Chapter 3: Explanations and Revelations
After S.H.I.E.L.D had taken away Graviton and was trying to fish out the Helicarrier, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D the newly formed Avengers had gone to Stark Tower. There Heatblast learned that secret identities were practically non existent in this universe as the heroes each told the alien their names, Ant Man is a scientist named Hank Pym, Wasp is Hanks assistant Janet Van Dyne (although Ben could see there was something more between the two), Hulk is a scientist named Bruce Banner who apparently was a separate personality, kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Thor was actually the Thor from Norse Mythology and that left Iron Man also known as Tony Stark, the owner of the building.
The Avengers and Fury were now in Starks office, currently awaiting the explanation from their kind-of teammate, shapshifting alien friend.
Heatblast stood infront of this dimensions resident heroes still in their costumes (accept Tony and Hank had removed their helmet and mask respectively), he wasn't sure if he should be doing this, they were all complete strangers to him, but they had all risked theirs lives for him during the fight with Graviton and also were willing to fight the military to stop his from being taken away, they deserved at least that much from him.
Nick Fury was the first to talk. " So why don't you tell us exactly who you are and what your business in on our planet."
The fiery alien sighed, might as well get it over with.
"Well first things first" he said, then raised his hand and touched the symbol on his chest. A green light erupted from the alien, blinding everyone present. When the light faded Heatblast was replaced by an eighteen year old boy, wearing blue jeans and a black shirt, he had brown hair and green eyes, on his left wrist was a strange green and black gauntlet with the same symbol on it like the other aliens. "My name is Ben Tennyson" the young hero finished.
The expressions around the room showed various levels of shock, even the cold collected Nick Fury could help but widen his good eye at the sight of the aliens true form.
"A kid" Iron Man said with a surprised look on his face. "All that power and your just a kid."
"I'm 18, tin man" the teen hero replied "And I've been doing this since I was 10 years old."
More stunned silence.
"Since you were 10." Fury repeated, not believing the teen one bit. One thing about running an international piece keeping organization is keeping tabs on any potential threats. This included every metahuman on the planet, hero and villain alike, and S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have anything remotely resembling this boy or any of the transformations he had, so that made the S.H.I.E.L.D Director suspicious of the person in front of him. He would prefer to have him in a secure location so he could be restrained and properly interrogated, but it seemed that he had the support of the other heroes.
The teen hero in question continued his story by raising his left arm revealing the gauntlet device on his wrist.
"This is the Ultimatrix, a device built by the smartest being in 5 galaxies. It allows me to transform into every sentient species in my galaxy. I got the prototype, the Omnitrix, when I was 10 and used it to become a superhero. Then a year ago I got this new version, and have been using that ever since."
"How many aliens can you turn into?" Iron Man asked, getting interested in the device.
"So far I have access to about 80. I'll be honest I've kind of lost count, but fully unlocked I have access to over a million aliens."
This comment once again left everyone in shock and also made the S.H.I.E.L.D Director worried, it seems that this kid could have more power than most of the metahumans on the planet, and from the transformations he's seen so far, that idea that he could have stronger transformations, he could have enough power to rival both the Hulk and Thor at the same time. This only made the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D more anxious to have this kid in S.H.I.E.L.D custody rather than leave him with an unstable group of superheroes (even if he was intrigued by this Avengers project). However one thing did catch his attention.
"I'm finding it hard to believe that someone like you exists as I've have never seen anything like you" Fury stated. "You also said 'your galaxy' what did you mean by that" he asked
Now it was time for the wielder of the Ultimatrix to drop his biggest bombshell. "It means that I'm not from this Universe"
That left everyone speechless so the Ultimatrix wielder continued telling them how he came to this Universe, ending at his arrival to the downed Hellicarrier.
Nick Fury, then pulled out a phone, hit a couple of keys then pushed it across the table to Ben. "Then I guess this is yours," he said.
Ben looked at the phones screen at the image presented, then his eyes widened. It was a picture of his car being loaded into a SHIELD transport.
"My car. Where did you find it?" he asked in surprise.
"A mile away from where we first encountered you." Fury replied. "My best tech agents couldn't get passed the security on it, several of them got some nasty shocks."
Not surprising, it's equipped with some of the best alien tech in my universe. Ben mentally smirked.
