The Wrong Kind of Friends

An Asari news anchor took a few deep breaths as the crew in the newsroom got into position for when they come on the air. After the camera man gave the signal, she instantly smiled as she looked directly into the camera. "Good evening everyone, I'm Neema Veri'tivas and welcome to Citadel News. Our main topic today is, well, what everyone's favorite topic is. The famous individuals that have been making headway in the Citadel for almost an entire month now, the Avengers."

Holoscreens appeared beside her that showed videos and images of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Erik performing heroic feats. Each one showed the Avengers using their unique skills and showed them leaving the scene after they were done with their task.

"These unique individuals have made a name for themselves as the Citadel's resident vigilantes, protecting civilians in the Wards and in the Presidium. People are baffled by how they are able to use their unique skills, but are very grateful that they're using them to help." Neema said before the camera zoomed out to show Emily Wong on her left and a Salerian sitting on her right. "Today's segment will go differently as we two guests with their own opinions on these individuals. Our very own news reporter Emily Wong..."

"Glad to be here, Neema." Emily said with a smile.

"...and C-Sec intelligence officer, Pentavo." Neema said gesturing to the Salerian.

"A pleasure." Pentavo said with a nod.

"Now you two have very differing opinions on the matter we are discussing, and I think it would be great for you to share and debate them for our viewing audience." Neema said before gesturing for Emily to start. "Why don't you go first Ms. Wong."

"Thanks, Neema. I for one have seen first-hand the impact these Avengers had on us, and I am very grateful for them." Emily said as a holoscreen showed the aftermath of the hostage situation she covered, with grateful Turians, Asari, Salerian, and Volus looking grateful at the retreating heroes. "They managed to save so many lives in such a short amount of time that they deserve the moniker of what everyone's calling them. Heroes."

"Saving lives on the Citadel is the job of C-Sec." Pentavo interjected. "While these Avengers, as they call themselves, have done good work, they done so in an unlawful way. Vigilantism should not be tolerated, no matter how skilled an individual is. The only ones permitted to do so are the Spectres, and that's only because the Council permits it so."

"Really?" Emily said with skeptic eyebrow raised.

/

"From where I'm sitting, the Avengers have done good work, more so than what any Spectre is capable of."

A skycar raced across the sky of the Citadel with three C-Sec vehicles hot on their tail. A hatch opened up on the side of the skycar being chased, to reveal a human with a rifle in his hands and started firing at the pursuing C-Sec, causing them to swerve out of the way. The one holding the rifle cheered in victory and would have continued firing, but his weapon was yanked right out of his hands by what looked like a spiderweb thread.

Spider-Man appeared suddenly when he landed right on top of the moving skycar, and then grabbed the back of the crook with one hand and simply tossed him off to the side. The crook screamed in fright as he thought he was about to fall to his death, but that didn't happen as he felt himself land right on top of something and he couldn't move. He looked down and saw that he was sprawled out on what looked like a large spiderweb and he couldn't move.

Back with the chase, Spider-Man hopped right on top of the front of the skycar, where the engine was, and a punched a hole right through it. This caused the skycar to lose power and it started to plummet out of the sky. Down below, many of the civilians ceased their activities and looked up to see the descending vehicle falling right towards them, causing them to scream in fright as they scrambled to get out of the way.

Spider-Man thought fast and leapt off the skycar while firing multiple web globs on the side, which exploded and connected between two buildings, creating a large spiderweb. The skycar crashed into the web, and while the webs stretched a bit and came close to touching the ground, the net held strong returned back to it's original position. The onlookers looked up in awe as they saw the skycar hanging up in the air caught in a spiderweb, like a fly in the wild and the C-Sec vehicles coming by and stopped right next to the trapped vehicle.

They looked off to the side and saw Spider-Man swinging away, causing them all to clap and cheer for the hero on a job well done. Spider-Man looked back at the crowd and gave a two-fingered salute to the crowd.

"How many incidents have occurred where the Avengers helped save lives with absolutely no civilian casualties whatsoever? I get that Spectres help save lives, but how many times have they sacrificed a few civilians in order to accomplish their tasks. These Avengers never sacrificed anyone to do the things they do."

/

"While I may not condone all of the actions of a Spectre, they still follow orders of a specific governing body, and that is the Council. Because of that, there is some level of control."

