Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, nil, need I say more? All belongs to J.K Rowling, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Marvel, and Disney
Warning: There will be several point of view rotations in this chapter. Also Hawkeye has a real potty mouth this chapter so there will be some cussing.
A/N: I feel re-inspired having just watched the Avengers the second time. It has helped me bring this story back on point. Anyways it has been pointed out to me that the abrupt mood change between the previous chapter and the ones before it came as a small shock to the system. I am sorry about that. The first five chapters were quite fluffy and light hearted, I hadn't actually planned that it just sort of happened. In the future I will try to put some warning when I'm about to make things really depressing. I seem to have gotten the ball rolling now, that last chapter was the hardest to write because I had no idea how to write the flashback. I have the next several chapters outlined and barring any unforeseen occurrences the next few updates should be closer together. I just realized that funnily enough the timeline for this story coincides with real life because the story starts in Jan and will get to Feb in a few chapters. I do have midterms coming up next month so I might not be able to update as much as I would like.
Fair warning the Avengers and X-Men are the only two parts where I will be referencing the movies. I've thought it over and none of the Spiderman movies will fit with my plans so that storyline will be coming straight from the comics. The Fantastic Four will make some brief appearances but I'm not sure what kind of role they will have in the story yet. I don't want to add too many different heroes and start confusing people, though I might add in a couple cameos. I am somewhat surprised by the lack of reviews for the last chapter, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Also seriously thanks for the reviews and please continue leaving them, I want to know what you think.
Harry watched his breath turn to mist in the winter air as he waited for Wyatt to show up. He wondered idly what made Neo pick Central Park as a meeting place, given that it was winter. Not that he was complaining, he was glad to be out of the tower as it got him away from Pepper, Janet, and Natasha. He liked the three women, he really did, but they made him think of things that were better forgotten. It hadn't been easy getting out of the tower either, since the team disagreed on how much watching Harry required. The resulting argument had taken two hours and one phone call to Fury (who was displeased at being forced to play referee) before the issue was resolved. In the end Harry was given a cell phone with GPS and a curfew before they let him loose in the city. He was quite a bit miffed about having a curfew; he could take care of himself. At least he'd managed to talk them out of assigning him a chaperone.
"Hey there!" came a cheerful shout that Harry immediately recognized as Wyatt.
"Hey," returned Harry, "so what have you been up to?"
"Not much really been getting used to the quiet life you know." said Wyatt amicably.
"Hah that must be nice. Wonder what it'd be like to have a quiet life" commented Harry humorlessly.
"Boring," responded Wyatt, "you aren't really the quiet type Harry, but I understand your need for some peace. While we do get our fair share of excitement it's nothing the government can't handle."
Harry sincerely doubted this; his experience with government had left him with a healthy sense of skepticism regarding the government's ability to accomplish anything important. In fact, more often than not the government was the source of the problem. He knew Wyatt shared his skepticism of the government so he suspected the man was just attempting small talk.
"So what do you know about the Avengers?" asked Harry
"They're a group of people with special talents that work with the government or at least that's the most postulated story. In reality they're just a bunch of people SHIELD", said Wyatt then added "super-secret spy agency. The Avengers has been around for three years now, the first time they got together they fought off an alien invasion that totaled a good amount of the city. They also fought off some guy who had an obsession with death or something when he tried to annihilate the planet. Given your penchant for trouble I'd steer clear if I were you."
"Little late for that." commented Harry.
"What? I thought you just got here, then again it's not really that surprising, this is you we're talking about. What did you do now?" asked Wyatt in exasperation.
"Didn't Neo tell you where he sent me?" asked Harry, annoyed. He was slightly irritated that Wyatt had automatically assumed that he had already gotten into trouble. He hadn't even been in the country for more than 48 hours.
"No he only owled to tell me that you were in the area a few days ago. Neo didn't tell me too many details." responded Wyatt, "Wait a minute don't tell that idiot sent you…?"
