oo4 video;

[mstitel]

[The video clicks on to reveal James. This time he isn’t looking pissed or annoyed or like any other teenaged brat going through an identity crisis. This time there’s a hardness to his eyes, a set to his jaw, his shoulders squared in determination. He’s wearing his uniform from back home, the black fabric broken with the half of a star stitched in red across his chest, his dad’s shield not slung on his back like it normally is, but instead clutched tight in his left hand, held proudly out in front of him.

Francis pops up behind him a moment later, still wearing the Tranquility-issued uniform, though he has his bow drawn, arrow notched loosely. his expression isn’t quite so severe as James’, but it’s not the carefree, smarmy sort of look he tends to wear, either. he gives James a nod, and it’s clear he’s letting the red-headed boy take lead]

Back home, the people who used to save the world are dead. Heroes, the group that people used to look up to, are gone. And because of it, humanity lives in fear. [He glances to the side, quickly, as if looking for back-up, even if there’s more of... an apology in his expression. Francis’ jaw sets a moment, a dark expression crossing his face, but it’s gone almost as quickly as it came, and he shrugs, motioning for James to continue] I spent twelve years not able to help anyone, even though I knew they needed it. And I’m not going to do that again.

[Francis rolls his eyes, stepping closer and elbowing James in the side]

I wouldn’t let you even if you wanted to. We’ve got more important things to do than hide.

[there’s a fondness there, though. a deference, and a moment later Francis steps back again, giving James the lead he’s meant to take

James grins, just slightly, almost seems to relax a bit as soon as he realizes that yeah, Francis has his back, and addresses the camera again]

People need heroes. They need a group of people who they can look up to, they need a group to depend on, people that can handle situations that are beyond the scope of normal and I know that most everything is here. But that’s not the point. The point is there are people, here, that I look up to. People I always wanted to see in action, but until they can act... [He trails off for just a moment, shifting almost awkwardly. He hates giving speeches. He’s no good at it. He never even talks this much, normally.] Back home my team, my family, and I saved the world from the thing that killed our parents, took away the heroes. We lived in a world that had no one to save it, and even though we’re young, even though we didn’t really know what we were doing, we had to try. Because if no one ever tries... nothing will change.

People get hurt, here. I’ve seen people die. We all have. And I might be young, and I might not have been here as long as a lot of you, but I’m willing to try.

Back home, my teammates and I took up a name. I don’t know how much this name will mean to a lot of you, but it’s something we’re proud of. Something we were born into and something we carry. [Deep breath, James. Face the camera, be your father’s son.

His jaw clenches, and he raises his shield up above his head, a pose that might be familiar to some of the people here.]

We’re the Avengers. And if anyone ever needs help, if anyone ever wants to help. We’re here.


[ooc: red is James and purple is Francis!]

Comments

permaaction;

[willpunchfaces]

[as soon as the feed is done, Francis puts away his bow, arms crossed over his chest]

Think anyone will listen?

[mstitel]

[James is just letting out a nervous breath as he lowers his shield, but keeps it on his arm.]

I hope so. I mean, yeah. [His hand tightens on the leather strap] I'm tired of not being able to do anything, here. Other people have to be, too.

voice;

[bring_em_down]

The Avengers? [Black ops kill squad? 'kay.]

voice;

[mstitel]

Yeah, they were heroes, the people that stood up to supervillains and helped keep the world safe.

[Okay, maybe he can do this whole... speech thing.]

The name means a lot to us.

voice;

[willpunchfaces]

[nope, no awkward here. noooooooooot a bit]

The last of them, yeah.

video;

[inebriety]

[Since Tony is unconscious due to too much alcohol it is now up to Anthony to gather information and keep them up to date. But he's young and Anthony finds some things not strictly relevant, but very cool.

The background is completely black and anyone who decides to look where the transmission is coming from won't find anything because strictly speaking, Anthony has no physical form to use one of the communicators. He's doing this by directly interfacing with the network.]

Cool. And is that Captain America's shield?

video;

[mstitel]

[James actually takes a moment to blink and narrow his eyes at the screen, to see if there's a shape in that... blackness. Eventually, though, he doesn't decide it's really important right now.

Besides, the kid - he thinks it's a kid, anyway - is asking about the shield. And that's enough to get James grinning just a little, raising it up so it's a bit more in view.]

The Avengers is a little more than cool and yeah. [Yup, there's a bit of pride, there, as he glances at the shield.] It is.

video;

[willpunchfaces]

[Francis taps his device because okay, that's weird. why isn't there a picture?]

Something like that, yeah. You know him?

[deadandred]

The Avengers, huh? ....Your Steve's team, right?

[mstitel]

[James relaxes marginally when he sees a familiar face on the other side of the feed.

Even if the haunting memories of his nightmare are still nagging at the edges of his mind.]

Yeah. It exists in a lot of places, though. [There's a quick pause, as he steels himself before finally saying...] It's our team now, though.

[willpunchfaces]

No, we aren't Steve's team. We're our own group.

permavid & text.

[culver]

[she is still kind of shaken from her own nightmare, but this... helps.]

Very brave James.

permavid.

[mstitel]

[He is too, in a way. His own nightmare hadn't been so much in the physical world, but instead in his mind, his emotions, nagging as guilt.

