| abstract | - Previously on Marvel's Young Avengers… -All I could think about was going back in time, finding the Avengers and making sure that when Kang found me, I’d be ready for him.- -I mean, it’s not as if we were talking about Kang.- Speed chuckled. However, the Avengers were even more serious after the comment. -Uh oh… Are we talking about Kang?- -Maybe I’m not a hero. Maybe I am a threat. And I cannot put you in risk… I can’t put any of you in risk.- Iron Lad told Stature. -Remember your doubts? That maybe you weren’t a hero? This proves you are. You can be anything you want to be, not just Kang the Conqueror.- Cassie smiled and kissed Nate again, tightening her grip. The Young Avengers arrived at the Mansion, where Iron Man and Captain America were waiting for them. -Where were you?- -David and Nate had been captured by a Kree.- Stature explained. -That’s is still irresponsible.- Captain America shook his head briefly. -Part of being a hero is knowing when to ask for help! You have parents we have to report to! How can I go to Mr. Bishop and tell him I don’t know where his daughter is?!- -He wouldn’t care to be honest… He’s too busy with Heather.- Kate muttered mockingly. Suddenly, the Mansion’s grounds started shaking. -Noh-Varr again?- Prodigy looked up. Suddenly, the Mansion’s roof was torn apart by the Growing Man, tossing the Avengers away. -Where is he?!? WHERE IS THE MASTER?!- The robot yelled. -Who is this guy?- Speed asked. -The Growing Man.- Wiccan answered. -He fought Thor, the Avengers…- -God, you really are fanboys, aren’t you?- Iron Man asked. -Whatever you do, don’t—- Captain America started, -—Hit him…- -Now you tell me.- Hulkling muttered, having already hit the robot. -The more you hit him the more he—grows…- Steve explained, but the Growing Man wasn’t reacting. -I don’t know, sir. His growth seems to have been… Stunted.- Teddy looked at the robot. -Well, that’s never happened before.- Cap scrunched his face. -I guess they don’t make ‘em like they—- Iron Man shrugged, but the Growing Man started glowing. -—Used to…?- Small Growing Men started coming out of the original robot, asking “Where is the Master?”. -Okay, this completely violates Growing Man continuity.- Wiccan affirmed, as the Growing Men surrounded the Young Avengers. -What do we do?- Iron Lad asked. -We’re fanboys, aren’t we?- Hulkling looked at his teammates. -So, we collect them all.- -How?- Stature asked. -Don’t fight them.- Prodigy replied. -Subdue them.- As the Young Avengers started getting rid of the Growing Men, the robots kept on asking for their Master’s location. -I think they want their Master.- Hulkling chuckled. -Who the hell is their Master?- Speed asked. -KANG!- Prodigy yelled, as a Growing Man jumped on his back. -Kang?- Iron Lad asked. -Oh my god… They’re stimuloids. I invented them…- Nate looked at Billy. -Wiccan, can you hold them back?- -How? They’re lightning-proof.- William shrugged. -Use your other powers.- -Are you sure? I don’t know if I—- -DO IT!- -You don’t have to yell…- Wiccan replied, making the Growing Men stand still. -I AM KANG.- Iron Lad flew up, making himself visible to all the robots. -I AM YOUR MASTER!- -Master!- The Growing Men started exclaiming in unison, before getting on their knees and looking up. Suddenly, blue energy rays started coming out of their faces. -What are they doing?- Iron Man asked. -Sending a signal.- Iron Lad explained. -Letting Kang know they found me. He’s coming… We have to prepare.- Captain America and Iron Man led the Young Avengers to a vault inside the Mansion. -Inside this room we have the most powerful artifacts we have ever got our hands on. Pick carefully.- Stark informed them. Before going inside the room, Nate looked at Iron Man. -Thank you for doing this. If we can stop Kang, I can stay here. And I’ll never have to become Kang the Conqueror. I can be a hero. Like you.- -Then I guess you’d better suit up.- Right after the Young Avengers had walked inside the vault, Iron Man locked it behind them. -One last question. I—- Nate turned around. -Hey, the door’s locked. Cap? Iron Man? Guys…?- Iron Lad started knocking the glass. Captain America and Iron Man walked back to the main room. -They’re kids, Cap…- Tony looked at Steve. -If Kang does show up…- -You know what they say, gentlemen…- A voice was heard behind them. -… Speak of the devil… And the devil, he shall appear.- Kang showed himself to the heroes. Iron Man quickly put his repulsor gauntlets in front of him and fired them at Kang, who picked up Captain America’s shield. -I’m not here to fight, Captain. I’m here for information. So, tell me… Where is the boy?- He asked, firing an electric blast at the Avengers. Rogers fell to his knees and looked up at Kang. -Wha—What boy?