Winged Archer of the Avengers
Chapter One: The Story of the Avengers

Lyric

It was almost time for bed, but as usual, none of us wanted to go to bed.

What we really wanted was to hear the bedtime story that Dad always told us: the story of the Avengers' fall and Ultron's rise.

The story with the mystery ending.

Despite its not so happy ending, we always wanted to hear it.

In fact, that was usually the only story we wanted to hear.

We never wanted to hear any other story. Dad once told me when we were spending some quality time together in the workshop that the story of the Avengers and Ultron was the only story we ever asked for. That sounded about right.

Why, none of us really knew, but it was still our favorite of all time.

We would later learn that it was a true story and that it was about our parents, about how Dad's (in his mind) colossal mistake destroyed them.

He still believed he was responsible for his friends' death.

"Tell us the story again, please?" James begged.

"Just one more time? Please Tony?" Torunn pleaded.

I said nothing, but gave my father the one look I knew he couldn't refuse: the dreaded Puppy Eyes no Jutsu, the look very few males could resist. I knew it thanks to my mom visiting me in my dreams, teaching me how to use my powers. She taught me all sorts of secrets, from the look no boy could resist, to mastering my psychic powers. The thing I wanted to learn was a blue ball of energy she called Aura Sphere. She claimed that that was 'only the tip of the iceberg for what my powers could do' whatever that meant.

I really couldn't wait for the more advanced stuff.

If that ball thing she showed me wasn't even advanced, then I could only imagine what Mom did consider advanced.

I had no idea where she was or how she walked in my dreams, but I was still glad I got to know her and spend time with her. That was more than could be said for the other kids' parents. Torunn didn't even know who her mom was, and while her dad was alive, he left her here with the rest of us, for reasons we still don't know.

Dad laughed, folding under the pressure from my look and the pleading from the others. "Okay, okay, one more time, but then it's off to bed with you."

"Yes Dad/Tony." We chorused, disappointed.

None of us wanted to go to bed (although chances were we'd fall asleep by the end of the story anyway— we always did).

No big surprise there. The day we wanted to go to bed would be the day Torunn and James stopped getting into fights (even at five years old, they still got into all sorts of fights, about everything they possibly could from who got the last sweet to who had to do particular chore that day), which was to say never. In our minds, no propper kid would actually want to go to bed unless they were really tired or they were sick or something.

Dad picked Pym up and began the story. "And there came a day unlike any others when Earth's mightiest heroes were united against a common threat: the Soldier, the God, the Knight, the Spy, the Giant, the King, the Pixie, the Bird, the Ghost, and the Archer." We all knew the tale by heart, but Dad told it best. "On that day, the Avengers were born, to fight foes that no single hero could withstand. Time traveling conquerors, alien invaders and masters of evil. One by one, the Avengers vanquished them all. And finally, when the world was at peace, the heroes built lives of their own."

"Hooray!" We all cheered in unison.

That was always the best part of the story.

Dad set Pym back in his crib and continued. "The Soldier and Spy fell in love, as did the Giant and the Pixie, and the Knight and Bird. The King found his Queen, and the Thunder God returned to his kingdom, far above the world of man, and one by one, the children of the Avengers came to be." He gave me a fond smile. I knew I was the daughter of the Knight and the Bird. "Children who would one day become a new generation of heroes. But in time, evil returned. And its name . . . was Ultron." He shuddered. No one could see it but me. Maybe it was because of Mom's training, or maybe it was just because I knew Dad, but somehow, I was the only one. Weird. Maybe it was because I was his daughter? Well, it was something else.

I knew it was because he built Ultron with the hope that it could keep the peace in place of the Avengers so that they could lead their own lives for once.

He didn't tell me; I read his mind and found out thanks to Mom's training.

I still hadn't told him, though I wouldn't be surprised if he knew that I read his mind and found out about Ultron, 'cause he was just smart like that.

Dad closed his eyes for just a second, and an almost invisible tear rolled down his cheek.

"Dad?" I asked, concerned. "You okay?"

He managed a smile. He was probably pretending, but if he could pretend then at least he felt okay. Mom always said that when Dad couldn't even pretend to be okay then he was really not okay. "Of course I'm okay Lyric-chan, but thanks for asking."

I didn't, for one second, actually believe him, but I let it go.

"Back to the story!" Azari demanded, speaking for the first time.

Azari rarely demanded anything, but when he did, it was usually that Dad tell the story, or in this case, get back to the story. It was our favorite, for some reason, despite the fact that it didn't have a happy ending. Maybe because of the mystery ending?

"Of course Azari-kun. Ultron wanted nothing more than total domination over the world," Dad continued. That was a lie. It was created to keep the peace, but eventually it begun to believe the only way to bring peace to the world was to rule it. "But the Avengers stood in its way. Sadly, their defeat was inevitable. But before they fell, the Avengers hid their children, so they could grow up safe, far away from Ultron's grasp." Our eyes drooped. One by one we began to fall asleep. I was the last one to close my eyes and finally fall asleep. "Because the Avengers knew that as long the children were safe, there was hope. Hope for the future."

By that time, we had all fallen asleep, dreaming about soldiers and spies and knights beating and battling bad robots and one day getting our own chance to battle bad robots.

Smiling (we always fell asleep around the end of the story) and shaking his head, Dad put us all back in our own beds, pulled the covers up, and turned out the lights before leaving the room and closing the door as softly as he could.