Hello to all my loyal readers. Raptor2216 here, and I'm back with the next chapter of Avengers of Panem.
This Chapter will feature a new addition to the Avengers, and the only one not taking up the mantle of a former hero.
This story, I think, has been going very well. In just 7 chapters, it grew four times as long as my junior paper. Also, have 16 reviews. Nice start.
I have nothing more to say for now. Let's get into it.
Chapter 8- Neptune
I walked into the room and sat down next to Robert. "So, what candidate are we seeing today?" I ask him.
Before he can answer, the door opens. I turn to look at it. Standing in the doorway is Finnick. He looks at me, then at Robert with some confusion.
"Hello, Katniss," says Finnick, "Who is this?" Robert stands up and introduces himself. "My name is Robert Stark. I am a historian and military advisor here in District 13. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Odair."
He offers his hand. Finnick politely reaches out his hand and shakes hands with Robert. "Nice to meet you," he says, "But I assume you asked me to come here for more than just a meet and greet."
"Indeed," says Robert, "I have something important to ask of you." Finnick nods, then sits down.
"Well, before I get around to asking you my question, I must tell you a story," says Robert. He then launches into the story of the Avengers. It takes a few minutes to tell, but once he's finished, Finnick is looking at him in awe.
There's a few moments of silence once Robert finishes. Then, Finnick turns to me. "Is this really true, Katniss?" "Yes," I answer, "I've seen proof of it. I've seen artifacts left behind by the Avengers."
"Not only that, but a great undertaking has begun," says Robert, "After many years of preparation, we have begun to resurrect the Avengers."
Finnick looks at him, stunned. "Are you serious?" he asks. "Yes. Though we are not actually bringing the original Avengers back to life. We are giving their powers and skills to others. New heroes are literally taking up the mantles of the old Avengers."
"Who have become these new Avengers?" asks Finnick. "Only two people have as yet assumed the mantles of the old Avengers. Katniss here, and Gale Hawthorne," says Robert.
Finnick looks at me. "You're an Avenger?" he asks. "Yes," I say, "I've taken the place of the Avenger named Hawkeye, who was a master archer who fought with weaponized arrows. He's also my ancestor." Finnick looks even more awed.
Robert says, "Gale has taken up the mantle of my ancestor, who was one of the founders of the Avengers; Iron man." With that, he shows Finnick a few pictures on a small tablet he's holding of Iron Man in action. Finnick looks in amazement at the pictures, completely in awe.
"We are working to recreate more of the Avengers, but are moving slow. So, we wish for you to join the Avengers," says Robert. Finnick looks at him in amazement. "Why me?" he asks.
"Because, you are exceptionally good at fighting, you are very useful underwater, and your fame and popularity could be used to great effect to promote the cause and the Avengers as a team." Finnick seems like he can't believe Robert. Since he stays silent, Robert continues to talk to him.
"However, we do not wish you to take up the mantle of former heroes. We want you to use your skills with a trident and in the water as a new hero; Neptune. At least, that is the name I am favoring."
Finnick stays silent for a few moments, then says, "Okay. Anything to help rescue Annie and help the rebels, I'll do it. Plus, this'll give me something to do after the war is over. I'll join the Avengers."
Robert smiles. Then, Vision phases through the wall. Finnick jumps up in shock. Before he can say anything, I say to him, "Finnick, I'd like you to meet the Vision, the only surviving member of the original Avengers. He is an android, a robot per say, and was sealed away by Captain America until it was time for him to be reactivated."
Finnick looks at him in amazement. Vision then reaches out his hand. "Welcome to the Avengers, Finnick Odair. Or should I say, Neptune."
(10 hours later)
I stand in the training hall at the special facility about half a mile from 13 that's been set aside for the Avengers to use. Gale is in his suit. I'm in my Avengers outfit, with my bow in my hand and quiver on my back. We are waiting for Finnick to arrive. He's currently being outfitted in his new Avengers outfit and gear. We're going to have our first real training session together, as so far me and Gale have only trained by ourselves.
"How do you think Finnick will do?" asks Gale. "I think he'll do alright. He may need some extra training to really get up to Avengers caliber material, but he'll do pretty good," I respond.
Suddenly, there's the sound of a door opening. Me and Gale turn towards the sound. Robert is standing in the doorway, smiling. "Come, you two. Come over here to meet your new teammate."
Me and Gale walk over. As we get close, he says, "Mockingjay, Iron Man, I introduce to you the third member of the New Avengers: Finnick Odair, Neptune."
