As Steve was being shown his new room at the Avengers Mansion, his eyes were unknowingly met by the gaze of The Watcher. The Watcher had witnessed the team's recent battle with Parasite and was now silently watching Steve settle into his new abode. Steve's room looked surprisingly similar to the apartment he had before he joined the army. The walls were painted a muted shade of blue, and the curtains were a deep maroon color. The furniture was simple yet functional, with a comfortable-looking bed that had a blue and white striped comforter. The room had a small window that looked out over the front lawn of the mansion, and the moonlight softly illuminated the space. Despite the peaceful surroundings, Steve couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, knowing that the next battle was just around the corner.
"Yeah, Peter thought it would be best to make it feel like the 70s to help you," Janet explained to him.
"I can't thank you all enough for what you've done for me," says Steve.
"Hey, it's the least we could do after you saved our lives," Janet reminded him. "If it weren't for you, we'd likely have been killed."
Steve chuckled at that remark. "Well, you're not too bad yourself for a beginner."
Janet squealed as she was getting praise from Captain America. "That's good to hear from an American idol like yourself."
Then there was a beep from the radio, causing them to turn and hear Jarvis' voice through the speaker. "Ms. Van Dyne. There appear to be reports of a robbery in the neighborhood."
Janet groaned when she heard that and knew everyone else was currently asleep. "Alright, I'll be there."
Steve asked, "Do you need some help?"
"No, you've had a long day, and if it were anything serious, Jarvis would have mentioned it," Janet said, knowing she could take down some random thugs. "Right, J?"
"Certainly, miss. They seem to be four human escapees from the desert base of the DEO associated with HYDRA."
"See? Easy pickings." Janet stated as she strolled on out.
With a swift flick of her wrist, Janet activated her size-altering technology, shrinking down to a fraction of her normal size. Janet soared over to the scene of the crime as she noticed the crime was already done, but then followed the criminals as they went to an abandoned warehouse, her wings buzzing with anticipation. The air crackled with tension as she confronted a group of HYDRA criminals, their sinister intentions evident in their eyes.
She zipped around her adversaries, her agility unmatched. The criminals swung their fists, but their blows met only air as the Wasp weaved through their attacks with finesse. Janet darted in close, landing a flurry of punches on one of the HYDRA operatives. Her strikes were lightning-fast and precise, incapacitating her opponent with calculated efficiency. But the others quickly regrouped, surrounding her with a wall of malice.
Undeterred, the Wasp expanded her size, growing tall and formidable. She unleashed her wings, generating a gust of wind that sent the criminals staggering backward. Using her newfound advantage, Janet unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, each one finding its mark with pinpoint accuracy.
"Hey, guys!" Janet called out as she grew to normal size. "So, am I late for the party?"
The HYDRA criminals fought back, launching a barrage of bullets and energy projectiles. But the Wasp's nimble movements and acrobatic flips allowed her to evade danger effortlessly. She countered with a dazzling display of martial arts, her strikes leaving her foes reeling.
As the battle raged on, Janet's determination burned brighter. She utilized her shrinking abilities to her advantage, shrinking mid-air to evade her opponents' attacks and then reappearing with a powerful kick that sent them sprawling. The criminals grew increasingly desperate, realizing they were no match for the indomitable Wasp.
With a final burst of energy, Janet called upon her signature move, summoning a swarm of holographic wasps. The miniature creatures buzzed fiercely, disorienting the HYDRA operatives and leaving them vulnerable. Seizing the opportunity, the Wasp incapacitated each criminal with a series of lightning-fast strikes.
"Oh, you have no idea how much I needed this after the day that I had today," Janet said with relief when she noticed one of the men got up and tried to run. "Hey, where do you think that you are going?"
Janet then shrank down and followed after the agent. Following the agent, he went outside and ran down an alley to try and make a getaway. But before he could truly escape, he was stopped by Janet as she grew and stopped him. When he tried to run up and attack, Janet shrank and avoided the hit where she then grew again and threw him against the wall. When Janet smashed him into the wall, she got ready to shoot him to finally knock him out.
"Whoa! Wait! Wait!" He cried out and raised his hands in surrender. "Janet!"
Janet was a little confused when she heard her name being called and stopped fighting him. "Huh?" When the HYDRA agent removed his mask, Janet was shocked when she recognized the man underneath. "Rhodey?!"
James Rupert Rhodes. But usually, he goes by Rhodey. An agent within the DEO that Janet had happened to know as he was also around the science division often.
"Hey, Janet." Rhodey greeted her.
"Wh-what are you doing!?" Janet asked as she gestured to his attire. "What, did you switch sides? You didn't turn to the dark side, did you?"
"What?" Rhodey asked as he looked down at his uniform. "Oh, the HYDRA thing." He chuckled as he was starting to follow. "No, I am still one of the good guys. Director Henshaw put me on undercover work to help locate our missing escapees."
"Oh." Janet was finally following what he was doing. But then something hit her. "OH! Did I just blow your cover?!"
"No, I should be in the clear," Rhodey promises her with a chuckle. "As long as nobody sees me with you face to face, they'll mistake me for one of the millions of random agents. And cameras in this city are terrible, especially at night with the frost." He gestured to a few cameras in the area thankfully facing away from them. "And you did me a favor stopping those guys from their crime spree. They were planning on using some tech that was left in the desert base and were calling themselves the Wrecking Crew."
"Okay," Janet said with relief. "Next time, I should really bring Hank or Peter. They'd recognize a sting operation better than me."
