THE GAME BEGINS

On a warm, sunny afternoon in Manhattan, the day of the aptly named Contest of Champions has finally arrived. And Peter Parker, fully dressed as Spidey, is swinging from one web-line to the next high above the city streets. As he held on to one web-line with his left hand, the Web-Slinger used his right hand to look at his Avengers ID card and follow a signal leading to the meeting place where the rest of the Avengers were supposed to meet. As the Web-Head then looked straight ahead and was surprised to see that the ID card was leading him...to Madison Square Garden, with a large number of people lining up and with the building's light-screen billboard reading 'CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS: SOLD OUT.' For a moment, Spidey took a moment to stop and perch at a nearby rooftop, and couldn't help but be puzzled by what he saw next, namely that of the Iron Patriot flying towards the Garden and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrior not far behind, which caused the people down below to cheer once they saw them. This caused Spidey a great amount of angst. "Just great," he thought. "The people of the Big Apple, whom I've saved countless times, cheering for that lunatic! Well, no use whining about it, if I'm going to expose Osborn, I need to find the Avengers." With that determined mindset, Spidey looked down at his ID card once more, and upon seeing that the signal was coming from the Garden itself, the Web-Head extending his left hand shot a web-line and swung off to his destination.

Spidey swung down behind the arena and arrived at the building's service entrance, which left Spidey stumped. This was where the signal ended but was a tad curious as to why his teammates would want to meet here. Moments later, however, Spidey received quite a shock when the arm of the right arm belonging to the Black Panther seemed to come out of virtually nowhere, then grabbed the shocked Web-Head's right shoulder and pulled him into the nothingness.

Moments later, Spidey arrived inside a darkened room where he finally met not just the Black Panther, but as well as the rest of the Avengers, both in the original line-up as well as the new.

With all members of the Avengers now accounted for, the Panther soon released the still flabbergasted Spidey. "Welcome, young one. We've been expecting you."

Spidey stood there bewildered for a few seconds before looking around their surroundings confused. "Great, but, uh...where are we?"

Iron Man took this moment to answer Web-Head, though not looking the least bit pleased. "Built-in team capsule with specially made holographic projectors to hide us from the crowd outside," replied the Armored Avenger. "Osborn's idea, because judging from the cheers outside, he wanted to gain all the attention and have the people on his side. Funny, never thought of him as an attention seeking glory hog."

Hawkeye gave Iron Man a skeptic look upon hearing him say that. "Yeah, and you're one to talk.

Iron Man gave Hawkeye a brief glare, but for the sake of keeping the team unified, he held off on retorting, for now at least.

Though usually, Spidey would find humor in moments like this, he still wasn't feeling like his usual upbeat self, given the circumstances. "Okay, please don't remind me of people cheering for Osborn. I'm already trying my hardest not to throw up in my mask just thinking about it. I mean, how is it possible that he managed to get that many people to like him so much?"

Cap could understand Spidey's disgust and thus walked over to him to reassure him. "Don't worry, Spider-Man, just like the outcome of our fight with Serpent Society, the truth will come out. And we will bring out the truth about Osborn after we beat him in his sick game."

Just as before in the mentioned fight with the Serpent Society, Spidey felt inspiration from Cap's words, and thus allowed a smile to appear behind his mask.

It wasn't long before Spidey received further support, but this time from the shrunken Wasp, who flew over to the Web-Head's right shoulder. "And besides, if we can handle some giant planet eating, god-like being, I'm sure we can battle some psycho that stole Tony's robot armor gig."

Upon hearing Wasp bring up the subject of Norman acquiring the Iron Patriot armor was enough to make Iron Man himself roll his eyes behind his faceplate, as well as groan in annoyance. "Thanks for reminding us of that, Jan."

"What are friends for," Wasp replied with a somewhat playful shrug, though she knew it was a sensitive subject for Iron Man and knew that Norman's theft of the Armored Avenger's tech and designs would motivate him.

The next Avenger to speak up is that of Iron Fist, who seemed to be worried as he looked around the room. "Speaking of 'friends' didn't Fury say he was sending us two more people to help us?"

Suddenly, Iron Fist received his answer when what appeared to be two females coming walking through the hologram and into a capsule. As they get into a lighted area, the two females are revealed to be Quake, and the red-headed, black body suit wearing superspy Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as Black Widow.

Naturally, this shocked the Avengers, but none more than Hawkeye, who looked at Natasha, his former partner in S.H.I.E.L.D. with wide open eyes. "Natasha! But I thought...?"

Natasha then walked up to her former partner and placed on top of his mouth to stop him for talking. "Clint, no matter the situation, you know that I'm always willing to help a partner in need." As she moved her hand off of his lips, she gave him a small smile. "Especially a big headed loud mouth like you."

