[Avengers] Assembling the Team

[Centurion]

Hopps disappeared into the wavering scar left behind by Blink's borderline mutiny. Cap turned away from the portal an towards Hal.

"Alright son, just follow my lead." Cap moved to the back of the Quinjet and opened the bay door with a push of a button. He was hit with fierce and cold winds, fueling him with adrenaline as countless memories came flooding back. With a half-smile, Captain America hopped off the edge and into the unknown. He fell for a few moments before the ground and the building came into view. He could see five soldiers congregated in a group, two of them helping up the other three. Looks like his team had been here.

Rogers pulled out his shield and moved it into position ahead of him. Like a star-spangled torpedo, Cap crashed into the sand in the middle of the group, sending up a smokescreen of silicone. He yanked his shield out of the sand and used the momentum to bring it up and into the jaw of the closest soldier, sending him flipping backwards. Without missing a beat, Steve pivoted sharply and crashed his free fist into another guard's temple, dropping him like an overfull sack.

The remaining soldiers scrambled for their weapons, but Captain America had a different plan. He flung his shield forward, sending it ricocheting between the remaining three soldiers. They stumbled and fell, giving Cap time to sprint towards the building. He stopped at the nearest entrance and glanced around for Hal Jordan. Without Blink's portal, he'd need Jordan to watch his back.

[James Knight]

Even though he was under-armed due to his gauntlet not being fully functional it was his duty to help out the heroes however he could.  Given he was a good guy Hal expected this at some point anyway.  Really a battle like this should come as second nature for him.  "I'm getting ready..."   Powering the Green Energy of Will into the Gauntlet,  Hal began to think of what he could do in combat.  The Laser Cannon was too big an option and had too much destructive potential plus he didn't feel like putting out that much will power early on.  Only one option remained,   a Plasma Burst.   For fifteen seconds Hal remained entirely still as he concentrated the energies of will into the gauntlet.    Accompanying Cap the moment he could move,  he'd shot a Plasma Burst at a guy who was coming up from behind Captain America to attack him.  But he knew he'd have to recharge that power. "My powers are still limited Captain." 

[Blink]

When Blink regained consciousness, it took a few moments to identify what what happened and where she was. Her current situation came before her memories. She was flung over someone's shoulder with her butt near the person's face and her own head dangling down at their hips, pointed towards the ground. She could see through her hanging violet hair that there was another set of footsteps next to her, walking along with the Guy Who Was Rudely Carrying Her. Her head turned upright slightly so she could see where they were; a generic-looking hallway. That didn't help.

"Where are we putting her, anyway?" One of the two asked. It was the one that was walking next to her. "With the poke-freaks?"

"Nah, Carlton wants her locked up," the guy holding Blink said. "She's not the only one that came here. Her friends are going to be looking for her, so we gotta put her somewhere that'll make it easier to take 'em out."

The memories flooded back into Claire's head. It was not a pleasant thing to recall. She had left her team, even though she was supposed to be the main transportation into a stealth mission, and then went in guns blazing against two guards. She was ashamed to have been taken out so easily, as they were surprisingly fast with the dart gun. Now that she was down, it sounded like their cover was blown and her 'friends' would now be forced to charge in. She had not only put the hostages lives at risk, but also these strangers that she was teaming with. She came here to help; to make a difference and all she had done was make things that much worse.

She lowered her head again, planning to make her move. If she was was going to make up for her errors, she wasn't going to do it laying there, hanging off a random guy's shoulder. She was going to have make her move.

As soon as she went for an attack, though, she knew immediately that was mistake. She had brought her knee up in the hope of catching the guy carrying her in the nose, but she realized how heavy her limbs were right away. The drug she had been shot with via the dart still had her wobbled, and she wasn't nearly recovered from it. Instead of attacking him, all she ended up doing was squirming like a child.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" The blonde man was saying, turning a bit to ensure she didn't fall off of him. "Looks whose awake!" He laughed as he caught her before she hit the ground. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, then moved forward to push her up against the wall. "Calm down now."

"Get off of me!" She growled as he mashed her up against the structure. "I will freakin' end you," she warned. One her hands came up to the concrete bulkhead, crackling with liliac-colored lightning as she attempted to bring her Teleportation Energy back up to speed. It buzzed a bit across her fingertips, but then faded away, showing she wasn't able to utilize her abilities to their full extent.

Not impressed by the pink warrior thus far, the second man moved in on her as she pinned by the first. "Looks like you're all bark and no bite, little girl." He spat at her, further grinding her ego down to the ground. "Looks like you really should pay more attention to your situation."

As if on cue, there was a loud clang behind them. Both men turned, which allowed Blink to as well. A flash of grey fur sprinted from a now-open air duct and into the hallway, bouncing from one wall to the head of the man that had been insulting Blink. As he fell back into the wall, the small creature bounced from his forehead to the cranium of the other. Blink was able to briefly identify who it was. As if in slow motion, she could clearly see a grinning Judy Hopps with her cute little rabbit foot slamming into the surprised jaw of the blonde goon that had been inappropriately holding Blink up against the wall.

As that goon went down and Judy backflipped gracefully onto the floor, Blink turned to the surprised thug next to her. His eyes were bulging wide in surprise at the little bunny that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. As if her energy tanks were all restored at once, she brought her hand up and slammed the back of it to his face, connecting the back of his head to the wall behind him and knocking him out in one swift movement. "Jerk." She said as he dropped to the ground.

"Did someone order a rescue?" Judy grinned, clearly proud of herself. Blink didn't blame her.

"I could definetly use one," Claire agreed. She slid down the wall for a moment landed on her bottom. Obviously all of her powers were not up and running yet, as that one move had taken a lot of energy out of her. She tried to summon a dagger in her head out of her teleporting energy, but once again, she just got pink crackle. "Looks like I really messed up." She observed.

Judy nodded, "Yea, you sure did!" She playfully punched the knee of the  teleporter and tried to pull on her to get her up. "We can't worry about that now, though! Cap and Hal are coming in hot and Vision is still dealing with security! We gotta go!"

With a loud groan and a lot of effort, Claire fought off the drugs that were still streaming through her blood and stood up again on her own two legs. It was going to be a little bit before she completely recovered her powers, but she could already feel the wooziness gradually disappearing. She caught her balance and nodded down to the bunny-cop. "Alright," she said. "Lead the way."

