Post by Drake on Aug 6, 2013 22:28:29 GMT -5
#4: When Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Were United
Miles couldn’t believe his eyes. Through the waves of heat and pain, through the dull darkness on the edge of his vision, through blood and broken lenses, a red, white and blue beacon of hope shined brighter than the sun. Captain America was here. Suddenly, Miles’ chances of not just winning, but surviving, seemed fifty times greater.
Kraven ran at the sentinel of liberty. He swung his blade towards Captain America’s throat. The hero hopped back, away from the attack. Kraven continued an onslaught of attacks, never ceasing. Cap never had the chance to make a counterattack…or so it seemed. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed Kraven’s wrist, twisted it till the villain let go of his weapon, and then kicked him to the ground.
But Kraven was far from done.
“RRRAAAAHHH!” Kraven roared, pouncing on Captain America. Cap tried to roll to the side, but Kraven was too fast. He knocked Cap to the ground, readying a final blow. But he stopped. And there was good reason too. Captain America held a pistol against Kraven’s stomach, holding him back.
“You…you’re a hero. You wouldn’t dare…” Kraven was silenced by two gunshots. Cap had blown out the villain’s knees.
“I’m old fashioned,” Cap stated, throwing Kraven off of him.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Moonstone’s battle had come to a standstill as the two were drawn to Kraven’s writhing form.
“This is bad,” Moonstone whispered. She flew to Kraven’s side and picked him up off the ground.
“Don’t even think about it,” Captain Marvel growled, charging the villainess. However, she wasn’t fast enough, even with Moonstone slowed down by Kraven’s additional weight. The villains were sucked away into Sofen’s Moonstone, instantly teleporting to a destination far away. “Damn it!” Cap Marvel growled.
Just a few yards away, Captain America kneeled by Spider-Man’s side, assessing his injuries. “You’re hurt. Badly.” He acknowledged.
“What’re you talking ‘bout?” Spidey forced out, coughing afterwards.
“Yeah, you must be in really bad shape if you aren’t making bad jokes,” Captain America admitted.
“Nah, Cappy Wappy, I feel fine. I even smell fine, just like roses,” Spider-Man tried. It didn’t work.
“Even you have to admit that’s bad.”
“You’re bad.”
Captain America stood up and away to look at the incoming Captain Marvel. “He needs to be taken to a hospital,” Cap A explained.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work,” Marvel got right to it, “I doubt Mil—the kid would be too happy with us revealing his secret identity to a bunch of all-too-curious nurses.”
“’Secret identity’? That’s a thing?” Marvel nodded. Cap A was incredulous, “In my time the masks were just for show.”
“Well it ain’t your time anymore,” Marvel grumbled. Something about Captain America pissed her off. Was it because he was a clean cut, standard soldier type? Carol knew that was at least partially the truth, but that just wasn’t it. What was it? He was genuine, nice and attractive. What was it about him that was pressing her buttons?
“I’ve been told,” Cap A quipped, a joke funny only to himself.
That’s when the explosion occurred. Just a couple miles away, concrete flew into the air, raining down stone onto pedestrians. And then the monsters followed the stone into the sky, one after the other. Both Captains’ jaws dropped at the site.
“Monsters…?” Cap A wondered. He’d seen plenty in his time. Hell, he had even fought a monster or two. But ones so big…he could feel from miles away their killing intent. It was horrendous.
“Let’s go,” Marvel was driven by adrenaline and a hidden excitement she could barely contain.
“Are you kidding?” America grunted. He pointed back to Miles, “Listen, Ms…”
“Captain,” Marvel growled. Captain America gave her an odd look. She couldn’t quite read it. But it still pissed her off. “What? That weird to you?”
America smiled, “No…it’s just… you remind me of somebody I used to know.”
“That good or bad,” Marvel wondered.
Cap chuckled, “Good. I think.” But at the sight of Spider-Man, Cap’s humorous mood dwindled. He got back to the point, “Listen, Captain, you can fly. Take Spider-Man….somewhere safe. Somewhere he can be helped.”
