23 Prelude to War

Within the now landed SHIELD helicarrier, the newly formed members of the Avengers, along with their new members sat behind a large desk, with Nick Fury standing before them in his usual black overcoat.

The members of the team were Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, who had been freed from Loki's mind spell. The new members of the team were Thor who was lost in deep thought, and Banner who seemed to be recovering from his previous hulking state.

Far away from them was Duke who had a doughnut in his mouth.

Since his previous dress was burnt off due to the friction from moving the Helicarrier's engine wheels, he as now dressed in a black sweatshirt and brown pants.

Several beautiful memories flashed through his mind, as all of a sudden, a feeling of loss gripped his heart tightly. He had wanted to become one of the best criminal masterminds, he did that, but for what? All was because he wanted to provide for the homeless people who took care of him, and now that they were gone, was he supposed to continue being a criminal mastermind?

Is that what they would've wanted for him? He knew they wanted him to settle down, have a family and all that, but Duke being Duke was someone who loved the thrill of adventure and impossibilities. He was no hero and didn't even dream of being one, however was he supposed to return to a boring life?

Currently stuck in a dilemma, he sighed and walked out of the Helicarrier which he had landed in some sort of mountainous area.

He needed to clear his mind, and if possible maybe someone to talk to. After all, he might be a little smart, and have amazing powers, but deep down he still had a portion of his humanity left.

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"Loki escaped." Fury said, as the expressions on the faces of the Avengers turned grim. "We lost a dozen agents today, including our own Phil Coulson." Fury said, as Natasha and Stark clenched their teeth in anger.

"How are we supposed to go against Loki when he has the power of the Tesseract at his disposal?" Cap asked, as the others remained quiet. "Oh and uhhh hey did you know your brother could perform circus tricks?" Tony asked as he looked at Thor.

"It's not circus tricks. It's called magic. Users of this type of power are called mages. They draw arcane energy from other dimensions to cast spells and make the impossible possible.

On Asgard, aside the All Father and my mother Frigga, Loki can be considered one of the best in mage arts, something I never had talent for." Thor said with a nod.

"Besides I spoke to Loki before he escaped, after my little showdown with the big green guy. He plans to use the Space Infinity stone to open a breach and allow an ancient army of conquerors called the Chitauri into the Earth." Thor added with a frown.

"Chitauri?" "Space Infinity Stone?" "Breach?" Everyone mumbled as they looked at each other. "The Space Infinity stone, or what you earthlings call the Tesseract, is one of the six cosmic gems which control an aspect of the universe." Thor explained.

Instantly Natasha seemed to recall something. She remembered hearing something like that from Duke. " So basically, there's a circus freak with a cosmic artifact trying to summon an entire army of aliens unto earth. Heartwarming." Tony said as he sighed.

"He plans to begin in three days." Thor added. "We have to stop him." Cap said as he clenched his fist. "We can't do it on our own. We need each other, we need to team up and take him down together. " He said, with a smolder, as Stark rolled his eyes.

"The Chitauri has legions that number in tens of thousands. How will we stop them with just the seven of us?" Thor asked.

"There's no need to worry." Stark said with a smile. "Because?" Everyone asked. "Because we have him on our side." He said as he pointed to a now empty seat behind him. "Who?" Seeing no one where Stark was pointing at they looked at him and asked.

"Can't you see... oh wait, he's not there.." Stark rolled his eyes and turned around, before seeing an empty seat and sighing.

"Jarvis, locate speedy. I mean the kid, uhhh what's his name again?" He fumbled as he looked at Nat. "It's Duke." She said.

"Yes, locate Duke." "Right away Sir." The AI replied instantly and showed them a footage of Duke sitting right outside the Helicarrier lost in deep thought.

"Wait? Did something happen while I was gone? Why do you guys want him on the team?" Clint asked with a frown.

"Uhhh yeah buddy, quite a lot of things happened when you were in mind control land." Stark said with a smirk.

"You guys know if he's triggered now, he's just gonna whoop our asses right?" Clint said as the others frowned.

"And that's why we have the God of Thunder himself to stop him when the time comes." Stark replied. "I don't know if I could really best him in a fair fight. You saw how he almost killed Loki and how the fight between us really went. If his body hadn't given in the end, the right would've ended differently." Thor sighed and said honestly.

"Besides I'm not sure he'll be able to restrain his emotions, but I don't blame him. I probably would've done the same thing if I was in his place. But I can't let him kill Loki." Thor said.

"You guys are forgetting a crucial thing. He's a criminal mastermind. You don't get to that position just by being strong, you need to have a certain level of intelligence as well." Banner chipped in.

"Come on you guys, I know a lot about him more than any of you. Yes, he was a criminal mastermind, but he'd never hurt anyone unless the person really deserved it." Nat said with a frown.

"I personally don't see a problem with him joining your team. He's a valuable asset and just needs a bit of control." Fury said.

"Come on Fury. He's just a kid. Barely 20, and he's lost everything. He needs guidance, not to be controlled. " Cap said. "I gotta agree with Rogers." Stark said. "I agree too" Natasha smiled and said. "I don't mind." Thor said. "It's up to you." Clint sighed.

"Alright then, now that we've decided, he's kinda part of us now and is our responsibility. So who wants to play the role of the teacher and father to him?" Banner said with a smile.

"Definitely not me." Stark said. "Now that he's kinda part of us, he needs a suit huh, and who better than me to build that for him. Besides he needs a code name." Stark said.

"I don't think it's gotten to that point yet Stark, we've agreed to accept him, but he still needs to give his consent. Nat and I will talk to him." Cap said, as he and Nat walked outside.

"Still, we gotta be ready. Just text me when you guys are done with your pep talk with him hmm." Stark said, before smirking and leaving.

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