He can't let that bother him, though.]

Not really. I mean- I just want to help people, someone has to be there to offer.

permavid

[willpunchfaces]

[oh hey there. sure she addressed James but, well]

Hey there, beautiful.

video;

[the_vishual]

You guys have a good name! I want to join.

video;

[mstitel]

[The benefit of saving the world with a twelve-year-old on your team. You just don't get that there should be age limits on these kinds of things]

We could always use some help. I'm James, that- [He's pointing somewhere offscreen, before realizing that Francis isn't... actually in view, oops] The white haired guy's Hawkeye.

video;

[willpunchfaces]

Yeah? What skills do you have?

( V O I C E | encrypted 100% )

[starked]

And just what will the mighty Avengers team of two do? The mighty avengers of two kids do?

You think because you decided to talk about how epic you are and how you saved the world is going to do shit? For two people who come from a wasteland, that is some incredibly stupid optimism.

[ God, Tony let's mock some more shall we? ] You've blown any help you could do to smithereens by coming out.

( V O I C E | encrypted 100% )

[mstitel]

[He'd been expecting this, from this Tony. He'd been mostly prepared for it, with what he'd told him.

That doesn't mean that hearing those words, that tone from a Tony Stark doesn't hurt, though.]

We'll do what we can. Because no one else is. We were never taught to sit on the sidelines, Tony. It's just not who we are. If we can help at all, even if it's just as something you guys can make fun of, right now, we're going to do it.

You've never seen us in action. Francis and I can watch each other's backs, we can fight. [There's a quick pause, and he's almost reluctant to say it, but it has to be said.] We came up with a way to kill the thing you guys couldn't handle, when it was even stronger than it was before.

[Yup, there's that Rogers determination showing through.]

You can make fun of us all you want, but sometimes people are just waiting for a group of people brave enough to step up like this. Sometimes just knowing someone's out there, willing to help no matter what helps even more than us going around and saving people in secret.

[A beat] If it's a problem, blame anything that comes up about the Avengers on us. We'll take the name. We can handle it.

( V O I C E | encrypted 100% )

[willpunchfaces]

We can do more than you, apparently. We aren't hiding. We aren't afraid, and we're going to keep people safe.

It won't be the first time we've cleaned up after your mistakes.

voice

[aggressively]

...The Avengers.

[ bruce is not liking the dots he can connect, here. ]

voice

[mstitel]

[BUT YOU AND BETTY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER IN THIS GRIMDARK FUTURE, BRUCE!

Honestly, James is wondering how many times he's going to have to reiterate this to people.]

Yeah, it's the name of our team.

video;

[onsilksheets]

I thought superheroes were meant to have a secret identity.

[It comes off as a bit sarcastic but she had a rough week.]

video;

[willpunchfaces]

What's the point when everyone knows who we are anyway?

[Video]

[the_infiltrator]

Can I still help you, Barton?

[An unstable robot is just what the Avengers need!]

[Video]

[willpunchfaces]

Of course you can, beautiful.

[sob when he finally finds out she's a robot it's gonna be amazing]

[andblockbuster]

I'm just gonna casually raise the whole "you can't tell everyone who you are" complaint again. Seriously, guys. Maybe you wanna do your civic duty on the ship and that's great, but, uh, as soon as you announce your intentions like that, everyone's either gonna laugh at you, call your bluff, or start messing with you.

Just saying.

[willpunchfaces]

Like we care what they think. And they'll be in for a surprise if they try messing with us.

[ Video ]

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ Avengers. Right. Of course. Of all their run-ins, Steve never did probe too far, didn't want to scare the kid off, raise suspicions. But somehow he's not shocked. The shield, the uniform - he suspected. He should have asked, should have put aside his own issues and paid more attention. He's Captain America, a replacement later on down the line, and Steve never wanted to look beyond the child, to see a soldier, because he knows what can happen to men who go out to fight. Not all of them come home.

The boy behind him, backing him up - Hawkeye. Check. ]

I met a man recently, a good man, who believed the same thing. He died believing it, and in the process bringing six unique people together to do exactly that. It took me a while to see it, at first, but I guess he left a lasting impression, knocked some sense into me - into all of us. [ When he started, Steve wasn't sure where this was going, but now he does, sitting up a little straighter as he looks into the device. ] I was one of those six individuals brought together to defend the world, that the people have come to rely on. But I'm guessing you already knew that, who I was and what I do.

[ Video ]

[mstitel]

[A lot of the confidence is draining out of James, here. Seeing Steve on the video, listening to him speak. He can posture to just about anyone on this ship, has learned to stand his ground with Tony, even. But if you put Steve or Natasha in front of him? James turns into that nervous kid, trying to make people who aren't even actually his parents proud of him, even a little.

Searching for that reassurance he'd never really gotten, even from the Tony back in his world. They'd both been too awkward in the roles they'd fallen into to get to that point.]

Sometimes people need some sense knocked into them. But... yeah. [He swallows, manages to smile a little.] You're Captain America. Leader and one of the Founders of the Avengers. [You're his dad.

Somehow, though, he doesn't think he should say that. So instead, he raises his shield until it's in frame.] You're, uh. The reason we're still alive and fighting, back home.