Volume 3: Avengers
Chapter 1
John, Astrid, Cara, and Stephen had supper at a quaint diner.
"I really did like it," Cara said. "I don't care that it was marketed towards children. I think adults should watch more children's movies. It's good for the soul."
"Even when they're cheesy?" Stephen asked.
"Especially when they're cheesy," Cara replied.
"Did I ever tell you about the time I watched Kings of Atlantis?" John asked.
"No," Cara answered. "That must have been part of your Ultra life that you kept to yourself."
"I wanted to see it really badly, but Jed wouldn't let me because he had planned a long series of training exercises for teleportation. I wasn't doing well, so Roger snuck me out one night to take a break."
"Did you like it?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, I thought it was great. Jed eventually found out and I got in trouble, but I could tell he wasn't really mad, especially because I was doing better after watching the movie."
"That's what you should do for Luca," Astrid suggested.
"I think Luca's a bit too cynical right now for children's movies," said Stephen.
"How is he doing?" asked John.
"He's doing okay," answered Stephen. "He feels a lot of pressure and it's been really frustrating sometimes, but I think he's getting there."
"He's bonded with Sophie. That's helped them both," Cara added.
A phone call broke the brief silence. "It's Jed," John said.
At the Refuge, Russell was helping two new breakouts learn how to control their powers.
"Help me!" Russell suddenly heard in his mind. Russell looked around and teleported to the roof.
"Who is that?" Russell thought aloud, vaguely familiar with the mind he felt.
Someone suddenly teleported into Russell, knocking him down.
"Mallory?" Russell cried.
Mallory remained prostrate and fell unconscious, and Russell turned her over to check her.
Eight other TPs teleported to the roof, surrounding Russell and Mallory. Two other people, armed with guns, accompanied the eight. Russell presumed they were regular humans.
"She's got a friend," someone said.
"Another Avenger?" a second person asked.
"Doesn't look like one."
"Who are you?" Russell asked. "What did you do to her?"
In lieu of answering, the eight TPs extended their arms towards Russell to beat him. John, Cara, and Stephen arrived at that moment and together knocked the ten people down.
Sensing the power they were up against, the eight TPs began to teleport away with the two people.
"Stop them!" Russell yelled.
John held on to two of the attackers and prevented them from teleporting.
"What's going on?" Cara asked.
"I don't know," Russell answered. "Mallory teleported in hurt and then these goons showed up. Good timing, guys."
"Jed called me and told me there was anomalous activity here. We all came together."
Another TP arrived, alarming everyone. Stephen and Cara prepared to defend Mallory.
"Wait!" John yelled. "This is Wes. He's one of us."
"Dr. Price asked me to check in and make sure everything's fine."
"How is Mallory doing?" John asked Russell.
"I don't know. She needs help."
"Wes, could you take her?" John requested. "Dr. Moyes is on duty. She can take care of Mallory. I'll handle these two."
Wes handed John several syringes and took Mallory into his arms.
"I'm following Wes," Russell said.
John turned his attention to the two TPs he apprehended and removed their powers.
"Who are you?" Cara asked after the two stopped convulsing.
"Laura Everett and Mike Corbyn," John answered.
"You can't keep anything from us," Stephen warned. "Why were you attacking Mallory?"
Again, the three TPs felt resistance, but John continued pushing until he got answers.
"Their group and the Red Avengers have been battling each other across the Midwest. It's gotten really heated. There are seventeen other Tomorrow People and five regular humans. The ones that escaped will probably return to the others. I'm taking them to our holding cells. Do you remember how to get to our medical center?"
"Yeah, we'll see you there," Stephen replied.
Stephen and Cara teleported to Russell.
"How is she?" Cara asked Russell.
"She's got a head injury, a couple broken bones, and a bullet in a thigh," Russell explained. "The Doctor said Mallory will need time, but she'll make a full recovery."
"That's great, Russell."
Roger and Jed entered the center.
"Did you guys find out what happened?" Russell asked.
"Classic arch-enemy situation," answered Stephen. "The Red Avengers and this group have been battling each other in the Midwest."
"We need to find the other Red Avengers and help them," Russell suggested.
"You can take a few of my people to back you up," Jed offered.
"I'll spend more time at the Refuge while you're away," Roger said. "I'll keep everything moving smoothly there."
"Thanks, dad. I'd like John to come, too."
"No," Jed replied. "If there's going to be fallout from this much activity, I'll need John to help manage it. He can get you to where you need to go, but he won't stay there."
