What if...?
In another comment, I already decried the nerve of the What If writer who came up with the "What If the Runaways Became the Young Avengers" featurette. With complaints already how Runaways-heavy the Secret Invasion crossover was, I thought it was a bit of an insult.
Anyway, I'm not a fan fiction writer (I come up with good ideas now and again, but it's a lot harder for me to do justice to someone else's characters than it is my own), but I thought there were enough here who are that might be inspired to correct this injustice. Feel free to run with this (heh) yourself if you want; I'm probably never going to do anything with it. As I said, I'm not a fanfic writer; this was all mostly stream of consciousness. But it's worth it if it gets someone to help correct this imbalance, or at least pass the time until the main comic series starts up again.
And so, I present my first and only contribution to fanfiction around here...
Kate Bishop first realized her father was crooked four years ago. As she grew up, and began realizing the depth of his corruption, she began to wonder if her sister was really that oblivious, or if it was just a convenient form of denial. God knew how long their mother had had to do the same thing. That he obviously deeply loved all of his family just served to deepen Kate's well-hidden revulsion.
She had no idea what exactly Derek Bishop did in the criminal sense. Maggia? HYDRA? (She hadn't noticed any suspicious looking snake motifs around, but her father would be too smart for that. Besides, since when did he actually have to believe in something if it served to benefit him?) Or maybe just a Kingpin-wannabe trying to build himself up? Whatever the truth, it was big. It had to be, where he was involved. Everything about him was larger than life, gilt to the gills.
Of course, once these realizations came, she began looking closer at the "social club" that met at the country estate every other month. When the meetings first started, and she'd been forced into the game room with the kids of the other members, she'd kept to herself, maybe passing a little time chatting with the one boy she actually knew from her school. Once she'd discovered her father's true nature, she withdrew even more, afraid that they were part of "it," whatever "it" was. Now, looking at them, she realized that they might be her way to answers. She looked at them each in turn:
Elijah Bradley, son (or so it was claimed) of Isaiah Bradley. Isaiah was a hulking man, a veteran (of what war, he wouldn't say) with a perpetual scowl and a chip on his shoulder the size of Vermont. Eli himself was alternately sullen and explosive, but Kate could feel something else in him, something deeper... Something scared.
Cassie Lang, daughter of Dr. Scott Lang. She'd been in the public eye briefly when her father was a member of the Avengers, but much less so after his very public, very messy break-up with the superhero group. Word from Kate's upper-class gossip set said that Cassie was homeschooled, monitored constantly whenever she set foot out of her father's factory/lab. The way the other girl held herself, like a rat in a cage, lent some believability to the rumors.
Teddy Altman, the boy from her school. His mother, Sarah Altman, was one of the most powerful, and least known, wizards of Wall Street, a wheeler and dealer who'd come out of literally nowhere to consolidated an incredible amount of wealth and influence in a very short time. Kate almost expected the young Altman to act like her sister, but Teddy never seemed very comfortable in his own skin, let alone the three hundred dollar sweaters and sixty dollar ties.
Jonas... No last name given. That wasn't even the oddest thing about him. Though Kate was always by her father's side to welcome the other members of the "social club," she could never remember seeing him or his parents enter. He said and did little, but his eyes were clear, bright, searching. Definitely someone who could help her.
Then there were the most interesting of the group: the twins. The first night they'd been introduced to the other youngsters, there'd been an awed silence, even from Kate. It took over a year until the mystique faded, and they were treated as part of the group (as much as that was possible). Thomas Maximoff was, naturally, hyperactive and snarky. William was more quiet, almost pensive; he and Teddy had become fast friends due to their similar temperaments. The Scarlet Witch always arrived incognito, of course, and said nothing, at least in Kate's presence. While the rest of the world wondered where she was, she was just one of many mutants who seemed to disappear after what The Daily Bugle insisted on calling "M-Day." Her sons avoided the media spotlight for months, then quietly vanished themselves, moving out of the Avengers Mansion to points unknown. Kate realized she was probably one of a handful of people who knew where they were.
And, of course, herself, privileged daughter of one of the wealthiest men in New York. Lucky her.
Not that it mattered, at least right now. Tonight, she'd decided many sleepless nights ago, was the night. She cleared her throat. The others looked up at her, with expressions ranging from curiosity to annoyance to an odd expectation.
