User:Jacky 50A/Marvel;Re Avengers Sandbox 2

This is the sandbox for Jacky 50A's Mighty Avengers series.

Synopsis
Thor leads a powerful team of Avengers to defend the Earth and its peoples from existential threats that infest the Marvel Universe.

Arc One - "Shadows of Oblivion"

 * 1) In a Zone of Comfort
 * 2) * The story starts with a montage of the Avengers' past experiences in fighting cosmic level threats from the perspective of Thor. From time to time, they were seen fighting Loki, Ultron, Korvac, Kang, the Deviants, Set, the Kree, the Shi'ar, the Beyonder, Thanos, Morgan Le Fay, Onslaught, Dormammu, High Evolutionary, the Builders, and the Skrulls. Throughout this, Thor narrates of how the Avengers have fought world-ending threats from time to time, yet despite their ranks, they've always struggled to decisively defeat them, because many of them still end up returning to menace the universe again. Thor claims that the time has come for the Avengers to finally have a permanent solution to these threats, and the scene transitions to reveal him to have been speaking to his fellow Avengers leaders, Captain America, Iron Man, and Ant-Man.
 * 3) * The Avengers are revealed to have been expanding their membership through the 'Avengers Wave' program, and today is the day Thor announces the candidacy of the team he has been entrusted in forming by his friends. The other Avengers voice their anticipation and concerns towards Thor's team, and Thor is delighted over their enthusiasm. Thor proceeds to reveal the candidates of his Avengers team, so his fellow leaders may approve of them.
 * 4) ** First among his candidates is Hyperion, who joined the Avengers prior to the Builder War a good number of years back and had become a good friend to Thor. Thor is confident that Hyperion is able to stand up to the many challenges to come thanks to the strength of his arm and character. Additionally, Thor wishes to recruit him to help him learn more about the universe, seeing as how he hasn't resided all that long on Earth. Ultimately, the trio approves Hyperion's membership and hope that he'll work on a more permanent basis with the Avengers.
 * 5) ** Afterwards, Thor unveils his next candidate, who is also a veteran of the Builder War: Ex Nihilo. Opposite to their reaction to Hyperion, the Avengers are much more dubious about the Gardener and his ilk due to their past conflict with the team. Even though Ex Nihilo and his kindred technically joined the Avengers during the Builder War due to the recommendation of the period's Captain Universe, little is known about their activities after such a cataclysmic event. Thor reiterates that they are simply continuing their task of turning Mars into a habitable planet as the Avengers agreed with them, but Ant-Man is skeptical and thinks that there must be some insidious plot behind them. Thor argues that the preservation of life across the universe is a priority of theirs -- including Ex Nihilo -- meaning that they share an interest with the Avengers' goals. When Captain America points out that they were only allied with the Avengers because of Captain Universe's command -- and that Captain Universe is nowhere to be seen now --, Thor says that he has spoken with Ex Nihilo, and the scene flashes back to a moment in time when Ex Nihilo tells a visiting Thor on Mars about his commitment to life in the universe and how he and the other Ex Nihili aren't undiscerning idiots who don't know the threat that extraversal abominations pose to creation itself. Finally, Thor comments that Ex Nihilo's great understanding of reality's inner workings means that the Avengers will have an advantage in dealing with more abstract adversaries. In the end, the Avengers decide to legitimize Ex Nihilo's membership but ask Thor to keep a close watch on him, which Thor agrees to.
 * 6) ** The next candidate Thor reveals is the Starbrand known as Brandy Selby, whom the Avengers are quite familiar with thanks to their relatively recent experience with her. Thor says that having a bearer of the Star Brand on their side is very beneficial due to their nature as Earth's primary defense system, but Ant-Man wonders if she's actually qualified age-wise. The Starbrand, for whatever incomprehensible reason, ages up Brandy every time she utilizes her powers, meaning that one way or another, her time in the Avengers isn't going to be long. Especially going by the implications of the work of Thor's team. Thor responds by bringing up Ex Nihilo once again, reminding them of his knowledge of the inner workings of the universe, which also includes the Star Brand, which his creators -- the Builders -- are also connected with. A flashback ensues where Thor and Ex Nihilo were seen interacting with Brandy Selby and her guardian in their house. Ex Nihilo gave Brandy a bracelet infused with the energies of the Superflow, which would prevent her from aging upon using her powers. When Brandy asked Ex Nihilo why her predecessor, Kevin Connor, didn't age when he used his powers, the Gardener told her that the Star Brand fired from the Builders' Communications Station within the Superflow was precisely calibrated to Connor. Unfortunately, due to the mishaps that fell upon the Builders and their machines, which were likely rendered inoperable due to their lack of maintenance from the now-extinct Builders, instead of shooting out a new Star Brand into the universe that is well calibrated to, say, Brandy, the Station instead redirected Kevin's Star Brand to Selby, therefore bestowing upon her a 'curse of imperfection' in the form of the aging. When Thor asked her how old she was, knowing that she had been using her powers for some time, Selby guessed that she's around 29 years old, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. In the end, the Avengers approve of her membership, as long as she's cared for well by her teammates.
 * 7) They Desire Something
 * 8) Enter an Unfamiliar Situation
 * 9) Adapt to the Situation
 * 10) Get What They Desired
 * 11) Pay a Heavy Price for Winning
 * 12) A Return to Their Familiar Situation
 * 13) They Have Overall Changed