SOAR: An Avengers Story

Ch.2: A Cautionary Tale

January 14th, 2017
(Dani)

Dani found it really hard to keep a straight face the whole time Captain America gave them a tour of the compound.

For one, it was Captain freakin' America giving the tour.

And the compound was insanely, ridiculously awesome.

But she couldn't freak out like Joey was doing. She had a reputation to uphold.

As they were walking through various areas of the facility, the Captain was saying things like, "recently remodeled," "brand new systems," and "way too expensive"; Dani only caught those parts because she was too busy looking at everything and trying not to lose her shit.

They had all passed through an automatic door into a massive hangar, with all kinds of rides. She saw a quinjet, close enough to touch, off to her right by the open entrance. She was almost tempted to ask the Captain if they could check it out, but something told her not to. Plus, she was exhausted. She needed a bed ASAP.

"Woah!" Joey exclaimed, making Dani whip her head the other way.

Joey-and now Dani-stood there, gawking at a massive suit of armor that stood on the other side of the hangar. Its red-and-gold metal plating shimmered in the sunlight coming from the hangar entrance, making it look brand-new.

The Hulkbuster armor.

Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out.

"Thought it'd be bigger," Dani decided to say.

Joey turned around to look at her, "Any bigger and it wouldn't fit in here!"

She responded with, "Well, it doesn't look big enough for Stark's ego to fit inside."

Cap let out a chuckle that surprised Dani a little. He said, "Yeah, no one will deny Tony has a big head. But it's full of ideas."

He turns towards the Hulkbuster armor and says, "Without this idea, a lot of people would be dead."

Danielle absorbs this for a moment. There was ultimately a lot of truth to what he said, no matter how uppity she thought Tony Stark was. But she's always had a problem with rich people. Especially rich white guys. Tony just fit the bill all too well. And Dani recalled a time in her life where Tony Stark would have been a role model for her, someone to look up to. But whenever she'd talk about someone like that, her dad would tell her, "Don't ever try to be like those guys, Dani. They don't care about us. You end up like that, you lose your humanity. Be your own role model."

And she listened to him. She didn't look up to Tony Stark. He was rich, powerful, and she thought he didn't care about anyone but himself. Why would he have created Ultron, a genocidal robot maniac, if he actually cared about the consequences? Dani didn't trust him for a second.

Maybe if it weren't for him and his selfishness, her two true role models would still be alive.

She felt the tears coming, quick and demanding, but she fought them just as fast, keeping her composure. First day and you're already crying, she told herself, Woman up, dude.

Cap cleared his throat and ended the silence she filled with her thoughts. "Let's keep moving."

He led them to the other end of the hangar, where a thick-looking metal door stood. A few punches from Cap in the keypad next to it, and it was open.

"File in."

Dani walked in first, not wanting to be the one who had Captain America breathing down their neck. She left that to Casper, the last one to enter. She turned to see Cap was right behind him, just like Joey was right behind her; the space was tight, as Dani only took a few steps before she made it to the other side of the room. The walls were all covered in a neat arrangement of pristine metal compartments, like lockers. To Dani, it looked more like a morgue.