Chapter 8: "Inside Avengers Mountain"

Jonathan was currently flying through the North Pole to reach his destination. "Everybody's so nice here, Jonathan!" His little sister Ava chirped over the phone  "I already made three new friends!" She added enthusiastically.

Jonathan smiled at his sister and her enthusiasm "that's great, Ava."

"Please tell mr. panther man thank you so much for letting me into his after-school program!" Ava said.

"I will. And you call me if you need anything, okay, Ava?" Jonathan advised.

"Are you on your way to your new job right now? I can't wait to hear all about it!" Ava said excitedly.

"Well let's not get too excited just yet. It's really just a trial period." Jonathan corrected.

"They're gonna love you, Jonathan. Nobody's cooler than my big brother!" Ava retorted.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Ava. The people at this place are about as cool as you can get. I'm pulling up now if I'm not there to pick you up when I'm supposed to just call mom or dad but hopefully I'll be there on time. Love you stay safe be good." Jonathan said.

"Love you too! Okay bye-bye!" And The line cut.

(The North Pole. Avengers mountain. New global headquarters of earth's mightiest heroes.)

Jonathan arrived at what appeared to be a tunnel and something scanned him "identify confirmed. Jonathan Reese. Elemental. You are cleared for entrance." A computerized voice said as the tunnel opened granting him access.

As Jonathan started to hover through the tunnel he started think 'feels kinda to be trusting all these new people with my secret identity. Hell it feels weird to even be here at all.' He thought.

He continued to hover through the tunnel until he saw light up ahead 'me as an avenger? Yeah, that'll never work. But...it's sure gonna be all kinds of fun giving it a try.' He finished his thoughts and when he arrived on a platform someone he never thought he'd meet in a million years.

Captain America! The captain America! In the flesh someone he never thought he'd have a chance to meet in this lifetime was standing only merely a few feet away from him now as he descended to the ground.

"Welcome to the avengers, Jonathan. I hope you're ready to work harder than you've ever worked in your life." Captain America stood before the starstruck young man with his shoulder back and his chest puffed out standing tall and proud Like the sentinel of liberty tended to do.

'Okay, so maybe I overestimated the fun part.' Jonathan thought after he heard caps words. "You betcha, um, cap. Sir." Jonathan answered.

"Just call me Steve." Steve insisted.

"Yes, sir, Steve, sir." Jonathan nodded.

"You finished your homework first, I hope?" Steve inquired.

As they started walking Jonathan marveled at the sights around and absently nodded "y-yeah, I did it before I came here. That's why I'm a little late, sorry about that. Am I the only avenger who's still in high school?" Jonathan wondered.

"Yes. Though I'm pretty sure Thor got kicked out long before he ever graduated from anything. But don't let it bother you, Jonathan. You're also the only avenger who could take control of a dead celestial, transform it into a 2,000-foot-tall mech and save the entire world from complete annihilation." Steve explained.

The pair has arrived at an area that looked like a gym area with workout equipment and everything that you'd find at a gym and much more.

"Heh. Yeah, that was pretty cool." Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck 'also super terrifying! Don't let captain America see how stupid scared you are!'

"So am I, like... the strongest avenger on the—"

However before Jonathan could finish his sentence Steve's shield came hurling towards Jonathan and slammed right into his midsection before he could react.

"GUUGH!"

"No. You're the newest." Steve replied as his shield came back to him and he caught it. "Everyone else inside this mountain has probably forgotten more about hero work then you could ever learn. Time to show me the other day wasn't a fluke. Show me you really are an avenger, elemental."

Jonathan's hands lit ablaze as he readied himself 'oh man! I'm about to fight captain America!' "Wait. Um, Is this a trick? If I fight you, is that like I'm... trying to burn the flag?"

"I'm not a flag. Just an old man who's about to kick your behind. Hope you like the taste of shield, kid." Steve retorted.

"No thanks! I ate lunch at school!" 'Man, this was a lot easier when I didn't talk. Gonna have to work on my witty comebacks.' Jonathan thought. "And I hope you like the taste of fire, Steve! Sir!" Jonathan launched himself into the air and fired a large torrent of fire at Steve which he blocked with his shield.

Thor just so happened to walk by in a haste "GRRGH, where are the latrines?! Thor must dispose of mead! This damned place is like a Minotaur's labyrinth! Curse those damned celestials!" Thor groaned.

(Days earlier.)

"Looks like that's it. The final host is defeated." Seren announced with a proud look with her arms crossed under her chest.

"We did it! We saved the world!" Jonathan cheered.

"Don't get too excited kid. We'll only have to do it all over again tomorrow." Shinji said.

