The Stark jet sliced through the dawn clouds over Tokyo Bay.
Sunlight spilled across its wings, turning the clouds gold beneath them.
Tony had been awake for nearly the entire flight.
Pepper knew because she had woken up twice and found him in exactly the same position.
Face toward the window.
Coffee in hand.
Holographic display floating beside him.
She opened one eye.
"You know normal people sleep on overnight flights."
Tony didn't turn.
"Sounds inefficient."
"You've had four coffees."
"Five."
Pepper closed her eye again.
"That wasn't an invitation to correct me."
Across the cabin, Rhodey was somehow sleeping despite the argument.
Happy wasn't.
Happy had given up sleeping roughly three hours ago when Tony and Bruce started debating whether gamma radiation could theoretically be used to stabilize Arc Reactor plasma.
Bruce Banner occupied two reinforced seats near the holographic workstation.
Not because he was overweight.
Because Bruce was enormous.
At fifteen, he already stood a little over seven feet tall.
Broad shoulders.
Massive arms.
Green skin.
Dark hair that refused to stay neat.
Small glasses perched almost comically on his nose.
There was no smaller Bruce Banner underneath all of that.
No transformation.
No monster waiting for anger to release it.
This was simply Bruce.
He'd been green since his Quirk manifested in early childhood.
Tony glanced down.
Then stopped.
His expression changed.
"Oh."
Pepper knew that tone.
She sat upright.
"What?"
Tony pointed through the window.
Tokyo spread beneath them.
Glass.
Steel.
Neon.
Massive elevated roads.
Hero billboards.
Morning patrols moving between buildings.
And standing near Tokyo Bay was a skyscraper that dwarfed almost everything around it.
The building's polished metallic exterior caught the morning sun.
Blue-white Arc Reactor lighting ran vertically along its sides.
At the top—
STARK INDUSTRIES
Tony stared.
A grin slowly appeared.
Pepper leaned toward the window.
Her eyes widened.
"That's bigger than New York."
Tony finally looked at her.
"Obviously."
"Why obviously?"
"We don't do small."
Happy glanced up.
"You sure you're not compensating?"
Tony turned.
There was a beat of silence.
Bruce slowly looked away from his hologram.
Rhodey opened one eye.
Pepper covered her mouth.
Tony nodded.
"Happy."
"Yeah?"
"You're fired."
Happy shrugged.
"Your dad pays me."
Tony frowned.
"That's incredibly inconvenient."
Bruce laughed.
It was a deep sound.
Not monstrous.
Just naturally powerful enough that Tony's coffee rippled.
Pepper looked at the cup.
Then Bruce.
Bruce immediately stopped.
"Sorry."
Tony studied the coffee.
"Actually, do that again."
"No."
"I want to measure the frequency."
"No."
"Bruce."
"No."
Tony sighed.
"Nobody supports science anymore."
The Stark jet touched down on a private runway connected directly to Stark Industries Japan.
The moment the cabin door opened, Bruce looked at it.
Then at Tony.
Tony looked at Bruce.
"Oh."
Bruce sighed.
"Yeah."
Happy looked between them.
"What?"
Bruce pointed upward.
The doorway was designed for ordinary humans.
Bruce was very much not an ordinary-sized human.
Tony frowned.
"I designed this plane."
"You designed it when you were twelve."
"Still embarrassing."
Bruce ducked nearly in half to get through.
"I've had worse."
Tony immediately activated his tablet.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"Every Stark aircraft Bruce uses gets seven-foot-six clearance minimum."
Bruce looked over.
"Seven-six?"
"Growth allowance."
Bruce frowned.
"My endocrinologist thinks I'm done."
Tony shrugged.
"Your endocrinologist doesn't routinely break established biological principles."
Bruce considered that.
"Fair."
They descended the ramp.
A line of Stark Industries executives and staff waited below.
As Tony reached the bottom, they bowed.
"Welcome to Japan, Mr. Stark."
Tony stopped.
He looked around.
Several hundred employees filled the atrium beyond the runway entrance.
And every single one of them was staring.
Whispers traveled through the lobby.
"That's Tony Stark."
"He's fifteen."
"That's really him?"
"Is that Banner?"
"Look at his chest."
"His armor actually flies."
Pepper moved beside Tony.
"You're being stared at."
Tony adjusted his jacket.
