Victor Von Doom paced around his chambers, surrounded by the evidence of his astounding genius. He possessed machines beyond the comprehension of a normal human, but he didn't care about any of them on this cursed day - the day his mother had died, many years ago. The evil dictator of Latveria violently brought his metal-armored hand down onto his table. He didn't want to think about her now. After all these years, he had finally created a plan. A plan to carry out his revenge, on everyone that had wronged him. He looked down at the sheet of paper spread out on his desk. Planning could never prepare him for the task at hand, of course - but it never hurt to do so anyway. His plot would involve using not just his endless supply of brilliant gadgets, but the powers he had learned long ago. While he was far less powerful than his mother when it came to the magic arts, he was still one of the greatest in this realm. It was time to begin.
Selina Kyle stood on a rooftop near the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. It would be a hard job, but she was confident in her ability to do it. She jumped to the top of the great museum and proceeded to climb down. She knocked out two guards before they could pull their guns, and walked inside. She had waited until the museum was closed, and this decision made everything much easier. She made her way through the many exhibits until she reached the back. There, she found what she was looking for: a necklace that had been rumored to have unlimited power. At the end of the chain was an orange stone. Behind her, she heard a door slam. "I see you've made my job easier!" called out a thickly accented voice. Catwoman turned on her heel, prepared to knock out the intruder, but was instead punched across the room. "I'll be taking that off of your hands, Miss Kyle." Doctor Doom grabbed the necklace and carefully placed it around his own neck. Without a word, he walked back out the door and into the cold night. The first step of his plan was done, and the rest would come soon enough.
The lights of New York City flickered below Tony Stark as he flew in the night sky. He saw people walking, running, driving. The heartbeat of humanity seemed to beat the hardest when observed from above. He saw Stark Industries, the Baxter Building, and the Empire State Building. It was simply amazing. The genius began to close his eyes, thinking about the circumstances leading to the creation of his armor. As he began to sink into his traumatic memories, something started ringing. "Incoming call from Phil Coulson," spoke JARVIS, the artificial intelligence piloting the suit. "What? Put it through." The face of Agent Coulson appeared inside the armor. "Hello, Mister Stark!" Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Phil, I'm kind of busy-" "Good, so are we. An hour ago, a powerful relic was stolen from a museum in Munich." "And why do I care?" Coulson smirked. "Because we're paying you to care! So either you fly that mech up to the helicarrier, or we take away your funding." "I'll be there in five minutes, okay?" Tony sighed. "That's what I thought." Agent Coulson ended the call. The suit of armor pulled up, rocketing even higher toward the flying base of SHIELD. The wind gusted against the metal and shook Tony. He frowned, his mind reverting back to that dark cave. Before he realized it, he had flown above the helicarrier. "JARVIS, land right here." He noticed multiple agents running toward him. His brain snapped back to its usual sarcastic wit. "Sorry, guys, I'm not signing autographs right now." Phil Coulson's voice called out from behind Tony. "Hi, Stark. Or should I say Iron Man?" Tony turned around as his armor retracted into a suitcase. "No. Please don't ever say Iron Man."
Coulson led Stark below the deck, and they started walking down the hall. "Why did you call me up here?" asked Tony. The agent opened a metal door. "Because we're going to talk to her." Tony looked inside. The walls were padded, and there was a desk in the center, with a costumed woman handcuffed to it. "Uh, Phil... why is she dressed like a cat?" Agent Coulson smiled. "Probably the same reason you dress like a robot." He reached out his hand, prompting Tony to step in. "This is Selina Kyle, an international criminal. She has stolen countless artifacts, and we found her unconscious at the Deutsches Museum." Catwoman sighed. "I'm not who you're looking for! Someone else came in and stole the necklace!" "We know," said Coulson. "You're here because we need to know who did steal the necklace. And, you know, because you're an outlaw." Tony leaned against the wall. "I'm sorry, I just can't get over the cat thing." "Look, I've told you feds everything I know! He was wearing this shiny metal armor and a green cloak, and he just knocked me out with one punch! The next thing I saw was a bunch of SHIELD agents arresting me." Coulson looked over at Tony. "I think she's telling the truth. And that means that it's up to you to stop the guy with the green cloak." Stark snapped to attention. "Oh no. Definitely not. Never. I am not going to go fight some thief because Phil Coulson tells me to." "Excuse us, Miss Kyle," said the agent. "We'll have some people pick you up and take you to prison. Until then, make yourself comfortable!" He pulled himself and Stark out of the interrogation room just as Catwoman started to scream at them. "So, you don't want to fight the green cloak guy alone? That's fine. You don't have to. We're making a team to fight the green cloak guy." Tony sighed, heavily. "You're not gonna let me say no to this, are you?" "Nope. Follow me." The two walked back down the hall, and kept going until they reached the command room. A woman with red hair waved at them. "Yep, that's my assistant," said Tony. "I think I've spent enough time up here." "That's actually Agent Natasha Romanoff. You probably should save the shock for until we reach our destination, though." Stark rubbed his shoulder. "And what's our destination?" "Classified. But your team is already there." "Have I ever told you I hate you, Coulson?" "Many times, Iron Man."
