Part 1: Chapter 1
In this world, prior to the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D. after WWII, and the genetic manipulation of Captain America before his time in ice, both mutants and ‘superheroes’ were thought of as mythical creatures, monsters, pantheons and legends. After Captain America seemingly died and became a legend himself, this belief that anything superior to or differing from what was thought to be human still did not dissipate much until the late seventies and early eighties when genetics and DNA were getting their time under the microscope, so to speak. With scientists like Dr. Hank McCoy, Dr. Moira MacTaggert, and visionaries like Charles Xavier, Tony Stark, Nick Fury and even Erik Lehnsherr, the term ‘mutant’ was coined and superheroes were born.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has five main priorities, started by the Unites States government as an answer to perceived threats that no other organization wanted to handle or had the means to handle. These priorities are: ‘alien’ threats (Roswell would happen soon); magical threats, mutant, meta, or super-powered threats (the thought at the time was perhaps other Captain Americas might exist); would-be world conquerors and threats of a technical nature (think Iron Man or Doom). Once Nick Fury took command of S.H.I.E.L.D., in the 21st century, he was smart enough to get in bed, not literally, with Tony Stark, his money and his brains, which led to the marvelous idea of The Avengers.
After the Magneto Incident, that took place in our nation’s capital, Fury and Stark took command of the first responders, a little known team cutely named the ‘X-Men’. S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers incorporated Xavier’s dream of mutant equality into government jobs. The responsibilities of being an ‘Avenger’, Tony’s team of super-powered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, include the priorities of a non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. They basically span from protecting the world at large from ‘foes no single hero could withstand’ to community outreach in the Morlock Tunnels that Xavier would be proud of.
On Xavier’s property, Tony built The Rotunda, one of a few major S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, only for powered individuals. On this same campus holds The Avenger’s Academy, a training facility for powered individuals looking to become Avengers. Nearby, is Xavier’s school: The Xavier’s Institute and its younger counterpart; The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Here is the setting for this story…
