The Marvel Games {An Avengers/Hunger Games Crossover}

Chapter 1: The Reaping

Chapter 1: The Reaping

"Estelle, be back by eleven!" My dad yelled after me as I bolted out of the front door. I turned around at the gate to shout back an answer.

"I know, dad!"

"I love you!" He shouted, a small, sad smile on his face.

"I love you too, daddy." I smiled back before climbing over the gate and dropping my skateboard on the footpath and heading towards the city.

I wasn't supposed to go near the city, dad thought I was at the library, but I never was. I was too busy hanging around New York. It was dangerous, I knew that. After the Invasion everyone had left the cities for the suburbs or the country -sometimes even the desert-, they wanted nothing to do with the Council. And the Council ruled over all of New York city, it was their headquarters.

But the more I got closer to the buildings the more I felt like I could do something. I didn't feel helpless anymore.

Hope was lost, everyone knew that.

Of course, today everyone had to go into the city anyway. It was the reaping day. The day Justin Hammer called out ten names. Ten names that would be displayed in the history books. Ten names of ten people that would cover our television screens for the next Marvel Games.

I remembered last year names as if they were only just being spoken:

'The five heroes that will enter this years arena are; Wolverine from the X-Men, Hulk from the Avengers, Spiderman, The Thing from the Fantastic Four and Cyclops from the X-Men. The five civilians that will be joining our heroes in the arena this year are; Stephanie Jenson, Frank Smith, Kara Lee, David Cole and Rachel Turner.'

The first civilian to die last year was Frank Smith. The first hero was Spiderman.

I hadn't realised that I'd stopped moving on my skateboard until I shook my head trying to get rid of the memories.

I was on the outskirts of the city, just out of view from the cameras the Council had access to. Six years ago on the day of the Invasion, my father, my mother and I had fled our apartment in New York city by foot. On this very corner, my mother had been shot in the head by a Hydra soldier and my dad had been shot in the leg. We made it to my grandmother's house at sunset, but only just. It wasn't long until the Chitauri invaded the towns too.

I crossed the deserted street and picked up my skateboard, sticking it into my backpack. I couldn't make any noise in the streets or the cameras would find me.

These days, no one lived in the city unless you were classified as a hero. After the Invasion, all the superheroes of the world had been rounded up and thrown into New York. It was their prison. Occasionally, when I came here, I saw the odd one or two hiding in the shadows. Last month I'd seen Hawkeye. He looked okay, not as skinny and lanky as everyone else. The Council wanted to keep all the heroes alive and healthy, it made for a more...entertaining Games show.

I wondered through Time Square. None of the usual advertisements and lights glowed from the buildings. Crashed cars and half destroyed buildings littered the streets. Further down the road, I could smell burning fuel which meant there had been another riot.

Once in a blue moon, civilians (the non-hero types) would band together and charge into New York with any weaponry they could find -usually it was a bunch of Stark Industries stuff, bought off the black markets. They wanted to end the Council. There used to be one every week. Now, we were lucky if there was one every six months.

I sighed and looked up at the sky at the glowing blue portal. It hadn't closed after the Invasion. Nothing ever came through it anymore, but Loki kept it open in case other alien races wanted refuge on Earth. And of course, there were the rumors. Rumors that Loki was searching for someone in outer space. Someone very precious to him, a past lover.