In an alley, away from prying eyes, two Krogans were meeting with a single human. The human opened the back trunk of his parked skycar to reveal a plethora of various heavy-duty weapons, such as grenades, heavy rifles, and rocket launchers. The Krogan looked please with the merchandise as they were about to give the human a good sum of money for the weapons, but paused when they heard something impact the ground behind them. They looked back and saw that it was a sword stuck into the ground, but then they became shocked when they saw Erik jumping down from up top a building and landed right next to the sword.

Erik stretched out his arms for a bit before he grabbed his sword and got in a fighting stance, continuing to smirk at the stunned Krogan and human. The Krogan growled both fired their weapons at the demigod, but he spun his sword like a helicopter blade to deflect all the bullets fired at him. Erik then charged at the Krogan with his enhanced speed that they didn't have time to react.

When he got close, Erik backhanded one Krogan and sent him crashing into the wall. The other Krogan tried shooting him with his shotgun, but Erik sliced it in half with his sword and punched the Krogan right into the wall. The other Krogan got back up and tried to punch Erik in the face, but the hero managed to catch the punch with ease and kneed him in the stomach. The Krogan grunted in pain and keeled over, but Erik grabbed him by the back of his armor and tossed him right into his partner, who was just getting back up, and knocked both of them out.

Erik looked back and smirked at the human dealer, who looked at the scene with absolute fright. He rushed back into the driver's seat of his vehicle and drove off, preparing to take off into the air. Erik wasn't about to let him as he jumped up into the air and landed on top of the vehicle before it could lift up into the air. Erik stabbed his sword into the front part of the skycar before running along the hull of the vehicle, while dragging his sword through it. This caused the sword to cut through the metal of the skycar like a knife to butter.

Erik leapt up off the skycar and back onto the street as he watched the vehicle crash back into the street with it being cut completely in half. The human criminal stumbled his way out of the cut up vehicle, but before he could even think of trying to escape, Erik came in and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and head-butted him, knocking him unconscious.

Erik looked around and noticed some onlookers gazing at him in shock and awe before he gave a smile and slight wave. He twirled his sword a bit before thrusting it up and took off into the air, just when C-Sec officers came into the scene.

"As far as any of us can tell, these Avengers answer to no government, as Ambassador Udina has gone on record to the Council saying that humanity itself was unaware the of these individuals, which means that there is no control of their actions. This not only poses as a danger to themselves, but to all civilians that are in danger of their reckless actions. How long before their luck runs out and they end up injuring an innocent bystander because of their so-called 'heroics?'"

/

"Oh please, Pentavo, you're talking like these guys are gung-ho mercenaries with no moral compass and endanger everyone around them."

A Volus shop keeper just finished making a sale to another happy customer, but when he went to greet the next one, he was held up at gunpoint by a couple of Turians, who were demanding his money. The Volus raised one of his hands as he reached to grab the money, but then something surprising happened.

Red energy chains wrapped themselves around the two Turians from behind and yanked back away from the shop vendor, causing them to drop their guns. The two criminals looked up and saw Doctor Strange floating down and landed in front of them, while giving them a hard look as he created Tao Mandalas in both his hands.

The Turians got up and tried to attack Strange in hand-to-hand combat, but the sorcerer parried each of their punches with his Mandala's and delivered a couple quick jabs in return, pushing them back a couple of paces. When one tried to charge at him, Strange created a magical whip and lassoed his legs, causing him to trip and fall on his back. The second Turian tried to attack him, but Vince was quick enough to open a portal beneath the criminal's feet and have him fall in. A second portal opened up right above the first downed Turian, causing the second one to fall from the portal above, and accidentally body slamming his partner.

With both crooks down for the count, Vince gave a look towards the Volus shop vendor, and all though he could not see his expression under his suit, he could tell that he looked at him gratefully. Vince gave a slight nod before flying off and disappeared, leaving the Volus in awe.

"Yes, these Avengers have great power that we can't begin to understand, but they use that power to help all those in need. It's not just limited to humans, they help everyone. In my opinion, I have a word on how to describe people like that...heroes."

/

"That is well within your right to believe, Miss Wong, but it doesn't change the fact that these Avengers have the potential to become dangerous without proper control of their actions." Pentavo said calmly, yet still stubbornly.

"I say they have plenty of control already. Maybe you're just making excuses because they've been doing a better job taking out criminals than what C-Sec has ever done." Emily said with a smirk, causing Pentavo to glare at her.

"Do you have to keep watching this?" Vince asked as he sat with his friends at a table in a bar.