In the rarest of occasions, Hawkeye said nothing. Instead, he just smiled at his old friend and partner, and secretly all the happier to see her.

For Wolverine, however, thus 'mushy stuff' was beginning to be a bit much for him and therefore made him groan in disgust. "Geez, you two need to get a room?

Cap, on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to the gruff X-Man's words, and thus said this to him. "Zip it, Logan."

Quake then approached Cap himself, and upon reaching him, stood in attention as part of her agent protocol, at least when in the presence of the Sentinel of Liberty. "Director Fury sent us to assist you, Captain," she told him trying to sound professional, then smirked as he told him this. "He said for me to tell you...' give them hell.'"

Cap, knowing that only Fury himself would say that, chuckled before answering Quake. "Well, Nick can trust us in that regard."

Spidey, feeling just as determined if not more, clinched his fist tighter as he said this. "When it comes to Osborn, count on it!"

Suddenly, the team's discussion is brought to a halt when they felt the capsule move under the feet, then a high, enthusiastic voice of a male announcer says: "Ladies and gentlemen...!"

This caused the Avengers to stand ready, and while not showing it, a nervous Iron Man took a deep breath and pounded his armored fists together as he told this to his teammates. "Showtime."

Meanwhile, inside the massive stadium, a sea of humanity composing of approximately seventy thousand cheering fans filled in the Garden's many seats as the watched a giant round metal platform with a large screen up above for everyone to see, and the announcer, a tall, black-haired, skinny Caucasian man in his mid-forties with a broad chin, is at the center of the platform with microphone in hand and with his face on the screen. "Are you ready to see which team of superheroes is truly worthy of calling themselves as 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes?!" he said to the crowd in a loud, excited tone, letting the crowd give him a loud, almost deafening roar as their answer. "All right then, New York, without further delay, let's begin...THE CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS! Suddenly, lights dimmed down as many fireworks, and pyro start exploding on stage, all with the song 'Champions' from Kevin Rudolf playing the speakers throughout the entire Garden. Once the pyro finally stopped, and as the lights lit back up, with the people still cheering so loud, the announcer could barely hear himself think.

Among the many people in attendance was that of Gwen Stacy, who watched the even from a skybox, courtesy of her boyfriend, Harry Osborn, who is also participating in the tournament as the Scarlet Spider, giving her a place to cheer him on. But for Gwen herself, this was no joyous occasion, for as she sat in her seat, she silently hoped and prayed that Harry wouldn't get himself hurt, and more importantly, not hurt anyone else.

Finally, after a few minutes, the announcer once again took center stage. "All right, before we get things underway, let's meet our two opposing teams of heroes! First up, the team who, in the past, have saved the world from villains, terrorist, and even gods! Give it up for New York City's very own...THE AVENGERS!"

With the song 'Fight as One' by Bad City booming through the arena, the capsule soon reappeared out of nowhere, then splits open and revealed the Avengers, who are soon welcomed by a roaring crowd. A reception which made the usually cynical Hawkeye smile just a little. "You know," said the archer. "A guy can get used to this."

The event was not just seen by the people in the Garden either, for this event was also being televised throughout not only New York but throughout the entire globe! And among the millions of viewers watching this even was that of J. Jonah Jameson, who watched the event with the senior members of his in his office with a TV on his desk, and with Jameson himself looking grumpier as always upon seeing Spider-Man and the Avengers being cheered. "Robbie!" Jonah barked. "Do we have any of our people down there?"

"Sure, Jonah, both Peter, and Betty are covering this," Robbie replied, hoping that this answer will bring his spirits up a little bit.

Though he was pleased to hear that two of his people were on the scene, Jonah still had a bitter scowl on his face and crossed his arms as he turned back to the TV. "Well, Parker better not be screwing up in getting pictures!"

Back in the Garden, Spidey looked out at the cheering, and could feel a rush of energy course through his body, he looked down and got a surprise when he saw both Betty...AND Peter Parker taking pictures?! This was enough to shock Spidey and thus prompt him to elbow Iron Man to get his attention. "Uh, Iron Man, why is Peter Parker, a.k.a. ME, doing there?!"

Iron Man turned to see what Spidey meant and thus turned to see the 'other' Peter Parker in the crowd. "Oh, that! That's a life model decoy. I asked fury to have that made for you to protect identity. And you're welcome, by the way."

Though Spidey was thankful that Iron Man made an effort to maintain his secret identity, he still couldn't help but be a little unnerving to see a robot with his likeness out in the crowd.

Back in the skybox, Gwen was looking through a pair of binoculars given to her by her father and used them in trying to see if she can try and find Harry, but instead spotted the Peter Parker decoy in the crowd. Though initially surprised, she realized that the Bugle probably sent him down to the Garden to take pictures of the tournament. But even though she didn't know that it was a robotic double, witnessing it's likeness to Peter still made her heart race.

