Angie let her head rest on the desk. She had just finished an easy science test early; all that was left to do was wait for the bell to signal next period. Then, Angie felt her phone begin to buzz in her pocket. And it just kept buzzing. No pauses, just straight buzzing. Angie's head snapped up. That was the Avenger's Alert on her phone. Angie raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Rogers?" the teacher looked at her
"Can I go answer my phone in the hall? It's my dad" Angie announced. The teacher gave her an incredulous look.
"Sir, I think it's an emergency" Angie said with a little more force. The teacher sighed.
"Keep the door open so I can make sure you're not giving answers" the teacher sighed. Angie nodded and quickly stood, walking quickly into the hall. She pressed her phone to her ear.
"Avengers Assemble, Priority Omega. This is not a drill. All Avengers and Avengers Reserves report to Stark Tower, Manhattan, as soon as inhumanly possible" Angie's brow furrowed.
"What's up, Dad?" Angie muttered as she hung up. She walked back into the class room, trying to look panicked and worried. It wasn't very hard, considering that there was a Priority Omega threat in progress.
"Is something wrong, Miss Rogers?" he asked
"My Pops is in the hospital. My god-mother said he was shot and that I'm to be excused from class" Angie said softly. The teacher nodded.
"I'll tell the office, though you should tell your mother -"
"God-mother" Angie corrected
"- to call the office herself" the teacher said "And Angela? The only reason I'm doing this for you is because I respect your father and that you're my top student"
"I'll make it up to you, sir" Angie said before grabbing her bag and running out. She nearly ran straight into Peter.
"You got the call too?" Angie asked. Peter nodded.
"It's almost second period. We need to move fast" he said. Angie glanced around before smirking.
"Follow me" Angie pushed Peter into the girl's bathroom. Peter slapped his hands over his eyes. Angie rolled her eyes and checked under the stalls. All clear. She pulled a piece of notebook paper and a marker, and wrote 'Out of Order' on it before taping it on the door.
"All clear" Angie said. Peter slowly removed his hand.
"A little warning next time would be nice" he muttered
"You have your suit?" Angie asked "Because you're gonna need it"
Dragon and Spiderman exited their respective stalls, both slinging their bags over their shoulders.
"This window should lead us out to the back of the school" Dragon said
"Should?" Spiderman tilted his head
"It could lead us into the quad" Dragon said "Y'know, where a bunch of classes have windows to and we'll be seen then questioned" Spiderman glared at Dragon.
"You couldn't tell me this before because...?" Spiderman growled. Dragon shrugged. She propped open the window and stuck her head out.
"All clear" she said before flying out. Dragon felt something stick to her foot and glanced down to see Spiderman on a web tied to her foot.
"Really? You couldn't just web away like normally?" Dragon muttered. Spiderman laughed. Once they were away from the school, Spiderman starting swinging on his own.
"What do you think is so important that they would call us in?" Spiderman asked
"A number of things" Dragon muttered "None of them good. All of them fatal" Spiderman shuddered mid-swing.
"Hey, Dragon!" Dragon turned to see the Human Torch flying up nearby.
"You got the call too?" Dragon asked. Torch nodded.
"Dragon!" Dragon barely had time to turn before someone landed on her in a puff of sulphuric smoke.
"Kurt? Why did you get the call?" Dragon tilted her head, adjusting herself so the mutant could sit on her back as she flew.
"I don't know" Kurt shook his head "I thought you would" Dragon shook her head. The four heroes all landed at the base of Stark Tower. Waiting there was a short, gruff looking man in a white shirt and a leather jacket.
"Logan?" Kurt tilted his head "Why are you here?"
"I got a call from Stark saying to meet here" Logan muttered
"Where's Tony?" War Machine landed on the front steps of the building. Dragon nodded to him.
"We're not sure" Dragon said "Pepper is out of state on a business thing, so the Tower should be locked" Dragon pulled out her ID card and pressed it against the pad.
"Welcome to Stark Tower, Miss Stark-Rogers" Jarvis greeted as the doors swung open. Dragon nearly marched in.
"Jarvis, prepare the lounge. I want city-wide coverage. News feeds, the Bugle, security cameras. If a bad guy farts, I wanna know about it" Dragon ordered
"Of course, ma'am" Dragon walked into the elevator, quickly followed by the others.
"So, we don't exactly know each other" Human Torch pointed out
"I'm-" Spiderman started
"Spiderman, Human Torch, Iron Patriot - the former War Machine -, Nightcrawler, Wolverine" Dragon said without taking her eyes off the door "And Dragon"
"That was pretty impressive" Nightcrawler admitted
"It's not like she knows our secret identities or anything" Human Torch said
"Peter Parker, Jonathon Storm, Colonel James Rhodes, Kurt Wagner and Logan" Dragon said as the doors dinged open. She walked out, leaving all the men staring at her.
"How did she -?" Johnny tilted his head as he followed the girl out. The lounge already had a dozen or so holographic screens up.
"Jarvis, where are the Avengers now?" Dragon asked
"I do not know, ma'am" Jarvis said.
