as so it begins (avengers)

[hood]

It was middle of the day. teh hood walked to the avengers mansion. It was time to go to work. if he pulled this of he and his gang would have a name for them self's like no others. He started to walk on air, over the gates. no one looked at him his clock made him invisible. he moved towards the door walking threw he moved from hall to hall. once he done this it would show that he was better than the kingpin he knew how to play war.

At the same time captain America phone went of. the hood had planned this for the last three mouths. the number was the cell of one of his old war buddies. he was in town for a few days and he hopping that they could catch up.

The hoods spy had told him that captain America was in his room at the moment. the hood waited for him to get the call listening at the door. he was so glad he had mastered the clock and no longer had to hold his breath. He hoped that he would take the bait and meet the man. He was going to go old school with this. he almost felt sorry for the man he had paid to get the job done.

[wonderman]

Steve was getting out of his shower when his cell phone rang, which seemed to happen at times like this. "I hope that's not Janet, trying to set me up with another one of her friends. Cupid, the girl's not." He said, with a slight smile, as he grabbed a towel off the door, wrapped it around his waist, and walked into his room. He walked over to his nightstand, picked up the phone, and looked at the number. As the Hood had planned, the number did in fact belong to a man who Steve served with back during the war, so he answered it without a second thought. After talking with the impostor, Steve thought something seemed off, as though the man wasn't himself, and worried about his friend, he got dressed in his civvies, ignored his instinct to bring his uniform or shield, before making his way out of the room, flinging the door open, and down to the garage where his Indian was kept.

Steve valued his friends above almost everything else in his life, so he wasn't going to just stand by while one was in trouble. He hopped onto the bike, started it up, and drove for the Jersey turn pike, heading to the rest home where his friend was supposable staying, but when he arrived, he learned that his friend had passed days ago. Enraged by the deception, he contacted Sharon Carter, had the number traced, and headed back to New York, where two hours later, he found the man who made the call, and after "talking" to him, convinced him to tell him who put him up to it. "The Hood? That Dr. Strange wannabe? Why would he...?" The light bulb suddenly went off in his head, that Hood wanted him away from the Mansion, and he needed to get back, fast.

[hood]

As captain America opened the door the hood slipped in and once the door was closed. he smiled as he saw the shield at was to good to be true. his eyes glowed red. he looked around the place seeing no traps or hiden area's. he walked just above the ground. he lifted the weapon a symbol of free to whole world. he placed it on his back and placed a note in its place.

It read "Thank you!" he knew that this would anger the American hero no end. he climbed out the window vanishing and walking away with the prize. he floated up in to the air. he knew that this would be fun and blow to all heroes.

Out side the reterment center a group of thugs waited for cap none of them had powers but they was not important. it was clear they were ready for cap and all they were meant to do was slow him down. the been told that they had been granted powers but that was a lie to make them foolishly brave.

[wonderman]

Steve drove as fast as the Indian would go, swerving skillfully around cars and pedestrians alike, wanting to get to Avengers Mansion as soon as possible. He pulled up to the front gate, where five men were waiting for him. The men were big, around the same or similar size as Steve, and had twisted smiles on their faces. Steve had been around long enough to know that these guys weren't there for an adugraph signing. "Hey looks whose here, Capn' America himself. Let's get him, bozy!" Without saying a word, Steve leapt off the bike, flipped over the men, and landed on his feet, behind them. He didn't have time or the patience to talk this out or play around with these men, so he simply turned around and slammed his fists into their jaws, knocking them all out and leaving them lying on the ground. In a hurry, He leapt over the wall, instead of entering his pass code onto the gates touch pad. He then ran inside, nearly knocking down Security Chief O'Brien and Jarvis, as he ran to search the mansion, yelling back to the two men. "Call Tony and have the mansion locked down! No one else gets in or out!" Neither man argued, doing exactly as Steve asked. A few minutes later, Steve was upstairs, searching the rooms, when he came to his, and found the note. It was finally clear what had happened and why. The Hood was out to send a message to all of the heroes, and it was received. Angrily, he crumbled the note in his hand, and walked out to the banister, where O'Brien and Jarvis were looking up at him from the first floor. "Sorry Cap, but I'm afraid we weren't able to get a hold of Tony, or anyone one else." O'Brien said, as Steve walked down the stairs, making his way to the War Room, where he began to call every Avenger, full-time and reserve. "Attention all Avengers! Report to the mansion immediately, this is a priority A-1 alert!"