[Moon]

The rabbit nodded, starting to walk on, but something caught her in the head. She wheeled around, seeing that one of the guards had thrown a rock at her. She glared for a moment, before shrugging and continuing forward. If they were such cowards that they couldn't fight like mammals, then she wouldn't bother. After exiting the room, Hopps tapped her earpiece, turning on the microphone while walking.

"Avengers, this is Hopps. I have Blink with me, and her earpiece is missing. She also seems drugged. Over."

The Captain's voice came through a moment later. "Get her to the Quinjet, there's medication there. After that, we could use a little help here."

"Got it," Judy replied, breaking into a grin. "Looks like you'll be fighting with us after all, Blink!" Almost immediately after saying that, a red light made the room glow and an eardrum-piercing blare followed. The rabbit winced as her ears amplified the noise to painful levels. Seems that one of the guards set off the alarm. "Darn it all. Let's move."

The next few minutes were a haze of headache and running. She assumed that she also took out a guard or two, judging by later stories, but she didn't know for herself. The two reached the outside after what seemed like forever, and the smaller of the two turned to the other. "Quinjet. Go. We'll be here when you get back." A moment's silence. "Also, get a new earpiece. Just in case." Blink simply nodded, and teleported up there. Of course, it took a little longer than usual, but at least she was getting a bit better.

As for Judy, she had a job to do, and she rushed toward the other building, following the trail of fallen soldiers until she reached the Captain and the Lantern. "Need some help?"

[The Vision]

As Blink opened a portal, the Vision spun around and said, "Negative, Ms. Ferguson, do not engage-"

Blink vanished in a cloud of pink light. The rift she formed remained open. After some chatter, the other Avengers followed her. The Vision scowled and put the Quinjet into parking, somewhere in the sky.

"Why," the android grumbled, preparing to unplug from the console, "must there always be one reckless Avenger who attempts the mission alone, and then gets themselves captured?"

He let himself phase through the floor of the jet, free-falling through the top floor of the base. He landed in the security room, much to the shock of the two guards.

As one of them tried to shoot the android, Vision blasted the two back with a repulsion field, along with any bullets they fired. The android swiftly solidified his right hand and threw a punch into one soldier’s gut.

> run opticalheatemission.att
Running…

As the other soldier raised his rifle for another series of shots, the Vision quickly dissected it with his heat emitters. He threw the soldier he had struck onto the floor. The very recently disarmed hostile tried to assault the android with the butt of his damaged rifle. The Vision increased the density of his body tenfold, causing the gun to bounce off of his exoskeleton uselessly. The Vision then delivered a horizontal punch to the soldier’s chin, breaking it.

“For your own sake, remain seated. I would not enjoy incurring further damages to your bodies."

Unceremoniously, the Vision sent wires from his cranium into the nearby security console and furiously fired commands, trying to regain some control of the situation. 

“Officer Hopps, as we earlier discussed, at the end of that vent, there should be a kill-switch to their generators. They will-“

“They shut down the electric cages or whatever the Pokemon are in,” Judy sighed, "How did they even get these things? Aren't they from way in the past?"

“They are called concussive repulsion fields," the Vision explained, "And while I would love to analyze the anachronistic smoothie that the Omniverse is, perhaps it would be more efficient to focus on the mission at hand. I will give you further instruction on disabling the repulsion fields once you arrive there. Captain Rogers, on your right."

The Vision watched the security camera footage of the captain slamming his shield into an enemy soldier's gut. The soldier crumpled on the ground, clenching his stomach. Mr. Jordan had constructed a large fist which expanded from his gauntlet, and was swinging it at high speeds at three persistent troops. 

“Thanks, Vis!" Rogers hollered into his comms device. 

"Captain. They're only Secondaries. Take care to pull your punches."

"I know, I know." Captain Rogers leapt backwards, shield raised to deflect the crude bullets. “But they’re not. Any luck locating Blink?”

“Not quite,” the Vision grimly replied. It was true. It was as if Blink had vanished from the base. While she was obviously capable of such a feat, the circumstances of the disappearance implied a more sinister event. 

He disconnected from the computer. It was too crude to provide proper surveillance anyhow; and his technopathic abilities appeared to be lost. 

"From now on, we should consider Blink to be captured. Which means we will need to implement our back-up evacuation plan."

"And what's the new plan?" Mr. Jordan grunted as he took another swing at the surrounding soldiers.

The Vision stood up. "It's me. I will go retrieve our-“

“Hey, Vis! I found Claire!” a voice interrupted.

Vision scowled and peered curiously at the security monitors. Officer Hopps was waving at the screen, Ms. Ferguson sheepishly smiling behind her. 

“Ah,” the android replied, “That solves that.”

Error: Discrepancy found in (2) files!
current_data_stream.dat
Carlton_baseScans.png

The Vision frowned and accessed the files. After some quick calculations, he widened his eyes.

“Oh dear.”

His new scans revealed various errors in the map they had been working with. Various rooms had not been accounted for, and the locations of both hostile elements and hostages were miscalculated. The hostages were not located in the north room, but rather in a chamber just below where Officer Hopps had met Captain Rogers and Mr. Jordan were engaging the hostiles. Then where was Lord Carlton-

As the Vision detected Ms. Ferguson’s presence on the Quinjet, the plane’s scanners detected a foreign element that had followed her. It was a small tracking device latched onto Ms. Ferguson’s leg.

The tracking device was connected to  devices were found latched onto the base of the repulsion fields.

They were walking into a trap.

“Avengers!” the Vision hollered, “Retreat! We have been-“

A shockwave of audio interference interrupted the Vision, causing him to collapse to the floor. The soldier with the broken jaw had set off a small electromagnetic device next to the android’s ear. The Vision was advanced enough to survive the otherwise deadly attack, but the pulse managed to do incalculable amounts of damage. It also disabled the use of his legs, and his ability to change his density.

“I-I-I-I have-ave-ave-ave been comprom-rom-rom-romised,” the Vision managed to say, “Everybody... run.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a previously unheard British voice hummed over the intercom, “you pesky little heroes.”

