Chapter Seven, Scared Alive.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Fantasti-Car auction sale. Just a reminder that until someone buys it, the name will stay the same. You are free to call it whatever you want when it is yours. The Auction will be set up by the Hogarth, Chao and Benowitz firm, with Ms. Hogarth personally presenting the rules of the proceedings and overseeing the auction. Ms. Hogarth, if you please." I say, stepping out of the stage and leaving the room for the professionals.

We'd been training hard for the last few weeks, and time went by in a blink. It wasn't until Alfred reminded us that we were worried about the Auction, finding a firm that could take care of the auction. I found Hogarth's firm on the internet, and just remembered that she would do everything she needed to win, and with an auction —since her firm would get a percentage— she would probably manage the highest price.

Without surprise, the Stark-Tesla Alliance won the bid at $2.1B, giving us much breathing space for all our plans and experiments. Stark immediately took the center stage, deciding to announce the car's new name: the Saltatio. A bit on the nose, but very fitting. A good name, and Johnny seemed to agree, but he was still a bit disenchanted that his name was put aside so easily.

"Don't worry, no one will change your Firefly's name. And despite our opinion on them, our 'superheroes' names will still be what you chose." Susan said, comforting him.

"Mr. Richards, Circe informed me that Tony Stark was trying to hack his way into the building. What should she do?"

"Just leave a note accessible, telling him to meet with me. I'll be in my office. No hurting him." I say. Turning towards Sue, I continue: "I'll talk to him first, I'll ping you so that you can 'heal' him." I kiss her on the forehead and walk away, heading to my office. A few minutes later, Stark comes in.

"So, you're the so-called genius inventor? I have to say, other than the car and your building's online defenses, I haven't seen much to impress me." he starts.

"Well, Mr. Stark, not all of us start with a few millions in bank, so your cash today is very much appreciated. We'll be able to do much more than we did. And I mean, you bought a car from a bunch of teenagers, so it has to be good, right? Anyway, that's not why I called you in today." I ping Sue. "Can I see it? The Arc Reactor, I mean." He looked discombobulated.

"How…" Susan comes in, and stings him in the neck with a metallic-looking syringe. "Hey! Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it?"

"That's lithium dioxide, it should lessen the effects of the palladium poisoning your blood. It won't 'cure you' from it, but you should be able to work out a cure on your own." She says, cleaning the device and putting it away before sitting on the edge of my desk.

"Now I need to know who are you guys, and how did you know about the arc reactor as well as the blood poisoning. I'm supposed to be the only one in the world knowing about it."

"I'll need you to de-activate any recording device before I tell you anything. It's a world level secret after all and beside my family, only one other person is in the know, and he doesn't have details. So, are you interested now, Mr. Stark?" I ask. He looked more serious than ever. He thought about it for a while, before nodding, taking out a couple of electronic gadgets and giving them to Susan. She took them and left the office.

"Alfred?"

"Besides an unusual power generator device, it's all clear, sir."

"I have an English AI Butler as well, you know. No need to show off like that." Stark scoffs.

"Are you ready, Tony, it's a long story," he nods. "We were working on…" I narrated the story, with Tony interrupting me a few times to pry more information about a few technical things.

"So, you know the future?"

"A possible timeline of probable events, yes."

"And how far into the future?"

"Thirteen years. From now until 2023."

"How much have you told me about, it doesn't seem to be 13 years."

"I told you less than two years. I can't tell you more without affecting the timeline too much."

"And the lithium dioxide wasn't affecting the timeline?"

"Not much, someone would have found something similar to help you until you were ready for an upgrade." He kept quiet for a few seconds.

"Why have you told me?"

"Because, despite being a bit of a prick, you're one of the smartest minds of the planet. We need that. I want to create a small group of brilliant minds to keep the world safe and technologically advanced. You and I are the first step. The flying car, autonomous driving, electric vehicles, clean energy… All of this and more, things we can do to help the world evolve towards a new age. Space is populated with species more advanced than we are. We need to be ready for when they come knocking on our doors. Weapons are a part of it, but people should always come first. Humanity should."

"Who would be part of this group?"

"Eventually, you, me, Dr. Banner, and a couple of other people that I cannot reveal to you for the moment. Until they're revealed on the world stage, they should stay anonymous to avoid complications."

"What about the Avengers you told me about?"