"Wouldn't hurt." Rhodey shrugged. He then looked around and saw nobody in the area. "Alright, well, I gotta go." He then put the mask back on. "Just act like I escaped you and don't let on that we know one another."
"Right." Janet nodded. She then acted like she was kicked in the stomach and groaned as she stepped backward. "Ow!"
Rhodey wasn't sure what she was acting up for, and looked around again. "Janet. There's no one around. You're not acting up for nobody."
Janet realized that and stopped the act. "Oh, yeah, right."
Rhodey rolled his eyes at her. "Alright, I gotta go. Take care. Give my thanks to the other Avengers."
Janet nodded as she stepped out of the way and allowed Rhodey to go running off. Janet sighed as she shrank down and flew off back to the base and knew she had at least done some good since she stopped the Wrecking Crew before they could do more damage. But both of them seemed to have missed out that there was a camera that happened to catch their entire interaction.
The rest of that night went and gone. After that interaction with Janet and Rhodes, nothing else seemed to have happened. And now, Peter was visiting his Aunt May to have some breakfast with her and listening to the radio. The only thing playing however was like a radio show that CatCo represented named LiveWire.
"This is your girl Leslie Willis with the hot topic at CatCo plaza," Leslie tells the radio. "Now what is the topic today? Oh, the big talk. The biggest thing that nobody can seem to shut up about! The Avengers."
Steve was doing pushups in his bedroom with the radio playing and was interested in what the public was thinking about this group he joined. Janet was in the kitchen where there was also a radio playing and was listening to whatever station it was left on. Thor was just nowhere to be seen, doing patrol around the city after volunteering. Logan was using his claws to open another bottle of beer, which they had learned to keep a stockpile of after he joined their team. Hank was so engrossed in his work yet again that a nuke could be dropped and he wouldn't care. Peter however was at the forefront of the entire thing when he was in CatCo and heard it on the speakers.
"Okay, let's start with the forefront of the entire group. Spider-Man." Leslie went on with the list. "I mean, the guy is almost on every channel when I wake up. And then when I go to get the newspaper, he's right there on the newspaper. He's always only there to clean up messes that he starts."
"Meh, only half of the time," Peter muttered to himself.
"And then there are those bugged-themed heroes. Wasp and Ant-Man. I hate that girl's whole 'look at me I am adorkable' thing she has going on." Leslie continued down her list of Avengers. "And that outfit she wears. I mean, that skirt is seriously overkill with that Olympic swimwear reject."
"Hey!" Janet was offended by that.
"And that Ant-Man doesn't seem to do much but grow big and cause more damage to our streets," Leslie stated. "And then there's those brutes they've encountered and have taken under their roof. The Hulk is nothing but a bigger menace than all of them. All he does is punch, and wreck cars wherever he goes. And now let's not get started on Wolverine. Now they're taking in freaks like Mutants? Spider-Man was one thing, but literally taking in and protecting a known terrorist mutant is something else."
As the argument continued, Vicky's demeanor shifted from annoyance to outright offense, mirroring the frustration that Winn had been expressing. Meanwhile, Peter sat off to the side, seemingly disinterested in the conflict. Despite being accustomed to being belittled for his efforts as Spider-Man, he couldn't help but feel that the Avengers needed more support. Their team was still new, and they couldn't afford to have people thinking that they were the bad guys. All they wanted was to help, and it was becoming increasingly clear that they could use all the support they could get.
"How could you just sit there while she talks trash about those guys?" Vicky asks as Leslie moves onto Thor.
"She's just a shock groupie. It's how she gets her views." Peter shrugged. "Besides, Cat wants an interview with the Avengers, and something like this could easily stop that from happening."
"Speaking of which..." Vicky looked at Peter. "What happened to you the other day? Didn't see you during the fight with Captain America."
Peter saw that was a good question and came up with a plausible excuse. "Oh, I just got caught under the weather."
"Well, you missed out on something spectacular," Winn stated to him. "It was so cool. Those old newsreels don't do Captain America justice."
Peter then got a contact from the Avengers, letting him know that there was trouble. "Uh, I gotta go."
"What's the rush?" Winn asks as Peter tries to leave.
"Uh, it-it's a..." Peter was struggling to come up with a lie both of them would accept. Winn is a little easier to fool since Peter has worn him down with the excuses. But Vicky is a reporter and is better at sniffing the truth out. "I have started a bowling group. We got practice soon."
"You started a bowling group?" Winn asks.
"Yeah, just a few people I met." Peter quickly lied. "And now I'm running late for it, so see you later."
As Vicky watched Peter leave, she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more to it than what had caught her eye. The way he fumbled around and made up an excuse to leave left her with a sense of unease. She couldn't help but wonder what he was really up to. His story of going to a bowling group seemed too convenient and rehearsed, and she couldn't help but feel like it was a cover-up for something else. Vicky was left with a nagging suspicion that Peter was hiding something important from her and Winn from the look of it.
While Vicky was questioning what Peter was doing, Leslie was brought into Grant's office.
"I caught your broadcast; I warned you about going after the Avengers."
"You're always warning me about something. That's our dynamic." Leslie replies to Cat. "You tell me I'm crossing a line. A week later, there's a new line to cross."
"I discovered you in that shoebox of a radio station. I mentored you to the best of my abilities. And for the most part, I am proud of that." Cat says as Leslie welcomes herself to Cat's office drinks. "But going after this team, the Avengers..."
"Hey, last time I checked, as long as I brought you certain ratings, you didn't care how many threads I pulled," Leslie stated as she walked over to the couch and sat down. "So why are they different now?"
