Avengers Assemble!

Disclaimer: Don't own BTVS, Marvel or DC, simple as that.

Let's do this!

"Speaking"

"Whispering"

*Thoughts*

*Sound effects*

Chapter 9:

Oz's Mindscape…

"Huh…this is new." The young musician spoke with an eerie he was well known for as he stood in a quaint little home, he could just feel the warmth and safety here. Curiosity propelling he picked up a picture of an elderly couple with a young man he could not help but recognize.

"Peter…Parker?"

"In the flesh!" He heard above him, letting out a surprised gasp as he saw the man himself resting calmly on the ceiling, legs crossed and arms behind his head "…so to speak." He ended as he jumped down, landing perfectly before the surprised teen.

Removing the mask from his stealth suit he gave a disarming smile while he held out his hand.

"Daniel Osbourne I presume?"

Oz for his part is still surprised though he only shows this by raising an eyebrow as he shakes the webslinger's hand.

"Go by Oz..." he says finally before adding "…and not the great and powerful one."

*SNAP!* two fingers went.

"Darn, that was the perfect set up for that one, let me guess lot of good ol' fashion ribbing from friends?" Peter asks with mirth on his face that seems to calm the teen further.

"That and family." Oz says with a disarming smile of his own now that he feels more comfortable in the presence of the man.

"Well now that introductions are done let's have a seat Oz, I got a proposition for you." The arachnid hero guided the young man to the sofa both sitting on opposite ends.

"This isn't a dream is it?" Oz finally said.

"Afraid not Oz, at least I can't say for sure since supernatural matters aren't my forte, though Lord knows I have dealt with my fair share of the stuff." Peter huffed as that was one the things he hated dealing with, the attack by the Serpent and his hammer wielding chosen being the worst to date.

*Poor Ben couldn't stop feeling terrible for weeks about what that hammer made him do. And the nightmares I had didn't help either.* He thinks to himself before further addressing the teen.

"So any sensible worth his salt, such as you my friend, would be thinking right about now what would that handsome devil Spider-man want to talk to me about?" Peter quips as he is known as he wants to come of reasonable but down to earth to the young man before him.

"Well aside from the handsome comment, yeah that thought crossed my mind."

"Well moving on, we have established you are not dreaming, and you could say this is a vision I guess but more importantly it is an offer."

"For?" Oz asked leadingly not really surprised by the possible vision thing, he had werewolves in his father's side of the family so really the whole supernatural deal wasn't much of a surprise.

"Well here goes and I am being serious here so bear with me, a God and two small little but powerful cartoonish men dragged me and others to possess you and the group you were with." He started off earning another raised eyebrow from the young man but nodding him to continue nonetheless.

*Talk about Zen like calm, him and Shang would get along swimmingly.*

"Well me and the others, some from my reality and others from different ones, took it upon ourselves to find out what was going on naturally. This was before it was explained to us mind you, so we protected as many people as we could as well as stopped some sort of Demonic cult from unleashing Hell on earth before we finally met the ones who brought here and the why of it all."

"And why were you brought?"

"Well in a way to save you and the others and in the process help you protect the world by giving you our powers and skills." Peter saw no reason to lie to the musician.

Oz's eyebrows rose high enough to disappear in his hairline while gaping like a fish, which was the most reaction anyone who knew him would ever have seen on him if they were present.

"Yeah that reaction is pretty much what I was expecting." Peter quips though to be fair he was pretty sure anyone would have the same reaction given what he told him.

"Why me?" Oz finally asks after he regains his calm.

"I can't speak for these guys, but my experience with incredibly powerful tells me that if they picked you it was for a reason. That they saw in you something that said this man is worthy of this power, but like my Uncle once told me with great power…" Peter started of before Oz beat him to the punch.

"…comes great responsibility, and do you think I am responsible enough for such power?" The teen was curious what a man who lived by that creed would say.

"Knowing what I do about you? Yes, yes I think you are worthy Oz. See the thing I've learned in all my time as Spider-man and working with groups like the Fantastic Four, the Avengers or the X-men is that the only people worthy of power are those who don't seek it or think they are worthy of it in the first place because they know to have respect for it as well as wield it responsibly."