Marvel knew she needed to help Miles but the fight…the monsters…innocent citizens would be hurt. She needed to help. And then she saw it. The gleaming tower in sky where the monsters had gone. “The Baxter Building is right in the middle of the action, and it’s home to the Fantastic Four.” America gave her a questioning look. She explained, “A superhero team. They’ll have some of the best medical facilities in the world there.”
“Fair enough,” Captain America agreed, “Let’s go.” And after Captain Marvel grabbed, Spider-Man, they were off.
A
“God, I don’t know what to do…” Pym thought out loud, massaging his head. To talk to Janet or not to talk to Janet? That was the question.
Johnny Storm stood near the window looking down. He gave Pym an answer.
“Yeah, I don’t think you should leave her down there.”
“Why?”
Johnny pointed out the window. “That’s why.” Both Stark and Pym came over to see. Much to their distaste, two monsters were duking it out in front of the Baxter Building. Two Hulks.
“Neither of them are Brian,” Tony Stark answered the question that was on both Pym and his mind, “Brian’s not green.” Indeed, the two monsters below were sickening shades of green.
“Shit,” Johnny cursed, “And today was supposed to be my day off…well, day off superheroing.” He tapped the window once and the panel opened. “Flame on!” He caught fire and burst out, flying towards the monster brawl below.
Hank pulled his mask up. He looked at Tony. “You have a suit?”
“In the car,” Tony answered.
“Oh.” Hank muttered, worried. The car was parked a block away.
“Not a problem,” Tony grinned properly. He held a finger up to his earpiece, “VISION?”
“Way ahead of you, sir,” His AI assistant replied. And indeed, a large, bulky Baxter-Building-window-pane sized wall of red, yellow and gray metal flew out of a car a block away and towards Tony.
“Go get ‘em, Ant Man,” Tony teased.
“That was a toy. A really cool, dream toy, but still a toy,” Hank argued, already growing.
“Whatever you say,” Tony smirked. Both heroes backed up as Tony’s suit—or rather suit-stored-in-a-wall-like-form—landed in front of them.
“Aren’t your suits usually smaller?” Hank asked.
“Yes,” Tony answered, ignoring the silent ‘why did you do this?’
Tony took a step forward. The wall opened up for him. He stepped in and the suit formed around him. What was left when it was finished was a monstrous armor like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. There was only one way to describe it.
“Awesome,” Hank admitted. Tony smirked his usual cocky, ‘I’m the best’ smirk.
“A little help down here!” Johnny Storm’s frantic cries brought them back to reality. It was, as Johnny called it, superheroing time.
Hank grew, jumped out the window, and then grew further until it was impossible for him to take any damage from the fall. Tony, or rather Iron Man, flew out from the building and down into the fight below. His first target was the more reptilian monster, a being that we know as the Abomination.
Iron Man’s ‘Hulkbuster’ suit proved to be worth the work, for when the hero punched the monster, it went flying down the street. Iron Man was pleased. He’d created an entirely new rocket-punch system for the suit and it worked like a dream. Abomination stood back up, roared, and charged Iron Man. Dream may have been an exaggeration.
The Armored Avengers met Abomination halfway, using his arm to ram the monster to the ground.
“Easy pickings,” Tony laughed from inside the armor.
Meanwhile, the Human Torch and Giant Man were locked in combat with the Hulk. Torch was serving more as a distraction than a weapon, as he bombed fireballs onto the beast while Giant Man proceeded to punch the Hulk.
“Christ!” Giant Man cried out in pain at the toughness of the Hulk’s skin. His call for help was a figure of speech naturally. He had never and would never believe in a being greater than the monster he currently fought.
Hulk roared right back, giving Giant Man a right hook, dislocating his jaw. The hero screamed.
“Back down, big man!” Hulk growled, “You’ve got no chance against me!” He was quickly shut up, however, by Torch who threw a fireball into his mouth. Hulk cried out in pain. “Stupid fire man!”
“Shit!” Torch flew away from Hulk. The monster jumped right after him, reaching him easily. “Shitshitshitshit!” The Hulk grabbed him and threw him into the ground. He would have been flame paste if not for the timely intervention of Giant Man, who caught him.
