2 Chapter 1

2010, Manhattan Subway,

The sounds of gunfire and the screams of civilians filled the subway as people ran in all directions like chickens with their heads cut off. Behind them, a group of green armoured soldiers approached, gunning down or capturing anyone they saw.

In midst of the chaos was a woman who was clutching on to her daughter as she did her best to evade the eyes of the oncoming soldiers. She crouched behind a bench as she saw the soldiers haul in several machineries she was unfamiliar with. Another group was also patrolling the subway looking for stragglers.

The woman waited until the patrol was out of sight before sneaking out of her hiding spot. She then, made her way to a nearby stairwell that led to the food courts and ticket booths. She walked up the stairs with shaking steps all the while shielding her daughter's eyes away from the dead bodies that littered the station. She managed to reach the top only to hear a loud metallic click from behind. She turned her head and saw one of the soldiers leveling his weapon at her. On instinct, she jumped to the side just as the soldier shock a burst of fire. Earning a tearful yelp from the younger girl. The woman than ran as fast as she could with her daughter even as she heard shouting and footsteps from behind.

Just then she felt something coil around her feet making her lose her balance and sending her crashing onto the ground. At the last minute, she managed to turn her body, shielding her daughter from the worst of the impact. Even so, the woman's weight had affected the girl as well, causing her to yelp out in pain.

The woman turned back to see another soldier towering over her, gun in hand. He then raised the gun, aiming it at the duo. The entire process felt painfully slow for the mother as she could only await the impending deaths of her and her daughter with teary eyes.

It was at that moment a circular object suddenly hit the soldier in the chest with enough force to send him ragdolling several meters despite his armour.

"Ma'am are you alright?" she heard a someone speak. She looked at the source to find a well built man wearing a costume styled after the American flag holding a shield. It didn't take long for her realise the identity of her savior and she began shedding tears of joys.

The man, she identified as Captain America came up to her before taking out a knife and cutting the binds of the bola that had been wrapped around her feet then helped her up just as another group of soldiers emerged from below. The group wasted no time raising their guns and fired at the trio.

Captain America then got infront of the woman and her daughter, before shielding them with his shield, causing the bullets to hit it harmlessly.

"Iron Man, I have two civilians with me need assiatnce" he spoke into an ear piece. Not long after that, a salvo of small missiles emerged behind them hitting the soldiers with a barrage of small concussive blasts, knocking them out.

"The lady said no guys." A robotic voice spoke as a flying figure stopped near the Captain. It was a man wearing a red and gold metallic armour.

"Took you long enough. Where the rest of the team?" Captain America asked sarcastically just as the wall on the other side came crashing down, revealing a large green man and a large robot who had the same color scheme as the soldiers from before. The green man punched the robots head several times before yanking off its head making destroying it. Behind him, man and woman approached. The man wore a purple costume and wielded a bow and a quiver on his back while the woman had red hair and wore a black skintight suit. With a pair of pistols on holstered on the either side of her hips.

Upon seeing them, Captain America relaxed visibly. "What's the situation?" he asked.

"Hydra has barricaded themselves around platform 2A. They have high jacked the train and holding around 30 people hostage. And it seems they are bringing in crates of unknown tech down there." the man in the purple costume replied.

"OK. Here's the plan, Iron man, Hulk and I will create a distraction. Hawkeye, Widow, I want you sneak in and secure both the train and hostages. And ma'am?" he then turned to the woman who looked shocked at being addressed. "The way out is clear. So you should get to safety." he added before giving a warm smile to the child who was now staring at the group.

He then turned back towards him teammates. "Avengers, move out!!" before the my began making their way down via the stairs. At the same time, the woman promptly turned around and ran towards the exit all the while her daughter stared mesmerised at the heroes who had just saved them over her mother's shoulder.

June 24, 2016, New Jersey

????? 's POV

I stabbed a plastic wrapper with the stick, then another and another hoping to alleviate even a fraction of my anger. Behind me, I could make out the occasional snickers of my tormentors from a few meters away.

My name, is Irena Cassius Smith, a student at Midtown High in Queens, New York. And right now, I was cleaning a beach on the shores of New Jersey. Why? Well a couple of my tormentors thought it would be funny to secretly sign me up for this on the last of school before summer no less. So here I am picking up trash while being mocked by my peers. It didn't help I would still have to take the train back home with my own money.

