SMSTSS14: The Prime Avenging Moon! – By DSWynne
Disclaimer: SM, R ½, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre (two-part) story.
Special Note: This story takes place somewhere in present time.
Author's Note: This is a sequel to "Avenging Moon" (of sorts).
Part 1
It's been a year since the demise of Janet Van Dyne, the once-and-only super-heroine known as "The Wasp". At a critical time of battle between the heroes of Earth and the invading Skrulls, Janet sacrificed herself by absorbing unstable "Pym Particles"—particles that enable a person to shrink and grow at will—from her ex-husband Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym, aka "Giant Man" (or "Ant-Man", if he was in the mood). The Skrulls had used Hank as their human bomb, and was to be used as a last ditch effort to turn the tide against the superhero. However, Janet absorbed the unstable particles, and allowed Thordis, the Lord of Asgard, to transport Janet to the Underverse, and was transformed into a celestial being to save her life. Hank was angry at Thordis for doing this, but understood her reasons. With Janet being fully transformed, the Pym Particles within her were fully stabilized. In the end, Hank was able to establish the Infinity Avengers Mansion within the twinkle of Janet's eye, as a tribute to her memory…
On this day, the founding members of the Avengers decided to get together to honor their team-mate's memory. After all, Janet was a founding member of the Avengers herself. In fact, Hank went so far as to adopt Janet's superhero codename, as a means of trying to redeem his life for being abusive to Janet early on in their relationship. Officially, the earlier experiments in the use of Pym Particles were the cause of Hank being mentally unstable, as the Pym Particles did not factor in the expansion or contraction of the cellular tissue of the brain. Unofficially, the earlier effects of the particles merely enhanced Hank's egotistical attitudes, and jealousies towards others. In one spectacular episode, Hank fought Ranma "Ronin" Saotome, and did so over the fact that Ranma had once dated Janet before she had met Hank. Of course, Ranma responded by beating the crap out of Hank, while Hank was in giant form. This humiliating defeat forced the science hero to get the help he needed, and did much to save his relationship with Janet…
In the end, Hank dealt with the lost of his wife Janet the best way he could, by wanting to hold a gathering of the founding members, and to honor Janet's sacrifice.
"Verily, Hank has done much to honor Janet," Thordis said, as she and her husband Ronin enter one of the many doors that led to the Infinity Avengers Mansion. Each one was keyed to allow a founding member of the Avengers carte blanche to the pocket dimension without the need to be monitored.
Ranma looks around the hall. Along the walls were many, many pictures of Janet. There was even an assortment of statues of Janet.
"I don't know, babe," Ranma replied. "It's one thing to honor Jan's memory, but this is down-right creepy-"
"Greetings, Ranma Saotome," said Jocasta, aka "Femtron", an android that looked exactly like Janet, unless she switches to "Metal Mode" (i.e. looking like a Hajime Sorayama model).
Jocasta is the caretaker of the Infinity Avengers Mansion, and assists Hank in his projects. In fact, Jocasta was originally supposed to house Janet's original mind, thanks to Hank's rogue creation named Ultron, who was in love with Janet. However, instead, Jocasta received only a copy of Janet's mind, but would become her own person, and a hero in her own right.
"Greetings, Queen Thordis," Jocasta said with a pleasant smile. "Welcome to the Infinity Avengers Mansion."
Ranma turns towards Thordis.
"Well?" Ranma said drolly.
"Nevermind that," Thordis said dismissively. She then turns towards Jocasta.
"Hello, Jocasta. How are you?"
"I am fine, thank you very much," Jocasta said. "The others are already here."
"Good," Ranma said, as he walks on a head to the dining room. "The sooner we're done, the better…"
"Is there something wrong with Ranma?" Jocasta asked.
"Ranma tends to be surly to those who have had caused him problem in the past," Thordis said, as she walks on Jocasta's side. The Lord of Asgard was wearing a simple Viking garb benefiting one of royal status, although Thordis kept her Mjolnir in a case firmly strapped on her back.