"I am doing everything I can to cultivate a relationship between the Avengers and Catco," Cat admitted to her worker.
"I read your article, Cat. You're just as hard on them as I am." Leslie states regarding her recent paper on the Avengers.
Grant says, "The Avengers are off the table. Effective immediately."
"What, are you dictating my content now?" Leslie questioned her.
"Yes. These heroes are beginning to change the conversation of National City." Grant states. "People don't want your brand of negativity anymore, Leslie. Especially ever since the recent prison breakouts across the city. They want optimism, hope, positivity."
Leslie informed her, "You're a hypocrite, Cat."
Grant states, "And you're finished, Leslie." She puts her foot down for good.
"I have two years left on your contract," Leslie says to Cat. "And you're too proud, and you're too cheap to buy me out."
"That's true. However, I'm not firing you, I'm transferring you to traffic chopper." Grant replies to Leslie. "You'll be National City's highest-paid traffic reporter."
Leslie says, "If you do this, you'll regret it."
"Rush hour starts at 4:30. If you're not on the CatCopter when it goes up, you'll hear from my lawyer. Oh, and you better take some Dramamine; it looks like we're in for a bumpy ride." Cat warns as thunder rolls in the distance and Leslie takes her leave.
Leslie marched her way out of the office while Siobhan Smythe approached Cat. "Uh, Ms. Grant. Can we talk? I've got a scoop for you."
Grant seemed curious about what Smythe had to offer and was given footage of the other night. Seems she managed to find the footage that one camera caught of Janet letting Rhodes go. But to everyone it looks like Wasp chased down a criminal, then let's him go.
"What am I looking at?" Cat asks.
"It's Wasp letting a criminal go," Smythe explains what the footage shows.
Grant seems disinterested, especially after her talk with Leslie. "Put this under your hat until we know more about what's happening."
"What's going on is that Wasp, maybe the entire Avengers, aren't the heroes they claim to be," Smythe stated.
While they were talking, a small bug that Peter placed in Cat's office months ago suddenly went off. He knew that if anyone was going to get any big scoop about him, it would be Cat. And if there were any whereabouts reported in his enemies, it'd go to her. Helped him catch Morbius and Hobgoblin in the day. But in recent days, he's been using it to keep an eye on anyone making reports on the Avengers. Jarvis was told to record and report his findings on anything that is said when certain keywords are mentioned. Such as any of the Avengers by name. And this was definitely one of them.
"There must be some explanation." Cat seemed to be holding a benefit for the heroes. "It could easily be an imposter posing as her."
"Who cares?" Smythe replied. "Avengers going bad, and we're the first to report on it. We could change the conversation, we could dominate the headlines-"
"Don't go around using media talk you don't understand," Cat tells her. "That'll be all."
Smythe took her footage and walked off while Jarvis took the whole footage and sent it to Peter, wondering if this was going to be a problem for the team.
The problem with that was Peter was currently in the middle of a fight against Scorpion, which only Thor decided to help out with. While he was fighting, Thor struck lightning and managed to short-circuit the suit Mac was in.
"Well, that was a nice start to the day." Peter sighed as he rubbed off the dirt. "Thanks for the help, Thor."
"Do not mention it, Man of Spiders," Thor told him as he patted Peter on the back.
"Uh, Thor, we talked about this." Peter sighed.
"Excuse me, sir. But I have something that I believe requires your attention." Jarvis broke up the conversation.
"What is it, J?" Peter asks.
Later on, Janet was currently looking over herself in the mirror. She was wearing her super suit and was considering what Leslie had said on the radio. She looked down and dusted off her skirt and wondered if the outfit was too much.
Steve was walking past her bedroom with the door open and noticed what she was doing. He stood in the doorway and watched what she was doing. He also caught the report so he figured he knew exactly what this was about.
"Having fun?" Steve asks, spooking Janet. "Sorry, your door was open. Seems that critic got to you."
"She didn't get to you?" Janet asks him.
"I lived in the 1940s." Steve shrugged. "It was a crueler time with a lot more harsh language. And everything they could call me, I'd already been called and become numb to through the war."
"That's fair enough," Janet admitted as she looked over the costume. "You think the skirt is too much?"
Steve chuckled and knew public opinion remained the same. "I wear a costume drenched in the American flag. Your costume is subtle compared to mine."
"How do you deal with them?" Janet wonders.
"There are always people who are going to critique your work. This one doesn't have much to hate on your work, so she went after easy targets." Steve explains to her. "Your costume just happens to be one of the easiest parts to critique. Don't let that doubt you or your work."
"Speaking of our work..." Peter came up to them. "We got something to discuss."
Peter rounded up the entire group together so that they could discuss something important. He then showed them the footage that Jarvis found was actually located on Smythe's personal computer. He showed them the footage of Janet releasing Rhodes from the area. But to them, it looks more like someone letting a criminal go since they weren't aware of the full story.
"Uh, there is a logical explanation here," Janet promised. "So, late last night I went to respond to a call, and it turns out that Rhodes was also there working undercover. I just didn't know it was him until I almost shot him with a stinger."
"Well, that explains it, I guess." Logan joked as he took a chug. "Never a dull moment around here, is it?"
"Where did you find this footage?" Hank asks Peter.
"Smythe, Cat Grant's assistant, tried to have Grant write a story on Wasp going rogue," Peter explains.
"Should we be concerned?" Steve questions.
"I have Jarvis keeping an eye on her and doing anything that he could to stop her from doing anything worse with it," Peter assured them. "But Cat was against writing the story until more information came to life."