"I'm devastatingly handsome."
Pepper stared at him.
Tony added:
"And internationally famous."
"Better."
Tony waved toward the employees.
Some waved back awkwardly.
Others bowed again.
Tony grinned.
Pepper sighed.
"You just made half the executive floor nervous."
"Excellent."
"Tony."
"Nervous people work harder."
"No, terrified employees make mistakes."
Tony thought.
"That sounded disturbingly managerial."
Pepper smiled.
"That's why I'm here."
Tony pointed at her.
"Exactly."
The elevator recognized him before he touched anything.
A blue scan passed across Tony's chest.
REACTOR SIGNATURE CONFIRMED.
"Welcome, Anthony Edward Stark."
Tony smiled.
Then the system continued.
"Acting Chief Executive Officer, Stark Industries Japan Division."
Pepper slowly turned.
"Acting CEO."
Tony shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Yep."
"You're fifteen."
"Also yep."
Rhodey looked up.
"Most fifteen-year-olds have homework."
"I have homework."
Happy snorted.
"And nine thousand employees."
Tony thought.
"Okay, that's slightly unusual."
The elevator climbed.
Tokyo fell away underneath them.
Bruce stood near the back, carefully avoiding leaning against anything.
Tony noticed.
"You know the elevator can support you."
Bruce looked down.
"How sure are you?"
Tony looked offended.
"I built it."
"That wasn't the reassurance you thought it was."
Bucky's voice suddenly came from behind them.
"I like him already."
Tony spun.
Two people were waiting when the doors opened.
Steve Rogers.
Bucky Barnes.
Steve stood tall, blond and broad-shouldered.
Not Bruce broad.
Nobody was Bruce broad.
But Steve had the unmistakable physical presence of somebody whose Quirk enhanced almost every part of his body.
Bucky stood beside him.
More relaxed.
Dark hair.
Easy grin.
Metallic left arm visible beneath his rolled-up sleeve.
Tony stopped.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Steve smiled.
"Tony Stark."
"Steve Rogers."
They stared at each other.
Pepper looked toward Rhodey.
Rhodey quietly said:
"Ten dollars."
"On what?"
"They argue before lunch."
Pepper shook her head.
"Five minutes."
Steve extended his hand.
Tony looked at it.
Then shook.
Both squeezed.
Not enough to hurt.
Just enough for both boys to recognize what the other was doing.
Steve's eyebrow lifted.
Tony's reactor hummed softly.
Bucky watched.
"Oh, this is going to be exhausting."
Steve released.
"Dad said you'd need somebody keeping you out of trouble."
Tony immediately smiled.
"My dad said the same thing about you."
Steve frowned.
"He did?"
"No."
Tony walked past him.
"But your reaction was worth it."
Bucky burst out laughing.
Steve stared after Tony.
Pepper walked past.
"Welcome to Tony Stark."
"I've known him thirty seconds."
"Long enough."
Bruce followed.
Steve stared upward.
And upward.
Bruce stopped.
"Hi."
Steve blinked.
"Bruce Banner?"
Bruce nodded.
Steve smiled.
"My dad's read your radiation papers."
That immediately relaxed Bruce.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Tony pointed from the other side of the room.
"See? That's how you talk to Banner. Compliment the science."
Bruce looked at Tony.
"You've known me for twelve hours."
"And I've already cracked the system."
"You're insufferable."
Tony smiled.
"That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me today."
Bucky made his mistake approximately twenty-three minutes later.
Pepper won the bet.
Bruce was hunched over one of Tony's laboratory stations.
Even sitting, he was nearly eye-level with most people standing.
A holographic model of gamma-wave compression rotated in front of him.
Bucky entered carrying a drink.
He stopped.
Looked at Bruce.
Then the hologram.
Then Bruce again.
"So what's the green giant working on?"
Bruce stopped writing.
The stylus snapped between his fingers.
Everyone went quiet.
Bucky's smile vanished.
"Oh."
Bruce slowly turned.
His eyes had changed.
Not into the eyes of another personality.
There wasn't another personality.
They simply glowed brighter green when his emotional state pushed his gamma output upward.
The air around him became heavier.
A glass on the table rattled.
Bruce's jaw tightened.
Tony immediately recognized the reaction.
"Banner."
Bruce breathed through his nose.
Tony approached carefully.