Currently the three Avengers were hanging out at this place called Flux. It was a pretty big bar with a dance floor on the bottom level and a casino in the upper level. The three of them met up here because Garrus called them up and said he had some important information he needed to relay to them. As they sat down and had their drinks, majority of the onlookers gazed at them in awe, as they did not expect to see some of the most talked about people in the entire Citedel just lazy it about like ordinary people.

Ben was currently watching the latest news on, what else, themselves, on the holoscreen from his Omni-tool as he's been doing every once in a while. "What? It's important to watch all this so that way we know what the public's opinion on us is." Ben pointed out.

"Yeah, that is important." Erik said sarcastically as he took a sip from his drink and smirked at Ben. "You know, the last time the Avengers cared about public opinion it started that whole 'civil war' which, by the way, your dad was a part of."

"Thanks, rub it in, why don't you." Ben grumbled as he glared at Erik, who just continued smirking.

Vince was about to take a drink, but paused when an Asari walked and smiled bashfully at him. "Can I help you?" Vince asked politely.

"Well...I was just...would you like to dance?" The Asari asked shyly as she gazed at him and at the dance floor.

Vince was a little stunned by that question and looked towards his companions, who just smirked at him and gave him a couple sly looks, wondering what he was going to do.

Vince gave a slight cough before looking back at her. "I'm sorry, but I'm not much of a dancer." Vince said, letting her down gently.

The Asari looked down sadly before giving a small apologetic smile. "Oh, sorry for bothering you then." She said before walking off.

Vince watched her go before sighing and looking back at the others, who gave him deadpanned looks. "What?" Vince asked.

"Man, you seriously need to work on social interaction." Ben said while shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? I interact with you and the rest of our team just fine." Vince pointed out.

"Yeah, because we practically knew each other back when we were in diapers." Erik retorted. "That was a beautiful woman back there, even if she was an alien, and you could've at least danced with her."

"What I need to do is figure out a way for us to get back home. We can't become too attached to this universe as it isn't our's." Vince argued.

"Suit yourself, man." Ben said with a shrug. "Just saying it wouldn't hurt to have a social life."

"Any idea when Garrus is supposed to get here." Vince said, trying to get their minds back on track.

"Somebody say my name?" Garrus said as he walked up and took a seat at their table. "Sorry I'm late, I had to take care of a few reports back at C-Sec."

"So what's up?" Ben asked.

"You remember those thugs during that hostage situation?" Garrus asked as he typed away something on his Omni-tool.

"Oh yeah, from our big debut." Erik said with a fond smile as he leaned back in his chair. "That was a good day."

"Why are you talking like that? It was only a few weeks ago." Vince said while rolling his eyes.

"Listen, while I was working yesterday I noticed that the names of one of those thugs sounded familiar, so I pulled his records." Garrus said as screen appeared from his. Omni-tool to show the mugshot picture of a man with brownish-blonde glaring at the camera. "The guy's name is Donovan Zane."

"He looks like a ray sunshine." Ben said sarcastically.

"We took down a lot of crooks at that tower, what makes this guy so special?" Erik asked curiously.

"Because years ago I lead an investigation on him for being a member of this group known as the Friends of Humanity." Garrus answered.

"The who?" Vince asked in confusion.

"They're a group of zealous humans who believe humanity to be the superior species in the galaxy." Garrus answered as the screen showed old videos of various humans protesting across the Citadel. "Some humans haven't gotten over the First Contact War, but these ones take it to a whole new level. They're an alien hate group that make it their sole purpose to try and make humanity the dominant species, with excessive force most of the time."

"And they're still around to this day?" Ben asked which Garrus nodded in reply. "Why hasn't C-Sec, I don't know, arrest all of them yet?"

"We've arrested some before, but they keep popping up out of the shadows with no end in sight. It wasn't until five years ago that their antics ceased, so the majority of C-Sec believed they had disbanded." Garrus explained.

"That would explain the attitude of some of those cronies back at the tower." Vince guessed as he remembered their attitude with their hostages and how eager they wanted to kill them. "All of them were human and they only took alien hostages."

"But why would they show up now of all times?" Erik asked curiously. "If they stayed hidden for five years, what caused them to show themselves."

"I don't know. I tried taking a crack at interrogating Donovan, but he's completely denying everything. He says that it was just a simple heist, but I have my doubts." Garrus said.