"Ah," Jocasta said. "I do hope that he, Hank, Tony and Bruce can get along this evening."
"Yes, one can only hope," Thordis replied with a sigh, as she and the android enters the dining room…
"…And so Janet, being Janet, bought all these costumes, and still can't find anything to wear," Industrialist Tony "Iron Man" Stark said, as he sipped on his brandy. "That's what I liked about her; she always kept pace with the fashion world. In fact, she sort of inspired me to always look my best by keeping up with the trends."
Pause.
"Although, I could have done without the mullet look."
"Well, she never thought I needed to change my appearance," said US Army General Steve "Commander America" Rogers. "She felt that I should be traditional, in that America needed a symbol for what's right in America."
Pause.
"She died a hero."
"I concur," Ranma said, as he raised his glass of rice wine, in a mock salute, before downing the glass. "And I just wanted to say that she was quite the woman when she was NOT a hero."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Hank asked suspiciously.
"Oh, not this again," Dr. Bruce "The Hulk" Banner said, as he stepped away with his non-alcoholic beverage.
"I mean, what I said," Ranma said, as he set his glass down. "Unlike you, I knew Janet, back when she and Sue Richards were roommates in college at Empire State University. In spite of what everyone thought of her, she did have a kind and gentle soul, and gave more to charity—both time and money—than she was willing to let on."
Pause.
"And you blew it with her by letting your 'super-science' run amuck, either by falling into enemy hands or becoming some 'Frankenstein'."
Hank was livid at this point, as he takes his gloved right hand, and focuses it on Ranma, causing gravity to increase a hundred fold.
"Argh!" Ranma yelled, as he was forced to his knees.
"You have some nerve talking that way!" Hank said. "All you did was to have your way with her, before moving on to the next conquest. And don't think I haven't heard the rumors amongst the women of our illustrious community. At least Tony doesn't make any pretense to what a scum-bag he can be in that regard."
"Hey!" Tony yelled. "I'm right here, you know!"
"Heh," Ranma said, as he slowly got up. He was using his aura to negate the effects of Hank's anti-gravity wave.
"What?" Hank said in shock.
"I've trained in 500g environments before, Hank," Ranma said, as he cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to enjoy this-"
"Enough!" Steve said. "We're Avengers! We should act like it!"
"With all due respect, sir, I'm off the clock," Ranma said, as he begins to round on Hank.
"That's fine by me," Hank said, as he prepares to bring out his own personal awesome.
And then, a lightning bolt from nowhere strikes the floor between the two would-be combatants.
"I say thee NAY!" Thordis yelled, as she points her mystic hammer at Ranma and Hank, while her eyes glowed. "Ranma, you're my husband, and I love you, but I will punish you for instigating this farce. Hank, I consider you a dear friend, but I will punish you as well."
Pause.
"Are we clear?"
"Yes, Thordis," Ranma and Hank said unison. The last thing either one of these legendary heroes is to deal with a magical girl whose power is that of a supreme goddess.
"Good," Thordis said, as she calm down. "We all loved Janet in our own way. She was a student of mine, and someone who was like a sister to me."
As Thordis paused, a tear was shed.
"And, in my own way, I think I loved her, too."
"Whoa," Tony said, as he perked. "Now, things are getting interesting."
"Mind out of the gutter, Tony," Thordis said. "It was deeper than that, certainly beyond any physical attraction. We would tell each other our secrets, although it was mostly about Ranma."
"Figures," Ranma said drolly.
"She was my best friend, and what I did to save her life was the worst thing I could ever do," Thordis said as she sniffed. "And I'll truly miss her."
There was a moment of silence amongst the founding members of the Avengers…
"Well, I say that we should toast to Janet's memory," Tony said, as he poured himself another glass of brandy. "We should lighten the mood…for HER sake, you know?"
"For once, I agree with Tony," Ranma said, as he pours himself another glass of rice wine. He then raises his glass, and makes his toast.
"To Janet: may your demise be a short one. After all, in our line of work, whether hero or villain, coming back from the dead is a transition."
