Part 3

Hours later, they were landing in California. The next two people on their list were Ant-Man and Hawkeye. Templar didn't have a lead on either, and Pepper hadn't been able to keep up with where they had been. Their best bet was to start with the last place both had been, and track them down. With Hawkeye, that would require another jet ride, but for Ant-Man, it would be here near his daughter.

A car waited on them, as they exited the jet. Pepper was glad the company had the car waiting, but that soon changed as General Ross exited the waiting vehicle. With him were agents, all sour looking. With General Ross were several documents, and Pepper figured they were probably arrest warrants.

"We have the field surrounded," General Ross explained. "There are fifty agents converging on this position right now. You are to surrender yourself and prepare for debriefing."

"We aren't criminals, we aren't in the armed forces, and you have no authority over us," Templar shot back. "Move aside, we do not wish to harm your people."

"Speak for yourself," Venom grinned.

General Ross pulled out a signed paper, "According to the Sokovia Accords, I have all the right in the world. You all are in violation of the Accords."

"With respect," Wildcat unsheathed her claws, "we don't recognize that authority. Now let us pass, or your people will be limping out of here."

"Hold it, let's not resort to violence," Pepper hoped to cool tempers. "We too have rights, and there is no law stating that we can't move freely."

"There is, when you are acting outside the law," General Ross signaled to his men. "These two have been acting outside of the chain of command afforded by these Accords."

Pepper deflated, she had so wanted to do this the easy way. Instead she saw the first agents take aim and fire. The Rescue suit immediately surrounded her. To her left Venom leaped into the air. Wildcat ran straight at the nearest agent, and Templar pulled up a hand. All the bullets stopped where they were, then dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Templar lifted into the air, with another flick of his wrist, several agents' guns were pulled from their grasp. Wildcat rammed into another set, their weapons were sliced apart with violent efficiency. Another two agents rocketed through the air, their screams being lost by the horrible laughing of Venom. Pepper managed to catch them, and gently set them down, before they received serious injury.

The fight continued like that for several minutes, before most of the agents were injured, disarmed or had lost the will to fight. This was unacceptable to General Ross, but he had come prepared. Even as his people retreated, Ross let loose. His eyes looked up one last time before the change happened.

Templar was happy that so far they had kept the casualties to just bumps and bruises. Then a vicious, angry roar changed it all. The floating hero turned to see his team being thrown around like ragdolls. The attacker doing this was a red, ultra muscled Hulk. Templar let out an aggravated sigh. How had they created another Hulk?

Wildcat landed hard, before running back at this Red Hulk. The scrapes she had received were already healing and had completely closed as she launched into the air. Beside her Venom too was leaping towards the Red Hulk. Both found themselves swatted back like flies. Venom twisted in mid air to land on his feet, she managed to land on one foot and one knee. They both rushed forward, and this time, Rescue hit the Hulk with Repulsor beams.

The Stark pilot though was trying to get his jet away from the action. The fight was getting closer and closer, and the pilot preferred to be far, far away. To say he was surprised when the jet lifted off was an understatement. The jet hovered for a moment before being moved closer to a hanger nearby. As the plane was put down again, the pilot found himself both grateful and terrified. What could Templar do if he ever decided to use his abilities to harm people?

Red Hulk roared, reveling in the battle before him. The puny fighters were putting up a good fight, but they were not match for him. The part of him that was Ross wanted to bring them to heel, the other part that was Red Hulk, wanted to smash them. Both could agree that these heroes needed to be taken down a peg. That thought remained even as large metal cannister slammed into his head.

Turning, the Red Hulk looked at Templar with pure rage. The behemoth launched, only to find the hovering mutant had moved. For his trouble, Red Hulk was rewarded with two more heavy metal cannisters to the face. Red Hulk raged, lurching after Templar, and nearly connected. Each time, he appeared in a different spot or high in the air.

Now, Red Hulk was really angry, he would smash this puny mutant. Jumping hard, the behemoth rocketed into the air after Templar. Following them were several pieces of metal, which came in handy as Red Hulk caught up with the other man. Xander managed to get two pieces between him and Red Hulk as the monster went to smash him out of the air. The resounding shockwave flung him backward.