"Once were done here, I'll have it shipped back to you." Fury promised, Ben nodded gratefully, even though he wasn't thrilled to have those memories back.
"So you basically have nowhere to go," Ant Man stated, returning back to the original topic.
Ben nodded. The heroes all looked at each other, the only one who really new what it was like to have nothing was the Hulk, who was actually feeling a sort of kinship towards the young hero, especially if he was avoiding S.H.I.E.L.D like he was.
Before Fury could question him more, Wasp spoke up "Well don't worry. Now that you're with the Avengers you can just stay with us. " She quipped cheerfully.
This made the teens face turn dark. "I'm not with you," he said much to their surprise. "I only helped you cause I didn't know what else to do, now that the crisis is over…" he left the sentence hang.
"The crisis is far from over" Thor stated seriously.
"Yeah, there are still 74 villains out there." Iron Man added. "And it took all of us to take down Graviton."
"You would have been able to take him down without me" Ben replied modestly.
Iron Man throught for a moment "Maybe, but it would have taken a lot longer and probably half the city could have been torn down before we took him down." He then stared Ben straight in the eyes.
"Face it kid. We need you"
Ben closed his eyes and looked away for a moment. "I'm sorry. But I cant be a hero again."
"I don't get it" Wasp looked confused. "Why don't you want to be apart of the team or even a hero?"
"Because I just cant. I can't be a hero again."
Almost everyone present looked confused at this statement, Thor however thanks to his centuries worth of experience, saw something in the young mans eyes, pain. The Asgardian had seen that haunted look many times in the battles he had fought before, what had this boy seen that could have given him this feeling.
Ben continued, "A week ago, one of my enemies attacked my home. Short version, my Parents, Aunt and Uncle, Grandfather, Cousin, Best Friend and Girlfriend, all of them dead." He stopped for a moment as he chocked back some tears. "Everyone I ever loved is dead, and its all because of this stupid thing on my wrist."
The heroes all looked at Ben with sympathy, some of them had seen death before, but none of them, except Thor, had suffered the loss of a family member. That's the kind of pain no one should suffer, especially someone as young as Ben.
"So I'm sorry but I cant join this team."
"Then I suggest you come with me," Nick Fury said, as he got up from his seat and walked up to the teen. "We can't risk a device like yours fall into the wrong hands. So until further notice I'm gonna place you in SHIELD custody and…"
"And then what" Ant Man interrupted, "Your gonna make him into one of your stone cold agents, or maybe you will just take the device from him"
Ben moved his hand over the Ultimatrix while glaring at the S.H.I.E.L.D
Director, no way was he letting them get their hand on it let alone him.
Nick Fury stared hard at the other heroes "The power he has, must be kept safe, if your not with the team then your gonna come with me."
The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D advanced towards Ben, The teen prepared himself to activate the Ultimatrix in order to fight him off, he had enough experience to know that if he wouldn't come willingly, Fury would try to take him by force. Before the wielder of the Ultimatrix could activate the device, a large green figure stood infront of the teen, towering over the S.H.I.E.L.D Director. Fury looked up to see the Hulk glaring down at him.
"Not gonna happen," he snarled at Fury. Nick Fury then began to reach for his gun, but then Thor stood beside the Hulk, Mjolnir griped firmly in his hand.
"T'would be wise to listen to the Beast" Thor added, giving Fury his own glare.
Soon the other heroes stood infront of Ben, all glaring at Fury to back off.
"Their right" Iron Man said, "Bens with us. You're not taking him anywhere"
"He just lost his family" Wasp added rather furiously "He's got to have time to heal, and your just gonna ship him of to a facility like a dog. No Way!"
Ben couldn't believe this, these were people head only just meet and yet they were all standing up for him like they had known each other for years.
Fury held his position for a moment; the Avengers kept glaring at the Director, Hulk almost daring him to give him a reason to smash him. He then decided that fighting a group of superheroes wound be bad for his health so he put his gun away.
"I'll give you 24 hours for you to decide what you're going to do" he said to Ben, "after that…" he let the threat hang.
He then turned around and left the room. The heroes then relaxed and faced each other. This was going to be a long 24 hours.
