D.A.S.H. (DISCONTINUED) [Sequel to C.H.A.S.M.]

Chapter 4

Where the results arrive and everyone is surprised

-

"You know, not everyone is always eager to have their blood tested," Bruce noted, and Justin shrugged.

"Not everyone has it done during lawnmower week."

"Anything to get out of that stuffy music room, am I right?" Tony grinned.

He prepared a long needle, and Justin seemed entirely at ease.

"Any last words?" Tony teased.

"Take good care of Micheal and Loraine," Loki replied, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Wasn't talking to you, Reindeer Games."

"But seriously," Bruce continued, "do you have any expectations?"

Justin shrugged again, and Bruce concluded that that was his way of hiding his nervousness.

"I think I know more or less what you'll find," Justin predicted casually.

"You can't know for sure though," Tony argued, "after all, Diana had freaking INVISIBILITY powers. And she's a STARK! Still not sure where that came from. And Theo, who we originally thought was a Stark because of his tech know-how, turns out to-"

"Just get on with it Stark," Loki advised.

"Okay okay," Tony shook his head, "Let's do this."

-

"Hear ye, hear ye!" Justin announced, swinging open the door to the music room and waving a sheet of paper, "my name is Samuel Seabury, and I present free thoughts on the proceedings of the Continental Congress. Or, in other words, the results have arrived."

He closed the door, and crunched the piece of paper into a ball.

The adults had moved to one of the other soundproof laboratories the day before, so that they could have a serious conversation while the "kids" had the music room to themselves. Which meant that none of the adults were there to make remarks about littering.

"So you survived Tony Stark?" Penny enquired jokingly.

"Yep," Justin answered, tossing the paper ball to Sarah.

"Nice throw," Rocky commented as Sarah smoothed the paper out.

"What does it say?" Daniel wanted to know.

"One word..." Sarah replied, "that's a bit of a waste of paper, don't you think?"

"I know," Justin answered, "Banner needed to keep the original report, so Stark gave me this."

"Trust Tony Stark to be a drama queen," Rocky muttered under his breath.

"Just tell us what is says already!" Loraine begged.

Sarah cleared her throat.

"Pyrokinesis."

-

"What?" Sam frowned as Tony announced the results, "where did that come from?"

"Hush," Pepper pointed to Nutmeg, who was fast asleep on her lap.

"Slee-ping..." Nutmeg mumbled.

"Oh sorry," Sam apologized, before adding in a whisper, "pyrokinesomthing means fire powers right?"

Bruce nodded.

"What kind of fire powers?" Natasha asked, figuring that just "pyrokinesis" could mean a lot of things.

"As far as we could tell," Bruce replied, "creating flames and controlling them, and powerful heat resistance so possibly the ability to set himself on fire. For the rest, we'll just have to test by training."

"Is the training hall soundproof?" Loki enquired hopefully.

"I... I don't know," Bruce admitted, "I think so, but I honestly can't remember."

"Well let's hope it is," Bucky grumbled, "there's no way anyone can train with the sound of that lawnmower drumming on your ears."

"But back to the topic of Justin," Clint suggested, "where do you think he got his abilities? Experimentation?"

"Radioactive fireball?" Peter Parker added, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"Don't think so," Tony answered with a shake of his head, "we do have another theory..."

"Well?" Steve encouraged, and Bruce and Tony exchanged glances.

"Our theory," Stark explained, "has a name."

He could tell by the agitated glared focused on him that he really ought to cut to the chase. Now Starks don't always do what they ought to, but...

Bruce sighed.

"Johnny Storm."

-

A shy agent stepped into the large office.

"Hehr S-" the agent began, but he was interrupted quickly.

"You know I do not wish to be addressed by that name when people could well be listening. Stick to referring to me as The Duke, as ordered."

The agent bowed his head in apology.

"Duke, sir, I bring report on Stephan Ford."

"Stef who?"

The agent nervously handed the file in his hands to The Duke.

"Ahhh..." the latter nodded, "this is the man who I asked you to scout out last week."

The agent simply nodded, too scared to answer verbally.

"It appears," the Duke mused to himself, "that this man, like Fury, Coulson and the Avengers, has gained immortality through the Hall of Heroes Concept*."

*See C.H.A.S.M. chapter 9/12

"You mean..."

"That it would be fruitless to attempt to assassinate him without first knowing his weakness."

"So... you want me to find his weakness?" the agent asked carefully.

"No," the Duke shook his head with a smirk.

"I want you to talk him over to our side."