"I got to think this through." Oz spoke with a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"Take your time, we have plenty of it." Peter said reassuringly in the same tone and care he took when he was with the kids at the Future Foundation. It was one of the reason's the children liked him so much as a teacher, he kept their interest as he taught them.

"Um I've been meaning to ask, how are you dealing with your uh current situation?" Oz tried to be as polite as he could be considering the man's body had been stolen but he was curious, he could not deny that since he never expect to talk to an actual super hero…then again he never expected to be possessed by one either.

Peter gave a reluctant sigh as he tried to come up with an answer; honestly he was a mixture of conflicting emotions.

"Fearful for my friends and family, angered that no one seems to tell it's not me in there, hopeful I can pull though this, somewhat confused about whether or not I can rise from this and a whole lot of other things."

Oz could tell how much this affecting the man, which was saying a lot given what he had read about him in the bio that came with the suit. The hero before him had a long life filled with losses and tragedies yet for all that he seemed to rise above it when the need for heroes was great, honestly he had come to feel some great amount of respect for Peter Parker and all he had endured in his life.

"Don't give up…" the teen says as he gains the man's attention "…don't give up Peter, you do that and Octavious wins then your fears will come true."

Peter looked in surprise at the young man's word but deep down they rang with truth, Oz however was not finished.

"I mean, you have done the incredible and the impossible when everyone said you couldn't. You held up a building by yourself, you stopped the Unstoppable Juggernaut, faced a Herald of Galactus and lived, fought the Hulk until the Avengers came while keeping the people safe."

"You are on the same level as Reed Richards and Tony Stark brain wise, you have just as much if not more moral fiber than Captain America and you are just as courageous as Daredevil or Wolverine."

"That fake thinks he is the superior but from where I'm standing you are Peter! You are the Superior Spider-man, always was, if and will be and that is a damn fact." The teen ended in both utmost seriousness and respect painted on his face at the hero before him.

Peter just gave a bright smile back and had a look in his eyes that conveyed how grateful he was for the musician's words.

"I can see now why they chose you."

"I may not talk much but when I do it is because I mean what I say…" the teen spoke before looking resolute as he came to a decision "…and that said I've made my decision, I would be honored to become Spider-man."

Peter gave Oz a nod before holding out his hand to him, the teen reciprocated both.

"Remember Oz that with great power…" Peter started

"…comes great responsibility." Oz ended before they were engulfed in white light.

Cordelia's mindscape…

The self-proclaimed Queen of Sunnydale once more cursed her association with the young group of self-appointed champions and the Slayer who guarded the Hellmouth. Oh sure they made she stayed alive, and on a lesser note acted with more realism than her group of associates who tried to score points with her, but it was situations like this that made her question why she still hung out with them.

She gave another look around in the office she found herself in, it reminded her of high profile lawyers…though she had to admit the place had much better taste than the ones she visited when she had to accompany her father on business, he figured he could get her into this line of work but she wanted more than being cooped up in an office all day.

Her head swung towards the entrance as the office door opened and in stepped in none other than Jennifer Walters herself, fully transformed and wearing a rather sharp suit she usually wore to court that complemented her figure rather well or so Cordelia thought to herself.

"Hello Ms. Chase, if you don't know already I'm Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk, but you can call me Jen if you like." She spoke with all the professionalism she had gained from years at being at court as well as being a part of being a hero.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming or hallucinating?"

"Afraid not Ms. Chase, this is really happening right now, we are to my understanding currently in your mind to speak about a deal to be made."

*One that will hopefully save your life.* Jen thought as she saw where the poor girl was heading and she did not like it one bit *If I ever get my hands on that bitch Jasmine and her grunt I'll go full on Hulk on their asses!*

"W-what kind of deal? Who would make this happen and why me?" Cordelia was nervous now but she tried to push past it as the need to know supersedes it.