Later at night most of the heroes had gone to their homes and Tony Stark had given Ben, along with Hulk and Thor, a guest room in Stark Tower in order to give Ben the space he needs to come to his decision, in their minds it was completely unfair on the teen, but it was the hand he had been dealt, next time Fury comes he will bring an army to take Ben and quite possible the other heroes if they protect him which is the likely out come.
Ben new that he couldn't let the others be brought in with him, like Tony said, the world needed them, with 74 supervillain loose the world needed a team like the Avengers.
Ben sat in his assigned room, he couldn't sleep as the nightmares he had been having along with the situation before him caused sleep to allude him. The teen had be told by J.A.R.V.I.S, Tony's personal A.I butler, that S.H.I.E.L.D had dropped off his car in the towers garage, which Ben wasn't to thrilled about. Maybe he could use one of his aliens to get out of the city. No Fury probably has the entire tower under surveillance, as Tony described it, "He's a spy Ben. He's the spy. His secrets have secrets." This meant that any escape attempt would be difficult.
Another reason he could leave yet was because of his car, while to Ben it was full of painful memories that he would eventually destroy, but to a group like S.H.I.E.L.D it was a mass of alien tech practically gift wrapped for them to make weapons out of, and could not let them have it, any one of those items could provide anyone with extreme amounts of power should they get their hands on them. He had to destroy them for his sake and for this worlds.
He left his room and walked down the corridor towards the elevator, he might as well get this over with.
As he walked Ben noticed a light on in one of the rooms to the side. He peeked into the room only to see Thor sitting on a couch, that was present in the room. The Asgardian noticed Ben through the corner of his eye and looked at the teen.
"Greetings young Ben" Thor smiled, "What troubles you?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"I don't sleep well anymore" Ben replied, "When ever I sleep I have these nightmares and I see my family dead right before me" he bowed his head as the Thor watched his with sympathy.
"I understand the feeling" Thor said, this caused the Ben to look at him in surprise. The Prince of Thunder continued, "In the many sieges of Asgard, I have fought countless battles, and have also lost many friends whom I have considered family. I even lost my own mother in an attack." He paused for the moment as the memories came back to him.
"How did that not tear you apart?" Ben asked his pain starting to surface in his voice. "How did the knowledge that with all of your power you still couldn't protect the people you love?" Ben closed his eyes, tears starting to fall from them. "Its just not fair."
Thor then leaned forward and stared contently at his young friend. "I rejoice in knowing that they had lived a glorious life and are now resting in the great halls of Valhalla, for they would not want us to morn their lives, but to celebrate them. Treasure the memories you have of them to keep them close to thy heart."
Ben blinked back a few tears as he listened to Thor's words. He then got up and walked away from the Prince of Thunder.
"Where is thou going?" Thor asked.
"There's something I need to do" came Ben's response. The only way he was going to see if Thor's words rang with any truth, then there was only one way to find out.
Ben walked into the elevator and hit the garage button. In a couple of seconds there came a ding and the doors opened, revealing the vast cave system that was the Stark Industries Parking lot. Ben noticed an abundance of sports cars were parked in there, obviously Tony's as the man did give of the vibe of the eccentric billionaire.
After a while Ben finally found what he was looking for. He looked upon the green and black paint scheme of his car, the very thing he was going to destroy. Ben went around back and placed his Ultimatrix close to the car, the dial blinked and the car responded with a beep, signaling that the security systems were deactivating. Ben proceeded to open the trunk, revealing the souvenirs and memories that gave him so much pain. For a moment they still did, when he looked at them he saw the dead bodies of his loved ones again and thought about how helpless he was to save them.
But then Thor's words echoed in his head 'Treasure the memories you have of them'. Suddenly Ben's mind filled with all the adventures he had shared with his family, each item he saw reminded him of the adventures he took in order to acquire them, the friends he'd made, the people he saved. He realized that the Asgardian was right, these memories were not meant to remind him of the pain and suffering he'd endured, but the good times and days were he stood up for what's right and defended the innocent. To destroy these treasures would be like killing them all over again.
Ben picked up his jacked, it was a birthday present that Gwen had given him when he was 15, he'd always worn that jacket every time it was 'Hero Time' and had become a signature trait of his.
Hero Time.