Meanwhile, back down on the platform, the announcer turned and addressed the crowd once again. "And now, introducing the second team! The group of the once mysterious heroes who showed up out of nowhere, and deliver lightning-fast justice to the crooks known as the Zodiac and the enthusiastic flagship team of the new bill that is promised to be a new stage of heroes...THE THUNDERBOLTS!"

With the speakers now playing Thunderstruck by AC/DC, the roof of the arena soon opened up, and moments later, the Iron Patriot comes hovering down to the stage, and the rest of the Thunderbolts come skydiving out of the helocarrier and all land on the platform to join their armored leader, all soaking in the cheering from the crowd.

After watching the Iron Patriot and his team arrive, Iron Man grew more and more irritable, feeling that his armored counterpart was stealing his entrance. "Keep pushing, Norman! Just keep pushing!"

With the opposing teams now introduced, the announcer once again turned to the crowd. "And now with our players introduced, let's see who will face who in the thirty-second finals!" Just then, the large central screen soon switched it's image to that of tournament brackets with thirty-two blank namespaces and with the label that read '32 Finals.' A split second later, a small compartment opened up in front of the announcer and up came a ball spinning cage, as well as a beautiful blonde hair female model in a shining dress standing right next to the handle. "As you can see," the announcer explained. "Inside this cage are balls that have numbers that will help us out on who will face each other in the beginning matches. And to decide which team will start things off, we will have..." The announcer then reached in his right pocket and pulled out a coin, one that was the same size as a silver dollar but was gold and that the Avengers' 'A' symbol on one side and the Thunderbolts' lightning bolt symbol on the other. "A coin toss! Now, I'm going to have to ask everyone to stand clear!"

Everyone present, both Avenger and Thunderbolt, did as instructed, and moments later, the announcer flipped the coin and allowed it to drop and land on the stage floor. Afterward, the announcer took a look and saw that the side that coin landed was that of the 'A' symbol. "The Avengers get the first turn folks!" This announcement caused the audience to go while, so much so that the announcer had to wait for the crowd to simmer down for a good full minute before he continues with the procedure. Once the crowd calmed down, the announcer turned to the model and gave her a nod, causing her to spin the cage for a few seconds then stopping, allowing the announcer himself to turn to Cap himself. "Captain America, since you are team leader, would you be so kind as to take the first number?"

Cap gave the announcer a respectful, but dutiful nod in compliance, then walked over to the cage, to which the model opened the small door for him, then reached in the cage and pulled out a ball that had the number twenty-nine printed on it.

The announcer soon glanced at the ball, and upon seeing the number, he looks back at the crowd that was oozing with anticipation. "Number twenty-nine, folks!" he said excited, causing the crowd to cheer. "Captain America has the twenty-ninth spot in the thirty-second finals!" Sure enough, the brackets on the large screen soon placed Cap's name on the said twenty-ninth spot. "Thank you, Captain," said the announcer, which earned him both a small smile and nod from the Super Soldier as he walked off and rejoined his teammates. Moments later, the still enthusiastic announcer turned his attention to the Thunderbolts, more specifically, their leader. "All right, next up is the Iron Patriot!"

With a smirk behind his faceplate, the Iron Patriot walked over to the cage to reach in and pull out one of the balls, silently looking forward to taking the Avengers apart one by one.

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of a desert, the Hulk is now leaping across the dry landscape, only to stop when he comes across the ruins of the now destroyed and deserted supervillain prison, the Cube. The sight of this destroyed complex that once held him captive only made the Hulk let out a snort. "Some super prison that turned out to be. But whoever tried to blow me up is gonna get far worse!" Just as the Hulk was about to jump up and be on his way, what appeared to be a fiery ball came falling from the sky, then smashed into the Jade Giant himself, creating a loud sonic boom and a massive cloud of dust. Once the dust settled, the Hulk is then being hurled into the air and crashing into a giant boulder, causing it to shatter and tumble down on him, leaving the Green Goliath buried under tons of solid rock. However, it wasn't long before a roaring Hulk came bursting out of the rubble but later went down on one knee as he looked straight ahead, the Hulk and saw what just landed in front of him, as well as what tossed him around like a rag doll.

It was that of the equally massive, red skinned, yellow-eyed behemoth that was once the respected soldier, General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt Ross, but was now known as the Red Hulk, and stood there grinning, pounding his fists together in anticipation on exacting his revenge on his green nemesis. "Hello there, Banner. Miss me?"

Back in New York, most of the Avengers and Thunderbolts have already picked their numbers and names were placed on the brackets of the screen. All that remained now were two of each teams' 'spiders,' Spidey and the Scarlet Spider. As they stared across each other, both had different feelings. For Spidey, it was pity for his friend, Harry Osborn, as he wore the symbiotic suit, making him more aggressive, as well as a test subject for his father's sick ambition, and wanting even more to help him. While the Scarlet Spider looked at Spidey with pure hatred, eagerly waiting for the chance to face him personally and make him pay for what he not only did to his father but on how he and Gwen, in his mind, attempted to stab him in the back.

