5 Chapter 4

MC POV.

I decided to slide towards Graviton and was about to 'disable' his powers when Hank said "Wait!".

"You had the power to do anything, and yet you used it to put millions of lives at risk" Hank shrunk to human size as he finished.

"Pretty sad" Janet flew to Hank's shoulder and spoke. She then sent an energy strike to Graviton which landed his head right on my hands. I put up an ice dome to keep how I 'disabled' powers hidden.

A formless light emerged from his body and merge into mine. I let go of his head as it crashed to the ground and drooled.

I had to admit, the guy had a lot of techniques he didn't use. It must be because of his overconfidence and pride.

*wrom*

While still covered by my ice dome I conjured a gravity bomb in front of me and readied myself for its detonation. I had tuned it down just enough to shatter the dome and fling me and Graviton's body away.

IronMan PoV

"JARVIS" I whisper to my AI as we watched the ice dome.

'Sir. I'm reading an unusual gravitational Anomaly from inside, it seems to be reaching some sort of combustible state. An explosion may be imminent!'

"Shit!" I hastily fly towards the ice dome Strom had made.

"Tony! What are you trying to do!?" Janet asked.

"Strom's trying to kill Franklin Hall! Hall must've noticed his intentions and-" I was about to launch a repulsor blast at the dome when it suddenly blew up.

*BOOM!* *thud!*

I was in the air when it did so it didn't affect me. Strom, on the other hand, was thrown away and embedded a foot deep into the ground.

Another body flew away and landed not far off, it was Franklin's.

'Sir. The gravitational anomalies around Mr.Hall have disappeared. His vital signs are normal, Gravitational field is normal. He's still alive sir' JARVIS updated me.

I looked to Strom and asked, "What about him?".

'Analyzing...No unusual gravitational readings sir. Mr.Strom's biological reading, however, is inconclusive. He seems to be naturally generating some kind of bio-electrical field surrounding his skin, which hinders my scans'.

"Wow...so he was speaking the truth"

"See Tony? I knew he was trustworthy!" Janet flew by and gave my armor a light punch.

"Yeah...I guess. Franklin's powers appear to be gone now" I reply.

"Fascinating!" Hank flew by and re-grew to human size as he landed beside Franklin Hall.

"A little trust goes a long way, IronMan" Thor stated as he flew down.

"You know,-" Strom spoke as he slowly got out of the hole he was stuck in, still in his ice form "-you guys are weird!".

"Hey, you!" Janet flew over him and mounted on his head. "Oh my god! We never got to introduce ourselves formally haven't we?".

"I'm Janet Van Dayne, but my hero's name is Wasp! And that's Hank Pym, my...Uhm...co-worker. That's Thor and..." Jan continues introducing everyone one by one.

"Nice to meet you all...formally that is. I'm...not a hero, as Stark there said, I'm an inmate from the RAFT, and my name is Ragaen Strom" he was embarrassed to say it.

"Oh..." Jan flew down and faced him, "So what Tony said was true, you killed someone?" she asked quietly.

I looked to Strom who silently nodded and hung his head low. The guy was admitting it and in front of the people who could take him down.

His form shifts and returned to his pinkish pale human skin, and he just stands there.

He took a few moments to breathe and looked up, both green and yellow eyes scanned us.

"If you want to put me back in the RAFT then I won't fight back," he said sadly.

'Sir. I'm detecting no change in heartbeat nor any micro-expressions that would normally indicate lying, he seems to be sincere'

JARVIS's words made things complicated.

MC PoV

I was lying. If they did want to put me back I'll go...

The moment I told the truth I could see Janet's face grow weary, she was doubting. Her usual bubbly personality went away.

Lying to her was hard enough but seeing her look at me that way hurts.

I liked her personality, more so because she reminded me of the girl I...' killed'. She was much the same, more even given that she was younger.

I suddenly felt a set of heavy footsteps walked and went behind me, I look around and saw the Hulk there. Arms folded to his chest and were sternly looking at the others.

"Iron Man, surely our friend here has proven himself to be truthful. Both by his actions and the results" Thor said as he looked at Graviton's drooling form.

"I guess so... Alright!! I'm sorry, I should've had doubted you. I know what it is like, wanting to redeem yourself" Iron Man replied.

"I...It's not redemption Stark. It's penance".

"I know that one too...Believe me" Stark replied solemnly.

We silently stood for a moment before Thor came in and brought us all in a big bear hug, Hank included since he did turn human-size as he listened.

"COME! My friends and allies, let us celebrate!" Thor said, apparently trying to lighten the mood.

"FREEZE!!! STEP AWAY FROM THE

FUGITIVES! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!!" a loud voice intervened.

I saw just ahead, on the opposite side of the crater, an entire army of SHIELD agents. Tanks, helicopters, and about a hundred agents armed and ready.

A second later, the SHIELD agents appeared everywhere and surrounded us. All their guns were aimed in my direction.

I looked at the Hulk and nodded, once again donning my ice form and gathered millions of volts to my fist. The Hulk growled, his muscles flexed and ready to fight.

"NO!" Stark replied loudly as he stood in front of me and the Hulk.

"If you want to get them, you'd have to go through me. They helped save all, they're heroes. As sure as any of us" Tony finished.

