And welcome back to Infinity! I do not own MCU or Ben 10. Italics are flashbacks, and emphasis (Brackets are telepathy). I'm back y'all and boy are things about to kick off in a big way, because *drum roll* Ben will finally meet the Avengers, speaking of which you will automatically notice a big difference in the Team's line up. A new day starts right now!
Infinity Chapter V
Brave New World Part I
"We found a man, sir," The Agent said, slightly panicked, "And he's still alive."
"Call Tony," Coulson said, racing out of the tent with the Agent close behind, "They'll want to see this."
Three Months Later
In the three months since the emergence of what New Yorkers had begun calling the "Dome" the city had been in a state of disarray and underlying panic, numerous eyes locked on the now thankfully immobile dome of energy. The National Government alongside SHIELD had placed the entire area under lockdown, building barricades and manned checkpoints both above and below the anomaly. Survivors arrived sporadically, and were often forced to undergo strenuous tests to make sure they hadn't been overly affected by the energies pervading, "New Bronx".
Tony's eyes narrowed slightly as he soared overhead, "Any change Friday?"
"No," the AI responded, scans of the energy field appearing across his armor's hud, "The field may have stopped expanding but there's no sign of it diminishing in size."
Tony let out a frustrated sigh, "Alright send everything we've got to Banner, also tell Nicky I'm on my way back."
"Done," Friday responded. Tony gave the Dome one last look before turning and taking off towards the New York Harbor, where SHIELD's flagship, the Helicarrier hovered, another slightly unwelcome addition to the New York skyline.
Stark made a beeline for the hanger bay, artfully dodging around a departing Quinjet, before landing in front of several bemused members of the landing crew. Tony's armor opened, allowing him to step out of it shooting the crew a smug smile.
"Friday, you have the helm." Stark quipped as the armor snapped back together, "No joy rides okay."
"Of course Boss." the AI responded, nodding the armor's head in acknowledgment, before walking past the befuddled landing crew without even a second glance.
"Come on people this isn't the first time you've seen this sort of thing." a fatherly voice called, "Back to work."
Stark turned, a wide smile crossing his face as he locked eyes with Coulson.
"Good timing," Coulson said, "Fury was looking for you."
Daisy Johnson aka Quake watched with a bemused expression as Fitz and Simmons bantered with their guests. One was of average height and build with bright slightly manic blue eyes and a bedhead of sandy blonde hair. His lab coat was a tad disheveled which he wore over a skin-tight red-and-black suit covered with faintly glowing blue circuitry.
The other was a tad shorter and skinnier with warm slightly haunted brown eyes and curly black hair. He was dressed less outlandishly than his compatriot in a simple purple button-up shirt and tan dress pants.
Dr. Hank Pym, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Fitzsimmons were currently engaged in a rapt conversation about the seemingly impossible composition of the energy that made up the "Dome".
"This can't be right." Dr. Pym muttered critically, glaring at the information Stark had just provided Banner.
"But it is." Bruce responded, "The energy levels are exactly the same as they were when the phenomenon occurred."
"But there should be some form of energy bleed, a weakening of its structural integrity." Pym expounded, looking at the others with trepidation.
"Terrigen certainly dissipates over time, as does Gamma." Fitz agreed, "But the more important bit of info we're missing is who or what caused it in the first place."
Banner nodded, turning the hologram projector in the center of the table on. An overlay of the inside of the Dome appeared across the table. The Dome itself stretched from Highbridge in the West to Westchester Ave in the East and from the top of Bronx Park in the North down to the very tip of Ryker's Island.
"I can't even begin to wrap my head around what kind of technology would be needed to not only spark this kind of mutagenic reaction but also distribute it evenly across this entire area." Banner noted, "AIM, HYDRA, the Ten Rings, none of them, not even pooling their resources have the capabilities to pull of something like this."
"What about an Inhuman or Mutant?" Fitz pointed out, "After all we did find our John Doe at the epicenter of the Dome."
"I already told you, Fitz," Simmons admonished, "Whoever he is our John Doe is not a Mutant nor an Inhuman, besides the amount of power needed to create this event outclasses anything we have seen from even Omega level Enhanced."
"How is he?" Daisy interjected, startling the enraptured scientists.
"Oh, Daisy!" Jemma exclaimed, seemingly noticing her for the first time, "How long have you standing there?"
"Not long, it's fun watching you guys brainstorm." Daisy said with a half-smile, though she was rubbing her hands nervously, "So how is he?"
"He-oh the John Doe, despite the 'attacks' he's completely healthy." Simmons said, her eyes narrowing slightly, "Though I am still unable to identify exactly what happened to him."