[hood]

The hood was across the street now on top of one of the buildings. he watched and smiled. Everything had gone as planned phase one was complete. he pulled out a cell and called stark industry's.

"i have a message For Mr Stark. Your next." he closed the cell and dropped it on the floor and headed away from the building, he did not care if the men he payed to let him past the defenses got out OK or were found out he had what he wanted and well the next move was going to be interesting. he would let them start to plan what they were going to do, before he made his next move. he walked away over the roof of the building and in to the distance.

<<<<EXIT THREAD>>>>><<<<<Will open it to avengers now>>>>>

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"A jamming device."[/font][/color] Tony said dryly, his armor's speakers synthesizing his voice and making the comment sound somehow even drier and more sarcastic. "How quaint. You realize I just need to break it?" [/font][/color]

The hulking mutant stepped up between Iron Man and the device, which his two friends were working, constantly trying to shift the device to stop the onslaught of counterjamming Tony's suit was already outputting.

"Not if you don't get the chance, Iron-Pants!" the man roared, and came straight for the armored hero, swinging a massive fist - which hit only air. Iron Man was to his side now, and his gauntlet locked down around the mutant's fist, then threw him easily through the air, where he smashed into the ground some distance away, his impressive weight cracking the sidewalk and digging a small furrow in the concrete. Tony sighed, keeping the speakers off while he did, then turned his armor's glowing eyes to the two by the jammer.

"I meant what I said. Turn yourselves in. I know the headmaster of the Xavier Institute personally, I can make sure you have the opportunity to-" [/font][/color]

"We don't want your opportunity, you bastard!" the roar came from behind him, and Tony spun to face the man, who was now even larger, as he rushed towards him. Before he could do anything about it, though, a sledgehammer hit him from behind, the force blast obviously created by the third kid. Oh. So that's what he does. The blast was only enough to knock him forward a step in his armor, but it threw him off enough that the huge one was able to wrap his hand around him, lift him, and slam him through the concrete, busting a water main, which gushed up into the air.

"Got you now, Shellhead!" the man roared, triumphant, but this time, Tony's sigh WAS audible.

"You'd think, wouldn't you? You forget... I've fought far stronger than you."[/font][/color] There was a glow from behind the curtain of water, and a sudden beam of light shot out, slammed the man in the chest, and sent him flying up into the air, gasping for breath. Iron Man shot out after him only a second later, and grabbed him by the shirt, then spun him around and threw him back to earth, straight back towards the hole he'd just been in - though he added a double repulsor blast for good measure. The man let out a strangled scream as he was punched several feet into the concrete, then went limp, knocked solidly unconscious.

Tony floated back down and landed near the other two, but just looked at the one with the kinetic ability, apparently unaffected - to the kid's shock - when he tried again. "I adjusted my armor's repulsors to counter your push. They can push harder."[/font][/color] As a demonstration, there was a light glow, and an invisible force shoved the kid back a step, where he fell down, and Tony held his hand out to the jamming device, blasting it apart with a last blast from his repulsor. As he did, though, the kid who'd been using it leapt on his arm, and Tony felt the sudden intrusion of technopathic ability into his armor's systems. He narrowed his eyes, and to the kid's shock, fought back with far more ability, shoving him out on his mental behind, then he grabbed him by the collar and held him out at length, shaking his head.