"Jennifer? My god, are you all right?" Selina asked as she-hulk had transformed back into Jennifer Walters.

"That... was unlike any hulk-out I've ever experienced. What the hell's happened to me?" Jennifer mused.

As all this was happening suddenly a huge thunderbolt struck the ground and huge torrents of dust surrounded the area.

Everyone coughed and shinji looked around "oh who the hell is it now?! We literally just got done fighting the final host! Don't tell me someone else is already trying to take over or destroy the earth!" He groaned through his coughs.

Suddenly a tall muscular and short haired blonde man emerged wearing a red cape this man was Thor Odinson the god of thunder. Jennifer blushed slightly and looked away but he didn't seem to notice as he was all business now "Loki! Where is my Odin-dammed brother?!" He shouted.

"Heh. Oh, I'm easy to find, Thor. Just follow the sound of uproarious laughter." Loki chuckled.

"You bring the final host down upon Midgard to almost wipe out all of mankind, and then you have the gall to laugh?! You truly are a madman, you jotun-spawned bastard!" Thor growled.

"Now, now, is that any way to talk to the god who just reunited the mighty avengers? I ought to have a statue built in my honor for as many times as I've brought you lot together. If it weren't for me, those hapless fools would still be floundering, shattered, drifting aimlessly through life, still clueless as to their true potential and reason for being. But nothing brings heroes together quite like a good villain, does it?" Loki replied.

Elite grabbed Loki and held him in the air "I will bring together your face with my fist, bastard!"

"Remember this day, avengers. Remember the lesson of the final host. You people are great cosmic infection. And if you think the celestials are the only ones who can see that, then you're even bigger fools than I thought. You're being watched right now, and you don't even know it. From beyond the raw void between dimensions. Eyes of night and nuclear decay and all the colors of rage. And when they finally come here and lay you all to ruin in the time it takes a hummingbird to flutter it's wings...every tongue in Midgard will gloriously sing their praises for all—" before Loki could finish Thor took Loki from elites grasp and held him high in the air by his neck. 

"The only tongue I'm concerned with right now is yours, prince of liars! I will tie it to the uru bars of the dungeon in Asgard, and we'll see if you can talk your way out of justice this ti—"

Suddenly a bright light engulfed Loki and pulled him into the air "AAAARRGGGHH!!!" Loki screamed.

"No!" Thor yelled in discontent.

"Looks like the celestials have plans of their own for Loki." Constantine pointed out.

"No, we cannot allow this! My brother must answer for his crimes here!" Thor retorted.

"I do not believe we have much choice in the matter, Thor." Aven said.

Suddenly the celestials surround everyone present and started to raise their armored arms and their hands began to shine different colors.

"What is it? What do they want now?" Seren questioned.

"Do they want someone else to go with them? I volunteer elite." Davi pointed at elite.

Jonathan shook his head "no. They want to leave us a gift. The progenitor. The first celestial to ever visit the earth. The one whose death gave birth to us all. They can't bring it back to life after so long, but... they don't want it to be buried anymore. It belongs in the sun. Shining like a beacon at the top of the world it helped forge. A beacon of hope. And of the wonders of life. And a warning about what'll happen... if anyone ever tries to stomp those out."

Suddenly the deceased body of the progenitor started to rise from the bottom of the North Pole, and eventually it stood tall with its arm stretched outward towards the sun  and thus avengers mountain came into existence on a day unlike any other. 

(Present day)

"Wow." Seren exclaimed as her T'Challa and Tony stark descended down an elevator. She couldn't lie this entire headquarters was certainly impressive.

"This place makes avengers mansion look like a fourth-floor walk-up in queens. How many rooms does it have?" Tony asked.

"What you see around you is the desiccated, armored corpse of an alpha celestial who died four billion years ago and rose from the Arctic sea floor in the form of a mountain just last Tuesday. It does not come with "rooms." Ventricles and cavities, perhaps." T'Challa answered.

"Right. So is there a hot tub in one of those cavities?" Tony wondered.

"The finest architects from wakanda have been working for days with technicians from alpha flight to make this mountain livable. They call this the spinal lift." T'Challa explained to Seren.

"I call dibs on the penthouse." Seren said.

"Of course. If you can make it past the robotics panthers guarding the door, it's all yours, Seren." T'Challa chuckled.

Seren smirked "challenge accepted, T'Challa!"

Constantine was walking around and looked at into one of the rooms and saw an acquaintance dr. Strange and he entered the room and dr. Strange felt the presence of another in the room besides himself and Jennifer and turned to meet Constantines eyes. "Constantine." Dr. Strange greeted with a nod.

"Strange." Constantine replied as he took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke out.

