THE MARVEL GAMES: THE NEXT AVENGERS

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE

I snuck around the back of the house and onto the deck where I found Allie’s window. I looked in and she was sitting on the bed doing homework. I knocked on the window and she got up to open it.

“Hey, what are you doing here so late?”she said.

“Um… went for a walk?” I said, obviously not trying to make a good excuse.

“Okay. Why are you really here?” Allie said, catching on.

“On the run again. Donavan will probably taze me if he finds out.” I said.

“What’d you do?” she said.

“Breaking and entering, getting a virus through their fire wall, the usual Friday night stuff. Let’s just say, the Council’s gon’na have some computer problems later.” I said, sliding in through the window.

“And that’s your idea of fun?” Allie said, laughing a little.

Allie had long brown hair that flowed perfectly over her shoulders and dark brown eyes that I found it hard to say ‘no’ to. And looking at her now, I remembered the day we first met.

“I can’t believe you!” Officer Donavan back handed me, “Foolish boy! You’re lucky you’re not dead!” he yelled. A HYDRA peacekeeper had just brought me back to Officer Donavan’s apartment. He was really mad because I’d been caught for the third time in a riot. Obviously, he wasn’t taking it well.

“Whatever. What is there to live for?” I said, shrugging.

“Go upstairs! And don’t even think about sneaking out again!” he ordered.

I didn’t see any point in arguing because I was gon’na go up to my room anyway. But the sneaking out part, now that was a different matter. Once in my room, I grabbed my backpack out of the closet and, as quietly as I could, slid open the window and stepped out onto the fire escape. I got my skateboard from its secret hiding place in the alley and made a run for it, getting as far away as possible.

I hated that guy. And the hate went both ways for us. I’m sure Donavan would love to put a bullet between my eyes, but the Council won’t let him. But lucky for me, just one more month before I went to stay with my parents for a couple weeks. (I’ll explain that later.) I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I knew I was both mad and proud of myself at the same time. The ‘riot’ I’d just come back from had been a successful mission for the rebel alliance.

Then I was angry about those little bitches that called themselves ‘the Council’. They’d done this. They had forced me to live with Officer Donavan almost all the time. They had caused all this destruction. They had started the Marvel Games and taken the lives of so many countless heroes over the years. They were the reason I now had three probation rings on my arm.

I guess I hadn’t exactly been expecting to see anyone wandering the streets, so part of me thought I was hallucinating when I saw the girl standing across the street. She was looking around the city, like she’d never been here before. I could believe that because I’d never seen her before and I knew everyone in town.

I popped my skateboard into my hand and glanced over my shoulder before walking over to her.

“Are you looking for someone?” I said. I could tell I’d surprised her because she practically jumped out of her skin.

“Um… I…” she said, shyly. I wasn’t sure what to say at first but this was what came to mind after a moment,

“It’s okay. I’m not gon’na turn you in for crossing the border. I’m Tony. And you are?”

“Allie Barton.” She said.

“So… uh, what are you doing over here? You really should stay in the suburbs.” I said.

“I sort of just found out my dad was an… Avenger.” Allie said that last part in a whisper, and I knew why. Mentioning the Avengers around here was like talking about dieing cancer patients. You just didn’t bring it up.

“Well, everyone here is like that. Only I’ve known my dad was Iron Man.” I said. “

Really? That’s –how old are you?” she stopped as if she was going to say something, but had decided against it.

“Thirteen. You?” I said.

“Twelve.” Allie said.

“You should really go, but first, you wan’na see something?” I said. The sun was starting to go down and if this girl was supposed to be a hero, if her dad was an Avenger, too, I wanted to show her the city they had once saved.

“What?” Allie said.

“The view of your life.” I said, holding out my hand for her to follow me.

“Where are we going?” she asked as we ran through the city streets. I stopped at a fire escape.

“Come on, if you wanted to see your dad’s town, this is it.” I said, started up the steps. It took us a good five or ten minutes to get to the roof, but it was a tall building and the view was definitely worth it.

“Here we are.” I said once at the top. Allie came up after me and I could tell she was impressed. For a trashed, almost completely abandoned city, it would’ve made a good postcard. You could see everything from the Empire State to STARK Tower.

“So, your dad’s a hero, but you’re a civilian?” I said as I paced the roof.

“Guess so. I didn’t know until today. But you’ve known forever.” Allie said.

“I’ve known about him. Now knowing him as a person, on the other hand… I’m still working on that.” I said.

“What do you mean?” she said, turning to face me.

“It’s a bunch of bullshit if you ask me. The Council doesn’t want my dad encouraging me to go on riots and whatnot, so I’m only allowed to stay with my parent for 4 weeks a year.” I said.

“Wow. I’m sorry to hear that. What about riots? I’ve heard of them on the news-a gang of kids running around attacking the Council.” Allie said.

“I lead those. The ‘gang’ is called the rebel alliance. I started it. We’re not exactly a really big group yet, but we’re getting there.” I said.

“That’s really brave. And the peacekeepers haven’t arrested anyone yet?” she said.

“Not exactly… I’m on probation right now. Third time in a row I’ve been caught. But most of the time we get away winning.” I said, holding up my right arm to show her the three rings on my wrist.

“It’s getting dark out. I probably should go.” Allie said, changing the subject. “Yeah. Come on, I’ll walk you back to the border.” I said.

And there I was, four years later, sitting in Allie’s room. It had been so long ago, yet I felt like it happened yesterday. I couldn’t believe that for a second though. We’d grown up. Allie and I just weren’t the same kids we used to be. But it didn’t matter because I wouldn’t change a thing. Like for starters, I knew Allie wanted to join the rebels and come with me on missions. She’d been asking since I told her I was leading all these crazy attacks. But I always said ‘no’. I didn’t want her to get involved in all that. I’d learned that once you start, there’s no turning back. And in the long run, it ends up with you in the Marvel Games. That’s where it gets you. I didn’t want that to happen to Allie. I’d more likely volunteer as tribute in her place than let her join my train wreck.