“Your hot!” Giant Man dropped him.
“No dip, Sherlock,” Torch teased.
Both heroes jumped to the side to dodge the incoming Hulk. Easy enough, right? Or it would have been, had Pym not ben grabbed at the last second by an unknown assailant. He was hit full on. He threw up blood and looked back.
A sickly gray monster held onto him, eyes bleeding murder.
“…Brian?”
Back at Iron Man and Abomination, the fight was leaning to Stark’s favor. He couldn’t believe it, but the monster was actually losing. His armor was working! With every punch, every clash, Abomination was slowing down. Sure, Tony was taking damage, but nowhere near as much as Abomination.
“Viz, put everything into the punch’s thrusters,” Tony ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
On cue, the thrusters in his elbow lit up, and Iron Man was practically rocketed towards Abomination.
“GRAH!” Abomination roared, leaping towards Iron Man. The Armored Avenger met the monster in the air. Both punched the other, and both fell to the ground, unable to move.
“VISION! What the hell just happened?” Stark cried.
“It appears that our power levels are below 1%. If you’d actually watched the energy output, you…”
“Damn it!” Stark cursed. He then ordered VISION to let him out of the suit. At least one of the monsters were down. Hopefully Pym and Storm could take the other. 2 on 1 shouldn’t be a problem…right?
Wrong. Or at least when it was two on two. Much to Tony’s dismay, Brian Boreman, the Devil Hulk, had arrived.
“Time to fucking die, Pymmy boy!” Devil Hulk laughed maniacally, bear hugging the giant superhero’s waist. Pym struggled to free himself, but he only managed to cause himself more pain. Was this it? Was he about to die? And to think, Janet was just fifty yards away inside the Baxter Building. His vision began to fade. Janet…he could almost hear her calling his name…no…she was calling his name. Janet was here?!
“HANK!” Janet cried, running around the battling Human Torch and Hulk to Hank.
Pym couldn’t get himself to say the words, not because he was scared, but because he physically couldn’t. All he managed was a dull cough. His vision continued to fade. This was it. He was about to die in front of Janet. It was his worst nightmare incarnate.
Or it would have been, had he not been saved by the timely intervention of the Captains: America and Marvel.
Cap America slammed his shield into Devil Hulk’s face, forcing him to release Pym. Marvel tackled the Hulk into the ground away from the Human Torch who had only barely survived the fight so far.
Captain America jumped off Devil Hulk’s back to dodge his mad scramble to squash the American hero. He managed to land gracefully near Tony, saying, “Sir, I have an injured child over in that alley,” Cap pointed to an alley half a block away, “Get him inside the…er, Baxter Building was it? And get him medical attention.”
Tony was too shocked to answer. Not in awe, but in…well, shock. The way Captain America ordered him around…no one had done that since his dad. The billionaire couldn’t do anything other than to run towards where Cap had pointed. It was out of character, and yet he felt as if he needed to—no, should—follow this man, Captain America. Tony had never felt that way his entire life. Not even with his dad. It was what had helped lead to his rebellious streak, spiting his father.
Meanwhile, Hank was recovering, kneeling down normal-sized near Janet, far away from Devil Hulk. “Jan…get out of here…Brian…will kill you.”
“That’s Brian?!” Janet exclaimed. She knew the man well. He was part of the reason she had left Hank. The two were nearly inseparable because of their work. She’d joked—although at times she considered it to be true—that the two were secretly in love. Why was Brian attacking Hank? Why was he a monster?
“Long story. Just go,” Hank managed. He stood up and grew again, “Gotta save the day.”
And he tried, running towards Devil Hulk, who was locked in fierce combat with Captain America. The patriot was managing to put a beating on the monstrous man, but Devil Hulk appeared unfazed. Hank was about to change that. He slugged Devil Hulk full on, knocking the beast off his feet. Devil Hulk roared as it crashed into the ground.
“You’ll die for that!” He growled.