Another hologram appeared at her behest, revealing the inner-workings of the John Doe. Live feeds showed the beating of his heart, the retraction of his lungs, though a marked difference was immediately noticeable. Threaded across his muscles, interwoven into his organs, even twisting across his bones were thin lines of grey and black almost liquidlike metal, green nodes of light interspersed every couple inches.
"Fascinating." Pym muttered, "It is almost organic in design, and the pathways that it chose while being incredibly invasive don't seem to have done any damage at all."
"Exactly what's so puzzling about it," Simmons attested, "We have never seen a technobiological augmentation like this before. Chitauri augments are several meters ahead of what we are capable of now on our own, whatever this is has outstripped them by thousands of kilometers."
"So it's alien?" Banner asked, "And you believe it is the cause of his 'incidents'?"
"If this is terrestrial, then I have no idea who could have done this to him." Simmons stated, "And we have noticed a correlation between his attacks and this symbol appearing over his heart.
The imagery changed to show a green hourglass.
"But they're more than that, there are implications that the device is what kept him alive until he was found within the Dome, it appears to have mended several broken bones with its own structuring, and I swear I've seen it grow and move within him at random. Then there is...all the implications of his 'attacks' and the forms he turns into, some of which do not coincide with the conservation of mass in the slightest!" Simmons rambled, then blushing slightly as she realized she had begun shouting, "Sorry, it's just so deeply engaging, and so frustrating."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Daisy and Fitz said in unison.
"Jinx, you owe me a soda." the former cried out, pointing at Fitz with a devilish grin.
"Oh come off it, you always want some random drink I have to search half of Manhatten for." Fitz groaned.
"That's right, Cherry-Watermelon Bubble Tea" Daisy said, before turning to the Banner and Pym who were staring at the three friends with bemused looks, "And since I have no completely derailed this briefing, I'm gonna go…"
She let the end of the sentence hang as she exited the room, Fitzsimmons watched her go and then shot each other worried looks.
"She's going to go sit with him again isn't she?" Fitz asked to no one in general.
"Yes," Dr. Pym noted, turning back to the main hologram, "Though I must ask that we return to the matter at hand, I believe Dr. Banner was on the edge of a breakthrough."
"Right," Banner noted rubbing the side of his face tiredly, "As I was saying nothing on Earth as far as we know has the power or intelligence to create a weapon, if it even is a weapon anyway, of this magnitude. Combine that with the revelations Ms. Simmons has made when it comes to our John Doe and the culprit is..."
The manic light in Pym's eyes brightened suddenly, "Extraterrestrials?"
"The truth is out there." Fitz muttered softly, getting a funny look from his colleagues, "What?"
"I still can't believe you tried to make us believe you were dead." Stark admonished, narrowing his eyes at Coulson.
"Two things. One, I really was good as dead for a short while there," Coulson retorted, "And two, Director Fury ordered me to keep my head down."
"Oh, so it was Fury's grand idea, to try and hide you from me." Stark quipped, "Why am I not surprised."
"Tony I-" Coulson began to say before Tony cut him off.
"Don't apologize, Phil, I'm just glad you're alive," Tony muttered sincerely, clapping the older man on the shoulder.
"So am I Stark," Coulson said, returning the gesture.
"So enough sappy stuff." Stark snarked, "How are the shields on the Dome holding up?"
"No problems so far." Coulson answered, "Whatever you and Banner cooked up seems to be keeping the residual radiation contained to the Dome itself."
"Glad to be of service." Stark muttered, absentmindedly snagging a muffin from a nearby Agent, while simultaneously slipping them a five-dollar bill, "Any issues other than the Dome itself."
"Well, obviously the Watch Dogs are on the warpath, calling the Dome an affront to "human purity" Coulson muttered darkly, "They've been engaging our scout teams, and are trying to convince the people not mutated by the Dome to join their cause."
"Great, always loved when Chihuahuas got too big for their britches." Tony joked though the humor didn't reach his eyes, "What about the Enhanced front?"
Coulson let out a long-suffering sigh, "Xavier is working with us for now. We know he doesn't trust the Military, and considering their history I can't really blame him. Fury has gone out of his way to explain that SHIELD is different, but the Professor still has his doubts. He offered to house any Mutants or Inhumans seeking education in their new abilities or just in need of a safe place to stay."
"Understandable." Tony remarked, "What about the Bird Lady and Captain Magnet?"
Coulson smirked slightly, "Miss Peregrine seems to be following the Professor's line of thinking, though she is a bit more cordial thanks to the work you put in helping Dr. McCoy and Pym solve her little time issue. As for Magneto, he's been strangely silent, though that could mean a whole manner of things, none of them good."