"You don't need him," Roger said. "You'll be fine."
"I'd like to spend some time with Mallory," Cara said. "Maybe I can get more information."
John arrived at the medical center with Astrid.
"How many people are you offering?" Stephen asked Jed.
"I can spare ten people."
"I think this will work better if we all dress up as the Black Avengers," Stephen suggested.
"That's probably a good idea," replied Roger. "The outfits shouldn't be a problem, but do you have extra masks?"
"Yeah, we have a lot."
"I'll see if anyone on staff can make any batons quickly," Jed said.
While Cara probed Mallory's mind and Russell kept both women company, John introduced Wes to Astrid and then re-interrogated the apprehended aggressors.
Stephen summoned seven TPs from the Refuge and they met Wes Jarvis and nine other TP's that worked for Jed.
The next afternoon, Cara briefed everyone on her findings.
"Mallory briefly regained consciousness last night and I was able to get more information. The Red Avengers have been facing a group that calls itself the Death Web. Their encounters with the Red Avengers were sporadic at first, with the Red Avengers interfering with their plans from time to time. Eventually, the Death Web became a more cohesive group and went on the offensive. A lot of the fights between the Red Avengers and Death Web have been in Chicago, but they've spread to other areas in the Midwest and Pennsylvania. More and more Red Avengers have been heading to that area to help out."
"Do you know how some of them and Mallory ended up in New York?" Jed asked.
"Mallory was tracking three Death Web members and followed them to western Pennsylvania. She stopped them from robbing a mansion there early yesterday morning. This was supposed to be a big heist and the mansion belongs to a U.S. congressman. Because of the stakes, more Death Webbers showed up and Mallory retreated. They followed. She didn't think she could make it back to Chicago, so she came here."
"Do you have anything to add, John?" Jed asked.
"The Death Webbers live southeast of Chicago, but are most active in the city. That's where we should start. If we're taking the fight to them, we should wait until nighttime. That's when they're most active."
"People from the Refuge, will you be ready?" Jed asked.
The TPs recruited by Stephen, Cara, and Russell voiced or nodded their agreement.
"Let's meet back here at 9:30 tonight," Jed said.
That evening, John and Astrid had dinner at the Refuge with Charlie.
"What do you think of Wes?" John asked Astrid.
"I like him."
"I'll introduce you two someday," John told Charlie.
"What does he think of me?" Astrid inquired.
"He likes you, too, not that you needed his approval."
"I know, but it's nice that there won't be any awkwardness."
"It must be nice that Stephen and I are getting along, then," John commented.
"You two have always gotten along," replied Astrid.
John raised his eyebrows.
"You know," Astrid quietly said.
"Yeah, and I think on some level, there was a small part of Stephen that wasn't bothered by me forgetting Cara."
"I don't think that's true," Astrid countered.
"Subconsciously," John added.
Astrid thought for a few seconds.
"We are really fine, now. It's all good," assured John. "It's all in the past."
"When it came to us dropping the thing about you getting your memories back and coming to the Refuge, I guess Stephen wasn't the toughest sell," Astrid admitted.
"But it's fine now," John repeated.
Astrid smiled. "Yes."
"John!" Roger telepathically cried from another part of the building.
"I'll be back," John told his dinner mates. He teleported to a training room and saw Roger with Luca and Sophie.
"I think I've been going about this the wrong way," Roger said. "I didn't have a better alternative before, but now I do."
"What's going on"? John asked.
"Telekinesis practice. I'm trying to teach precision," Roger said as he put a pen in John's shirt pocket.
Roger backed away and addressed two TPs who were putting items in their bags.
"You wrapping up?"
"Yeah."
"All right, good. This will be safer empty. Now, Luca, Sophie, focus all of your energy and hit John with a blast head-on."
"What?!" Luca cried.
"It's okay. No offense to the two of you, but you can't hurt me," John assured Luca and Sophie, knowing what Roger had planned.
Sophie and Luca both unleashed telekinetic energy at John.
The energy dissipated around John, leaving him unaffected.
"How are you doing that?" Luca asked.
"I didn't do this before?"
"I don't know."
"Stay focused," Roger said. "Keep doing that, but now look at the pen in John's pocket. Focus on the pen."
"I can feel a change," John reported.
The telekinetic field began to narrow a small amount.
"Great," said Roger. "John hold the pen out to your side. Sophie and Luca, follow the pen."
Everyone complied. Luca and Sophie kept their attention on the pen, directing telekinetic energy towards it.