Janet groaned as she curled on the couch. "This is my fault."
"Slightly." Logan shrugged.
"It's okay," Peter assured them. "Jarvis already scrubbed the footage from everywhere, but since Smythe could have her own copies of this footage, it could lead to some copies being somewhere. And if we were to delete it suddenly, there's no telling what she might suspect next. I have Jarvis keeping eyes on her to make sure she doesn't do anything else." He then looked at his watch. "I got to go to visit my aunt, see you guys later."
Meanwhile, Leslie was doing as she was told by Grant and was in the chopper doing traffic control. However, the storm was starting to heavily pick up. The rain was coming down hard; the thunder became more frequent.
The pilot said, "This is coming down. We should land before it gets any worse."
"Screw that. Cat lady wants us to cover traffic, we are covering traffic." Leslie stated.
As the night wore on, the storm grew increasingly intense, unleashing its fury upon the city. Fortunately, in the midst of the chaos, Peter found himself in the right place at the right time. As he made his way through the streets, Thor was on patrol, keeping watch over the city. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the tail of a helicopter, causing the aircraft to spiral out of control and hurtle toward the ground, directly towards a skyscraper. In a split second, Peter darted into a nearby alleyway and quickly donned his Spider-Man costume. Meanwhile, Thor sprang into action, soaring towards the falling helicopter, determined to save the two people inside.
With the chopper hurtling towards the skyscraper, Peter sprang into action, using his web-slinging abilities to shoot several bundles of webbing, creating a makeshift net to prevent the helicopter from crashing. As he worked to secure the aircraft, the pilot fell from the helicopter, hurtling towards the ground. Peter dashed forward, diving to catch the falling pilot and save his life.
At the same time, Thor approached the helicopter, hovering next to Leslie's door, which had been completely destroyed. Despite the danger, he reached out his hand, determined to save her.
"You?" Leslie asked.
"Come, fair maiden. Take my hand." Thor says.
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning struck, hitting both Thor and Leslie. When it occurred, Leslie became much paler, and her hair turned from its natural brown to a stark white color. Thor wasn't as harmed as Leslie was; once he recovered, he picked her up and flew her to the hospital.
As the two Avengers observed Leslie's survival on the news, they couldn't help but notice that something was off about her new appearance. Despite this, some of the Avengers were still struggling to comprehend the news that Thor had been struck by lightning.
"Wait," Janet said, "you were struck by lightning? I thought you could control lightning; couldn't you have prevented that from happening?"
"Well, I can make it happen. I have never really tried stopping it from happening." Thor defended as he swung his hammer around. "I have never really had the necessary need to try and stop it from happening."
"So to recap, it technically could be our fault," Peter commented in sorrow. He felt bad for what happened to Leslie and sighed.
"Come on, Peter, it was just a natural occurrence." Hank tried to console him. "There's nothing you could have done."
Peter nodded, but he was still unconvinced. "I should go."
Peter arrived at the hospital and walked towards Leslie's room. He could feel the tension in the air as he approached. As he stood at the foot of her bed, he let out a deep sigh and noticed the physical changes that she had gone through since the last time he saw her. Her skin was pale, and her face looked tired and fragile. He couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt for not being there for her when she needed help the most.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he heard a faint moan and turned to see Cat entering the room. He was taken aback by her presence as he hadn't expected her to be there. Seems she didn't want to be there, but she for some reason was. He was impressed.
"How long is it morally appropriate to be here before leaving?" Cat asks.
"Come on, you don't mean that, Ms. Grant." Peter sighed. "You wouldn't be here otherwise."
"Oh, but I do, Parker. I am a complete germaphobe." Cat stated.
"The Avengers must feel awful." Peter sighed.
"Why?" Cat asks him, not following what he is saying. "Spider-Man stopped the CatCopter from crashing and the pilot, Thor saved Leslie. If anyone should feel guilty, it's me. But I don't."
Peter chuckled and knew Cat did seem to feel guilty. "Right." He then got an alert from Jarvis. "Uh, Cat, there seems to be a problem at the office."
Cat nodded. "Get us a cab, will you, Parker?" Peter nodded and left her alone with Leslie for a moment. She then kneeled down to whisper to Leslie. "Get up, Leslie, we both know that you are tougher than a bolt of lightning."
As Grant walked out of the hospital room, her heart was heavy with worry for Leslie's well-being. Little did she know that at the exact same moment, Leslie's eyelids fluttered open and an intense surge of electricity flowed through her body, sending shockwaves of energy through every fiber of her being.
Meanwhile, at the office, Smythe was writing an email to Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle in New York. She had attached the footage of Wasp letting Rhodes go and saw it as a way to get a scoop over everyone.
"I am almost done with this email. It will be the scoop of your life." Smythe tells Jameson over the phone.
Peter arrived just in time; as he saw she was finishing the email and knew he needed to hurry and stop this. If she had backups of this video, deleting the one right here wouldn't do anything to keep her from doing it again. He was beginning to question what to do and what the right thing was and decided to do what he needed to do to keep Janet and the rest of the Avengers safe. He printed the screen out and read the message:
"Dear Mr. Jameson, as discussed. Here is the video of Wasp letting a criminal go. I know you find this as newsworthy as I do."
There was nothing he could do to stop her. Well...he could do one thing. He could never let the wrath of his friend fall on him, but he knew a certain someone here who would be more than happy to tear her a new one.
Grant showed Smythe the printed email that Peter had sent her. He wouldn't let either Grant or Janet be discriminated against by Smythe. But that didn't stop the anger eye's coming from Smythe towards Peter since she knew it had to have been him.
