Chapter Text
The Animal Squad: Rise of Nate
By: Neil Vanbot
Chapter 1
I was sound asleep on a nice, quiet summer morning when I heard someone shout, “Happy Birthday, Fox!”
I fell out of my bed, having been startled awake. My vision quickly adjusted to being awake and I saw my dads, James McCloud and Maverick O’Donnell, standing at the foot of my bed. I slowly stood up from the ground, and my dad, James, rushed up to me and hugged me. “Happy Birthday, Fox” he repeated.
“Thank you, dad” I smiled, hugging him back “you guys really don’t have to wake me up that way every birthday.”
“Sorry, Fox” dad chuckled, “I don’t know how many more years I have left to properly celebrate your birthday with you.”
“What are you talking about, dad?” I questioned, “You’re not even 40 yet.”
“True, but with all the missions I go on there’s no guarantee that I’ll come back” he pointed out.
“On that morbid note” Maverick said, “the two of us were asked to go to Terra for a briefing for a mission and we’d like for you to join us.”
“Really, Maverick?” I asked, “You want me to join you guys on a mission?”
“No” Maverick chucked, shaking his head “the mission isn’t on Terra. We’re just getting the info for the mission there.”
“Well, okay” I shrugged, “when do we leave?”
“We’re leaving this evening” dad stated, “so get packed up.”
I woke to a quick blast of warm wind hitting me in the face, causing me to hit the ground with more force than I had thought. I slowly sat up, trying to remember where I was. There was a vacant hammock swinging violently, tied up to two trees, while a second hammock was gently rocking in the breeze. I looked around, remembering I had suggested making the seemingly uninhabited rainforest planet, Fortuna, a vacation spot for myself and my mercenary partner Leon Powalski.
I got up from the ground and quietly walked over to Leon’s hammock, just to check on him. I found the chameleon sprawled out, wearing nothing but his underwear. Aside from the typical scales on reptiles, his body seemed pretty smooth. While my eyes were trained on Leon and his mostly naked body, my phone started ringing, causing me to stumble trying to silence my phone.
“Wolf” Leon groaned, “turn that stupid thing off!”
“Sorry” I whispered, answering the phone “Hello?”
“Wolf, it’s dad” the soothing voice of my father, Maverick O’Donnell, spoke through the other end of the line.
“Hey, dad” I said, quietly “what’s up?”
“James and I are flying to Terra to throw a birthday party for your brother, Fox” he explained, “we were hoping you would come make an appearance.”
“I’ll have to check with Leon, but I’m sure we could make that work” I smiled.
“Okay” he said, “I hope to see you there.”
Once I hung up my phone, I turned to Leon, who looked like he had fallen back to sleep.
“Hey, Leon” I said, softly “are you asleep?”
“No, Wolf” he grumbled, with an arm over his eyes “how can I sleep when you talk so loudly during a phone call?”
“Sorry” I apologized, “but as long as you’re awake, I have a question.”
“Wolf, we’re on vacation” he said, “you better not be accepting some stupid mission.”
“No, that’s not what’s happening” I chuckled, “my dad wants me to go to Terra to celebrate Fox’s birthday.”
“Okay, and?” he questioned, “I don’t care if you go to Terra.”
“Would you want to join us?”” I asked.
“As fun as that sounds, I’d rather enjoy the rest of my vacation on this nice, quiet tropical planet” he said.
“Okay” I huffed, “I guess I’ll go alone.”
“And how do you plan on visiting Terra, looking the way you do?” he asked.
“My dads gave me one of the updated Vibranium bracelets Aguntasz sent them” I explained, “it allows me to blend in with any species I want.”
“Does it hide the fact that you’re missing an eye?” he asked.
“You tell me” I said, activating the emerald bracelet on my wrist.
My transformation must have startled Leon, because he fell out of his hammock. He stood up with his mouth hanging open.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“First of all, your transformation seemed to happen instantaneously” he said, “and secondly, why did you choose to transform into Thanos?”
I looked down at my arm and saw my paws were now large, purple hands instead of my normal, gray-furred paws. “I didn’t even realize that’s who I had changed into” I said, “do I have both of my eyes?”
“No, your eyepatch is still showing” he said, “but the transformation was impressive.”
“Thanks” I said, starting to gather my belongings “I think I’ll start making my way to Terra in a bit. It is a couple days away from here.”
“Okay” Leon said, “well, have fun and safe travels.”
I was sitting on one of the many picnic tables with the rest of my friends, having finished our lunch, during the middle of Middle School Classic week at Bair Lake Bible Camp in Jones, Michigan. We were waiting for the camp directors to come start their crazy games that they like to do right after lunch so the campers could get mail from our families from home.