Ben was still unsure about being a hero again, the fear of failing again and losing someone else he cared about filled him with fear. But then if he hadn't acted the way he did today, it was quit possible that many people could have died. Wasp might have been to late to save Hank, Tony could have been lost in space, Hulk could have been crushed by Gravitons power (thought that could be debatable), and without Gravattack the heroes might have never been able to break free of Gravitons force.
In a way Tony was right, without him Graviton would have caused much more damage before the other could have taken him down. And with 74 other villains out there, they needed all hands on deck.
Ben gazed at his jacket once again, eyeing the white 10 on the left side, as he came to his decision.
The mourning came with tension in the air, Ben hadn't come out of his room and the heroes along with Nick Fury, sat in Tony's office awaiting the Wielder of the Ultimatrix and his decision.
Before the S.H.I.E.L.D agents arrived Thor had told the others about his discussion with Ben last night.
"…Then he stood, and walked out of the room, announcing that he there was 'something he needed to do" Thor finished explaining.
Tony, now wearing civilian clothes, checked a hologram in front of him. "Security footage shows Ben heading to the garage last night."
"You don't think he left do you" Janet asked clearly worried for the teen.
"No, there are no signs that his, or any car left the garage." Stark replied.
"And knowing S.H.I.E.L.D they would have been watching all night to make sure he didn't sneak out with his aliens" Hulk finished. He had plenty of experience with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Hulk Buster Unit tactics, while being hunted by them.
The others looked at him for a while, some of them still surprised that the Hulk isn't the mindless monster the were all told he was, then looked at each other, contemplating on what decision Ben will make. While only knowing the teen for a short time, they all saw the kind and noble person he is and how much pain he is in. If Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D tried to take him by force, then they would stand by him. He fought with them and saved each of their lives at one point during the fight, whether he wanted to be a hero or not, would always consider him an Avenger.
Back in present time, the group waited in awkward silence while they waited for Ben. A couple of more moments past before Tony tried to break the ice.
"So Fury, ever considered putting airbags on the Helicarrier? It might make it easier to prevent it sinking all the time."
This earned a sinker from Wasp and Hulk, while Fury only glared ahead.
Tony was about to try to really get under Fury's skin, when a door opened and Ben walked in. this time the teen was wearing a green jacket, with a white number 10 on the upper left side of the chest.
The Wielder of the Ultimatrix took a breath, and then gave a small grin. "Is that team offer still open?" he asked Tony.
The billionaire grinned but, before he could answer, Hank walked forward.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked the young hero. "After everything that has happened to you?" he wasn't trying to dissuade the boy, he just wanted him to be sure about what he was doing, he especially when SHIELD was involved, he would not let them make a weapon out of this boy if he could do anything about it.
Ben sighed as a sad expression crossed his face, "Im gonna be honest. Part of me will never get over what happened, I mean how could anyone get over losing everyone you ever cared about." Everyone looked down for a moment, even Fury's expression softened slightly.
Then Ben looked back up, his grin slowly returning. "But my Parents and Grandpa always taught me to do the right thing and help those to the best of my abilities." He straightened up and gave a sense of determination. "So if I turn my back while all those villains are out there, I'd be forsaking everything they stood for. Plus from the way Graviton was throwing you around yesterday, it looks like you need all the help you can get." He joked.
The heroes all smiled, Hulk scowled, at the young heroes spirit. Thor especially was proud of the fire the teen possessed; any warrior on Asgard would be honored to fight beside such a noble hero like him.
The heroes all gathered around the teen, shaking his hand and even clapping him on the back, Hulk did the later, which almost sent Ben out the window. Wasp gave Ben a hung of enthusiasm, making the teen blush.
"Alright!" she squealed in excitement. "With you on the team the Avengers will be unstoppable."
Ben couldn't help but smile, Janet's enthusiasm was just so addicting.
However a cough caught the now fully established Avengers. The heroes turned to Fury, who kept a calm demeanor throughout the entire scene, he got up from his chair and walked up to Ben until he was right infront of the teen.
"I'm not gonna lie" he said calmly "Having someone like you running around with a bunch of unstable vigilantes raises a lot of red flags in my book." He held eye contact for a moment, looking right into Ben's eyes as if looking for something. If he was it seemed like he found it, as his expression lightened up.
"But from what I've seen so far, you seam to be on our side."
This shocked everyone, Fury continued. "You've got the right stuff kid, and if you've been doing this as long as you say you have, then you might be able make this work." He then looked to the other heroes. "This team might just be what the world needs, Earths mightiest heroes assembled against a common threat."