"That one's a no-no. I'm technopathic too, if you didn't know. My offer stands. You'd all do much better at the institute. And I don't like fighting children. Even large ones."[/font][/color] He set the kid down, motioning with a thumb to the still-unconscious giant, who'd shrank back down to size considerably. The two who remained looked at one another, and finally nodded, just as sirens started to close in. "Good. I'll contact -"[/font][/color] It was then the A-1 alert finally got through, with the jamming system now eliminated, and Tony's eyes widened behind his visor. Dammit... stupid kid convincing these two to try and fight the power and who knows what I missed.

"You two stay here. I have to go. The police have been contacted - and in case you think of trying anything else, so has SHIELD. You'll be taken to the Institute when I hear from Magneto." [/font][/color]

With that, he lifted off again, and the turbines in his boots whined briefly before kicking on, and sending him blasting up into the sky towards the Mansion.

---------------------------------

On the way back, he accessed the Mansion's security records, so he was well appraised of the situation by the time he shot in from the sky, braking with thrust from his boots, and he hit the ground just inside the doorway, nodding to the butler as he moved, removing his faceplate. "Jarvis. Cap's in the situation room?"

"Yes, sir. We tried to contact you, but-"

"Rookie kid with a jamming device. Should have taken it more seriously. Thanks, Jarvis." Moments later he walked into the Situation Room, and set his armored hand on Steve's shoulder. "You alright?"

[wonderman]

Steve sighed, as he heard the unmistakable sound of the Ironman armor's boot jets approching the mansion, a sound he would reconize anywhere. He was glad the the team's Chairman was there, but wished that the others would hurry as well, since what he was going to tell them effected the entire team. "No Tony, I'm not. We have just been made to look like amutures, by some Dr. Strange wannabe, who managed to somehow by pass all of our security measures, sneak into the mansion, and even steal my shield." He didn't look at Tony, but kept his eyes on the computer screen, trying to contact more members of the team, but not having alot of success. The computer screened showed the name of every Avenger, past and present, as well as their activity status. "After this mission, we will need to bring in more members, or convince some of the reserve menbers to become active." He had been unable to locate the Fantastic Four or Wonder Man, all former heroes that left the team under less than good terms, something Steve was trying to fix. The number of Active Members hasn't been this low in years. Though I hate to say it, I don't think this would have happened if Tony had been here in person. Well, it's too late for me to feel sorry for myself now, espically since he's here now.

After looking at the screen for another moment, Steve turned around, crossed his arms over his chest, and faced his long-time friend. Though he tried to hide it, he figured that Tony could see the rage in his eyes and on his face, a rage that he intended to unleash upon the Hood, once he finally got his hands on him. He would check in with Sage later, to find out everything he could about the Hood, his powers, weaknesses, and most importantly, where he was.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"Unfortunately, any kind of Doctor Strange type is hard to keep out of somewhere. Detecting magic with tech sensors is a crapshoot under the best of circumstances, and the data on that cloak he wears doesn't say anything good from what I can see. What I don't understand is how he made it through the armored doors, or how he was able to remove the shield from its stand. I know the systems built into this place, and invisible or not there is no way he should have been able to make it into your room and take that shield if the security system was properly engaged." He let out a sigh and set the golden faceplate of his armor down on one of the computer consoles, and called up pages of information on the Hood - what there was, anyway - on the main screens.

"Word over the airwaves is he's taking over for the Kingpin. And if that's true, it means we already have information on virtually all of the people he'd have working for him. Since we don't know where to find him, I suggest we go after these people." Another page came up, this one a collage of all the known associates of either the Kingpin or the Hood, and Tony smiled slightly as a few of the images lit up green.

"I can get locations on several of them easily enough. Let Hood think he's won for a time. Because in a few hours, you and I can go out and start dismantling his organization. We'll see how many people want to follow him when the Avengers he's telling everyone are so impotent start kicking his people in the teeth. Show him just what kind of sleeping tiger he's awoken, right?" He grinned, looking back to the door.