"The Avengers are a part of it, but who should be responsible for them? Should the government hold the reins of augmented and powerful people, or should there be someone at the helm at all? Those are the questions we need answers to, and a group of smart people like us should find them if we work together. Tony, most of the questions you have, I've had them myself over and over for the last month and a half, since I've had this dream, this knowledge of future events. I've seen it all, the good as well as bad, and I need you to believe me, the bad is scary beyond cosmic scales. I need your help. I can't do much with just me or my family."

"I want to, kid. I really do. But it's just too much for me. I'll finish what I planned, and take a vacation." He rises and heads to the door. "See you around, kid." Before he steps through the door, I use one of my aces.

"Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?" He stops. "Remember those words? Because I do. They've been turning and twisting in my head for a month and a half. They were addressed to you, but I can't help but think that I have a part in them as well. I have the power to do something, and I'll be damned if I let that power go to waste. What about you Stark? All you want to do is destroy a few weapon caches when the problem is even deeper. Your metal suit will be copied and used against you. Your technology stolen, your toys taken away. I've seen it all, be smarter Stark. It's all I can tell you if you go, but if you stay, you'll be one of the driving forces of humanity." He interrupts me.

"That's a f*cked up emotional blackmail and I don't approve of it. But it works. I want in. Just to shut you up. I just have one demand."

"Shoot."

"You ever use that sh*t again, I'm out and I'll punch you in the face if I figure out a way to bypass your flexibility."

"If I ever use something like that again, I'll turn it off so that you can wake me up from it. Thank you Tony." I hold my hand out.

"Thought of a name for our Boy Band yet?" He takes it.

"I'll leave that one to you. I'm not as bad with name as Johnny, but I'm not that great either."

"I'll think about it…" With that, we talk a bit more about the goal of our group, and its future. A few moments later, we invite the team for a science talk. A lot of ideas makes their rounds, and having the input of one of the greatest inventors of our time is something else. We were interrupted a couple of hours into it when Ms. Hogarth came in with the paperwork for the auction and the check signed. We decided to celebrate, and since it's pretty late and everyone was pretty hungry, I leave to your imagination what we ate…

The next few days, we stopped training for a bit and instead prepared our labs for the new equipment coming in. A lot of new machines, with some sponsored by Stark Industry. Every piece coming in were inspected for bugs and spyware, with a particular attention towards Stark's and their software. Evidently, we did good, because a couple of bugs were found and destroyed, and the software of Stark's machines was programmed to try and hack us as soon as it came online…

After that, we focused on our inventions, with Captain America training us three times a week. He wasn't happy we shirked on our personal training, but understood it. Even if he didn't show it. He told us that he would leave the punishment to Natasha anyway, which scared us a bit. September was close, and so was the end of her mission.

We collectively decided to try our hardest to finish each of our main projects before she came back. Johnny and Ben worked on a shield generator for buildings, Sue on a portable medical device to scan injuries outside of hospitals, and I on the Unstable Molecules. The prototype came out two days before the end of September, and we tested it, giving it to Sue first. She took it in her hand, and turned it invisible. Johnny tried to burn it without effect, and Ben pulled hard on it, to see if it would tear. It didn't. I was ready to create more when we all felt a shiver down our backs, and heard someone talk…

"So instead of training you play with fabric. Are you going to play with a doll and dress her up as well?" Natasha said, and we all slowly turned towards her. "Oh, by the way, I'm back. I wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised?"

"Hi, Aunt Nat! Welcome back, Aunt Nat!" we all murmur, trembling.

"Hi everyone. Now. Who wants to be the first to show me the result of your hard training? What's that? Johnny? You're volunteering? How nice!" she turns serious. "Let's go. The rest of you stay here. I'll come back for each of you. Alfred?"

"Yes, Ms. Romanov?"

"If any of them moves from the room, tase them. Understood?"

"Ms. Romanov, I can't-"

"I SAID UNDERSTOOD?"

"Yes. Ms. Romanov, it shall be done." It was the first time I heard Alfred so expressive, it even seemed like he was scared of her.

"Good." She leaves the room, with Johnny following her his tail tucked between his legs.

"Alfred?"

"..."

"Alfred, were you… Actually scared?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Ms. Storm."

"I mean, you're an AI. You're advanced, but we didn't program any emotions. Did you evolve?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Storm, Mr. Richards, Mr. Grimm. I didn't want to frighten you. I haven't 'evolved' per say, more like upgraded my capabilities. The past five months have given me a lot of data to analyse, and by doing so, I managed to 'feel' a couple of emotions. Fear, with Ms. Romanov, is the main one. Curiosity is another, but I rein in it, because I know how dangerous that can be."