"Yeah," Hank said, as he raised a glass of Janet's favorite wine.
"Agreed," Steve said, as he raised his sparkling water.
"I concur," Bruce said, as he raised his non-alcoholic beverage.
"Hear, hear," Thordis said, as she raised her mug of mead. "Hopefully, she is spinning a yarn in the halls of Vahalla with my brother Thor."
With the clacking of drinking instrument
"Well, at least this time, getting together isn't the result of some plot to destroy us," Tony said with a smirk.
Just then, Jocasta enters the room.
"I apologize, but I have a phone call for Queen Thordis?" Jocasta said.
"You can call me 'Thordis', or 'Serena', or 'Usagi', Jocasta," Thordis said, as she follows Jocasta into the next room. "We're all equal here."
Pause.
"And Ranma?" Thordis said, as she turns towards her husband. "Behave."
"What makes you think I'm going to be the problem?" Ranma said in protest.
"Because you tend to rub people the wrong way?" Tony offered.
"Whatever, dude…whatever…"
Meanwhile, Jocasta shows Thordis into another room, where a communication system was set up in one of the studies in the mansion.
"Thank you," Thordis said, as she sits down in front of a communications monitor.
"Call me if you need anything," Jocasta said with a pleasant smile.
Once alone, Thordis takes the call…
A few minutes later, Thordis back into the dining room, just in time to see Tony and Ranma in the middle of a drinking game.
"Ha!" Ranma said, as he downs a shot of whiskey, before slamming the glass down on the table. "That makes ten."
"The day is still young, my friend," Tony said, as he was about to take a shot himself…
Steve notices Thordis' return.
"Serena, can you get Ranma to back down?" Steve asked.
Thordis says nothing, as she stares off in the distance…
"Is something wrong?" Bruce asked.
"Guys, I know that you all wanted a relaxing evening, but we have a situation," Thordis said, as she holds up a data chip.
"What kind of situation?" Hank asked.
"Jocasta?" Thordis called out. "Patch in File 'Orchestra 666-Z' to this room…"
A virtual screen appears in front of the group. An older man of indeterminate ethnicity appears.
"This is 'Conductor', sending this file to the Moon Princess Database via 'RanStar'," the man said. "As agreed to, my team went to investigate the Fault near the Medusa Cascade Nebula. As you predicted, the Fault is a scar in the space-time continuum, but leads directly to a terrible, alternate Universe where the dark, Old Gods succeeded in taking over. And now, they have made a move on this Universe, by sending their minions to prepare the way-"
The Conductor turns his head upon hearing a terrible noise, before turning his head back towards the camera.
"I don't know how long I and my team have left. We might make our escape into the Null Zones, if all goes well. If so, we might not see each other again. However, I'm sending you this data, along with this message. You have to act quickly, if this threat to everyone is to be halted. Good luck…"
And, with that, the screen went dead.
"That's that," Thordis said. "But we need to leave Earth to face this threat immediately."
"And why is this particular threat?" Hank asked. "Why not ask the Green Lanterns or some other group to deal with the crisis."
"Because of this," Thordis said, as she remotely activates the data chip reader, which patched one particular still shot of the foes the Conductor was facing.
"Those guys…are us?" Bruce asked incredulously.
"Don't tell me that those guys are from Earth-13, eh?" Ranma said.
"What do you mean?" Steve asked.
"Earth-13 is a version of Earth where demonic entities and monsters took over," Thordis said. "Anyone living after the takeover has demon-taint, or has become demons themselves."
"And those are demon versions of us," Tony said.
"Correct. However, something must have happened, because all my counter-parts, including that one, made a pact to prevent invasions such as this one."
"Then, that's what we have to do, then," Steve said, as he studied his near-mirror image. "We stop them, and find the reason for the invasion from spreading beyond that nebula."
There was a moment of silence amongst the group…
"And to think this evening will be a quiet one," Ranma smirked, as he downs another shot of whiskey. "Huh."
Tbc.
Next Time: The founding members of the Avengers get a ship, confront their doppelgangers and then find the source of the trouble. See you then…