Thanks to Lloyd RPGFan and cabrera1234 for your reviews! I would love to see a few more! I'm taking my inspiration for the characters from the sources stated in the previous chapter. Also, if you want to see any character in this story that is not mentioned, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll squeeze them in somehow. Thanks for reading!

-Cascade of Dreams

Pilot: Part 2

This was the day! Ray Palmer licked his lips nervously as he entered a warehouse on the edge of town. It looked like a shady place, but the address on the business card Ray held told him this was the place. This was the place where he was starting a new stage in his science career.

When he entered the door, he was met by a pretty young woman with short brown hair, dressed in an outfit of yellow and black. She held out her hand in greeting, "You must be Doctor Ray Palmer."

"I am," Ray smiled, shaking her hand.

"I'm Janet van Dyne; it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Henry Pym's assistant. Congratulations on becoming his new lab partner, I'm sure you'll both get along great! Come with me," she started walking down a hallway to the right.

"Well…thanks!" Ray said as he followed the lovely Janet.

They came to another door, and Janet grinned. "He's in here." She opened the door, revealing a huge laboratory. Inside, a man with unkempt blond hair was absorbed in what he was studying under a microscope. "Hank," Janet said gently. There was no answer, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "That's my scientist," she told Ray. "I'll get his attention." She snuck closer and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Hank," she said, "you have a visitor."

"What?" Hank Pym's head shot up, and he looked up at Janet in surprise. "Who is it? Is it SHIELD again?"

Janet chuckled, "No. It's your new lab partner. Hank, this is Ray Palmer. Ray, this is Hank Pym."

Hank wiped his hands on his jacket and held out a hand in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you. Sorry, I was absorbed in my research."

Ray shook his hand, "Understandable."

"Well," Janet looked at the two scientists with a smile, "I'm going to go to lunch with Susan Storm, Hank. Be back in a while."

"See ya, Jan," Hank waved good-bye as she headed out of the lab. Then, he turned and looked at Ray, "So, you're then man with an alternative shrinking technology to Pym particles, huh?"

"That's right," Ray said proudly.

"Well, I'll have to see that later. Right now I'm studying a sample of the rare metal vibranium. It's fascinating."

"Vibranium! I thought Wakanda was shut off from the rest of the world."

"This sample was taken from right outside the border of Wakanda. SHIELD asked me to analyze this sample." Hank draped an arm over Ray's shoulder, "And since they asked me, they also asked you." Ray Palmer was nearly shaking he was so excited about being one of the first people outside of Wakanda to analyze vibranium.

Suddenly, the doors behind them banged open. "Did you forget something, Jan?" Hank asked without turning around.

"Actually, I did," a deep voice sneered. Both scientists turned around to face the stranger. It was a man with the face of a skull, dressed in black and wearing a white cape and hood. He held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. At the sight of the stranger, Ray felt a weakness enter his legs. Hank, on the other hand, just glared.

"So, you've decided to grace us with your presence, Taskmaster?" Hank's voice had taken on a steely quality to it.

"I have," Taskmaster confirmed. "However, I'm disappointed that my only opponent is Ant-Man, and his sidekick the Atom."

Being put down hardened Ray's attitude. Good thing both scientists always wore their suits. Ray Palmer stripped off his shirt and pants, revealing his red and blue Atom outfit. Hank Pym shrugged off his lab coat, showing his red and black Ant-Man uniform. His Ant-Man helmet slid over his head, and then both of them shrunk to microscopic size. Taskmaster crouched down, searching for the two superheroes he had to destroy.

"What's the extent of your size-changing ability?" Ant-Man asked Atom as they crouched out of sight.

"I can shrink to about any size and change my density, but my max size is my normal human size."

Ant-Man seemed to be formulating a plan. "I'll distract him for a while, and then when I give the signal, you hit him low as hard as you can. Got it?"

"What's the signal?"

"Oh, you'll know it when you see it." Ant-Man stepped out of hiding, and grew to his normal size. "The Atom is gone, come and get me."

Taskmaster stood up and smiled. He came in with a kick, which Ant-Man blocked. After a few more blows, it was plainly obvious that Taskmaster was the better fighter. Ant-Man didn't stand a chance if he kept with hand-to-hand combat.

They broke apart, "Why do you keep fighting like this? You know you don't stand a chance." Taskmaster was barely breaking a sweat.

"Well, I was waiting for help from some of my friends from below."

"What?" Taskmaster looked down. His legs were completely covered in a swarm of ants, and they were quickly covering the rest of his body. He shook one of his legs to try to get them off, and that's when they struck.

Ant-Man grew to a size of fifteen feet, and socked Taskmaster in the jaw. At the same time, Atom increased his density and slammed his hands into Taskmaster's ankle. Taskmaster went flat in the air and landed on the ground hard. Giant-Man grew to maximum size and laid his hand on top of Taskmaster. Atom grew to his normal size and knocked Taskmaster out with two well-placed punches.

Once both of the heroes were back to their normal size, they collapsed into their respective chairs and breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment, Ant-Man spoke up. "I guess we'd better call SHIELD." He picked up the phone, and then looked at Atom. "Atom, hm? I'd love to get a peak at your technology."

"I'd love to explain it to you," Atom replied with a smile.

"I look forward to it, partner," Ant-Man nodded as he dialed the phone.

The great Dr. Fate was meditating about a foot off the ground in his Tower of Fate, feeling the magical energies around him. Behind him a portal opened up, and another man stepped through. Fate could guess who it was without turning around or even opening his eyes. "Ah, Ancient One. I felt a disturbance in the magical energies a while ago; do you know what that was about?"

