Hi, guys. Welcome back to the second Chapter of SHIELD Avengers 2. Prepare now to meet the new Avengers lineup of pure awesomeness! Who's on there? Read on to find out! As always, I own NOTHING but my OC's. This is for FAN FICTION only, so please don't sue. Other than that, enjoy.
Westley Skarsky could barely hold his moth together as the flying SHIELD Acura approached Stark Tower. He had heard about the tragic destruction, and it's reintroduction to New York as the base headquarters for Earth's mightiest heroes, but he never had a chance to see it up close.
And it was glorious.
Smiling at the Agent's reaction, Captain America positioned the car on the roof next to the many Quinjets the Avengers had, and the car began to descend, until it gently touched the roof, parked safely and securely.
Unbuckling their seatbelts, Captain America and Westley exited the car just around the same time Stark touched down on the roof as well.
"Okay;" He said, as his armor began to morph back into his fancy playboy clothes, "Stark Tower. My pride and glory. This is where our SHIELD Avengers will be. Just remember, you have another team of Avengers right bellow you, so no crazy parties unless I'm invited."
Just then, Tony felt his phone vibrate, as he pulled it out and answered.
"Hello?" He asked.
He waited, listening and responding to the caller while Rogers and Skarsky watched him.
"Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. Send her up, Pepper."
He turned the phone off and turned to the two other new additions to the team smiling.
"Good news;" He said, "Our first recruit is here."
"First recruit?"
….
After waiting in the 17th Floor Meeting room for 30 minutes, Tony, Steve, and Westley heard the sound of an elevator door beeps outside and the sounds of high heels walking along the stone marble floor getting closer and closer to the door. Finally; the door opened and revealed a woman that almost made Westley's guy parts turn to jelly. There in the doorway was a young woman probably around his age with brown hair tied back into a bun-styled haircut. She was wearing dark sunglasses, and wore a blue business suit and skirt. Westley also noticed she was carrying a suitcase with her.
"Sorry I'm late," She said, almost out of breath, "But this place is a *^$#ing nightmare! I don't know how you agents deal with this? Anyway, I'm Aurora Devereux; SHIELD Accountant and PR for Agent Westley."
"That would be me." Westley said, walking over to her and offering a handshake.
She looked at the hand confused and smiled sarcastically.
"Yes;" She said, "Because between you, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers; I would've never known it was you what with the other two being high-profile celebrities."
Westley blushed embarresed beyond hell as Stark couldn't help but let out a snicker at him.
Westley took his seat opposite from Tony while Auora took a seat across from Steve.
"Okay," She said, opening her briefcase and taking out a pile of folders, "So here's the thing; your team…this is the new face of global safety. The regular Avengers will have their own place in everyone's heart still, and your team will be technically the second-rate team but this…this will be The Avengers team people have prayed for year for; a team that follows the government and isn't made up by a bunch of *%$#ing psychoses."
She turned to Westley seriously.
"We have arranged for a media team to be here in two days." She explained, "Until then, you have all the time you need to select your team members. Anything else, I'll be here to act as your contact with Fury. Is there anything else you'd like to say?"
Westley shook his head as she nodded.
"Great." She smiled, handing her files to Westley, "Take some time to look these over and I'll see you in two days then to help introduce the team."
She closed her suitcase and got up, giving him a playful wave.
"Take care of yourself."
He smiled kindly and watched as she left the three newest Avenger Team members in the room.
After a minute of silence, Stark finally spoke.
"Does every Avengers team need a Maria Hill or a Victoria Hand?" He asked, sarcastically.
Westley just sighed and looked through the files, keeping one hand on his head.
"Are you all right Westley?" Steve asked.
"I never thought it'd be up to me to select the new team," He explained, "It's bad enough I gotta be the one to pick it, but like she said; this is the team everyone's wanted since Stamford and what came after that."
Steve nodded. He was no stranger to the pressure Westley was under. The Avengers had always been the premiere Super Hero team in the world since the inception came to be. Every time the team reformed, people would go crazy over the new lineup announcement and Steve could only begin to imagine what it was doing to this young SHIELD Agent.
"Well;" He said, "As you know; I've had pleanty of experience with making the Avengers teams over the years, and I can tell you that the best teams are the ones with balance."
"And us;" Stark quipped, "The Avengers doesn't mean anything without us."
"Yeah," Westley said, as he flipped through a file on Black Panther and sighed, "I know you guys are already on and maybe we can call Thor, but…for the other members….we need something more…"
He got his answer when his file stopped on one of the Avenger's most prominent members who had stopped being the official-sanctioned one after recent events with Norman Osborn's Dark Reign. Steve and Tony smiled when they saw who he had picked out and knew he was figuring out how to win public support for The Avengers back with his team.
….