"What?" Dragon demanded "Bring me the footage of their last known battle. Make it a 3D model, if you can"
"Of course" Jarvis replied. Seconds later, a scale model of Manhattan was before everyone. Dragon pulled it over so everyone could see, zooming in on where the Avengers were battling-
"What the hell is that?" Logan choked. It was like a flying head, with tiny arms and legs.
"Jarvis?"
"It is MODOK, ma'am" Jarvis said "A creation of the Advanced Idea Mechanics. Machine Organism Designed Only for Killing, I believe"
"Kill the Avengers?" Kurt tilted his head "Is that possible?" They had the thing pinned. The Avengers were grouped together, ready for their final assault. As Hulk moved to smash MODOK, a beam shot from its forehead. Then, the Avengers were gone. Cap's shield lay on the ground, untouched.
"I sent out the Mark 47 to retrieve Captain America's shield" Jarvis announced. No one said anything.
"Jarvis, ch-check-check my eyes, your scans-" Dragon stuttered.
"They are all correct, ma'am" Jarvis said "The Mark 47 has returned" The armour walked into the room, carrying the shield. For a second, it looked like Iron Man was simply returning Cap's shield after he lost it in battle. But, Dragon knew that the Mark 47 was just a hollow shell. Dragon took the shield and ran her hand along the edge. She slipped it on her arm.
"Jarvis, bring up the files on the Avengers failsafe. Probably made by Tony, maybe Steve as well" Dragon ordered
"Why does that computer just do what you say?" Logan asked
"You haven't figured it out yet, bub?" Dragon snorted. She pulled her goggles back.
"Angela Stark-Rogers, adopted daughter of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers" Angie muttered.
"Files found, ma'am" Jarvis announced "Playing now" A holographic image of Tony appeared.
"If you're getting this, then it means one thing. And that is that the Avengers are dead or missing. I'm really hoping its missing because I had a ton of shit that I wanted to do before I died" Tony said "The call will have gone out to a group of people who I believe can make up a new, great team of Avengers. Dragon, Spiderman, War Machine-I mean Iron Patriot, Human Torch, Nightcrawler and the Wolverine. You are the Avengers now. Don't let the world down. No pressure or anything" A hand smacked Tony in the back of the head. Steve appeared on-screen.
"Us, all of us, believe that you six will be able to prevent the world from falling into the clutches of evil. We believe in you. Now, it's up to you to believe in yourselves. Captain America out" With that, the video ended.
"So, who's team leader?" Human Torch asked.
"Obviously me, bub" Logan muttered "I'm the only one with the experience" Iron Patriot snorted.
"In case you missed it, I'm a Colonel in the air force" Iron Patriot said "And I have the heaviest weapons"
"Both of you are wrong" Human Torch decided "I'm the smartest; I work with Reed Richards for crying out loud!" The men started to argue. Dragon rubbed her temples. Now she knew how Natasha felt on field missions.
"All of you, quiet, NOW!" Dragon shouted. Her eyes were blazing in fury.
"I know we're not exactly a team. Hell, I barely even know Wolvie. But the Avengers chose us to be their failsafe should this type of thing happen. That means we need to put aside our differences and work together if we're to stop MODOK" Dragon said firmly
"Why should we listen to you, kid?" Logan snorted. Dragon walked over to him. She stood a few inches taller than the Canadian, but she knew he could gut her in a single swipe.
"Do you know who I am?" she growled.
"No" he said
"You don't need to. Just know that I've lived in this tower for eighteen years. Do you know what I've lived with? I've lived with two brothers, demi-gods, a super-soldier - a living legend who really lives up to the legend, a man with breath-taking anger management issues, a couple master assassins, and a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. I've learned from every single one of them, had some S.H.I.E.L.D training and have actually outwitted said master assassins" Dragon growled "So no, I'm not the most powerful, and I don't have cool claws made of metal. No, I don't have the most fire power, and can shoot webs or teleport. But I know people. I know teams. Sure, I'm young. But my whole life has been full of my watching the Avengers, my family, work. And I know that I can lead us. But you have to believe in me"
"I'm in" Spiderman grinned "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Dragon is right" Nightcrawler nodded
"I'm with you, Dragon" Human Torch grinned
"Same" Rhodes said firmly. Everyone looked at Logan.
"I don't play nice with others" Logan said
"You don't have to" Dragon said "Find MODOK and you can tell him that yourself" Logan hesitated before grinning almost sadistically.
"I almost wanna see what you would do if you got your hands on that big ol' head of his, bub" Logan muttered "I'll stick around. For now"
"Then we're a team" Spiderman said
"No. We're the Avengers" Dragon said "Now get out of here before your testosterone suffocates me" Everyone walked towards the door, but Spiderman hesitated.
"You gonna be okay, Dee?" he asked. Dragon nodded as she turned to the holographs before her. She didn't even register the tears streaming down her cheeks until she went to take a breath, and it caught in her throat. Then Dragon fell to her knees, sobbing. They were gone.