“Wasn’t I going to anyway?” Pym quipped, stepping on Devil Hulk. He was now nearly sixty feet tall. Even the near invincible beast would be hurt by his sheer weight. Temporarily…
Devil Hulk grabbed his foot and threw him towards Captain America. The patriot tried to dodge, but couldn’t fully get out of Pym’s way. His leg was caught under him. But, luckily, he managed to hold it in such a way that it didn’t break. But it still hurt a lot.
“Agh!” Cap cried, pulling his leg out from under Pym.
Just a short distance away, David Cannon was forcing through a crowd of crazy superhero and monster fans to the battlefield, shouting Janet’s name.
“You’re right, Pym,” Devil Hulk at last answered Pym’s joke of a question, “You’re going to be killed no matter what. But I can hurt you a little more before killing you, namely by killing your pretty little bitch of an ex over there.” Devil Hulk pointed a massive finger at Janet, who had bravely stayed there by Pym’s side.
“Don’t…please…she isn’t part of this,” Pym begged, getting back onto his feet.
“She is now,” Devil Hulk jumped towards Janet. Pym screamed, running towards her and jumping between her and the villain. But his voice was silenced by another.
“JANET!” David ran full speed towards them. Within a second he was holding Janet tightly as the two giants in front of them clashed, fist against fist. And then the air exploded in a burst of light. Energy flew around striking the ground randomly. One such beam hit the Hulk, who instantly depowered into the innocent scientist, Bruce Banner. Another hit Johnny Storm, who ‘flamed off.’ And two hit Janet and David, who’s reactions were near opposite of the two superpowered heroes. They began to glow.
At last, the energy beams stopped when Pym and Devil Hulk were rocketed away from each other, both depowering down to normal sizes/forms. In the rubble, all that remained were two people whose lives were changed forever.
Janet stood, silent, looking up. The world had grown considerably. Was this a dream? No, Janet realized, she had just shrunk. And even more oddly she now had wings. Bug wings. “What the hell…?”
And then her attention was drawn to David. Or rather, what once was David. Where he had once stood lay a sleeping man made of bright green energy.
“David!” Janet cried running towards him. But before she could reach him, she was knocked away by an invisible wall. And then HE appeared.
Kang floated down slowly towards the crater where the now powered humans were.
“Interesting…you were not in the time files, David Cannon…” Kang mused.
Captain America wasn’t about to have any of this new man. He knew an enemy when he saw one. He threw his shield towards the armored man from the future. With a simple wave of Kang’s hand, Cap’s shield fell to the ground. And with another, Cap was surrounded in an impenetrable force field.
“Get away from them!” Cap roared, but his cries weren’t heard. No sound left the force field. Kang continued down to David’s unconscious glowing body. Janet screamed. He silenced her with a force field of her own.
“Time to leave, Brian,” Kang began, “We have much to discuss…particularly with out new comrade.”
And with that, Kang teleported away, taking with him Brian, David and Emil’s bodies.
Only once they were gone did the force fields disappear. Cap breathed a sigh of relief as he threw himself towards the crater and the now shaking, frightened Janet van Dyne.
“You alright miss?” Janet remained small. She shook her head.
“What just happened…?”
Captain America gave her the only answer he could: the truth.
“I have no idea.”
From there, he carried her into the Baxter Building, shortly followed by Hank Pym, who watched on in shock, and Johnny Storm, who lugged Bruce Banner behind him. Captain Marvel came last, unsure of what to do. Her duty was done but...she couldn’t just leave the kid. He needed her to be there when he woke up. So she followed after Captain America.
She would soon regret that decision.
A
Johnny Storm left the med room, massaging the back of his neck as he did so. Captains America and Marvel stood, arms crossed, waiting for him. Johnny forced a smile, “He’s fine. With some decent rest now, he’ll make a full recovery. At least, that’s what the H.E.R.B.I.E.’s say.”
Both Captains became visibly more relaxed after hearing this. Carol even went as far as letting out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
“That’s really good to hear,” Captain America agreed. The trio of heroes turned away from the room and headed towards where the others were, namely the Fantastic Four’s War Room.
“So, are you up to date on everything?” Johnny inquired.
