing is getting easier. And I won't ever tell you to get used to failure, but we can't be perfect every time. We just have to give every bit of energy we have. Make sure that we've tried our best. You care James. That's why you'll succeed." As she spoke her eyes seemed like they sparkled to James, she just knew what to say. This is why he loved having Daisy around.
"Thank you Daisy. I never thought I'd be the one who'd need that." James smiled, swiping away his simulation. It was time for action.
"Yeah well of course I'm always here." Daisy said a bit awkwardly, her cheeks flushing pink. James tried to ignore it, and headed for the door ready to exit.
"The mission shouldn't be too long. You guys hold the place down." He commanded without turning around.
"Wait!" He heard and then there was a sudden tug on his arm spinning him around towards Daisy. "You weren't actually going to leave without saying goodbye were you Captain?"
"Of-Of course not Daisy." James laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, before placing his hands around her waist. They seemed to stare at each other for a while before Daisy placed a tender kiss on his cheek. "Safe trip, come back fast." Daisy told him quickly, walking out of his room without looking back.
"Gotcha." James replied just as quickly, going the opposite direction as her. Neither commented on the fact that their faces were beet red. But in both of their minds the intentions were clear. They had to talk about their...relationship. ASAP. Still James shook his head quickly doing his best to focus on Madripoor.
"Mission time." He whispered to himself. Hopefully this went well.
PRINCIPALITY OF MADRIPOOR, TARGO CORPORATION, APRIL 27, 8:00 UTC
"And we're sure that you know, this is the place?" Hawkeye questioned, they were flying low into the country of Madripoor. All of the Avengers for what felt like the first time in years. It was probably true since Vision almost always did his own things with Tony. But he was here with them now, chances of victory were high.
"Vision, Tony, Banner, Cho, Riri, and I have calculated that this is the most probable place to go." Pym explained to Francis "If all of us combined can't target one place in a relatively small country. We could never get anything done."
"Hmph. And we're sure that Pym and I should sit back?" Torunn asked, the disgust clear in her voice "There's no way I can come with the rest of you?"
"Sorry Tor." James told the Asgardian "You are one of our strongest, but stealth is not your strong suit. And if things spiral out of control having you back to save the day is the best option. You and Pym should be able to stop anything if it gets out of hand."
"Alright." Torunn sighed, but it was clear she still didn't like it.
"We are approaching the building fast." Vision told the crew "I suggest those of us who are dropping down get into position. Our window is short."
"Right." James nodded, getting up from his seat, and strapping his shield to his back. "Vision you've got Francis, Azari let's go."
"Stay patient." Azari told Torunn with a grin "Honestly knowing our luck the fight will come to you anyway.
With that Azari followed James who had already leaped right out of the plane without a care in the world, next Vision and Fancis left, but not before Francis gave her a concealed wink and jumped out of the plane himself.
The group of four landed on a rooftop not far at all from the main building the Master's were using.
"Everyone knows their roles?" James asked as he used his infrared goggles to try and see through the building. The fact that he couldn't get any clear readings, told him that they were in the right place.
"I believe so, Captain." Vision answered for the group.
"Wasp?" James asked through his commlink. The boy didn't respond for a while, before his voice finally came through "Everythings a go to proceed boss."
"Alright then. Vision lead the way." James commanded. With a slight nod the android took the lead and led the group of four towards the building where all of this would hopefully end.
"We need stealth gear." Francis pointed out suddenly, as they traversed the shadows of the city sneakily, avoiding everywhere Vision ordered.
"Not now Hawkeye." James told him instantly
"Not now, then when?" Hawkeye retorted easily "I personally don't believe there's a better time to talk about our distinct lack of stealth costumes. What kind of Ops Team doesn't have stealth unis?"
"You believe the best time to have this conversation is in the middle of a mission." Azari asked skeptically, but he could always appreciate Francis' random mission talks. It was a good stress reliever even if James didn't admit it.
"To be fair, we aren't doing much now are we?" Francis pointed out "We just have to wait for Vision to do his thing, so there's ample time to talk about our lack of gear."
"Is it really that important?" James asked, "We rarely go on stealth missions."
"I mean true, it doesn't happen often. But we should be prepared in every situation, dontcha think? Going into other countries wearing red and blue makes you stick out like a sore thumb. And my purple? It's stylish, but not very functional."