In terms of their relationship it was a civil one or as civil as could with given Constantines personality. Dr. Strange and Ryan Constantine, two guys who would've, could've, and possibly even should've been friends, but unfortunately with their chemistry it would never work. Dr. Strange a good guy who's wound way to tight and Ryan Constantine a brash and outspoken fellow who never backs down from a fight no matter the odds.

Dr. Strange was looking at monitors as Jennifer was laying on medical table. "You're right, Jennifer. Something is indeed very different about you." Dr. Strange informed.

"Great. It's good to know I'm not crazy. Or at least no crazier than the usual crazy. Now, just tell me I'm not dying, doc." Jennifer sat up.

"I wish it were that simple. You're the hulk. Your body is already rife with enough gamma radiation to kill most people many times over. And since your encounter with the celestials, those gamma counts have skyrocketed. Your body is now storing more gamma energy than ever before. And it appears you're sometimes able to release that energy...in the most explosive of ways." Dr. Strange revealed.

Jennifer stood up right "that explains the changes to my physique. And the increased power levels. God, you're right, that sort of explosiveness is beyond what even Bruce can generate."

"It might also explain why you appeared to, ah...have less access to your full mental faculties than usual." Dr. Strange theorized.

Jennifer clenched her fist and green gamma energy came to life around and her eyes shifted to a green hue "why I was talking like a dimwit, you mean. But the smart-mouthed lawyer me was still in there somewhere, still in control. I think." She muttered the last part to herself.

"Nevertheless, I recommend more testing before you return to the field." Dr. Strange advised.

"Woah. Wait a sec there strange. If we're really doing this reforming the avengers, do you know how valuable having a hulk is. She's a real game changer we can't afford to shelf her this early in the game." Constantine said puffing out smoke from his cigarette.

"Yeah, I agree with Constantine. I don't think so, doc." Jennifer slammed her hand down on a desk near her "I've fought too Damn hard these last couple months to regain control of myself. You can do all the tests you like but I'm not going back on the sidelines." Jennifer said resolutely.

"You have become a living gamma bomb, Jennifer. And we have no idea what will happen when you next explode." Dr. Strange warned.

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. Bad guys will get smashed. The world will get saved. Just like it did last Tuesday." Jennifer rebuffed.

"These new powers are a blessing, not a curse. The celestials needed me at my strongest to stop the final host, and so will the avengers, now more than ever. So you better believe they're gonna get the biggest and baddest damn hulk this world has ever seen."

Thor passed by and popped in "huzzah to that, my lady!" Thor saw everyone and figured something important was happening "ah, apologies for the intrusion. I was merely passing by. Most... randomly. Ah...might any of you know where to find the nearest lavatory? Or perhaps the quickest way to access the sea?" Thor asked.

Jennifer walked up and grabbed Thor's metal arm "yeah, sure, follow me, big guy. There's a bathroom in my quarters. We were done here, right, doc?"

"Well...not exactly...." dr. Strange sighed.

Constantine looked at dr. Strange and whispered "so jen and Thor? What's the story there? She's a little familiar with him don't you think?" He chuckled and took another drag from his cigarette.

Dr. Strange shrugged "I'm not sure. But honestly I don't think I wanna know."

Thor looked at Jennifer "your... quarters? Ah yes, I will accompany you, lady Jennifer. To your quarters. Merely for the purpose of... reliving myself. I mean, in a purely biological sense, of course. I mean—I say thee nay!"

Jennifer giggled "wow, so even gods can blush. Good to know."

Constantine and dr. Strange met up with T'Challa and Seren as they were walking "so...Thor and the hulk what's happening there?" Constantine asked Seren figuring she might know.

"As long as it doesn't affect their battle-readiness, I am quite certain that I do not wish to know." Seren answered.

"Well, that makes exactly one of us." Dr. Strange chuckled.

"Perhaps if you stick around, you could figure it out, Stephen." T'Challa offered.

"I'm sorry, T'Challa, but I have pressing business of my own to attend to right now. Though if the avengers find themselves in need of a sorcerer supreme, tell them their free to ring the sanctum." Dr. Strange and T'Challa started walking through a corridor.

"I can do better that. This is adapted from the celestial technology—from the few bits of it we can actually understand. It's a global teleporter that can be linked to specific points around the planet. With your permission, I'd like to make one of those points your sanctum Santorum." T'Challa asked.

"Only If you promise to show up for dinner sometimes. Though, ah... you might want to bring your own food. My tastes run a little...eclectic." Dr. Strange informed.

"Perhaps there's a good reason for your tastes. Do you believe it, Stephen?" T'Challa asked.