Still, he could stay in the air, Red Hulk couldn't. To accentuate this, he used the now mangled metal. He smashed the ruined metal into Red Hulk, and pushed with his power to keep the monster at bay. Red Hulk tried to fight back, only to find webbing attaching him to the metal. He ripped the webbing way, only for more to replace it.

The monster that had been General Ross crashed hard in the field away from the landing strip. He didn't stay down long, looking to launch back up for another attack on Templar. However, a sharp slice through his calf caught his attention. Red Hulk slammed his hand down where the attack had come from. His massive hand hit the ground, but not the quick Wildcat. She did a handspring back, and came up with only one middle claw extracted.

The message was received, and Red Hulk raged towards her. His attention was so focused, he didn't see Venom slam into him from the right. The anti-hero leaped back, but still taking a glancing blow. They landed, snarled and rushed back at the Red Hulk. It was time to punish the wicked.

Wildcat joined in from the opposite side, pushing the Red Hulk away from the runway. Red Hulk raised his hands again to smash, when two repulse beams knocked him forward, making him stumble. Red Hulk reflexively swatted back, screaming at Rescue behind him. Templar joined at that time by throwing more debris at the behemoth.

The team was coming together, fighting as one, and the Red Hulk was slowing down. It would take more than this to defeat him, but this wasn't going to be an easy win either. Their best bet was to keep him down long enough to escape. Templar worried that if they did though, innocent people would become the focus of his rage. He would much rather stop this now and be done with this.

Much to their relief though, help came from a source they weren't expecting. Just as Red Hulk managed to throw Venom and Wildcat off, another fighter entered. Dressed in a white and purple leotard and reinforced boots, a green skinned woman stepped in to stop a blow from Red Hulk, heading right towards Rescue.

"This is not the place to fight!" She-Hulk growled. "You are putting people in danger."

"You must be Banner's cousin," Red Hulk Ross said. "I wanted to study you after your accident, but SHIELD stopped that. You could have created more soldiers with the strength and durability of the Hulk."

"Well that's creepy," She-Hulk shot back. "I'm not sure who you are, but I'm guessing you aren't a people person."

Red Hulk slammed his head into hers, "I do what others won't to protect my country."

"If you wanted to protect America, you would have helped out, instead of demanding obedience," Templar growled, his adamantium katana cutting through Red Hulk's leg.

Another strike left a long, angry wound down the spine of the red behemoth. Lurching, Red Hulk struck out, only to find a metal beam bending around his wrist. He tried to remove it, only to have She-Hulk hold his other hand back. That left Wildcat and Venom free to attack. Blood was drawn, but the wounds healed and Red Hulk got stronger, the angrier he was.

"Get another beam around his wrist!" Templar yelled. "Venom, obscure his vision!"

They all complied. She-Hulk managed to wrap a beam around Red Hulk, while Venom and Wildcat antagonized the behemoth. She opened up many wounds, while Venom kept his attention by taking his sight. While Red Hulk was distracted, Templar sent metal debris into the open wounds, jamming them in so that the skin healed around them.

Finally Red Hulk ultimately managed to throw off his attackers. He laughed at their weak attempts, especially the one who had been trying to make impromptu manacles. He'd rip off the metal and beat them with it, but first he had to take out the woman and the monster. Throwing She-Hulk, Red Hulk went after Venom, but was unsuccessful. The monster was easily more agile than anyone his size should have been. What he wasn't expecting was to leave the solid ground behind.

Templar pushed out with his gift, throwing Red Hulk up into the atmosphere as quickly as he could. He needed to pull this off before the behemoth wised up and removed the metal launching him up. It was at this point he was the most vulnerable, having to focus all his attention to this one task. There was not halfway with this fight though. A fight against a hulk, even one like this, was never something to be taken lightly. Templar lifted himself up into the air, following behind the rocketing red blur.

Minutes later he returned, an unconscious General Ross followed. Gently Xander set him down, and then proceeded to take a breather. They had won, his team had defeated a Hulk. They had only been able to do that by working together and taking advantage of Ross' rage and his need to breath atmosphere. Their intended target wouldn't have either of those. Still, a win was a win.