Not because he thought Bruce would attack them.
Because Bruce was fifteen.
Embarrassed.
Angry.
And very aware that every time he became angry, people expected him to become dangerous.
That expectation pissed him off almost as much as the insult itself.
Bucky raised both hands.
"Okay. Bad joke."
Bruce's voice came lower than before.
"Yeah."
"I didn't know."
"You could've asked."
Bucky nodded.
"Fair."
Bruce stood.
Bucky had to tilt his head back.
Quite far.
Bruce wasn't roaring.
He wasn't losing control.
But Tony could see the tension in his shoulders.
Bruce spoke quietly.
"People see green skin and think they've already figured me out."
Bucky's expression changed.
The joking disappeared.
"My fault."
Bruce watched him.
Then Bucky added:
"For what it's worth, people see the arm and do the same thing."
Bruce looked toward the metal limb.
That landed differently.
His shoulders loosened.
The glow in his eyes faded.
"Cybernetic Quirk?"
Bucky nodded.
"Born with it."
Bruce leaned closer.
His irritation vanished almost instantly, replaced by scientific curiosity.
"Self-configuring?"
Bucky looked confused.
"Sometimes?"
Bruce reached toward it.
Stopped.
"Can I?"
Bucky laughed.
"You almost threw me through a wall and now you want to study my arm?"
Bruce adjusted his glasses.
"I wasn't going to throw you through a wall."
Tony spoke from behind him.
"Probably."
Bruce looked around.
Tony raised his hands.
"I'm helping."
"No, you're not."
Bucky extended his arm.
"Go ahead."
Bruce examined it.
Within thirty seconds, they were discussing its mechanics.
Tony looked toward Pepper.
Pepper smiled.
"Teenagers."
Tony frowned.
"We're teenagers."
"Exactly."
That evening, Tony found Bruce sitting cross-legged on the reinforced floor of the laboratory.
Cross-legged still left Bruce approximately four feet tall.
Tony slid a hologram toward him.
"I have an idea."
Bruce immediately looked suspicious.
That had developed remarkably quickly.
"No."
"You haven't heard it."
"Your ideas usually involve violating at least one law of physics."
"They're more like guidelines."
Bruce looked at him.
Tony grinned.
"Okay. Hear me out."
The hologram changed.
A three-dimensional model of Bruce appeared.
Seven feet plus.
Massive.
Green.
Then another model appeared beside it.
Still green.
Still obviously Bruce.
But smaller.
Roughly six feet.
Much less bulky.
Bruce stared.
"No."
Tony pointed.
"You keep saying that before I explain things."
"Because I know you."
"You met me yesterday."
"I learn quickly."
Tony looked genuinely proud.
"See? We're bonding."
Bruce rolled his eyes.
Tony enlarged the design.
"Your Quirk maintains a permanent gamma-enhanced physiological state."
Bruce nodded.
"My baseline."
"Exactly."
Tony changed several variables.
"So I'm not trying to turn you human."
Bruce's expression changed slightly.
That distinction mattered.
Tony noticed.
"You're green. You're Hulk-sized. That's you. We're not fixing something that isn't broken."
Bruce looked back toward the hologram.
"Then what are you doing?"
"Compression."
Bruce leaned closer.
Tony continued.
"Your body stores ridiculous amounts of gamma energy. Muscle density alone should make you weigh substantially more than you do."
"I do weigh substantially more."
"Not enough."
Bruce smiled slightly.
Tony highlighted several readings.
"I think your Quirk already manipulates mass-energy relationships subconsciously."
Bruce looked toward him.
"You think I can regulate it?"
"I think we can teach your Quirk to regulate it."
Tony displayed a wrist device.
"Gamma regulator."
Bruce took the hologram and began rotating it.
Tony smiled.
There it was.
The scientist.
Bruce forgot everything else when he got interested.
"Not nanites."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"Too slow."
Bruce started changing the design himself.
"Biofeedback."
Tony watched.
Bruce added gamma-wave sensors.
"Read neural intention directly."
Tony smiled.
"Now you're talking."
Bruce continued.
"Don't make it transformation-based."
Tony immediately understood.
"Because you're not transforming."
Bruce nodded.
"This body is me."
Tony changed the terminology.
GAMMA DENSITY REGULATOR
"Then it's adjusting density and energy expression."
