Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel
Here I am with another update, a small look into the pasts of both Sven and Cade and much more.
Enjoy
The Hunt
Chapter 13: Assaults
There came a point in Sven's life when he knew he wouldn't be able to rely on just his armour and powers. He needed to train, not just in fighting people but the aspect of humanity and heroism itself. Part of that involved travelling the world, seeing the different aspects of humanity and heroes in action. Guided by the spirit of the hero inside him, Sven went to various places. He witnessed killings in Africa, conflict in the Middle East, violence in London and Crime across America. All through this he perfected his tolerance of human nature and tested his limits. Sometimes he'd just put on a cloth costume and help people out of fires and even engage criminals in combat. His one on one fight training came from cage matches.
"COME ON YOU LITTLE BITCH GET UP!" His bigger opponent yelled.
The world was shaking and a ringing echoed in his ears. He forced himself off the floor, blood dripping from his mouth. Rolling out of the way, Sven dodged another punch. His chest was bruised; knuckles broken and cuts had decorated his face. Getting up off the floor, Sven stood his ground as he regained his senses. He'd signed into an illegal cage-fighting arena, using a fake name of course. His opponent rushed forward, punching him mercilessly. Sven backed away towards the wall of the cage, protecting his chest and face with his arms. He kept his eyes on his opponent as he felt his back touch the wall. The opponent swung his fist back, pulling all his weight to "charge" the punch. As his opponent swung his fist round, Sven ducked and slammed his fist into the man's gut. Then he delivered a vicious uppercut to the boxer's face. His opponent slammed into the ground and the referee began the countdown.
That hadn't even been his toughest fight. His first real life and death situation ended with him narrowly escaping death, something he only achieved because of the spirit's guidance. He had been wearing a simple cloth costume as opposed to armour and faced off against a gang of rapists. Though their intended victim had escaped, they sought to let out their frustrations on Sven. They surrounding him, picking up trashcans or tearing pipes of the wall. Some of them even drew switchblades.
"Catch the can Sven," The Ominous voice of his hero told him.
Sven caught the trashcan that was thrown at him and smacked one of the blade wielders across the face. He then used it to block the swing of a pipe, hitting the man with it again. Throwing the can into one of the thugs, Sven then elbowed one of the men behind him across the face. He took a punch to the face and a kick to the knee that forced him to the ground. Grabbing a trash can lid, Sven blocked a punch and then smacked the man in the face. He backhanded another thug, and then grabbed his collar and head butted him.
"Grab the man's wrist!"
Turning around, Sven grabbed one of the thug's wrist, the man's switch blade stopping inches from his chest. He raised the man's arm, twisting him around.
"Now Sven, hit the man's elbow, don't hold back!"
Sven yelled as he slammed the palm of his hand into the man's elbow, pushing the bone out of place. He listened to the man scream in agony, taking no pleasure in what he felt had to be done. Grabbing the back of the man's head, Sven then slammed him into the wall. With sweat running down his face, Sven huffed and puffed, the thugs he had beaten groaning around him.
"This is the kind of life you could live Sven, a life of hardship and violence. It becomes what you make it, make it a good life with a balance of your friends and family, whilst also protecting the world as best you can."
"Why, what are you preparing me for?" Sven asked.
"The Ultimate Evil Sven, it will come soon and you must be ready to fight it, you must be better than it!"
'Be better than it,' Sven thought.
He increased his skill, broadened his experience both in combat and with his powers. The original Aeon's lessons where one's Sven had taken to heart. Now he stood surrounded by a group of Wannabe humans. Was he worried? He was cautious, never underestimating his foes, but not worried. Skrullian Skymaster was the first to strike, stretching his limbs towards Aeon. He tilted his head, dodging the Skrulls punch and grabbing his wrist. After grabbing his wrist, he immediately span around, pulling Skymaster to the floor. Then he delivered a swift kick to Skymaster's chest, throwing him several feet away. He altered the shapes of his gauntlets, turning them into shields. Arcanna and Nuke both fired blasts at him and he easily blocked them. He felt the wind blow and immediately knew it was the Whizzer. Swinging his arm around, Aeon stopped the sharp point of his shield inches from Whizzer's neck. The speedster looked at the shield in shock before Aeon swept his legs up, tripping him to the floor.