"Now, I know you see yourself as a plucky heroine who broke a story as big as Watergate and then faded into my biggest competitor, and I know you think that once the Bugle runs the story, you'll have a fancy job there, and I know you believe in the end that I will admire your gumption for scooping me and I will beg you to come back." Grant seemed to be completely on top of everything.
"Will you?" Smythe wondered.
Grant stated, "No. I admire loyalty, integrity, and employees who I can trust. Not backstabbing, opportunistic little...imps. Clean out your desk." Smythe was shocked by this statement and couldn't even process it. "I'm sorry, was I using my inside voice? You are fired!" That managed to get the attention of the entire floor as they looked toward her office. "Now before you go skipping all the way to New York, I will save you the bus fare. I had a much too-long conversation with Jonah Jameson. And there is no job waiting there for you."
Peter felt sorry for her, but it was either to stop her now or to watch as she ruined both Grant and Janet. He watched as Smythe came marching past; he could tell she knew it was him and even gave him a side-eye. Vicky saw that and was a little concerned and spooked.
"What was that about?" Vicky asked.
"I may or may not have been the one to snitch," Peter confessed. "I didn't want her to get away with selling CatCo property to a competitor."
"You did?" Vicky asks with shock.
"Yeah, I know," Peter didn't like what he had to do. "It hurt, but it needed to be done."
At that moment, the rest of the team was spending their time at the Mansion. Hank Pym, the brilliant scientist, was engrossed in his latest project in his lab, surrounded by a variety of tools and gadgets. Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, was relaxing on the couch, watching television with Jane Foster, who was visiting Thor.
Meanwhile, Thor was busy patrolling the city, keeping a watchful eye out for any potential threats. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, was in the H.A.R.M. Room, engaged in a complex simulation that tested his reflexes, strength, and tactical abilities.
Logan was in the kitchen, sipping a cold beer and reading a classic novel. He enjoyed reading occasionally, something he would never let anyone else know. The only person who knew his secret was Jarvis, who had sworn to secrecy. While he was reading, an electrical surge cut off power to the entire kitchen.
"Great. The idiots probably blew a fuse." Logan snarled.
Hank was in his lab when the entire room went dark, causing him to stop working and become confused. Removing his goggles, he started looking around.
"What's going on now?"
Janet and Jane were talking in the living room when suddenly everything went dark. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" Janet asks.
Then all of a sudden, the television came alive and a surge of energy came from it and attacked Janet. She cried in pain as she was then flung from the couch.
"Janet!" Jane cried when she was zapped by the same electric shock.
All of a sudden, the electrical devices in the room began to malfunction, shooting sparks and electricity in every direction. The Avengers quickly reacted, either dodging or getting hit by the electrical discharges. But as the chaos subsided, they were shocked to see that the electricity had formed into a person at the bottom of the stairway leading to their meeting room.
As the figure finished forming, the remaining heroes, Logan and Steve, rushed over to confront the mysterious attacker. To their surprise, the figure turned out to be Leslie. However, Leslie had undergone some dramatic changes since the last time they had seen her. Her once-black hair was now a shock of white, sticking up wildly upwards, and she was wearing a strange outfit that looked like it was made out of some sort of energy.
Despite the Avengers' confusion and concern, Leslie seemed to be in a good mood and even laughed as she looked down at her new appearance. "Oh, man, look at me. I look good," she said, admiring herself. But as she realized that she was surrounded by the Avengers, her expression turned more serious, and she waited for them to make the first move. "Oh, hey, look who it is. The Aveng-brats."
"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Steve asks.
"It's the lady who's been making those negative statements about us on her broadcast show," Logan explains to Steve since Steve watched on an actual radio and never got a visual on her. "Leslie."
"Uh-uh-uh, Scratchy." Leslie denied that one. "The name is not Leslie anymore." Electricity around the room started to spark and make its way towards Leslie as she absorbed everything. "Call me..." then she opened her eyes and they started to glow blue. "Livewire!"
Logan and Steve raced to attack, but Leslie was faster with her lightning powers. She zipped across the room and ended up behind Logan, where she zapped him with electricity, sending Logan flying into the wall. When Steve saw Leslie was aiming at him, he raised his shield to block the attack, luckily the shield wasn't electric-absorbing. If she attacked, he would be safe to counterstrike. He threw his shield towards Leslie, who was confused by this but managed to zap away just in time, when she did, she struck Cap in the back and sent him flying.
"Wait, where's...?" Leslie looked around and noticed there was no sign of Thor or Spider-Man. The two main Avengers she was after, and they weren't around. "Well, I'll be back to finish the job later. There's a Cat I need to put down."
When Leslie finished, she used an electrical outlet to vanish from sight and disappear. Jarvis took a second to reboot, and when he did, he immediately sent out a distress signal to any other remaining Avengers, and the DEO to alert them that the Avengers were attacked.
Back at CatCo, Peter and Vicky were discussing how they were going to get word to the Avengers to try and get them for an interview. This was a little uncomfortable for Peter since he was literally one of them, and couldn't let it on.
"Okay, apart from either causing a disaster or making a fake one, how are we going to attract the Avengers?" Vicky asked as she pulled a whiteboard filled with sightings of the Avengers.
Peter had to admit it was a little creepy what he was seeing. "I feel like that's how you end up getting hit over the head with Thor's hammer."
Vicky sighed. "Yeah, you're right. But I've got nothing else. I don't wanna get fired on the first week on the job because I failed at my first assignment."
