The Avengers: Next Gen Rising

An Avengers Victory! The War Has Only Begun!

After celebrating their victory against the Adaptoid, James was walking on his own with a small towel wrapped around his neck as he had finished a surprisingly intense workout. He has thought about how strong the machine was, and knew he'd have to get stronger and faster himself in order to be a bigger help. Any amount of training he could do, he'd happily take if it meant being able to help fight bigger threats. He then picks up his gauntlet and puts it back on his wrist securely before hearing Deirdre call for him from behind. He turned around to see her jog up to him, with Pym and Riri following close behind. "Oh, hey you two. I figured you would've gone to bed some time ago." He said sounding a little surprised.

"We had to talk to you before we did. We have so many questions!" Pym said with pure excitement in his voice.

Riri was the first to walk to James, ready to ask him their first shared question. "First off, how did you know that thing was copying our abilities?" She asked with her fingers carefully on her chin.

"Yeah, and second, how did you know how to beat it? What was your secret to figuring out what it's weakness was? Cause I never could figure it out, and I'm WAY smarter than all of you!" Pym bragged with a smirk, like any ten year old boy would.

James chuckled as he rubbed the short boy's head gently. "Always the humble one aren't you Pym?" He asked rather sarcastically, but with no ill intent. "But to answer your question....." He started off before showing the group schematics on a hologram. "These were old schematics for the Adaptoid made by Justin Hammer himself. Our parents had fought it before. So I studied it. I had a feeling that Hammer's first assault was too strange, so I checked security footage and found some files on it when I was done." He answered with a humble smile.

Riri studied the schematics herself, amazed that James had figured all of that out so quickly.  He may not have been a super genius like herself or Pym, or least of all, Stark, but he was showing how adaptable he could be. "Here I thought you couldn't be any more impressive.....but you just proved me wrong. Kudos to you." She said with admiration. "Maybe we can train more with teamwork again tomorrow. To do better together." She suggested with a smile.

James nodded, telling her he'd love that before Deirdre walked to him. "I'm sorry that I underestimated you so much. I treated you like you were fragile and incapable of helping us, and I underestimated your capabilities. I hope to do better." She told him humbly.

James chuckled at her while patting her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We'll all improve together." He assured her gently.

Along the way, Steve walked up to the kids, looking for James in particular. "There you are. I've been wanting to speak with you for a bit." He stated before clearing his throat to speak. "As you know, Hydra is already a dangerous organization, one that is going to grow even bigger. If not in soldiers or scientists, then in supervillains.... meaning that aside from Loki, who knows who else they'll have, and who they'll add to their ranks."

The team all looked at Steve with concern. The Adaptoid was tough enough as it is, so to hear that it could get even worse, that wasn't exactly news that they wanted to hear. Least of all from Captain America. However, this didn't worry James one bit. In fact, he looked even more determined than before to face them with his team. "Then we do the same." He stated boldly, the others staring at him with shock. After all, he had just gotten done with one battle, how could he be ready for another so quickly???? "We don't entirely know if they're done recruiting soldiers yet. For all we know, they are going to be getting even more people to join them, so why not increase our amount of people to help us?" He told everyone, knowing the looks they were giving him.

Deirdre nodded her head in agreement, standing next to him. "Anything it takes to get back at those bastards once and for all. I am in." She told him, proud to be fighting by his side. "We start training tomorrow morning!"