Avengers: Infinite Wars

by free man writer

The Clone Wars are in full swing with the galaxy divided. The Jedi lead the clone army against the infinite droid army of the Separatists. Yet a wild card enters the fray. The Avengers. From there, newer, more sinister and deadlier threats emerge and The Galaxy, no, the universe, shall never be the same again. Co-written by Jebest4781 and BulletStormX. Now in Season 4.

79. A Message

No time to slow down. We got a lot to cover and a lot to do as we're entering the final saga of Season 3 and it is gonna be grand.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 79: A Message

Within the Avengers headquarters in upstate New York, the entirety of the new team had been called together.

Be they the Masters of the Mystic Arts, street-level Defenders and… what Ghost Rider aligned within the good guy side category, they were all here.

The fourteen Avengers, plus their consultant Hank Pym, were present for the gathered meeting. Maria Hill was also meant to be here but she informed Tony that Fury needed her for an assignment, one she acquiesced to without really telling him how long she would be gone.

"So, what is it this time, Stark?" Stephen Strange was the first to speak up, asking the question that most of the group shared. "Another world-ending event? Some criminal get his hands on a nuke? Magic or otherwise?"

Tony simply walked forward with an odd disk in his hand, placed it on the table in the middle of the assembled team and turned it on.

"Far worse than either of them."

It flickered for a moment but eventually, the holographic images of Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Spider-man, Wasp and all the other lost Avengers appeared.

The entire group save for Clint and Tony all gasped in disbelief and astonishment.

"It's them!" Danny remarked, gaping in awe at the sight of the missing Avengers.

"Brother." Shuri had a hand over her mouth, unable to hold back the surging emotions of relief at seeing her elder brother again.

"Hope." Hank quietly said, feeling a great deal of weight alleviate himself from his being at the sight of his daughter and his pupil alive and well it seems.

"Whew, Foggy and Karen are gonna be glad to see this." Jennifer commented, a wry grin in place.

The rest were quiet, save for the most pessimistic of the group, the alcoholic speaking up.

"Hang on." Jessica Jones raised her hand, even hovering off the ground slightly to get everyone's attention. "Shouldn't you two be happy about this? You both sure as hell don't look like it."

Luke Cage picked up on the state of the two founding Avengers and narrowed his eyes.

"The hell did you mean by worse?" The hero of Harlem inquired.

Rather than verbally respond, Clint instead made the transmission play out, confirming that this was only a recording and wasn't a live feed.

The twelve Avengers all began moving, though only barely in place as they were all standing together as a whole.

"Hey Tony, Clint." Captain America spoke first. "If you're seeing this, then you know we're alive and well for the most part. Presently we are residing near the Jedi Temple on the planet of Coruscant, the center of Republic space-"

"Coruscant?!" Celeste exclaimed in complete astonishment, Tony pausing the recording for a moment. "The Republic still stands? The Jedi?" The Shadow couldn't believe what she was hearing. "They're… at my galaxy?"

"Your galaxy?" Danny murmured.

"Yes, my galaxy." Morne emphasized. "The Jedi, the Republic, all of it. The Avengers, the others, they're all over there! I…. I can't believe it."

"That's a hell of a coincidence." Robbie commented.

"No." Mordo countered in a firm voice. "If they are indeed in the galaxy from which Celeste originates from then it's actually not as surprising as you might think."

Whilst some looked at the Mystic Arts Master in confusion, Wong, Strange and even Bucky were quick to realize what Mordo was referring to.

"Uh-huh~~" Tony drawled out, resuming the recording, making everyone turn their attention back on it.

"As much as we'd love to return home, we, unfortunately, can't at this time. It's not because of our limitation of getting back to Earth easily. We could perhaps piggyback with Thor, but that would be problematic. Talk to him about the reason why. Another option is hitching a ride with a group that calls themselves the Guardian of the galaxy, yet they're focusing on several matters and won't be willing to leave the galaxy for some time."

"Plus, we haven't really met them all." Scott tacked on, getting some looks from both the Avengers in the recording and the ones watching. "What? You know it's true. It's not like all of us can stroll up to them and say "hey, can you take all of us out of this galaxy and then travel the entire universe to take us back home?" That's rude and unrealistic."

Hank huffed in amusement, a wry but heartfelt smirk worming its way onto his face at his students' obvious lack of chance intact. He didn't miss the fond exasperation in his daughter's eyes when she turned her head towards him.

"But we've been busy up here, case you were wondering." Widow now spoke. "And it's a lot to cover, so keep up everyone. First off, we're presently taking part in a galactic war."

Upon hearing this, Celeste's shoulders sagged, a mournful expression coming over her.

Her galaxy was at war?

Again?

Was it… could it possibly still be the one that was ongoing before her slumber?

Or was it something else entirely?

Sensing her turmoil, Bucky silently grasped her hand with his own, making his lover look up at him, her face morphing into that of gratitude and love.

All the while, the recording went on, with Rhodey now stepping forward.

"The second issue, however, trumps the war by a landslide. To sum it up, God Tony, I know you're gonna hate this," Rhodey hung his head, shaking it. "Ultron is alive and he's wreaking havoc across the galaxy."

The reaction of the earth-bound Avengers was mixed.

Several seized up, eyes wide in horror. Others appeared confused but troubled as the name sounded familiar. The rest were all rather confused and unsure of how to feel but the look of misery on Tony and the grim expression of Clint put them on edge.

"Who's this Ultron?" Robbie inquired, intently staring at the billionaire playboy.

Tony let out a sigh, the video message paused, the founding Avenger leaning his hands on the table in front of him.

"My mistake." He answered simply. "The biggest mistake of my life. Damn near cost the entire planet because of me."

"One we'll talk with you all about later." Clint spoke up. "Come on, there's still a lot to cover here, people."

The group quieted down again and the recording resumed once more.

"We're honestly doing our best in fending him off, yet he's upping his game. We need the proper means of counteracting him." Sam Wilson stated.

"Reason why we need you to get the means of getting us back home as soon as possible. It's so we may regroup, band together and take the fight right to Ultron with all of us." War Machine added.

"And part of making this happen involves the weird Stargate you guys probably have." Scott said.

"From what we learned, it's called an Infinity Gate." Wanda now spoke. "By our knowledge, it's of Kwa technology. The data disk has everything we have obtained from our end pertaining to the Kwa. Hopefully, you can figure something out in making the Gate functioning again."

"We'll also be trying to find a functioning one on our end so we may have a proper doorway here and home to make travel much easier." Nat stated. "But until then, that's our best chance of getting a direct route from here to home. We can't rely on Thor as is all the time and even then, it's difficult from how he explained it."

"I know it's not much but we just wanted to get this to you guys as soon as we could." Steve spoke again. "Things have been escalating here and it looks like it's only getting worse with the war and Ultron's own inclusion in all this. Karen and Tap spruced up a collection of data in all this for you guys to look over for everything we've done so far."

It was then that Peter took his turn to speak.

"Oh, and if you guys get the chance, can you send Aunt May some files on the data disc? They're from me, wanting to let her know about… well… a lot."

"And for Shuri, please."

"And my daughter, Hank, if you're there, could ya?"

"And-"

"You get the idea." Clint said, turning the recording off. "They're in the middle of a war with Ultron and we gotta find a way to get to them without relying on Thor all the time."

"That stargate is our ticket to them." Tony stated, a projection of said gate now being displayed to them all. "It says it has something to do with Kaw. Anyone know what a Kaw-"

"Kwa." Celeste stood up, hand over the blue robes around her shoulders. "They're called Kwa. back in my galaxy, they were the first species to utilize the Force as they did and apparently, one came here and helped found the Order of the Mystic Arts."

"We shall look into the archives, see what we can find." Wong said.

"Ok, that's taken care of." Clint said, pointing at the magic users. "But magic aside, that thing is still technological. Shuri, any progress?"

"That's just it." The Princess of Wakanda said with a huff of frustration. "I've looked at it from all sides and I just don't get what I'm missing. I know we're close to something, I just don't know where."

"Easy, Shuri." The Archer advised, his hand gesturing for her not to get herself riled up. "You'll get it."

It was at this point did Hector Ayala stand from where he was seated. "Wait a second, so what do we do now, then? Are we gonna help?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well duh, of course we are."

Danny and Luke looked at her in surprise, mirroring expressions as they couldn't quite believe what they had just heard.

"Excuse me." The latter said, tilting his head slightly. "Duh, of course we are. Those are the words you just said right?"

The detective realized her slip up, scoffing at the pair with an annoyed look.

"Is now really the time?"

As the trio of street-based Defenders now bickered with each other, Hank was sifting through the files that had been delivered to them.

Suffice to say, the two AI that was with the Avengers in space gathered a lot of information.

Jedi, Republic, Clones, Senate, Sith, all these names categorized in their own series of documents. Looks like they were all gonna be busy with reading up on this huge swath of information.

