Most people considered themselves rational beings in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. Nathaniel Richards thought most people were idiots. The panic in the streets, while understandable, was a waste of energy. What purpose did it serve?
Rioting in the streets would not bring back all who were lost. All it would do was cause more problems for the people who had survived Thanos's culling.
From his perspective, it was clear. Fear and pain made people do stupid things and there were always other people willing to take advantage of that fear and stupidity.
It was already starting.
His presence wouldn't have made a difference during the battle with Thanos. But now, in the aftermath, he could do some good and serve his own purposes as well.
First though, he needed a team.
There weren't enough decent cops on the street on a good day...and this was not a good day. Most people were sad, shocked and terrified, but the predators smelled weakness and were happily taking advantage of what they saw to be open season in New York City.
That was unacceptable.
Kate Bishop hadn't been able to ignore that her city was crying out and had left the comfort and safety of her brownstone. Her heart thudded in her chest as she entered the park, bow and quiver slung over her shoulder, sturdy boots on her feet, slim fit black cargo pants, tank top and a deep purple leather motorcycle jacket letting her blend into the shadows.
Several years ago, she had been attacked in this very park. It had been brutal and she was forever changed by what had happened. Kate refused to let it break her though and begged her father to enroll her in Krav Maga classes. She had already been a crack shot with a bow, but she'd had no hand to hand training.
Now, well, she could take almost anyone in a fight.
In under an hour, she'd stopped three mugging, a beating and roughed up an attempted rapist. As she walked away from the scumbag, who was curled up on the grass, groaning, a voice made her turn.
"Good form," a young man said, pale skinned and dark haired, dressed in a tight suit that looked like some kind of under armour. "Kate Bishop, yes?"
Kate tensed. "Excuse me?"
"You know, there's already a Hawkeye, right? He's semi retired, but…."
"Who the hell are you?" She demanded, smoothly drawing her bow and notching an arrow. How the hell had he know she'd been nicknamed Hawkeye on her University archery team? How did he know who she was?
"My name is Nathaniel...I also go by Iron Lad," he said and a suit not unlike Tony Stark's wrapped around his bod. "I want to ask for your help."
"Get your asses home!" Elijah Bradley bellowed, shaking his head in disgust as the younger teens ran down the street. "Don't think I won't call your moms!"
He didn't know if their moms were still here though. His grandparents had disappeared in an awful few moments. Eli's heart had broken as his Nana faded away and Gramps had reached for her...even as his own hand turned to dust.
Eli had allowed himself some time to grieve before steeling himself for what he knew he had to do. He'd always admired his grandfather's honor, wanted to be brave like him. An accident and a blood transfusion had passes Gramps's abilities (given to him during the early rounds of super soldier experimentation, before Captain America) on to Eli. He was stronger, faster, more durable than any normal person.
Which meant he was well suited to try to keep some order in their neighborhood. The cops certainly weren't doing it. Most folks seemed to be staying inside, which was smart, but there were always fools who would be out making trouble. One of the corner stores had been broken into and when Eli peered in through the shattered glass he saw that the liquor shelves had been cleared out.
So he kept an eye on things and checked in on neighbors, seeing who had survived. Mr. Juarez, who ran the bodega on the corner, was hesitant to open his doors, fearing looting. Eli took to hanging around there, chasing off anyone who was going to make trouble or letting them know to check themselves before he made them.
"Idiots, busting up their own neighborhood," he said with a sigh.
"It's happening everywhere," A voice said from behind him and Eli spun to see a skinny white dude staring at him. "How would you like to make a difference for more good people?"
Eli cocked his head to the side. "Keep talking."
Teddy Altman stood on the roof of his apartment building, looking down at the people on the street. Bed-Stuy was never quiet, but this was worse than usual and the news said chaos was breaking out in pockets around the city, the country, the world….
His mother would have hated this, but his mother was gone.
He was alone.
All his life, his mother had warned him that he needed to hide his abilities, to blend in, which, given his shapeshifting, wasn't too hard. At least not physically. Mentally and emotionally, well that was a whole other ball game, but he respected his mom, so he played the role of an average high school jock every day.
Now though...why bother?