The Vision struggled to raise his head, processing the sight of the figure standing over his head. The figure was a man, dressed in a maroon suit which hugged his frame almost as tightly as his skin wrapped his bones. He had a large top hat of the same color extending from the top of his balding head. He used a thin wooden cane to support his weight as he leaned over, a thin sneer appearing over his acute chin. 

“Lord Carl-Ca-Carl-Lord-ton.”

“You really thought I would not expect your arrival here?” the man scoffed, “You sent a public advertisement all over the Dataverse, recruiting for your little group of super friends. The, what do you call yourselves? Ah, yes. The Avengers.”

Lord Carlton pressed the butt end of his cane into the Vision’s temple. The android’s perception of pain was different from that of human pain. It served the same function: to call attention to events that may cause harm to the body. But while this was a primal response for humans, the Vision usually felt pain as a conscious yet instantaneous thought.

But somehow, at this moment, he felt true pain.

“Meanwhile,” Lord Carlton continued, "that heathen Mewtwo has been searching for a rescue team for the abominations we have... well... extracted. Even a fool could predict the next events. I find it incredibly insulting to my intelligence and my men’s abilities that you thought we did not expect guests like you.”

Lord Carlton kicked the Vision in the stomach.

“Your little teleporting friend was a lovely boon, I should say. Made the trap all the easier to spring.”

The British lord slowly paced around the body of the android as the two security guards struggled to rise after the initial attack.

“You see, machine, the tracker that you noticed on her ankle is purely harmless. The explosives that detonate if the tracker comes too close - within three meters of the hostages, let’s say - are not.”

The Vision managed to rise to one knee, only for Lord Carlton to whip his cane across the Vision’s head. Vision collapsed once more, the physical trauma interrupting his calculations for but a moment.

> pwrlvl=?
2red000000000000000000000000000000
Aborted
> stabilize_program
Resetting program...

“I... find it highly illogical for yyyyyou to tell me this.”

Lord Carlton rolled his eyes. “Ah, quite. You machines love your logic. Let me explain. Your teleporting freak will inadvertently kill all of those demons that you would like to protect, as well as your teammates, I should think. Alternatively, you retreat, and call off your team, and you allow us to save the human race from these monsters.”

The man leaned against a wall. “You don’t even know it yet, machine,” he sighed, “But by doing the latter, you’re protecting more people. Do you really want these horrid things running around, doing Lord-knows-what to our women and children?”

Lord Carlton genuinely groaned. "Oh, what am I saying... you can’t understand sentiment. Hm... well, your presence here implies that you wish to protect. Is that your function, machine?”

> pwrlvl=?
33.%%%%%%
Aborted
> pwrlvl=?
4201011000111
> pwrlvl=?
0.50000000%
Aborted
> stabilize_program
Resetting program...

“Anyway, that is unimportant. You and your friends will understand at a later time, once we’ve finished our work. For now, you are not welcome here. Am I understood?"

“Y...Y..."

Lord Carlton smiled. “Yes?"

“You,” Vision struggled, “have a very weak understanding of my functions."

Program stabilized!
> pwrlvl=?
63%

Lord Carlton sighed. “Very well.” He raised a pistol to the Vision’s temple.

“Avengers,” the Vision managed to silently alert the communicators, “Be advised. Charges have been set around the hostages, which will be activated depending on Ms. Ferguson’s proximity. It is very important that Ms. Ferguson stay in the Quinjet until the charges have been deactivated.”

There was no response. Vision was running out of options. Moments before Carlton was about to pull the trigger, Vision opened his mouth.

“...I will call off the team."

Lord Carlton frowned in confusion, then gave an incredulous chuckle.

“Oh, that’s a relief. You see, I honestly do not want to hurt anyone. Every life taken is taken out of self-defense. You understand. Now.” Lord Carlton pointed the pistol again at Vision’s temple. "Give the signal.”

The Vision said over the intercom, “Captain Rogers, give the order to retreat. The code is: Simon Says.”

The android remained prone on the floor, viciously hoping that the captain understood the code. Lord Carlton seemed satisfied.

“Hold onto him, just in case,” he said, walking out of the room, "and keep that anti-electric device near him. I’ll go to see our guests out.”

[Blink]

"Ohhhh that's good," Blink was sighing as a tingle went up her spine. She was injecting herself with an antidote on the Quinjet to counteract the tranquilizer that was used to put her down earlier. As the green liquid disappeared into her side, the two chemicals mixed inside her lilac-shaded frame and gave her a euphoric feeling. She rolled her emerald eyes back as she sat on the starboard seats in the Quinjet, feeling her senses start to come back. It was a good feeling in a lame situation, and she desperately needed it.

“Avengers!” Came a voice on the cockpit radio. “Retreat! We have been-“ Blink swiftly rose, almost a bit too fast as she stumbled forward on her way towards the forward part of the plane. It was The Vision's voice. She could tell that robotic, monotone sound anywhere.

"Vision?" Another voice appeared on the line. This was a deep male voice. She assumed it was Steve 'Captain America' Rogers. "Vision, come in!"

There was a pause. Blink stood there, staring at the control panel at the Quinjet. For a moment there, Blink had a very dark thought cross through her mind. She could leave. It wouldn't be difficult. Between the Quinjet and her own teleporting abilities, they would never find her. She could run from her mistake and never look back. It didn't sound like staying was going to have a positive outcome.

“Avengers,” Vision said on the line again. “Be advised. Charges have been set around the hostages, which will be activated depending on Ms. Ferguson’s proximity. It is very important that Ms. Ferguson stay in the Quinjet until the charges have been deactivated.”

Immediately, Claire's hand came down to her thigh. She had a pain there since she had woke up earlier. She couldn't feel anything poking around, but she did run her finger over a slight bump. "Damn," she cursed. She had been injected with something. It was likely what Vision was talking about. She was a walking, talking remote control to a bomb.

Vision spoke again, this time louder. “Captain Rogers, give the order to retreat. The code is: Simon Says.”

"What the hell does Simon Says mean?" Blink wondered aloud. It kind of bothered again that she wasn't brought into the knowledge base of code words and plans. The reality was that she wasn't a very good follower and she knew that. Being treated like the grunt of the team is what got her in this situation to begin with. Now here she was, once again depending on the orders of others to know her next step.