"Lady and gentlemen," she began, inwardly wincing at her pickup of her father's political-type speech, "I propose we go exploring."
Anyway, I'm not a fan fiction writer (I come up with good ideas now and again, but it's a lot harder for me to do justice to someone else's characters than it is my own), but I thought there were enough here who are that might be inspired to correct this injustice. Feel free to run with this (heh) yourself if you want; I'm probably never going to do anything with it. As I said, I'm not a fanfic writer; this was all mostly stream of consciousness. But it's worth it if it gets someone to help correct this imbalance, or at least pass the time until the main comic series starts up again.
And so, I present my first and only contribution to fanfiction around here...
Kate Bishop first realized her father was crooked four years ago. As she grew up, and began realizing the depth of his corruption, she began to wonder if her sister was really that oblivious, or if it was just a convenient form of denial. God knew how long their mother had had to do the same thing. That he obviously deeply loved all of his family just served to deepen Kate's well-hidden revulsion.
She had no idea what exactly Derek Bishop did in the criminal sense. Maggia? HYDRA? (She hadn't noticed any suspicious looking snake motifs around, but her father would be too smart for that. Besides, since when did he actually have to believe in something if it served to benefit him?) Or maybe just a Kingpin-wannabe trying to build himself up? Whatever the truth, it was big. It had to be, where he was involved. Everything about him was larger than life, gilt to the gills.
Of course, once these realizations came, she began looking closer at the "social club" that met at the country estate every other month. When the meetings first started, and she'd been forced into the game room with the kids of the other members, she'd kept to herself, maybe passing a little time chatting with the one boy she actually knew from her school. Once she'd discovered her father's true nature, she withdrew even more, afraid that they were part of "it," whatever "it" was. Now, looking at them, she realized that they might be her way to answers. She looked at them each in turn:
Elijah Bradley, son (or so it was claimed) of Isaiah Bradley. Isaiah was a hulking man, a veteran (of what war, he wouldn't say) with a perpetual scowl and a chip on his shoulder the size of Vermont. Eli himself was alternately sullen and explosive, but Kate could feel something else in him, something deeper... Something scared.
Cassie Lang, daughter of Dr. Scott Lang. She'd been in the public eye briefly when her father was a member of the Avengers, but much less so after his very public, very messy break-up with the superhero group. Word from Kate's upper-class gossip set said that Cassie was homeschooled, monitored constantly whenever she set foot out of her father's factory/lab. The way the other girl held herself, like a rat in a cage, lent some believability to the rumors.
Teddy Altman, the boy from her school. His mother, Sarah Altman, was one of the most powerful, and least known, wizards of Wall Street, a wheeler and dealer who'd come out of literally nowhere to consolidated an incredible amount of wealth and influence in a very short time. Kate almost expected the young Altman to act like her sister, but Teddy never seemed very comfortable in his own skin, let alone the three hundred dollar sweaters and sixty dollar ties.
Jonas... No last name given. That wasn't even the oddest thing about him. Though Kate was always by her father's side to welcome the other members of the "social club," she could never remember seeing him or his parents enter. He said and did little, but his eyes were clear, bright, searching. Definitely someone who could help her.
Then there were the most interesting of the group: the twins. The first night they'd been introduced to the other youngsters, there'd been an awed silence, even from Kate. It took over a year until the mystique faded, and they were treated as part of the group (as much as that was possible). Thomas Maximoff was, naturally, hyperactive and snarky. William was more quiet, almost pensive; he and Teddy had become fast friends due to their similar temperaments. The Scarlet Witch always arrived incognito, of course, and said nothing, at least in Kate's presence. While the rest of the world wondered where she was, she was just one of many mutants who seemed to disappear after what The Daily Bugle insisted on calling "M-Day." Her sons avoided the media spotlight for months, then quietly vanished themselves, moving out of the Avengers Mansion to points unknown. Kate realized she was probably one of a handful of people who knew where they were.
And, of course, herself, privileged daughter of one of the wealthiest men in New York. Lucky her.
Not that it mattered, at least right now. Tonight, she'd decided many sleepless nights ago, was the night. She cleared her throat. The others looked up at her, with expressions ranging from curiosity to annoyance to an odd expectation.
"Lady and gentlemen," she began, inwardly wincing at her pickup of her father's political-type speech, "I propose we go exploring."