"It's not like this is an easy task." Peter tried to assure her. "I'm sure you'll get another assignment."
Vicky went to respond when the power to the building suddenly went out. "Oh, great. Just what we need."
Peter's senses then went off, causing him to realize this wasn't just a power outage, but an attack. However, he wondered who was going to- okay, there's no need to finish that question; nearly half the world is gunning for CatCo and Ms. Grant.
Peter didn't waste time, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Avengers ID card. He sent a distress signal out to any other Avengers, unaware that they were already incapacitated due to Leslie's visit. Then a gigantic bolt of lightning flew from all of the computers and electrical sockets. All of the workers were sent either screaming or running in several directions as Leslie appeared in the middle of the room. Peter and Vicky watched as Grant left her office and approached the form of the appearing Leslie.
"Leslie?" Cat asks in shock.
"Oh, no, no, Kitty Cat." Leslie said as she approached Cat, and Peter noticed Thor was flying over and he needed to find a way to change. "Leslie died in that chopper. The name is Livewire!"
Leslie then charged a blot of lighting and shot it towards Grant. That's when Thor flew into the window and used his hammer to absorb the electricity just as Peter and Vicky got Cat out of the way. They ran behind the desks for cover while Thor was still absorbing the powers from Leslie.
"I thought Leslie was in a coma," Vicky commented.
"Well, apparently she's gotten better," Grant commented.
"We need to get some help." Vicky whimpered. "Or at least get out of here."
"Yeah, good idea." Peter said to them; "you two, make your way for the elevator. I'm gonna see if I can get her attention."
"Peter, what?" Vicky wasn't willing to let him do that. "I'm not letting you go."
"She's not after me. I can keep her focused. And Thor has her." Peter assured her. "Now, go!"
Thor stopped when he saw Leslie stop zapping electricity. "Now, foul villain." He said as he raised the hammer at her, electricity surging off the weapon. "Surrender, or you shall face the wrath of the mighty Thor!"
Peter sneaked into his Spider-Man attire just as Thor was getting ready to zap Leslie. "No! Wait, Thor, his powers-" Thor already began to zap him using his hammer. But instead of taking him down, it ended up charging Leslie.. "...are lightning-based."
Leslie chuckled as Thor realized his mistake. "Thanks for the charge, blonde."
Then she sent two blasts of energy towards Peter and Thor, sending them both flying. Vicky and Grant managed to get over to the elevators just as Leslie zipped in front of them. Vicky backed up in fear as Grant stood and showed no fear.
"What happened to you, Leslie?" Grant asks.
"I've transcended," Leslie stated as she charged up. "Do you really care why?"
"Not particularly," Grant admitted.
Leslie then fired another bolt towards them just as Thor's hammer came flying and absorbed the electricity she fired. The hammer smashed into the wall, still absorbing the electricity. Peter came swinging between the two of them as he was ready to defend his boss and friend.
"Leslie, you don't have to do this. Let us help you." Peter tried to calm the situation down.
"I think I've had enough of your help," Leslie stated as she shot electricity towards him.
Peter jumped out of the way, grabbing Grant and Vicky with him. When they landed, Peter pushed them towards the elevators. "Go! Get out of here!"
Leslie was charging another blast when Thor came flying in and smashed his hammer into her head, sending Leslie flying. But at the same time, a giant blast of electricity surrounded the room. Peter was sent flying into the desks while Thor was smashed against the ceiling and tumbled down. The elevators were hit by an EMP, causing them to short-circuit and malfunction, sending Vicky and Grant free-falling. Leslie was nowhere to be seen when Peter and Thor got up, but they heard the scream in the elevator.
Peter rushed over as Thor used his godly strength to rip the doors off faster than Peter could. When he had a pathway, Peter dove downward to catch the elevator before it could hit the ground. When he reached the elevator, he grabbed the roof of the elevator and shot a web up to the top of the shaft. It just barely missed as Thor managed to step in fast enough to grab the web himself. His godlike strength helped him hold them easily.
Peter sighed as he yanked off the roof of the elevator and saw the two of them were safe. "It's alright. You're safe now."
"Suppose now isn't the best time to ask about an interview, right?" Vicky asked jokingly.
And that's when they discovered what had happened to the others. After ensuring that the DEO would take care of Vicky and Grant, Peter and Thor made it to the Mansion to find a separate team looking after the injured Avengers. Hank and Janet were the least injured, only suffering from first-degree burns from where Leslie attacked them with lightning. Logan was already healed up from his encounter with Leslie and was irritated by the doctors. Steve had his shoulder wrapped and bandaged and thanked his doctor.
"And you were sure Leslie Willis did all of this?" Henshaw asks in confusion.
"She goes by Livewire now," Peter told his boss.
"Livewire?" Henshaw asks with a scoff. "Great. Naming themselves is always the first sign."
"But I still don't understand," Peter said to Henshaw when he saw the chaos. "Leslie was hit by lightning, and now she has superpowers? That's not how it works."
Henshaw was trying to put it together himself when he realized something. "She didn't get hit by lighting." He then looked over to the uninsured God of Thunder. "Thor got hit by lighting, and it transferred onto her. Normal electrostatic discharge intensified as it passed through Thor's Asgardian DNA, picking up unknown properties, that's what created her."
"Great." Peter sighed. "So it's our fault."
"Tell me what her power set is." Henshaw asks Peter. "She siphons off energy?"
"More like she becomes energy." Peter corrected him. "She absorbed it when Thor hit her with lightning."
"But when she's not in her energetic form, she has a physical form you can attack?" Henshaw asks.