Ms. Marvel screamed with rage as she punched another goon out. Her and Luke Cage's New Avengers had their hands full shortly after the unknown energy source had hit Earth. Not only were super villains powered-up. But regular street thugs had been empowered as well. Currently, The New Avengers had decided to hit Midtown to assist in the arrest, but the gangs were beginning to swarm like locus.
Ben Grimm punched a thug in front of him before turning around and smacking the other one behind him in the face. Meanwhile; Luke Cage threw Danny Radd towards one thug while Danny focused his Chi and struck the goon in the chest hard with his fist. Spider-Man swung around, webbing up as many as he could, while taking the occasional break to stop and fire off a bit more webbing.
Despite their efforts, it seemed that about forty more thugs had taken the place of their fallen comrades and were advancing on them now.
"Where's Wolverine when you need him?" Spider-Man quipped.
"Probably out on one of his many adventures he finds himself in!" Luke answered, "Jessica's at home with the baby, Mockingbird's with Hawkeye on some adventure for themselves, and Daredevil's doing his redemption gig at protecting Hell's Kitchen last I checked."
"Then should we call for backup?" Spidey asked.
At that moment, ten of the incoming goons were struck by a familiar red-white-and-blue shield that left the two sides awestruck. Then a few beams of repulsor rays fell upon the remaining goons knocking them out cold. The New Avengers looked up to see Captain America descending from a nearby short roof while Iron Man flew down carrying a young SHIELD Agent with him.
"Yo, Cap!" Luke called, shaking Captain America's hand, "Thanks for the save."
"No problem, Luke." Cap assured, "Nice to see every hero doing something about the pulse."
"So what are you here for?" Carol asked, stepping up to join them.
Steve turned to Westley as he stepped up to talk to her.
"Carol Danvers;" He said, "My name is Agent Westley Skarsy. I'm a new member of SHIELD. Nick Fury has tasked me with creating a SHIELD-Sanctioned Avengers team and I want you to be on it."
Carol froze as everyone looked at her.
"Uh…" She said, rubbing the back of her head, "Wow…um…Agent Skarsy, was it? I…I don't know if I'm ready yet."
"Ms. Danvers," Westley explained, "You were an Avenger for a long time. Probably not as long as Captain America or Tony was, but you're still considered a veteran Avenger. The public who's going to see this Avengers team want people they can feel safe around. You were part of the registered Superheroes for a while, and even after you went underground, I'm sure there's still a majority of people out there who still like you. Just give it a chance."
She looked at him and smirked.
"All right," She said, "If Wolverine can be in a million places at once, I'll give it a shot."
"Listen, Agent;" Ben explained, "If you're going to put this Avengers team together, I think I can suggest someone from the Fantastic Four who would be more than willing to join."
"Mr. Grimm," Westley said, "We all know about your guilt during the events of the American Blitzkrieg, but…"
"I wasn't talking about me, kid." Thing told him, "I wuz talkin about the Matchstick."
Westley looked surprised as he hadn't considered choosing a wild card like that.
….
The Next Day…
It was early in the morning that Westley saw the flaming streak of fire approaching him at Avengers tower. Soon enough, the recently-returned Human Torch soared above him as he descended and flamed off revealing the handsome face of Jonathan Storm that was adorded by millions of girls everywhere.
"You rang?" He asked with a smirk.
"Johnny Storm;" Westley said, proudly, "How would you like to be part of the new SHIELD-sanctioned Avengers team?"
"Seriously?" Johnny asked with amazement, "Hell yeah I'll join!"
"Great," Cap explained walking up to them, "In the meantime, I spoke with Thor and he said he'd join. In the meantime, though, I got us a new recruit a former member of SHIELD nonetheless."
"What are you…" Westley asked, turning around and gasping.
Standing there was a young woman with curley brown hair wearing a SHIELD uniform but instead of the SHIELD logo, there was an Avengers one in it's place.
"Westley, he smiled, meet Kitty Pryde."
"SHE was a SHIELD Agent?" He asked amazed as Kitty shook his hand.
"Long time ago," She laughed, "It's a long story, and I'm joining because I need something to do besides teaching at Logan's school."
Westley smiled before he thought of something and asked her.
"Wolverine has a school?"
….
The Next Day, An Undisclosed SHIELD Hospital…
In a lone room, Norman Osborn laid silent. His skin was dark purple and his face was almost drooping off. He had come so close to regaining his control as king of the world, only to far so far due to the interference of the Avengers when his newly-grafted Adaptoid powers accidentally absorbed the powers of both the premiere and the 'New' Avengers at once, causing his body to overload and send him into a coma with his body nearly destroyed.
But he was still not without his fans.
At that moment, a lone agent in SHIELD armor entered the room. He pulled something out of his pocket and looked at it in his hands. It was a glowing white shard that gave off a light in all the colors of a rainbow. The shard was crystal-like and warm telling everybody who came upon it that it had nearly-unlimited power.
Clutching the shard tightly in his hands, the agent brought it up over his head and then stabbed the unconscious body of Norman Osborn in the chest.
