Ok, so I had some time last night and churned out this chapter. It doesn't move the story along much, just gives some impression of what Darcy knows. Also, can anyone guess who's prank this is? (It isn't hard, promise...). Hopefully this will be funnier than the last chapter.

Again, I don't own these characters, they are solely being used for the entertainment of myself and others and no money is being made on this project.

-Illusinia


Darcy wasn't quite sure what to make of the scene before her. S.H.I.E.L.D agents were running around like headless chickens, panicking as if their world were ending. Which it might well have been for all Darcy knew. It wasn't like anyone would tell her anything. They all over-looked her, which is exactly how she preferred it.

Looking around, Darcy quickly learned what it was that had everyone on their toes and couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips. Maybe she should have been more concerned, but the whole thing was identical to a prank she'd pulled in high school.

Every computer in the room displayed the same message: "I will rule you". It changed through a rainbow of colors and dripped like a caustic acid, but none of the screens would display anything else beyond that one message. And apparently it was enough to scare every S.H.I.E.L.D agent in the building half out of their mind. Not that her teachers hadn't freaked out too, but at least they'd had the sense to realize it was a student prank. Apparently S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have a "How to Identify a Prank" class.

Heading to Jane's lab, she found Jane frantically trying to get her own computer up and running, the same message playing through on her screen as on every other screen in the building. Thor was no where to be found, and Darcy was willing to bet that he was in a meeting with the other Avengers. Which meant no one would be stopping by to check on them that way. Good.

"Hey boss lady, what's shaking?" asked Darcy mildly as she set down her stuff and flipped on her own computer. Predictably, her own screen flipped over to display the same image as all the other computers. Smirking, she unplugged the network connection to her computer and watched the message disappear to display her desktop.

Behind her, Jane gasped. "How did you do that!"

Darcy just started to laugh. "A prankster doesn't reveal their own tricks or the tricks of another, however I can fix your computer for you if you want."

"So, you know how someone did this?" queried Jane as she moved back to allow Darcy access to her own computer.

"Yep," replied Darcy. "I actually played this exact prank in high school. It causes some panic but nothing major. At least, so long as they don't include the Dani's part. That might cause major mayhem."

Jane blinked in confusion. "Who's Dani?"

"Was," corrected Darcy with a touch of bitterness in her voice. "She was the Goddess of Mayhem. At least, according to our friend Lo- Luki."

"Luki?" Jane raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief. "What kind of a name is Luki?"

"Scandinavian according to him," replied Darcy mildly. "Hence the names Goddess of Mayhem and Goddess of Mischief. He had been given the title God of Mischief years earlier and proved to us that the title was earned, so we allowed him to keep it."

Jane just gave her a strange look. "You have some unusual friends."

Darcy shrugged as she stood up from the computer. "All the better to play pranks with. You're computer is fixed."

"Thanks," muttered Jane. "You should go fix the other computers as well."

"Hell no," growled Darcy. "Fury will just demand I tell him how its done and I take the Prankster Code of Ethics very seriously. Tricks and pranks were my life for years, are part of my blood still. There is no way in hell I'm going to undo another pranksters work on a large scale. S.H.I.E.L.D will figure it out eventually and seeing them panic for a bit will be entertaining. Besides, it'll do them some good to realize they aren't invincible and whoever pulled this off deserves major props. Its practically a work of art."

Jane just looked at her like she'd grown another head. "That is simultaneously the most cohesive thing I've ever heard you say and the strangest."

Darcy shrugged and sat back at her own computer. "What can I say, I'm a strange person."

They fell into silence after that, working on their own various tasks. Darcy found herself facing pages of e-mails from S.H.I.E.L.D demanding progress reports, status updates, and a few from associates of Jane's requesting some of her older research articles for reference purposes. Jane was writing out calculations and attempting to determine the best way to turn their current one-way wormhole into a two-way transporter. It was almost two hours later that either woman decided to break from their work, with Darcy heading over to the break-room to both survey the damage done from their new enemy's little prank and to retrieve some coffee. Jane just lay down on the couch with her eyes closed to clear her head.

Outside the office, everything was still in chaos and people were running around left and right attempting to get everything operational again. The same message was still looping through on every screen in the building excepting Jane's Lab. Apparently the computer techs at S.H.I.E.L.D were as brainless as Darcy suspected they might be.

In the break-room, Darcy found Tony with his head laying on his arm and an empty coffee cup in his hand. The narcissistic genius looked ready to fall over from exhaustion. And the fact that he was clinging to the empty coffee cup like it actually had something in it made Darcy feel for the poor man. He looked like he'd been up all night.

"What's wrong Stark, Fury driving you like a slave again?" asked Darcy as she filled her own cup with the goodness that was coffee.

Tony just groaned. "I've been up all night trying to fix this damn computer thing. How the fuck did someone pull this off?"

Darcy snorted. "Seriously? How stupid are you guys?"

Immediately, Tony's head shot off his arm and he growled, even as Darcy refilled his coffee mug. "Oh what, and you know how to fix this?"