The voice line opened again. She stared down at the console. There was talking in the background; Blink was able to figure out that Rogers, Judy Hopps and Hal Jordan were all together. "Blink, come in. What is your location?"

The teleporter reached down and pressed a button on the communication panel on the console. "I'm in the Quinjet. What does Simon Says mean?"

"It means Vision is in trouble. Officer Hopps is going to head in his direction to intercept while Jordan and I go for the hostages."

Blink nodded. Sounded like a good plan. Jordan and Rogers were the muscle, and Hopps had already proven she was particularly adept at rescue missions. "I'll meet with Judy and we can-"

"Negative. You stay on the Quinjet."

"What the fuck?" Claire cursed, her green eyes contorting angrily as she stared down at the voice-box. "Are you freakin' benching me right now? I know that I can't go near the hostages but I can still help."

There was a brief pause. Her hands shook with rage at the idea that this star-spangled prick wasn't going to let her participate. "You're not being benched," Captain America said calmly through the radio. "You're our escape plan. If anything happens to you, then it's going to make extraction much more difficult."

If Blink was in a rationally thinking mood, then she would have agreed with his sound logic. But she wasn't thinking rational, for the second time in one mission. She was beyond team spirit and following orders. "This is punishment, isn't it?" She asked, annoyed. "You're keeping me locked up here because I split earlier."

"It's not a punishment," Rogers reiterated. He didn't go into further explanation, probably because he was busy with his own part of the mission. "Just sit tight. We'll handle it."

We'll handle it. That was typical. She glanced behind her, at the empty main space of the Quinjet. Then she looked down at the free cockpit seat. She could leave. It would be so easy. They would never find her. There was a brief moment where she considered maybe she should play it safe and sit there for Captain America, waiting on his call. Then there was an even longer moment when she debated taking the Quinjet and bouncing all together. She had her own team of heroes to get together.

But in the end, Clarice 'Claire' Ferguson did the predictable Exiles thing, and said fuck it. She put an earpiece in. "Judy, I'm in route," she said aloud. She didn't get any argument from the other side of the radio...either because Cap was busy or because he was tired of trying to talk her out of it. She glanced down the runway towards the buildings leading into the bunker...and blinked out of the Quinjet.

[Moon]

The rabbit sighed, tapping her earpiece to talk to the captain. "I'm taking Claire with me. I don't think I can take on Carlton alone."

Silence for a moment. "Fine. Just keep her safe, okay?"

"Got it."

She sighed, stopping to wait for Blink. A few minutes later, it was obvious that it wasn't gonna work out. So she began trekking back toward the surface, to find Claire herself. As it turned out, that maybe wasn't a good idea, because she had no idea where the heck she was. It seemed like all there was in the halls were dull gray tile and concrete. She grumbled softly, before turning and nearly having a heart attack. She yelped, jumping back, before realizing exactly who had shocked her. It was Claire!

"Whoa, whoa, hey. Sorry," said the teleporter, chuckling at Hopps' overreaction.

"Don't worry, it's okay. Now, ya ready or what?"

Claire simply nodded. So they began discussing a plan. There was talk of teleporting inside, but that was quickly shot down by Ferguson, as she hadn't ever seen the room Vision was in. Then there was the idea of climbing through the vents, but Claire couldn't fit in the vents. So the only thing left to do?

Bust down the door.

--

"I won't-t-t talk, Lord Carlton," the red-skinned android said, staring the red-suited man down. The glitch in his speech had been toned down, but it was still present, and would be until he was repaired.

"Oh, but you will," said man shot back, smiling a devilish grin. He had won, after all. Ferguson had been disabled from the mission, and now the others were called off. Now all that was left was to capture them. They had soldiers heading toward the jet now.

--

"FREEZE! You're coming with u- huh?" There was nobody there. The jet was empty. The three present guards shared panicked glances as a silent argument broke out between them. What the hell would they do now? After a moment, one of them bit the bullet, and grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Sir. We've got a problem."

--

"They're gone?!" The man's face was twisted with rage as he heard this. The Vision simply smiled.

"Heck yeah, we're gone," said an unfamiliar voice. Two people ran into the room, and a gunshot echoed throughout the building. The Lord's gun was blasted out of his hands, to which he cursed angrily. Ferguson and Hopps stood in front of the broken door, the smaller of the two brandishing a pistol.

"You idiots. Do you really think you've won?!" the man yelled, though he couldn't keep the slight fear out of his voice.

"Absolutely," replied Blink, closing the door behind them.

[The Vision]

Vision smiled as he heard Ms. Ferguson close the door.

"Absolutely," she taunted.

That was his cue.

"You see, Lord C-Carlton," the android said, rising to his feet. His body passed through Carlton's hands, to the Englishman's great astonishment. "the team I've assembled consists of a soldier with the e-e-equivalent military capabilities of a sma-sma-small army, a member of a spacefaring intergalactic militia, a highly adv-adv-adv-advanced synthezoid, a being iiiiiinherently born with the ability to travel across entire dimensions within an instant, and..." The android turned to smile at Officer Hopps. "A rabbit who can fit in small spaces and jump tall-tall-tall-tall distances. Incidentally, handy with a pistol."

As the Vision processed the rushing of the guards just outside, he stared at the edges of the door.

> run opticalheatemission.att
Running...

A soldier kicked the door open, only for a burst of searing heat to blast him back. The other soldier was also caught in the blast as he tried to flee.

The Vision gazed at Lord Carlton thoughtfully. 

"And you... are an aristocrat wiiiiiith a walking stick."

Vision effortlessly picked up Lord Carlton by the back of his coat, using his other hand to synthesize handcuffs over the man’s wrists. 

“Do you realize that the best way to save the human race by letting those monsters die?”

The android laughed. “And do you realize that, if this were the case, you should have started with killing them?”

He dropped Lord Carlton onto his knees. “Furthermore, that you are uuuuunder arrest?”

The Vision gestured at their prisoner. “Ms. Ferguson, if you would escort Lord Carlton to the Quin-“

Pink light flashed in the security room, for a moment dominating the ambient blue light, as Lord Carlton vanished from the floor. Light purple fog swirled around a fissure that floated in the air. Ms. Ferguson raised one eyebrow and smiled in light amusement.