"If it is these Friends of Humanity that caused it, then there's a possibility they could strike again." Vince said while sharing a troubled look with his friends.

"So how are we going to find them if they've hidden themselves for five years?" Ben asked.

Garrus looked down in thought as he was having trouble thinking of answer, but then his eyes lit up when he had an idea. "I think I might know a way." Garrus said as he got up and walked to the exit, with the others following. "Let's go. I'll drive."

"Where are we going?" Ben asked in confusion.

"To the bank." Garrus answered simply.

"What?" The three Avengers asked at the same time in confusion.

/

Garrus drove his skycar along the Presidium with Erik in the seat next to him and Ben and Vince in the back seats.

"You guys are new to our universe so I'm pretty sure you're unaware of someone called the Shadow Broker." Garrus said.

"You'd be correct on that." Vince said.

"Pretty cool name though." Ben said.

"The Shadow Broker is someone who deals in information and sells it to the highest bidder." Garrus explained.

"What kind of information?" Erik asked curiously.

"Every kind. He deals in information trade of all kind, from various top-secret projects of military organizations to the dirty little secrets politicians try to hide in their closets." Garrus explained. "There is not a single secret out there that the Shadow Broker doesn't know about."

"Which means he might know where these Friends of Humanity might be hiding." Ben said in realization. "So that's where we're going? To see this Shadow Broker?"

"No one has ever seen the Shadow Broker." Garrus quickly debunked. "On top of being the forerunner in information trade, the Shadow Broker is keen on never being seen. No one knows what he, or she, looks like. Hell, some theorize that it's multiple individuals to help keep track on all the information they trade in. Politicians even ask the Shadow Broker for dirt on their political competitors or anyone who can compromise their campaign."

"And you allow this person, or possibly multiple people, operate in such a dangerous trade?" Vince asked in a slight edged tone. "If the wrong information leaks, then it could have serious consequences."

"I admit, the Shadow Broker can be dangerous if you cross them in any way, but he's a necessary evil." Garrus reasoned. "They've helped C-Sec and the military take down some very bad people we wouldn't have gotten to on our own."

"So if we're not going to meet the Shadow Broker, then who are we meeting up with?" Erik asked curiously.

"One of his agents." Garrus answered as he parked his skycar down close to the Presidium Emporium and they all exited the vehicle. "How the Shadow Broker gains information is mostly through his spy network that ranges all across the galaxy. This one is a Volus named Barla Von, and he's a financial advisor that a lot of high-end diplomats love to hire to launder some money off the books."

"Since he works for this Shadow Broker, I can assume he's one of those 'shady business dealers' type of people?" Ben asked.

"Yes and no." Garrus answered, confusing the heroes. "He's not doing anything illegal, officially I mean. He's just really adept on noticing the loopholes in a contract."

"So where do we find this guy?" Vince asked as they entered the Emporium, earning a few surprised looks from everyone inside.

"Follow me." Garrus said as they walked towards a side door and entered. They walked down a long hallway for a bit before coming across a work desk at the end of the hallway where a Volus was working from behind it. "Barla Von, it's me."

Barla Von looked up and finally noticed the C-Sec detective. "Ah, Garrus Vakarian, to what do I..." Von stopped speaking when he noticed the three individuals behind the Turian, and all though his face was hidden, one could tell that he was surprised. "Oh my, you're keeping some interesting company lately, Vakarian." Barla got up from behind the desk and walked up to the heroes, holding out his hand. "Barla Von, at your service, Avengers."

"Nice to meet you." Ben said shaking his hand, followed up by the rest of his teammates.

"I'm sorry to say, but this isn't a social visit, Von." Garrus said, wanting to get down to business. "I'm here to call in that favor you owe me."

"Let me guess, you're here about the Friends of Humanity." Barla Von stated, surprising everyone.

"How'd you know that?" Erik asked in surprise.

"My work in finances is more of a hobby, my friend." Von said as he walked back behind his desk. "Information gathering is my true passion."

"And selling them for a profit to the Shadow Broker." Vince pointed out.

"It's a living." Von said simply before getting back to business. "I heard about the tower situation not that long ago and my sources have confirmed that the Friends of Humanity were involved, but something tells me that you already knew that."

"We're hoping you might be able to tell us where there hideout might be." Ben said.

"Let me see..." Von said as he typed away at his terminal. "It appears that there's 'unofficially' been some strange activity up in the warehouse districts of the Wards. Could be the lead you're looking for."