“Do you think you’ll get anything sent to you this week, Nate?” my friend, Mitch Hoffman, asked.
“I highly doubt it” I chuckled, “my family never sends me anything.”
“Nathan Van Slyke!” I jumped as my name was called out over the speakers.
“I guess you can’t say that anymore” Mitch smirked, placing a hand on my bare shoulder “have fun singing for your mail!”
I walked up to the makeshift stage next to my fellow campers, who had been called up for humiliation. I spotted Josh Bzovi and Matt Eszes standing centerstage, so I went to stand somewhere else.
“Nate, where are you going?” Josh teased.
“I was going to stand over there” I said, pointing at the end of the line.
“Why wouldn’t you want to stand with us?” Matt asked.
“I know both of you are just dying to soak me” I smirked.
“If you sing loud enough then you won’t get wet” Josh said.
“Fine” I said, glaring at them and stood with my back facing them.
After our group of campers had chosen which song we were going to attempt, which we had chosen the classic Hairbrush Song from Veggietales, I started singing as loud as I could. Someone with the microphone began walking passed all of us, holding it up to our mouths making sure we were singing. The two campers that were standing next to me were actually not singing, which caused Matt and Josh to dump their pitchers of water on them. I felt a couple splashes fall on me, but kept singing until Josh said, “Okay, Nate, you can stop singing.”
“Thank you” I said, grabbing my mail.
“Wait, Josh” Matt said, before I could walk away “looks like there’s another package here for Nathan and he’s not singing anymore.”
“What!” I yelled, “That’s not how this works! I sang so I should get both items.”
“I don’t know, Nate” Josh said, as they grabbed some new pitchers of water “Matt’s got a point.”
“But I already have some mail in my hands” I said, hesitantly backing up while holding up the aforementioned letter.
Alphonso Mackenzie, this tall, muscular, dark-skinned, bald man, who was one of my cabin leaders, grabbed my letter out of my hand saying, “I’ll hold onto that for you, bud.”
I turned my full, undivided attention back on Josh and Matt, who had stepped off of the stage and held up their pitchers of water, ready to drench me. I immediately began thinking of songs to sing and continued to back away from the two adults who still hadn’t thrown the water at me. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” I began singing as loudly as I could.
I got interrupted as Matt quickly tossed all the water in his pitcher at me and I got soaked. “What was that for?” I asked, “I was singing!”
“You weren’t singing the Hairbrush Song” he smirked.
“I didn’t know I was supposed to still be singing that” I replied, as the water was dripping from my clothes.
Josh hadn’t thrown his water on me yet and I saw his face change from his playful expression to more of an apologetic look. “Here, Nate” he said, dumping the water on the ground and handing me the package “you sang enough to earn your mail and now you’ve got wet.”
“Thank you, Josh” I sighed, as I took the package.
“Alright, kids, go enjoy your horizontal hour” Josh announced.
I was walking back to my cabin, and I looked around to see if anybody was watching and instinctively began warming my body up with my heat-based abilities. Not enough for my clothes to start burning off my body, but enough for my clothes to dry off a little faster. Once I got back to my cabin, I sat on my bunk and began opening the package I had gotten. In it were three bags of Skittles, my favorite candy, and an envelope with Bobby’s handwriting. I began reading it in my head. “Hey, Nate. I hope you’re having a great time at your bible camp, though I’m sure you can’t be having that much fun since I’m not there.” I laughed after reading that part, then continued, “I can’t wait for you to get back and tell me all about the fun you didn’t have. P.S. here’s a couple bags of Skittles to get you through the week. See you soon. Love, your very cool and sexy boyfriend, Bobby.”
“Good letter?” the deep voice of Alphonso echoed from nearby.
“Yeah” I said, trying to smile less.
“Man, the only time I’ve ever seen a man smile like that is when there was a special lady in their life” he stated, “so who’s the lucky girl to get you smiling like this?”
“His name is Bobby Drake” I paused, before continuing “he’s my boyfriend.”
“I wasn’t expecting that response” he said, calmly “oh, before I forget. Here’s that other letter I took from you before you got wet.”
“Thank you, Alphonso” I said.
“Hey, I thought I told you it was okay to call me Mack” he smiled, patting my shoulder.
“Oh, right. Sorry, Mack” I said, correcting myself.
“Hey, you’re a good kid, Nate” he said, “so, what did this boyfriend of yours write for you to be smiling this much?”
“Here, read it for yourself” I said, showing Mack the letter.
