New Avengers: The New Initiative

CHAPTER I

"Who are you?" He asked, scared about what this man intended to do with him. Instead of responding, the man snatched Ross by the neck, nearly choking him. Then, he directed one of the stones to smash against Ross' chest. Instantly, he could feel the stone's power coursing through his body, and it was already too much for him. The intense heat melted through his organs and intestines, causing Ross to scream out in anguish and immense discomfort. Suddenly, a blaze erupted and pierced out of his chest; the man dropped Ross, not in shock, and started to exit the cell as Ross violently convulsed and choked on his own blood. The man murmured, "You were too weak anyway," before everything went black.

STEVE ROGERS' POV

(LOCATION: THE RAFT: MAXIMUM CONTAINMENT)

Why could Tony not listen to Steve for once? Everything would have been so much better for everyone if he cooperated as a proper team member and respected Steve's authority as the leader. Now look what happened once people loosened their control on Tony and left him unattended. He had split up the team, his real family, replaced them with people who never had his best interests at heart, and utilized the corrupted justice system to have Wanda unjustly murdered and Steve and Natasha thrown in prison with trumped-up charges.

Steve couldn't believe a year had already passed since the world had turned its back on the real heroes and had fallen under Tony's influence. He had repeatedly sent letters of request for an appeal or another trial, but he had heard that the courts had either disregarded them or thrown them away; at one point, he had overheard a guard expressing annoyance at sorting through the mail room and constantly finding Steve's letters of request addressed to the Federal justice system. She even stated that his attempts were pathetic and insufferable. That was no way to treat America's greatest hero; he didn't deserve to be in prison, especially in the worst prison in America. He also continued to contact Tony or Bucky. Despite how much Tony betrayed his real family and refused to see the bigger picture due to his inflated ego, Steve would always decide to be the bigger person and give Tony another chance to correct his mistakes; however, Steve didn't know how many more opportunities he would be willing to grant Tony. Bucky was more of a concern; ever since Thanos' invasion, there had been no sight or sound of him. Besides that interview with Tony, where he stated that Bucky had semi-retired from the Avengers business, only agreeing to assist as an emergency-based Avenger, it was almost like Bucky had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Steve needed to know what happened to Bucky; he could never trust a word that came out of Tony's mouth. For all Steve understood, Tony must have been involved in Bucky's disappearance because he had the motive, resources, and connections. No one would think to accuse him or charge him since he had everyone seemed to have favored him over the true heroes.

An ear-piercing alarm went off throughout the RAFT, startling Natasha out of her slumber, and red emergency lights flashed; it must have been severe enough to have all the guards abandon their posts and grab every single weapon on the racks.

"Steve, what is happening?"

"I don't know." If they released Steve and Natasha from their false imprisonment, they would defeat the threat in an instant. An explosion of bluish-green vapor throughout the room, shattering all the cells. That was impossible. The Hulk-proofed glass should have sustained any detonation, enhanced or not. Steve should have known better when listening to Tony about these sorts of ideas; most of the talking he had ever done came from stroking his ego.

Steve and Natasha cautiously stepped out of their destroyed cells, prepared to battle against whatever threat posed them—at least until a blast of bluish-green energy unexpectedly shoved them into the back wall, completely knocking Natasha unconscious while Steve remained unharmed. Through blurred vision and the darkened hallway, besides the continuously flashing lights, Steve saw a red hooded figure holding nine floating stones shaped very similarly to the Tesseract and the Mind Stone.