"Do you want to truth? No matter how badly it will shake you up?" Jen asks as even though a part of her doesn't want to reveal to much the teen before her has a right to it, as much as she likes to think that she could spin this in a way she could convince Cordelia to take the deal without revealing too much…it would be wrong to do so, she is altering the life of this young woman and she deserves to know why.

Cordelia for her part can tell when people lie to her, given that she deals with dual faced people on a daily basis both in school and her home is a testament to how she can root out the truth and right now she can tell that this woman was being honest.

*Fuck it, I need to know.*

A shaky nod was all she gave as she prepares herself while Jen sighs but proceeds as she takes a seat and begins to talk with the young woman.

"First and foremost I want to tell you something you need to focus on, because what comes next will most like shock and hurt I can guarantee that." She spoke seriously as she gently took hold off Cordelia's hands into her own; she felt great respect for the teen as despite the nervousness in her she did not shy away from what was going to be said, giving a gentle and warm smile Jen presses on.

"You like your friends, and they are your friends Cordelia even if you try to deny it, will become very extraordinary people. In the future I was showed you matured into such strong, confident woman filled with so much compassion, kindness and bravery despite the hurtles that were thrown your way."

"You touched so many lives; you lifted them up when they were down and saved your fair share of innocents as well. If you had existed in my world I would have made you an honorary Avenger given all that I have seen about you and that is the honest truth." She Hulk said proudly at the young woman who blushes at the praise.

Most would think she would let her pride run rampant at the words spoken but frankly she was more surprised than anything, she never really thought of herself that way or even capable of what she was being told but she knew she was being told the truth…which made her next question cringe.

"But something happens doesn't? T-to me right? I mean that is what I am picking on why you are here."

Jen stopped smiling at that as she tried to be as gentle as possible with what she was about to confer.

"Yes…you…you die, but it isn't some noble and heroic death. I can't even see it as a quiet peaceful one given the how the events that took place beforehand led to it." Bitterness laces Jen's voice while Cordelia reels at the news of her death.

"H-how? How do I die? Why do I die!?"

"Some entity, and that is the best name I can come up with, decided that it wanted to run the show if you will. Guide humanity down the path of righteousness …" Jen spat before muttering quietly though Cordelia picks it up despite her growing distress.

"The sanctimonious bitch."

"…which is really its way to take over the world and enslave humanity, the way it does this is to manipulate events so that you become half demon and then under the guise of ascending your soul to higher plane of existence and when you decide to return takes over your body, manipulates your friends and then seduces one of them into impregnating you so finally you can give birth to that sick monster, you slip into a coma and months later you...you pass on." Jen replied sadly, she felt worse by the tears on the teen's face.

She gently pulled the distraught girl into her arms, gently rubbing her back and giving soothing words to calm her. She bit back a curse at this Jasmine and Skip for pulling such a horrible plan on this girl, she had seen how much she had love little Connor and they defiled that relationship.

Finally Cordelia calmed down and pulled herself away though she did thank the hero as she gently wiped her tears away.

*For such a powerful woman she sure has a soft touch, kind of reminds of grandma when I was little.*

"Easy Cordelia, remember to focus on what I said earlier, focus on the positives." Jen spoke gently.

For her part Cordelia made an effort on focusing on the good like Jen said, on the feelings she got when she heard what kind of person she could become…though she still some fear she also felt reassured in a way that she would do something with her life.

*And why can't I have that life? I mean now that I think about it, really think about, no matter where I go something freaky will always be going on. If it isn't bloodsucking creeps or disgusting puss covered demons it would be psycho super villains like those maniacs from Gotham.* with a renewed sense of self and a fire in her eyes she look straight at Jen who was surprised and a bit hopeful for what was to be said.

"What is the rest of the story? Who is behind this deal and what do are you and me getting out of it?"

"Believe it or not a God and two magical Imps want to give you guys a boost to alter your fates. Now I can't say what it will be like but the deal is you get my powers and experiences to handle them and as for me I just want to see you kids to get a chance to be the heroes I know you are, sure your lives are about to get even odder and perhaps more dangerous but I believe you all can pull through together as you have done up till now. " Jen spoke with utmost confidence and belief in words as she looked directly into Cordelia's eyes to convey to her how honest she was being.