"Yep." answered Harry responding to Wyatt's unfinished question. Wyatt had just confirmed his fears that Neo was most definitely up to something. Now the question was whether or not he would call Neo out on it. This was not the first time that Neo had enacted some plan that only he knew and understood, while these plans usually worked out they often involved a lot of work on his part. Though he wasn't really sure he wanted to know and he had a feeling that he would find out eventually anyways.
"Damn. Sometimes I'd like to know what goes on in that deranged little mind of his. I'm not sure whether this is a great idea or an absolutely crazy one." said Wyatt.
"Yeah well with Neo you can never really tell." remarked Harry.
"Ah well let's just hope he knows what he's doing, eh? I'd hate to have to arrest you for accidentally killing the minister." commented Wyatt good naturedly.
"I wouldn't kill him, I might injure him though." retorted Harry.
"You have before, remember when…"started Wyatt.
"That was one time!" interrupted Harry.
"Although if he's done anything stupid enough I won't have to worry about you killing him because there will be nothing left when Dawn gets through with him. Well he's old enough to clean his own messes," said Wyatt unconcernedly, "At any rate how have you been? Sana's been worried about you, she doesn't think you're taking proper care of yourself."
"You know me, just living the easy life." responded Harry wryly.
"Ri-ight," said Wyatt with a snort, "visited any duck ponds lately?"
"That was a bloody accident some wanker jumped out of nowhere and caught me by surprise!" cried Harry indignantly.
"Well from what I hear it was a pretty spectacular accident. They were trying to clean out the ministry for days." laughed Wyatt.
"Oh shut up," said Harry irritably, "how did you hear about it anyways?"
"Word gets around especially when it concerns you." replied Wyatt.
"Brilliant that's all I need. I had hoped I wouldn't be so big over here." said Harry.
"Well you're not as big but people are still pretty impressed, after all it was a bit of a surprise when an underage wizard took out the greatest Dark wizard of the age along with a dozen others out on his own." stated Wyatt
"I was only on my own for the last bit, but I had help for everything else." interjected Harry.
"True but what you did was still pretty impressive, especially since most people only have parts of the story, myself included. A lot of people have their eye on you Harry." said Wyatt.
Harry merely nodded his understanding and the conversation lapsed into a companionable silence. Harry lost himself once more in his thoughts. He knew that there were some things that had happened during the war he had kept to himself. Not to mention all the adventures he'd had during his school years. While he liked Wyatt a lot he hadn't really wanted to share his past exploits, especially after his friends' deaths. Though it was a little lonely not having anyone to talk with about his past, there were the twins and Luna but he had didn't talk with them much anymore. They had managed to draw Harry out the seclusion he had fallen into right after the war. However between the few false alarms there had been at least two genuine assassination attempts which had caused him to spend less time around his friends.
"Come on." said Wyatt drawing Harry from his thoughts. Harry looked around with some curiosity, he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings, as he normally would have. He saw that they were standing across the street from a building so tall Harry had to crane his neck in order to see all of it. The building itself was rather plain looking with the words: Trump International Hotel and Tower emblazoned across the front for all to see. To his right he saw a metal globe and stairs that he assumed led to the train and behind that were several more buildings. Harry thought it looked like the buildings were trying to stretch themselves into the sky.
"We need to cross the street." said Wyatt motioning towards a crosswalk where several people already stood waiting impatiently for the light to change. Harry and Watt walked over and stood with the crowd waiting for the light to change. Harry glanced at his surroundings while he waited for the lights to change. He was examining the building with a diamond pattern on it when he felt his neck prickle. His instincts flared to life and Harry immediately threw himself to the ground pulling Wyatt with him. Moments later Harry saw something orange whiz by where their heads had been only seconds before. There was an explosion when the thing hit the ground and people erupted into a panic as they immediately scurried for cover. Pulling himself up Harry immediately unholstered his wand as he scanned the area for the source of the explosive.
