0720. August 12, 2022. Manhattan, NY, USA.
"Good morning, New York City and the world, this is Jeremy Munn, reporting live in Downtown Manhattan," a reporter spoke solemnly in front of the recording camera. Behind him stood a tall skyscraper, glistening in the morning sun. A crowd of people had gathered around the tower, desperately trying to get a glimpse inside or listen in to what the dozens of reporters were saying outside the front of the building. Some of the crowd spoke in hushed tones, spreading different rumors or things they had seen or heard already while others shushed them, trying to get to the truth. They were worried, some were scared. Surely what they had been told wasn't true.
"Today I'm standing in front of what was up until only an hour ago referred to as the 'Avengers Tower'. ABC 7 Manhattan News was informed that late last night and early this morning, the decision was made to officially make the change to its original name, 'Stark Tower'. According to our sources, this decision was made after the Avengers team, after 10 years of working together, has seemingly out of nowhere disbanded. There are no reports yet as to why the team has disbanded, but it seemed to have been confirmed when our team reached out to Tony Stark - AKA "Iron Man", who confirmed the name change of the tower wasn't an accident. He refused to give any further statement, but was noted to be uncharacteristically quiet." The reporter gave a small smile and licked his lips before continuing, gripping the microphone in his hand a little tighter.
"Now, what does this alleged breakup mean for the average, every-day citizen? Hopefully nothing. The Avengers team typically dealt with those top-secret missions given to them by the SHIELD organization, only sometimes dealing with those large-scale 'otherworldly' missions, including the 'Battle of New York,' which I'm sure we all still remember," he gave a small chuckle and shook his head before the more serious demeanor returned to his face.
"Remember that our reporters are dedicated to finding out the real reason behind this sudden split, and we can assure you that any news that we find, you'll all be the first to know," the man gave a wink to the camera and flashed a smile. "This is Jeremy Munn, reporting from the Stark Tower in Downtown Manhattan. Martha, back to you."
0835. September 24, 2032.
"Hey, it's Beck," a woman's recorded voice sounded from the other end of the line. "I can't answer your call right now, just leave a message and I'll get back to you."
Beeeeeep!
"Hey… Jane," Tony Stark began after a long pause. His hands were beginning to sweat as he leaned against the hallway wall. "It's uh… It's Tony. Sorry. I had JARVIS find your number for me." There was another long pause as Tony struggled to figure out how to word things. "So, I'm sure you've been watching the news lately," he chuckled slightly. "Lots of crazy shit going on, huh? …So, anyway, I was actually talking to Thor this morning, and we thought it might be a good idea, what with this looking like the 'end of the world' and all, that it might be a good idea to uh. Sort of 'get the gang back together', so to speak. He talked to Loki and Amelia already and they thought it'd be a good idea. I talked to Bruce and Barton, Barton talked to 'Tasha, and she talked to Steve and…" Tony sighed again, rubbing the space between his eyes between his fingers. Glancing down both ways of the hallway he was in his tone dropped slightly as though someone may be listening.
"Look, Jane. I… I know that you said you never wanted to talk or see any of us ever again. We had all felt that way. But… Shit, Jane. This is bigger than all of us. And, well. We could really use your help. We need your help," Tony pressed his lips together and shook his head slightly. "Please. Give me a call back. Well, hoping that you hear this before the phone lines all inevitably go out. You may have heard that we had the tower taken down a few years back, so… We're all gonna head up to that cabin we had in upstate New York. We, uh. We really hope to see you there, Jane. We all do."
Tony hesitated slightly before bringing the phone down from his ear. Moving to bring it back again, he shook his head quickly and hung up the phone. Sighing heavily, he glanced down the hallway where Thor had appeared. He hadn't lied about that part, he had had the conversation with Thor. It was… The rest of the team that still needed convincing. But they decided that the rest should come after Jane: she was the one they really needed help from. Jane had spent the last decade working on genetic altering technology - something that would definitely come in handy for a seemingly super-virus that was spreading quickly through the planet.