Still, I continued on, cleaning the beach to the best of my abilities along with the other volunteers. And eventually, even my tormentors left which was a total relief for me. But by the time we were done, the sun was about to set yet instead of quickly making my way back home, I instead began walking on the beach, eventually reaching a more secluded part of it before taking a seat on the sand. I needed some peace and quiet before heading home. It was then I spotted a blimp that had a screen broadcasting the recent endeavours of the Squadron Supreme.

Hard to believe it has been two whole years since everything changed. It began with a large meteor that was on collision course with Earth, several chunks were big enough to render the world uninhabitable. But like always the Avengers came to your rescue, destroying chunks of the meteorite before they could enter Earth's atmosphere. Iron man wore his new space faring suit, Thor used Mjolnir even the more normal heroes did their part, destroying them from their spacecrafts.

They did their best. But it wasn't enough as several pieces of meteorites managed to reach earth, their impact killing hundreds of people. More was about to follow until the largest chunk of meteor was sudden blown to pieces and them they came. They looked human for the most part but the abilities they displaced were beyond super natural even comparable to Thor and Hulk. These newcomers became the heroes of that day while the Avengers were criticised by many for being unable to stop the destruction.

From there it got even worse with the Squadron Supreme allying themselves with the government, something the Avengers never did. And soon people began demanding that the Avengers be brought under the authority of the US government. Going so far as to replacing the director of SHIELD so that the Avengers had no more backing from a government body. Several media outlets began painting the Avengers in a negative light citing the prior rampages by Hulk and the dangerous equipments owned by some of them. It looked the entire country had turned it back on their former protectors.

And then, it happend. I woke up one and day went down for breakfast to see a news report with the title "Avengers Disbanded". After coming under fire by the public and the pressure from the government, the Avengers had become divided with Iron man, Antman and the Wasp choosing to join Squadron Supreme and the rest choosing to remain independent. And that was the last anyone had heard of them. It was honestly the hardest days of my life. I had idolised them ever since they had saved both me and my mother all those years ago. I had newspaper clipping of their exploits over the years as well as action figures, signed memorabilia even several clothing such as a T-shirt which I owned to this day.

I kept an ear out for any news related to the now missing members of the Avengers to no avail. And it seemed the world was moving on as well with anything related to the Avengers being replaced with that of the Squadron Supreme. Under their leadership, the US government even had started internment programs to train the next generation of super humans and began sending aid to other countries. Yet despite this, I couldn't bring myself to trust them.

Back when the Avengers had been here, their members responded to even the smallest of crimes if they were aware of it. And they were not concerned about their personal fame. If came down to a choice between their reputation and the safety of the people, they wouldnt hesitate for a second. In contrast, Squadron Supreme rarely interfered with civilian matters opting to combating groups like Hydra, AIM, and the Brotherhood of mutants. I had seen newer members of the Squadron actively ignore a bank heist. I later found out that they were at a bar with their 'fans' when one of them uploaded a selfie to the forum. Moreover, I seriously doubted about type of 'aids' they were providing for other countries considering what I had been hearing about them from international news. Officially, they have been, providing food, shelter and safety for the citizens of the nations. But in actuality were aggressively moving into independent nations in search of 'Radical elements' before essentially taking over it.

It honetly made me mad, seeing them defaming the ones without whom I wouldnt even be alive then, go on to cause these types of atrocities in the name of justice. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. I was just a normal teen without powers, extraordinary intellect, or training. Even with one, I doubt I could make any waves against the them by myself. The only thing preventing me from getting in line with the rest was the hope that the Avengers would eventually save the day like they had done so in the past.

I raised my head and stared at the sunset. I guess coming here wasn't so bad after all. I thought to myself.

Just then, I saw a shooting star above the sunset. And being the immature girl I was, silently made a wish. For a better future. I then awaited for it to disappear, which it strangely didn't. In fact, the seemed to be becoming larger.

I am ashamed to say it took an entire minute before I realised that it wasn't a shooting star and that whatever it was, was currently coming right at me. I scrambled on to my feat and began running but it was too late as the object collided with my chest and I lost consciousness.