New Avengers: The New Initiative

CHAPTER XV

ETHAN COOPER'S POV

Ethan had once taken pride in maintaining a steady composure in the most dire circumstances. Ethan could swallow down all his resentments and irritations in the most necessary situations and tolerate the most unruly team members. It was one of those qualities that had taken people many years to master but had only taken Ethan a couple of months to achieve. Even now, he still believed he could have tolerated the Rogue Avengers if they had shown genuine attitude change, but they had severely burned that bridge on multiple occasions. Ethan would relish in their ultimate downfall.

Ethan needed to improve on his abilities. Training should have been the main priority on his mind. He shouldn't delay any longer, not when the stakes were much higher than any previous threat, and everyone was on the verge of understanding the grave sense of urgency, but he was too distracted. How could he not have been distracted by all the underlying tension that invaded the atmosphere? Clint was still apprehensively distant around Mia (The Mind Stone). Pietro and Jessica were barely speaking to each other despite claims of remaining on friendly terms. Tony also struggled to maintain patience and sanity about anything that involved the Rogue Avengers. The latter was very understandable. Honestly, it was incredible that Tony still tolerated entitlement and stupidity.

"Hi, Ethan." Ethan was about to jump out of his skin and execute a roundhouse kick at the unexpected voice if it hadn't taken him about a second to recognize it was a voice he hadn't heard in a while.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid we haven't met before. You must be a newcomer."

"Very hilarious, Ethan," Pietro expressed sarcastically, amusingly rolling his eyes. "It's nice to see you too."

"How are you, Pietro? No one has seen you in a while. Is the school life treating you well?"

"School is... Tolerable. At least I'm improving my abilities and learning to control them better." At least, he appreciated the necessity of improved power control. There wasn't anything more dangerous than unmanaged strengths.

"That's nice to hear. I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you. So... How is the team?"

"Everyone is alright. You know, Jessica will be happy to see you as well."

"Yeah... Anyway, I wanted to ask you a quick question."

"Sure, what about?"

"It is... Weird and complicated."

"So is my life, but I am already used to that, so ask away."

"Well... Are you happy with yourself?"

"Excuse me?"

"Like, are you noticing any changes about yourself? Do you think you behave any differently than usual?" Was there a difference in his attitude? Ethan was a sixteen-year-old, so he underwent that hormonal period on a couple of occasions. Most teenagers experienced that, but Ethan's demeanor couldn't have changed that much. Had it?

"Not recently? Is there anything different about me?"

"No, just asking for a friend." Was it Josh? Josh always asked Ethan bizarre and peculiar questions. It must have been him. Who else could it have been other than Josh?

"Right... Understandable. Sorry, but I don't think I can't help you much with that question."

"It's no issue. Thank you, though."

"Anytime. You know, you should meet up with Jessica while you are visiting. You know, you two should catch up for an old-time sakes."

"Yeah... Sure, I'll speak with Jessica later."