"I guess." James admitted, as Vision began to interface with the building "It's just, It's a symbol don't you think? People associate us with these colours."
"True I guess. Buuuut, the other day I saw that our parents had stealth uniforms. It was the coolest thing. We need them as well, I'm telling you."
"Whatever, we can talk about this more, after the mission." James told Francis "Now can we focus up please?"
"Sure." Francis nodded, still more focused on the colour scheme of their unis then the actual mission.
"Vision, how is everything going?" Azari questioned the robot. He stood still, and had a pensive look on his face, as he interfaced with the advanced building. "Viz?" Azari questioned once more as they got no answer.
"Wasp status on Vision." James commanded quickly, Vision was absolutely integral to the plan, things wouldn't work without the android.
"I don't know what's wrong with him. He seems to be in the mainframe but from what I can tell whatever command he's trying to use has...glitched his matrix? I don't know. I haven't studied Vision in a while."
"Tony, can you confirm?" Azari asked through the commlink.
"Pym is right. Something is wrong with whatever he's trying to do..But I don't think it's necessarily that he couldn't do it. At least he couldn't do that normally. From the scanner on the Quinjet, somethings up with Vision's internals."
"What does that mean?" Francis questioned worriedly "is he going to full Ultron on us!?"
"No, no." Tony insisted, calming him down "It means-
"Error." Vision cut him off "Command 36J-SS9314 does not function. Shutting down, preparing to reboot."
"It means that." Tony said with a sigh "He's broken."
"Vision just shut himself down. Like a robot, I've never seen him do anything like that." Azari noted "He's always been so human."
"Yeah well, he's not, and we should have known he wasn't okay." Francis pointed out "Now we're screwed."
"Yeah, we are screwed if we keep focusing on this. If you guys haven't noticed there are bigger things we need to focus on." James told them, and pointed to a floor in the building, where tons of robots were filing down to meet them."
"This is what's going to happen." James commanded "Pym you're going to come here, and grab Vision, stay in the plane and ensure his reboot is successful. You should join us whenever you can after that. Torunn we need you now. We are engaging in a full frontal assault against the MOE, you are our top gun. Azari and Francis, It's the same plan as always."
"It will be dangerous James." Tony warned
"Yeah but what other choice do we have?" James questioned. Running wasn't an option, the others would never allow that. And if these guys were truly the enemy, then why not take them out right now.
It wouldn't be quiet, but hardly anything they did ever was. So why did this plan fill him with such dread?
"Don't worry Cap." Francis told him, surprising everyone with the conviction in his tone. "We've got this. We haven't lost a battle yet, and we won't lose one now."
"Right." James nodded at him. "First wave. Azari, it's all yours. These robots don't look like heavy hitters, but we know better than to underestimate them. Let a couple leak, and remember these guys aren't the end game."
Azari nodded and flew a bit into the air creating some distance between him and the coming robots, James and Francis stood behind him ready for him to do his thing. His body glowed blue and electricity crackled around his body intensely.
The robots weren't taller than 3ft and had one singular wheel for legs. They were fairly fast and immediately once they noticed him starting shooting egg shaped bullets that exploded against his electrical shield on impact.
He left a few of the robots get past him to James and Francis before he charged up his electricity and released a devastating blast that fried most of the robots, after that he hunted down a few loose ones while James and Francis got a closer look at them.
Down with James and Francis, James adeptly avoided getting blown up by the little robots, while Francis had his bow and arrow at the ready in case anything went wrong. But quickly James threw his shield cutting the robot right in half, shutting it down instantly.
While Azari dealt with the masses the two heroes inspected the little robot "You seeing this Tony? High quality steel, and high-calibre explosives that are hidden behind a stupid egg gimmick. These things were rapid as well. 20ish rounds in a matter of seconds."
"Yeah, that's Egghead's work. Leave it and I'll have a drone from the Quinjet pick it up." Tony responded.
"Great, it's time to make a push." James insisted. It was the perfect time as Torunn had finally come from the Quinjet and Azari had finished up destroying what was left of the little robots.
James led the charge on the ground while Torunn and Azari flew through the air, they barely made it through the building when suddenly Torunn was punched out of the air by something that easily broke the sound barrier.
"Torunn!" Francis yelled immediately. He started to run after her, but James held him back quickly "Focus Francis. I need you here with me. We've got enemies incoming, and Torunn can take care of herself."