"Now why was this guy fighting you four?" a slightly disheveled She-Hulk asked.

Pepper answered, her face looking very tired, "The Sokovia Accords. He was trying to take us in for violating them."

"Oh, and what trouble did you cause by doing that?" the green woman crossed her powerfully strong arms.

Templar laughed, "Nothing yet. We were attempting to form a team to track down the one responsible for the recent troubles."

"So, your idea of a team is a monster, a wild woman with knives coming out of her hands, the head of Stark Industries and you, Mr. I bend-metal-to-my-will?" She-Hulk laughed.

Templar nodded, "Yeah, and anyone else willing to stand with us against unbeatable odds."

The green woman's face changed, "You're serious. After what happened just days ago."

"Would never have happened if Earth's Mightiest had been united, instead of deconstructed," Templar interrupted. "We are going to save this world and those lost or avenge them. For all due purposes, the Sokovia Accords are null and void."

She-Hulk took a moment to think before she reached out her hand, "You're crazy, but maybe we need a little crazy. Where do I sign up?"

"Welcome to the team," Templar took her hand and shook it.

The team soon continued their search for other members. General Ross was retrieved in his tattered clothes by a team sent out by the Council. They debriefed him, and his failure to bring in these new upstarts. Word spread about their victory, and other heroes started to come out from hiding.

The world may have had a tragic day, but life was going to continue on. Now, hope returned slowly, after so many had been lost. Their hope came from the formation of a new set of Avengers, ones willing to work with old members and governments around the globe. They however, would not be controlled or intimidated. When attacked, they responded in kind. This was the start of the New Avengers.

Xander rested on his bed. He and the rest of New Avengers had briefly parted. Venom had stayed around New York, doing what he did best, punishing the wicked. Pepper had some, well a lot, of work to catch up to. She-Hulk's alter-ego, Jennifer Walters, was liaising with Stark Industries. Pepper was putting her up in one of Tony's adjoining properties to the Tower.

Xander and Mara had gone the farthest from their new team. At their home, and sometime base in the mountains of Tennessee, they took a much deserved break. The armor of their public personas' carefully placed back in the storage room. Templar and Wildcat would return in a day or two.

Right now, Xander and Mara needed rest, to take stock. Tragedy had led to defiance, and to a new mission. The team was coming along, but more would be needed. With the survivors, the New Avengers would have a sizable force, but he wanted an edge. Their next target was a Titan, the mad Titan Thanos. History would not repeat itself, not again.

"You okay, Xan?" Mara ran her hand through his hair.

He smiled, weakly, "Just exhausted. Transversed the globe, felt the suffering of an entire world, and fought a monster. I'd say its been an eventful week."

"We're about to do that again, but this time the monster won't be so easy to take out," Mara said. "Thanos is all but unbeatable."

Xander reacted as she wrapped her arms around him, "Yes, but sometimes you have to stand back up. Sometimes all this left is to take a stand. He may knock us down, but we'll rise again and again, till his hands can no longer throw us down."

Mara hugged him tighter, whispering into his ear, "That's the man I fell in love with. Rest now, I'm not sure when we'll be able to again."

Two days later, all across the world, a message was delivered. It came via television, radio, and streaming on the internet. Broadcast in all languages in current broadcast at the time, it lasted for five days before the authorities took it down:

"You do not know me, but I am one of you. Recently the world was attacked, and we lost. The governments of the world meddled with those who may have been our best defense. The responsibility doesn't just rest with the governments, those we depended on turned on one another, instead of standing united.

I am here to tell you that isn't going to happen again. To all those gathered, the Sokovia Accords are revoked. Plan whatever protests, call whatever U.N. security council emergency meetings, or any S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Then listen close. We will not start any fight, our target is the being that caused all this pain, Thanos. If you attack us, we will respond.

We will work with you, but not for you. Together we will avenge those who were lost, those who will be lost and protect our little corner of the larger universe. I am Templar, and my team of Avengers is waiting, we are watching."