“-jet?” The android paused. "Ah. I see you caught my meaning.”

The Vision gingerly stepped over the moaning soldiers that he had just seared, handcuffing them as well.

“Now, shall we assist with the reconnaissance of the hostages? And, you two.”

He smiled as warmly as his completely mechanized face could.

“Thank you.”

The android started running towards his estimation of where Captain Rogers and Mr. Jordan should be.

“Captain Rogers, Simon Says is no longer in effect. Status report.”

[Marcus Wright]

From the Island with the "A" on the top, you could see some sort of human on a boat heading toward it. Maybe for Curiosity's sake or was it something else?

Either way, the cyborg had something on his mind.

He was somewhat damaged but he took a deep breath and kept his mind off everything else at the time.

[Centurion]

With a sigh of relief, Cap slowed his sprint and brought his fingers to the communicator lodged in his ear.

"Copy that, Vision. Good to hear. Jordan and I are en route to the hostages. Can you meet us there?"

"Affirmative," Vision's voice crackled over the communicator. "I'll be waiting."

"Understood, Vision. I expect a full briefing on these... 'pokemon' as soon as we're back on the Quinjet."

"Of course, Captain. Do not worry, I will ensure you are aware of the multiple aspects of this world. For now, We should consider the hostages.

"Agreed. Jordan, let's move." The pair of Avengers continued down the hall towards the hostages.

[Blink]

"Thank you."

Even though the man known The Vision looked, acted and sounded like a robot, she felt genuine emotion in his words. Blink smiled a bit, so light that you could barely tell it was there, as he turned and began to ran off. She was happy that she was able to help him come out of his predicament in one piece. Despite her opinions on some of the 'Avengers,' she was left with a positive taste in her mouth when it came to the red man in a cape.

She wasn't sure if he expected her to follow. She eyes watched as he and Judy Hopps disappeared away from her. Perhaps they thought she was shuffle on behind them, or even teleport them closer to their destination. But the truth was, she had no real intention of going with them. From the second she left the Quinjet to save The Vision, Blink was well aware of what she was going to do.

She turned to face the closest wall to her, ignoring the moaning sounds of the fallen soldiers that they left in their wake. It had been a quick confrontation: Judy with her pistol and Blink with her quick movement. The poor grunts didn't stand a chance. The pink teleporter put a hand up in front of her as she walked forward into the bulkhead, and disappeared through it as if she was phasing. She came out of the other side on top of the Quinjet, just behind the cockpit. From here, she could clearly see the island that this underground bunker was hiding beneath. She knew that somewhere, four 'allies' were fighting to save some helpless creatures from a man with too much money and power for his own good. But Blink felt like her part in the adventure was over.

This whole mission was a training exercise. It was an audition. Sure, Blink was doing her fair share of showboating...she was trying to make a good impression too. But these four fighters had no idea that she was judging them just as harshly. Hal Jordan didn't leave much of an impression on the teleporter, as she felt like he didn't contribute - or at least, she didn't witness it. Captain America was a great, proven leader but Blink felt like she could do so much better, and thus herself at odds with following him. She came out surprised by Officer Judy Hopps - she didn't go into this mission with high expectations for a pistol-spouting rabbit, but the bunny delivered when it mattered most. And The Vision...Blink found herself probably saddened most that she was leaving him behind. She had come to like the mysterious cloaked Avenger. She was sorry to disappoint him.

Yes, Blink was leaving. She hadn't decided if it was for good. But she knew that for now, she had too much in her own Omniverse life to take care of, and she wasn't completely sold on the superhero team known as The Avengers.

"Goodbye for now," she said into her earpiece, then crushed it in her left hand before she could receive an answer.

But first, she had one thing to do.

Blink teleported again. This time she appeared inside the Quinjet, walking towards the back where Lord Carlton was sitting on the floor, his hands cuffed up against a bar attached to the aft bulkhead of the vehicle, just left of the rear doors. He looked up as he approached, noticing her summoning a small pink blade in her hand with the teleportation energy that she was known for. His eyebrows raised as she stepped closer, looking all serious. "Here to kill me, then, girl?" He spat her. His words led her to believe that he didn't know her name. That was good. "Do your precious Avengers know you're here?"

"No," she told him as she stepped in front of him.

His bared his teeth at her, glaring underneath his top hat. "Listen to me, you pink freak," he growled through his accent. "You better kill me right now. You better kill me to where I never come back. Or I'll come for you, your Avengers and then I'll finish what I started with these Omni-damned pokemon!" He panted for a moment, catching his breath and waiting for Blink to do say something. She just stared at him. "Do it! Do it now you fr-!"

She punched him in the face, sending his skull back into the Quinjet's bulkhead. He collapsed sideways, into the pipe he was cuffed to, unconscious.

"You're not worth the blood," she told the racist aristocrat. With one last look at the Quinjet and a final thought for her temporary team, she began to walk towards the cockpit. In mid-stride, she teleported away.

[Moon]

"Claire?" The line was dead. The rabbit sighed, glancing to the part-reassembled team. They'd met at the location of the captured Pokemon, where Captain Rogers and Vision were working on busting them out. Judy turned to Hal, who was concentrating on his gauntlet. She opened her mouth to say something, but shut herself down the second she began, turning back toward the two leading Avengers. 

It seemed that the teleporter had abandoned the team yet again. This time, possibly permanently. She couldn't help but feel like that was a dumb decision, despite her obvious reasons to leave. The Avengers needed her. She didn't blame her, though. Claire was left to be the outlier of the group, even more so than Judy. She knew what it was like to be told to do the unimportant jobs while the others took on huge tasks. Perhaps she didn't know what she was talking about. Hell, Judy didn't know what her life was like before this.

Her train of thought traveled to the operation itself. Their mission had been successful; why had the victory felt so empty, so hollow? She supposed it was her uselessness to the plan. She'd just worked as the backup, the rescue operation. Or maybe it was the fact that everything went completely awry. It still hurt, whatever the case was.

But that was okay. It wasn't her fault at all. That was preconceptions due to her size. While she wanted to be mad, she understood in this case. She was likely the smallest mammal in this Omniverse. At least, to her knowledge. Even through that, she'd proven herself to the team as a worthy ally. So she hoped, anyway. Maybe superpowers didn't make the team after all. 