Tony touched the comm in his ear, "Friday remind me later to start building an armor devoid of metal."
"Got it, Boss," the AI responded, "Placing it under the designation: Mark 47."
"So anything else I need to worry about?" Tony asked, turning back to Coulson.
"Yes actually, the day after your shields went up we received a letter." Coulson answered, "From an Attilan."
"What did it say?" Tony queried. A commanding voice cut across their conversation as they entered the bridge of the Helicarrier.
"We know and we do not approve." Director Nicholas Fury said, his single eye set in a near-permanent scowl, "But of course whatever this Attilan is, hell even the Dome itself is just the tip of the iceberg."
"You wanted to see me, Nicky?" Tony asked, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Yes, as you might have noticed the world is on the brink," Fury said, pointing towards Dome, "Whatever caused that triggered a change across the entire planet."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked, his eyes widening slightly.
"Pure and simple Stark, 'situation has gone to shit' pretty much sums it all up." Fury stated, "Villains the world over are crawling out of whatever hole we put them in or they hid away in. The Raft has gone silent, STAKE reports something stirring under Scotland and the Zoo is on Red Alert, in fact, Agent Grady why don't you tell Mister Stark what you told me."
A screen popped up revealing a man with dirty-blonde hair and beard, lightly tanned skin and dark brown eyes. He wore a loose-fitting blue collared shirt, a brown leather vest, jeans, and hiking boots. He was standing in what looked like a log cabin and had a rather large rifle hung across his back.
"Right, so like I was telling you Boss, whatever happened in the Bronx has set everyone here on edge and I mean everyone!" Grady explained, "Blue and the girls have been on high alert the entire time and King, well let's just say he is real unhappy at the moment."
"Back to work Agent." Fury said, getting a nod before turning off the screen, "So in short Stark, we are in a dire need."
"A dire need for what," Tony asked, his guard raising slightly.
"The Avengers." Fury responded, his tone deathly serious.
"Daisy Johnson it feels like just yesterday I saw you here, oh wait, no that's right, I did." a kindly voice said, drawing her attention.
Standing before her was a tall man of African American descent, his hair closely shaved to his scalp and his brown eyes glittering with good intent. He was dressed in a yellow-and-black suit with a patch on the right arm of an eagle superimposed over an X.
"Hey, Darwin." Daisy said with a shy smile, "How are you today."
"Can't complain, though I'm gonna be honest I'm kind of hoping this guy wakes up." Darwin answered, "Give me something to do with my time."
"So do you mind if I-?" Daisy asked, gesturing at the door behind him.
"Like I could stop you," Darwin said good-naturedly stepping aside. He quickly plugged in a code that caused the stark-white door to slide upward.
Daisy smiled up at him gratefully, then entered the equally stark-white room. The door slide shut behind her and she looked around the room for what must have been the hundredth time. A small table sat in the corner next to a large couch, above which a large TV hung, the screen showing a pristine beach somewhere in the Caribbean. On the other side of the room was a large queen-sized bed where it's sole occupant rested.
Daisy crossed the room and sat down in the chair perched next to the bed where she had left it the last time she had visited the room's occupant.
"It's not him." Daisy muttered to herself once more, before turning to actually look at the figure before her, "It's not him."
And yet her heart betrayed her as she took in the face of the man who had died not three years ago.
Laying before her was a man who was the spitting image of Lincoln, the only differing factors were the green eyes and green hourglass tattoo on the back of his left hand.
It couldn't be him, and deep, deep down in the most critical part of her mind she knew it but she still felt drawn to him in the vain hope that Lincoln hadn't died that horrible day and that somehow he'd been brought back to her.
A sudden urge struck her out of nowhere. She reached out slowly and pressed the tips of her fingers to the back of the man's palm, directly on top of the green hourglass, and let out a small vibration. There was a flash of green light that blinded her momentarily.
The glow died and with a sudden gasp the man sat up his eyes shining with brilliant emerald light.
Next Time Intrigue, Mystery, Green, oh a whole lot of Green, and more unexpected characters! So yeah this was changed a whole hell of a lot from the original chapter, hope you enjoy it. For reference, the events of this story take place 3 years after the events of the Avengers Movie, though you will notice the next chapter that my version of the movie went down a bit differently, also the Avenger's know Coulson is alive, so that's a plus! If you got any of the references I made to characters outside Marvel Canon, good for you cause like I said this story ain't just gonna be Ben and Marvel folks, I got plans! Also telling you now Ben is not going to be the central focus of this Story, sure he's important but some chapters might not involve him at all at times. VerBeek Signing Off!