Heroes Of The Galaxy: The New Avenger

Prologue: First Contact

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.," Tony said, "have you run the facial recognition on this 'Devil of Hell's Kitchen' individual?"

"With his face obscured," responded a female voice, "it is not possible to get a complete facial match."

"Well, keep trying. Evidently he had a run in with Hydra and we want his help."

"Yes, boss."

As F.R.I.D.A.Y. continued her search Tony reflected on the events that had transpired over the entire span of his becoming Iron Man. He had been invited into the Avengers, been turned down, joined anyway, and began a small recruitment campaign after he met the relatively unknown Spider-man. Since then he has found and hears about other heroes: the Devil of Hell's Kitchen (aka Daredevil), Quake, Ghost Rider, Cloak and Dagger, and many others. He was brought out of his thoughts by a booming voice.

"Stark," the voice said, "I've finally located that person that Fury mentioned in '95."

"Danvers?" He replied.

"Yes. Heimdall located her just beyond one of the nine realms."

"And you spoke to her?"

"She insisted that she wouldn't be needed here so long as Earth had us."

"You couldn't just drag her here?"

"She is unrealistically strong. Just one punch from here sent me flying a long ways."

"Looks like until we get to saving other planets, we'll have to stick with the arrangement Fury has with her."

They heard someone else enter the room. They turned and saw Steve enter the room.

"Thor," he said, "back so soon?"

"I was just telling Stark that Danvers is uninterested in returning to Earth."

"Figured. Nobody wants to abandon their duty. Just thought she'd like to know that she wasn't alone."

They sat in silence as the searches for the missing heroes continued. Out of nowhere one of the orbital sensors beeped a warning of something coming out of space.

"BOSS!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. shouted, "SOMETHING ENTERED THE EXOSPHERE!"

"Show us."

What showed up on the screens was a wedge shaped ship that appeared damaged beyond repair.

"Is it going to crash into the planet?"

"I'm running it's projected flight path... it will crash several miles away."

"Impact damage?"

"If it reaches terminal velocity, the damage could be catastrophic."

They quickly considered what they could do. Rhodes, Stark, Thor, and Vision wouldn't be enough to slow it down, Wanda wasn't strong enough to stop it, and they didn't have enough quinjets to tow it. It was half way through the atmosphere when it began to slow down. They had no idea how or why it was doing it, but they saw that it was still projected to land several miles away. A few minutes later an enormous shadow fell on the facility, minutes after they heard a distant crashing sound.

"Who do we send to investigate?" Thor asked.

"I think that this is something the kid can handle." Stark said. He turned his attention to F.R.I.D.A.Y., "How many life signs are on board?"

"There were dozens originally on board, but there is only one now. From my preliminary scans, the life form is on the bridge."

"Relay the information to the kid. Tell him that he has to get there soon."

Two hours later

He stood in front of the ship, much larger than he thought it'd be. He wondered just how accurate F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s readings were; of course he was afraid he'd run into something. He also had no idea if this was a preliminary assault or if this was a craft that was lost.

"What are you waiting for, Peter?" Asked the AI in his suit.

"Where can we get in?" He asked in reply.

"There is a rupture near what appears to be the starboard engine."

He entered and began looking for anything that could tell him something about the ship. He saw highly advanced technology that they didn't have on Earth. In the back of his mind, he was worried. The last time a space force arrived on Earth, the Chitauri were commanded by Loki. Though he didn't remember much of it, the way he had heard the Devil of Hell's Kitchen describe it, it was a terror to witness. Now he was inside an alien craft that was wedge shaped, just waiting for something to attack him.

"Karen?" He asked, "Did Mr. Stark get any life readings?"

"Only one," Karen responded, "inside what F.R.I.D.A.Y. identified as the bridge."

He came to a closed elevator shaft. He forced open the door and shot a web line to the top. He ascended until he came to the last door. He forced it open and saw a bizarre scene. Bodies on the floor covered in a plastic armor; some with burns and others looked like they were strangled by something. In the actual bridge area the windows were all smashed and there was one... human? Was someone here before him? No. This person had a burn in his right shoulder. It looked like what the plastic wearers were shot with. He took his pulse... weak. He looked around searching for whoever had shot him. He turned back to the man.

"Who are you?"

Here... we... go.