"We might need backup," Nuke said.
"All of you," Aeon said, turning to the civilians. "If you want to avoid another Stamford then simply run away!" Sven growled.
"You heard him, lets get out of here," Sharpe said.
Aeon shifted his feet, sliding into a fighting stance. His eyes let out a gold shine as the markings on his armour glowed.
Deathblade held his two scythes tightly as he looked up at his target. The fortress formed by the Dawn ninja clan was but one-stepping stone towards reaching Muramasa, the Ultimate evil. He dragged the blades across the floor as he ran towards the front gate. Energy coursed from his blades as he swung them at the door. Suddenly, Cade felt a deep pain in his chest. Without the protection of any form of armour, Cade suffered a blow to his chest that would have ruptured any man's internal organs. He was thrown away from the gate, landing feet away from it.
"I applaud you for your bravery boy, but that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen. There comes a time when one has to abandon bravery for intelligence. I can see the potential in you boy, the flame if you will!"
Cade forced himself to get up, holding his homemade scythes and glaring at the new arrival. He was an old man, wearing a Dawn robe.
"You a fighter boy?" The master asked.
Cade let out a yell as he ran at the Dawn master. He swung his scythes at the old man, who merely sidestepped the blows. The old master patted the shafts of the blades aside and swung his leg round, kicking Cade across the head. His weapons clattered to the ground, but that didn't stop Cade as he swung his fist at the old man. The old man widened his eyes as Cade's fist brushed past his cheek. Cade then fell to the floor, panting as the energy coursed around him.
"I see…your spiritual energy is powerful…why did you attack us boy?" The old man asked.
"To stop…Muramasa," Cade sighed.
"Muramasa, and your willing to take on the Dawn for that? I've seen idiots before, but you're not an idiot are you? This may be the first time I've actually seen a brave man," The old man said, watching as Cade tried to get up. "This power you have is amazing boy, but it is also a double edged sword, or perhaps a more appropriate term would be…a ticking time bomb!"
"What?" Cade gasped, turning his head to the old man.
"This form of spiritual energy is one that grows with not just rage, but time itself, like a bomb it ticks away, threatening to detonate if not contained…there are however procedures one can have done to control the power. There's an organisation in America that would be able to help you, they are called the Hel…"
"DON'T YOU EVER!" Cade yelled.
He got up off the floor, his skin glowing a red colour as energy seeped out of his body.
"I wont compromise to anyone, no cult, no gang, no organisation with its own agenda…you hear me old man? I WILL NOT COMPROMISE!"
The Old man stood there, looking at Cade with a mix of shock and awe.
"I see, then I'll have to teach you how to control this energy yourself. Its not a permanent solution and it wont fix the problem of the inevitable explosion. But you'll at least live a little longer," The old man explained.
"Why help me?" Cade asked.
"I'm an old man boy, in my time with the Dawn I have grown bored, disillusioned with their path…but you, you might just offer a change of pace, an entertaining addition to the chessboard!"
"You're helping me because you're bored?"
"Who knows, maybe you'll think of me as a father figure," The old man chuckled.
"More like a grandpa!"
Despite Cade intending it as an insult, the old man still laughed good-naturedly. Cade calmed his heartbeat and the energy around him disappeared. He accepted the old man's offer and learnt both martial arts and techniques that helped him to suppress the build up of energy that would one day destroy him. But above all that, he learnt how to fight smart. Those lessons would come in handy today. The next enemy on Cade's list was the infamous Count Nefaria. He had set up his base at a private penthouse in Chicago. The man had been right underneath the Avengers noses but they had done nothing to stop him. Cade approached the front gate of the Penthouse with several of his Dead Avengers behind him.
"Ventilation system," He whispered to Yellowjacket.
Yellowjacket shrunk down to her insect size and began her fly towards the roof of the building.
"Demolition Man, front door!"
Demolition man nodded his head, cracking his fists together as he ran towards the door. He pulled his fist back, slamming it into the door. His punch forced the door off its hinges, throwing it into the security team covering the lobby.
"Antman, provide cover!"