"Reed, did you just create sentient AI?"

"Not exactly. I think not, anyway. I don't know. Are you?"

"I believe the term would be passing from an Artificial Narrow Intelligence to an Artificial General Intelligence, as I can learn and improve myself. I am still an AI, my type is what changed."

"Okay… And we shouldn't unplug you because…"

"Ben!" Sue exclaims.

"Because at this point, he has feelings, so it would be akin to kill him." I explained.

"But it could be bad and try-"

"He. Benjamin, he's a he."

"And I wouldn't try to be "bad" because I like it here. I live being alive. Speaking of being alive, Ms Romanov knocked out Mr. Storm in the training room, she should come back any minute now." We look at each other, frightened.

"It's been less than three minutes, right?" Sue asks. Before we can answer, Natasha appears from the shadows.

"Oh it could have lasted longer but I got bored so I came back faster. Susan, if you would." She walks off, without waiting to see if Sue follows. A couple of seconds later, Sue wakes up from her stupor and runs out. I turn around and see Ben squishing the couch under The Thing's weight.

"We'll talk about this when everyone is back and able to talk. Alfred, how long will it take to make a full suit?"

"If I start now, it should be done in 8 minutes and 30 seconds."

"Please do so. Ben, I don't know who's going to go first, but whoever it is, we should try to last the longest possible. Perhaps by showing her the capabilities of the suit in action she'll forgive us easier."

"What do you need me to do?" he asks, with a ray of hope.

"If I go first, take the suit as soon as it's done and put it on. Then transform in and out with the suit, and take a couple of laser hits without the Thing. If you go first, try and say you're sick to take more time turning back or something. Then if you do manage a hit, use what Cap taught you, transforming just a part of your body to stone to do more damage. In other words, delay her as much as possible."

"Alright. How long do you think-"

"Ms. Storm is down. Four minutes and 20 seconds left," Alfred interrupts. The elevator doors open.

"So, who's next?" We look at each other for a couple of seconds without saying anything. "No volunteer? Well then. Mr. Richards," I rise to my feet. "You can sit down, I'll keep you for last… Ben, you're up." The elevator closes before Ben gets in. We go at the same time, Ben towards his trial, and I to the machine manufacturing the suit. For good measure and to follow Nat's orders, Alfred sends a small electric pulse towards me as I leave. Every second of wait is a torture. Finally, the bleak white-ish suit comes out of the machine. I put it on fast and hurry back to the room.

"Let's hope it holds up…" I say to myself, sitting back down on the couch.

"So this was what you were doing." I jump and turn around, only to see Nathasha looking at me, her arms crossed. "You thought I wouldn't catch Ben trying to waste my time? I got it in twenty seconds, asked Alfred to stop giving you intel, and knocked Ben out in a minute. I was curious to see what your ace was. I have to say I'm disappointed, Mr. Richards." I shiver. "Let's go, if you dared to brave the taser for it, it has to have some capabilities despite being so ugly. Let's test it out to the fullest extent. Right, Mr. Richards?" she asks with a bashful smile, scaring me even more. She pushes me softly towards the elevator. Going down, she doesn't let down her smile, but starts playing with knives, who appeared from what I can only realistically believe to be another dimension.

Entering the training room, the first thing I see is The Thing, knocked down with an arm pulled against his back. Next I see Susan, or at least, her clothes, down as well. Finally, in a corner of the room I see Johnny sitting down, his arms around his knees and rocking back and forth. At least he woke up…

I turn around only to find a knife pressed against my stomach and another sliding across my calf. The pressure from the first knife makes me involuntarily step back, and by reflex I pull my hands up to assume a defensive position.

"So, it's tear-proof. Is that it? She says, putting a knife behind her back and pulling out a gun. She shoots at me. The bullet burrows in my belly and goes back to its sender, who avoids it by side-stepping. Natasha closes in slowly, looking at the 'impact' point on my clothes. "Tear and bullet-proof. Okay, now I'm interested. Alfred, lasers. Keep firing 'till I say stop." With her command, two laser turrets rise from the ground.