"Actually, yes," replied Darcy with a smirk. "I've already fixed the computers in Jane's lab."

Tony's eyes looked ready to fall out of his head. "You're serious."

"As Fury when pissed." Darcy could feel Tony's eyes drilling into the back of her head as she poured sugar into her own coffee. "It isn't nice to stare."

"Hard not to when the resident non-genius genius says they know how to fix a problem that the entire technical staff of S.H.I.E.L.D has spent almost twelve hours working on," shot back Tony. He proceeded to nearly chug the coffee Darcy had just poured him, must to her disgust. S.H.I.E.L.D coffee was the worst swill she'd ever drank.

"So you want a clue on how to fix this then?" offered Darcy mildly.

Tony snorted. "I want to know how to fix it. And how someone did this in the first place."

Darcy shook her head. "Sorry, like I told Jane earlier that's against the Prankster Code of Ethics. I can, however, give you a clue on how to fix it."

A strange look crossed Tony's face, some combination of amusement, respect, and irritation which Darcy couldn't name but didn't feel compelled to analyze. As long as he didn't tell Fury, she didn't care. "Also, you have to promise to take full credit for this and not tell Fury a thing about my involvement."

"Done," was all Tony said. "Now spill."

Darcy nodded and sat down across from Tony, leaning forward to ensure that no one else could hear. "There will be program on one of the network servers which is taking control of all computers liked to the server and looping that message across them. You have to find and disable it. It'll be small in size and unobtrusive, maybe even going so far as to mimic another program on the server in name or size. Find it could take a while."

Tony nodded slowly. "Will disconnecting the computers from the server at least allow access to the computers?"

"Yeah," replied Darcy mildly. "That's how I fixed the computers in Jane's lab, kinda."

"Kinda?" asked Tony with a raised eyebrow.

Darcy nodded. "I activated a security protocol which disables the server's access to the computer but not the computer's access to the server, essentially making the computer invisible to the server."

"And that worked?" Clearly, Tony was still having some trouble with the whole genius thing.

"Of course," replied Darcy mildly. "Look, just find and disable the program and you're good to go. Now, I gotta jet. Good luck."

She was at the door when Tony spoke again. "Thanks."

Darcy smiled slightly and looked back at Tony, nodding before wondering back to Jane's office. Jane was already back at work and Darcy settled in to do her own thing until the door opened thirty minutes later and Tony came strolling in. He quickly shut the door behind him then grinned at Darcy. Jane had stepped out not too long ago to check on Thor.

"Since you're computers are already fixed, I'm just gonna hid in here for a few minutes from Fury and pretend like I'm working," explained Tony mildly as he strolled over to drop onto Jane's couch.

"Charming," commented Darcy sarcastically. "Glad we could help you dodge work."

Tony just shrugged. "I also figured that allowing some random tech to come in and find your computers fixed might break our little agreement."

Darcy just nodded.

"I'm just glad Fury is done yelling at me for the time being," stated Tony firmly. "He's a real pain in the ass."

"Which is why I don't want him to know that I know anything about this," explained Darcy. "Otherwise he'd be calling me up every time they even suspected that someone was messing with the servers or I'd be blamed every time a server went down."

Tony raised an eyebrow at her casually. "You do know he ran a background check on you when you joined S.H.I.E.L.D right?"

Darcy nodded. "I also know what's in those background checks and how many things I've done which can't be linked back to me in any manner, shape, or form. There's stuff about me that isn't available in any kind of background check that Fury could ever do."

"Good to know," muttered Tony. "Gotta say, I'm feeling a little scared right now."

"As you should," replied Darcy with a mischievous grin. "But don't worry, I like you well enough for now that I'm not likely to target you. Keep your eyes on Fury though, he's not safe. Plus, he provides such entertaining responses..."

Tony's eyes looked ready to fall out of his head. "You're insane!"

Darcy just grinned at him. "No, I'm just the Goddess of Mischief."

"Don't let anyone else hear you call yourself that, it'll cause trouble," advised Tony with a snort.

"Please, the only reason I told you is that you're enough of a trouble maker to join me in any mischief I choose to create," explained Darcy. "Or at least roll with it and not tell anyone who was responsible."

"True enough," muttered Tony as he stood up. "That being said, I need to go back to running around like a headless chicken before Fury storms in here and starts to yell at me."

Darcy just nodded. "Jane should be back soon anyway, unless she dragged Thor into a closet somewhere."

Tony just made a face. "Yeah...oh hey, Fury gave orders to end the workday early due to this computer fiasco. You can duck out any time, and I'd recommend doing so now before he catches you here and makes you stay for the remainder of the day."

Darcy grinned. "Say no more, I'm on my way out."

Tony nodded and ducked back into the mostly empty halls as Darcy started to grab her stuff. She was out the door not five minutes later.

It wasn't until she reached into her back for her keys that she realized she'd left her advanced power calculations book on her desk...


If you don't know what incident I'm referring to in that last line, its explained in Genius Adventures: The Stolen Calculations Book and concluded in Darcy's Revenge: Erik. Hope everyone enjoyed this.