“Yeah,” Carol spoke for Steve, “Tony and Hank explained it all.”
“And…?” Johnny pushed.
“We agreed to help out,” Steve replied.
“That’s really good news,” Johnny pushed open the doors to the War Room. He held it for Carol, winking as he did so. Carol just snorted and marched in. Johnny frowned. That was the first time he’d failed so quickly with a girl since…well, ever.
“So we’re in agreement…” Tony and Hank’s brief conversation ended when Carol, Johnny and Steve walked into the room. Hank nodded in greeting. Steve did the same, the others choosing to ignore it.
“I take it you guys are one of us now—the Avengers?” Hank asked. Steve nodded in response. Carol chuckled.
“What is it?” Hank wondered.
“Just the name: the Avengers. Dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time,” Carol admitted.
“You’re absolutely right, beautiful. I’m sure we can change it just for…”
“Can it, Stark,” Carol interrupted. Twice! She’d been hit on TWICE in less than a minute. And Christ, she wasn’t even the only female here! Janet didn’t get half the…
Carol stopped that thought immediately. She knew why neither playboys—Johnny and Tony—messed with her. She knew why Janet just sat in the corner, alone and silent. David…
“Well, onto more important news,” Johnny began, “I’ve set alarms all over for any sighting of our little ‘Masters of Evil.’”
“Who called them that?” Carol asked, even more amused by their choice of names.
“I did,” Janet spoke up. Carol immediately felt bad. “It just popped into my mind. I don’t know why…it just…fit them.”
“There’s…there’s no problem with it,” Carol promised. The room got silent. Nobody had the courage to speak through it. Except for Tony Stark. Of course.
“And…?” Tony was smirking, as if he’d just been told a joke.
“And…” Johnny blushed, “I’ve had H.E.R.B.I.E. make all of you guys new uniforms. Except for Tony, of course.”
“And you can imagine what they look like,” Tony sarcastically noted, motioning towards the clothes Johnny currently wore, the F4’s famous blue spandex suits.
“Stark…” Steve was really not in the mood for this.
“What, spangles? Got a problem with a little humor?” Tony frowned.
“No, just with you,” Steve retorted, taking a step towards Tony. The billionaire stood right up to meet him.
“Yeah, the feeling’s mutual, old timer,” Tony said.
“Call me that one more time,” Steve growled.
At last someone, notably Carol, spoke up, “Boys!” Both immediately turned to look at her, neither happy. She hadn’t liked either from the beginning, so she had no problems putting them down. “Can you stop measuring dicks, because I think we all know that you’re both going to come out of it embarrassed?”
The two were at a loss for words. That was particularly odd for Tony.
“You were saying?” Carol turned to Johnny. The veteran hero nodded in thanks.
“H.E.R.B.I.E.’s designed new uniforms for all of you. Captain America, sir, yours is more…modern. Carol, your old uniform,” which she was still wearing, torn and all, “Is a little too dark for a hero. Hank, yours was, well, stupid, so H.E.R.B.I.E. made it cool. And, honestly, darker.” Johnny put his hands into the air, “I’m a hypocrite, yeah, whatever.” And then Johnny turned to Bruce, “You don’t get a costume.”
Bruce chuckled, “I’m not going into the field.”
“We’ll see about that,” Tony muttered. The group had grown to accept the scientist/would-be monster after hearing his story. Tony however…he didn’t just accept him. He respected him. Moreover, like any good engineer, he knew a useful tool when he saw one.
“And Janet, yours is similar to Hank’s. It…” Johnny was interrupted by Hank, who was furious.
“Whoa, whoa, Jan isn’t going with us. She isn’t part of this,” Hank argued.
“I agree,” Tony said.
“Why?” Carol spoke up, “She’s got powers. She can fight.”
“No, she can’t…”
“Why? Tell me!”
“Janet isn’t…”
“SHUT UP!”
All eyes turned to Janet, who was standing now. She stared daggers at the trio arguing over her. “Stop talking about me as if I’m not here. Tony, Hank, I’m neither of your girlfriends anymore, so don’t treat me like some little doll you have to protect. And Carol…well, you’re right. I am going to fight.” Carol smirked. She liked Janet. The girl had some guts.