"So they want us to get the portal working." Wong mused aloud.

"It is magic mixed with technology." Mordo murmured, arms crossed in thought.

"Which is why Thor is going to get one of the few experts on this matter right now." Clint revealed.

*THHOOOOM*

Several of the team jolted at the crack of Thunder outside the base whilst several others were quick to realize who it was.

"Ah, he's back with the help." Stark quipped. "Perfectly timed, really."

Moments later, Thor walked in with a frazzled and slightly giddy Jane Foster.

"That never gets old." The Astrophysicist and girlfriend to Thor said, a bit lightheaded from the journey here.

The thunder God only smiled lovingly down at her before turning his attention on the assembled Avengers.

"My friends, new and old." He greeted boisterously. "It's good to know the Avengers hold strong with more numbers as time goes on."

"Nice timing there, big guy." Clint greeted in return, nodding at Foster. "Hey Jane. Was just talking about you two."

Before Jane Foster could get a word in, she was met with the sight of a princess that was barely holding in her excitement.

"Dr. Jane Foster." Shuri said with a wide smile. "It's a real honor to meet another genius."

Jane appeared flattered but somewhat confused. "Oh? I'm happy to meet you…"

Shuri chuckled. "Well, guess that's what happens when your country is isolated. Shuri, Princess of Wakanda."

It the astrophysicist a moment to recognize where Shuri came from, her eyes widening a second later.

"Hang on, you mean… like the Wakanda where Vibranium originates? That Wakanda?"

Shuri now appeared smug. "The very same, Dr. Foster. I-"

"Shuri." Wong interjected, stepping in between the two, giving the young Princess a pointed look.

She pouted at being interrupted when she felt someone pat her back, turning to see Hank Pym.

"You both will have time to talk while we work." Pym said, turning to Thor. "And Dr. Selvig?"

"He's on his way as we speak." The Thunderer assured. "Him and Darcy and… her consort Ian?"

"I wouldn't say that." Said Jane. "He's her intern… which the relationship is weird."

"Gossip, how fun." Tony quipped.

Wong then gestured his hand towards the direction of where the infinity gate was currently stationed.

"Come. We have much to discuss. We'll make sure accommodations are made for you, Ms. Foster."

Jane only smiled at him, shooting a beaming look at Thor, the God smiling back as he watched Shuri drag Jane off to talk their science talk.

"What are you gonna do now big guy?" Stark asked, the rest of the team dispersing, some taking separate files for themselves that had been with the message from Cap and the others.

Thor hummed to himself. "Heimdall needs time to recover after this trip back here. Once he is ready, hopefully with some new information from Jane. We shall proceed further from there, not before."

-Scene Cut-

Clint sat alone in his own personalized room of the Avengers HQ, fiddling with the transmission disk that he had taken for himself, the one that had Natasha's message for him.

After a few seconds of contemplative silence, Barton quietly placed the disk on the table and turned it on.

The upper half of his best friend flickered on and he saw a kind smile on her face as the recording began.

"Hey Clint, bet you're glad to see this old mug again, aren't ya?" She rhetorically asked, Clint, huffing with a small smile making its way onto his face.

"Yeah, you can imagine we've been busy on our end." She let out an exasperated and tired sigh. "Not sure if this is the first thing you saw or the group message but with Ultron out there, it hasn't been easy. Everyone's on edge here but we're holding on. Since we're altogether out here, at the very least, we can take whatever Ultron throws at us as a united front. God, I sounded so tacky right now. Steve's the only one who can pull off those kinda speeches, ya know what I mean?"

The archer 'hmphed' in agreement, silently listening on.

"We've recently come back from a mission to a base Ultron set up." Natasha grimaced, looking down slightly. "It… it wasn't pretty, I can tell ya that." She exhaled loudly, a hand reaching up to massage her forehead. "A lot has changed over here and I bet the same on yours."

"Got that right." Barton quietly said.

Just as Nat was about to continue to talk, something beneath her appeared to catch her attention.

A wide smile, one Clint actually could never fully recall seeing, bloomed on the agent-turned Avenger.

"Oh? You wanna say hi to Uncle Clint? Well, why didn't ya say so?" Natasha surprised her best friend when she hefted up a baby with red hair and a happy face as she waved her arms around. "I should probably introduce you. This is Mara… my daughter. And before you jump to conclusions, I adopted her."

Clint could only stare in stunned disbelief, devolving into a laugh upon hearing his best friend is now a mother.

He took a moment to look over the child in her hands and almost found himself stopping in further shock. Though Nat stated her to be adopted, there was an uncanny amount of similarities this Mara Jade had with her adoptive mother.

And as if to answer and not answer this resemblance…

"The others keep telling me that she looks a lot like me and… well, her hair sure helps." Romanoff chuckled. "Who knows, maybe it has to do with the whole Force thing our Jedi friends always talk about. Could be a message from the universe. Settle down, find a man to help with this bundle and-"

"Ma."

Both former SHIELD agents froze, eyes now firmly set on Mara Jade, the baby girl's hands reaching out to rest on Natasha's face. The baby giggled uncontrollably at her mother's face.

"Wha-what was that now?" Nat asked, a strained laugh of disbelief.

"Ma," Mara said. "Mama."

It appeared that Nat's voice caught in her throat, her voice coming out, almost choking.

"Y-yeah." Clint saw tears peeking out of the corners of her eyes. "Yeah, that's right, little troublemaker. Mama."

Mara Jade laughed, lightly beating her hands against Natasha's face again though the older redhead paid no mind.

"Mama." Mara Jade said far louder this time and it appeared that she didn't go unheard.

"Wait-" Clint recognized Rhodey's voice. "Did Mara just speak?"

"What?" That was Wanda's voice.

"Mama." Mara happily said once more, only focusing on her mother.

"Holy shit!" Sam was now heard. "Oh, Clint is gonna love this."

"Hey come on Sam, don't let that be the next word she learns." Scott Lang, undoubtedly.

Nat was soon surrounded, the former agent now having tears of joy stream down the sides of her face. Clint's expression softened greatly, feeling nothing but joy for his friend right now.

To see her like this was something truly special. Knowing what she had personally endured, Clint could only wish to meet Natasha's new daughter as soon as he could. He felt a warmth in his chest at seeing Natasha hold Mara Jade close to her, the other Avengers surrounding the mother, all expressing nothing but joy.

"Ok~~" Drawled out a familiar voice from behind. "That was just disgusting with how sweet it was. Seriously, if that had been any sweeter, we would have been diabetic."

"You do realize I still have good marksmanship without using a bow and arrow." Clint said without turning over. "I can hurt you with a thrown pen."

"Like that's gonna ruin the moment."

Clint wanted to counter that but seeing Nat now throw Mara into the air, catching her a second later whilst being surrounded by the other Avengers cheered.

"Your wife is clearly gonna wanna see this." Stark stated, walking over to the archer.

"I definitely know, Tony."

The pair of founding Avengers watched as Nat made Mara face the camera recording them, gently making the baby girl's hand wave goodbye.

"Glad there's some good at least." Tony remarked, more content now at the sight of his comrades in high spirits after that. "You check the ones Wanda and Pietro sent you?"

"They're next."

"Think they've also adopted?"

Clint scoffed in amusement. "They're just kids you know."

All the while, as the Archer moved on to the twins' messages for him, another Avenger had a message of her own.

This one being right from her brother.

The Princess of Wakanda was unusually nervous as she played the recording that T'Challa prepared for her.

She almost cried out happily just seeing her brother's face again, his comforting smile that at times mirrored their fathers.

"Shuri, hopefully, you're doing well with me gone." The older brother said calmly. "From the message I had received from Bast, you're filling the role of Black Panther. I'm both worried and proud. Worried because, well, I'm your older brother. I have every right to be worried and I know how holding the mantle of Panther can be a strain on yourself. But also as your brother, words cannot express the pride I feel in knowing my little sister is holding true to our people, fighting for them as Black Panther. I always knew you were a traditionalist at heart."

Shuri only gave the recording of her brother a flat look, flipping him off yet the smile remained all the same.

Her brother then became more serious, one that actually troubled his sister.

"Yet, despite all that I've heard from our Goddess Bast, there was one revelation that… I'm still not entirely sure on how to process this but it is not something to be ignored, Shuri." The sister sat up, now clearly concerned with what her brother had to say. "I know I'll be having this for my message for Baba, but you should at least know as well. This is just as much a family matter as it is for Wakanda as a whole. I don't know how long it'll be before I and everyone else will make it back, but I hope you can begin a task of mine. You see… we have a cousin. The son of our Uncle N'Jobu."

Shuri's jaw dropped, her eyes widening to near saucer plate sizes, reeling back in total stunned silence.

