The Chain of Souls: Avengers Assemble (Part 1 of 10)
The Agent
Agent Phillip J. Coulson sat in the driver's seat of his cherry red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, steering it toward the diner. It was late at night, and the windshield wipers kept his vision clear from the beating rain. "Okay, Phil," he said to himself as the traffic came to a halt. "The Prince of Latveria just stole a necklace from a museum in Germany. That necklace happens to be very powerful. My team is ready. Now I just need to convince him." He tapped his finger against the steering wheel. "And he'll definitely say no. So I'll have to convince him better." The cars in front of him began to move, and he followed suit. "This is not going to go well." He made a right turn as he saw a bright neon sign that lit up the space around it. "There must be a reason he eats here every night. Maybe they have really good pancakes." He pulled into the parking lot of the diner. Coulson removed his keys from the ignition and opened Lola's door, stepping out into the heavy rain. He reached back into his car and grabbed a metal briefcase. The S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was branded onto the center. The overwhelming scent of apple pie took him by surprise as he walked in. There were tables everywhere, but only one customer was present: a man in a leather jacket, eating a stack of pancakes. The man looked up as the door opened. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to have dinner with me. How are you, Phil?" He noticed the briefcase. "I guess you're not here because you're hungry." Coulson smiled. "Sorry, but I'm here because I need your permission. And because I'm hungry." He sat down opposite the man and opened his case. Inside were seven files. "Is this about that team you keep talking about?" "I think you already know the answer to that, Fury."
The Chain of Souls: Avengers Assemble (Part 2 of 10)
The Initiative
"Your team is a terrible idea, Phil," stated Director Nick Fury. "You know that." "I don't think it is, sir," replied Coulson. Out of the corner of his eye, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent noticed a young girl in an apron approaching the table. She had short red hair tied back in a bun. "I've never seen you talking to anyone but me, Nick!" She laughed. "I feel like I should be jealous." Fury laughed with the waitress. "This is my friend Phil. We work together." "Hi, Phil. You can call me MJ. Nick doesn't talk about his coworkers at the post office very much!" Coulson awkwardly smiled. "Yep, I work at the... post office." "Would you like anything to eat?" "I'm fine." "Now, now," chuckled Director Fury. "Get Phil a stack of pancakes. It's on me." "One stack of pancakes, coming right up!" MJ walked back toward the kitchen. Coulson looked back at Fury. "Post office?" "Now, I couldn't just go telling her I'm the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., could I? Let's get back to talking about your team." "Right. I just got news that Victor Von Doom, the Prince of Latveria, has stolen a priceless artifact from a museum in Munich." "With a name like that, he's destined to be a super villain. What was the artifact?" "They call it the Chain of Souls. It's just a necklace with a little orange stone on it. The thing is that anyone who's touched the stone... has literally exploded." "So you think he'll try to harness that power?" "Possibly. That's why I want to assemble the Avengers. Latveria has a lot of advanced technology, so we can't just send in our regular agents. We need a team that can go in, extract the necklace, and keep it all under wraps." "Nothing ever goes according to plan, Phil. Are you sure this is big enough to risk the lives of your heroes?" "My team is ready. I have six members picked out, and I brought you the files on them." "Let's take a look."
The Chain of Souls: Avengers Assemble (Part 3 of 10)
The Archer
"I'm sure you know my first two picks," assumed Agent Coulson, extracting the files from his briefcase. "Barton and Romanoff?" guessed Fury. "Exactly. Hawkeye and the Black Widow are the best of us. I know we can trust them." Coulson handed Fury the first file from the stack. The Director glanced over it, though he already knew Agent Barton on a personal level. Name: Barton, Clint Codename: Hawkeye Activity: 1995- Status: Active Birthdate: 1/7/1971 Age: 47 Affiliation: STRIKE Team Delta Nationality: American Expert marksman. Weapon of choice is a bow and arrows. Fury handed back the file. "You know he won't take orders from anyone." Coulson smirked. "That's what makes him a great choice. He'll do the right thing, no matter what happens. He can rally the team in their darkest hours." "And what if his 'right thing' turns out to be the wrong thing?" "Nick, you've known Barton for twenty-three years. Has he ever made a bad decision? Has he ever missed a shot?" Director Fury took another bite from his stack of pancakes. "No. No, he hasn't."
The Chain of Souls: Avengers Assemble (Part 4 of 10)
The Assassin
Coulson spotted the young diner employee, MJ, approaching the table with a full platter of pancakes. "Here you go, Phil!" she said while setting the plate in front of him. "Thank you," he replied, picking up a fork. "Anything for one of Nick's friends!" She started back toward the kitchen. "She's cheery," noted Phil as he took a bite. "Oh." He closed his eyes. "I see why you come here every night." "The secret is in the syrup," said Fury. "Let's get to the next file." "Right." Coulson reluctantly put his fork down. "The next file is Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you know all about her already." "Only because Barton won't stop talking about her," he joked. "I can't believe it's already been thirteen years." The file exchanged hands. Name: Romanoff, Natalia Codename: Black Widow Activity: 2000- Status: Active Birthdate: 11/22/1984 Age: 33 Affiliation: STRIKE Team Delta Nationality: Russian Dangerous assassin, trained in the Red Room program. Converted to S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2005. Skilled in many forms of close-range combat. "Clint can keep her from taking out too many people," noted Fury. "She helps him keep a level head. You put them in the team together, you have to make sure they don't get separated. Alright?" "Of course, sir." Coulson took another bite of pancakes. "Can I eat here with you again tomorrow?"
The Chain of Souls: Avengers Assemble (Part 5 of 10)
The Consultant
"Who's next?" asked Director Fury, reaching for a bottle of syrup. "You're not going to like it," stated Coulson, retrieving a third file from his case. "No," ordered an adamant Fury. "Not him." "Sir, his father helped found S.H.I.E.L.D." "His old man was a jerk, too. We're not letting Stark into the Avengers." "We need his brain. Over the past ten years, he's stopped countless threats. It's time we take advantage of that." "Hand me the file." Name: Stark, Anthony Codename: Iron Man Activity: 2008- Status: Active Birthdate: 5/29/1970 Age: 47 Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D. Consultant Nationality: American Genius-level intellect. Created a high-tech suit of armor, which he uses to stop global security threats. "He was the first superhero of the modern day, Fury. Kids look up to him, just as they looked up to Captain America in the forties and Batman in the sixties. Don't you think that, when the project goes public, they'll receive us better with Stark on the team?" "Superheroes shouldn't be celebrities, Coulson. It's a dangerous job, meant to be done in the shadows." "Sir-" "But, you have a point. Put Stark on the team. You just need to keep his ego in check." "Yes, sir."