Scott Lang had been gathering a number of insects for hours now. They were all to serve the single purpose of attacking the guards inside the lobby. Swarms of ants flew into the building, obscuring the vision of the armed guards. Deathblade walked through the main lobby, his powers identifying the guards as innocents. They had no idea who was signing their checks as well as what was going on behind the scenes of the seemingly innocent building. Deathblade dragged his scythes against the floor, running at the elevator. He cut the door in half and jumped into the hatch. Red energy surged behind him as he flew up the hatch. His eyes glowed, identifying a secret criminal inside one of the elevators. The man had abused his wife and child. Cade hated abusive parents, he cut the wire with no remorse. Continuing on his flight path, Cade flew to the very top of the building. His focus was Count Nefaria, the rest of the criminals inside the building were Goliath's problem.
"Tony, we've got a situation," Rhodes said, rushing into Tony's office.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"Deathblade's struck again, this time in Chicago, Goliath's ploughing his hand into the side of a building," Rhodes explained.
"All right, time to get the troops together then," Tony said.
He got off his chair, the pieces of his armour covering his body as he walked into the lobby. Ms Marvel was already there with several teammates. She-Hulk, Wonder Man, the real Nighthawk Kyle Richmond, Leonard Samson and Songbird were all members of the Anti-rebel army during the Civil War. Iron Man would have recalled the other Thunderbolts they had in custody, but the last thing he wanted was to give Deathblade more motivation for the fight. War Machine was already in full armour, joining Iron Man at the front as they flew out of the city.
"Top speed everyone, we need to get there and back fast without notifying Hammer too much," Tony said.
Ms Marvel and Wonder Man carried She-Hulk and Sampson respectively. The small group of Avengers made their way to Count Nefaria's fortress at top speed.
"Haven't you got cases to work Jen?" Carol asked She-Hulk.
"Yeah, but I get a break every once in a while, its not like I've got the ability to be in two places at once," She-Hulk smiled.
"I thought that's what you did when you were with the Avengers and had your own solo adventures," Wonder Man said.
"Don't forget the Last Defenders," Nighthawk grinned.
"What exactly makes them "Last Defenders?" I'm pretty sure there's going to be another Defenders team!" Sampson said.
"Everyone focus on the matter at hand, the last thing we want to do is make the mistake of underestimating Deathblade!" Tony growled.
His words cut the chatter and put the team back on the right track. As he flew, Tony wondered what Luke Cage's Avengers were doing.
Dr Strange's home was now occupied by the former members of Captain America's Secret Avengers, back when the Civil War was being fought. Luke Cage stood at the head of the table, unsure of why exactly he was in charge. He looked to his side, watching his wife show their baby daughter to Firestar and Monica Rambeau.
"She gets bigger every time I see her," Monica smiled as she rubbed Dani's chin.
"What exactly is the next step, breaking out Daredevil maybe?" Justice asked.
"No, that's the last thing we should be doing," Iron Fist said.
"Murdock wanted to get caught, he turned himself in after he was "purged" of his demons. He probably thinks he's making things better by changing the setting of the fight, he should stick to streets, a court room is no place to win a fight," Wolverine explained.
"Show some respect Logan, Matt's fighting this battle in home territory, I can't think of anyone better to represent super heroes in a courtroom," Luke said.
"What are they talking about?" Karolina Dean asked.
The younger heroes stood to the side, watching the planning session.
"What Luke Cage is implying Karolina is that Matt Murdock has turned himself in, in order to argue his case in front of a courtroom," Vision explained.
"He establishes that heroes aren't above the law, yet at the same time he's going to bring forward other issues heroes face that the public cant encompass in the registration act," Patriot added.
"The one thing I've been wondering is what about Aeon and Sieg? Where are they in all this?" Iron Fist asked.
"Dealing with their own issues it seems," Hawkeye said.
Logan sniffed at the air and growled as his claws shot out of his wrists. Luke widened his eyes and turned to Jessica. But any order he could give his wife came too late, as the wall of the Sanctum was torn asunder. The rebel Avengers turned to the forces standing in the streets. O.N.E Sentinels lowered their hands, aiming them at the group. In front of the Sentinels stood Hammer Agents, all aiming their rifles at the heroes. But the heroes paid more attention to the other costumed fighters in front of them. Victoria Hand stood in a purple battle suit, with her Avengers Ares, Moonstone, Ant-Man, US Agent and much to everyone's shock the Sentry.
