Avengers, the Ultimate Team, and the United States

The Ultimate Team, a superhero team established by the United States government to salvage its dignity after A.I.M. disbanded and the American Avengers turned traitor, had always been in an awkward position.

There were three reasons for that awkwardness: first, they were always compared to the Avengers; second, they could not recruit anyone; third, they had no respectable accomplishments to show. The latter two only highlighted the first, making the Ultimate Team even more awkward.

And precisely because they could not recruit anyone, Carol had, after several months of struggle, reluctantly accepted pressure from all sides of the government and brought Ares, the Greek god of war who had turned traitor during the A.I.M. incident, into the Ultimate Team.

In truth, Carol had wanted Hercules for that position, but Hercules looked down on the Ultimate Team—strictly speaking, he looked down on the former American Avengers—and Carol had no way to prove herself, leaving things stuck in this awkward state.

More than once, she had considered just quitting and walking away, but when she thought about how the team might be handed to someone else if she did not lead it, Carol decided to endure a little longer. So, after all sorts of struggles, the Ultimate Team happily gained a major member: Ares, who had a history of stabbing people in the back.

Then she had brought this group to Avengers Tower to put out the fire.

"You arrived at quite a convenient time. You could even say a little too convenient." Tony Stark looked at them with clear displeasure, even though some were his friends. "Did you install some kind of alarm in Avengers Tower? How did you get here so fast?"

"Actually, we just happened to be in New York, Stark."

Carol was deeply dissatisfied by the veiled accusation