"No offense but will I get stuck in that form?"

"No I can control it, the times I got stuck is because I thought I needed to be She Hulk instead of being Jennifer or whenever I got hit with some funky beam or some other external influence. But you can control the power, all you have to remember is to balance out both aspects, Lord knows it took me a while to get my act together for that lesson to sink in."

"Then yes, I want this deal."

"You are positive, because once you give me your hand there is no going back." Jennifer was not kidding when she said that, there was no going back once the deal was struck.

Cordelia just held out her hand with the same look she had gained once she made her choice.

"I want to become that Cordelia you saw, I want to be more than I am, and I will NOT allow some fucking demon bitch use me as a baby maker so she can take over the world. This is my body, this is my life and no one fucks with Cordelia Chase or people I care about!"

Jen needed no better confirmation than that, she grasp the teens hand with a smirk on her face that was mirrored on Cordelia's.

"If you ever meet a demon named Skip, do me a favor on go medieval on his punk ass."

"You have my word I will make him wish he never met me."

And with that both woman were overtaken by a white light while in another dimension a demon was shivering like crazy while his boss began to scream in horror and rage for a long term plan that began to unravel at the seams.

Buffy's mindscape…

Buffy was pissed, there was no other way to say it she was pissed. She just wanted one normal night on the one time of the year when every damn vampire and demon decided to stow the murder, mayhem and plots for global domination/destruction and take the day off.

*But do I get a break like it was promised? Noooo, no not Buffy, no she has another crazy piece of crap that has become the norm since being chosen thrown at her and what is even better is that my family and my friends once more get sucked into the shit that is my life as a Slayer! Thank you PTB for once more ruining something for me with your oh so sacred duty!* the very irate blonde thought as she looked at her surroundings.

She appeared to be on top of balcony overlooking a tropical, lush jungle. There was a table set with five seats also and the entry towards the building. She debated between staying in one place or to go explore the building and find answers or failing that find the ones responsible for her and her family's plight and break them in painful ways.

The decision was made for her though when she heard footsteps approach thanks to her enhanced senses, so through a combination of her Slayer instincts, her teenage impulsiveness and her volatile anger she charged in at full tilt and with plans of exquisite violence upon her captor(s)…she would later come to regret it.

Toruun for her part also was aware of the smaller blonde's presence and given her own bouts of anger could tell she would have to rein her in before they could talk. Though she did admit that she did not blame the other teen given the circumstances of how their meeting came about.

*One would think this Janus or the two little men would have had the foresight to chose a more gentler means of empowering them.*

So she just slammed her sword into the ground and got ready, she knew Buffy was a formidable combatant given her Slayer given abilities but she had sparred with two young men who were VERY good at close quarters combat and were also augmented given their respective parent's abilities plus she also was the strongest member of their group given her Asgardian lineage.

Buffy came in flying with a kick aimed at the chest area, while the young Aesir simply grabbed the appendage and threw her into a nearby wall. Buffy maneuvered herself so she could push off it instead of crashing into it and upon landing on the ground she ran at full tilt at the larger blonde…

*How come she gets to be tall and leggy!?* A somewhat childish part of her wonders as she throws a right hook at the Aesir.

Said punch was grabbed singlehandedly by her opponent's right hand and then twisted behind her back. Buffy when for an elbow shot with her free arm to the ribs but that arm got caught too in a vice like grip, from there Toruun quickly released Buffy's arms and wrapped her powerful arms around the smaller blonde's waist in a bear hug.

"Argh! Let…me…go!" The Slayer cried out in a mixture of frustration, anger and pain as she desperately tried to break the hold, unfortunately despite her youth Toruun was far superior in terms of strength when compared to the Slayer... especially if one took into account the fact that she came from the union of two very powerful gods, still she chose to accommodate the Slayer albeit in her own unique way.