“Jan…” Hank begged.
“Just shut up, Hank,” Janet replied. Hank did as he was told, his face like that of a beaten dog’s.
“So…that’s it then? The Avengers are assembled?” Johnny wondered.
“All but one,” Tony said, nodding to the doors, and ultimately to where Miles was sleeping.
“The kid isn’t a part of this,” Steve argued.
“I think he would disagree with you,” Tony pointed out.
“Guys,” Johnny got their attention. He pointed to Carol, who was seething with anger.
“Right. Shutting up now,” Tony said.
Steve would have done the same, but he had something to say, “Everyone, I just want you to know, that it…”
“Don’t.” Carol growled, turning away, “No speeches. Let’s just get some rest before we have to save the world.”
Steve was yet again dumbfounded. He had no issue with it, but the way Carol spoke to him…literally only one woman had ever talked to him that way. One. The world had changed so much since The War. Steve smiled. As he’d thought before…
He kind of liked it.
A
Tony lay back in his currently borrowed bed, looking up at the ceiling. He hadn’t been able to sleep. Sure, he was tired, but his brain wouldn’t shut up long enough for him to fall asleep. So, instead of fighting a battle he knew he wouldn’t win, he’d spent the time thinking over what had happened and what would. Who he was about to fight and why they were fighting. And one thing—or person, rather—stood out to him. Kang. The mysterious man with the mysterious armor. Something about him seemed so…familiar. Why?
“ALERT! ALERT! AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” H.E.R.B.I.E.’s metallic, childlike voice cried out over the intercom. It was funny. H.E.R.B.I.E. was an AI like VISION, but he was rather different than Tony’s robotic assistant. The two had distinct personalities. Tony only wondered how that was possible. He’d programmed VISION to be more than just another AI, sure, but Viz had become even more than Tony had imagined. And H.E.R.B.I.E. was the same way. If AIs could be so human…then could they also have faults like humans. Could they become…evil?
Tony shrugged the thought off, running out of his room. When he arrived in the War Room he was greeted warmly by a table covered entirely in costumes and cups of coffee. Each coffee was situated near a costume, a name typed onto a sheet of paper next to it. Six costumes in all, one even for the unconscious Spider-Man. But there were seven cups of coffee. Tony knew the seventh was his without even looking at the name. He took it and chugged it down. He’d never drunk coffee once in his life. It wasn’t exactly his drink of choice, but now it tasted like pure gold.
“Good morning…or night,” Johnny Storm greeted, walking right up to his own costume, exactly the same as his old but with an ‘A’ in the center instead of a ‘4.’
Tony looked towards a clock nailed into the wall. 1:32. Technically morning, but screw that. It was night.
“Morning,” Tony replied.
“You got a suit?” Johnny asked.
“Had Viz bring it to me earlier,” Tony answered.
“Sleep at all?” Johnny continued the small talk.
“Nope.”
“Me neither.”
Johnny threw off the uniform he currently wore and began to put the new one on. No time for modesty.
Steve trudged into the room, followed by Hank and Janet. All of them had bags under their eyes. No one had gotten any sleep.
“Where’s Carol?” Janet took her coffee and chugged it down, ignoring the heat. Johnny shrugged his shoulders. Tony did the same.
“With Mi—Spider-Man,” Steve answered. “She’s coming.”
“I’m here.” Carol marched into the room. She gave no time for response however, stripping straight down to her underwear, drawing the attention of every male. Only Steve looked away. Within another minute, everyone, minus Tony, was dressed and ready.
“Let’s go,” Steve ordered.
“Tony?” Hank turned to the other scientist.
Tony shrugged. “Suits in the jet.”
“Jet?” Hank wondered.
“You’ll see,” Tony replied.
And he did. Johnny led them out to the roof. The single most beautiful air vehicle Hank had ever seen was waiting for them. A small jet marked with the F4’s famous insignia rested there, gleaming down upon them.