His boots crunched on the roof and he wiped his sweaty palms on the thighs of his blue jeans. He could feel the sun beating down on his shoulders and contemplated allowing his larger, strong wings to unfurl and rip through the thin, white cotton of his shirt.
He could fly, so why shouldn't he?
"You're not planning on jumping, are you?" a voice said. "Not without your wings?"
That froze Teddy's blood. The only people who knew about his wings were Mom and Greg and both were dead. "What?" he asked, voice higher than he would have liked as he turned.
"I know who you are, Teddy. I know what you can do," the older boy said, then inclined his head to the chaos. "I know the Avengers and their like are caught up in things and someone needs to pick up the slack."
Teddy stared at him. How had he known what Teddy was thinking and who was he?
"Bring them back!"
The hard whisper burst from Billy Kaplan as he flung his hands out, trying to will his parents back into existence. The powers that he'd recently manifested were so undefined, he had no idea if he could put things right, but...he had to try.
Non could know he was trying.
Grandma Sophie was inside with Aaron and Josh. They had finally fallen asleep, having cried themselves out. He couldn't let them know what he was doing, couldn't bear disappointing them.
Again, he threw his hands out, blue sparks fizzling from his fingers, but his parents did not appear.
Maybe if he had better control, maybe….
A scream was bubbling up inside, wanting to escape, but he swallowed it down, his whole body trembling with the effort of it.
Why his parents? They were good, kind people? He'd watched the news, seen the politicians discussing how best to react. Some of them were just terrible...hell, a lot of them were, but they'd been allowed to live, to feed the flames of chaos out in the streets.
"I can help you learn to harness your powers."
A voice spoke from the shadows of the yard and Billy yelped, whirling and tossing up his hands. "What the hell? Who are you and why are you in my yard?"
An older boy stepped out of the darkness, face serious. "Is that really what you want to know or do you want to meet others like you and discover all that you can do?"
No police were coming, America Chavez realized, tossing her empty soda can into a trash bin before wading into the street. The driver of one car had run a red light and T-boned another car. From the way the asshole stumbled as he fled the scene, she figured he was drunk.
Lots of folks seemed to be using booze to cope.
A crowd stood by watching as flames licked at the hoods of the cars, endangering the woman who was clearly unconscious. No one moved to help as America tore the door off of the little grey sedan and hauled the woman free.
"Get back!" She shouted at the gawkers, who were showing a truly astounding lack of self preservation as they watched the cars burn. Sure, cars didn't actually explode all that often in real life, but come on! Fire! Not everyone was as durable as she was.
Some of the onlookers heeded her warning, while others ignored her or even tossed her dirty looks. A few people began to crowd around the woman she'd freed from the wreck, who was stirring finally.
Which meant it was time for America to jet.
It wasn't hard for her to push past the other people and blend back into the masses on the street. That was one of the things she liked best about New York City, the anonymity. So many people crammed into such a small area, even after that weird ass dusting...it was easy to get lost.
Usually.
"That was an impressive display. We're heroic."
America rolled her eyes. "I'd be more flattered if it came from someone who wasn't lurking by a dumpster."
The man - no, barely more than a boy - emerged from the shadows. "You are a hard person to track down, America," he said, which made her tense. Who was he and how did he know her name? He seemed to take her silence as permission to continue. "I know you're aware that the city, the world is in trouble. You've been helping here and there, but one person, even one as powerful as yourself, is being swept up in the tide."
She snorted. "Yeah, well, I don't see the Avengers here to deal with the aftermath, do you? Things got fucked and it's ours to clean up."
An odd little smile flitted across his face. "Funny you should say that….."
Sitting atop one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge, Tommy Shepherd pulled an apple out of his pocket and took a satisfying bite. Only a minute ago, he'd pulled it from his fridge in New Jersey, so it was still crisp and cold.
This was one of his favorite vantage points to people watch from and in the mess after The Great Poofing there was even less of a chance of anyone noticing him.
Sure, he'd run into that Spider-Kid a couple of times, but he wasn't really in any position to comment on Tommy's choice of hang out spots.
It was relaxing, to be so far above the chaos and noise and, when he finished his apple,he pitched the core into the river, watching it fall, fall, fall…..
He almost followed it when a voice said, "I hope that was biodegradable."
