Issue #5

(Releasing this chapter early since I am picking up my new puppy today)

It had been 6 months since Jack and his squad had confronted Magneto aboard his ship. That meeting had been a catalyst for many more events revolving around mutants that would come afterward. The most major event and direct consequence of Jack's actions was Magneto taking over an entire nation called Genosha.

Genosha was a nation that was truly one of the worst in the world. It was the only nation that still had a legalized form of slavery in the form that humans could own mutants as slaves. The humans would force the mutants to do countless, disgusting or horrifying things.

Jack and Emma had constructed a machine that would amplify Magneto's powers to even higher degrees than usual for an hour at the cost of his life. Using this machine, Magneto blackmailed/ traded the machine for the presidency of the country.

After taking over, a massive civil war broke out between Magneto's Brotherhood and the mutants they liberated against the humans that had previously ruled over the country. It took Magneto's forces 3 months before they were finally able to quell the rebellion.

While that was happening in Africa, several major changes had happened in America. One of them was the fall of the Hellfire Club. At least for the members of the Inner Circle.

After the mutant members of the Inner Circle won, they were betrayed by the Black Queen and her new group called the upstarts. Each of them was a powerful mutant that assassinated the members of the Inner Circle.

While most of the upstarts were unfamiliar to Jack, two had made an impression on him. The one that killed the Black King before betraying the Black Queen and taking over the Hellfire Club was Shinobi Shaw, the son of the Black King.

The other person was Tarot. She had been closer to the Black Queen than Jack and Emma had expected. During a party, she betrayed the Hellions and killed them all before turning her sights on Emma. Luckily, due to preparations, Emma was able to kill the girl before harm came to her.

Due to the instability of the Hellfire Club and the attention the Upstarts had drawn to themselves due to their very public assassinations against the original members of the Inner Circle, Emma left the club and joined Xavier's school.

There, Emma started a new team of young mutants to work along with the New Mutants and reformed X-Men called Generation X. Jack was planning to stop by there later. But first, he had to deal with the matter at hand.

The Avengers had been growing bigger and bigger as well during this period. It was no longer a team of the most elite heroes but instead had become an organization that most heroes were allowed to join as part-time members. The number of true members that remained in the tower and were part of Squads stayed at around 30.

Jack was standing in front of Steve and the other squad leaders as he presented his proposal to them.

"Johnny and Crystal are creating their own Fantastic 4 and Elektra have gone down to part-time so she can handle more personal matters. We can move Wonder Man to one of your times while I make some more drastic changes to my Squad."

"And what would those changes be?" Tony asked with an obvious edge in his voice

Of the current 'main' Avengers team, there were 3 factions. Those that were similar to Tony and were distrustful of Jack and most heroes. These were people like Tony, Namor, Reed, and Hank. Those with huge pride had always seen the bad in everyone but themselves.

The second faction was those like Captain America. They would be welcoming to most heroes into the group as they believed that most people deserved proper chances. This group was mainly made up of Captain America fanboys such as Deadpool, Falcon, and Winter Soldier.

The last faction was 'led' by Jack. These were the heroes that were distrusted by the first faction the most but were not as open as the 2nd. They were heroes that were pretty much indifferent and neutral to their other members unless they were close to them.

When these factions formed, the cracks hidden beneath the surface of the Avengers started to surface.

Jack did not turn his gaze away from Steve while answering Tony's question and explaining himself to the other 3 leaders present.

"As you have seen from my squad, we have been attacking the mutant issues that SHIELD fails to bring up to us. The only time SHIELD informed you of something mutant-related prior to 3 months ago, would be when it was related to Magneto trying to assassinate a government official.

It took me doing nothing but missions that involved the rescuing or protecting of mutants to bring this to the group's attention. But even still, the Avengers is still not fully invested in this. Even my own squad could not fully connect to this matter.

Now that I have a chance to change my squad around, I plan to bring in 4 mutants who will be able to truly understand and support me. I also wish to bring forth more mutants in a positive light by having them be core members of the Avengers."

Steve did not reply instantly but in his heart, he already had an answer. It was truly difficult to truly understand another group's issues or the problems they faced if one was not a part of them. Even if they could see the issues on the surface, it was still not as clear of a view as those directly in the center of it all.

"Jack. Of the 4 heroes that you have in the proposal for your initial team, 3 of them have... issues. Can you make sure that you are responsible for them?" Steve asked

Jack nodded his head without hesitation. He had submitted 6 different teams he could potentially put together based on which members accepted but his primary team and the team he wanted to have under him the most was listed as priority.

"Good. Get this team together within a week."