"Hee hee, come out, come out little Spider!" cackled an unfamiliar voice. Harry whipped around and felt his jaw drop when he saw the speaker. While he had seen several strange things, Harry was quite sure this had to be one of the strangest. It was a humanoid creature with scaly emerald skin wearing a purple tunic, boots, and gloves. Not to mention the oddly shaped object he, or at least Harry assumed it was a he, stood on that seemed to hover in mid-air.
"You rang Goblin?" asked a new voice. This new creature looked just as outrageous as his companion, he was red and blue with a web design over the red parts of his skin and his white eyes were pupil-less. No less surprising was his means of travel as Harry watched him arrive. He appeared to be swinging around with giant ropes of spider web shot from his wrists. As Harry took in the new creature's appearance his words sunk in. Harry scrutinized the green creature and found that it did mildly resemble a goblin though he was a good deal taller than any goblin Harry had ever met.
"We need to get out of here." said Wyatt calmly. Harry looked at him in shock, surely Wyatt didn't expect the muggle police to handle this. Seeing that Harry was about to protest Wyatt added, "I'll explain later. Trust me, right now we need to get out of here."
Wyatt continued to drag Harry along as they made for the underground. Harry didn't appreciate being dragged around like a little kid though he knew if Wyatt let go he would turn around. He just didn't like the idea of letting two creatures rampage around the city. Although he was curious about the lack of fuss, he was certain that this was a major breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Then again, he had heard that America was quite lax when it came to the Statute.
"Ok through here." said Wyatt leading Harry towards a wall that appeared covered in graffiti, but closer inspection revealed the graffiti to be runes that Harry recognized vaguely. Too used to the wizarding world's ideas of an entrance to be surprised, Harry walked forward casually. Wyatt followed seconds later.
"Wyatt what were those things?" asked Harry at once.
"One of the hazards of living in New York," replied Wyatt, "The green one is a psychopath known as the Green Goblin and the other is Spiderman. We aren't too sure where the Spider's alliances are though he tends to be against crime."
"Well why isn't the ministry doing anything? Surely they aren't letting a bunch of magical creatures roam freely around New York?" asked Harry.
"Harry those weren't magical creatures," Wyatt answered with a snort, "They were humans, muggles with special powers in outrageous costumes."
"Those were people?" demanded Harry.
"Yep. Muggles as a matter of fact, except they both have special abilities that give them an edge over normal muggles. It's actually quite common here. The muggles with special abilities are generally split into two categories super villain and super heroes. There are also several people with what is called an x-gene that gives them a special ability. These people are discriminated against rather harshly and there are several who are either heroes or villains" explained Wyatt.
Harry nodded as he processed the information Wyatt had told him so far. He only dimly registered the approaching witch as he mulled over everything in his head. He saw her approach from the edge of his peripheral view, and looked up as he realized she was coming straight towards them. Harry automatically tensed as she neared, moving into a defensive position. The fight earlier had put him even further on edge triggering an automatic fight response. The witch seem slightly flustered by his reaction but Harry didn't particularly care.
"Excuse me are you Agent Clemens?" asked the witch glancing at Wyatt after giving Harry a speculative look.
"Yep" replied Wyatt.
"And you're Harry Potter, right?" she asked though this time she added a flirtatious wink, seemingly over Harry's earlier reaction.
"Yes," replied Harry shortly as he relaxed slightly.
"Well just follow me," she said turning on her heels and striding away talking over her shoulder, she said, "so my name is Valerie. Normally we don't have guides show people the way but your friend asked to have someone show you the way. There were several volunteers of course because everyone wanted to meet you. But I won because I know this place the best even though I haven't been working here that long. Only since I graduated from school which was only three years ago and everyone was so jealous too. I mean I get to meet Harry Potter. By the way do you think I can have your autograph? I'm not asking for me of course my cousin…"
Harry just tuned out Valerie's incessant chattering as they continued walking as it was starting to give him a headache. He wondered if she would need to stop for air anytime soon. He was so focused on tuning her out he almost missed when she announced that they had reached their destination. Harry watched in relief when she flounced off no doubt to find some friends to gossip with.