"I can only imagine your reaction to all this but you must listen very carefully, Shuri." T'Challa's expression became far more serious if that was even possible. "I've been warned our cousin is going down a dark path. Hopefully you can find him before it's too late to bring him back."

Shuri didn't know how to fully process what she had just heard, hand on her head with her brilliant mind short-circuiting for once.

She shook her head, now listening intently to the words of her brother as he went on to explain his conversation with the Goddess Bast in a place that was called a Nexus world named Mortis.

At the same time, a certain alcoholic detective was flying high above the streets of Queens, NY with a singular destination in mind.

She soon arrived where she needed to be, landing in front of the building, ignoring the shocked and excited chatter around her.

Jessica Jones had only one person in mind she needed to see right now.

Reaching the door, she knocked loudly and crossed her arms, waiting for it to open.

A moment later, the handle turned and the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged woman who appeared younger than her age suggested.

It took her only one moment to realize who was standing in front of her, a kind smile appearing a second later.

"Jessica." May Parker softly said. "Good to see you."

Though she didn't mirror the woman's expression, Jess managed to put on a friendly enough face with a fond look in her eyes that May was quick to pick up on.

Reaching into her jacket, the detective pulled out a transmission disk, holding it up for May to see.

"Good to see ya too, May." Jessica greeted May pleasantly enough. "Hope you're having a good day cause," she wiggled the disk slightly, "have I got a surprise for you."

-Scene Cut-

Nighttime descended on the city of Manhattan yet the borough lived up to its namesake as the city that never sleeps.

Lights from the lamps, neon signs, buildings, cars and all lit up the city in a glow that reached the heavens above and made it damn near impossible to see any stars.

Yet, even with all these lights, some places came off darker, grittier with an air of danger hovering over them.

Some would feel unsafe and unwelcome here and they would be right in believing such feelings. Since the battle of New York in 2012, with all the madness of the destruction that came in wake of the Chitauri invasion, a sudden rise in organized crime came into being.

They were always present but after that year, things took a turn for the worst for some and turned for the better for others.

One place, in particular, became a hotbed for organized crime, almost acting as the base of where it all stems.

Hell's Kitchen.

It truly lived up to its moniker as nobody other than the worst came to enact their plans, the innocent always being the ones caught in the crossfire.

This made many fear simply walking out on the streets in the dead of night.

All but one.

He walked on the road of a particularly darkened street, with few people out and fewer cars. This was an abandoned site that had been undergoing "renovations" for a year now.

But this man knew better.

He knew what this place, this street and all its buildings really were.

Nothing but a front for the sick bastards that ran their little mobs, terrorizing the people of this city whilst reaping the rewards for their depravity.

Drug trade, human trafficking, illegal arms deals, the whole nine yards.

It was sickening to say the least.

And that's why he was here.

To be the remedy to these bastards that continually abuse the innocent people of this city.

Some would call him a hero for his actions.

Others, a vigilante, stepping far and long over the line.

And there are those that would undoubtedly call him insane, unhinged and a far greater danger than the men he plans on putting down.

But to Frank Castle, none of that mattered.

He didn't care for any label or moniker that people gave him. All he cared for was putting the bastards responsible for his family's death in a grave six feet under.

Or maybe a meat grinder.

Or under a building.

Or really… he didn't care. Just so long as they were dead.

He soon stopped at a building that looked heavily worn down, on the edge of falling apart for all intents and purposes.

Castle's eyes narrowed, looking around for a moment. There were only three cars close by, all white with some writing on their sides.

One was Chinese, the other Italian and the last was English.

Looks like a meeting was in place.

Perfect.

From the long coat that he wore, Frank pulled out two M16s, checking to make sure that they were loaded and grunted in the satisfaction that they were. With a roll of his neck, Castle trudged inside.

He made his past decrepit rooms and hallways, his eyes and ears on high alert. There was chatter in the distance, muffled but getting closer.

Turning a corner, he saw an open door at the end of the hallway he now stood in.

A door that was wide open with people on the other side.

Frank's expression morphed into that of controlled rage, his grasp on his weapons tightening.

With a quick roll of his shoulders, he began to walk towards the end of the hall, the sound of the people he was here to kill became more muffled the closer he got. His ears began to ring, with all other sounds tuning out save for his footsteps and controlled breathing.

Once he stepped out of the corridor, only then did their voices become clear.

"What are we to do if we are to expand on Fisk's fallen operations?" One of the apparent ring leaders of this gathering inquired.

It was then did Frank make himself known.

"I got a solution for that." Castle's voice came out as a low, grunting growl but he was heard by all who whipped around at the sight of him.

Without missing a beat, Frank hefted his machine guns up and unloaded the magazines on all the gathered criminals here.

He let out a bestial roar, watching as one after the other dropped, holes riddling their bodies.

They all fell like dominoes save for the lucky few that survived miraculously as their bodies hit flight mode, diving for cover.

Not that that would do them any good.

Once the clips were emptied out, Frank tossed the aside, pulling out a shotgun from his coat. The M16s clattered to the ground just as he unloaded his first shell in the chest of an unfortunate thug that tried to rush him.

He killed three more before spotting one just about to make his escape. Frank grabbed his combat knife clipped to his belt, tossed it up to hold it on the side of the blade and flung it right in the thigh of the man trying to flee.

The man let out a guttural cry of pain and agony, writhing on the ground only to look up just as Frank stood over him and had his face blown off.

There was some sharp movement and Frank pivoted out of the way just in time as he felt something knick his arm.

Grunting in pain, he glanced down at his cut bicep and then to the back wall where he saw what could only be a shuriken embedded into the granite.

Castle turned back to see an Asian man, wielding a chain with kunai on the edge wrapped around his arm.

The man who was once a marine honestly couldn't quite believe what he was looking at.

"Really?" Frank raised a brow. "This ninja shit? You can't be fucking serious."

The man only sneered, quickly whipping his chain back, ready to strike yet Frank proved faster.

With a quick draw to the pistol hidden behind him on his belt, the former marine put a bullet in the man's head, the body dropping to the ground like all the others.

He looked down at the man in an unsympathetic light. "Yeah, thought so. Fuckin' idiot."

Taking a survey of the room, he saw that all in attendance were unmoving and dead.

Exhaling sharply, he felt his heartbeat drumming rapidly in his ears, his adrenaline starting to wear down.

Checking over himself for any other injuries he may have sustained unknowingly, he saw that he was clear save for the scratch. Collecting his weapons and the money that everyone had here, Frank left soon after.

The bodies remained there for a time until half an hour later, three individuals arrived, having gotten word from connections of a shootout that had occurred here.

"Jesus Christ." Luke Cage said aloud, disturbed at the sight. "We're late, again."

"Yeah, but by how long?" Said the Iron Fist.

Jessica grimaced at the carnage, looking away at some of the bodies that had been shredded by gunfire.

"Whoever did this was quick." Danny muttered, crouching down to place a hand atop one of the nearby bodies. "This must have been a surprise attack. The blood hasn't coagulated and it looks… fresh enough, I guess."

Jessica snorted derisively. "Great detective work there, kid. Now let me look."

Rand simply stood back up as Jones began inspecting the bodies one at a time.

"Triad, Italian mob, what's left of the Irish and some others I don't recognize." Jessica rattled off. "Gangs of New York type shit and it didn't end well."

"That's twice now in one week." Danny quietly said. "What the hell is this, Jess? Gang war? Blood feud?"

"Lot of blood to give." Jessica wryly said, shaking her head. "No, this doesn't feel like a gang war."

"You sure?" Rand asked.

"It isn't." Luke confirmed on her behalf. "This is just… I've seen shit before involving gangs and other dumb shit like that but… this ain't no gang war. Whatever it is… it's like an extermination."

"Contacts of mine have been reporting that some gangs are spooked by all this." Jessica added in, taking a picture of some of the bodies. "They're scrambling to figure out just what's going on but can't get a pin on who's doing all this."

"A new player in town?" Cage suggested/asked, seeing Jones shrug her head and shoulder.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever the case, this'll need to be reported on." Jessica before she called 911.

As she was doing so, Rand was still walking around the scene, deeply disturbed by what he was looking at.

"Who did this?" The Immortal Iron Fist whispered to himself.

As if to answer him, a groan was heard, causing Danny to investigate. It was faint but noticeable.

Walking over to a man on his stomach, he gently turned him around and saw, that despite his current state, he was still breathing.

"Someone's still alive!" Danny shouted at his two comrades, Jess and Luke rushing over to him.

Jones only needed to take one look at the guy to see just how bad he was.

"Bleeding out is more like it."

Danny couldn't believe what he just heard. "Oh my god, seriously?"

"What? I'm just calling it as I see it."

"Guys." Luke spoke up, very much irritated by the pair's bickering, the two wisely dropping their argument.

Danny turned to the man in his arms, trying to bring him back into consciousness, the man moving his head about in a daze.