“It’s not the FantastiCar, but…” Johnny was interrupted by Hank, who was ecstatic.
“It’s gorgeous.”
Johnny frowned, and then sarcastically agreed, “Right…Pym loves planes. I’ll remember that.”
Johnny opened the hatch for the group. They all entered. Only then did Tony remember Bruce. “Where’s Banner?”
“He isn’t coming,” Steve plainly responded.
“We need him,” Tony argued.
“Tony, he can’t control the Hulk…” Hank said.
“Sure, he can.” Tony replied, “It’s just another superpower, nothing special. Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s every bit of special we need.”
“Stark,” Steve warned.
“We need the power,” Tony retorted. Steve decided to ignore the man. He entered the jet. The others decided to do the same. “Really? I’m the only one who sees his potential?” Tony was incredulous. “He was in your dream, Hank.”
“Shut up, Tony,” Hank growled back.
“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Tony stated, following the other Avengers into the jet.
Within another couple minutes, they were off. And despite the treatment he’d received so far, Tony couldn’t help but speak up again. “Johnny, where’s the rest of the super friends? We could use the back up.”
“In the Future Foundation on vacation. I had to stick around to keep everything…together,” Johnny explained.
“Fair enough.”
That was about all the time they had for conversation. As you would expect, they made it to Times Square within a few minutes. They could hear the explosions from inside the jet.
“Looks like fun,” Tony mused.
“How is that fun…?” Janet wondered.
Johnny opened the hatch. “You guys go ahead. I’ll meet you after I land this thing.”
Tony got into his suit, which was stationed like a block, while the others got ready. Jan and Hank shrunk. Janet grabbed Hank, preparing to fly him down. Their uniforms, as Johnny had explained, matched, black and gold. Carol thought it was kind of cute, actually. Hers on the other hand was…different. Red, yellow and blue. It was actually…nice.
The hatch opened. All of the heroes stared down at the battle zone below, and deep down they knew that from this point forward their already extraordinary lives would change forever.
But they had no clue just how much.
A
Bruce Banner stood near a window panel, looking out over Manhattan. He could see Times Square from there and it was…horrible. The fire. The destruction. Some hidden sickness inside him liked it, and that made it all the worse.
“You’re not going with them?”
Bruce turned around. Miles Morales stared him down, an almost disappointed look in his eyes. He wasn’t in costume and for the first time Bruce got a good look at the kid. He was surprisingly small. Innocent. More so wrapped in bandages. He couldn’t imagine what in the world made this kid go out and fight for the everyday man.
“No,” Bruce answered, “My powers aren’t exactly…friendly.”
“Bull shit.” The curse word and the intensity with which it was used threw Bruce off.
“The Hulk—that’s what they call him, right?—he’s part of you. I know you don’t want to face it, but he is you.”
“The Hulk is a monster,” Bruce growled, his temper rising. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t get upset. Not here. Not with an innocent kid near him.
“No, he’s a sickness.”
“That should be cured.”
“He’s a mental sickness, illness.” Miles argued, “The powers aren’t what’s dangerous. It’s the personality behind them. And that personality is you. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can control your powers and really help people.”
“The Hulk…The Other Guy isn’t controllable. He’s unstoppable, invincible.” Bruce protested.
“I don’t believe that, and I don’t think you do either,” Miles said. “You’re hero, Dr. Banner. I know it.” Miles shrugged and then continued, “I have a knack for knowing these types of things.”
“Is that what you are? A hero?” Bruce asked.
Miles shook his head, “No, I’m just an ordinary kid with an extraordinary gift.” He paused and then said, “And I suppose I also have a bit of a naïve outlook on life, so…yeah. I guess that’s kind of why I do what I do.”
Bruce didn’t reply. He didn’t know what to say. He never had been good with words.
“Listen, I understand it’s tough,” Miles said, “Maybe you can’t control the Hulk now, but I know…I hope you can direct it. Please, Dr. Banner, the others…they need you.”
Bruce had no reply. What could he say? What could he choose? Man or monster? The safe bet or the risk? But…maybe there was another option.
Hero.
TO BE CONTINUED