"Exactly."
Tony leaned over.
"So you could go from seven-foot science tank—"
Bruce stared at him.
Tony corrected:
"Seven-foot respected scientific colleague."
"Better."
"—down to something closer to normal classroom dimensions."
Bruce considered it.
"Still green."
"Obviously."
"Still enhanced."
"Yep."
"Still me."
Tony's expression became unusually serious.
"Always."
Bruce looked at him.
For several seconds neither joked.
Then Bruce smiled.
"All right."
Tony's grin returned.
"Let's build it."
The two worked until after midnight.
Bruce had Banner's meticulous scientific discipline.
Tony had Tony's complete refusal to accept the phrase good enough.
Bruce corrected Tony's gamma calculations.
Tony redesigned Bruce's power-management architecture.
Bruce insisted on three redundant safeties.
Tony complained.
Bruce added four.
Tony secretly approved.
At 1:13 a.m., Pepper entered.
She stopped.
Tony and Bruce were surrounded by holograms.
Coffee cups covered the table.
Bruce was wearing safety goggles over his normal glasses.
Pepper stared.
"Oh God."
Tony looked around.
"What?"
"You found each other."
Bruce looked confused.
Tony understood immediately.
"She means we're geniuses."
"No."
Pepper turned around.
"She means something complimentary."
"No, I don't."
Bruce laughed.
Tony smiled.
This was going to work.
Breakfast the following morning lasted seven minutes before J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.
"Sir."
Tony looked up from his coffee.
"If that's the board, tell them I'm dead."
Pepper glared at him.
J.A.R.V.I.S. continued.
"Japan's Number One Hero has arrived."
Tony stopped.
Steve stopped eating.
Bruce looked up.
Bucky nearly choked.
Tony frowned.
"All Might?"
"The same, sir."
Happy immediately stood.
"Why is All Might coming here?"
Tony pointed toward himself.
"Probably wants an autograph."
Pepper kicked him beneath the table.
"Ow."
The elevator doors opened.
And Toshinori Yagi entered.
Even Tony had to admit the man knew how to make an entrance.
Huge frame.
Bright costume.
Blond hair.
And a smile that somehow made the entire room feel less tense simply by existing.
"YOUNG STARK!"
Tony blinked.
"Indoor voice."
Steve coughed into his hand.
Bucky turned away, shoulders shaking.
All Might laughed.
"Forgive me!"
"That wasn't quieter."
All Might crossed the room and offered his hand.
Tony shook it.
"It is good to finally meet Howard Stark's son."
Tony tilted his head.
"You know Dad?"
All Might's smile softened.
"I owe him my life."
That changed the room.
Tony stopped joking.
"What?"
Toshinori looked toward the windows.
"Years ago, I was gravely injured in battle."
Tony knew about the injury.
Everyone did.
What the public didn't know was how much damage All Might had actually suffered.
"My lung and stomach were nearly destroyed. Your father and Dr. David Shield developed the artificial biological support systems that saved me."
Tony stared.
Howard had never told him that part.
"Dad rebuilt your organs?"
"Partially. More accurately, he helped my body survive long enough to heal around replacements."
Tony smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
All Might looked at him.
"That sounds like him?"
"Dad sees something impossible and takes it personally."
All Might laughed.
"That is remarkably accurate."
Tony's expression softened.
"How long did it give you?"
All Might became quieter.
"Enough."
Enough to keep being a hero.
Enough to raise a family.
Enough for what came next.
"My son will be attending U.A. as well."
Tony immediately brightened.
"You have a son?"
All Might nodded proudly.
"Izuku."
Steve looked interested.
Bucky leaned forward.
Bruce listened quietly.
"He inherited my Quirk."
Tony froze.
Not because inheritance was unusual.
Because that Quirk was.
Tony stared.
"One For All?"
The room went quiet.
All Might's eyes sharpened slightly.
Tony immediately understood.
"Okay. Secret."
"Very."
Tony leaned back.
"But genetically inherited?"
All Might nodded.
Tony's mind accelerated.
His reactor brightened automatically.
"No."
Bruce knew that tone now.
"Oh boy."
Tony stood.
"One For All isn't originally a hereditary Quirk."
All Might nodded.
"Correct."
"It transfers."
"Yes."
"Through deliberate biological inheritance."
"Yes."