- -In my recent time travels, I regrettably gave my younger self a preview of his future conquests. The lad rebelled and, according to my scouts, is hiding here, in the past, attempting to escape his future. So I’ve come to put him back where he belongs. And you’re going to help me… Or this world will be terminated.- -We are so dead.- David muttered. -Prodigy, we’ll be fine.- Nate encouraged him. -Iron Lad’s right.- Wiccan nodded. -We’re ready for this. Kind of. Aren’t we?- -Guys, they locked us in here thirty minutes ago. There is no gear in here. They’re not training us. They’re keeping us here till the battle with Kang is over… If it ever is.- Speed muttered. -They wouldn’t do that…- Billy tried to comfort himself. -Billy, come on.- Prodigy looked at his teammate. -If you were Captain America and you had under your charge six super-powered fanboys and an outstanding archer before a fight with Kang, what would you do?- -We are so dead.- Wiccan muttered. -Billy, can’t you just make the door disappear?- Kate asked. -I’m in such a terrible emotional state… I’m scared I might disappear something else… Even one of you.- -Teddy, what about you?- Speed asked. Hulkling walked to the door and tried to open it, but it didn’t give in. -Looks like adamantium.- -Wait… I have an idea.- Alleyne said. -Tommy, have you ever phased through a physical object?- -Do what?- Shepherd scrunched his face. -Phase through physical objects. There is something called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: You can't know both location and momentum. This is because a particle (in this case, a speedster) actually doesn't have a well-defined both of them. If you're going really fast, like c-fast, the location becomes less defined. Look at it this way: According to quantum physics, there's a 90% chance that you're within some unimaginably small distance of where Newton says you should be, and there's a 50% chance that you're within some even smaller distance. We're talking really small; like the size of an electron orbital if the object is an electron, and the distance is inversely proportional to mass. Speedsters can really mess with relativity. That's common knowledge. What they do is, they vibrate their molecules in such a way that this uncertainty is larger than the thickness of the wall. If they're up against a wall and there's a 75% chance that they're within one wall-thickness of where Newton says they should be, well then they very well might not be. They're not so much moving through the wall as they are setting themselves up so that they might already be on the other side.- -I didn’t understand a single word…- Teddy looked at Billy, who shrugged. -Just tell me what I have to do.- Speed asked, putting his hands on the vault’s door. -Make yourself vibrate as fast as you can and, once you’re on the other side, type in 08151917.- Tommy closed his eyes and started vibrating. After some seconds, he disappeared from his teammates’ sight and appeared on the other side, falling to the ground. Standing up quickly, he typed in the numbers David told him and the door opened. -What is your answer, gentlemen?- Kang asked the Avengers. -Help me recover the boy… Or force me to destroy this whole world?- -Can I give you a little advice, Kang?- Iron Man smirked. -Tony, don’t…- Cap muttered -Never threaten me in my own house.- Stark fired repulsor blasts at the Conqueror, grabbing his Tachyon Gun. -This is pointless.- Kang muttered on the ground. -It’s fun for me.- Iron Man smiled. -We’re wasting time!- Kang took his helmet off. -If I don’t return young Kang to his proper place in the timestream…- -Then he’ll never become Kang the Conqueror.- Captain America deduced. -And you will cease to exist.- Iron Man continued. -Yeah, I’m not seeing the downside.- -The “downside” is that reality, as you know it, will cease to exist. If I never become Kang the Conqueror, then the Avengers and I will have never met.- -I think we can live with that.- Tony shrugged. -Think again. Because if Avengers history changes, so must its present, starting by Monica Rambeau and Dane Whitman never joining you. Look around you, it’s changing already.- The heroes looked around and found themselves among debris and ashes belonging to the Mansion, as well as the skyscrapers around them destroyed. -As long as the boy remains here, your lives and the lives of everyone you hold dear, will be altered irrevocably. And not, it would seem, for the better. Are you two willing to take responsibility for that?- -We have to get up there.- Iron Lad said, suiting up. -You’re not going anywhere.- Kate Bishop stopped his teammate. -Why not?- -Because if Kang sees you…- Hulkling started. -He won’t. He’s looking for “young Kang”… And I am Iron Lad.- Nate put his helmet on. -Cap! Your shield…!- Iron Man exclaimed, looking at his teammate. -Our uniforms… They’re… Different.