He then stands aside, and Finnick walks out. He stops, and both me and Gale look him over.
Finnick looks like an Avenger in his outfit and gear. He's wearing a full body suit, not unlike the outfits we wore in the Quarter Quell. It's mostly a lighter blue on the top, with a darker blue wave design on the front and back. The bottom is all the same shade of dark blue. There's webbing, almost like fins, on the back of the arms. His hands are covered by gold gauntlets. A pair of highly sophisticated goggles are resting on his forehead. He's wearing a utility belt that holds several pouches, and a knife holster. He's holding an updated version of the trident Beetee gave him. It has a new attachment, a magnet, that connects to one of his gauntlets so he can summon it back. The end of the shaft has a small lade on it, so Finnick can attack targets behind him without turning around. The points of the trident also have barbs on them, the better to cause damage, and also to help him wound opponents without having to actually spear them with the trident. The middle point of the trident also looks different, and bigger. Besides his main trident, he's got a second, slightly smaller one strapped to his back, and a device on his free arm that can shoot out netting to entangle his opponents.
He looks at us and says, "Well, what do you think?" "I think you look nice," I say. "Yep, I think this will work," says Gale.
"Alright," says Robert. "Finnick, we're going to have you face off against Katniss first. Try not to kill each other, but act like you're really fighting."
Both of us nod, and everyone, including Vision, who just showed up, moves to the center of the training room. Me and Finnick take our places in the ring, and face off with each other.
For about half a minute, we slowly circle the ring, trying to look for an advantage. Then, he shifts his foot slightly, getting him just the tiniest bit of balance. It wouldn't really be noticeable to most people. But, with my incredible eyesight, which I've spent time honing since I became Mockingjay, I spotted a chance. In a flash, at almost superhuman speed, with reflexes I had honed since becoming an Avenger, I reach up, draw an arrow, nock it, then shoot at Finnick.
Quick as I am, Finnick is not that easy to bring down. He spins his trident in his hand and knocks the arrow aside. Then, with an underhanded throw, he launches the trident at me. I somersault to the side, dodging the trident. But I forget about the summoning feature of the trident. Finnick quickly calls it back. It swings slightly to the side. The shaft hits me in the back of the head. My pride smarts more than my head.
I jump back to my feet. Finnick has used the distraction to rush at me. He catches the trident as he comes, spinning it into fighting position. He comes up on me quick.
But, I'm ready for him. I spin the bow in my hands to get it into better position. As he leaps at me, I swing my bow up to meet his trident. The next second, we're a flurry of motion, trident and bow swinging wildly, each of us meeting the other's strikes with our weapon. This continues for a few minutes until I manage to catch Finnick off guard, kick him in the leg, then slam my bow into his chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Excellent!" says Robert. I help Finnick to his feet, and we both smile at each other.
"Alright," says Robert, "Now it will be Finnick against Gale." Finnick rolls his eyes slightly, but gets into position.
This fight is a lot more mismatched than the first one. It seems like Gale is taking it a little easy on Finnick, as he stays on the ground most of the time, and only uses his repulsors sparingly. To his credit, Finnick does pretty well.
But, when Gale takes to the air for the third time and fires both of his repulsors at Finnick, I get the feeling that the fight is almost over. Then, Finnick surprises me. He holds out his trident and points it straight at Gale. The center blade, the one that looks really big and thick, splits down the center and opens up. Right after it does, a small projectile launches from the opening, straight at Gale. When it hits him, it explodes.
I jump back a little. That really surprised me. Robert smiles and shouts, "Outstanding! Very well done."
Finnick smiles. Once Gale lands, they both walk over to us. When they reach us, I say, "What was that last thing?" "When the trident was made, I had a small grenade launcher installed. When Finnick pushes a small button on the shaft, it opens the center blade to reveal the grenade launcher as it launches the grenade."
I'm pretty impressed. Then, Robert says, "Alright, we're not done yet. We've got one more hour of training before I let you go." We all groan, but get into the training routine.
As I practice shooting at fast moving targets, I smile. The New Avengers are coming along nicely. And, once we get the whole team rebuilt, we'll storm the Capitol, put an end ot President Snow, and rescue Peeta.
And, that's it.
I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. The ending might've been not the best, but I gave it my best. I was a little rushed.
As of now, Neptune is the only original hero I have planned. If you guys have better ideas for names, post them as part of a review, and I may change the name if I found a good one.
I also hope you like what I did with Finnick's outfit, and how I upgraded his trident.
Well, that's enough for now. Until next time, have a good summer, please review, and may the odds be ever in your favor.