Author's Note: All right I'm back with another chapter. It took me a while but I've finally figured something out. Hope you guys like it.
The Avengers Crusade
Chapter 2
When The World Is Broken
Salem Center, New York. At the site of the former Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, a man in a trench coat walked through the ruins of the former school. Piles of shattered mortar and splintered wood lay about the grounds as the man surveyed the damage. There wasn't much left of the place, the man in the visor sighed as the wind blew over him. And crouched down and pushed back debris revealing a destroyed slab of rock with the letters F.O.H. spray painted across it in red.
"Back again huh?" a young woman said.
"I still cant believe its gone." He said without looking at her. A woman dressed in a green jumpsuit with a brown bombardier jacket crouched down beside him.
"I know surg, but you have to let it go. The Professor wouldn't want us dwelling on this. The mansion's gone, but we're still here." She offered as the man squeezed his fists.
"And so are the X-Men…" he muttered.
"C'mon this isn't helping." She said helping him up.
"We'll find a way to keep fighting, this isn't the end." Rogue told him.
"No…as much as I hate to say it Rogue, the X-Men are done. All the others have gone their separate ways. Why haven't you?" he asked.
"Because someone has to be here in case they decide to come back. Maybe its time you move on Scott, you have your whole life ahead of you. And there are other teams besides the X-Men." She told him.
"What like that slime Osborn's team of…" he scoffed.
"Not even close surg. I'm talking about joining the resistance, the real Avengers." She told him.
"They're still around?" he asked.
"As far as I know. That's where Logan is." She answered.
"Figures." He muttered.
"Why don't you join them? You'll be doing more good there than you will here. Its your choice Scott." She said with a smile.
For the first time for as long as he could remember a smile appeared on his face.
"Your right thanks. But what about you?" he asked.
"I'll join up when I'm good and ready." She replied. Cyclops nodded and patted her shoulder and returned the gesture with a hug.
"You take care now." she told him.
"You too." He said as he got on his motorcycle and started it up before taking off.
In New York City, Norman Osborn was found in his office doing paperwork when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." he muttered while working.
The door opened as a woman walked in and approached him.
"What is it?" he asked never looking up. A woman with dark hair and glasses spoke up.
"Sir we've just received word on Daken." She told him.
"And?" he asked with an impatient growl.
"He's been defeated sir." She answered calmly. Osborn looked at her as a look of anger set in.
"He what?" he growled.
"The Avengers took him out, but according to our source he put up a tremendous fight against them." the woman said maintaining her calm demeanor despite Osborn's.
"Did he at least get…"
"Our source says that he lives." She answered.
Norman growled and overturned his desk infront of the woman startling her for only a minute as he got up and approached her.
"Get him back here at once." He ordered.
"Of course sir." She replied stoic as ever.
Norman stormed out of his office and down the hallway as his employees were walking past him and looked back as he sulked. His assistant Victoria Hand remained in the room with the overturned office desk before her. A man rushed in a moment later checking on her.
"Everything all right?" he asked.
"Everything's fine. Could you have someone clean this up?" she requested.
"Of course. You know I worry about you sometimes. With that man you never know what to expect." The blonde haired man replied.
"It comes with the job." She replied casually.
Down the hall Norman fumed before a window overlooking the city.
"So Hawkeye lives huh? That's going to throw a wrench into things." he muttered.
"Is everything all right sir?" Victoria asked approaching him from behind.
"Just a minor set back. Have Daken returned to us as soon as possible." He said in a calmer voice.
"Already on it." she told him.
This was the future; the heroes of old have gone away. They have failed, an alien invasion overwhelmed them from within and it was their own faults that led to their failure. A new era has begun, one where evil has supplanted good hiding in plain sight. Even now as a group of children visit a museum they are unaware of the changes that have taken place. The middle school kids were ushered inside to see the exhibits, as Norman Osborn made his way back to his office.
As they entered the building they were brought to a massive statue of Captain America that stood in the center as the lead-in exhibit. The statue showed him in a victorious pose 20 ft high wielding his iconic shield high above his head. The children were told the history of Cap while Norman returned to his chair and settled in. As they learned of the noble Captain's exploits throughout WWII and into more recent times, Norman continued with his paperwork as before. The children looked up in wonder at the imposing statue of the Captain whose stone cold glance cut towards the museum's front entrance. Norman filed his paperwork after signing them and stamped them with his seal.
The children were then ushered towards a smaller statue of Thor the Thunder God. At the base of his statue was his helmet and legendary hammer Mjolnir. The curator told the tale of how Thor faced off against Graviton in the Avengers' first battle, and the devastating power he wielded. How no mere mortal could lift Mjolnir and that its name meant 'The Crusher'. Only one person was able to lift it other than Thor, Captain America. So powerful was the Mjolnir that it could level mountains. Because of its great power only the most virtuous could wield it responsibly.