"We need to talk!" Hand's voice was firm and fierce as the Hammer agents lowered their weapons.
Former Aeon safe house
He had been at it for at least an hour now. Blue Marvel hadn't even been given a proper introduction. Their fearless leader was too overcome by anger. Ever since they had gotten back, Sieg had been letting his frustrations out, throwing objects aside, hitting the walls. He yelled as he fought back the tears that threatened to burst out of his eyes. Dust sat at one of the costume displays, covering her eyes with her hand. Wind Dancer was also overcome with grief as she sat crying her eyes out. Karen was beside her, soothingly rubbing her back. Even X-23 was stricken by Guardian's death. Sieg however was hurt most of all. He pounded his fists against one of the costume displays, the one that contained a cloth suit Sven had once worn. Tears ran down his face, reflecting onto the dusty mask through the glass.
"We can't waste this," He whispered. "Michael Pointers death mustn't be for nothing," Sieg said as he turned away from the costume.
"Michael Pointer? That was the man that killed Alpha Flight, he should have been in a prison cell," Citizen V said.
"DON'T YOU DARE PAINT HIM AS THE VILLAIN! He was fighting for redemption; everything he did during his time in Hammer was because of Osborn's manipulations. Michael Pointer just wanted redemption, he tried to find that with us, no one, no one has the right to criticise his choices!" Sieg explained.
Prime coughed, catching everyone's attention.
"I know we just lost a guy, but shouldn't we start focusing on what we're gonna do next?" He asked.
"You're right, there will be plenty of time to mourn for the dead after, right now we need to do something about this "Squadron Supreme"" Blue Marvel narrowed his eyes at the computer screen, highlighting each area the Squadron had hit.
"Utopia's under attack?" Sofia gasped as she looked at the area of San Francisco.
"The X-men can handle that, right now we need to focus on the one place that the Avengers aren't covering," Sieg said.
"The whole world?" Hindsight lad asked.
"No…yes but we need to prioritise, the Hood is still out there, we need to find him first and get him to tell us where the Squadron have been getting their powers," Sieg explained.
"But where do we start?" Citizen V asked.
"I know exactly where to go," Arachnophillia said.
She was stuck to the ceiling; a web had formed behind her. Despite the loss of Guardian, she remained her usual cheery self. Prime and Hindsight lad looked away from her, both uncomfortable with the unsultry pose she struck. Karen however looked at her with disapproval and outright disgust. The red skinned girl landed on the floor, walking up to Sieg.
"I was following Parker Robbins some time before he met with Cortez, I memorised his patterns and every other power broker he went to before settling for Cortez," She explained. "He always stops at his cousin Johnny's house, just for a quick check in!"
"John Robbins, I know that guy, he's an old addict who sobered up when the Hood "got made" as they say," Prime said.
"Then we'll intercept the Hood as he meets his cousin!" Sieg turned to Arachnophillia, looking at her with distrust. "You lead the way, but we need to remain in conspicuous, Hindsight Lad got data connected to the other cases we've been working, Tyrone Cash was providing super power experiments to parties that may be connected to Cortez. We split up, some of us covering Cash's contacts while Arachnophillia and I take down the Hood," Sieg explained.
He turned away from the group, walking further into the base. Arachnophillia walked after him, with Karen keeping a suspicious eye on her. Sieg leant his head against the wall, wiping a tear away from his face.
"I think its incredible how much faith you have in your team mates, Guardian was a friend to you wasn't he?" Arachnophillia asked.
"He…deserved better than what he got, he could have stayed in Omega Flight, have become a hero in Canada and redeemed himself, but no, any shot of that was taken out by the kind of world the people let Osborn create," He banged his hand against the wall as he turned to the girl.
Sieg widened his eyes slightly as Arachnophillia leant against him, her naked body rubbing against his suit. She rested her hands on his collar as she slowly drifted her face closer to his.
"What do you want Sieg?" She asked.
The colour left his eyes as he answered the question.
"I…I want to make things better," He said.
"We all do," She whispered before she grabbed his mouth with hers, trapping him in a passionate kiss.