"Hey." Rand quietly said. "Hey, stay with me. Who did this to you? Who was here? How many people attacked you?"

"Don't know if he'll last much longer. Hopefully, we can get something before he dies from blood loss." Jessica noted.

Danny ignored her, focusing on the murmuring of the dying man.

"What's he sayin'?" Luke asked, straining his hearing to make out what the man was mumbling.

The youngest of the trio frowned, realizing he wasn't speaking English but a different language entirely.

"Mandarin?" Danny remarked, leaning his ear close to the man's mouth.

"You can understand him?" Luke asked in surprise.

"Yeah, from K'un-Lun. They taught me how to speak several different languages."

"Alright, so what's he mumblin' about?" Jones asked.

The Iron Fist thus began translating.

After a few seconds…

"What?" Danny said in complete disbelief, reeling his head back.

"What? What is it?" Cage worriedly said.

"It wasn't a crew or a rival gang." He looked directly up at Luke with a disturbed expression. "It was just a single person."

Jessica almost couldn't believe what she heard just now, her arm gesturing to the slaughter around them. "One person did all this?"

"Enhanced?" Luke suggested. though Jones took a moment to gauge the scene again, giving Cage a flat look.

"Do the bullet holes look enhanced to you?" She sarcastically asked.

The Hero of Harlem only scoffed. "You do realize the crazy world this is becoming, right? A guy who can shoot bullets out of his fingers ain't outside the realm of possibility anymore."

Danny said nothing, ignoring the pair's banter whilst continuing the translations before the man died from his wounds.

"He came upon them in a surprise attack." Rand spoke up, regaining the attention of his friends. "And he-"

It was then did Danny notice something. He saw a mark on the side of the man's neck. The Iron Fist narrowed his eyes for a moment when he felt the man stop breathing. Letting out a sigh of remorse, he let out a small prayer that he was taught in K'un-Lun to respect the dead before gently moving the man's head.

He checked the marking and saw something… peculiar. It was a tattoo, a rather unique one at that. There was a gash across the tattoo, making it difficult to fully discern.

At first, Danny wasn't sure what he was looking at until a look of familiarity dawned on him as he gazed at one corner of the tat.

He appeared troubled by what he was looking at, something Luke took note of quickly.

"You alright there, Danny?" He asked in concern though this question went unanswered.

Looking around, the Iron Fist gently placed the dead man down, going over to another body, inspecting them, finding something before repeating the process several more times.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Luke asked on behalf of himself and Jones.

The question was ignored, Danny still investigating the deceased of the marks and after the last one, his troubled expression became far more prominent. This only served to make Luke and Jessica concerned.

"Danny?" It was now the private investigator who spoke up.

He came back to them, crouching down to another body and after a quick inspection, found what he was looking for.

"All of them have it." Rand's voice was grim.

"Have what?"

Luke Cage went down to one knee beside the martial artist and saw one of the dead men which Danny uncovered a certain part of their body. And the same went for another and another.

"The same tat?" He asked with a raised brow.

This got Jessica to piece some things together. "For like what, a simple gang sign?"

Danny shook his head a little. "They ain't from no simple street gang, Jess. You can say they're from the oldest and most dangerous gang there is on this planet."

Jessica and Luke all stared intently at the tattoo Danny was displaying for them to see. Ten rings, all intersecting with each other in a circle.

"What… what is it?" Cage inquired, only growing more bothered by Rand's normally relaxed and carefree attitude.

Danny's expression was furrowed into one of deep contemplation before nodding to himself.

"Something that I might have to bring up to Tony given his history with them."

This only served to bewilder Jones and Cage, both looking at each to silently ask if either of them knew what their young comrade was talking about.

-Scene Cut-

Tony Stark was humming candidly to himself, reading a tome that Wong and Mordo had gifted to him from Kamar-Taj.

Being a man of science and all, one would assume that Stark would be adverse to the ideas and notions of Magic and mysticism. A lot like how Stephen Strange first regarded it when he was introduced to the world of the mystic arts.

But when one of your teammates is the literal God of Thunder, you learn to have a broader perspective of the world.

So when introduced to magic and sorcery, Tony actually jumped at the chance to learn more about it.

This book he was reading was what would basically be described to be a starter's guide to magic.

There was a small, mischievous hope that maybe, just maybe, he can learn a few tricks to use for himself.

Those sling rings and portals the sorcerors can conjure up would be so damn useful in getting around the world.

Currently, the man was on the top floor of Avengers towers, in the kitchen with a drink in hand, snack on the side and book propped up in front of him.

Before he could turn the page, his AI Friday spoke up.

"Boss, Mr. Rand has requested for you to come to where he is." The female AI stated. "He told me it is of great importance."

Curious, the former weapons developer closed the book, placed it on the coffee table and went to where the martial artist was presently at.

As soon as he walked in, Tony halted in his tracks, looking at just what it was the Immortal Iron Fist had brought into Avengers Tower.

"Ok, so, we're at a morgue now." Stark dryly commented, looking at the body strewn on the table in front of him. "Lovely. Has that thing been sanitized?"

"Did so when Mr. Rand brought him in, Boss."

"Well at least someone has our health priorities in order." Tony remarked, shaking his head. "Ok rich boy, what's the situation?"

Before Danny could address the elephant in the room, he gazed at Tony in mild bemusement. "Aren't you also a richboy?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Tony said with a wag of his finger. "I am a rich man. You're a youngin compared to the greatness that is me and still have ways to go."

Iron Fist quirked a brow at the Iron Avenger, shaking his head.

"Right, anyway, I wanted to show you something." Danny's demeanor became far more serious, gesturing to the body between them. "Are you familiar with this?"

Rand held up the arm of the deadman and pointed at the tattoo on his wrist.

At first, he didn't think much of it, but upon closer inspection, Tony jolted back a bit and leaned his head forward with his eyes narrowed.

"Wait… hang on… that's… isn't that…" Tony looked up at Rand with a slight glare in his eyes. "...Is this some sort of joke? If so, I ain't laughing."

"An abandoned establishment full of individuals say otherwise, all of who also had the same tattoo."

"The Ten Rings?" Stark said in disbelief. "I thought they were a fabrication. Aldrich Killian and AIM using the Ten Rings as a front for their operations. And before then, the people who kidnapped me in Afghanistan; courtesy of Obadiah Stane."

Danny shook his head. "The former who clearly pissed off the legitimate article. The latter, I believe, was a splinter group. Regardless, they're not ones to take insults like this lying down."

Tony held up his hands. "Ok, slow down a sec Karate Kid. So… what? Are you telling me that the Ten Rings are an actual real organization? Not some ragtag terrorist group?"

"Yes, absolutely." Danny firmly stated, lightly slamming his fist on the table. "K'un-Lun has clashed with these bastards several times throughout the ages. Their leader has been trying to get to us for centuries now. He's a relentless, ruthless man who has been around for untold years."

"Untold… you saying these guys are, what, immortal?"

"No one has true immortality." Danny clarified. "Longevity, yes, but not eternal life."

"You do know Thor exists, right?"

"Doesn't he age as well?"

Tony had a blank look, coughing into his hand.

"You sure this ain't some title passed down from person to person?"

"There has only been one Mandarin since the organization's founding." Danny snorted. "Technically, he's not even called that, actually. But since then, the name has stuck. The Mandarin has been only one man ruling over the Ten Rings for hundreds of years, gathering strength and influence in that time."

"How come we've never… you know what, let me guess. Super secret, generic, underground organization sticking to the shadows just like every other Illuminati rip-off in the world, yeah?"

Rand shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

Iron Man rolled his eyes. "How original." Tony then sighed. "Ok, so, what you're telling me is that these bastards are real? And they're in New York?"

"Possibly." Danny murmured. "But after what Luke, Jess and I found last night, maybe not for long. The place we found them in was the same as that Irish restaurant that got shot up earlier this week."

"What do you think then? Same guy?"

"More than likely." Rand frowned. "But I don't think this has anything to do with the Ten Rings, whoever got to them. The only thing I've noticed is that all these shootings that have been happening involve organized crime, be it known or unknown."

Tony let out a withering sigh. "So now we're dealing with a rampaging Killdozer across Manhattan, likely more gang bullshit warfare and the Ten Rings coming into play?"

"Not if this "Killdozer" you mentioned gets to them first." Danny said in a low voice.

A silence was shared between billionaires until the older of the two spoke up.

"Which of the lesser evils should we go after first?"

"You seriously asking that question?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"Which one's the bigger threat 'cause finding where the Ten Rings originate and operate would be the hardest to figure out."

"Can't you have Friday do that for you?"

"I could…" Tony bobbed his head from side to side.

"You're hesitant to find them, aren't you?"

