Chapter 2

Sam and Cap raced after Iron Man, following him into his lab. It was a place Sam knew well, having spent hundreds of hours working there on various inventions. His talent for dreaming up new technology was one of the reasons that Sam had wanted to become an Avenger.

One day, when Sam had been aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier when Tony Stark, the man inside the Iron Man armor, had walked right up to him.

“They tell me your name is Sam,” Tony had said. “I want to talk to you about those wings of yours.”

Stark had been so impressed with the wing-pack, as well as Sam's other inventions, that he had invited Sam to come meet with the other Avengers.

Now Sam was eager to find out what this emergency was. If it had the usually unflappable Iron Man this upset, then it must be something serious , Sam thought.

“What happened?” asked Hulk, who was already standing in the lab with Thor when Cap, Iron Man, and Sam arrived.

“Yes, Stark, why the alarm?” asked Thor. “I was about to beat Hulk at a game of truck tossing.”

“Beat Hulk? Dream on, blondie,” sneered Hulk.

“An alarm came from one of my deep-space probes that. . .” Iron Man started, then trailed off. “Wait. Did you say ‘truck tossing’? Where did you get the trucks? You haven't been down in the Stark Industries garage again, have you?”

Hulk and Thor quickly looked down, avoiding Iron Man's glare. “Well. . . the thing is. . .” said Thor, sounding guilty.

“Focus,” Cap interrupted. “Tony, what's this emergency?”

Iron Man remembered why they were all there. “The probe picked up interstellar chatter indicating that. . . Thanos is back.”

The air in the room was heavy. Thanos was an intergalactic alien warlord of incredible strength whom the team had tangled with before. The last time they had met Thanos, the Avengers had saved Earth from his plans for its destruction. . . but only barely. If Thanos came back with an army. . . well, it was unthinkable!

“According to the chatter, Thanos is amassing an army of Outriders just outside the orbit of Pluto. Once his invasion fleet is fully assembled, he intends to attack!” continued Iron Man. “We have to go check this trouble out . . . now!”

Iron Man pointed to Cap, Hulk, and Thor as he said, “It should be the four of us to go. Sam can stay here and mind the fort with the others.”

The whole team agreed.

A few minutes later, Sam watched as Iron Man, Cap, Hulk, and Thor loaded into one of the Quinjets and prepared for launch into space.

“What do I do while you're gone?” Sam asked Cap as he headed up the ship's ramp.

“You do what you think is best. The others will look to you for leadership,” Cap said, referring to the members of the Avengers who weren't going on the space mission. “With us gone, you're in charge, Sam,” Cap concluded as the ship's door shut between them.

In charge . . . Sam thought as he watched the Quinjet disappear into the atmosphere, bound for outer space. I'm in charge of the Avengers!