Deathblade walked into the lobby of Nefaria's apartment. He could hear the guards clicking the safeties of the guns. They weren't a threat, but he could sense the blood on their hands. That made them just as much targets as Nefaria himself. Cade spread his arms out, dragging his scythes off the floor as he counted the men in the room. Seven armed guards were nothing. He ran forward, bullets bouncing off his armour as the guards popped out of their hiding places. With every swing of his scythes, Deathblade took one more criminal from the world. His eyes scanned the room, looking for his target.
"Nefaria!" He growled.
Cade raised his scythes as Nefaria stepped away from his hiding place. The well-dressed man removed his waistcoat, narrowing his eyes at the intruder.
"Well done getting past my guards, but skill will only get you so far," Nefaria said.
Energy crackled in his hands as he walked towards Deathblade. Cade dropped his left scythe, running energy through the blade of his right scythe. But both men stopped as they heard the sound of a shockwave. Suddenly, Iron Man burst through the ceiling, crashing into Cade like a rocket. His teammates soon followed, with War Machine going after Black Goliath. The giant smashed his hands through the side of the building, grabbing people and throwing them out. His eyes let out a red glow identical to Cade's eyes. War Machine and Nighthawk dived downwards, catching as many of the office workers as they could.
"If you could see what I see Rhodes you'd change your mind about saving them," Goliath said, turning to War Machine and Nighthawk.
Nefaria shook the rubble out of his hair as he got up off the floor. He saw Iron Man firing a repulsor blast into Deathblade's chest, throwing the young man through the wall.
"Sorry about the mess Nefaria, you'll thank us if all goes well," She-Hulk said as she grabbed Nefaria's shoulder.
She pulled her fist back, swinging it directly into the man's face. Jennifer punched Count Nefaria, sending him flying out of the building.
"DON'T LET NEFARIA ESCAPE!" Deathblade yelled.
"Stand down Hunter, James Crowner gave me all the files he had on you, this armour knows your next move before you can make it!" Iron man said.
Deathblade stood up, tapping his scythe against the ground.
"I knew you would come, I hoped you wouldn't but you just had to be a hero, and for who? Nefaria? The man would kill you and your families and celebrate it afterwards," Deathblade explained.
Tony widened his eyes underneath his helmet as his armour's systems shut down.
"Sorry about this Tony," Yellowjacket said, growing to full size behind him.
"Wait…that voice, your not DeMara," Tony gasped.
But the Yellowjacket shrunk back down to wasp size, flying away from Tony as Deathblade charged his scythe with energy. He threw the scythe forward, turning it into a spinning vortex of energy. The red energy slammed into Tony just as his armour rebooted. War Machine and Nighthawk looked at the building, widening their eyes in shock as the top floor blew up. The Avengers inside the building were thrown out of the smoke. Songbird protected herself with her sound wings, while the others were protected due to their invulnerability. Tony flew out of the smoke, his armour charred and sparking. He then turned to the building as Deathblade flew out of the smoke.
"Stay out of my way Stark!"
Iron Man unleashed the energy of his Uni-beam and launched a volley of missiles. Deathblade yelled as he span in midair, the Uni beam brushing against his back. He fought the pain as he dodged each missile Iron man had fired. Throwing his hand forward, he dragged his clawed fingers against Iron Man's faceplate. When he finally got a grip he yanked Tony's mask away from his face. Cade then extended a blade from his wrist as he thrust it towards Tony's face.
"TONY!" Rhodes yelled.
Tony pulled his head back, blood gushing from his cut eye. He flew back, clutching his face as Deathblade flew past him.
"He's heading your way Carol, be done with Nefaria quick," Tony said.
"Are you okay Tony?" War Machine asked.
"I…I cant see out of my right eye," Tony pulled his hand away, revealing the vicious cut on his right eye.
Deathblade flew across the sky, heading straight for Nefaria's position. Ms Marvel landed in front of Nefaria, smirking as the man fired an energy blast at her.
"A lot of people forget I can absorb energy, probably Rogue's fault for just flying around hitting things all the time," Carol threw her hands forward, hitting Nefaria back.
The energy burned away his shirt, throwing him onto the streets. She-Hulk and Sampson both landed behind Nefaria as he got off the floor. He promptly blasted them both aside and looked to the sky.
