Banner sighed and asked, "Isn't it possible that if the two of you work together, you'll be more efficient?"
"You still don't understand," Stark said, hands on his hips, seemingly a bit angry. "I have to win first to convince him! ...Never mind, I can go it alone without you guys, you can do whatever you want."
Stark waved his hands, expressing a look implying he couldn't reason with these individuals. Charles, however, maintained his mild tone, "Not sure if I understood correctly, essentially, Captain America believes his previous method to confront Hydra could still apply; as long as he fights resolutely, he will win."
"But you see the method as outdated and inefficient, and neither of you can convince the other."
"So, you're planning a match, whoever performs better wins, right?"
"Exactly," Stark said, hand over his forehead, appearing helpless. "That kid Peter actually sided with him! What a waste of my time…"
"Wasted time keeping him in the labs till midnight for experiments, till his aunt almost went to the press crying child labor by Stark Group," Connors retorted. "And given the choice between Playboy Stark and Captain America Steve, anyone sane knows whom to pick, right?"
"Indeed, Tony, you should appreciate us," Shiller remarked, leaning on the handrail and grinning. "We chose you over Captain America. You know, if I had chosen Steve, he might have given me the last figurine, you know…"
"What???" Banner said, his eyes widening at Shiller. "Did the Captain really say that?? I missed only the hidden edition of the figurine set!"
"Hey! Bruce, you can't leave," Stark cried out, "Damn, a mere figurine swayed you?!"
Seeing others starting to rise, seemingly about to leave, Stark raised his arms in resignation. "Fine, after the great Stark contributed 99% of the effort, here I am, asking for your 1% contribution. Isn't that acceptable now?"
"You show no sincerity," Strange retorted, shaking his head. Shiller, who'd left the couch, shrugged. "If we are worth only 1% combined, I can concede the other 0.9% to others…"
"Alright! Alright!" Stark rolled his eyes, raising his hand. "Do you want to join my team and help me implement this plan against Hydra? I recognize that you are on my level, which is why I wanted us to team up. As for the other side…"
Stark sneered, "Collectively, they don't even have a single PhD."
"Collectively, we lack a single PhD too," Peter sounded downcast at the Superhero Squad's new base. "The other team holds at least twelve PhDs, with Dr. Banner alone having seven…"
"The world doesn't just look at academic qualifications," Steve said, patting Peter's shoulder and looking into his eyes. "Take you, for example, Peter. You're just a high school student, but you've already outdone many adults."
Peter smiled, "Captain, you always know how to comfort others."
"As you know, I'm a sincere man. It is sincerity that comforts best."
"Putting that aside, should our team have a name?" Matt said as he prepared a cocktail at the bar, with Erica passing him ice cubes. Apparently, they had both joined the Superhero Squad.
Matt had just finished a cocktail when Eddie, sitting at the bar's end, grabbed the entire glass and threw it into his mouth. Matt glared at Eddie, who feigned ignorance, "You know, it wasn't me."
At the same time, a phantom image of Venom materialized, his raspy voice challenged, "That's right, it was me. Any objections?"
Mark swooshed his cane at Eddie, who yelped in pain, "I didn't eat it, why hit me?"
"Don't play that game with me."
Blade Warrior Eric, sitting next to them cleaning his weapon, turned to Steve, "Aren't you going to manage him? We've gone through two full sets of glasses in the past few days."
"Venom, just because you have strong teeth doesn't mean you can eat everything."
"And you, Eddie, if he wants to eat chocolate, just let him. Before, I heard the Blue Spirit say that Venom is still young among their own kind."
"Although it's not good for kids to have too many snacks, it's too harsh to completely restrict them, that's not good pedagogy…" Steve spoke earnestly.
"A kid? That's absurd!" Eddie exclaimed, "Have you ever seen a three-ton kid?"
"I'm not that heavy, shut up, you wimp!" Venom roared.
"How are you not that heavy? Haven't you noticed that you've gained a lot of weight lately? The volume of your slime has at least tripled, how much have you eaten?"
"Guys, let's get back to business," Steve said helplessly, clapping his hands to draw their attention. "I think we need to discuss the previous issue. We need to give our team a formal name."
"We've been going by the codename Superhero Squad, but our team has grown."
"Barton and Natasha couldn't come because of work commitments. The three mutant students are in another galaxy due to the symbiont thing, but they promised me they'd join. We already have quite a few members, so it's time for a name…"
"You're the Captain, you decide," Matt said nonchalantly. "Coming up with a name everyone agrees with is beyond me."
Steve sighed; his solemn voice echoed through the somewhat dim underground base, "The moment I found out that evil organization was still intact, I immediately thought of my comrades."
"They once left the safety of their homeland to face evil on the frontline, even sacrificing their lives in the process."
"If this is the destined fate for all bearers of justice, let us use our inherent special powers to avenge for those ordinary people who, despite knowing the danger, march forward unflinchingly..."
"No, don't..." Eddie muttered silently.
"Avenge!!" Venom stood up, roaring: "I am Venom, I am the Avenger!!!"
The others joined in, and Steve extended his hand. Matt was the first to slap his hand onto it, saying, "Avenging criminals is my principle. The Hydra's evildoings deserve retribution. I don't mind being the executioner and the judge to make them pay the price."
Erica added her hand, saying, "Count me in. The Hand Union has yet to pay for its crimes."
After Peter added his hand, he added, "Hmm, even though I don't have any enemies, you guys are my friends. Your enemies are my enemies, and I'll do my best."
"Then..." Steve, picking up his shield, raised it high, resolved in his words-
"The Avengers, assemble!"