Hiro remained silent as most of the assembled youths bickered, petty issues being raised. Truth be told, Hiro had no idea what to do in this situation. In the past while working for SHIELD, any disputes between the young researchers were settled quickly by the senior overseers of the program. So this chaotic mess of powered individuals was something that bewildered Hiro.

But as Hiro waited silently, he noticed that the feathered kid was staring at him intently, almost with a look of adoration. Seeing as the kid appeared to be like eleven, Hiro assumed that he was interested in the power suit. Hiro did have to admit that it was pretty cool, though he didn’t agree with the Power Ranger comment. While a small child Hiro had watched Super Sentai, the original form of Power Rangers, back in his home in Japan, and always thought that the Iron Man armor was cooler.

It was then that Tony Stark interrupted the others, transforming into his Iron Man armor, and starting a round of introductions. The Prince of Wakanda then spoke, his thick accent reminding of a fellow researcher he knew at SHIELD who was from Wakanda. But that memory was interrupted by Mr. Stark giving a speech about the potential of the team, offering two of the more villainous teens the option of working together or off to jail.

Ashe then elected to not head back to prison, so she would work with the team. Next up was Songbird who immediately revealed that she had a villainous past, something which Hiro knew took courage. But the next person to speak, Nathaniel, also had villain parents. Except his were people that Hiro had heard of, the infamous Joker and Harley Quinn. Hiro had heard many scary stories of the pair, and even Robin didn’t like talking too much about them. But Hiro decided to be more cautious than fearful of the young man, as he did seem to want to be a hero.

Hiro was then amused by the apparent bickering that Michael was having with his symbiote. It wasn’t that strange for Hiro as he had researched an actual symbiote at SHIELD. Hiro thought it best to not mention this to Michael and Viral. This duo was followed up by Chie, or Shuriken if they were using their hero names. She mentioned that her mother was an agent of SHIELD. This interested Hiro as he too used to work for SHIELD. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Then the small child spoke, his attention now on Viral once he realized that he was an alien. Apparently he was also an alien, with a mother from Chandilar, which Hiro remembered was the throne world of the Shi’Ar Empire. Hiro wondered how Sai’s mother had chosen Earth of all the planets to come to, before learning that she was part of Excalibur, one of the many regional superhero teams around the world.

But as Hiro digested all this information, he realized that he hadn’t introduced himself. There was a brief silence as Hiro fidgeted on his feet, gripping hard on the helmet of his power suit. But eventually he found the words.

“Like I said, my name is Hiro, Hiro Okamura. Or Iron Lad if we are talking business, though I may still change that name. Anyways I was a youth researcher at SHIELD for several years, before being kidnapped by a future version of myself, the Avengers villain Kang. Basically he was taking me around the time line, trying to groom me into becoming him one day. But I eventually escaped, stealing this suit. But I kind of miscalculated my time jump and ended up three years in the future. At least it was three years for you guys, but one for me. I don’t know, time travel is weird. So the short of it is that I’m trying to become a hero to make sure I don’t grow up to be a supervillain,” Hiro stated quickly, speaking each thought as it came to his mind.

Tony Stark then began to speak again, forbidding alcohol at the tower. He then sent a swarm of nano machines at the assembled youths. Apparently they were supposed to design rooms for themselves at the tower. Hiro immediately jumped in, swiping the swarm as he designed the perfect room for him. He immediately decided that it had to be better than his quarters when he was working with SHIELD. Hiro started simple, painting the walls white with a wood floor. Next he added a queen sized bed, one much bigger than he had ever had before. Next up was a massive 4K TV mounted on the wall, situated right across from the bed. Hiro then added in all the newest video game consoles, as he had missed three years worth of games during his time with Kang.

Next Hiro added a large walk in closet, a basic dresser underneath the TV, and a bathroom with a shower in it, not bothering with a bathtub. The remaining wall space in the room was covered in shelfing that would function as a library. Manga and sci-fi novels had also progressed since Hiro disappeared, so he wanted to catch up. Content with his design, Hiro looked up at Mr. Stark.

“I’m assuming that these designs will be replicated by large nano machine swarms who will literally build up the rooms?” Hiro asked, “Because that would be amazing.”