A few weeks had passed since the bombings. The four children all lived together in a small cottage on the outskirts of the city. They had to steal for food, water, clothes, and anything else they needed. But they were all right--as long as they had each other.

Anya was the toughest out of all of them, and the smartest, not to mention the bravest. She would walk up and distract the shopkeepers while Pietro stole what they needed, and if they got caught, they used Lorna's 'puppy eyes' to get away with it. It worked every time, naturally.

Wanda was the mother figure of the four. She cared for the others whenever they were hurt, cooked meals for them, cleaned the cottage and sang Lorna to sleep with lullabies. 

Pietro, on the other hand, was overprotective. Whenever a boy got near his sisters, he yelled at them to back off and stay away. The only boy that he liked (other than himself) was a little kid named Alex Summers, who had an obvious crush on Lorna. Alex had lived across the hall from the Maximoffs, and he and Pietro used to play together.

"Come, they are protesting today!" Anya chirped happily as she entered the cottage one morning, a grin on her face.

"Who is doing what?" Wanda asked, frowning. 

"The people. They are protesting Stark today." Anya's tone was excitable, her eyes glittering. "Now come! Quick! We must help!" She ushered the children out, leading them down the street where a small crowd had gathered.

The crowd was shouting things like, "Down with Stark!" and, "Iron Man is an iron monster!" Anya expertly weaved her way through the people with her siblings, pushing to the front. She immediately joined in on the yelling, encouraging the kids to do the same. Pietro, of course, joined in immediately, while Lorna merely stuck her thumb in her mouth and Wanda hesitated.

"Wanda? What's wrong?" Anya asked, frowning at her sister.

"Should we really be shouting about this? Maybe it wasn't his fault."

"Wanda. He killed our parents. Accident or not, it still happened. And he deserves to pay for his mistakes."

"B-But--"

"But nothing."

Their small banter was interrupted by a small group of men stepping out the doors. The crowd went silent, watching them. One had a glass in his eye--a monocle--and no hair, and another had dusty grey-black hair. Both were very old. A third man stood behind them, watching them silently. The bald man turned toward the third man, saying something in a language none of them recognized, and the third man nodded before stepping forward.

"My friends!" he said in a booming, powerful voice. "We are not here to harm you. We are merely here to help you, yes!" He then turned back toward the other men, who said something else to him, to which he said to the crowd, "We are here to help you take down Anthony Stark!"

A roaring cheer erupted among the crowd, which made the bald man grin with satisfaction. The third man--whom the children assumed was a translator--then said, "But in order to do that, you require powers beyond his own! And we are here to supply you with all the power you need!"

Anya grinned widely. "You hear that, guys? We'll get powers! Like superheroes!"

"But...I don't want superpowers," Wanda squeaked, turning her green eyes up to her elder sister. 

"Oh, hush up, Wanda." Pietro rolled his eyes. "We need to be superheroes in order to take down the bad guy, right? Mr. Stark is the bad guy, so we need to take him down."

"Exactly." Anya tipped her head in her brother's direction. 

"So, any volunteers?" the translator boomed, looking over the crowd. Immediately, everyone rose their hands excitedly, including Anya and Pietro. Hesitantly, Wanda rose her hand as well, holding Lorna's hand.

The bald man grinned at the grey-haired man, and they stepped forward, picking out seven people--Anya, Wanda, Pietro, Lorna, and three others. Immediately, those chosen were led out of the crowd and inside the stone building before them.