"Okay, say your name." Tony's documentary had just started before Pepper Pots had to run from the room in tears.
"Angel, but my kingdom calls me Bluecat, sometimes PureFire." A young girl stood, hidden partially by a table, only her dark brown hair and electric blue eyes shown.
"And, Angel, why did you send an emergency flare out? Are your parents in danger, or your kingdom?" Angel shook her head violently at Stark's question.
"My kingdom does not know of this yet, and my mother— You wouldn't understand without me showing you." Stark nodded, his expression perplexed.
The child ran around the table, not excited, just rushing. With a jump and an small explosion of blue flames, the child no longer stood in front of Stark. In her place stood a dark, tiger stripped jaguar, one only just reaching adolescence. It sat down and trained its eyes on Stark, and it's eyes were the same electric blue as Angel's. Stark was shellshocked. The cat opened its mouth and Angel's voice flowed out of it.
"The planet you humans share is not yours to command. Mother Nature is in charge and things will change one day. If humans don't wish to become extinct, all of the Kingdoms' champions must be united and your heroes must come together with us. A danger is coming, Mr. Stark. A danger that could kill us all." Angel turned, and the fire flared again, this time leaving no trace the child was ever there.
Stark looked at the coordinates that the girl had left behind. She had told him it was her and her mother's cave, just on the outskirts of the Kingdom's hunting and training grounds.
She had told him it would be better to not bring his fancy technology, because it would anger the hunters to loose their prey to a human. He leaned on a table, a perplexed look clouding his vision.
"Friday, put coordinates in." The video ended and a new image flared up. A small stone cave, sitting in a massive field deep in the Amazon Jumgle. Behind it, a massive group of trees formed a structure Stark could only describe as a castle. He focused his attention back on the cave as a pitch black jaguar appeared, its eyes an ivy green, and slightly clouded. Star froze, tensed to run.
"Relax, this is my mother. She took me in after I got abandoned when I saved her. She knows you already. Her name is Jacquin, a rough translation." Angel had appeared beside her adopted mother. Her hair had changed slightly, multiple shades of blue showing where her roots started.
"Man of iron? He small. Suit only hide. Lies." The mother spoke broken English and sat, curling her tail around her front paws. She had a look of disappointment in her ivy eyes. "The Mother of Nature describes powerful human, not weak man."
"Patience." Angel spoke in a fluid language, like a mewling kitten, only gentle, and with words.
"The Champions. Only they must agree. Luck go with my daughter." The mother stood, and with a flick of her tail, spun and vanished.
Stark was conflicted and amazed with the animal's understanding of a human language.
"The Champions, walk with me while I explain." Angel pranced across the field, lithe as a shadow. Her pale Amazon skin glinted and stripes of deep purple shown.
"My brother, Kip, he is the Champion of the K-9 Kingdom. His mother Dina, she is very gentle, but age and grief will make her seem harsh. She recently lost her Life Mate, Dinge, while we were hunting with the Alexander wolf tribe in Alaska. Kip won't trust you unless you show him you would never hurt an innocent K-9. He is the youngest of us Champions, but also the most closed off, after loosing Dinge." Angel had looked off into the distance, and her voice had become choked up.
"I would never. I can't see why people do. They are living creatures, and like us, they deserve to be healthy and happy." Stark put his hand on her shoulder and waited for her to clear her throat and continue.
"Right, so Arrow, the Aquatic Kingdom's Champion, he likes to prove he is the biggest and baddest, but he uses his element too much, actually depends on the water to save him. Show him your suit. It's strong, and he will listen to strong." Angel had started looking to the trees, where a small falcon was feeding her young. "Marrey, She is different than us, she was born with six limbs. Her element is air, but unlike the rest of the champions, who have to use their elements to fly, she was born with wings. She is the Champion of the Bird Kingdom, which also includes non-aviation breeds, like Ostriches and Penguins. Like Kip, she tends to be closed off because of her differences, but around me, she tends to be calm and rational, far more so than the others."
Angel took a deep breath and continued, not letting Stark ask questions.
"Elizabeth, or Liza, is the Champion of the Reptilian Kingdom. She has a scaly kind of skin, but she is like most of us, except her element. She can control any kind of acidic substance. She doesn't use it often, because it burns people and it requires more control." Angel looked at Stark, to make sure he was following along. When she noticed he was, she continued.
"Grace, Champion of the Primate Kingdom. Not Humans, because you guys are a different type of primate. More like Apes, monkeys, lemurs, and whatever else belongs in that. Though, she doesn't really fit, because she is small and graceful, and she refuses to fight others for territory. A gentle ape. Her mother, she is a Baboon, and she is violent. And Ray, she is Champion of the rodent Kingdom. Grace and her are like best friends, and their elements depend on one another, Plant and Earth." Angel now turned and looked Stark dead in the eye. "Wanna take a guess on the last Kingdom?"
Stark opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head. "Pity, since you know him well enough. Last kingdom is the Insect Kingdom. Though they don't have an element for their Champion, nor does their Champion realize he is one of us. And I'm taking a wild guess, but have you recruited any Insect related Avengers recently?" Stark nodded at Angel and she grinned.
"Young Peter Parker. Spider-Man. Though I'd call him spider boy, because he probably couldn't beat me in a fight to save his life. That's why I came to you. You of course have my agreement, and once Peter gets over the shock, you'll have his, I'm assuming you'll have Marrey's, maybe Kip's if he will listen. Arrow and Liza will be the hardest to get. So we will go to Ray and Grace, since our Kingdoms are closer to each other. Then Kip's. Then to Marrey's and finally to Arrow's. But before that, Nature says you need to fight a battle, a dangerous one. Then we will talk." Stark nodded and Angel turned into her cat form, disappearing into the shadows in seconds.