Thor, God of Thunder, paced around the small, wood cabin. "Where is the son of Coul?" he yelled. "Calm down," said Clint Barton. "They'll be here soon. And please stop calling Agent Coulson that." He was fiddling with his quiver of arrows, sorting them based on their level of destruction. "I still don't get why we're here," offered Doctor Bruce Banner. "A bunch of guys in armor just invaded my apartment, and now I'm here with you three." Barton looked up from his half-organized cache of weapons. "I already told you, we needed to secure all of you as quickly as possible. Coulson can tell you more when he arrives." Steve Rogers was spread out on the twin bed in the corner of the cabin. He hadn't spoken since they arrived, but now he sat up and opened his mouth. "I wasn't frozen for seventy years just to be kidnapped and put in a room with a bunch of crazy people. I'm gonna have to leave if you don't tell me why we're here, right now." With that, the door of the cabin burst open, and three figures walked in. A man in a suit - Rogers assumed him to be Phillip Coulson. He didn't recognize the other two: a man in a black t-shirt and a woman in a uniform similar to Barton's. "Hello, everyone," said the man in the suit. "You're definitely wondering why you're here." "Son of Coul!" Thor smiled, patting Coulson on the shoulder. Steve Rogers sighed and once again laid back, twiddling his thumbs. "Great, now you can finally tell us all why we're gathered here!" said Banner. "I'm as clueless as you," agreed Tony Stark. Coulson proceeded to the front of the room, facing his team. "Iron Man. Captain America. The Hulk, and Thor. Agents Romanoff and Barton. Most of you don't know each other. I'm here to change that. You see, I've been planning this for a long time, and now I finally get to see you together." He proceeded to tell them about the threat of the man in the green cloak. "So let me get this straight, Phil," challenged Stark. "You want me to lead a team of superheroes, to stop someone from wearing a necklace?" "No, of course not!" elaborated Agent Coulson. "I want Steve Rogers to lead you. I'm a big fan, by the way."
Doom flung open the door to his lab and looked around. The room was quite large, and longer than many hallways. His Doombots lined the walls, each programmed with the ability to force a foe to submission within seconds. There were other machines as well, such as an invention with the ability to observe any location on Earth. The feats of science surrounded the armored man, but today was a day for the mystic. Around his neck hung the Chain of Souls, an item imbued with power even beyond his understanding. However, there would be plenty of time for Doom to experiment with the pendant when his task was done. In the center of the room was a painted red circle. The monarch stepped inside his boundary and kneeled. His breaths grew shallow, and he experienced an emotion he had not felt since he was a child: fear. He raised his hand and wrapped his fingers around the orange stone hanging from his neck. “Lord, the people are begging to see you!” Boris, caretaker to Doom, unceremoniously barged into the laboratory. The towering man rose from his kneeling position, turned around, and glared at the butler. “Very well. Tell them I will be out promptly.” As Boris scurried away, Victor let out a rare sigh. Every moment weighed heavily on him, and his heart told him to carry on with the ceremony. But the people of Latveria would grow restless if not allowed to greet their leader, so he unhooked the Chain of Souls from his neck and placed it on his desk before striding out of the room.
