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Chapter 25
Jade saw that the lab was wrecked. The Hulk had just thrown Steve into a wall, and Natasha was busy trying to find something, probably a tranquiliser.
"What is that?" She heard Neville ask, just as Thor hit the Hulk with Mjolnir, distracting him from Steve, and pushing him back a step. The Hulk roared and punched Thor.
"Hulk, stop!" Jade yelled, running up to him.
He looked down as Jade grabbed onto his hand with both of hers, her hair turning green. "Friend Jade?" He rumbled.
"It's me Hulk. Clint's really sorry for dropping the experiment and making it blow up in your face."
"Really sorry." Clint chimed in.
"See? So, can you please calm down for me? You're hurting the others."
Slowly, the Hulk began to shrink down, and the visitors watched in awe as what was probably one of the most terrifying beings they had ever seen became a man. "Next time, Clint," He said, tiredly, "Be more careful. Actually, no, just stay out of the lab unless you absolutely have to be in here." Thor had helped Steve to his feet, Natasha was frowning at Clint, and Clint was just looking sheepish.
"Yeah Bruce, of course." He nodded, obviously glad to do as asked, if it avoided almost being smashed again.
"What, in Merlin's name, just happened?" Augusta asked, clutching her chest.
"Bruce has serious anger management issues." Tony said casually. "He normally has really good control, but when he loses it, he really loses it."
"Understatement of the century, Tony. How was it you first described it? 'Enormous green rage monster'?"
It suited, didn't it?" Tony shrugged. "But, yeah, this lot are almost always around. That is Doctor Bruce Banner, then we have Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, Natasha Romanoff, you've already briefly met Clint Barton, who will be arranging for the repairs to this lab, and then there is Captain Steve Rogers. Like I said, they're almost always around, and so is Thor's brother Loki. Others come and go, but this lot seem to have become fixtures."
"You invited us in, Stark." Natasha said. "And we aren't permanent. Clint and I do have missions, and Thor and Loki go back to Asgard regularly enough."
"Still feels like you're here all the time."
Jade just rolled her eyes. Her dad loved having the company in the tower really. "You aren't going to Hulk out again, are you Bruce?"
"Most probably not." Bruce said.
"Alright then. See you all later." Jade smiled, and then led her three gaping friends out of the room, leaving the adults to talk.
"Jade, that was a large chunk of the Avengers in that room, wasn't it?" Hermione asked nervously. Though she appeared to be brimming with excitement too.
"Welcome to my messed up, patchwork, family life." She said. "It's never boring."
"That man, he was that… how was that possible?" Neville asked.
"Think of it as a sort of potions accident, but with radiation. Now he has a very strange split personality problem. The Hulk's just a big softie really. If you're trying to stop him smashing things up, fighting him really is the worst way to do so, because that just makes him angrier, and the angrier he gets, the stronger he gets. I have never done anything to try and harm him and have been able to calm him from a very young age. I'm a friend of the Hulk, and Bruce is like an Uncle to me. Just like Steve as well. Natasha's like an Aunt."
"And the other two? Thor and… Clint was it?" Ernie asked.
"Fun older brothers. They both pouted at being called Uncles. At the time, I didn't want to upset anyone, so they stopped being uncles to me and went into the older brother context."
"Merlin help any boys you date when you're older." Hermione laughed.
Jade grimaced. "Never bring that subject up. Dad nearly had a heart attack when he found out I had two friends who were boys. I think that we were just friends may have saved your lives." She joked, but both of them looked rather nervous.
"Remind me never to see you as more than a friend." Neville said.
Jade laughed. "Remind me never to bring a boyfriend home with me."
"What boyfriend young lady?" Her dad's voice came from behind them.
"None dad. I don't have one."
"Good. You're far too young for that sort of thing." He then glared at Neville and Ernie. "No funny business."
"Yes sir." They chorused.
"Yeesh dad, you sound like an adult." Jade said.
"No I don't!" He almost shrieked, before running back the way he'd come.
Her friends looked to her. "Yeah, that is normal. You'll get used to this strangeness."
Franklin came over later in the evening and Jade was able to introduce him to her new friends.
"So, you're magical huh? Cool. My nanny was, still is, a witch. Madam Harkness still drops in occasionally." He said. "Didn't she give your cat to you?" He asked Jade.
Just then, Bonnie jumped up on the sofa back, and down, climbing into Jade's lap where she curled up and began kneading her stomach as Jade automatically began scratching between her cats ears. "Yeah, she did."
She felt a disturbance behind her and saw their eyes widen. A hand grasped her shoulder and she reached back, channelling magic into her grip and muscles, and using her physical training, she moved forward, using the weight of the person behind her against them, and flipped them over the sofa, her back, and onto the floor in-front of them. Bonnie immediately jumped off her lap and grew into a panther, growling, but it was only Loki, who was grinning.
"You are learning, Jade. Good."