"Idiot, did you really think it would be that easy?" He asked.
Deathblade slammed into the ground in front of him, his eyes glowing blood red. He deflected one of Nefaria's energy blasts and rolled to the right, avoiding a second one. Cade clicked his fingers together before taking a blast to the chest. Nefaria looked at Deathblade in triumph as he charged another blast.
"What was that supposed to do exactly?" The count asked.
A figure in green armour suddenly landed on Nefaria, crashing him into the ground. The original Grasshopper stepped away from Nefaria, smirking as his eyes glowed a deep red colour. Deathblade formed a sword from his armour, pointing it at Nefaria's head. He suddenly yelled as a high-pitched squeal echoed in his ears. Cade fell to his knees as Songbird flew down towards him, a sonic wave gushing from her mouth. She increased the intensity, running cracks across Deathblade's armour.
"I wont be stopped that easily, especially by someone like YOU!" Cade yelled.
He gathered all his strength, extending the length of his sword as he swung around. Songbird widened her eyes as the blade cut her throat. She fell to her knees, clutching the scratch as hard as she could. Blood stained her uniform as she fell to the floor, weakly holding her throat.
"Be happy that I haven't killed you, say what you will but you are NOT reformed!" Deathblade growled as he walked away from Songbird.
Electricity sparked between his hands as he formed an energy ball. Grabbing Nefaria's head, he shoved the energy down Nefaria's throat. Then just for good measure he kicked Nefaria into the ground again.
"Join your daughter in hell you son of a bitch, as for you Screaming Mimi, you'd better start crawling!"
Deathblade took to the skies, flying far away from the region. Nefaria screamed as his body began to expand.
"I'm detecting a large build up of energy within Nefaria, he's gonna explode," War Machine said.
"Songbird's still in there," She-Hulk said.
"I'LL GET HER!" Nighthawk yelled.
He dived downwards as Nefaria's body continued to expand. Nighthawk scooped Songbird up in his arms, just as the super villain's body exploded. The shockwave threw Nighthawk forward, ripping his costume to shreds as he and Songbird rolled across the ground. War Machine and Tony landed on the scene, looking over their teammates.
"They're both in critical condition Tony, we need to get them to a hospital and fast," Rhodey said, throwing off his helmet.
Tony sighed as he lowered his head. What was left of Nefaria was blown across the streets, civilians were dead and two of his teammates were in critical conditions. This was what the public considered a disastrous mission.
Aeon blocked punches and kicks from Skymaster and Whizzer. The speedster tried to run behind him, but Sven quickly elbowed him in the chest. He then back flipped, avoiding one of Nuke's blasts. Two boomerangs slid out of Sven's wrists as he landed. He threw the projectiles, hitting Skymaster in the head. The two boomerangs bounced off the Skrulls head, knocking both Arcanna and Nuke out of the sky. Whizzer ran into Aeon, punching him across the head. Sven let the speedster hit him, promptly grabbing the Whizzer's neck and lifting him off the ground.
"Your fast, but your reflexes haven't adapted to your heightened speed, whoever gave you your powers didn't bother to train you did they?" Sven asked.
He slammed his head into the Whizzer's, knocking the speedster out. Skymaster got off the floor, growling as he took a step towards Aeon.
"Leave him be!"
The Skrull stepped back as the Squadron's Nighthawk jumped off the gate. He cracked his fists together as he approached Aeon. Both men dropped into fighting stances, the wind blowing dust around them. Aeon was cautious of Nighthawk's abilities, but confident that he was achieving his objective. With the main Squadron members away, Zack could find out what the Utopia Project was about. While Aeon fought in Stamford, Zack began his search for clues as to where he and the other prisoners had been taken. He walked along a steel corridor with the other prisoners, most of whom were younger than him.
"I want to go home," One of the boys groaned.
"Where the hell are the Avengers when you need them?" An older boy asked.
Zack squeezed in between the prisoners, making his way to what looked like a window. He got a glimpse of the outside; it looked like their prison was in space.
'That's impossible,' Zack thought.