"Not exactly." Tony said, eyes narrow. "Let's just say, if what you're telling me is true, and these bastards are real, I got a bit of a score to settle with them."

"An awkward score, to be exact."

"Please, don't be technical with me."

"I believe in this case, I should. Splinter cell to a company's front." Iron Fist said. "And I'll see what I can do to get back into contact with the masters in K'un-Lun. See what knowledge they can share with me."

"Ok, so while you do your Kung Fu, crouching tiger knowledge montage, I'll do things my way."

Rather than be baited into the quip, Danny simply nodded in agreement. "More bases to cover."

-Scene Cut-

"This is incredible." Doctor Jane Foster whispered, her fingertips gently trailing over the Infinity Gate. "How long have you been studying this?"

"For months." Shuri revealed with an annoyed look shot towards the gate. "Feels a whole lot longer, if I'm being honest."

"How far along have you gotten with all this?" Jane asked, looking towards the Wakandan Princess.

"We've acquired new data to get to the next stage of understanding this."

"And what have you found?"

"We were waiting on you before we took a look. You are an expert in this field."

"I wouldn't say that." Jane said dismissively. "I mean, I haven't had the chance to go over alien technology since I've been to Asgard. Even then, it was relatively brief and not close to what I'm knowledgeable towards."

"She's being modest." Said an aged voice, familiar to Foster. "Always has been."

The two women turned to see Erik Selvig walking into the room, accompanied by Hank Pym. along with them was Darcy Lewis who was looking around the place with an impressed look.

"You should have seen her during the Convergence three years ago in London." Erik tacked, smiling at his pupil who walked over to him and the pair hugged tightly.

"I had to work with what was practically presented to me. It was a miracle it all worked out." Jane said.

"Hell of an upgrade, Jane." Darcy commented, nodding with a pleased expression. "Surprised your Viking boy toy took so long to get you here."

"We still had other work to do and Thor's busy saving the planet and universe." Jane shot back, brows furrowing as she looked behind Darcy. "Where's Ian?"

"With his folks." Darcy simply answered. "It's his ma's birthday so he'll be stateside later on."

Jane nodded at the answer, turning back to the Princess. "Shuri, this Doctor Selvig and Darcy. We've been working together for years."

"A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Selvig." Shuri pleasantly greeted. "I've read your books on the theoretics of Asgardian mysticism and science. It's an incredible book."

"Why thank you." Erik said with a smile. "And you must be the Princess of Wakanda Jane told me about. Never thought I'd meet more royalty in my lifetime."

"Am I more impressive than Thor?" Shuri teasingly asked, making Selvig let out an uncertain 'uh…' before she laughed. "Don't worry about it, Doctor. I have my pride but even I need a lot to produce the light shows Thor puts on." The princess then turned to Lewis. "And it's a pleasure to meet you too, Darcy. I saw footage of you in London and heard you have a doctorate in Astrophysics now."

"Whoa, how'd you know that?" Darcy asked in surprise.

"He tweeted that." Shuri answered, pointing to Selvig who shrugged sheepishly.

His former intern looked at her mentor in surprise. "You have a Twitter account? Since when?"

Hanky Pym, meanwhile, shook his head in disapproval. "Selvig, really?"

"There's been a lot of false accounts that kept using my name." Erik argued. "I've only used it to celebrate Darcy's doctorate."

"Daw~~ Selvig." Lewis leaned on him lightly. "Ya shouldn't have."

Before they were able to discuss matters any further, a portal opened up and out stepped Wong with a tome in hand, a look of wonder in the eyes of Selvig as he saw this.

"Incredible." The elder scientist remarked.

Jane mirrored a similar reaction with Darcy being relatively surprised with intrigue.

"I mean, that's cool and all but… have you guys forgotten how Thor gets around?" She pointed out, getting a flat look from the Sorcerer.

"Thank you for detracting from my entrance." He remarked.

"Eheh, sorry~" She sheepishly said, scratching the back of her neck.

Pym ignored all this, focusing on the book in Wong's hand.

"Is that-" He pointed at it, making the Sorcerer hold it up.

"Yes." Wong affirmed. "The journal of founding Master Kindosa. Agommotto's friend and co-founder to our order."

"Think we'll find what we need here?" Shuri asked, Wong letting out a hum in response.

"That's for us to find out."

Selvig regarded the portal, turning to the ones who had been studying this contraption for months now.

"What could you bring us up to speed? What information have you acquired before this new data you acquired?"

Hank was the first to respond, walking over to a table set up beside the gate, grabbing a small pad with a holo-display of their research.

"A few factors." He walked up to Selvig, handing the pad over to him to look over, Darcy peaking over his shoulder. "First being HYDRA messing around with this alongside several leftover technologies they hoarded at their facility. Some being their Tesseract weapons back from WWII."

"They dismantled some of them, using the residual energies to power this Infinity Gate for testing for whatever nefarious purposes they had in mind." Shuri tacked on, patting the gate on the side.

"The second factor we found was someone activating it remotely, given what data sequences we recovered from the connected terminals." Pym went on, walking over to Jane who he handed her own separate date pad.

"Was it a HYDRA agent wanting to zap them away?" Asked Darcy.

"Maybe and yes."

"Meaning…"

"We don't know who but Stark has been thinking of theories and possibilities," Pym answered. "All he knows is that when they disappeared it was after Captain Rogers and the others incapacitated an entire HYDRA base."

"Moving on." Shuri stated, clearly not wanting to get sidetracked. "The third was energy markers from the Mind Stone, which presently is still on Vision's head."

"And why is that a factor?"

"We honestly don't know. We theorize it's due to similar energies harmonizing together with the Tesseract -i.e. the Space Stone- to make a reaction. Aside from that, it's just guesswork."

"So cosmic energy plays a role in operating these gates." Jane surmised.

"More than likely." Shuri agreed. "But unless we can get our hands on some of that cosmic energy, we still don't exactly know how to turn this back on."

"Why not use Thor?" Darcy suggested.

"That does seem like an appropriate choice." Selvig said in agreement.

"We tried that actually." Jane revealed. "Before you got here and before went to London."

"Why is he in London?" Hank asked in bewilderment.

"He left some mead there that he's been craving." Selvig answered. "That and apparently, he's stopping by to see a friend of his named Daryl, I think it was, before Heimdall sends him back to wherever it is the rest of the Avengers currently are."

The room fell into a sort of murmur of discussion over the infinity gate, the newly anointed astrophysicist was inspecting said portal closely.

"What's this?" Darcy asked, pointing to a circular indent on the infinity gate.

Jane and the others looked at it, squinting their eyes slightly.

"Wait, yeah, I noticed those earlier." Foster remarked. "What are those exactly? There's ten of them on the portal in total."

"Markers." A small explanation is in order, coming from Wong who dropped the tome he brought with him on a nearby table. "To our best guess, this Infinity Gate was the inspiration for the whole Stargate series someone from HYDRA smuggled onto the script drafts and concept work. A means to perhaps have people outside of their organization to find out what they could not."

"...Is that real or are you just doing a fanboy conspiracy theory?" Darcy said in an accusing tone.

Wong looked unamused by this statement, Lewis wisely bowing her head down in apology.

Shuri took it all in stride, returning her attention to the portal of discussion.

"Nerdy theory aside, this technology is old." Shuri gestured to several points of the portal where it had been hooked up with wires. "This gate was played around with by HYDRA for years, so they may have altered it to some capacity. Don't even know if those indents are just missing pieces that were awkwardly filled in to make this functioning on their tests."

"What if they're the keys needed to unlock this gate?" Jane suggested. "This thing was powered by cosmic energy, right? Maybe the indents here are the keys we've been looking for."

"Maybe."

Shuri soon activated the data disk into the nearby console, letting the scientific team begin searching its contents. "Perhaps we'll find out from what our wayward friends sent us."

-Scene Cut-

-Several Days later-

It was a sunny day in San Francisco, California.

Birds were chirping along the powerlines. Teenagers were skateboarding and chatting. Music was flaring.

Somewhat of a typical day for Hank Pym in these past years.

He was on his way to his personal laboratory… well… one of few… just a quick check-up on things before he would go to see Cassie.

Since Scott and Hopes's disappearance, Hank had taken it upon himself to visit the girl as frequently as possible, having grown to be quite fond of her and her boundless enthusiasm and energy. Just as much as he frequented her to keep her up to date, Pym had inadvertently come to rely on the girl's empathetic nature as she was well aware of his own concerns for her father and his own daughter.

She was a lot like Hope at her age. Cassie held a natural kindness to her that endeared her to both him and Hope, having come to understand why his daughter grew to care so much for her.

Sad to say, history repeated itself for the young girl. A beloved parent, who was also a hero, goes missing and affects their child drastically.

But now, he has the chance to correct this when receiving the news of his two proteges being alive and well. After Thor brought the news and video recordings of their whereabouts and status, Hank made sure to immediately head back to San Francisco, informing both Scott's Wombat friends and his daughter.