"But Tor-"
KRAK! A furious fist connected with James face sending him flying towards the ground. Immediately, Francis backflipped away and shot an arrow at their assailant. If he wasn't focused before he certainly was now.
James got up quickly and stood with Azari and Francis, and in front of them was Taskmaster, Black Ant who had shrunk down and was on his shoulder, and a female who they didn't know.
She had dark skin and white braided hair to go along with it. She wore a black jumpsuit with a very revealing chest area, and small yellow jacket over top of it.
It was clear that she was older, it was obvious from her demeanor. It took James a moment but he recognized the woman as Knockout a woman apart of a old villainous group called the Femme Fatales.
She looked good for what had to be an advanced age, and it made James wonder just how many peoples powers kept them in their primes.
"Your run is ending here." James told them, though his words were more directed at Taskmaster. Before he could even respond, there was a shockwave felt all throughout the city.
"Seems like your Asgardian friend has just met Moonstone." Taskmaster said with a laugh "Won't be surprised if only one of them comes back out."
Another devastating shockwave hit the city and it was hard to remember the last time Torunn had gone full power so quickly. Even fighting Radioactive Man hadn't been like that. Glass from buildings all around littered their battlefield, and all they could do was hope that no one got hurt.
"We'll see about that." Was all James said before charging his savvy opponent. The worry had never left him however and as the fighting began it only got worse. Still now wasn't the time to give up.
"Azari!" James yelled as he shot towards Knockout instead of Taskmaster. Taskmaster was a dangerous opponent to those without powers, but for someone like Azari, he should have been able to deal with him no problem.
The Knockout woman had not expected James' shield to smash into her face and sent her smashing into the side of the Targo building.
He was happy that Francis had clearly done his homework and sent two taser arrows straight at Knockout, not giving her a real chance to recover. Instead as she tried to rise up, it sent her slumping to the ground.
They had just taken out what seemed to be their second biggest gun in a matter of seconds. Why did James still feel so underprepared? Azari had already dealt with Black Ant and was pushing Taskmaster to his limits. What was wrong? What could it be!?
KRAKOOM!It felt like the entire principality of Madripoor shook from the force of Torunn and Moonstone's punches, the destruction was palpable, and James realized that Torunn's fight was a big source of his current anxiety.
"Torunn, keep the fight to the skies." James tried to comm in. But he didn't get any response "Torunn, come in. Keep the destruction to a minimum."
"She's not responding." Francis said worried "Why isn't she responding, She could be getting punched in the face and she'd still respond."
James didn't respond but he knew what Francis was saying was true. "Signal Jammers. They are fairly effective." A new deep voice came into the fray.
"Azari check on Torunn. Get her over here." James commanded and looked over at their new opponent. Well, it was actually more like their new opponents as there were two people casually walking towards their battleground.
"Viper and Zemo. Who would have guessed." Francis spat sarcastically
"Certainly not you child, or you would have been smarter than walking straight into enemy territory." Viper said nonchalantly
It pissed Francis off to no end and he nocked an arrow in what seemed like a millisecond ready to shoot at any time.
"Stand down Francis. Something tells me this isn't a time to fight." James had read Viper and Zemo's profiles. There was now way he'd lose a fight to them.
For them to be so confident, something else had to be at play.
"Aha, so you're not all dense muscle heads." Viper said with a wry smile "I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering your heritage."
"What have you done?" James got straight to the point, this antsy feeling had invaded him all day and had finally reached its pinnacle.
"On the contrary boy, I think we should be asking you what you've done." Zemo retorted calmly.
"Why?" James questioned "Why more destruction. Why more of this, after all the Earth has been through?"
"Because at the end of the day Earth needs guidance, boy." Zemo answered swiftly "The human race has shown time and time again that if given a chance between the right and wrong option they will take the wrong option every single time."
"I don't think rejecting Hydra's ways has ever been the wrong option." Francis said with a snarl "What's the endgame here? Why have Torunn and Moonstone fight, all it's doing is causing destruction."
"You attacked our home. Should we not have retaliated?" Viper asked with a smile.
"We've only come here because you've attacked us first." Francis pointed out angrily, they were trying to make it seem like it was their fault, and for James the gears were turning.
"True, but it's semantics isn't it? Plus does there have to be a reason for a fight? All that matters is the end product."