All the others stepped forward and stood by him, shielding us from...SHIELD.

There was a brief pause, the tensions kept rising as the agents waited for a command.

"STAND DOWN!" a familiar voice commanded, the agent's weapons lowered in unison. "We've got BIGGER problems than the Hulk" a man stepped out of the cluster of agents that made way for him.

'FURY' I thought to myself as I recognize the emerging figure.

The same African-American man who was built like a warrior, but had a distinct grey color on his side hairs that was...new and unexpected.

'Occupational Hazard...the last thing he ever taught me.

The man walked closer to us, along with a dozen agents following him. He stopped right as he reached Stark and continued.

"74 of the world's most dangerous villains are on the loose, I'm not even sure if they escaped in this continent or are running around the world by now. I don't know how they got out, but we can find out...together. You can work for SHIELD, with all our authority and resources at your disposal. With you all" he looks at me and the Hulk, "-we could make a real difference".

"NO!" Hank adamantly refused. "This your fault isn't it Fury? SHIELD created Graviton. Whatever Classified project you had him work on changed him, and this happened because you kept it under wraps".

Fury just stared at him and us, silent. His silence wasn't a no but wasn't a yes either.

'Secrecy and Misdirection...Spycraft 101 in keeping confidentiality, he's hiding something' I think to myself.

I heard Stark sigh and said "Fury's right".

'What?' I looked at him in confusion, the others sharing the same look.

"What!? YOU? of all people? Are going to work for SHIELD!?" Janet was flabbergasted, to say the least.

"No! He's right about us making a difference, together" Stark replied and faced the rest of us before continuing.

"We can't handle 74 villains one-on-one, but together we have a shot. What we did here, despite the millions of dollars worth of damages, CAN make a real difference. The world needs us, now more than ever. But as a team on our own, NOT as SHIElD agents. Together we can avenge the wrongs caused by all those villains".

"We could be Avengers," Janet said as she smiled.

"Huh...The good name" Hulk complimented her idea.

"Okay! With that settled I'll begin making plans for the base, we could use a place to stay for those who aren't Uhm... living nearby. So to speak" Stark said as he looked at me, the Hulk, and Thor.

"I used to sleep in a prison cell" I clarified.

"I...do not want to speak of Asgard" Thor cryptically said.

"Hmph!" Hulk just played it off.

"As I was saying, I need a week to prepare before we can formally call it our own. So please be patient, I'll have Pepper send you the details by the end of the week" Stark began to fly and want away just as he finished.

We watched him disappear along the horizon.

"Well, we shall meet again friends. I have an...important matter I must attend to" Thor said before flying off himself.

Hulk just stayed quiet and leaped away after a while. Leaving me, Hank, and Janet in the area.

"So... Do you have a place to stay? Because I think Hank can use-" Janet was interrupted by Hank who said "No!".

"I mean, there's not enough space at all. Too many machines and experiments that need the space-"

"Hank!, you own the whole building!!"

"It's okay guys. I know a few places I can crash in. I'll see you guys in a week" I smiled at the couple.

"Oh!...Okay. Well see you soon Strom" Janet waved a hand as she began to float.

Hank looked at me, silently thanking me. He shrank and followed after Janet in a flying ant.

'Very Useful...I wonder if it's a power or just his Tech'

"By the way-" Janet flew back and faced me. "-You should decide on a codename. Mine is Wasp and Hank's is Ant-Man, something catchy and fun!! Okay?"

"Okay Wasp. I promise" I smiled at her. She smiled back and flew away with Hank.

I waited for them to go out of sight before preparing to leave, I was about to leave when I remembered Lucas.

I flew near where fury was.

"What do you want Strom?"

"Lucas Lloyd. Honor him, he died trying to keep the RAFT secure. Despite the risk" I threw Lucas's dog tag at him and flew off.

Fury PoV

I caught the item Strom had thrown over and realized it was a dog tag. It must've been one of the guard cards stations on the RAFT.

I then saw Strom fly off, leaving a trail of ice clouds as she maneuvered away.

"Sir? Are we just gonna let him and the Hulk get taken by Stark?" Maria Hill, my second in command, commented.

"Yes, Hill. But not without any precautions. Set their surveillance status to Level 8"

"Alright! We got work to do! Secure Franklin Hall and put him back in the RAFT! MOVE OUT!" I gave a command to the rest before walking away.

'Avengers...'

MC POV.

There was a notable difference between flying with ice powers than with gravity powers.

Ice flight required both my hands to propel and steer myself in the air, which was inefficient in combat situations but was quite beautiful to look at. Especially in the right light, like at sunset.

Gravity powers, however, are incredibly convenient. I merely had to will myself to fly and I do, no dual-tasking or propulsion blasting was needed as I simply controlled my personal gravity to move around.

I was tempted to just let my gravity powers take over but I was cautious about SHIELD. Even with my brief period affiliated with them, they were able to find out almost everything about who I was and what I did.

I needed to maintain some sort of smokescreen for my abilities for now, everywhere I go. But that didn't mean I would not be smart about it.

So with a little bit of acting and practice, I managed to maintain gravitational flight and recurring blasts of ice to make it look like I was only using ice powers.

I soared over the city and found a low-profile motel just outside of New York. I stayed there for a week with no pay thanks to the purple-mans powers.