Suffice to say, she is ecstatic upon hearing her father and Hope are alright, on top of now having a burning desire to go into space with them. His knee-jerk reaction was to deny her of such a request but at the same time, he'd be calling himself a hypocrite considering how he himself wanted to go up there.

From what he has read up on and been shown, the galaxy his daughter and student resided in was incredibly fascinating.

The galactic civil war, however, made it rather bittersweet. After 2012, with the invasion of the Chitauri, the idea of alien life and civilization was made clear all across the world.

Hank had been an optimist, in actuality, hoping that the Chitauri were just outliers in aliens and the advanced civilizations in the stars held a more peaceful disposition and aversion to conflict.

What a foolish wish that was.

When it came to sentience, emotion, the ability to think and desire things for oneself, conflict would follow soon after.

To be expected honestly, a bitter pill to swallow.

Pulling up to the Fairmont hotel, Hank stepped out of his car and made his way inside to take care of a brief errand with one of his "mobile" labs when-

"Hello, Mr. Pym."

Looking over, the first Ant-man saw a pair of familiar faces at the front of the hotel

"Morning Katy, Shaun." He cordially greeted, tossing them his keys. "I take it the lab is in working order?"

"Nothing's broken." Katy answered, Shaun, nudging her in annoyance which caused her to realize her slip up.

"Nothing happened, Dr. Pym." Shaun was quick to assure, giving his best friend a look that told her to remain silent. "We just finished cleaning up and arrived here not too long ago."

Noting this slip-up, Hank would be sure to double-check his workspace when he stops by next.

"Don't be joyriding in my car again. I'll be watching the meter. If you do, it's coming out of your pay." Hank warned though there was a light tease in his tone. "And have the car back by night."

"Yes sir, sir yes." Katy said with an overdramatic salute.

Hank rolled his eyes at her antics, entering the hotel whilst Katy and Shawn turned to leave.

"You're incorrigible, ya know that?" Shaun dryly said.

"Well you know it's true." Katy shot back. "Nothing is broken and everything is… fine."

"He'll find it, you do realize that, right?"

"It shrunk down, how can he find it?"

"Unshrinking it." Shaun shot back. "That and the fact that he invented the thing, remember? Catching shrunken stuff is like second nature to him."

"Aw come on." She bumped her shoulder against his. "It was just an overgrown battery. Technically, we returned it to its original size."

Shaun simply shook his head, the pair getting into Hank's car and driving off to an available parking spot… and not joyriding as per instruction from Katy's second boss.

They went about their duties as per usual, being the valets of the Fairmont hotel before returning Pym's car to him, bidding goodnight and heading off to meet with a friend of theirs -and her husband- at a local bar.

"-Like seriously, can ya get any more generic than Gangnam style?" Katy rhetorically asked, seated next to Shaun with a couple adjacent to them. "I mean, I know it's a song and all but does every bully have to use that to bully Asian dudes? Come on, have at least a bit more creativity."

"Bruce Lee would be nice." Shaun added. "Least he's cool."

"Don't you mean, a god among men?" The husband of their friend remarked, getting a grin out of Shaun and roll of the eyes of his wife Soo.

"See, he gets it." Shaun approvingly said, pointing at the man. "Glad you can tolerate Soo so much, John."

"There's also Jackie Chan." Katy pointed out. "He's awesome to ya know."

Shaun chuckled, shaking his head. "Anyways, I tell him 'I'm not Korean, idiot.'"

"And I turn the corner, and I see this guy drop his backpack, he's getting all up in his face…"

"And right before he was about to throw the first punch, Katy comes out of nowhere, steps right between us and starts screaming the lyrics to Hotel California."

"What?" John guffawed.

"It's the art of confusion. Works great on stupid people." Katy said as though it was obvious, which it really was.

"And that's how we met." Shaun followed up.

"Then I pulled him into the parking lot…"

"At which point she revealed that she had also swiped the keys to the guy's Mustang."

"Yeah, we went on a little joyride around the block." Katy then smirked whilst pointing to Soo. "And your wife was in the car, too."

"That's true. You were."

"What?" John said in disbelief.

"I was just in the back seat." Soo said for clarification's sake.

"That's a part of the car/That's still a part of the car." Katy and Shaun said at the same time.

"How have you never told me this story?" John asked in a false sense of guilt-tripping.

"You know, before she was a lawyer, your girl was pretty wild."

This clearly interested the husband significantly. "Oh~! What happened?"

All Soo did was form a small, bitter smile. "I grew up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?"

"That maybe there's a point where you're supposed to stop going on joyrides and start thinking about living up to your potential."

Katy smirked at that. "Please tell me you're kidding, Soo."

"Guys, come on." Soo stressed. "Look at the world we live in right now. Gods, aliens, super soldiers, robot overlords. Anything and everything is possible now. The Avengers was just the introduction to it all." She then gave them a more serious look. "Katy, you're a valet driver with an honors degree from Berkeley. Shaun, you speak, like what, four languages. You've always been the most talented people I know."

"...I'm not just a valet driver. I'm a part-time assistant for a tech company." Katy said in her defense.

"Who is now a known retired superhero." Soo stressed. "Don't you remember all those SHIELD files the Avengers leaked about HYDRA? Seriously you guys, what's holding you back from doing something more serious? I know you can do and be more."

There was a beat of silence.

"Wow." Shaun said.

"Yeah, you sound like my mom." Katy then eyed Soo's outfit. "You even dress like her too."

Soo was unable to hold back her laugh, Katy coming in for more.

"Where's this from, Talbots?" The table laughed at that, the mood becoming cheery once more, stories and drinks being exchanged.

Eventually, John and Soo bid them goodnight, the pair of best friends walking off into the night.

They chattered about random topics until the previous discussion they had with Soo came back up.

"We're not running from adulthood." Katy complained. "How is it running to have jobs you actually like?"

"Yeah, that doesn't even make any sense." Shaun, voicing his agreement.

"Does she think Valet parking is easy?" Katy fumbled her way through her current job.

Shaun, being her best friend, vocalized his support of her proud statement. "Yeah, it's like the most challenging job ever. You need driving skills, you need people skills-"

"Soo can't even parallel park." She interrupted, getting a laugh out of her friend.

They stopped at the end of the tunnel they were walking down, Shaun pulling out his phone to check the time.

"Well, it's almost midnight. We got the early shift. Should probably be responsible, go to sleep."

"Yeah, we can be responsible. We can do that." Katy then gave him a coy look. "Or~~~"

Going to a karaoke room for an hour or two…. Or five or six.

And boy will their future selves hate their past selves with how tired they'll be.

Waking up, Shaun groaned as he felt someone nudging him awake.

Looking up, he could see Katy's grandmother peering down at him.

"Morning Waipo." He sleepily mumbled out.

Waipo didn't respond, giving a pointed look to the one sleeping beside him.

Glancing to the side, he saw Katy leaning on him, dead asleep on the couch… drooling over his shoulder.

"Ah come on Katy. Where does all this even come from?" Shaun groaned, though he made no effort in getting her off of him.

"Come on you two." Came the voice of Katy's mother. "Up with you both unless you want to be late for work again."

Both young adults groaned in unison, forcefully getting up whilst going to get changed.

"Your clothes are on the washing machine, Shaun." Katy's grandmother said to him in Mandarin.

"Thanks Waipo." Shaun groggily said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

With how often this situation gets at times, Shaun had a spare change of work clothes over at Katy's place.

"You two need to stop coming back so late all the time." Katy's mother reprimanded them both.

"Sorry Mrs. Chen." Shaun mumbled out, nodding in thanks at the bowl of cereal she handed him.

She only shook her head, shooing him towards the table where Waipo and another young man, Katy's brother had seated themselves.

"Ruihua." Mrs. Chen said in an admonishing manner towards her son. "You're supposed to be helping your dad stock the shop."

The Son made a strained face.

"Mom, I can't work on an empty stomach, my legs get crampy." He complained, his mother rolling her eyes in response. "Maybe Shaun can help him instead of just eating our food every single day."

Shaun simply shrugged. "I don't mind helping if you want."

"No, no." Mrs. Chen wagged her finger at him. "It's Ruihua's job, let him do it."

Ruihua slumped his shoulders in resignation as Shaun moved to take a seat.

As soon as Shaun sat down, Waipo made a chastising tut, gesturing for him to move.

"That seat's for Waigong." She remarked, shaking her fingers for him to move.

Shaun paused until realizing what it was she was referring to.

"Oh." He sheepishly said, shifting over to the empty seat next to him. "Sorry."

Waipo held a red box of cigarettes in her hands, smiling in remembrance of her late husband.

"He's getting all his favorite things this year for the Day of the Dead."