"I could have hurt you, Loki."
"Doubtful." He climbed to his feet and smiled at her. He ruffled her hair. "I let you flip me to see if you could. I could have cancelled the spell you used to increase your strength enough for that manoeuvre, and you would not have been able to lift me."
"I didn't think you would be coming until tomorrow."
"With that meeting in two days' time, I decided to arrive early to be sure the other party does not try anything. We cannot risk it. I will leave you all to it then Jade. But do not think that because your friends are here we will be missing your usual lesson tomorrow."
Jade groaned and Loki smirked, before leaving the group to it. Franklin burst out laughing. "You're probably the only mortal he doesn't mind flipping him!"
"Even though he let me do that, I'll regret it in training at some point." Jade groaned.
"How did Bonnie do that?" Hermione asked, staring at Bonnie, who was the size of a house cat once again.
"Magic, Hermione." Jade grinned, only to get whacked around the back of her head for the sassy comment.
Jade and Franklin loved introducing Ernie, Neville and Hermione to New York. Hermione was far less awed than the boys, having grown up knowing about the muggle world, but she was just as awed as any other kid their age (or any age) meeting all the people who drifted in and out of the tower, which was all a part of Jade's daily life. They showed them as many of the tourist sights as possible, and more.
"I still can't get over that your family is made up of superheroes." She said to Jade. The group of five were in a café that was next to the cinema they were going to watch a film in soon. Their parents/guardians were a few tables over.
Jade smiled. "It is strange, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Me neither." Franklin said. "Life would be so boring if Uncle Johnny and Uncle Ben were normal when they argued. And when mum had to break them up. It wouldn't be as fun to watch."
"Johnny hitting Ben with a fire ball is good, and subsequently being thrown out of the penthouse towards the sidewalk." Jade agreed.
"What?!" Neville and Ernie asked.
"What Jade didn't mention is that the fire does nothing to Ben and Johnny can fly." Franklin said. "And then there's all the other things."
"Of course, all the enemies cause major downsides." Jade said. "How many times have they attempted to kidnap each of us?"
"I've lost count." Franklin said. "But, watching the others go after those who try is pretty funny too."
"Except for when the bad guy succeeds." Jade grimaced.
"Yeah, well, they didn't even try and ransom you, did they? They just went straight for the kill the kid track. I doubt it would have been quite so tense otherwise."
"Are you arguing the levels of tension that comes with being kidnapped? How regularly does it happen?" Ernie asked.
"There's at least one attempt a year for each of us. But only the Death Eaters have been successful so far." Jade said. "I'm not eager to repeat the experience."
"Personally, I can't believe you've never been to a cinema before." Franklin said to Neville and Ernie, changing the topic. "But you'll enjoy this. It's even in 3D."
The night before the meeting between the Avengers and Dumbledore, the journal that came from the future clicked open. Reading it, Jade soon found something that could really cause problems. She ran from the room, heading for her dad's lab. In her haste she tripped and only her dad having seen her coming saved her face from greeting the floor.
"Hey kiddo, what's the hurry?" He asked.
"Whatever you're planning tomorrow, don't do it!" She gasped.
"What are you talking about Jade?" He asked in confusion.
"The meeting! The diary opened! It says that when the attempt on Dumbledore's life failed because he was healed, he discovered you had been behind it! He then began doing everything he could to get you all out of the way, and get custody of me. That last part didn't work, but SHIELD was shut down!" She was beginning to hyperventilate. "And while we were trying to fight him, Voldemort was able to expand his powerbase and take over! You have to find another way to stop him! Or Voldemort will win!"
"Jade, calm down, we'll figure this out, alright?" He said, pulling her into a hug. "We'll sort this out. We've always won before. And now with this information, we can beat both Dumbledore and Voldemort. The future your future self warned us about isn't going to happen, alright? Now, let me see that book."
Jade handed it over to her dad, and they sat on the floor, reading it, Jade curled into his side, like when he used to read to her when she was younger. Except, normally it was on the carpeted floor of the living room, or her bedroom, but the action was still enough to calm her down.
"Ouch." Tony flinched as he read about Voldemort managing to recruit Black Mamber, the Black Knight, Amora and Skurge, the last two who were able to recruit the Jotuns. All four were able to recruit other members from teams such as the Masters of Evil and that proved to be quite a force, and a very lethal one too.
"Alright. Enough doom and gloom." Tony said, not wanting to read any more about the end of the world as they knew it, and their deaths. "Go spend some time with your friends, introduce them to the video games we developed and let us adults deal with this."
"Don't you mean the adults and the Avengers?" Before he registered what he'd said, Jade had shot off, laughing, having needed the laugh. He grumbled as he climbed to his feet and went to find the others.
"We have to get a new plan." He said, putting the journal down on the table in the briefing room of the tower when they were all there. "Or tomorrow is going to be the beginning of the end."
A/N: Please review! I'm sorry for the wait!