"Wonder where Valkyrie is... this sort of operation is exactly the sort of thing she'll enjoy. Maybe a bit too much... but that could be a good thing, after all. He's trying to smear our name... so we can strike a bit of fear in his people in retaliation. And what's better for inspiring fear than a pissed-off Asgardian Valkyrie?"

[wonderman]

Like Tony, Steve Rogers didn't like magic or many of it's practitioners, due mainly to the betrayal of Dr. Druid, some years back. Sure, they were on good terms with Dr. Strange, and he trusted Wanda Maximoff with his life, but even they had said that magic wasn't an exact science, and could be unpredictable. Still, this didn't change the fact that unless they struck back, and hard, the Hood would rally more villains to his side than even Dr. Doom had. "Your right, Tony, but I think we may need more then just an angry Asgurdain on our side, we need someone who knows magic better than anyone, and that means a visit to the Sanctum Santurum." Like many other heroes, Dr. Strange hadn't been seen since the war, but disappearing after huge battles was nothing knew for the Sorcerer Supreme and his Defenders. He sighed, as he wondered if he should try and even the field, by asking Thor and Namor for help, aswell as SHIELD. "Times like this Tony, I wish I still had the Cosmic Cube. It's power would lead us straight to him, without having to waste our time with his lackeys." While he was ready to fight, Steve felt that battling the Hood's forces would be a waste of time, and might allow the villain to escape somewhere else, with his shield. His anger was building, and even he was wondering if he could restrain himself, long enough to find the Hood, as he gritted his teeth and clinched his fists. Not wanting to explode in front of his friend, Steve began to attempt to contact some of the Defenders, to see if they had heard from Dr. Strange, forgetting that Hjordis was a former Defender and friend of the Sorcerer Supreme.

[valkryie]

A series of grunts and heavy thuds echoed from behind a closed door, punctuated by an occasional female cry that sounded vaguely angry.

The sparring robot lunged in a lightning move, wrapping strong metal arms around Hjordis’ legs with all its weight and momentum. Hjordis grunted and let it take her to the ground, purposefully not using her legs to see if she could escape its grip. Her fist crashed downward into the thing’s head and it made a satisfyingly solid sound as she dented the strengthened metal alloy of its skull slightly.

Unfortunately, that didn’t get it to release its grip on her legs. In fact, it tightened it.

So she punched it again. And again. She succeeded only in denting it a bit more and sliding it down so its arms held her calves instead of her knees. Progress, but she was going for finesse rather than brute strength. Unfortunately, she never had been one for finesse.

Planting her hands on the floor, she tensed and pushed against the arms with her legs, slowly gaining headway as the robot’s metallic strength strained. Then in a move as quick as it was strong, she pulled one leg out and shoved her foot against the robot’s shoulder. It flew across the room in a tangle of limbs that clanked together as she got to her feet, weight spread evenly as she stood.

No sooner did she regain her position than it came flying at her again. She met it with a half smile and braced shoulders as the two of them wrapped up in each other and they rolled over the floor, punches and kicks exchanged in a blur of violence that was no less ferocious for its purpose.

Training.

Captain America’s summons made the earwig she wore come alive, but she had the robot in a headlock and to move to answer would have given the thing the window it needed to gain the upper hand. So she lifted it bodily and slammed it into the floor.

“I have been summoned. The rest of this must wa—Ooof!” The robot, apparently, didn’t feel like waiting to hear what else she said, because it threw a kick that would have damaged most semi-trucks into her stomach. It made her take a step back and those ice blue eyes narrowed onto it as she grabbed its wrist and flung it across the room like an Olympic hammer.

“Halt this instant! I must answer this summons and you—” Again she was interrupted when the robot, mostly likely having been damaged in the circuitry that recognized voice commands, hurtled itself once more like a torpedo at her. A low, unfriendly growl joined those narrowed eyes as she braced for impact. When it came, she wrapped her own arms and legs around the thing and squeezed. Hard.