A loud chant of happiness came from the cage, startling Hopps out of her thought cycle. The Pokemon were free, and the mission was completed, despite the rough patches the group had went through. She silently congratulated herself on a job well done, smiling inwardly. It seemed the others were doing the same. A comfortable and proud silence surrounded them as they began the long trek back to the Quinjet. It was time to return to the Avengers Tower.

"Officer Hopps," said the captain as they walked. "You did well out there today, despite the circumstances. Far better than any of us expected."

Said rabbit felt herself swell a bit inside at that. "Thank you."

She wasn't a failure out there after all. Though, something struck her at the same time. Everyone still referred to her as "Officer". But this wasn't Zootopia. Her job there held no influence here in the Omniverse. Her gaze fell to her badge, which still rested on her chest as a sign of honor. She'd never need it again. She didn't take it off though. It still meant a lot to her, solidified her mantra, that anyone could be anything. On the other paw, it was about time to throw away the title.

"But actually, it's just Judy now. I guess I'm not an officer anymore. At least not here, anyway."

[Centurion]

Cap took a moment before responding to Offic- Judy. beneath his cowl, his brows were knitted with concentration. Barely a day in this new world and he had already lost grip of an Avenger. Blink's departure was far from unexpected, but it was sudden. he had hoped he would have more time to convince her that she could be of help. More than anything, Captain America blamed himself.

Blink likely would have stayed behind had he been a better leader. Vision would never have been injured were Cap more attentive and knowledgeable. He gripped his shield-straps tightly, knuckles whitening under his leather padded gloves. His first victory in this Omniverse and he felt like a failure.

A quick glance down to the rabbit beside him and her beaming demeanor lightened his heavy heart. Regardless of being down a member, this new team of heroes would have no problems overcoming the enemies before them. He had complete confidence in his team, from the Vision, to Hopps, even to Jordan, despite his infatuation with that gauntlet.

He smiled gently, if a bit sadly, at Judy and nodded. "No, you're not an officer anymore Judy. Now..." Cap refocused on the hallway ahead, his mind going back to the any heres he had called comrade back home. "Now you're one of us. Now you're an Avenger."

[James Knight]

After the hostages had been rescued,   Hal started to head back to the Quinjet.  When they were all onboard the Quinjet,  he'd ask them.  "Would any of you mind helping me to become stronger? My abilities were mostly USELESS on the mission.  Given that I need to figure out why my power has diminished so much. It's probably Omni's Fault,  but also I'm still getting used to the Gauntlet. I would have preferred a power ring over the gauntlet but there has to be a particular reason I'm wearing the Gauntlet."   Why was he wearing the Gauntlet?  It was something that eluded Hal as to the why he currently had it on himself.  One of the reasons he supposed could be because the gauntlet was the precursor to the Ring and he had likely been replaced by now back home with someone who was more talented than he was.   "Also,  I need to discover if there are any other Lanterns out there." 

[Marcus Wright]

The waves of the Vasty deep sliced along the side of the machine’s boat as he reached dry land. After stepping off the mechanical device, Marcus felt the familiar crunch of sand as he found himself staring at the building in question. He moved his hands on the device and opened the app where it had email from the dataverse.

There was no response to his letter so the half man half machine found himself waiting with his arms crossed and his fingers tapping on his shirt. If the terminator could sigh, he would do so quietly.

The man found himself walking closer and closer toward the Avengers building, which looked more impressive from far up. His false eyes studied the details of the well crafted building. He cracked half a smile. So Vision was here. The last he saw of the Vision, he was in the mines with the cyborg, Okor and Fiara.

A voice came after Marcus took the time to knock on the door of the Avenger’s mansion. “May I help you, sir?

The terminator took a few seconds to realize he was being talked to “Yes… I. was interested in joining your avenger squad… I just got a message not too long ago..

[The Vision]

The Quinjet’s propellers whirred loudly as the plane landed on the tower’s helipad. As the battered group arrived, Vision received a message from Mr. Jarvis.

> acceptcomms "EdwinJarvis"
Establishing communications…

"Hello, Mr. Jarvis.”

"Hello. I trust your mission went well?"

"Um... not quite."

The Vision wearily pressed a button on the dashboard, releasing the door. Judy, Captain Rogers and Mr. Jordan exited the plane, with the latter of the three fidgeting with the gauntlet on his arm. Then the hostages left, visibly nervous about the height of the helipad. The android himself followed them, the jet doors automatically closing behind them.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," Mr. Jarvis replied, "On a brighter note, I have a gentleman here who would like to join the team."

"Excellent," the android muttered, "we have an available slot."

"How do you mean?"

"Ms. Ferguson proved to be..." Vision paused. "Volatile."

"She's gone rogue," Captain Rogers explained. The four were now walking into the building and the four Avengers were all participating in the conversation. "She acted against the plan and jeopardized the mission. Then, once we had secured the hostages and Lord Carlton himself, she bolted."

"Ah," Mr. Jarvis said, "Perhaps we should begin assessing candidate personalities as well?"

"Perhaps," the android noted, "That would be the most logical lesson from our mistakes."

The fact that so many mistakes happened so many times truly alarmed Vision. In his homeworld, he was partially a supercomputer that could calculate preventative measures against this caliber of trivial errors; he was far from omniscience but he was not known to misjudge a situation. Yet, in the Omniverse, he felt several glitches in his software, the reason for which was unclear to him. It was not true before he volunteered for the island rescue in the Danteverse, before he met Marcus WrightWrightWrightWrightWright

Your memmmmmory ofh im betrays y ou

The Vision shook his head. He thought he heard a voice, but that was likely an unexpected error while his software reassembled itself. The electromagnetic pulse from earlier was quite traumatic.

"Anyhow, I will entrust the evaluation of this gentleman's abilities to Captain Rogers," Vision replied, watching the other Avengers enter the elevator, "I should deliver our guests to Chief Mewtwo. If you'll excuse me..."

Vision turned around and walked onto the helicarrier again. He couldn't help but notice many more of his programs were compromised, including his control over the density of his body, and hi-

I&wwqm baaaacck

There it was again. The Vision shook it off and walked into the jet. The other Pokemon were waiting for him inside, and Lord Carlton remained unconscious.