"Thor managed to siphon some energy," Peter recalled. "So, maybe if he did that again, and we had a way to contain her, we could make it work."
"We might have something at the DEO that can help out with that one," Henshaw assured him. "One of the prisoners is a Zarolatt."
"A what?" Peter asked.
"They're an interdimensional race of aliens consisting of pure sentient energy," Henshaw explains.
"Huh." Peter was surprised to hear that. "How come I'm only hearing about this now?"
"There's a lot of things at the DEO you still don't know about, Parker," Henshaw said with a grin. "Maybe I can have the trap sent over with Romanov and see if Pym could modify it for Livewire."
Peter's phone buzzed and he saw it was Vicky. "Oh, god. I was supposed to be getting help." He then turned away to answer the call. "Vicky, hey."
"What the hell, Parker?" Vicky asked. Now Peter knew he was in trouble, having never heard Vicky call him by his last name. "You've been gone for two hours. Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Peter tried to come up with a plausible explanation of where he was. "I just... I was... I got hit over the head by some debris in the stairs."
"Oh, god, you okay?" Vicky's anger turned into concern.
"I'm fine. These guys in suits looked me over." Peter tried to keep his connection with the DEO a secret. "Sorry I had you worry, but they kinda kicked everyone out and I didn't want to stand in the crowded area."
"No, no, it's fine. I just...wanted to make sure you're okay." Vicky explains.
Peter had to admit that he felt a little heartwarmed to hear someone else care about him. "Uh, I'm just glad to hear you're okay."
"Hey, Parker!" Logan called out.
"Uh, sorry, I gotta go." Peter tells her.
"Yeah, sure. I'll let you go." Vicky said as they hung up.
Peter approached the team who had all gathered in the Assembly room and saw a small contraption in the middle of the table. Hank was hard at work working on it as Peter approached.
"Parker, glad you could make it," Hank said sarcastically.
"Sorry, I'm the only one here who has a double life. So I kinda need to keep them separate." Peter explains to them. "Vicky, this new reporter I've told you guys about, she was worried."
"The one who wants to interview us?" Janet asks.
"Yeah," Peter confirmed. Then he remembered what Leslie had been saying about them. "And...I've been considering maybe we should do it."
"Do an interview?" Hank asks. "Don't you think we have better things to be doing with our time?"
"Hank, we all wait around for something to happen. An interview would last maybe ten minutes." Peter defended. "Look, we can talk about this later. Let's just focus on Livewire right now. Hank, are we getting anywhere?"
Hank finished tightening a screw and showed the contraption that looked like a movie prop. "Alright, Agent Romanov dropped this off, and gave me the rundown on how it worked. And I have made a few modifications so it's compatible with Ms. Willis. All we need to do is get this underneath her, spring it open using this footpiece, and then we close it." He then showed them the footpiece and the long wire attached to it. "Any electricity in the area will be drawn in while it is open. It will break her down at the subatomic level, but keep her alive until we can get her to a more permanent containment."
"Cool! It's like the Ghostbusters' ghost container." Janet said with a grin, noticing the eyes she was getting from everyone except for Peter. "Uh, anyway, sounds like a great plan."
"And Reed said he still needs a few more days or even weeks to finish our permanent container to put these guys." Peter was sorry to say. "So, for now, she'll be put into DEO holding cells."
"Okay, and how do we draw her out?" Steve asks the group.
"Shouldn't be too difficult." Logan scoffed. "We're the people she wants."
"Yes, but after our first encounter, I enhanced our security," Hank informed them. "Nothing that we don't want coming in won't be able to."
Peter then recalled something big. "We're not the only ones she's after."
Cat Grant was sitting in her office alone, after everyone had already gone home. Then she heard the thwipping sound of Spider-Man's web shooters and looked to her balcony to see him standing on it.
"Ms. Grant." Peter greeted her.
"Spider-Man." Grant greeted as she approached him. "I have a feeling this has to do with Leslie."
"She went after my team, and you," Peter confirmed. "She's going to strike again, and I don't want her going after you alone. But she doesn't realize we're working together yet."
"So, you want me to help you draw her out, is that it?" Grant asks. Peter shrugged to confirm her suspicions. "Well, I should have suspected as much. But I do want to ask something in return."
"If this is about an interview, let me say my team is already considering it." Peter tells her. "But...we want Vicky Vale to be our interviewer."
"Deal." Grant agreed to his terms. "So...you've got a plan. Spider-Man?"
Grant couldn't see it, but Peter was smiling under the mask.
"Citizens of National City, this is Cat Grant, broadcasting live from Catco Plaza, which despite a vicious attack yesterday, is still open for business. This message is for the person behind the attack. Leslie, if you're hearing this, your grudge is with me, not National City, so let's not see if we can't come to an agreement. Let's meet where it all began, as they say. I'm not one to look back, but it just feels right this time."
Grant wondered outside the building where Leslie first started. She knew this was the perfect place to keep people away from the scene, as people weren't around the area. She strolled around the area and waited for Leslie to show up while the Avengers were scattered in the area. Janet was flying around and stayed away from any electrical devices to avoid getting zapped. Hank was hiding down on the ground and the others had tactical positions with the device hidden underneath the car. They were ready for this to finally end.
Electricity flew as Leslie appeared. "Where are your bodyguards?" She asked Cat, seeing her alone.
"I didn't think they were necessary," Grant replied
"Shame. I really wanted to watch you all die." Leslie stated.