"You wanted this." James said suddenly "You planned for this. You knew we'd come. Physically you can't match up to us. That much is obvious. But it's never just been about fighting. There's so much more that goes into planning something like this."
"Ah, yes, yes, yes!" Viper laughed excitedly, clapping her hands with joy. Suddenly she stopped and glared evilly "You finally understand...There are levels to this boy. We are not mindless robots, and today your inexperience has shown. Try again next time, if you're even allowed."
James glared hard, but didn't have anything to say, they needed to get out of there and fast. "Hawkeye let's go now."
Hawkeye didn't question anything, still confused about everything that was going on. But James sounded pissed off and worried, there was no time for questions.
They ran back to their ship and every shockwave they felt only made James' heart tighten more and more. How could they have been so stupid?
Thankfully Pym and Vision had met them halfway, and they hopped in quickly "We need to pick up Torunn and Azari and get the hell out of here now."
"On it boss." Pym told him, and flew the plane closer to the area of the fight. Thankfully the punches seemed to have died down, probably because of Azari. But James knew the damage was already done.
The ship pulled up and James wasted no time going on the intercom "Get in the damn plane!"
Abruptly, Torunn stopped fighting and gave a curious look at Moonstone, and then the Quinjet. "Now!" James demanded
Azari flew up towards them first, and Torunn came second. The moment she got into the jeet he was back to barking orders "Punch it Pym."
The young Avenger did as he was told and hightailed it out of Madripoor. With them finally leaving the place, James felt like he could let out the breath he was holding. It still didn't make him feel any better.
"James…" Torunn started "What's wrong?" In James mind the better question would be what wasn't wrong? Still his teammates were looking to him for an answer, and he had an obligation to respond.
"Guys. We made a really big mistake."
HEROES OF TOMORROW
James had spent the majority of the plane ride explaining to his team how they had gotten completely played. The way he understood it was that they had been baited.
The Masters of Evil had wanted this to happen. They expected their missions to Madripoor, and used it to their advantage. Physically the team matched up just fine. He was sure that they were probably even stronger than the Masters.
But they hadn't been fighting a physical battle not this time. The Masters of Evil were doing their best to try and make the Avengers look bad. The masses would no doubt see what happened in Madripoor, and somehow Viper and Zemo had a way to pin this on them.
They were going to beat the Avengers in one category they couldn't partake in. Politics. And there wasn't a thing they could do about it.
They had just been dominated in a game they didn't even know they were playing. Like Viper had told him. There were levels to this.
Entering the Compound James would take no sympathies. He saw the looks on people's faces. As bad as he thought things were. There was a good chance things were even worse.
As he led the team into the compound he spotted Daisy who immediately started talking "James it's not your fault."
"We all know that's not true. Now how bad is it?"
"James…" Daisy sighed, but she knew he'd only get angrier if she didn't tell him what was up "It's bad. Really bad."
"We didn't even do anything wrong!" Torunn insisted angrily. "That Moonstone even attacked me first!"
No one said anything and instead they entered their meeting room where Riri, Amadeus, Banner, and Tony were waiting for them already watching the broadcast.
In Recent news Madripoor has gone to the United Nations on the subject of America and it's heroes. Specifically the Avengers. The recent reckless actions of the young team has led many to believe that there needs to be some restrictions on the group.
Aside from the Avengers the US' governmental situation has also been called into question. The recklessness of the Avengers have accelerated ideas the UN have already put into motion. Nothing is official but we understand that this is the likely outcome. The UN will tell the American People to choose a leader, or else they will choose one for us.
The person the UN has in contention… Evander Worthington. A man supposedly of American...and German descent. We will update the story as more information comes to us.
"He works for the Masters of Evil doesn't he?" Azari sighed. They had really gotten played like little children.
"There's no proof-
"Come on Tony." James cut him off "It's obvious! We...I screwed up. And now our whole country has to pay the price."
Nobody said anything as it was clear how torn up James was over this. The mood had certainly plummeted as things continued to heat up. It was becoming clear to the Heroes of Tomorrow that they hadn't been through the worst yet.
"Well played," Francis said with a sigh "Well played."
And that's the chapter! It's a been a real long while since I uploaded this series and that's because I actually had to delete most of the chapter after making a change. It made it harder to write, but I like the way it's come out. Hopefully in the next two weeks, another chapter will be out as we get closer to figuring out the Masters of Evil's endgame.