If he had fallen, no one would care. Hell, he was pretty sure his parents wouldn't have noticed he was missing even before they could easily fit into their favorite ash trays.
Whatever.
He didn't need anyone.
"Dude, what the fuck! Don't…." His voice trailed off as he turned to see a boy his age, hovering, wearing something that looked a bit like an Iron Man suit. "What?"
He never claimed to be eloquent.
The floating boy regarded him before asking, "Want to have some fun?"
Tommy blinked at him, then shrugged.
What did he have to lose?
"I know you're all wondering why I've gathered you here…."
"Gee, your powers of observation are amazing."
"...Your world is in chaos. I say your because while I am from Earth, I am not from this time. I've come from the future…."
"Oh hell no, I did not sign on for this kind of fuckedupness."
"Would you hold your tongues! I came back because Thanos's actions have gravely affected the timeline. You all needed to be brought together to form a team to fill the power vacuum left behind while the Avengers and their allies attempt to battle Thanos and right things."
"Is there someone we can call for you? Did your guardian go all dusty?"
"Maybe we should call social services?"
"Maybe we should get gone."
"Are we just not mentioning the whole doppelgänger thing?"
"Why did you pick us?"
Nate looked at Kate in relief. "Because all of you possess the abilities and will to make a difference, even if some of you are still honing those skills. It is time for the Young Avengers to rise!"
"That sounds like we're a bad cover band...and, again, why is the nerd version of me here?"
"Hey!"
"You're wearing a Star Wars T-shirt. Nerd."
"I like Star Wars."
"Are we really going to believe Mr. Crazy Pants over there?"
"My name is Nate," he said, throwing a withering glare at Eli. Why were they not taking him seriously? "Or Iron Lad in the field."
"Okay, maybe he is serious. No one would call themselves Iron Lad if they didn't have to."
"I'm Kate Bishop," the brunette said, lifting her chin. "My archery teammates call me Hawkeye."
"Hawkgirl maybe."
"Hawkeye."
"So...you got powers or are you actually planning on emulating the original recipe archer?"
"Just because I don't have powers doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."
Before the fight could escalate, Teddy (always the peacemaker) stepped in. "My name's Teddy Altman. I, uh, don't have a superhero name but I'm strong and...I'm a shapeshifter."
Amidst subtle bickering, the rest of the introductions were made and Nate let himself smile behind his helmet.
Perhaps this could work after all.
The Baxter Building
"Are you sure about this, Reed?" Johnny Storm asked, looking dubiously at his brother-in-law and the large Frankenstein meets Rube Goldberg-esque monstrosity of a machine the man had cobbled together in the fit of grief, sleep deprivation and espresso/Red Bull/5 Hour Energy drink cocktail fueled mania that had followed watching Sue and Ben crumble to ashes.
Johnny himself could admit that he had cried and was willing to do anything if it meant getting them back, but this...whatever looked like it was probably going to either blow the roof off of the building (again) or suck Reed into another dimension (again).
Ignoring Johnny, Reed jabbed a button and a blinding blue white light filled the room, the air ringing like shattered glass. Johnny ducked for cover behind a couch, curing into a ball until the light faded.
"Reed!" He called, shaking his head, trying to banish the tinnitus from his ears. "Reed, answer me!"
The building was intact but Reed was gone.
"Dimensional portal it is," Johnny sighed, making his way over to Sue's neatly kept desk and pulling out a small, purple notebook with W.T.C.W.M.I.G.H.H.A.S.D. Over the years, Sue had used The Who To Call When My Idiot Genius Husband Has A Science Disaster book many times.
Bless her anal retentive little heart, she'd even indexed it by disasters.
"Accidentally sucked into another dimension/parallel universe by one of his own inventions...Sue, you know him so well," Johnny said with a chuckle. If this hadn't happened several times before, such a specific entry might have been surprising but...Reed was Reed.
Running a finger down the list, he read, "Hank McCoy, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Victor Von Doom...Sue!" He laughed, knowing that, if it came down to it, Sue might actually call Victor but that would probably end very badly for everyone.
He was definitely not calling Victor.
Beside each name, there was a number and he began dialing, hoping someone would answer.
Each line rang and rang and rang…..
TBC….