Harry opened the door and walked into a room that Harry thought was very cozy looking. It was decorated in a soft cream color accented by royal blues. There were two empty picture frames hanging at the back of the room. There was sturdy oak desk facing the door which was where Neo sat (the only chair Harry had ever seen Neo sitting at was the one he had in his office at the ministry). There were two plush chairs in front of the desk and Harry chose the one on the left while Wyatt sat in the one on the right.
"What were you thinking sending him to New York? That's asking for a disaster!" demanded Wyatt without preamble.
"Hello Wyatt good to see you too." responded Neo dryly.
"I have to say I agree with him though." added Harry.
"The least you could have done was given him some information. He's going to get himself killed or worse." said Wyatt.
"Him is right here you know." said Harry
"Well…he's here now so he might as well learn as he goes." replied Neo.
"Look I know you're up to something. I'm going to let this one slide for now with the understanding that if this plan gets out of control you tell me at once. And if anything goes wrong I'm holding you responsible Neo." said Harry. He had learned to pick his battles with Neo and he trusted the man to do the right thing so he would let this plan play out (besides it's not like he had anything better to do anyways). Though Harry did not enjoy the idea of being a pawn, at least this time he was somewhat aware of the situation. He hoped for Neo's sake that everything went smoothly. Besides he doubted this plan was actually centered too much on him Neo had learned early on that Harry tended to be a wild card.
"Excellent," said Neo who had brightened considerably, "There is some information I want to share with you. First of all, as I'm sure you've noticed the spikes in your magical core lately? Well that is your magical inheritance coming in. Yours just happens to be a great deal more powerful than most. I believe this is because your inheritance started coming in earlier due to high stress situations giving your magic more time to grow and mature. You will be coming into your magical maturity at your coming of age this July."
"You couldn't have told me this earlier?" asked Harry, remembering all the books he had scoured.
"Anyways," continued Neo, ignoring Harry's question, "So you have to be careful about controlling your magic especially in high stress situations. Also I am glad that there haven't been any incidents. I take it that Fred and George's inventions worked?"
"Yeah, the heightened senses keep me from having too many surprises, plus the supersensory charms on my limiters let me know when anyone is approaching. The limiters are working really well too." replied Harry, as he motioned towards his wrists. A pair of silver bands inscribed with small runes was now visible. "It feeds off my magic too but it's not draining, more like siphoning off the excess. There are also several protective charms on them as well."
"That's great. So long as you keep your temper we won't have to worry about any serious breaches of the Statute. I have commissioned a couple other items from Fred and George that should arrive shortly."
"Okay" said Harry.
"Hopefully this will help you from performing any magic accidentally, or having any surprises." added Neo.
"There is also the matter of the press. I did not realize the Avengers were quite so…public. It would be a good idea if you avoided the press as much as possible. After all your vacation has been kept under wraps, though one of the new items though should keep this from being a problem. I think that's everything of importance."
"What about contacting you? If there is an emergency, how am I supposed to get a hold of you?" asked Harry. Neo blinked and Harry was quite sure he hadn't thought of that. Harry shook his head, he knew Neo was brilliant but it also amazed him at how scatterbrained the man could be.
"Right, well if there's an emergency contact Wyatt here who will contact me" said Neo.
"When did I agree to be your messenger boy?" asked Wyatt grumpily.
"Well it's not like you aren't going to be in contact anyway, besides it will be far easier for you to get a message through without suspicion than it will for Harry." said Neo.
"Is there anything else Neo?" asked Harry speaking up before Wyatt could retort. He knew that Wyatt and Neo could argue for hours once they got started.
"No" said Neo simply, though he had the niggling feeling that he was forgetting something.
"Well if that's it then I think I will be leaving you to your paperwork Minister." said Wyatt, though he rolled his eyes to show he was joking.
"Same. It appears that there are a lot of things I need to learn about New York." added Harry wryly.
"Well then, I will let you explore, I will see you both again later." said Neo.