Shaun only hummed in amusement, gesturing to said "favorite things" on the table.

"Are you sure Waigong's allowed to take funyuns and cigarettes back to the afterlife?"

"He can take whatever he likes." Waipo rebuked softly, Shaun only leaning on his hand, giving her a humored laugh. "Last year, I left a bottle of whiskey on his grave and it was gone the next morning."

He only chuckled in response.

"I know you kids think it is silly-" Waipo said knowingly before Katy came over to sit with them.

"We don't think it's silly Waipo." She remarked, kissing the top of her Grandmother's head. "We just know that Waigong would have wanted you to move on and enjoy the rest of your life."

"Moving on is an American idea." Mrs. Chen countered.

"You're American, Mom." Her daughter shot back. "Don't forget."

The mother only shook her head, looking back at her daughter's best friend.

"Shaun." He tilted his head up to her just as Katy sat down. "Has my daughter applied to any new jobs this week? What of her internship with Mr. Pym?"

"Doctor Pym, Mom. He'll have my internship if I don't make sure to clarify that to people who don't know." Katy corrected whilst she made a gesture at her friend not to say anything.

"It's uh… going good." Shaun managed out convincingly enough. "We spoke with him the other day and we have a good feeling about what's coming."

Both friends shared a look over the discussion of her "internship" when really she just got files together and clean his lab with Shaun helping most of the time.

Mrs. Chen however was not so easily convinced. "Waigong didn't move here from Hunan just so you can dawdle in labs and park cars for a living."

Katy could only sigh, setting her spoon down having eaten her cereal relatively quickly. She was both annoyed and frustrated as she was again reminded of her job but at the same time…

With a shake of her head, she stood up.

"Well, on that note, I think that's our cue unless we want to miss our bus."

Shaun was quick to agree, eating up the rest of his cereal, Katy walking past him.

"I'm sorry for my unacceptable job and for staying out late last night trying to enjoy my life." Katy said, looking back at her mom, leaning back with a pose. "But one day, I'll make you proud, I promise."

"I'm proud of you, sis." Ruihua spoke up. "Parking cars is super hard."

"Thanks bro." Katy said with a smile. "When you pass your driver's test one day, you'll be able to live the dream like me. Come on Shaun, let's go."

Depositing his bowl in the kitchen sink, he quickly moved to bid Waipo goodbye.

Just before he was able to leave, she stopped him, leaning forward in a conspiratorial manner.

"When are the two of you gonna get married?"

Shaun blinked in slight surprise, laughing it off a moment later, replying in Mandarin.

"Waipo, we're just friends."

The grandmother just scoffed. "All right, go, go, go."

Shaun and Katy were soon on the bus towards the Fairmont, seated side by side.

It was a relatively silent and uneventful drive, the pair riding in silence, catching up on much-needed rest after last night until Katy caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye.

She nudged her best friend's shoulder, making him tilt his head up. "Look. Look at that girl there."

He turned his head at the aforementioned girl, seeing her seated not too far from there, laptop open and diligently typing away on it.

"What? What about her?" He quietly asked.

"She's right a research paper on a bus." Katy almost sounded disgusting in saying that alone.

"...and?"

"That is exactly the daughter that my mom wished came out of her vagina." She said as a matter of factly.

It appeared she said that last part a bit too loud as the girl in question turned back to Katy with a slightly disturbed look.

Shaun only shook his head. "I'm sorry about her."

Then, from seemingly nowhere, an older Asian man appeared before Shaun with an intense and rather menacing glare directed at the younger man.

He shifted a bit in his seat, off-put by getting such a look so early in the morning.

"Uh… hi?" Shaun as cordially as he could, briefly looking at an equally confused and wary Katy. "How's it goin'?"

The man didn't respond at first, instead looking down at something hung around Shaun's neck.

A green pendant.

He then looked back up at Shaun, drawing slightly closer.

"Give me the pendant," The man spoke in Mandarin, his tone conveying a threat, glancing at Katy for a moment. "And no one gets hurt."

Shaun's expression tightened up whilst Katy felt a bit concerned now.

"Do you know this guy?"

Her friend only shook his head in the negative, feeling himself tense up. "I don't know what you're talking about man."

The man looked unconvinced and reached for the pendant around Shaun's neck but he was quick to react, getting up and pushing him away.

"Hey!" He stepped away from him, Katy standing up in shock.

The rest of the people on the bus all turned their heads in their direction. Things got worse as two more men came up from either side of Shaun, seizing his arms.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Katy said aloud, both in disbelief and anger at how her friend was being treated right now. "What is wrong with you assholes? Leave him alone."

Sensing things may escalate, Shaun spoke to who appeared to be the main guy in charge of these goons holding him, speaking in Mandarin.

"I don't want any trouble."

"Then give us the pendant."

"You've got the wrong guy." Katy argued, now getting worked up. "Does he even look like he can fight? Come on bro."

She lightly shoved the man's shoulder that first approached him and in response, he shoved her face into the window, alarming and scaring a few of the other passengers.

As for Shaun…

Without missing a beat, he shoved the two men that were holding his arms and in a stunning burst of speed and power, delivered a powerful punch right into the abdomen of the thug that came up to him. The man sailed into the air, face contorted in pain before collapsing onto the floor.

Katy's eyes were wide in stunned silence, the momentary pain she felt all but forgotten as her shock overrode it.

She looked at her best friend who also was gazing at her in worry.

"You alright?"

Before she was able to answer, the two thugs from prior grabbed onto his arms pulling him back.

Unlike last time, they weren't going to be able to hold him so easily.

They shoved him down but Shaun was quick to block a punch sent to him by the goon on his right with his forearm. A quick elbow to the face freed him on the right, giving him the space to tilt his head back as the thug on the left swung at his head, fist sailing over him.

Grasping onto a nearby handrail, he used it and the walls of the bus as leverage, running up, over and around the thug whom he grabbed onto. Once he was behind the goon, he used the momentum of his run to fling him into the seat the thug had occupied earlier.

Shaun's jacket collar was yanked back by the other thug he had elbowed earlier but his reflex was immediate. Taking his jacket off up to his wrists, he used it as a means of immobilizing his opponent's hands, allowing Shaun to smash both his fists into the man's chest.

Seeing the first thug recovered and moving to attack him, Shaun deflected a punch with a wide arch of his arms, putting his jacket back on, and a snap elbow strike to the chest. Hearing movement from behind, Shaun spun round to swat aside another fist, handing out a quick flurry of punches to the stomach and chest, finishing it up with a backhanded fist to the face.

All the while, a man by the name of Klev was live streaming the action.

Shaun grabbed two handrails on opposite sides of him, using them as a boost to kick the first thug in the chest again.

He moved on to the goon who wore a beanie, swatting aside his arm, bashing his fist into the cheek of the beanie wearer. Shaun dashed forward for the third thug, smacking a kick down and decking his face again.

The man fell on one side of a rail, Shaun moving in to punch to the left, then to the right, grabbed both his hands and pulled him facefirst into the handrail between them. He had inadvertently sat down next to one of the passengers, a woman looking at him in shock.

He only waved awkwardly at her before becoming serious again, seeing the other two thugs stand once more. Without missing a beat, with an insane amount of speed and precision, Shaun threw both his fists out that connected to the jaws of both men.

He then performed a jumping split kick that appeared to knock the men down for the count.

There were some "whoa's", murmurs and such from the other passengers but the only one who had Shaun's attention was his best friend.

And the look he got from her made it look like she didn't even know who he was at this moment.

Which, to be fair…

"Holy shit… What the hell was that?" She asked. "Who even are you right now?"

Hearing this only broke his heart whilst an overwhelming feeling of guilt washed over him.

Of course, he wouldn't have time to dwell on the matter as he heard someone get up from behind.

Shaun turned to see a much larger, caucasian Romanian man stand up, discarding the trench coat he wore. His right arm was missing, a mechanical implant of some kind around the cut-off point. Shaun eyed it with trepidation whilst measuring himself up to this new contender, considering how he was much larger and more built than the last three men he had just taken out.

The rest of the passengers tried to press themselves into their seats as far back as they could, sensing things would only escalate.

Shaun's eyes shifted over from the missing right arm to the belt and upper strap piece on the vest this man wore.

Both had stitched on symbols of ten rings forming into a circle.

The young man inhaled sharply upon realizing just who it was these men worked for.

"You got this, bro" Encouraged Klev from behind.

The tall Romanian scoffed with a mean smirk to him as he thrust his right arm out. From the metal stub popped a glowing razor blade that startled the passengers.

Klev simply nodded at what he had just seen, taking a seat. "My bad."

Shaun only sighed in resignation, sucking in his breath a second later as the razorblade… fist… arm… Romanian swung at him.

It sailed overhead, Shaun bending his body to dodge it.