"As you wish Miss Summers." Toruun spoke before she hefted the smaller teen up until she was high enough to pass her head before side stepped to the right of the airborne teen and slammed her back down by using the palm of her hand of the other girl's stomach to rocket her back down.

The air was knocked out of her and the pain hit fast upon her back, she couldn't remember when she was ever hit that hard with a simple palm strike…not even the Master hit that hard. She would have been shocked to know that Toruun was holding back on her considerable strength, she wanted to knock the fight out of the Slayer not kill her.

Toruun's sword flew to her hand before she leaned on it as she looks at the Slayer groan as she rolls onto her stomach; she struggles to get air into her body while trying to ignore the pain.

"Miss Summers I apologize for the rough treatment but given your emotional state, albeit an understandable one given the circumstances of our meeting, I needed to defend myself. Now we have two options before us, one we can talk like civilized women or two we can continue this needless fight before talking albeit with you on the floor and I standing over you, so what shall it be?" The young goddess stated calmly as she let the other girl have time to recuperate and think it over.

It took a while but eventually reason won over pride and Buffy agreed to hear the other "teen" out as she healed.

"Now first I want to say again I am sorry for roughing you up I do mean that as I do respect you and all you have accomplished as a defender of humanity. Second, your friends and family are safe as they are going through the same thing you are at this moment."

"Wait what did you just say?" Surprised was evident in Buffy's tone as she looks at the Asgardian.

"They, like you are right now, are being made an offer one I shall extend to you."

"Offer? What offer? What are they being involved in!?"

"Buffy, you and all of them are in great danger, one that will come years from now and bring about your end and theirs if steps aren't taken to prevent it."

That shut down any more questions for the moment in the blonde Slayer.

"It is difficult to explain but several future events in the coming years will take place that will either shatter your group as well as sadly have some of them die in terrible and tragic ways. Enemies will come out and try to destroy you in this time of weakness...they will succeed unless something is done about it" There was true sadness in Toruun's voice as she spoke, the things she saw happen to the group struck a chord with her and the terrible things that occurred with her own friends.

Buffy for her part was shocked, sure there were times she had dreams that showed her terrible things but this? She couldn't imagine something that could break their team up, after all they went through it seem implausible, this news only angered her.

"No! No way! I refuse to believe anything could cause me and my friends, and much less my family, to just go our separate ways. Not after all we've been through and done, I mean even after I got this stupid job as a Slayer I still had at least them to give me some form of a normal life and now you're telling me after all the pain, the loss and bloodshed I lose that!?"

"It doesn't have to be that way Buffy, I know full well what you feel, I felt it too at times with my teammates. We have gone through so much and given so little but we have each other and at end of it all I wouldn't trade them for anything."

The young Aesir was being quite truthful in that as James, Pym, Francis and Azari were always there for here when she needed them. They were more than a team, they were family and through it all they face everything together.

"Who do I have to kill to stop them from coming after us? Is it a Demon? Witch? Vampire?" Buffy asks anxiously as she would anything to prevent any terrible fate from befalling her loved ones.

"It is not about who you have to destroy to alter this future but what you must choose Buffy. The choice before you is this, to receive my abilities and skills and be more than you are right now."

"Okay you lost me, what do you mean by being more than I am?"

"For every choice made there are consequences Buffy, in this case to receive my powers, you would stop being a Slayer because you would have to become like me an Asgardian, in essence you would become a goddess."

That made whatever thoughts Buffy had screech to a halt, it was one thing to stop being a Slayer, a thought she often entertained when things got tough or real ugly, but to stop being human all together? That is something she had never considered.

"A goddess? As in non human?"

"What does it mean to be human Buffy? I may be a goddess by birth, but I have feelings like a human, I have thoughts like a human, I have faults like a human. The only difference between I and humans is the physical gifts I was born with but all else I think of myself more in league with mortals than I do with fellow gods."

"Yeah but…but that just means I lose the last bit of normalcy I have left? I mean wasn't it enough to give up a part of my life when I became a Slayer? Now in order to save my family I have to give up my humanity and become an even bigger freak?!"