- -If you want your lives back, you’ll help me find the boy.- -All right, Kang.- Captain America nodded. -We’ll give you the boy.- The Young Avengers, hid behind debris just in time to hear the last sentence. -I’m sorry, Nate.- Stature muttered, as the teenagers explored the Mansion’s underground tunnels, trying to hide from the Avengers. -It’s okay, Cass.- Iron Lad replied, lighting the tunnels with the repulsor on his chest. -No, it’s not.- She replied sternly. -The fact that Cap is willing to hand you over to the most despicable villain in Avengers’ history…- -Easy, Cass.- Hulkling interrupted her. -Iron Lad kinda is Kang.- -Yeah, but he’s the young Kang. The good one.- She replied. -And I intend to stay that way. There’s no way I’m going back.- -So, where are we going?- Wiccan asked. -This way.- Speed and Kate said in unison, pointing to polar opposite directions. -I wish I had a map or someone around who knows the sub-basements.- Prodigy sighed. -So, if you don’t become Kang… Everything changes?- Kate asked Nate. -I suppose it would have to. Right?- He replied. -So, the Mansion? The Avengers? It’s all just… Gone?- -I guess so.- -Then I’m sorry, but… Maybe you should go back.- -Kate!- Cassie exclaimed. -He can’t!- Wiccan argued. -I’m just saying…- -Kate, if you found out you were going to become… Adolf Hitler, wouldn’t you do EVERYTHING in your power to make sure it never happens?- -Of course, but… Did you see the color of the sky up there?- -Maybe Kate’s right.- Hulkling weighed in. -If you went back, would you HAVE to become Kang the Conqueror?- -He’s not going back.- Prodigy said firmly. -But…- Wiccan muttered. -We’re supposed to be a TEAM, remember?- Alleyne continued. -And the only way we’ll get through this is if we stick together.- -So which way do we go?- Billy asked again. -Left or right?- -We follow Iron Lad.- David nodded. -This way.- Nate pointed at one of the ways. -According to the map I accessed online, this corridor leads to a trapdoor that’s directly in front of the…- Once the Young Avengers got out, they found Iron Man and Captain America waiting for them. -… Gates.- Richards finished the sentence. -I’m sorry, Iron Lad.- Stark shrugged. -I’m not going back with him.- Nathaniel said firmly. -You’ve got no choice, son.- Captain America replied. -But…- Iron Lad muttered. -Trust me… This is a fight you won’t win.- -I came to the Avengers for help, Captain.- Iron Lad looked at them. -I won’t make that mistake again.- He affirmed, flying away. -I’ll go after the boy.- Kang said. -No. You’ll stay right here, where Cap can keep an eye on you. I’m going after him.- Iron Man stopped him, before taking off. However, as soon as he was in the air, Teddy grabbed his leg. -Hulkling, get off!- -I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir.- -In that case…- Iron Man looked down at the Young Avenger and fired a powerful blast at him, making him let go. -… I hope you can fly.- -Aaaaaahh!- Hulkling exclaimed, falling to the ground. -Oh, my god…- Prodigy muttered. -TEDDY!!!- Billy screamed. -HANG ON, SON!- Captain America yelled, running towards the Kree-Skrull hybrid. -WE’RE COMING!- Once they got there, Rogers looked at Altman. -Is he… All right?- -He is. He’s a shape-shifter.- Wiccan assured him. -And not a very good one at the moment.- Teddy joked. -You okay? How do you feel?- Billy asked. -I’ll be fine… At some point. What about Iron Lad?- Hulkling inquired. -Don’t worry.- Prodigy replied. -Iron Lad can take care of himself.- In the air, Iron Man was following Iron Lad around, firing blasts at him to keep him still. -Iron Man, please. If I go back, billions of people will die.- -I’m sorry, kid.- -No…- Nate muttered. -I’m sorry.- He put his hands up and fired a powerful blast towards Iron Man, who was knocked unconscious. -Iron Man…?- Iron Lad looked at the Avenger falling and flew towards him, catching Stark midair. -Is he…?- Wiccan asked once Nate was close to them. -He’s unconscious. He’ll be fine.- -You’ve come back.- Kang noted. -The fall might’ve killed him. And I’m not a murderer.- Young Richards explained. -No.- The Conqueror replied. -You’re a warrior… Just like me.- The villain pointed his hand at Iron Lad, who in turn looked at his friends and fired a blast at them, knocking them out. -NO!!!- Nate yelled. -What did I do?- He looked down at his hands. -You did exactly what I wanted you to do.- Kang smiled. -After all, you stole that armor from me, remember? I’m the one who built it. And now that you’re within range… I’m the one controlling it.- He explained. -Please! I’m begging you!- Iron Lad exclaimed, before falling to his knees. -Speed… I c-can’t stop it… RUN!- He screamed before he blew up. Once the explosion cleared, Iron Lad looked up and saw Kang extending a hand to him. -Now, then… Shall we go?-
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