Once the shard had pierced Norman's skin, it set off a wave of electrical spikes, and then Norman's eyes awoke, turning a shade of green.
Norman's lips curled into a twisted smile, and the last thing the agent thought of was how stupid he was for doing this.
….
Avengers Tower…
"This is CBS News outside Avengers Tower where we are awaiting the announcement of a new Avengers Team branch…"
"…As it has been confirmed by SHIELD Director Nick Fury that a new Avengers team will be installed in response to the unidentified energy mass that hit the world late yesterday afternoon…"
"…The President of the United States addressed the world earlier today that this team of Avengers will be used by SHIELD only and answering to Nick Fury and himself alone…."
"…MMN will keep you updated as we anxiously await the announcement of who will be on this new team of Avengers."
Westley watched the TV reports happening on the bottom floor below them as he turned to Stark with a bit of annoyance.
"You assisted with Fury in called the media and didn't tell me?" He asked, clearly annoyed by this.
"Yeah." He grinned, "You would've said 'no.'"
Westley nodded and turned to his assembled team of Avengers.
THE official SHIELD-sanctioned team now.
"All right, everyone," he said getting their attention as he approached Aurora. "Boys and girls; this is Aurora Devereux. She's my second-in-command. You answer to me, her, or Cap in the chronological chain of command. She will also be our accountant and coordinator for PR which is what we're about to face. In a few minutes, the cameras are going to be on us, so just put on your game face and make sure the world feels like it's in capable hands."
Everyone nodded as Aurora nodded to him and went outside to greet the press with the cameras and podiums set up here.
"So," Johnny said to Kitty, "I heard you're running a school now, Kitty."
"Yes." She said, sarcastically, "And in case you've forgotten, Wolverine is head of the school while I'm his headmistress."
"Okay, I'll shut up." Johnny joked.
….
Aurora stepped up to the podium as the crowd watching from the ground applauded as her image was projected onto a hologram in front of the tower clear enough for everyone to see.
She cleared her throat and then spoke.
"Well," She said, "I think if the Superhuman Registration Act has taught us anything it's that putting together a SHIELD-sanctioned Avengers team isn't easy to keep for about a month or two."
Everyone laughed at this before being silenced so that she could speak again.
"Anyways," She explained, "My name is Aurora Devereux and I am an accountant of SHIELD now coordinator for the SHIELD Avengers. The Avengers attempts at being sanctioned by the government to be regulated has not been easy. There were faults with Stark, Osborn, and some even claim that Rogers has some great faults. But I think that what we needed was somebody who was already committed to SHIELD to make it work. And so ladies and gentlemen; it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you your SHIELD Avengers team leader; Westley Skarsky."
The crowd applauded as Aurora left and Westley took her place.
He waited for the noise to die down before speaking.
"Thank you New York and those of you watching around the world. As the leader of the newest Avengers team and an agent of SHIELD, I take this job with a heavy heart. However, my Grandpa would always make me follow through with things no matter how difficult they were because he believed I could do more. He may not be with me anymore, but I intend to make him and the rest of earth proud of what I and the team do for the world. And now, let me introduce, your new Avengers!"
The crowd now burst out into screams of excitement and awe as the latest Avengers lineup stood around him.
"The new lineup consist of myself, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ms. Marvel, The Human Torch, and Shadowcat," Westley explained, "We will defend the world till our last breath and if anybody tries to defy us, we will yell the famous battle cry from any Avengers members…"
He nodded to his team and at the same time, they yelled two words.
"AVENGERS: ASSEMBLE!"
The crowd burst out into cheers and screams of happiness once more as the latest branch of Earth's Mightiest Heroes stood there heroically for the entire world to see.
"Now," Westley continued once he felt the people had the time to take them in, "Are there any questions?"
"Human Torch!"
"Captain!"
"Stark!"
"Isn't that Shadowcat? Wasn't Storm of the other X-Men team onboard a couple weeks ago?"
"Ms. Marvel's back!"
"WE LOVE YOU THOR, BABY!"
"Captain, will you be leading this Avengers team?"
Just then, Westley saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something flying towards them. Even before Stark could scan and see who it was, The Avenger s froze when the saw the figure was getting closer and seemed to be crouching on something.
The crowd noticed too and stared in awe as The Avengers could see him clearly from where they were standing and froze.
"Oh. $*%^." Westley cursed, as he saw two objects flung towards them, "INCOMMING!"
The Avengers moved out of the way as two pumpkin-like bombs exploded upon reaching the podium, but luckily, the Avengers had avoided it. The crowd below erupted into panic and paranoia as Westley looked behind him to see a familiar smiling green skinned figure with long ears, a sick grin, and a purple suit and hit laughing at them.
"Hello, Avengers," Norman Osborn greeted in his high-pitched goblin voice, "Miss me much?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
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