As he was reading Bobby’s letter, I opened the other envelope and saw it wasn’t a letter, but a party invitation for James McCloud Jr. this Saturday at Dunning Park. Mack chuckled and handed me the letter back. “You’ve certainly got yourself a funny man, here” he stated, “how long have you known him?”
“Since 2001” I said, “we met in first grade. Well, my second attempt at first grade. He was new to town and had started school a year later than normal. We were best friends first.”
“I can tell by the way your face lights up that you really seem to love this boy” Mack pointed out, “I can see why Coulson brings up your name so often.”
“What?” I asked, looking up at the large man sitting next to me.
“Uh” he said, stalling as he realized his mistake.
“You’re from SHIELD, aren’t you?” I asked, lowering my voice.
“Yeah” he replied, “Sharon and Coulson wanted someone to look after you while you were at camp, and well, I’m one of the only people in SHIELD who is a believer.”
“What did they think would happen while I’m at camp?” I asked.
“They weren’t specific, but they did tell me about how you’ve got some new abilities that you’re still learning to control” he explained, “which reminds me, how did your clothes get dry so fast?”
“Uh, it’s summer” I pointed out, “clothes get dry fast in the summer.”
“Not within minutes of being dripping wet” he said, “look, you’re not in trouble. You just need to be careful when using this ability of yours. I don’t want to see you accidentally set this cool camp of yours ablaze.”
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying” I said, “that’s why I wear the bodysuit, that Fitzsimmons made, while I sleep. I know I’m a lot more likely to burn something while I’m asleep when I’m not in control of my body.”
Mack smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder “Sharon and Coulson told me how smart of a kid you were.”
The rest of the campers finally returned to our cabin and everyone got to enjoy a nice, quiet hour of rest. I looked at my watch and said, “Oh, look, it’s time for free time.”
“What are you going to do?” Mack asked, as the rest of the cabin quickly emptied.
“I’ve been working on my archery skills all week” I said, “so I’d like to spend a bit more time with that. You’re welcome to come watch if you want.”
“Yeah, I’d like that” he smiled, “I don’t know much about archery, but I have a lot of respect for those who practice the skill.”
So the two of us headed over to the archery range. Luckily for me there were no other campers at the archery range so I spent a lot of time perfecting the little things such as my stance and grip. With each change I made, I got that much closer to landing a bullseye. After a while Mack said, “It looks like you’ve made some nice progress today. Want to go do something else before we have to go to dinner?”
“I was thinking about going to the craft barn and make a gift for my friend’s birthday” I said, “it’s his birthday today, but I got invited to a party for him this Saturday.”
As we were putting away our archery equipment, Mack turned to me saying, “You know what, I think I’m going to go get changed and sit by the pool.”
“You’re not going to swim?” I asked.
“I might at some point, but I’d rather relax and soak up some vitamin D” he smirked.
Mack and I were walking in the same direction for a bit, but once we got to the point where we were supposed to split up, I decided to follow him.
“You know what, it’s only Wednesday” I said, “I have plenty of time to make something for James. Do you mind if I join you for some sunbathing?”
“I would love to spend more time with you” he smiled.
When we got back to the empty cabin, I found my swimsuit and towel and started to strip off my clothes. Curiosity took hold so I glanced in Mack’s direction, trying to get a sneak peek of him while he was changing. I tried to look away from Mack but got so distracted by the otherworldly figure in front of me. The size of his pecs and biceps were so alluring that I almost didn’t hear when Mack said, “Nate, are you okay?”
“Yeah” I said, snapping back to reality “I’m so sorry for staring.”
“Hey, you’re a teenager” he chuckled, “you’re bound to be curious about how your body looks compared to another man.”
“Honestly, I hadn’t even been looking at your lower body” I blushed, “your chest and arms are so large that I was completely distracted from everything else.”
“Thanks, buddy” he said, still chuckling “are you sure you didn’t get a little peek at my swimsuit area?”
“I swear I didn’t” I confirmed, “not that I didn’t want to, but I’m sure none of my body can really measure up to yours.”
Mack seemed to silently give my body the once-over. “You look to have a good amount of muscle for a 14-year-old Cross Country runner” he complimented.
“So, you’re not mad at me for looking at you while you were changing?” I asked.
“No, I’m not mad” he said, after having a good hearty laugh “I’m more disappointed that you would let me catch you. You’ve got a long way to go before you become an agent of SHIELD.”
“I certainly hope so” I chuckled, “I’m not even in high school yet.”
“Alright, kiddo, I’m going to go get some vitamin D” he said, grabbing his towel and walking out the door.