"Actually, I do," a voice said, though it was not the voice he expected to hear. This voice was deeper, and not cracked with age as he knew it should be. Fate turned to face the new arrival, and his eyes widened in surprise. Before him was not the wizened old body of the Ancient One, but that of a man who seemed to be in his early forties.

"And who might you be?" Fate asked, his voice sharp. "There is only one who is allowed to come into my home. Identify yourself!"

The man bowed, "I am Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme."

Fate couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Eye of Agamatto hung around Strange's neck, which could only mean one thing. "Then the Ancient One is-"

"I'm afraid so," Strange said, his eyes betraying his sadness.

"Well, you are welcome in my home," Dr. Fate stood up and strode over to meet Dr. Strange. "So you are the new Sorcerer Supreme."

"Thank you. The Ancient One chose me to take his place, and I hope I can do as well as him."

"If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"I bought a house in the city, and it's now called the Sanctum Sanctorum. You are welcome there anytime as well."

"I know the place you speak of. It is one of the centers of magic. Good choice."

Suddenly, a vision swept up both Fate and Strange. Once the vision was over, the two looked at each other. "A terrible thing is about the descend on Earth," Fate said.

Strange nodded in agreement, "We must ready ourselves for the coming danger." He seemed already to be a seasoned Sorcerer Supreme. Dr. Strange left with a sweep of his cape and traveled back to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Dr. Fate went to his crystal ball and gazed deep into its depths. "What is the universe preparing to unleash upon us?"

A streak of scarlet raced through the streets of Bayville, dodging cars and trying not to be seen. There were enough mutant haters to deal with, without letting them know there's one more in their town to deal with. Even the fastest man alive could be late if he slept in long enough. And he was the fastest man alive now, since the Flash had just turned eighteen.

Wally West had gone home for the weekend to celebrate his birthday, and thought he could make it to school on time on Monday morning. However, Wally had slept in and was now just trying to make it to school before first period ended. If he didn't Professor Xavier would have his hide. Wally was stuffing a scone down his throat as he ran, something his mother had warned him never to do.

He made it to the school with ten minutes to spare. Wally snuck in quietly and slipped into his desk. His Math teacher, Mr. Reihl, turned around and stared straight at him. "Nice of you to join us, Mr. West. What was it this time?"

"Car trouble?" Wally offered. Mr. Reihl narrowed his eyes and turned back to the board. He knew very well that Wally West didn't drive a car.

Wally got out a notebook and began copying down the notes as quickly as possible. Once he was done, Scott Summers leaned over with a smirk, "Cutting it a little close, aren't we?"

"You're telling me," Wally said.

Scott dug into his backpack, pulled out a granola bar, and handed it to him. "Good to have you back, Wally," Scott smiled.

After school, everyone staying at the Xavier Institute hurried home for a training session, and to be able to use their mutant powers once again. Instead of getting into Scott's car, Wally decided to walk home. As he started on his route, Kitty Pryde cought up with him.

"You mind if I walk with you?" she asked.

"If you can keep up," Wally replied with a slight smirk.

The two walked in silence for a while, and then Kitty spoke up. "Wally, I, um, don't know how to, like, say this right. But I, um, really…like you." She blushed fiercely and turned away.

Wally was stunned. It took a lot of guts to say that. And truth be told, he like Shadowcat quite a bit too. "You do? Well…I like you too."

"Really?" Kitty's eyes brightened.

"Ya," he said, slipping his hand into hers. "But let's take it slow, k?"

"Alright!"

Wally felt a warmth inside. He was actually really happy like this. The two of them held hands all the way to the Institute. Once there, they changed into their X-Men uniforms for a training session. Wally's was recreation of his uncle Barry's Flash outfit, except it had X medallions on the shoulders and belt.

Wally, ironically, was the last one to arrive. Logan was standing at the entrance with a disapproving face. Actually, that was his normal face; just plain angry. "Watch yourself, Speedy. Your speed won't be to your advantage in this course."

Flash groaned as he entered the Danger Room. If this training session didn't kill him, he'd be lucky. And probably eat at least 2000 calories afterward. If he was lucky. Wally got in a defensive stance, waiting for the surprise to come.

It was the spring Equinox, and the celebration of the Warrior's Festival. The warriors of Asgard joined the warriors of Themyscira at their home to celebrate victories gone by and ones to be had in the future.

Thor, Prince of Asgard, was thoroughly enjoying himself. Especially since the Amazon warriors were eyeing his mighty physique. It was not unusual for Amazons and Asgardians to get together. Thor wondered if any of them were worthy of the Prince of Asgard.

Suddenly, he bumped into an Amazon. "Excuse me, miss," he said. The woman in front of him was stunning. Nearly as tall as he was, with thick black hair and a fabulous build. He introduced himself, "I am Thor."

"I'm Diana," the Amazon replied.

"Ah, I see you two have met," Odin appeared along with Hippolyta. "That's good."

"Why, father?" Thor asked.

"This is Princess Diana of the Amazons."

"And a very good princess at that."

"We have decided," Hippolyta said, "that the Prince of Asgard and the Princess of Themyscira shall be wed."

"Excuse me?" Diana's eyes widened.

"Father, you can't," Thor pleaded.

"We shall begin the wedding plans immediately," Odin decreed as the two rulers moved to join the festivities. Thor and Diana stayed where they were, unsure of what to say to each other.

How is it so far? If you would like me to continue, please let me know. Or just let me know how I'm doing. The X-Men are based off of X-Men Evolution, so I changed Flash a little to match it. I will plan out an entire story around this, but here is the beginning. Hope you have enjoyed it. Keep reading, true believers!

-Cascade