Harry and Wyatt both bid Neo good-bye before exiting the room. Harry was intent on finding out more about the city as it appeared New York was not quite as peaceful as he had hoped. Then again it was just his luck that he would end up in a city filled with super villains and heroes.
An Undisclosed Location somewhere in New York
Three people are arguing in what appears to be a stone chamber. The chamber is dark, gloomy, and sparsely decorated. The only light comes from a few flickering torches set along the wall which cast sinister shadows across the room. The sound of dripping water can be heard as small drops fall from the ceiling to the floor. As for the people in the room one is sitting on an elegantly shaped metal chair. The other two people stand, the woman is standing in front of the man in the chair while the other person stands in the corner. The light shifts illuminating the woman's face. She is very beautiful, her blonde hair trailing down her back, kept from her face by a forest green head band, and form fitting green armor of the same color which emphasized her curves. Her green eyes are hard as flint as she glares at the man in front of her.
"Why have you forced me here?" he demands. The man though quite disheveled holds himself in a regal manner, glaring at the woman with equal force. His raven black hair is in disarray and his clothes are rumpled and far plainer than anything he would usually wear.
"You should be thanking me after all I have freed you from your pathetic prison." sneered the woman.
"I did not need your help Amora!" replied the man haughtily.
"It would seem that you did after all if I hadn't rescued you, you would still be in the clutches of Fury and his soldiers Loki." contradicted Amora with a smirk.
"What do you wish of me? The Allfather has stripped my powers I cannot assist you in whatever your current plan to ensnare my brother now." replied Loki in a condescending tone.
"I doubt that you are as powerless as you wish Odin to believe." purred Amora.
"Be that as it may why should I help you? What could I possibly gain?" asked Loki loftily.
"I would give you the chance to destroy those foolish mortals, the Avengers once and for all. Once I have Thor you will be able to take the throne easily." answered Amora.
"I shall think about it." replied Loki after a moment's hesitation.
"That's all I ask." smirked Amora, "Come my executioner we have work to do."
She left the room with the other man trailing behind her, leaving Loki to his thoughts. Loki was on the whole feeling conflicted which was a feeling he didn't enjoy. This was his last shot at redemption and he knew that if he helped Amora he would not get another chance. While another part of him thought it would be no less than Odin and that fool brother of his deserved. He was not afraid of being caught after all he wasn't the god of mischief for nothing.
SHIELD Helicarrier
The Avengers were all sitting at a large round table having been told to, 'get your sorry asses up here now!', in no uncertain terms by an irate Fury. The tone of Fury's voice indicated he was very close to rupturing a blood vessel which only happened when he was around Tony too long or there was a major catastrophe in the works. Given that Tony had been in his lab at the time of the call everyone assumed it was the latter.
"He told us to get up here so where is he?" complained Tony.
"Can it Stark." retorted Clint.
"Can't you two just lay off? I mean we could be dealing with a real crisis here and you two are squabbling like children." said Janet in exasperation.
"I think you're asking for a miracle there." replied Natasha.
Just as Tony and Clint were about to retort Fury stormed in. None of the team could remember the last time they had seen the director of SHIELD so agitated, though it did not bode well for whatever news they were about to receive.
"Loki escaped." said Fury. Those two words were all it took to unleash pandemonium among the gathered superheroes. There was a cacophony of voices as everyone tried to ask their questions at once, or in Clint's case to swear at the top of their lungs. Fury pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off an incoming headache before he pounded on the table with his fist.
"Quiet!" he shouted making his voice audible over all the others.
"…bastard, war-mongering fucker, megalomaniac asshole, evil jizz, mentally disturbed jackass…" continued Clint listening using several words that would make a sailor blush. Meanwhile Tony made note of any unfamiliar curses for future use.
"Clint!" shouted Natasha who had grown impatient of waiting for Clint to run out of insults.
"… cunt sucking…Oops sorry Tasha." said Clint who cringed at the menacing look she was giving him.