"Thanks, Von. Let's go you guys." Garrus said as he and his friends made their way to the exit.

"Do come again next time, Avengers. Maybe next time we can make another business arrangement together." Barla Von offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks. We prefer our privacy." Ben said as he and the others made their way out of the room.

"When it comes to the Shadow Broker, there is no privacy." Barla Von said to himself as typed away on his terminal.

/

The group of heroes, plus one detective, soon made it to the warehouse district that Barla Von pointed them to, and were lying low on top of a building across from their target. All of the Avengers were in their hero uniforms and laid on their stomachs, with Garrus looking through the scope of his sniper rifle to get a closer look at the area.

"Yep, something is definitely going on there." Garrus said simply.

"How do you figure?" Ben asked. Garrus moved to the sides in order to allow Ben to see through the scope next. Ben saw a bunch of human workers walking along the warehouse, either checking some containers or looking through their Omni-tools. "I'm confused, what's so suspicious about this."

"Working at C-Sec for awhile, I know posture, and these guys do not have the posture of the average working man. They constantly walk like their expecting a fight any moment now." Garrus said as he looked back through the scope again. "They also carry some military grade sidearms with them. Those aren't the type of guns you buy for just self defense."

"So it's meant to look like everything's normal on the outside..." Erik started to say.

"While the inside hides away their true intentions." Vince finished.

"We'll have to stealthily take out the guys on the outside, so they don't alert everyone on the inside." Garrus said.

"Good thing 'stealthy' is my middle name." Ben said as he got up and was prepared to swing off.

"I thought your middle name was Ned." Vince said with a slight smirk, causing Garrus to chuckle slightly.

"'Stealthy' is my middle name in spirit." Ben said before he swung off towards the warehouse.

"Yeah, we should probably give him a hand." Erik said as Vince created a magic platform for all of them to stand and silently float down towards the warehouse.

Silence was all there was around the warehouse as the disguised workers continued to stand watch and pretend to do something in case any onlookers came by and looked at them. One worker just walked along the side of the warehouse, just whistling a tune, before he felt something tug on his back and he was a yanked into the air. He slammed right in the side of the warehouse, but before he could hit even begin to fall to the ground, his entire body was webbed up to the wall with his mouth gagged with web to keep him from screaming to his friends.

Spider-Man crawled up beside him and place a finger where his lips were. "Shhhh." The hero leapt to the ground and slowly continued his stealth work.

Spider-Man hopped on top of a crate and looked down to see a disguised worker walking by, before launching a web line on his face and yanking him up onto the crate. He punched him in the face before he can shout out to his buddies, knocking him unconscious, and webbing him to the crate for good measure.

In another part of the area, two disguised workers just walked along and talked to each other. "So, you think we'll be making a move soon?" One of them asked.

"Unclear. After the last failure at the tower, we taking a more cautious approach." The other guy said.

"Can't believe how things went so bad for them." The guy said in anger. "We're supposed to be doing a good deed for our people, yet those freaks are the ones seen as heroes."

"I know what you mean." His friend said, just as angry. "The way those...those 'freaks' can do what they do. They may not look like us, but they're not human."

All of a sudden, Erik jumped in right behind the two of them and slammed their heads against each other, knocking them out. "Well, when it comes to me, you're only half right." Erik said with a smirk before jumping up on top of a crate and made his way to take a few more down.

Another disguised worker continued his patrol, but Garrus came in from behind and wrapped him in a sleeper hold until he was unconscious, then Garrus dragged him away so he wouldn't be seen. One disguised worker though he heard something, but as he was about to check on it a portal opened up beneath his feet causing him to fall in, allowing Vince to step out of the shadows.

It went on like this for a few minutes, with each of the Avengers and Garrus sneaking up and silently taking down each of the disguised criminals. Erik and Garrus would come in from behind and put anyone they came behind in a sleeper. Vince would just silently create magical energy gag on one crook and silently take him out with a jab to the head. Spider-Man perched himself on top of a crane and launched a couple of web lines on a couple of crooks, lifting them up in the air and cocooning them while leaving them hanging.

Pretty soon, every disguised criminal on the outside had been taken care of. The group of four made their way to a small door and Garrus attempted to open it, but the holographic lock flashed red, indicating it couldn't be opened like that.

"Damn it. The door is encrypted." Garrus cursed in frustration. "We'll have to find another way in."