"I will take you to Cinnabar Island now," he announced.

"Woooooobbuffet!" a blue amorphous blob replied.

> translate "Wobbuffet"
Searching...
Error: "Wobbuffet" not defined

"Psy Psy!" the large duck added.

> translate "Psy Psy"
Searching...
Error: "Psy Psy" not defined

"Would one of you care to translate?" the android turned to the others.

"Frankly," the brightly colored bird, identified as Xatu, muttered, "We're not too sure what they're saying either."

"Psy Psy!" the duck repeated.

"We wanted to thank you again for rescuing us," the 'Skarmory' said, "I'm sure i speak for the others as well."

"Wooooooobbuffet!"

"Your gratitude is unnecessary, but appreciated," the android said, pressing keys and flipping switches on the dashboard, "Now. Let's get you home."

The Quinjet started whirring again, gently lifting off of the helipad and hovering towards Cinnabar Isles.

***

The Vision walked past the old laboratory, back when this area was still under human influence. His sources said that this was long ago, before the island was carried into the Omniverse. This was the laboratory in which they created the very leader of this island.

Mr. Mime waved at the android as the hostages bounced (despite their diverse appearances, they seemed to all move by bouncing) behind him.

"You must be the Vision."

"Mr. Mime. A pleasure to meet you in person."

"And you... though I suppose you're somewhere controlling this thing."

Vision smiled politely and began explaining himself. He had experienced so many misunderstandings about his identity he was nothing but patient when explaining himself. He only became irritated when the subject refused to understand or respect his state of being. Mr. Mime, fortunately, had no such problems.

"My apologies, Mr. Vision," the Pokemon bowed embarrassedly, "You see many types of creatures these days. I thought that-"

"There is no need to be worried, Mr. Mime. As I said in dialogue line 5, it is a common misunderstanding."

Mr. Mime blinked in confusion, then shrugged.

"I'm afraid we do not have suitable rewards for you-"

"Rewards are not necessary. The team and I accomplished this mission simply because it was our duty."

The Pokemon coyly smiled, "You might change your mind once you realize where you've made your base of operations."

Vision frowned. "How do you mean?"

"Technically, the island that you've dubbed 'Avengers Island'? That was a gift from the Empire to Mewtwo, one of many. Your establishment there is actually how I heard about your organization."

The Vision lowered his head. "I... was not aware of this. I will vacate the premises immediately-"

"No worries, no worries!" Mr. Mime cheerfully giggled, "I've already talked to Mewtwo. He doesn't want the island anyway - he's fairly conservative, you see - and is more than willing to let you own it as your headquarters. No strings attached. You'll be an organization independent of Cinnabar."

Mr. Mime noticed the android's confusion and added, "Basically, you've accidentally built your tower on our land, but we've decided you can have it."

The android calculated potential reasons for this action. The most probable ulterior motive was an effort to incorporate the Avengers under Cinnabar influence. And while this was not Mewtwo's modus operandi, neither was giving away islands.

"I understand that may sound suspicious," Mr. Mime added sorrowfully, "In the world we live in, we would normally be doing what you're thinking right now."

"Query: If your intention is not acquisition, what is it?"

Mr. Mime shrugged. "Mewtwo feels that there aren't enough... good people. Like you and your team. There are so many villains and psychopaths out there - even our relatively peaceful town has become wracked with terrorists. He wants to help you in any way he can, especially after you've rescued our people."

The Pokemon turned to peer at the now-freed hostages, who were bouncing and frolicking by the nearby fountain.

"The Omniverse is a rough place," Mr. Mime wistfully continued, "After all of the evil faceless corporations and tyrants that run around out there... It's refreshing to finally see some heroes."

He turned and chuckled. "Oh, look at little old me, yapping off again. I'll take care of Mr. Carlton-"

At that very moment, Lord Carlton was being escorted in handcuffs by two incredibly large and muscular grey humanoid Pokemon with three fins on the top of their head.

"That's LORD Carlton to you, Pokescum-OW! Get your hands off me, you filthy animal-"

The man continued to march, shouting and snapping at the horrible view of cute, relatively harmless animals forming a village. Mr. Mime sighed.

"Anyways, he'll be dealt with according to our system. We'll probably throw him in jail or something. Who knows. Most of the time, Mewtwo calls the shots."

"You don't have a system?"

"Half of the townspeople are terrorists, Mr. Vision," Mr. Mime sadly chuckled, "What do you think?"

The Vision nodded. "If you need any assistance, don't be afraid to call. We may not always be available until we become more established, but-"

"I'll keep you in mind." Mr. Mime winked and joined the two grey Pokemon.

The Vision smiled back and walked back to the Quinjet.

> log #mission#0001
> addTag #mission#0001 "completed"
> addTag dtb?Clarice Ferguson/Personality "volatile" "uncooperative"
> addTag dtb?Clarice Ferguson/Affiliation "Avengers?"

The android continued to input new data into his permanent database, preparing to lift off again. He thought he heard someone talking again...

...

I'll se eyou next ti m e, Vi s ion.

[James Knight]

Hal Jordan had been the Green Lantern of the Sector 2814.  Back home the Guardians had divided the galaxy into sectors and assigned one or two lanterns to each sector. In some cases more than one or two of the Lanterns had been assigned.  Yet here he was in somewhere that had no Lanterns he could readily detect and he was trying to rig his gauntlet to send a signal to any of the Lanterns who could be around. When he failed for the umpteenth time Hal smacked his hand into his face and did it hard.  Of course.  Why would things EVER be easy for him? First he'd had to 'betray' the Green Lantern Corps and now he was somewhere he didn't even know where he was.  The desert world had been one that Hal didn't know much about but had no intention of returning to at least not yet.   As Carlton... no Lord Carlton if he could even be called a Lord was taken out of the ship and delivered into the hands of the Pokemon Hal watched for a moment. If he could have made a construct to smack the guy he would have. 

"So our mission is done then Vision? This was an excellent mission for our first one together.  Just some things I'd like to point out. First we need to get someone new who can teleport to replace Claire. While she was a good member you are right,  she was FAR too volatile to be of any real use to us later down the line when we actually start taking on full fledged villains. Also there are no other Green Lanterns here or members of any other Corps that I can detect presently.  To rectify that at some future date I will need to start making a Green Lantern Corps." 