Toruun frowned at the words Buffy chose, though she knew this was inevitable, from what she had seen of the teen the girl life, she would often desire to return to a life of normalcy before her days as a Slayer.

The violent death of her first Watcher, being labeled a menace for burning down the gym, her parents' messy divorce and finally her time locked away in a mental institution had left a bitter mark on the girl that was only exasperated her by the constant crisis that surfaced on the Hellmouth. Still as much as her heart went to the young woman, and it truly did, she needed to convince her to take the offer.

*As James would say, time for some tough love.* she thinks as she approaches the teen and reared back her right hand.

*SLAP!*

Of the many things done to Buffy she couldn't ever recalled being slapped, she turned to look at Toruun and saw a look of disappointment on her face before it hardened.

"Life was never meant to be fair Buffy for anyone, it is a harsh and cruel mistress that moves ever onwards whether we like it to or not. Now I never said you needed to accept, you can remain a Slayer and human but make no mistake the threat is coming and the only thing that will boost your odds will be how many of your friends and family accept their offers for additional power to face the coming darkness."

That was another thing that worried her as despite not knowing what Cordelia, Ms. Calendar or the unknown teen who also wore one of the suits would do she did know her friends would choose.

Xander would accept because it meant he could be more of an asset and further his mission to prevent more deaths like his best friend. Willow would accept because Xander would and because she would feel as her friend she could better help her.

Giles would help because he was her Watcher and this way it could help her survive, she always felt that he was guilty of not trying hard enough to stop her from facing the Master as they all thought, with Xander being the exception, thought she was destined to die.

And her mother and sister would know about what really was going on…

"This isn't their fight! My mom, my sister…fuck my friends were never supposed to be a part of this!" Buffy cries as she sheds tears in lieu of the knowledge that more people she loved could be killed because of this.

That softened Toruun's expression before she placed her sword down and held the other blonde.

"I understand your fear Buffy, you want to keep them away out of love for them and fear of being alone after so long. It is understandable but you must realize that they stand with you out of love for you and fear of losing you, because you are so very special to them."

She gave a bit of space to the smaller teen if only look at her face and wipe her tears as she continued to speak.

"Your Watcher loves you as a father loves a daughter, Willow sees you as the sister she never had and to Xander you are his hero. Cordelia and this young man Oz will also come to understand you and become a part of your life, and do I really need to explain the level of love your mother and sister have for you?"

Buffy shakes her head slowly because despite everything she knows her family loves her.

"Buffy, the hardest thing people like you or me have to do is always wonder if we will live to spend another day with the people we love but the greatest reward we can achieve is coming back to find their warm and loving embrace waiting for us after such hard times. They are our greatest strength and no matter what they will always be with us in our hearts and minds and nothing, nothing will ever change that."

With that said the daughter of Thor stepped back and summoned her sword and held in the palms of her hands as if she was preparing to hand it over…and in a way she hope she would.

"So I ask you Buffy Summers are you ready to be strong?"

Buffy looked at the blade being offer to her, it was a thing of beauty and testament to the labor that went into its building but more than that it was an example of unyielding resolve.

Slowly her hand rose towards the hilt and her fingers tentatively wrapped themselves around it before firmly grasping it. She looks straight into the goddess's eyes with a firm and serious gaze.

"Yes I am."

"Then I gladly welcome you to ranks of the Aesir Buffy Summers…" Toruun's smile was filled with pride as light began to surround the two before she spoke again "…and if by some twist of fate we ever meet in the flesh I hope to call you my sister in battle if you would have me as such."

"I think I would prefer to call you my friend if that ever happens." Buffy replied with a smile of her own.

"Then I wish you good fortunes and much happiness… my friend." And with that both blondes were engulfed in light though both clasped each other's forearm in respect and friendship.

And with this, the wheels of fate began to spin and turn, only those who instigated these events would come to fully understand the ramifications this group of heroes born anew would give rise to…only they would understand as these heroes united to face the foes no one hero could face alone.

To be continued…

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And much love to my readers and their families! PEACE OUT!