They were then brought to the next exhibit one that portrayed Ant-Man in his regular and giant form. The smaller one showing him with his helmet while his giant self was only five or six feet taller. They then moved onto the Wasp, then Hawkeye, Black Panther and finally the Hulk. The children seemed especially interested in the green goliath as the curator told of his exploits. They'd heard stories of the Hulk from their parents. How he was one of the strongest beings on the planet. And was also the most feared, the children seemed especially fond of the Hulk mainly because they didn't know him in their lifetime which the curator knew added to the mysticism. Though he was feared in the past, the Hulk had been regarded as a hero in recent times…especially now.
The last exhibit was one the children were less than stoked to see, the final member of the Avengers and team leader. Tony Stark, the Iron Man. Their expression changed from that of excitement to disgust as some of them wouldn't even glance upon his armor that now rested in the museum. They knew the story behind him; he was the one that nearly ended the world. Years ago when the Skrulls invaded, Stark Enterprises was the world's premier defense contractor that included its orbiting satellite defense system that was supposed to guard the Earth from invasion. The Skrulls found a way around it, and compromised the world's security. Because he held an exclusive contract on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orbital defense system, Stark was held accountable for the invasion and discredited infront of the world stage. That was something they remembered.
The group soon departed from the exhibit when it was apparent they weren't interested. Even the curator was bugged about the sudden silence. Only one child lagged behind as he looked back at the Iron Man armor with intent, and looked back across the way to see Captain America's shield sitting at the base of his statue. The small boy was called by his peers and reluctantly caught up with them.
Back in the present, Captain America and his teammate studied the captured Daken who was currently in a recovery chamber on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
"Any idea who he is?" Cap asked.
"We have no records of him." a female agent said scanning her tablet.
"He said his name was Daken." Thor recalled as Wasp bent down and pointed at his right arm.
"His claws are just like Wolverine's." she stated.
"Well not exactly like his, but their are some similarities. The composition is different these are bone, not adamantium. And his claws are laid out in a tripod like position, where as Logan's are all above the knuckle…" Ant-Man said on closer inspection.
"Scans are showing their defiantly bone." Iron Man said examining him through x-ray scanner.
"You think there's a connection?" Hawkeye asked.
"Its possible, it would appear that he maybe a result of experimentation." Ant-Man offered.
"Or a mutant." replied Wasp. The group fell silent as all eyes fell on her. The young woman looked around awkwardly before asking.
"What? There are mutants out there!" defending her remark before noting Ant-Man's silence.
"Your quiet. Your usually geeking out at this sort of thing." She said looking back at him.
"It just doesn't add up. Why would this young man attack citizens and then us unprovoked?" he asked rubbing his chin. Wasp shrugged before answering.
"Dunno, lots of villains do It." she said.
"But there's usually a reason behind it. Be it a bank robbery or a well though out attack. None of us have ever seen this kid, and yet he was able to best most of us in battle. Including the Hulk." He said earning a grunt of his teammate.
"There's more to it than that, I just know it. I just wish I could figure out what it was." Hank said frustrated.
"There is." A young girl said.
The team whipped around to see a young teenage girl with long brown hair and blue eyes standing behind them in leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Cap asked.
"My name is X-23, I have an important message you need to hear." She told them. Hawkeye dismissed it and walked over to her.
"Look kid, we've got more important things to deal with than to listen to you." he said placing a hand on her shoulder. X-23 took his arm and flipped him to the ground laying him out on the ground surprising his teammates.
"You know what? The floor's all yours." He groaned while Thor approached her.
"You're the girl I ran into earlier." He said.
"Great you two know each other, that breaks the ice…like my back." quipped Hawkeye. Prompting the pair to look back at him.
"Don't mind me, I'll just hang out down here for a while." He added before shutting up.
"Pray thee, what it is thou doth need?" he asked.
"You guys are going to think I'm crazy for saying this, but I'm from the future." She told them.
After a moment of silence Hawkeye started laughing before X-23 looked back at him.
"Oh wait, your serious." He replied.
"Oookay, I think the air pressure is starting to get to her." Wasp added unsure.
"You think I'm lying?" she warned as two metal claws shot out of her fist catching Wasp and the others off guard.
"Easy Ms. Stand down, none of us are saying you're a liar." Cap said standing between them. The young woman growled and sheathed her claws.
"So then when exactly are you from?" Ant-Man asked.
"About 10 years from now. Something horrible has happened in my future that leads to the Avengers' disbandment, and in its place something more sinister has taken the Avengers' name." she said disturbing the team even more.
In the future Norman sat in his office having finished up his stack of papers and sat with his fingertips splayed together with an evil smirk on his face as his agents walked into his office. On the corner of his desk sat a red and silver Iron Man styled helmet.
"You called sir?" a woman asked.
"I have a job for you my Avengers, take down the remaining superheroes." he ordered.
"As you wish sir." the woman answered.
"It's all I want." he said as the room panned out to reveal a large golden acronym behind him spelling out H.A.M.M.E.R.
Author's Note: All right so what'd you think of that? Admittedly it was probably a huge mistake to update the day everyone goes back to school and what not. For some reason I cant access Story Traffic on my profile I'm not sure if anyone else is having that problem. I'm not real happy with having to post the chapter this early, but whatever as long as it's out there. Let me know what you guys think of it.
Please review,
Green Gallant.