Nevertheless, the proceedings of the number placing continued, with the announcer now turning his attention to the Avengers. "Next up is...Spider-Man!"

Spidey was so focused at his delusional best friend that he wasn't even paying attention to the proceedings, or even the announcer calling out his name. It took Cap walked over and tapping Spidey in his shoulder that brought him out of his senses. "Go ahead, son, your up," said Cap in a serious tone.

"Huh? Oh, right," Spidey replied upon being brought back to reality, then made his way to the which, which by now had only two balls left. Upon approaching the cage, he reached inside the open door, then grabbed and pulled out one of the balls, which, to his surprise, turned out to have number one!"

The announcer spotted this and thus turned to the crowd with a smile. "And the Spectacular Spider-Man has taken the number one spot!" he said to the cheering crowd, and the Web-Head's name is put on top of the brackets, with the Scarlet Spider's name being placed in the number twelve spot.

This development, however, didn't sit too well with Spidey himself, who looked at this with a worried and slightly distressed expression. "I'm...going first. Wonderful. Apparently, with great power comes even more pressure not to let your friends down!"

Meanwhile, the announcer still went on addressing the crowd. "And with the Scarlet Spider taking the twelfth spot, we now have our line up for the 32 Finals! And they are...!"

MATCH 1: SPIDER-MAN VS. MAGUS

MATCH 2: WOLVERINE VS. SILVER SAMURAI

MATCH 3: IRON FIST VS. BATROC THE LEAPER

MATCH 4: VISION VS. SURGE

MATCH 5: HAWKEYE VS. TWO-GUN KID

MATCH 6: ANT-MAN VS. SCARLET SPIDER

MATCH 7: WASP VS. SONGBIRD

MATCH 8: YELLOWJACKET VS. ATLAS

MATCH 9: LUKE CAGE VS. MOLTEN MAN

MATCH 10: BLACK PANTHER VS. SWORDSMAN

MATCH 11: MS. MARVEL VS. MOONSTONE

MATCH 12: NATASHA ROMANOFF VS. YELENA BELOVA

MATCH 13: THOR VS. SKURGE THE EXECUTIONER

MATCH 14: IRON PATRIOT VS. QUAKE

MATCH 15: CAPTAIN AMERICA VS. CITIZEN V

And finally, MATCH 16: IRON MAN VS. MACH IV

The crowd went wile with the matches now being made official. Once the cheering calmed down, two more models came onto the stage, wheeling trays that contained strange belts with glowing belt buckles. With one model brought one tray to the Avengers, and the other rolling the other to the Thunderbolts, the announcer took the stage once again. "Participants, if you'll please pass around and put on these belts please."

As the members of both teams did as instructed, the announcer continued to talk as two spotlights shine on two smaller, circular pads. "Now, once our participants put on their belts, two fighters, each representing their respected teams, will step onto the teleportation pads and will be transported to designated fighting locations around the globe," at this point, the large screen showed cities such as Paris, England, Japan, etc., and with specific places in these cities having floating pods being connected by long glowing, rope-like lights, almost as if they were futuristic fighting rings. "Once they arrive at these spots, the objective for each participant is to hit or destroy the opponent's belt buckle, all while in the view of the Ref Bot!" Once the announcer mentioned this, a small, white floating, almost capsule-like designed robot with black stripes comes hovering in. "For with its specially-installed camera, we, as well as the people in attendance, and the millions of people watching around the world will be watching and can determine the winner of each match! However, bare this in mind! Each combatant is to use their powers to destroy the belt buckle, and NEVER to kill your opponent. Also, No combatant is to do any harm to the ref bot, nor are they to step out of the specially made ring ropes in your battle zone. Failure to comply with these rules will result in an automatic disqualification. Are there any questions from both teams?"

Both the Avengers and the Thunderbolts all remained silent, indicating that they understood the rules.

"Well then, without further adieu," said the announcer. "LET THE CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS BEGIN!" With that declaration, the crowd went wild once again, and thus the announcer turned his attention to the participants of the first match: Spidey and Magus. "Spider-Man, Magus, if you'll both come up to the teleportation pads so we can go ahead and get this show on the road!"

And so, Spidey lets out a nervous sigh before turning to his teammates. "Well, wish me luck," he told them with a small smile behind his mask, then turned, walked over to and stepped on top of the teleportation pad, while Magus was already standing on his. Afterward, both Spidey and Magus began to glow, and a split second later, they vanished out of sight.

Upon witnessing both Spidey and Magnus disappear, a hopeful Cap only thought this. "Good luck, soldier."