Steve Rogers sat alone in his apartment. Images flashed through his mind as he thought about his past life. He remembered friends he had lost, battles he had won. Was there a place in this day and age for Captain America? He stood up and stretched his arms. His tiny apartment had a view overlooking some local businesses. So much had changed in seventy years, but this corner of the big city reminded him of his time. The rest of the world seemed so unfamiliar, but this was where he grew up. The words he had spoken earlier to Agent Coulson rang out in his head: 'I’m not a superhero. You don’t need me on your team.' He looked at his clenched fist, and then back out the window. People were running away, but he couldn’t see what was happening. Rogers hurried out of his apartment and took the stairs down to the ground floor. He saw that the lobby was completely abandoned, so he ran outside. He heard desperate screams all around him. His eyes focused on the broken-down doors of a nearby bank, and he slowly approached it. He saw a group of men inside, destroying everything they came across. The Captain charged, ambushing one of the burglars from behind. He then shoved the criminal into another, knocking them both down. As a third tried to grab him from behind, Cap kicked out his back leg, spun around, and stole the man’s gun. He looked back at the terrified remaining criminals before saying, “Does anyone want to get out?” “Perhaps you do, Rogers,” spoke a voice from outside the bank. Startled, Cap turned around to see a man in an aviator’s jacket with giant mechanical wings.
“I’ve seen you on the news!” said the masked man. “But I had no idea Captain America would have the time to come pay us a visit. Tell me: how’s the twenty-first century treating you?” Cap elbowed one of the thugs in the face as he tried to sneak up on him. “Did you really think distraction would work?” The boss of the criminals shrugged. “I was hoping.” The two charged at each other, struggling to take control of Cap’s gun. A few shots went off, but they didn’t seem to harm the winged villain. “What are you supposed to be?” asked Rogers. “An eagle?” “Actually, a vulture.” He kneed Cap in the stomach and took control of the gun, before being grabbed from behind. Cap stopped for a moment in confusion while the Vulture was thrown into the ground. Standing in his place was Iron Man, levitating a few feet from the ground. “You looked like you needed a little help, old man.” “Gee, thanks, Stark. I could have handled it myself.” “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Maybe it’s a good thing you denied being on the team.” Cap winced. “Too far? Too bad. Coulson sent me here to see if you had changed your mind about being a superhero, and it seems like you have.” “Tell him I haven’t. I can’t lead a team of superheroes when I don’t know what it means to be one anymore. My place is right here, helping real people.” “You call it helping people, I call it being selfish. We don’t know how many people will get hurt if you don’t help us. Would Captain America really let innocent people get hurt?” “Maybe I’m not Captain America. Maybe I’m just Steve Rogers.” With those words, the police started to show up. “Well,” said Tony, “I guess I’ll tell Coulson that you’re not the man he thought you were.” He activated his jets and flew away. “Maybe I’m not,” murmured Steve as he glanced at the fallen Vulture.
Doctor Doom grabbed the necklace with his cold, armored hand. He walked back to the red circle and took a deep breath before kneeling. He hooked the Chain of Souls around his neck and began to recite an incantation. The words naturally flew from his lips as a red glow surrounded him. His voice grew louder, his words more impactful. The red circle burst into flames, and Doom screeched in pain. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the flames were gone - and with them, Doom. The Latverian leader found himself kneeling in a rocky landscape, surrounded by intensely blazing fires. He stood and looked around, finding nothing but the same hellish world sprawled out around him. "So, this is where I shall fight for the soul of my mother," he said, assuming a fighting stance as a swarm of demons flew toward him.
Hawkeye stood outside the gates of Castle Doom, hiding behind a stone pillar. Opposite to him was his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Natasha Romanoff, holding a pistol. "Ready?" she asked him. "I'm not too sure," he replied. "I was kind of expecting the other three to be here." As if he had been summoned, Tony Stark walked toward them in a suit, carrying a black briefcase. "Any idea where Shakespeare and the scientist are?" "We have no idea," answered Black Widow. "Coulson hasn't heard from them since he sent them on that mission." "You know," said an annoyed Agent Barton, "the one I thought was a terrible idea." "Seems like we're gonna have to face King Arthur on our own." Stark stared at the medieval palace in front of him. "Then what are we waiting for?" asked Romanoff. "Let's go." Stark opened the suitcase, revealing the Iron Man suit, which wrapped itself around him. The three charged the castle, facing no opposition along the way. They found themselves in a stunning parlor, and saw a elderly man sitting alone in a cushioned chair. "So, you're the guy who stole the necklace from the museum," assumed Hawkeye. "No, I am afraid that was not me," replied the man. "Rather, that was Lord Doom. I assumed someone would show up soon enough. Sadly, he has already vacated this realm."