"Not to worry my fine Turian friend. Allow me." Spider-Man said as he knelt down and activated his Omni-tool. "I've picked up a few things while living in this futuristic universe."

"You think you can hack this door?" Vince asked.

"Morgan, her dad, and my own dad are some of the smartest minds on our Earth, and I'd like to think I'm no slouch either." Spider-Man said as the lenses in his mask narrowed in concentration as he typed away on his Omni-tool. "Almost there...and...voila!" The lock on the door turned green before the door opened and Spider-Man gave a dramatic bow. "Open sesame."

"Well, color me impressed." Garrus said with a smirk as he and the others walked through the door.

The walked through a hallway for a brief moment before they entered through another door and came up to some kind of control room with a window view of the entire inside of the warehouse. The group looked down from the window and saw what these guys wanted to keep secret.

The inside was filled with over three dozen humans and they were doing various tasks. There was a group of them that were in a shooting range and testing out various military grade weapons from sidearms to rifles. There was another group that looked like they were doing inventory on all the weapons in stock and were even counting up a crate full of grenades. The final group was at the center of the warehouse and they were looking over some blueprints sprawled out across a table and were talking about something.

The thing that stood out the most, however, was that the walls were aligned with banners with the letter 'FOH' in a triangular fashion.

"Yep, I'd say this is the place." Erik noted.

"They were right here this whole time, and we were none the wiser." Garrus said to himself, wishing that he'd had continued his investigation into these people all those years ago. Maybe he would have them sooner before they became this well organized and dangerous.

"So how do you want to play this?" Vince asked.

"We could always try stealth again." Spider-Man suggested.

"Hey!"

The group looked to the side and saw one of the Friends of Humanity agents staring at them in shock as he stood outside a doorway on the side of the control room. The crook raised his sidearm and was about to shoot them, but Erik dashed forward and instantly raised his arm up and slammed him into the wall.

BANG!

This, however, caused the shot to hit the roof, causing the sound to echo throughout the entire warehouse, catching the attention of every one of the criminals inside. The moment they looked up into the control room viewing window and spotted the group of heroes, they all scrambled around and grabbed their weapons.

"Looks like stealth is out of the question." Erik said as he threw the FOH agent he had pinned against the wall right through the viewing window, causing the glass the shatter, and the criminal to crash into one of the tables down below.

That was the final straw as all of the FOH opened fire on the control room. Vince used one hand to create a magic barrier to protect him and his friends from the incoming bullets, while his free hand created a portal that led to the lower levels of the warehouse, flanking the group of FOH agents. The group made their way through the portal and appeared right behind the FOH, much to their surprise, and began the assault.

Spider-Man delivered a spin kick to the heads on a couple of FOH agents, knocking them out, and uppercut one coming at him in the chin. One was about to shoot at him with a rifle, but Spider-Man shot a web line and yanked the rifle out of his hands, twirled it around for a second, before tossing at another FOH agent and hitting him in the head. The one whose weapon was taken from rushed at Spider-Man and tried to punch him, but Spider-Man simply lifted him up on his shoulder, tossed him into the air, and fired two web lines at his chest and slammed him into the ground.

Doctor Strange created a Tao Mandala in his hands in the shape of a fan and tossed it in the air, causing it to spin rapidly and hit every FOH agent near him in a circular direction. He caught it back in his and enlarged it into a shield to protect himself from getting shot at from the FOH agents on his right. He slammed his free hand into the ground, sending a wave of magical energy into the metal floor, bending the metal like water and causing the FOH agents to trip up and fall to the ground. Strange finished them off by wrapping red magical chains around their midsections, whipped them up in the air and then slammed them back down into the ground.

Erik used his sword to block a shotgun shot from and FOH agent and then kicked him on the midsection, sending him crashing into the wall. One punched him on the cheek, but it hardly fazed Erik as he simply grabbed him by the scruff of his clothes and slammed him into the ground, before tossing him into three others rushing at him. He hid behind a large crate in order to avoid getting shot at from five more FOH agents, before kicking the large crate, causing it to roll right towards the group of FOH agents. The five of them dived out of the way in order to avoid getting crushed by it, and that was distraction Erik needed in order to run in and punch their lights out.