"Right now that we're all silent," said Fury glaring at Clint, "it appears that Loki escaped shortly after the guard change when Thor left. We aren't sure what he's after but he either faked losing his powers or he's working with someone here on Earth. As of now we are on red alert. Loki could be anywhere and if he does have his powers he could pose a threat to the entire world, again."
"Well then all we have to do is catch him again." said Tony flippantly.
"It's not that easy Stark! We have no idea where he is or who his possible accomplice is." shouted Fury.
"Besides after Thanos and Kang, Loki will be a piece of cake." replied Tony.
"Gross, I did not need that image in my head Stark." complained Janet.
"It's not my fault if you have a dirty mind." countered Tony.
"Say that again!" shouted Janet, who looked ready to clock Tony. In fact if it weren't for Henry putting a restraining hand on her shoulder she would have slapped the smirk off his face.
"Jan calm down, you know he's just trying to rile you up. Honestly Tony do you have to go out of your way to aggravate everyone? I mean Loki's escape is upsetting but we should handle it as a team, not…" said Henry.
"I am not upset! So we have to catch reindeer games again big deal!" interrupted Tony.
"And as for being a team speak for yourself! We weren't even a team when this thing started." added Clint.
"Well it's because you don't want to…" started Steve.
"Oh stop it the last thing we need is a pep talk on how we should be good little soldiers. Seriously, you need to get new material." said Tony dismissively.
"Stark, just because you don't understand the need to follow orders…" said Steve but he was once again interrupted by Tony.
"I don't follow orders because unlike you I am not Fury's little soldier. I am nobody's pawn." said Tony.
"Tell that to Fury or better yet the Mandarin." snorted Clint.
"Shut up birdbrain!" shouted Tony.
"Oh seems I hit a sore spot." commented Clint.
"At least I don't have nightmares about the circus. Tell me, how is Swordsman doing?" asked Tony.
"Shut up Stark" responded Clint through gritted teeth.
"Enough," shouted Fury, "we have an escaped Asgardian criminal loose in the city, arguing is not going to find him faster so get on with it."
"Yes sir" replied Tony with a smirk throwing Fury a mock salute.
Everyone filed out. Each person was preoccupied with their own thoughts. Thor was worried about his brother as he knew that if Loki did not reform he would be chained in the Svart Fengsel until Ragnorok. Thor did not wish this fate to befall his brother so he resolved to find him before he could cause too much mischief. Clint wanted to catch Loki and beat him until he turned into a puddle of goo, he still hadn't forgiven Loki for the mind control stunt. Tony was thinking of ways to track Loki's signal while plotting revenge on Hawkeye for his comments on the Mandarin.
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, England
Two identical red-haired men were standing next to each other; one had a quill in his hand while the other peered over his shoulder at the parchment he was writing on. Both were extremely good humored though there was a seriousness in them that made them appear older. They were debating what they should write.
"Start with Dear Little Harrikins, Fred." said George.
"Right-o. Should we tell him about the extras we've added to the package?" asked Fred.
"Yeah but put it in code it wouldn't do for Neo to confiscate our little surprises. But leave the last one out that's our little joke." said George
"True, have you-" started Fred.
"-gotten a hold of Verity?" finished George, "Yeah I did she said she'd be glad to runt the store for us."
"Excellent!" said Fred
"How did the dummy package go?" asked George.
"Too easy," responded Fred, "you'd think it would be harder to sneak into the government and swap out their documents not to mention although it made a great trial run for the new decoy detonators."
"Well everything is set so we should be in New York soon." said George.
"I wonder how he'll react to his present." mused Fred.
"Definitely have to make sure we have a camera." agreed George.
"Okay finished what do think?" asked Fred holding up the letter he had been writing.
"That's good just let me add…there, now it's ready." replied George who had scribbled a few lines on the parchment.
Fred took the letter back from George before sealing it up in an envelope. He gave his twin a cheery wave before heading into the next room to attach the letter to a waiting mail owl.
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