Metal squealed a bit in protest as the robot struggled to land blows but she was too strong, the pair once more on the ground. A side table, the vase that was sitting on it, a few pictures, and a rather elegant looking statue were all casualties of the staged combat; broken bits and pieces of glass, porcelain, and wood lay in dismayed destruction throughout the room.

She wasn’t sure how long they wrestled on the floor, but finally she gained the angle she wanted and pulled hard, ripping off one of the robot’s arms. The metal screeched and sparks flew as she tossed the thing away, unwrapping herself and standing back up as the robot sort of half flopped away.

“It is settled. I must—” Right, so apparently ripping off the thing’s arm wasn’t enough because it grabbed her ankle with its good hand and pulled hard enough to slam her down on the floor. Face first.

Twisting, she slammed her foot into its wrist and snapping it into an unnatural angle. Though the fingers stayed locked on her ankle, she pulled it up closer before setting one foot on its shoulder and both hands on the sides of its head.

“Enough!!” she yelled, pulling and twisting in the same motion. Metal tore, wiring snapped, and the light in the robot’s eyes died as she ripped its head from its shoulders. She stayed there for a moment, watching the headless body as it slumped, lifeless. Still eyeing it carefully, she stood. When it still didn’t move, she gave a small nod to herself and reached up to communicate through her earwig, courtesy of Tony Stark, that she was on her way.

Except the earwig was gone. Frowning, she sighed and stepped over the body of the robot when a quick survey of the room didn’t immediately show her the tiny bit of technology. She didn’t have time to search for it so she left the room, the head of the robot still in one hand as she made her way to the Situation Room. It was her best guess as to where they would all congregate.

"Wonder where Valkyrie is... this sort of operation is exactly the sort of thing she'll enjoy. Maybe a bit too much... but that could be a good thing, after all. He's trying to smear our name... so we can strike a bit of fear in his people in retaliation. And what's better for inspiring fear than a pissed-off Asgardian Valkyrie?"

Hearing Tony’s voice told her she’d guessed right in the location of Captain America, but his words didn’t exactly erase the frown on her face. Someone had done something to besmirch the name of the Avengers.

Captain America didn’t sound pleased either and he was just beginning to contact others when she strode into the room, unmindful to the fact that she wore little more than what Midgard called a bathing suit.

“What has been done and who must I hunt to fix it?”

The first thing she did was hold the robot’s head out to Tony with a stern look.

“I could not find the…off button…as thou call it,” was all the explanation she gave before dumping it into his lap. Setting her hands on her hips, she directed her attention then to Captain America. The normally calm hero seemed rather agitated and her knuckles cracked as her fists hardened.

“Tell me where and who and I will clear thou a path to whom thou seek.” From Hjordis, this was no idle promise or lukewarm threat. She meant what she said, exactly how she said it.

[grimmtoof]

Angus sighed as he walked though the front of the Avengers’ mansion. “I seem to spend more time here now than I did when I was their liaison officer,” he thought to himself. Today he was there to see Valkyrie, a little follow-up visit after their evenfall first meeting. He had managed to smooth things over with the police, but there was still the little matter of the Bentley she had wrecked.

Just as Angus was about to ask someone where he might be able to find Valkyrie, he spotted her heading towards Situation Room. The determination evident in her rapid gait could only mean one thing, trouble. Following her along the corridors Angus arrived at the room just as Valkyrie finished talking. Not wanting to interfere Angus held back just inside the doorway, waiting for Steve’s reply.