Garrus used a crate for cover as three FOH agents tried shooting at him, but he hid himself well and found the perfect angle to aim his sniper rifle and fire at each of them in the shoulder. They'll live, but they won't be shooting a gun any time soon. Garrus got out of his cover spot and ran towards one agent that was about to fire at Spider-Man, before decking him with the blunt end of his sniper rifle. Another one rushed at him, but he sidestepped the agent and kicked him in the back, before drawing his pistol and shooting him in the leg, taking him out.

It then became quiet, except for the painful groans of all the knocked down FOH agents, as the group of heroes and C-Sec detective gathered at the center of the warehouse when it looked like all their adversaries were taken down.

"Phew, this takes a whole new meaning on late night exercise." Spider-Man joked.

"'Exercise' he says." Garrus said with a slight chuckle and a shake to the head.

"You should probably call C-Sec, Garrus. Let them know about all of this." Vince advised.

"Good idea." Garrus said as he activated his Omni-tool. "I'll let them know I received an anonymous tip and-"

"LOOK OUT!" Spider-Man exclaimed as his spider sense tingled. He pushed his friends out of the way in order to avoid getting shot at by an incoming missile.

The group of four got back up and looked forward to see one of the FOH agents piloting a large bulky, yet stocky, mech suit. The suit was mostly white with black stripes, had a viewing window where they could see the FOH agent on the controls, and large guns on both its mechanical arms.

"Okay...that's pretty awesome." Spider-Man said simply.

"Eh, we've seen bigger in Morgan's armory." Erik said with a shrug.

"Perhaps we can critique the machine that's trying to kill us at a later date." Garrus said sarcastically.

Meanwhile, the FOH agent inside the mech suit glared hatefully at the ones who completely took out their hideout. "I don't know how you freaks got in here, but I can assure you you'll never leave here alive!" He exclaimed as he fired a Gatling gun on the mech's right arm, with each of the heroes took cover to avoid getting shot.

"Any suggestions!" Garrus exclaimed.

Spider-Man thought about it before an idea came to him. "Let's go for the Gingerbread maneuver!"

"The what?!" Everyone else exclaimed.

"You know, take it apart limb from limb! Like a gingerbread man!" Spider-Man quickly said as he leapt out of his hiding spot and swung into action.

As Spider-Man swung closer, he avoid the bullets expertly, and was moving too fast that the mech suit couldn't aim at him fast enough. He soon landed on the side of the mech suit and launched multiple web lines on the it's gatling arm, and gave a hard yank. It took a half a minute, but he was able to rip the mechanical arm right out of the mech suit's socket.

Strange flew in on the other side as the mech suit fired its second gun, which fired a large singular missile at him. Strange created a shield that blocked the missile, creating an explosion of fire and smoke. He used that for cover as he flew in on the other side of the mech and latched on multiple red magic chains on its other arm, and teared it right off like the other arm. The mech suit then fired multiple small missiles out of its back and shot it everywhere, but Vince used his magic to catch them in midair, where they exploded from a safe distance.

Erik took the opportunity and ran forward while throwing his sword at the mech suit like a frisbee, causing it to slice it's left leg off, and imbedded itself into the wall. Erik wasn't done yet as he called his sword to come back to his hand, but as it returned it managed to slice off the other leg, causing the mech suit to topple over and land on it's back.

Inside the mech suit, the FOH agent frantically pressed every button he could as multiple flashing red lights appeared in the control seat. "No...no...this can't be happening!"

It didn't end there as Garrus came right up to the viewing glass of the suit and hit the blunt end of his sniper rifle multiple timers, causing it to shatter. Garrus reached in and grabbed the FOH agent and toss him to the ground.

"You can't do this to me!" The FOH agent exclaimed angrily as he glared at the four individuals staring down at him. "The Friends of Humanity only have humanity's best interest at heart. We're trying to protect our people from the aliens! From freaks like you!"

"Yeah, well we just put you out of business." Garrus said before he kicked the agent in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Later that night, multiple C-Sec officers arrived on scene after receiving an anonymous call to come to this location due to shooting being heard. When they arrived, they were pretty shocked tho have seen the mess of bodies either knocked out or webbed up together. They confiscated all of the weapons and, due to all of the evidence against them, arrested all of the FOH agents on scene.

Watching all of this while back on their spot on the roof of the building across from the warehouse, the Avengers plus Garrus looked on as the C-Sec officers transported away all of the FOH agents.

"I gotta say, this felt good." Garrus said.

"Yeah, watching the bad guys all get taken away does give you a warm feeling." Spider-Man said.

"True, but that's not exactly what I meant." Garrus said, confusing his friend.