The razor-bladed Romanian didn't allow Shaun to catch his breath, slashing and stabbing at the apparently skilled martial artist who avoided every attempt at him being either sliced or stabbed.

In one of these attempts, the razor-bladed fighter cut into the floor and inadvertently sliced the brake pipe in two. The bus no longer had a means of stopping via brakes, something its driver discovered immediately as he tried slamming the brakes on the bus several times to no avail.

The bus careened down the sloping steep hills of San Francisco while the combatants within continued their fight.

During their plummet down the road, Shaun deftly avoided being skewered by the glowing blade, though one of the windows was shattered. In the midst of his constant movement in dodging the man's attacks, Shaun found himself landing in front of the woman with the laptop.

He briefly looked down at it and the woman was quick to realize what was about to happen. She could only cry out in vain as it was grabbed from her hands, used as a makeshift shield, sliced in two then used to smack the Romanian in the face.

Shaun handed back the pieces apologetically.

"Sorry." He quickly said, grabbing the handrails to pull himself up to double kick the sword-armed man in the chest.

Shaun landed next to a thoroughly bewildered Katy Chen who really didn't know who this person in front of her was right now.

"What the hell is going on?" Was her immediate question.

"You really wanna talk about this right now?" Shaun retorted, slightly exasperated by this whole situation.

The bus then violently jolted, Shaun, moved to keep Katy upright until he heard her gasp.

He looked back, eyes widening at the sight of the bus driver slumping from the driver's seat and falling to the ground. The bus began swerving about on the road, the passengers all beginning to panic save for Klev who continued his Livestream whilst commenting that he wasn't gonna try to drive the bus due to apparent past troubles.

Shaun, all the while, had to avoid getting beheaded by Razor sword guy, elbowing his chest, pulling up from an overhead handrail and shoving his enemy back with his legs. Then, in more astonishing displays of flexibility and athleticism, Shaun maneuvered himself around the other passengers, seats and handrails to get to the driver's seat.

Once seating himself, he instantly turned the bus sharply to avoid falling further down the road whilst also narrowly missing several cars that they nearly crashed into.

Everyone in the bus nearly fell over, barely being able to remain standing. The only one unaffected by this was the razor-sword armed man who made a beeline straight for Shaun.

He saw the man coing from the interior rear view mirror stationed above the seat and immediately ducked from getting sliced in two. Razor blade/fist/arm guy swung wildly, cutting the top of the wheel off before the arm was stopped by Shaun's foot. The other hand reached for his neck, the martial artist grabbing the wrist of the Romanian, holding it back with all his might.

Then, from behind, Katy rushed in with a fire hydrant, smacking it over the larger of the two, freeing her friend up from him.

"Go, ya freak." She said, moving to take Shaun's place in the driver's seat.

Shaun and Razor blade/fist/arm continued their fight. The former was still on the backfoot as he could only avoid the glowing sword arm with the passengers behind him retreating to the back of the bus.

They reached the center of the bus and Shaun jumped up just as Razor arm guy tried impaling him again. Instead, it went in between Shaun's legs and through the flaps that connected the two segmented bus.

Shaun ran along the wall and ceiling, jumping down as the flaps were sliced apart. Before they could continue their fight, the bus made a sharp turn, making them stumble back and apart from each other.

In that motion, Shaun noticed something horrible about the bus.

The centerpiece set of gears and locking mechanisms were falling apart and all the passengers ave for two were on the back compartment. The back that would get isconnected and a majority would end up injured or dead if he didn't act quick.

Looking left and right, the young man saw the goons in the back of the bus from earlier recovered and the romanian razor armed guy still at the front.

To get around these guys, he'd need an alternative route to get to Katy.

So he jumped out of bus via the torn open flaps, grabbing onto the edge, all while dodging a glowing blade and nearly falling from the bus. He grabbed onto the arm of the glowing sword, pulling its owner out slightly as a means of leverage to keep him from falling off the bus.

Katy then did another sharp turn, launching the passengers to the other side and Shaun onto the top of the bus. Seeing where he was, Shaun ran to the front of the bus, jumping and grabbing the right hand rearview mirror and swining into the door.

He looked at his best friend who was gaping at him in shock.

"Open the door please." He said while slapping the front window.

Katy let him in, the young fighter taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Ok I'm alive." He grunted. "But the people in the back are in danger. The back of the bus is about to go so on my signal, you make a hard right, left, whatever, got it?"

He didn't have time for her to confirm his plan, only hearing her demand just what signal it was supposed to be.

Shaun wasn't focused on her as he saw the Sword-armed man now have back up with the three thugs he had beaten earlier.

Without missing a beat, Shaun got into a fighting position, right hand forward with his left hand tucked back slightly, curled into a fist.

The bus drove into a tunnel and the combatants resumed the fight.

The first thug dashed forward, his punches and kick being blocked by Shaun. A powerful right sided haymaker sent the first one careening out a window and out of the bus.

Not even looking what he was reaching for, just relying on instinct, Shaun grabbed one of the handrails that had been sliced and pulled them out, using them as makeshift batons. They loudly clanged against the glowing sword of the tallest of his foes, Shaun making sure to avoid the glowing parts that would undoubtedly cut his weapons apart.

He then flung them at the man, striking them in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

Shaun then proceeded to kick the other two thugs off the bus through the open parts of the bus and going into a flying jump kick over the bottom gears of the center bus. His foot connected with razor swords chest.

He trie for a retaliatory swing but Shaun block his arm, kicked his knee down and wrapped his arm around the deadly weapon. Shaun then positioned himself to be back to back with his foe, using his legs to keep him down and his arms to immobilize the big guys primary weapon.

Once he felt secured, he called out for the passengers to get to the front of the bus now.

They all ran past him and once all were there, Shaun slackened his grasp and the Romanian freed himself.

Shaun tried to get to the front of the bus but was stopped, pulled and slammed into one of the still intact windows. He held back the blade but had his neck grabbed. Shaun attempted to pry the hand off but it was then used to pin his hand on the window.

The man glared at Shaun, a sneer coming across his face.

"You and your sister deserve what's coming to you." He threatened.

Shaun's expression changed, one from apprehension into an intense gaze directed back at his enemy.

Seeing where he was, Shaun reached up with his fingers for a yellow chord dangling above him. This confused the sword arm man who didn't understand just what it was he was doing.

*Ding*

Stop Requested.

But Katy did.

She gasped, realizing this was the signal he was talking about.

Seeing some construction ahead, Katy knew that was their best option. Pivoting the bus around, Katy did a sharp right turn that was the last straw for the gears holding the two sections of the bus together.

Just as it was about to split off, Shaun pushed his enemy back, jumped high into the air and dropkicked the man away. Using this as momentum, he was aslo launched into the front of the bus just as the back of the bus tore off from the rest.

Shaun looked back, letting out a sigh of relief to know that man was now gone but the situation was still not over.

"Hold on everybody!" He heard Katy shout from the front of the bus and he snapped his head around to see a garbage truck on the right and a whole row of parked cars on the right.

"Oh God." Shaun muttered out, realizing what his friend was about to do.

Katy maneuvered the bus around to drive over the parked cars whilst having it lean on the garbage truck in hopes of it helping her stop the bus.

She screamed the whole time all while Shaun rapidly moved forward to grab several of the other passengers from falling out of the bus. He used himself as a makeshift wall, other passengers moving to assist him so none can fall out.

Eventually, thankfully, the bus finally came to a stop.

Katy slumped back in her seat, breathing heavily until she looked over to the see the man in the garbage truck looking at her like she was insane.

Which… to be fair…

"Sorry." She awkwardly said, feeling rather stupid in saying that. "Great teamwork. Thanks for the uh… the assist… brakes were… yeah…"

Shaun in the meantime was checking over the passengers, some of whom thanked him for saving their life.

He tried to wave it off but they didn't care for it, telling him he literally saved them from being killed, especially from a few seconds ago.

The man was bashful about it all, placing a hand over his chest in another attempt to decline it until he felt something. Or rather, he it was the lack of something on his chest that gave him alarm.

Patting around his chest and neck, Shaun felt dread and shame wash over him as the green pendant he wore was gone.

The pendant that his mother gave to him.

And the one that was now undoubtedly in the possession of his father.

And scene.

Yeah, that's right.

Mushroom Kingdom Warrior, you are a prophet cause this is indeed the only Phase 4 property we are directly adapting into the story.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Jebest, Bullet and I saw the movie and we all collectively agreed that yes, we are gonna incorporate this into the story.

There's too much here to not do so, one of the big ones obviously being Wenwu/The Mandarin fighting Iron Man proper.

We're gonna deliver that to you all in here.

Really, what I love is guys like MK Warrior who just get it right and he's usually the only one. There's always only ONE or maybe two who predict something on the nose and I love it when it happens.

So buckle up folks, we're in for a fun ride with the Avengers being involved in due time.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.