บท 89: CHAPTER 89 - THE INVITATION
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[Vision POV]
"So what's the reason for all this?" Steve asked after we all got seated in the conference room of the Overwatch, facing a number of floating pictures with highlighted information next to them.
Tony and Steve were already back, along with a retrieved and rewounded Bucky. The other super soldiers were a lost cause due to how scrambled up their minds were so they had to be killed off.
Their original personalities were long gone and while I could create new ones for them with Mind Stone, that was a can of worms I had no interest in opening.
"Possible recruits for the Avengers."
"That one is a high school kid, Vision." Even without looking, I knew who exactly had been pointed out.
"Well his track record will say otherwise. Not to mention that the only people present in this room who can beat that kid are me, Banner, Wanda and Pietro. So I'd say he's much less a kid and more of a teenage powerhouse." I added.
The others looked surprised but said nothing else and just continued looking through the files.
"It says here that this guy is blind… and also a lawyer. I'd put in a 'see no evil' joke had we been discussing something else." Tony said, not even bothering to cover up his amusement.
"I think I'm going to like this guy. A black man with super strength plus being impervious to bullets and all external factors, what's there not to like?" Sam added his two cents.
The files they were currently going through contained a brief rundown of the individual's basic info and then a summary of their 'special' trait and vigilante activities.
The people I picked up weren't much, only consisting of a few people from a rather extensive list that I had initially compiled.
"Uhm, Vision? I'm not so sure about this guy?" The person who voiced his concern was Banner and the person he was pointing at was none other than Frank Castle.
'Must be because he hasn't met the guy because there's no way you can hate Frank Castle.'
This version of Frank Castle was already done with his whole vendetta scheme and was currently working as mercenary. Normally I wouldn't have added someone like him due to him being only a human but I think I can change that in the future.
"Sure, he's a little rough around the edges but I think he'll be a great addition. That's if he agrees in the first place." I then gave a brief rundown of his backstory to them and let them form their own opinions of him.
"This is good and all, Vision, but why are you this? And why now?" Stark asked.
"The goal is to have the Avengers serve as a hub between all superheroes in the country, possibly even the world. It'll create a seamless flow of information and also with the technology present in our hands, crime will reduce at an increasingly diminishing pace.
"That's dangerous waters you're treading into, you know. Centralized power is never a good thing, more so in a group like ours. The responsibility that comes with it isn't something we can easily shoulder in the event of a fallout." He gave his concerns, valid ones, and it seems that this is also a major concern for a lot of them gathered here.
I shook my head at his insinuation because what I was planning is completely different.
"It won't be a centralized power structure because though they'll be affiliated with the Avengers, we'll have no say in what they want to do. Just as we are each accountable for our actions as well as the actions of our teammates, so also is the same with them. Basically what I'm trying to do is extend a hand to them and if they accept, then obviously they will have to follow a few ground rules."
This was also the reason why I omitted people like Deadpool and even Moon Knight. The former for his penchant for giving the middle finger to rules of any kind and the latter because he is still in hibernation.
"I-I am not one of those guys who try to be pessimistic at every turn but I know when something will blow up bad, and t-this is one of it."
Everyone turned silent at Bruce's words until Steve broke it with a question he directed at me.
"What is the end aim of all this, Vision?"
"Change. Revolutionary change. Rather than the present diversity, I want a community of heroes working together with the same future goal in mind. This is just a start, of that I can assure you."
°°°°°°°°°
"I would have picked anyone else rather than recruiting Peter Parker."
I was currently on a roof, looking over a section of the city where a bank was being robbed only for the webbed hero to swing in and stop it. All in all, it ended up with seven web cocoons webbed to the ceiling.
He was about to swing away but he suddenly spooked and turned in my direction.
'I guess the spider sense can also pick up projected malice, at least above a certain threshold.'
"It's you!" He shouted in surprise after the haze spell over his eyes cleared and he finally recognized me.
"Who are you?" Gone was the cherry tone of his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man persona and replacing it was a sharp edge I never knew was there.
"It'll probably help if you stop showing such blatant hostility. I came here to extend a hand of association and goodwill of sorts."
He scoffed atop the ledge he perched on, his eyes fully focusing on my every movement. "Yeah, sorry pal. But I'm not buying whatever it is that you're selling."
"Not even if it's an Avenger invitation." His phone suddenly vibrated and his eyes widened as he saw the newly downloaded app on his phone that bore the Avengers icon.
"Obviously it does more than listen to the police scanners for your 'extra-curricular' activities and in case you accept, there will be a prompt that'll direct you to the Avengers Compound Upstate New York."
He called out to me as soon as I started flying away.
"You are an Avenger?!"
"Sticks and stones, young padawan. Sticks and stones."
"That's not even Yoda!"
'Boom me up.'
[Order affirmed]
°°°°°°°°°
After leaving Peter, the next place I headed was a house I was quite familiar with, unintentionally.
"Vision, so nice of you to visit us. Come in." Janet opened the door with a wide smile on her face and directed me inside her home. "So what brings you here? I doubt you'll ever come for a spring visit."
"I'm a little irked that you're right, moreso since this is not a social visit."
"Hahaha, as stiff as ever. Well Hank and Hope are inside so."
It looked like I intruded on some quality family time as they were all bundled up watching movies, plus Hank's face and his visible irritation said it all.
"Finally got your arrest permit?" He asked sarcastically but I ignored him and sat on a chair before I opened up the conversation with something I knew would get all their attention.
"I figured out intraplanetary spatial traveling via quantum tunneling."
The entire room fell silent and I could feel their brains switching off from its leisurely waves to spinning faster than a tachyonic ring as they digested what exactly it was that I meant.
The first to speak was Hank and his outburst wasn't something I quite expected.
"You fucking bastard! I knew nothing would come from anything related to that damned Stark!" I could feel it was exasperation mixed with frustration and anger. "What do you think will happen when they get their hands on something like this?! It'll be another retelling of Iraq!"
Oh that. No wonder his frustration was higher. "Rest assured, the only person on the team who can figure it out is Stark and even he won't do something as stupid as that. But that's not the reason why I came here."
He finally calmed down and we moved to a more spacious room while Hope served tea, without the help of ants this time.
"So why are you here? And I guess it's related to what you first said, which is obvious given that you not only stole my research but also the technology of my Ant-Man suit." He grumbled the last part as he sipped his tea, earning wry smiles from everyone.
"You can take the 'theft' as payment for bringing your wife back home in record time." I said earning myself a stink eye which relented in intensity after a look at his wife. "I came here to extend an invitation to the Avengers Initiative."
He frowned at that but didn't trigger another outburst. "Under whose direction? You? Stark? Or somebody else?"
"Under mine." I answered, surprising him.
"You are quite the big shot, eh?"
"It comes easily when you're trustworthy."
He chuckled and nodded, and then Janet asked. "You said an invitation. For who? Us, or the Ant-Man?"
Hope's attention was pricked and I knew she wanted to hear and that was exactly what I gave them.
"The Avengers, in agreement to the suggestion of member, Vision, hereby extends a formal invitation to Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne to its initiative, and also a mutual invitation to Ant-Man and the Wasp to its gathering of heroes."
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