"Leslie, you and I got through you not supporting Hillary in 2008, we can get through this," Grant said as the heroes snuck around for better advantage points. "Just give me your terms."
"The only thing that you have that I want is your skin," Leslie said as Cat interrupted. "And there are so many ways to skin a..."
"A cat, yes. Congratulations, you have the wit of a YouTube comment." Grant groaned. "Are we gonna talk or not?" She asked when Leslie started powering up a lightning strike.
"Not!" Leslie says, before sending a blast of electricity at Grant.
This was interrupted by Thor, who quickly flung his hammer at Leslie, which absorbed her blast. Peter swung in and got Grant out of the way, and the heroes surrounded Leslie.
"Ms. Willis, don't make us do this. Surrender now." Steve demanded, raising his shield to protect himself.
"Surrender?" Leslie asks with a laugh. "You think I'm scared of your hammer?" She then starts to charge a blast. "You'd better run!"
But before she could finish the attack, a giant water tower came crashing down and slammed right on top of Leslie. Hank was holding the water tower over Leslie as he transformed into his giant form.
"Did that do it?" Logan asked.
"Feels a little anticlimactic." Janet agreed as she flew over. "I mean, all that, the trap, and she-"
The water tower suddenly exploded with a loud bang, and a bolt of electricity flew up, hitting Hank right in the face. The impact sent the Giant-Man tumbling backward and crashing into the street. As soon as Leslie regained her composure, she started sending her blasts towards the heroes on the ground level. Steve, being quick on his feet, threw his shield to attract the bolts, keeping it away from him. Peter, on the other hand, managed to flip and dodge the attacks effortlessly. Unfortunately, Logan couldn't avoid the attack as his entire skeleton was made of metal, and he ended up getting hit head-on by the bolt.
Janet, being small enough to dodge the attacks, tried using her stingers to attack Leslie. However, that was not a good idea as they were tiny electrical projectiles. Leslie swatted Janet away, sending her flying and smacking into the wall. Peter watched in horror as his friend got hurt and quickly shot a net of webbing at her to prevent further injury. Thor, being the God of Thunder, spun around and threw his hammer at Leslie to absorb her blast before it could hurt them. Steve then came in and threw his shield while Leslie was distracted, causing it to hit her in the back and send her slamming into a transformer. When she hit the device, it exploded, but also allowed Leslie to drain its energy.
Logan got back up and looked around the area, wondering where Leslie was. "Back to back!" He told his fellow heroes. Steve, Peter, Thor, Logan, and Janet stood back-to-back, even though Janet seemed a little dazed. They watched everywhere to see if they could see where Leslie was going to strike next. When Leslie did strike, Peter's senses alerted him, but not fast enough to avoid the electrical jolt that traveled across the water in the ground and hit him.
Leslie then formed from the lightning and created whips made of electricity. She spun and tried to attack the heroes, but she only ended up grabbing Steve and Thor, causing them both to cling to their weapons. Janet saw that she was small enough to go unnoticed and that it was up to her now. She got an idea when she realized her hands weren't conducting electricity. That gave her an idea.
"Earth's Mightiest Heroes they call you." Leslie mocks them. "I don't see what's so high or mighty about you."
"Well, that's the thing about us," Janet said as she flew around Leslie, preparing herself to grow to normal size. "Size... matters...NOT!"
Janet enlarged herself as she then punched Leslie in the jaw. As she grew to normal size, she was sent tumbling over towards the device. Steve and Logan were freed from their restraints and reacted quickly. Steve flung his shield at the pressure plate and watched it activate. When it did, the device immediately started to absorb Leslie inside and dragged her into the trap, just as it closed.
Peter groaned as he got to his feet. "Let's never do that again."
"Is everyone alright?" Hank asks.
"Great," Janet said as she proudly looked over her outfit. "And look at that. It was my dumb outfit that kicked her ass."
"Good for you, skirt." Logan joked as he got up on his feet. "So who's taking her to the DEO?"
"I've got it," Peter said as he took the trap from Thor. "Besides...I've got another appointment to make."
Vicky was sitting at her computer, trying to come up with a story that would help her keep her job. Grant wants a story about the Avengers. She wants an interview. But she couldn't get one. She was hoping Peter could make it possible for her to get word for her, but it was a miracle she was asking for.
"Ms. Vale." Peter greeted Vicky, causing her to shriek. "Hey. Heard you were looking for an interview."
"Spider-Man?" Vicky was shocked to see him. "You...you want me to interview you? Did you talk to Peter Parker?"
"Yep," Peter said, pretending he wasn't Peter Parker. Then he dropped to the ground after hanging from the ceiling. "And after being slandered by Leslie Willis, i think that it's time people got to know us. Got to know the Avengers.
Smythe was left walking aimlessly along the street, her mind consumed with thoughts of the past. As she walked, she happened to spot a group of televisions in a shop window that were broadcasting an interview with the Avengers. Her heart sank when she saw that Vicky, a woman she knew from her past, was the one conducting the interview. Smythe knew that Vicky had always been ambitious, but seeing her achieve such a high level of success only served to highlight Smythe's own failures.
A deep sense of bitterness and anger welled up inside Smythe as she watched the interview. She wanted nothing more than to be in Vicky's position, but instead, she was left on the streets with nothing to her name. In a fit of frustration, Smythe let out a piercing scream that echoed through the air. To her horror, the scream was so powerful that it shattered the glass of the shop window and destroyed all the televisions.
Smythe was shocked by what she had done. She had never experienced anything like this before. She was afraid and confused. Without a second thought, she turned and ran, desperate to figure out what was happening to her.