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transemacabreTitle: Worst Case Scenario
Fandom: Marvel Comics' Young Avengers
Rating: G for General
Elijah Bradley had never been a Boy Scout, but he knew about being prepared. He read up on Avengers foes, past and present, even the dead ones (especially the dead ones). He asked lots of questions and tried like hell to learn from his mistakes. He'd heard that those mutant kids in the X-Men made wills, and put that on his to-do list, as well. But Eli knew there was one possibility, almost an inevitability, that he could never prepare for: a teammate turning on the Young Avengers.
The histories of every superhero team were filled with sad stories of turncoats, brain-washed teammates, teammates driven insane, double and triple-crossers. Villains and disasters couldn't take the fight out of a team; a betrayal could. Traitors ripped teams apart. So Elijah sat down one day, on a rare quiet afternoon after school, and wrote down each of the Young Avengers' names and tried to rank them according to their threat level. He knew the Avengers kept files on, well, probably everybody, but he needed to do this himself, to see for himself.
Stature. Eli couldn't imagine Cassie turning on them; of all of them, she'd been the most eager to be a Young Avenger. But Cassie had troubles weighing on her most fifteen-year-olds couldn't comprehend. He put a question mark next to her name.
Speed. Eli wrote Threat level: moderate beside Tommy's name. Tommy's past was checkered to say the least, but even Eli had begun to truly believe in him. But only a fool would think that Tommy didn't pose a threat.
Hawkeye. Kate could be a fearsome opponent, but without superpowers she would never pose a high-level threat. Threat level: moderate.
Hulkling. Teddy was half-Kree, half-Skrull, and who knew where his loyalties would eventually lie? Still, Eli doubted Teddy would ever turn on them, not unless something horrible happened to Billy. Shapeshifters made unpredictable opponents. Threat level: high.
Vision. Vizh had an astonishing array of powers, and the precise knowledge of how to hit them to destroy them. Besides, robots were at major risk of infection by Ultron tech. Threat level: high.
Wiccan. Now this gave Eli pause. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Billy was the most powerful and dangerous of the team. The Scarlet Witch had warped and remade reality; could Billy do something similar? He might destroy the universe, then remake it without them in it. Threat level: extreme.
Finally, Elijah wrote 'Patriot' and then put a question mark next to it. He could be brain-washed, telepathically controlled, cloned. Hell, even Cap had been a werewolf once.
[Elijah], said the Vision, entering the room. [What are you doing? You've been quiet for hours.]
Eli glanced up at the clock. Wow, he'd been sitting here almost 3 hours pouring over these names and his thoughts. He rubbed the tender spot between his eyes. "I been working on something," Eli said. "Worse case scenario kind of thing."
Vision walked over to take a look at the paper. Eli let him see; what was the point of hiding it from him? He'd tried hiding things from his teammates before, nothing good had come of it. [I see], said the Vision. [An analysis of our strengths and weaknesses. You are investigating the biggest possible threat someone on this team might pose?]
"Something like that," Eli told him. "More -- who's the most likely to turn on us." His palms were sweaty all of a sudden.
The Vision fell quiet for a moment. [I have run simulations], he said, [examining hundreds of factors, in multiple scenarios, trying to determine the same thing.]
"Oh." Eli wasn't sure what to say to that. "What did you find?"
[I found], and now the Vision didn't meet his eyes, [that in every scenario, the Young Avenger most likely to turn on the team was... myself.]
The Vision sat down beside Eli and the two sat in silence for a time. Finally, Eli ripped the paper in half and tossed the bits into the recycle bin. "The future's not set," he told the Vision. "I don't believe Kang for a moment. Nothing's inevitable."
Fandom: Marvel Comics' Young Avengers
Rating: G for General
Elijah Bradley had never been a Boy Scout, but he knew about being prepared. He read up on Avengers foes, past and present, even the dead ones (especially the dead ones). He asked lots of questions and tried like hell to learn from his mistakes. He'd heard that those mutant kids in the X-Men made wills, and put that on his to-do list, as well. But Eli knew there was one possibility, almost an inevitability, that he could never prepare for: a teammate turning on the Young Avengers.
The histories of every superhero team were filled with sad stories of turncoats, brain-washed teammates, teammates driven insane, double and triple-crossers. Villains and disasters couldn't take the fight out of a team; a betrayal could. Traitors ripped teams apart. So Elijah sat down one day, on a rare quiet afternoon after school, and wrote down each of the Young Avengers' names and tried to rank them according to their threat level. He knew the Avengers kept files on, well, probably everybody, but he needed to do this himself, to see for himself.
Stature. Eli couldn't imagine Cassie turning on them; of all of them, she'd been the most eager to be a Young Avenger. But Cassie had troubles weighing on her most fifteen-year-olds couldn't comprehend. He put a question mark next to her name.
Speed. Eli wrote Threat level: moderate beside Tommy's name. Tommy's past was checkered to say the least, but even Eli had begun to truly believe in him. But only a fool would think that Tommy didn't pose a threat.
Hawkeye. Kate could be a fearsome opponent, but without superpowers she would never pose a high-level threat. Threat level: moderate.
Hulkling. Teddy was half-Kree, half-Skrull, and who knew where his loyalties would eventually lie? Still, Eli doubted Teddy would ever turn on them, not unless something horrible happened to Billy. Shapeshifters made unpredictable opponents. Threat level: high.
Vision. Vizh had an astonishing array of powers, and the precise knowledge of how to hit them to destroy them. Besides, robots were at major risk of infection by Ultron tech. Threat level: high.
Wiccan. Now this gave Eli pause. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Billy was the most powerful and dangerous of the team. The Scarlet Witch had warped and remade reality; could Billy do something similar? He might destroy the universe, then remake it without them in it. Threat level: extreme.
Finally, Elijah wrote 'Patriot' and then put a question mark next to it. He could be brain-washed, telepathically controlled, cloned. Hell, even Cap had been a werewolf once.
[Elijah], said the Vision, entering the room. [What are you doing? You've been quiet for hours.]
Eli glanced up at the clock. Wow, he'd been sitting here almost 3 hours pouring over these names and his thoughts. He rubbed the tender spot between his eyes. "I been working on something," Eli said. "Worse case scenario kind of thing."
Vision walked over to take a look at the paper. Eli let him see; what was the point of hiding it from him? He'd tried hiding things from his teammates before, nothing good had come of it. [I see], said the Vision. [An analysis of our strengths and weaknesses. You are investigating the biggest possible threat someone on this team might pose?]
"Something like that," Eli told him. "More -- who's the most likely to turn on us." His palms were sweaty all of a sudden.
The Vision fell quiet for a moment. [I have run simulations], he said, [examining hundreds of factors, in multiple scenarios, trying to determine the same thing.]
"Oh." Eli wasn't sure what to say to that. "What did you find?"
[I found], and now the Vision didn't meet his eyes, [that in every scenario, the Young Avenger most likely to turn on the team was... myself.]
The Vision sat down beside Eli and the two sat in silence for a time. Finally, Eli ripped the paper in half and tossed the bits into the recycle bin. "The future's not set," he told the Vision. "I don't believe Kang for a moment. Nothing's inevitable."