With that he began to walk passed the heroes, even though he looked like some grand opportunity just slipped through his fingers. When Fury reached the door, he turned back to Ben.
"While I will give you a pass today Tennyson, don't think your off scot free. Until your little alternate universe story checks out I got my eye on you."
Shouldn't be hard. Ben thought, he's only got the one.
He then closed the door, leaving the Avengers alone.
"I gotta admit." Tony said. "I'm a little surprised Fury let you join us."
Thor nodded in agreement "Indeed, I thought that he would attempt to further persuade young Ben to join him."
"Don't forget that Fury will still be watching Ben, we'll have to be carful so SHIELD wont think that Ben will be a threat." Hank added. Hulk only grunted in agreement.
"Don't worry." Wasp said. "I'm sure if SHIELD tried anything Ben could just turn into one of his aliens and beat those guys up." She then turns to the Ultimatrix Hero. "Can you show me all your aliens? Please Please Please" she begged with big puppy dog eyes.
Ben was starting to realize that it is going to be really hard to say no to her.
"Maybe later Janet" he said, as she looked like she was going to burst with excitement at any moment.
"So, I guess we're officially a team now?" Ben asked. Tony nodded with a smile as the realization soon dawned on everyone else. "Sweet, does that mean we get T-shirts with our logo on it or a huge secret club house and our own personal signal in the sky for people to call us when needed?"
The older heroes all chuckled at Ben humor, they could tell that Ben was far from being over his family's death, but they could all see that he was willing to fight on.
"Take it easy Ben" Tony said with his hands up to calm him down "I've actually got a few things in mind. But it will take a while."
Ben then thought for a moment, and then brightened up. "Hey how about a battle cry. Something for us to say when its time to go hero." the others looked at him in confusion, only Wasp seemed enthused by the idea.
Ben then placed his finger on his chin "Hmm, Hero's Unit. Nah. Avengers Together. No that wont do." The said. The team chuckled at the young heroes immaturity, when suddenly Ben thought about what Fury said about them.
"I got it!" he yelled, and then took a heroic pose, raising his Ultimatrix to the roof "Avengers Assemble!"
The team then pondered for a moment.
"That's actually of a nice ring to it" Tony stated.
"I agree," said Thor "Tis a mighty phrase to announce."
"Well we are Earths Mightiest Heroes" Wasp added. Hank, while unsure, nodded in agreement
"Sounds good to me" Hulk said gruffly, like he couldn't care less, but Ben could see a small smile on the Jolly Green Giant.
"I guess we should make it official," Tony said raising his own fist alongside Ben, followed by Wasp, then Hank, after receiving a look from Janet, Thor joined his fist as well. The group then looked at Hulk, who looked like he didn't want any part in it, but then shrugged and raised his massive fist.
And on that day the Avengers were born.
"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE"
So Ben is now part of the team, I know this might seem a little rush and some of you are wondering, "Oh, Ben joined to soon he need time to heal."
Well you may be right. But think about this, he has the most powerful device in the universe (Second in the Marvel Universe, arguably third but who cares) and what dose SHIELD do with powerful devices? Lock them away and study them. So in that sense Ben was between a Rock and a Hard Place, and I had to have him join the Avengers cause that the whole point of this story.
Yes Ben has his car and souvenirs in this Universe, trust me when I say they will be featured in this story, I have also added some nick nacks to the collection cause I thought they were to cool for ben not to have.
Ben coming up with the team catchphrase, well I thought that would better cement his place in the team thats all.
Finally the debate on who will be Ben's love interest. To be honest people I did originally have a person all figured out for Ben, even made a start on the chapter when they first meet. However I now realise that there are two others who would also be compatible with Ben. So I shall put up a poll for these three ladies and then we will see who Ben's Love interest will be.
Marvel
2.X-23
, from Agents of SHIELD (If you have seem the show and know her real name please don't spoil it for everyone who hasn't seen the show)
The poll will be up in a day or so and will be taken down in three weeks.
As always if theres any advice you wish to give me, Story, Grammar etc, I will gladly accept any help I can get, I still consider my self a Rookie in this, even though I'm a Captain.
Until next time, CaptainRex75 out.