Tony's eyes widened.
"Oh, that's fascinating."
Pepper sighed.
There went breakfast.
A holographic genetic model appeared.
Tony paced.
"If One For All existed inside you long enough, continued integration could have affected your Quirk factor."
Bruce stood beside him.
"Epigenetic adaptation."
Tony pointed.
"Exactly."
Bruce began manipulating the model.
"If the accumulated Quirk energy became sufficiently integrated with Toshinori's germline—"
"Then Izuku wouldn't inherit One For All through the usual transfer mechanism."
Bruce finished:
"He'd be born carrying a derivative encoded form of it."
Tony looked toward All Might.
"Does he have the stockpile?"
"Yes."
"The inherited Quirk factors?"
"Yes."
Tony smiled.
"Congratulations."
All Might blinked.
"For what?"
"Your body broke one of the fundamental rules of Quirk science."
All Might laughed loudly.
Tony winced.
"Still indoors."
Bruce studied the model.
"If Izuku was born with it, his physiology developed alongside the power."
Tony's expression changed.
"That could make him considerably more compatible than previous holders."
All Might's pride became unmistakable.
"He is."
Tony shut down the hologram.
"I need to meet your kid."
All Might laughed.
"You will tomorrow."
Tony smiled.
"If he's half as interesting as his genetics, I like him already."
Steve looked toward Tony.
"You judge potential friends by their genetics?"
Tony shrugged.
"I have unconventional standards."
After All Might left, Tony went directly downstairs.
Bruce followed.
Pepper followed because somebody had to make sure they remembered food existed.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"Secure call. Dad and David."
"Establishing encryption."
Howard appeared first.
David Shield followed seconds later.
Howard looked at Tony.
"You're supposed to be preparing for tomorrow."
"I am."
"You're calling me."
"Preparation-adjacent."
Howard sighed.
"What happened?"
Tony grinned.
"All Might visited."
David smiled.
"Toshinori?"
"Apparently you two rebuilt half his digestive system."
Howard waved dismissively.
"It wasn't half."
David looked toward him.
"It was nearly half."
Howard frowned.
"Why are you undermining me?"
Tony interrupted.
"He has a son."
Howard blinked.
"Yes?"
"His son inherited One For All."
Silence.
Howard stopped moving.
David's expression vanished.
"Biologically?"
Tony nodded.
Howard leaned forward.
"Are you certain?"
"All Might confirmed it."
David slowly removed his glasses.
"That should be impossible."
Tony smiled.
"My favorite sentence."
Howard ignored him.
"One For All's transfer mechanism requires conscious inheritance."
"Apparently not anymore."
Tony brought up the model.
Bruce moved into view.
Howard looked upward.
"Oh. Banner."
Bruce waved slightly.
"Mr. Stark."
Howard looked back toward Tony.
"Of course you two found each other."
Pepper spoke from behind them.
"Thank you!"
Tony frowned.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
David was already studying the data.
Bruce explained.
"If One For All integrated deeply enough into Toshinori's Quirk factor, prolonged exposure may have altered his reproductive genetic expression."
Howard stared at the model.
"So instead of transferring One For All…"
Tony finished:
"He reproduced it."
David sat back.
"My God."
Tony smiled.
"Evolution."
Howard slowly nodded.
"It adapted to its host."
"Exactly."
For the next fifteen minutes, all four scientists forgot that Tony had an entrance exam the following morning.
Pepper eventually cleared her throat.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
She walked over and shut Tony's hologram off.
Tony stared.
Howard stared.
Bruce stared.
David stared.
Pepper crossed her arms.
"Exam."
Tony frowned.
"We were doing science."
"Exam."
Howard smiled.
"She scares me."
Pepper pointed toward Tony.
"Good."
David laughed.
Tony sighed.
"Fine."
Howard's expression became more serious.
"You know you don't need the entrance exam."
Tony looked toward him.
"I'm taking it."
"Nezu already approved your admission."
"I know."
"You qualify for recommendation entry twice over."
"I know."
Howard frowned.
"Then why?"
Tony looked genuinely confused by the question.
"Because I want to see what the robots are like."
Bruce covered his mouth.
Howard stared.
Tony smiled.
"And because getting handed admission is boring."
Howard finally understood.
"You want to compete."
Tony shrugged.
"Maybe."