"What do you mean?" Erik asked.

"I've done good work in C-Sec, but sometimes the rules and regulations got in the way of opportunities to do actual good work. If I would've taken what I've found to my boss instead of you, he would've had us waste time with more evidence gathering until we had a solid case." Garrus explained with a determined look. "While I do understand that, sometimes just waiting around could result in innocent people dying."

"Hey, we get that." Ben said as he removed his mask and patted Garrus on the back. "What's important is that we did good work tonight, so that no innocent people are going to die now."

"Yeah, you're right." Garrus said with a nod and smile.

"Well, I'm just glad we took those patsy's for good." Erik said with a smile.

"Let's hope so." Vince said cautiously.

"What are you talking about?" Spider-Man asked curiously. "We won, right?"

"Yeah, but let's not forget what our family's taught us. Just because they may be down, doesn't mean they're out." Vince warned, which made everyone on that roof looked at each other with a slight concerned expression.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there." Erik said as there were prime examples back on their universe, most keen one being Hydra.

"I guess only time will tell." Garrus said as they all made their way off the rooftop.

/

Deep in a completely different location, multiple Friends of Humanity agents, a much larger number of agents than the ones the Avengers took down, were all going through different tasks, whether they be weapons testing or inventory stock on all their materials.

Staring down at them from high up on a rafter was a man with short, combed over, bald hair and a thin mustache while wearing a black business suit. He had a posture of pure intimidation and power about him, as to say you do not want to cross him. He watched every one of his agents hard at work at their task, with an unblinking expression, and no emotion.

An FOH agent wearing red and black armor walked up to him and gave a salute. "Sir, I just received word from one of our weapons depot."

"And?" The man said simply.

"I'm sorry, sir, but every agent stationed there was just arrested by C-Sec. All the weapons were confiscated as well." The agent said, causing the man's eyes to widen slightly before they shook with anger.

"What...happened?" The man said slowly and in a threatening tone. "Was it C-Sec who infiltrated them?"

The FOH agent swallowed a lump in his throat before speaking again. "Our sources say that it wasn't C-Sec, sir. It...It was them."

"Them?" The man said lowly as he glared at the agent.

"It was...the one's called...the Avengers." The agent said in a slight fearful tone.

The man's breathing started to become slightly ragged before he gave a loud yell and slammed both his fists into the railing, causing every agent in the hideout to halt what they were doing and stare up at him from down below. The man took a couple deep breaths to calm his nerves before he straightened up his posture again and adjusted his sleeves.

"Have the R&D department made progress on our little project." The man asked as he walked along the railing, with the agent following him.

"They said that they have made progress, but it's still taking time to get it fully functional." The agent said.

"Tell them to double their efforts." The man said as he stopped in a different part of the rafter and looked down with a hard glare. "These 'Avengers' have made things more difficult for our operations, but that should only motivate us to accelerate our progress. Humanity has been the bottom of the pecking order in this galaxy for far too long. It's time we show, not only the aliens, but also those freaks to know that we are the dominant race in the grand evolutionary scale."

The man and the agent looked down below as they watched a bunch of scientists gathered around what looked like a giant mech arm, that looked slightly human-shaped with a hand and five fingers, across a large table with various wires attached to it. The scientists worked on the mechanics inside where multiple wires could be seen, and a few sparks of electricity seeped out of it.

One scientist worked on a holographic terminal and pressed a few buttons, causing the mech's hand to clench into a fist.

"The Council, the galaxy, these Avengers...they have no idea what is coming." The man said with sinister smile appear on his face.

/

Hey everybody, I've brought to you another chapter of this story.

This chapter was pretty fun to work on, as it shows that the Avengers are really making headway in this universe, and are starting to make a name for themselves. Another reason why I liked writing this is because I loved writing out the scenes with the Avengers fighting the Friends of Humanity.

For those of you that don't know, the Friends of Humanity were in the marvel comics and were an anti-mutant hate group that caused so many problems for the X-Men, but in this story they're an anti-alien hate group as I believe they would really work here.

Also, kudos to anyone who would be able to guess what I teased in the end of this chapter. Hehehe, that made me all giddy to write.

Now, some exciting news, now that this chapter is done, I am finally going into the events of the first Mass Effect game. I have big plans for this story and things are going to change for Shepherd and his crew on the Normandy.

That's all I have to say for now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all next time. Stay healthy, and stay safe out there, my friends.