Hal paused for a moment.  When he noticed the Pokemon he smiled but his gauntlet was unable to translate the languages of the ones who didn't speak Galactic basic or english.   "Why can't my gauntlet translate your languages?" 

[Marcus Wright]

Marcus turned as a familiar mechanical voice started to talk

“Wait, Vision?! It’s you! I’m alive.. You’re alive… I.. don’t know what the hell I’m saying.”

“I’m new to the resurrection thing.”

The Vision didn’t have much to say to the terminator as he walked by and walked to the helicarrier.

It was then painful memories came to Marcus:

Vision’s first death in the mines.

Marcus had taken time to bury the android as a friend in real dirt at least before having to leave with Fiara and Okor in both wanting to avenge his death and keep surviving himself.

He presumed Skynet was still active too somewhere.

Marcus muttered under his breath “Fucking Skynet… ruining everything it touches..”

It was hard to explain, really.

“Vision.”

The cyborg answered with a serious voice “I couldn’t..save you, It’s my fault you died down there..”

The vision passed by wasn’t sure what to say.

The terminator turned his head to look over at the others as he eyed them as they came off. One was a small rabbit, one was the Vision, and one was a green suited man.

Marcus had to bend down to talk to the small rabbit. “Who… are you?”

Judy eyed Marcus, noticing he was damaged a bit “Judy.”

“You’re damaged, what happened?”

Marcus held his face and shook it “It’s nothing, part of resurrection i guess?”

Judy wouldn’t take no for an answer “He’s hurt.”
Marcus was quiet as he looked over at Hal. “Hello… who are you?”

[Moon]

Things were becoming a bit clearer now that hindsight had its chance to settle in.

Night had fallen onto the Vasty Deep, the moon casting shadows upon the Tower. The other Avengers were busy with something or other, leaving Hopps to simply stare at the ocean from the balcony. The silence was jarring, but that wasn't surprising. She used to live in a huge city, rather than a tower populated by five or so people, not counting herself. Obviously, she'd be unused to it. Even with her advanced hearing, things were quiet. It left a dull ring in her ears, and she hated it. The only benefit; the time alone had left her the opportunity to consider the members of the group she'd found herself a part of, and her opinions on them.

The leader, Vision, was clearly fit for the job. He had the intellect (being an android), he had the leadership skills, and he had enough devotion to the group to hold it together. Judy found herself taking a liking to the red-skinned robot, despite her convictions regarding the fact that he wasn't alive. All of which to be expected from the person- er, android who started this whole entire thing.

Captain Rogers was also a great leader. He had shown this during the first mission. His were solid calls, despite nobody following them to fruition. However, he was also taking the sidelines a lot during the mission, leaving herself, Claire, and Vision to do much of the work. While this wasn't exactly bad, she still felt that he could have helped further with his skills.

Hal Jordan was... honestly a bit hard to judge. He hadn't shown the group much at all since he'd come by. She supposed that was because of his current incompleteness, power-wise. He'd mentioned that he was knocked down quite a few pegs upon his entry into the Omniverse, but still, he didn't seem to do much about it. Added to this, he seemed very reserved throughout the mission, constantly keeping his attention to the gauntlet he wore. God knew what that was about.

Claire Ferguson was the wild card of the group. Supposedly a former partner of the Vision, as well. She seemed a bit too eager to show her strength. Judy saw a bit of herself in Blink. At least, her younger self from two years ago, ever-trying to show the world what she could accomplish. It was obvious that she wanted to help, but her methods were a bit unorthodox. That was okay. Had this been Zootopia, she may have done the same thing. Overall, Judy really did like Ms. Ferguson. It was a shame that she left.

As for Mr. Wright, she really couldn't say much. He seemed polite enough, but it was rather hard to see much of how he ticked. They'd only been here for around two hours, and he'd been healing from his apparent damage for most of it. There wasn't much to say than that, but she'd keep an eye open.

Through all of the flaws, every one of her teammates seemed like good people. Judy had decided long ago that she would remain a member for as long as they needed her. This retrospective only strengthened her decision. As Rogers said, she wasn't a cop anymore. She was an Avenger. And she aimed to be the best one she could be.

Taking one last glance toward the moon, she turned back toward the Tower and walked inside. 

She was home.

[James Knight]

Once they were back at the base Hal started to think about the various individuals.   Vision was an intellectual and sorta reminded him of Batman if Batman were a robot but he also reminded him a bit of Amazo although Hal wasn't sure if Vision possessed the same capabilities as that particular robot and so Hal knew he'd have to keep an eye on vision. Claire was too unpredictable and reminded him of Guy Gardner in that regard due to her natural aggressive tendencies. As he thought about that Lantern Hal hoped that Guy was alright.  Hopefully the other Lanterns could prevent themselves from being brought here by Omni or at the very least no draw his attention whatsoever.  Judy Hopps was up beat and reminded him of the Flash because of how eager to please her team mates she was.  Having someone like her as the conscience of the group was a definitely good idea but he wished she possessed the power of Superspeed.  At the very least it would have been something that reminded him of back home. 

It was around the evening hours however and Hal yawned some.  Oh right.  He hadn't rested since he had come to the Omniverse.  But since he kept getting one bomb shell after another smashed into him Hal supposed that warranted not sleeping.  Captain Rogers reminded him a bit of Superman the more he thought about it but without the need for a yellow sun to provide him the super powers he possessed and was quite handy with that shield. Both Vision and Captain America were going to make excellent leaders for the Avengers.  Eventually he knew that he'd have to seek out members somehow to make a Green Lantern Corps for the Omniverse. Approaching Judy Hopps he said to her. 

"This gauntlet is the source of my abilities. I was trying to get it to send out a signal to well ANY Lanterns that were around. It so far hasn't succeeded at doing that,  or making any of the constructs I want.  Hell it can't even fire a decent energy blast right now without taking too long. My powers were severely weakened and I need to get them back up and running as soon as I possibly can,  Miss Hopps. You remind me of someone from my home. His superhero identity was the Flash and he was the conscience of the group. You'll be an excellent one for the Avengers. Truth be told I'm not so sure I'm Avengers Material right now to be honest. With how weak I am,  I am probably a liability. "