Pepper said:
"Yes."
Howard smiled.
"You don't need to prove you're a Stark."
Tony's expression changed.
Howard continued.
"That name was mine before it was yours."
Tony listened.
"Don't spend your life proving you're worthy of it."
Howard smiled slightly.
"Make everyone else wonder whether the name is worthy of you."
Tony went quiet.
For all his intelligence, moments like that still caught him off guard.
"Thanks, Dad."
Howard nodded.
Then immediately ruined the emotional moment.
"And don't destroy anything expensive."
Tony smiled.
"No guarantees."
"That was the wrong answer."
The call ended.
Later, Tony stood alone inside the armor bay.
Twenty-three suits surrounded him.
Some were prototypes.
Some specialized designs.
Some had never left the laboratory.
At the center stood the Mark XXIII.
Red.
Gold.
Sleek.
Designed around Extremis rather than despite it.
Tony stepped forward.
His Arc Reactor hummed.
The armor recognized him.
Not through fingerprints.
Not retinal scans.
Through him.
Heartbeat.
Reactor frequency.
Nervous-system signature.
Extremis.
"JARVIS."
"Yes, sir?"
"Diagnostics."
"Mark Twenty-Three operating at ninety-nine point eight percent efficiency."
Tony frowned.
"Find the missing point two."
"I anticipated that request."
Tony smiled.
"That's why I built you."
There was a pause.
Then:
"Technically, sir, you built me because you missed Edwin Jarvis."
Tony stopped.
The room became quieter.
J.A.R.V.I.S. rarely spoke about that.
Tony looked toward the empty armor.
"Yeah."
His voice softened.
"I did."
A beat passed.
"Thank you, JARVIS."
"Always, sir."
Tony looked at the armor again.
Tomorrow wasn't merely an entrance exam.
For the first time, Tony would enter a place where being extraordinary wasn't extraordinary.
A school filled with children who could create fire.
Ice.
Explosions.
Gravity.
Super strength.
People who had spent their entire lives being told they might become heroes.
Tony hadn't decided whether he liked the word yet.
Hero.
He understood inventor.
Engineer.
Scientist.
Son.
Friend.
Stark.
Hero was different.
Heroes were supposed to represent something.
Tony wasn't sure what he represented.
Not yet.
He touched his chest.
Thump.
Hum.
Then his grin returned.
"Prep the Mark Twenty-Three."
"Already prepared, sir."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"You're getting cocky."
"I learned from you."
Tony smiled.
"That's my boy."
From the penthouse balcony, Tokyo stretched endlessly beneath him.
Heroes moved across rooftops.
Traffic flowed.
Advertisements flickered.
Somewhere across the city was U.A. High.
Steve Rogers would be there.
Bucky.
Bruce.
And apparently All Might's genetically impossible son.
Pepper stepped outside beside Tony.
"You nervous?"
Tony immediately answered:
"No."
Pepper waited.
Tony looked at her.
She continued waiting.
Tony sighed.
"A little."
Pepper smiled.
Tony frowned.
"Don't tell anyone."
"Already recording it."
"Pepper."
She laughed.
Tony looked back toward the city.
His reactor reflected faintly against the glass.
Behind that light was the theoretical upgrade he hadn't forgotten.
Vibranium.
Liquid suspension.
Integrated reinforcement.
Higher output.
Greater efficiency.
His own biology learning to incorporate materials no ordinary nervous system could survive interacting with directly.
Still theoretical.
Still sitting safely inside simulations.
For now.
But Tony could feel that familiar itch in his brain.
The question that had shaped his entire life.
What comes next?
He smiled.
"All right, U.A."
Pepper glanced at him.
Tony's reactor brightened.
"Let's see what you've got."
Tomorrow, Tony Stark would take U.A.'s entrance exam.
Steve Rogers would walk through those same gates.
Bruce Banner would enter as a seven-foot green teenager who had spent his whole life learning that being powerful didn't mean being dangerous.
Bucky Barnes would follow with one metallic arm and enough sarcasm to irritate all three of them.
They didn't know it yet.
None of them did.
But something was beginning.
Iron.
Gamma.
Shield.
Soldier.
Different families.
Different Quirks.
Different reasons for becoming heroes.
Years later, the world would give them another name.
For now—
they were just teenagers heading to school.
And somehow, that was where the Avengers began.