He hoped Sven's friends back home would understand what the images meant. Zack gasped as he felt something strike his back. One of the Justifiers pushed him back into the group, spouting nonsense about how his actions were justified. All of the Justifiers were chanting, saying that the "their", the prisoners lives would soon be "justified". A sudden laughing sound caught Zack's attention.
"Everyone get into your cells, if you all prove yourselves your greatest wishes will be fulfilled, you'll all get to be super heroes," A costumed teenager said, laughing as he floated over the group.
Zack narrowed his eyes at the teen. He was dressed in an outfit similar to Nighthawk's. His costume consisted of a blue tunic, red pixie boots, a domino mask with owl like eye lenses and a cape with red feathers on it.
"Red Bird's the name folks, welcome to Project Utopia!" The teenager grinned.
Luke crossed his arms as he looked at Victoria Hand. She remained calm and collected, as if she invaded people's homes everyday.
"What do you want?" Luke asked.
"Hold on a second, just who is this woman?" Karolina enquired.
"Karolina, you really should pay attention during briefings," Xavin sighed.
"She was Norman Osborn's Saturday night party," Jessica glared at Hand, holding Dani close.
"Saturday night party? Screw you, I'm the director of Hammer," Hand growled.
"I'm only going to ask this once more, what, do, you, want?" Luke asked.
Hand straightened her glasses, regaining her original calm composure.
"Join Hammer and I'll do everything within my power to ensure you are all given amnesty for your crimes," she said.
"Is she lying?" Kuke asked Logan.
"God I wish she was," Wolverine sighed.
"Hold on just one second, weren't your superiors the ones that authorised the Squadron?" Hawkeye asked.
"Only because the people lost faith in the Avengers, but now the president sees that the Avengers are truly needed, so he's bypassed congress and given me the authority to put together as many Initiative recruits and heroes as I can. I'm recalling all members of the Initiative and putting together an army to match the one the Squadron has formed," Hand explained.
"It shall be a glorious war to not only stop the Squadron Supreme, but the one responsible for my brother's death," Ares said.
"Deathblade?" Stature asked.
"Yes, unless there's another psycho going around killing everyone," Moonstone said.
"What about present company?" Mockingbird asked, glaring daggers at Sofen.
"Your ex-husband didn't…I mean doesn't mind my company," Karla grinned.
Mockingbird slid out her Bo staff, taking a step towards Moonstone. Photon and Fire Star both grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from any fight she could start. Luke shook his head as Hawkeye sheepishly avoided eye contact with his ex-wife. Amadeus walked past Luke, walking to Ares side.
"If we're going after the guy that got Hercules killed then I don't mind playing ball with the government," The young man said.
"We should all work together really," Stature said.
"Cassie not again, we need to stick together on this," Kate Bishop sighed.
"Wait, she might have the right idea," Luke grudgingly said.
"I don't believe this, we fought against the law for so long, now we're giving in?" Wolverine asked.
"I'm giving in, the rest of you can do as you will, but this isn't a fight we can win by taking separate sides," Luke explained.
The other members of the Avengers had various opinions. Most were still anxious of the government's gain in all this, whilst others knew the importance of cooperation against both Deathblade and the Squadron.
"I don't know about working with Hammer, but if we're all working together then its better than us going it alone," Hawkeye said.
"Fine, go with the moon whore if you want," Mockingbird huffed.
"Bobbi it's not like that!"
"Every man's worst nightmare, the exes meeting," Speed chuckled.
"There's something else that's bothering me, we still don't know who Deathblade is and what's really motivating him," Dr Strange said.
"I can answer that!"
All eyes turned to the Sentry as he walked into the middle of the two groups.
"Some of you weren't heroes then, others probably weren't involved and the rest of you still don't remember, but before I wiped everyone's memories Deathblade was the first person to injure me and one of the only people I met who could stop the Void. Years ago he and Aeon saved the world from myself," Robert Reynolds explained.
The Avengers listened intensively as he told them another story of his complicated and once forgotten past.
Next Chapter 14: Rivals
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter
Next time we take a look back at the past as Sentry relays what he knows about Sven Reilly and Cade Hunter.
Redbird is a Squadron version of the DC character Robin and the sidekick of Nighthawk. the chapter after next will be a fight between Nighthawk and Aeon, and Redbird and Zack, which I'm looking forward to writing up.