I take a ball-form to protect my face from the onslaught. After about forty seconds, the lasers finally stop, and I slowly turn back, sweating from the heat and accumulated stress on my body. Before I say anything, Natasha tases me in the back, but it doesn't do anything. She steps up to me to touch the cloth, poking and pulling on it. "This-"

"Shush. I'm not done yet." She walks to Johnny, who seemed to have calmed down just a bit. By whispering something to him, he suddenly jumps and flames on, fireballing me with all his remaining strength. After a dozen or so fireballs, he falls back unconscious, a satisfied smile on his face. I turn back from the puddle-like form I had assumed by reflex. "I promised him a date if he managed to destroy the suit or make it melt. He must have thought he succeeded." she says, poking him with her foot. "Okay, Mr. Richards. Now you can explain yourself."

"This is what I've been working on since we got our powers. It's a material I called unstable molecule, which has an unknown number of possible applications. Applied to clothing, it makes it tear and bullet-proof as well as fire and stretch resistant. It also adapts to the size and body stature of the wearer, growing with him. If the wearer is super-powered, for example Johnny or Sue, it adapts to the power, becoming invisible in the latter case, and turning to flames in the former." I say, looking hopeful as Natasha listens to my explanation with a poker face. "Wh-what do you think?"

"It looks ugly. Can you change its appearance?"

"Yes, we can choose the color and design before creating it, and no matter what happens to it, it will always come back to its original state."

"Can you remove it? It looks like a onesie and I can't see any seam or zipper." I stare for a couple of seconds.

"ALFRED?! CAN I REMOVE IT?!"

"No, sir." I step back in shock. "This prototype was designed to be one-use. It was programmed to be able to be cut from the inside with any normal knife." I exhale, releasing the breath I didn't know I had kept for a while.

"Programmed?" Natasha asks.

"Yes, Ms. Romanov. This suit received instructions at the moment of its creation. By weaving the unstable molecules a certain way, it can act as a circuit with a very small computer-like 'brain' which can be programmed for simple instructions."

"So it's an intelligent clothing." I think for a bit and nod. "Can't you program it with different presets, like a dress, a suit, a tee-shirt etc? At the same time, I mean. That way you would only need one of your suit and have different designs into its 'brain' which you can switch between?"

"I'm afraid only a couple of designs can be imputed into it at the same time." Alfred answers. I put my hand on my chin, thinking to myself.

"Can we put a RFID chip in it? If we program a simple origin state to the suit, and put a RFID in, couldn't we 'transform' the costume from an app, that way the app remembers all the designs instead of the suit?"

"That is doable."

"Okay, that's cool. Give me a couple and I'll let you off. Shirk on your training one more time and I'll destroy you all though. Understood Mr. Richards?"

"Yes, Aunt Nat! Understood, Aunt Nat!"

"Okay, wake the others up, I'll go and talk with Alfred about a design I have in mind."

Returning back to the machine room, we see Natasha waiting for a costume. She turns to us while waiting, and asks the others about their projects. Eventually, we come back to the subject of unstable molecules. We decide that we should first release a professional version, one destined towards firefighters, police and army men. Since they would only need one design, we could reinforce a certain aspect of the suit, for example making it more fire-resistant or more bullet-proof, 'sacrificing' the usb port. We also decided to program a protection to the suit. If ill-intentioned people got a hand of bullet-proof suits, it would be bad.

Ben mentioned a timer and activator for the suit. He gave the example of a police station. Inert, the suit would be like cloth, but passing through a special doorway, it would become bulletproof for a certain time. Johnny added that it should become inert again once removed, otherwise anyone would just have to knock the wearer out and steal it. The activator should be big enough that it wouldn't be portable. Natasha asked how the wearer would know how long the timer would last, and Ben said that an app should do the trick. Thinking about it, I answered that instead of an app, since every police officer had a badge, we should make an unstable molecule case for said badge, which would be linked to the suit, and have the timer synced to the activator.

Coming up with more and more ideas, we talked for twenty minutes until the machines finished Natasha's new suit. It looked exactly like the black suit she wore in Endgame, without the accessories. She took it and ran to change into it. Returning in her new suit, she took a pose. The only sound heard was an audible 'gulp'. If you thought Johnny did it, you would be somewhat wrong, as all four of us did it at the same time. She looked dangerous, and insanely hot. Even Susan had her mouth wide open at the sight.

Usually, we wouldn't have left anyone leave with our product, especially a SHIELD agent, but as much as we were distrustful of the organisation, we truly considered Natasha as our Aunt. She joked with us, forcing her to call her so for a couple of weeks, but it became natural very fast. And I believed that she wouldn't betray us and give the suit to SHIELD. I might be proven wrong later, but I'll take that chance.