[wonderman]

Steve turned, as soon as he heard Hjordis speak up. "We're looking for a villain who calls himself the Hood, but don't let the name fool you, as he has managed to become New York's Kingpin of Crime, and also is seeking to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, as well." The look of anger in his eyes was enough to let everyone know that Steve wanted to hurt him, and badly. He hadn't been this angry since someone killed his former partner, Jack Monroe, aka, Nomad. He turned back to Tony, looking dead at him. "Tony, I know you're the Chairman of the team, but I need a favor from you, I need you to contact the X-Men and see if Wanda can track this man down, while you do that, I'm going to pay SHIELD a little visit." He had no more finished his sentence, when Angus walked in the room. Steve nodded in his direction, and even though he knew he was no longer their liaison officer, a position that was once again held by Steve's ex-girlfriend Sharon Carter, he was still considered a friend and unofficial Avenger by many on the team. "Angus."

Steve turned his attention back to Hjordis, who served as the team's ambassador to Asgard and the only current Asgurdian on the team. "Valkyrie, I need you to see if Thor will consider helping us, in case like the rumors suggest, Hood's cowl is really that of a demon's. He has more experience in battling demons than anyother Avenger." He hated to ask for Thor to do this, since as the lord of Asgard, it put him in a difficult position with his own people, but it was something that had to be done.

[Iron Man - Tony Stark]

"No kidding. Of course, the thing turned out to be a fair amount of trouble anyway..." he said, shaking his head a little bit - everything like that they ever found did seem to, after all... he looked up then when Hjordis entered, smiling faintly as she walked in, though it faded when he saw what she was talking about - until he laughed.

"I told you - oh, never mind... I'll deal with that later. Fortunately I built it to be banged around..." he said, shaking his head slightly, then nodding to Steve as he explained the situation. "So there you go. Bastard stole Cap's shield, and we're going to find him and make him pay. Starting with the ground of his little organization if we have to. I'll forward you any information I find on his organization. Then you can break down the doors and put the heat on. I'll do the same. One way or another, we're going to dismantle Hood's syndicate... brick by brick. He messed with the wrong group of heroes, and we're going to prove it to him."

"Besides..." Tony finished, picking his faceplate up and snapping it into place over his visage, where the eyes again began to glow. "He told me I'm next. And he's going to find out that giving me a warning is a very bad idea. Almost as bad as stealing Captain America's shield. I'll let you know what Scarlet Witch says."

He nodded to Hjordis and started back out, lifting a hand to Angus and Cap as he walked for the exit.

[valkryie]

The more she listened, the harder her expression got and the narrower her eyes went until there was an almost palpable chill about her. She hadn’t been here long, but even she knew the significance of Captain America’s shield. Evil knew no bounds and who but evil itself would do such a thing?

She noticed Angus’ arrival and wondered at it but remained quiet until everything had been explained. A good mood was not to be had, not with news such as that, and being given this particular task wasn’t helping.

Would Thor even agree to an audience with her? Exile from Asgard meant she could not go to him to plead their case, so she had no choice but to ask him to come to her. Since Thor had been the one to banish her, she doubted very much he would bother reading any missive she sent, let alone leave Asgard just to speak with her.

“I will do what I can,” she promised, afraid that it wasn’t going to be enough.

As Tony left, she lifted her chin a bit in his direction and lightly thumped her fist against the center of her collarbone in a silent wish for luck and strength. The move was designed to be done with sword in hand, but her weapon was in her room and the spirit of it was the same. The man had done much to help her thus far and she did not wish him harm.

It was during a quick search for paper and ink with which to pen her request to Thor that she noticed Angus again. He had been rather quiet and she raised a single eyebrow in silent question as she pulled out a chair to begin writing.

[grimmtoof]

As Angus watched Valkyrie dump the training robot's head in Tony's lap, his relief that they had avoided a fight the first time they met increased. While he still suspected that he could have defeated her, it would have been a tough fight and there was always the risk of civilian casualties.

He listened with surprise as Steve explained what had happened. The thought that someone had managed to break into somewhere like the Avenger’s mansion was not pleasant. But that wasn’t so impotent now, what mattered now was finding the Hood.

“Is there anything I could do to help?” Angus asked after Steve had finished. “I’m no detective, but I might be able to help with putting the heat on. Literally if necessary. “