John and Roger both noticed the field of telekinetic energy slightly shift towards the pen.
"Good," responded Roger. "Now, focus on the tip of the pen."
The telekinetic field narrowed again, though it was still large relative to the pen.
"Great job, guys," John said. "This is a good start."
"All right. That worked. Let's call it a night and do this again soon," said Roger. He sent John a thought.
John telekinetically hurled the pen at Luca and then shattered it, sending ink flying out.
Sophie and Luca watched time slow down around the pen. Luca turned around as he feared the ink would stain his face, but then he saw that the pen and ink had stopped entirely.
"Am I doing that?" Luca asked.
"No, I am," replied John.
"I wanted to see if you had that in you yet, son. It's fine if you don't or never will. Let's focus on the first three Ts first."
John cupped the ink and pen in a telekinetic bubble and let time resume in it. He then teleported the pieces into a trash can.
"I won't be in Chicago long, so let me know if you need me again."
"Thanks, John," Roger replied.
"Nice job, guys." John teleported back to dinner.
"They're going to try that again when you least expect it," Sophie told Luca after Roger left.
"I know," Luca replied, shuddering at the thought.
"How are you holding up otherwise?"
"I'm fine. I'm around so many Tomorrow People that it was easy to accept being one. I know you and almost everyone else had a hard time with that."
"But . . .?"
"My family is so powerful except Uncle Jed, but he trained John."
"Cara said that I need to go at my own pace and not worry about anyone else. That includes their expectations. You should take the same advice."
Later, ten TPs from the Refuge, including Cara, Stephen, and Russell, joined John and ten of Jed's other TPs, including Wes. All the TPs wore black shirts, pants, boots, and masks.
"Everyone ready?" Jed asked.
Most of the TPs murmured affirmatively.
John exhaled sharply. "I've never done this with so many people before."
"It's okay, John. It you lose anyone in Limbo, you should be able to save them later."
"What?!" Isaac from the Refuge exclaimed.
Before anyone else could react, John teleported the other TPs and delayed materialization. Everyone looked around where they landed.
"Where are we?" Samia from the Refuge asked.
"This is Limbo," John explained. "It's where we travel through when we teleport."
The area around them seemed to move rapidly. Houses, bridges, and tunnels zipped by.
"Are we moving or is the landscape moving?" Russell asked.
"We are. I'm taking us to Chicago."
"We're here," John eventually announced. "The Death Web generally travels as a group. Lately, the Red Avengers have, too. In here, I can detect teleportation. If I notice any mass teleportation activity, it'll probably be one of the two and I'll take us there. I just hope we won't have to wait long."
The group waited in Limbo patiently while John monitored teleportation activity.
"So," John said. "Can anyone recommend any soul-refreshing children's movies for cynical teenagers?"
A large burst of teleportation energy behind the group caught John's attention and he turned around.
"Is that one of the groups?" Stephen asked.
John sensed another large burst.
"Yes, and that's another," John said. He resumed the materialization process and everyone appeared on a rooftop. They saw five Red Avengers battling Death Web.
"Want some help, Avengers?" Russell yelled. "Everyone attack anyone in casual clothes!"
Against twenty-six other TPs, the eleven Death Webbers were easily outmatched. Seven managed to teleport away. Three others were knocked unconscious or too weak and one's teleportation was inhibited by John. John slammed that TP to the ground, and powers were stripped from the four Webbers.
"Russell?"
"Talia!" Russell advanced towards Talia and gave her a hug. "We heard about Death Web and came to help."
Talia looked at the group from New York.
"And I heard about Avenger activity in New York. I didn't expect there to be so many, or to get to meet you all."
"We came together specially for this."
"I'm heading back to New York," John said. "Contact me if you need anything and good luck." John soon reappeared in Jed's office.
"Everything go well?" Jed asked.
"So far, so good," replied John.
Soon, Jed received a call.
"Dr. Price!"
"Senator Kelsey, good evening."
"I'm here with Congressman Hardy."
Jed steeled himself, immediately understanding the reason for the call.
"Dr. Price, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw people teleporting around my house in Pennsylvania. Now, I find out that the X-Men are real and you're running operations to police and train them!"
"Yes, Congressman. My organization is doing good work and providing valuable manpower to the U.S. Armed Forces."
"But your operations are in New York."
"Yes, sir," Jed replied.
"What are you going to do about activity around my district?"
"Well, I have an idea, but I'm open to any ideas that you might have."