"Believe what? That we're a grand cosmic accident? That we're here because a diseased celestial vomited all over our primordial shores? Sounds about as plausible as anything else. What about you?" Dr. Strange countered.

"I don't believe in accidents, my friend. There is always an order to the cosmos, even if we're too small to see it. Though I'm Afraid I've never put much faith in the grand plans of the gods or other entities on high. I prefer to make my own." T'Challa answered.

Dr. Strange nodded "well, on behalf of the people of earth, your highness, allow me to say... ...please don't stop doing that." Dr. Strange left T'Challa with those parting words before being teleported away.

(Meanwhile. On the other end of the world. The southern ocean.)

A large Roxxon ship was coasting on the sea "all hands on high alert!" A guard yelled.

"Something just ruptured the hull of one of the whaling subs! Be on the lookout for saboteurs!" Another guard barked.

However the guards failed to realize that a hand reached over the side of the sub and someone or something was climbing aboard. When the people climbed aboard it was revealed to be atlantean's "defend the ship at all cost!" The head security guard ordered.

"For Atlantis." One of the atlantean's brandished two short swords. "For the seas." Another atlantean yelled.

"Quickly, find the bridge and—" the last atlantean ordered however the Roxxon guards turned around and saw them "fish people on deck! Fire at will!" The head security guard ordered and the security guard started to empty their magazines into the atlanteans.

(Avengers mountain)

"Are you sure about this?" Seren asked.

"We all took a vote. The entire roster. And it was unanimous." Selina informed.

"Aye, there is only one choice for avengers chairperson. Someone who has earned such an honor many times over. Congratulations, lady Seren." Thor congratulated Seren.

Seren nodded "I am honored, but I must ask...have we truly thought through the ramifications of reforming the avengers? After years away having earth's mightiest heroes reappear won't be a popular move in many corners of the globe. Most especially in the halls  of Washington, D.C." Seren pointed out.

"The avengers have never ever been popular in those halls. We need new leadership. For a new age. A new beginning." Aven assured that this was the right call.

Seren nodded "I will strive to be worthy of your trust, and may this new age be one of great peace."

Shinji snorted "yeah, fat chance of that, I'm afraid. But we're right behind you all the way, Seren."

"Then let my first official act as chairperson be the intonation of the sacred words... AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" Seren announced as she strode towards the round meeting table with Aven, shinji, Selina, and Thor at her back.

Everyone took their seats and the meeting began "what happened to the magic doctor? I liked him. He was the only one here weirder than me." Jonathan said.

"Dr. Strange will serve in a reserve capacity." Seren informed.

"Then who's taking his place?" Davi asked.

"In terms of active roster, I believe the amount of members we have now serves us fine for now. Though perhaps we'll add more from time to time, as the need arises. And looking around the globe, I see very many needs arising. Black Panther and his agents are currently tracking multiple potential trouble spots, starting with an old acquaintance in—" before Seren could finish an alarm started to blare and red lights started flashing.

"Warning level 9 international incident currently underway in the southern ocean." A computerized voice alerted them.

"Great first meeting, Seren! Nice and short anyone else I'm sure would've droned on for hours." Constantine chuckled.

"The mountains monitoring system is uploading the intel directly to my ID card. I'll brief you all en route." She said.

Aven stood up "all right, avengers, you heard the boss. Time to go be mighty!"

Everyone went to get suited up and when they were mostly everyone entered a quinjet but Elemental leaped off the aircraft hanger and started flying in a burst of flame. Davi shook their head "show off..." they muttered as they watched him fly from the quinjet.

(The southern ocean.)

Back on the Roxxon ship the bloody dead bodies of the Atlanteans were hung up on hooks "ha ha ha! I'm not sure if we should cut 'em loose or take 'em home and turn 'em into canned tuna!" One of the guards laughed.

"Dead atlantean's probably a delicacy somewhere, right?" One of the guards asked.

"Hey, pipe down! More trouble with the subs! We just lost contact with every last one of them! There must be more of these guys down there. Get ready to repel—" the head security guard didn't get the chance to finish as the whole ship shook.

"Whoa! What in the hell..." the head security guard yelled as he looked and saw what appeared to be giant squid tentacles and the tentacles grabbed one of his men "ARRRGGGH!!!" The man screamed in terror.

"Scream all you like, you air-guzzling bastard! Down in the depths where I'm taking you murderers...no one will ever hear you scream again!" Screamed an atlantean but not just any Atlantean this was Namor, the sub-mariner. King of Atlantis. Avenging lord of the seven seas. As he bum rushed the guards they fired at him but it was all in vain as their bullets didn't even pierce his skin.

Next chapter: "The Defenders of the Deep"