AN: Here is the new chappy. This story is going into its final chapters as we speak. :( The twists and crazy complex strange moments are going to stop and a happy ending will be presented. (Yeah right) So without further adieu, enjoy the new chapter.
Disclaimer: No chance of owning the Avengers, operation Stan Lee failed.
Tony's eyes flickered open. As they adjusted to the lighting he recognized the four other people in the room. He inwardly cringed.
Now they're going to punish me or pretend that I don't know anything. I have to confront them.
But before Tony could open his mouth to talk, Pepper stood and hugged him as tightly as she could without hurting his injured ribs.
"Don't you ever do anything as stupid as that again." She whispered in his ear and Tony felt something wet drip onto his shoulder.
Tony opened his mouth to reassure her but felt the oxygen mask on his face. Then, it all came back, the escape, the car, and the wreck.
No wonder she's freaking out, I could have- no, this isn't Pepper, it's some kind of imposter.
So, with that in mind, when Pepper let go of him and sat back down Tony pulled off the mask and spoke his piece.
"I don't know whose idea this was but I know about it. So you can quit with the disguise."
Tony's voice was cold and without feeling. Pepper's heart broke.
"tony, we know that the spell did something to you and now you can't tell which is reality, but please, believe me, this is real. I'm real." Pepper pleaded.
Tony felt the tiniest sliver of doubt begin to form in his head.
What if this is the real world?
Tony was too busy trying to be uncaring to even bother contemplating the question.
"It doesn't matter what you say. I will not believe you."
Tony put the mask back on, giving Bruce his chance to speak.
"If you're so sure that what you saw and experienced was real, then it won't be too much of a problem to tell us about it since it should be old new to us anyway."
Bruce said it calmly but he knew Tony wouldn't be able to find fault with the request. Tony actually fidgeted a bit before nodding yes. He waited another minute and then took off the mask to begin the tale.
Although it was a condensed version, all throughout the recollection Tony was taken aback at how surprised they seemed the farther they got in the story. Pepper had tears pouring down her face the entire time.
Fury looked ashamed, as well as Steve. Bruce, however, looked guilty and was gripped with sadness. It wasn't until the part that Tony killed Pepper that Tony actually allowed any emotion into his voice, and even that emotion was saddening.
When Tony had finished he, being completely exhausted, stuck the oxygen mask back on and fell into a deep sleep. His snores were the only sound in the room. The four visitors were in complete shock. Tony saw them as untrustworthy and evil.
Their friend was afraid of them, and after hearing what went on in his head, they actually understood why. Pepper was the first to break their silence.
"We've got to convince him he's wrong." She said determinedly.
"But that's almost impossible with Tony. If he thinks he's right, no one can sway him." Steve muttered.
"Except for Pepper, she could change his mind if only he didn't think she was an imposter." Bruce added.
That was when Fury got the best idea ever.
"What if we took him back to Asgard and showed the sights again to jog his memory. If we could get Odin to formally thank Tony for saving him maybe he would believe us."
Pepper got excited at this and actually managed a smile.
"If Freyr could also talk to Tony, he would at least know another person who had been controlled by Loki like that."
The rest nodded in agreement but they would have to wait until Tony was healed enough to make the trip. For the next few days they had constant guards at Tony's door so there wouldn't be a repeat escape.
Although Tony did sleep a lot, when he was awake he didn't really talk, just stared at the ceiling. It wasn't that there wasn't anyone to talk to because he had visitors all the time.
Pepper had practically moved in at the hospital. She had her own cot in the room with Tony. Bruce was always coming and going, usually dropping off some kind of electronic device for Tony to occupy himself with, but they were never touched by the genius.
Natasha and Clint would come together occasionally. Thor would come now and then and Steve came almost as much as Bruce.
After four days Tony was deemed fit enough to be discharged. At this point they actually did go to Tony's house in Malibu. He had been instructed by his not to walk on his broken leg, especially after he messed up the first surgery's work. They had to repair the broken screw and so they were extremely strict that he doesn't ruin another one.
Now Tony was sitting in his lab tinkering with a new project of his, but his mind was now where near thinking about he was doing.
No one has been letting up on this act of theirs. Pepper's disguise is still on and there has been no dislike shown towards me. Could I be wrong about this reality? He again doubted.
That was when Pepper, Fury, and the rest of the Avengers walked in. He hadn't been playing any music so heard them not long after they entered the house since Thor was with them. They knew he wasn't talking to them so they went with a straight forward approach.
"Mr. Stark, you have hereby been ordered to join us and go to Asgard at Odin's request."
Tony stared at Fury with his mouth agape.
What the hell? He thought but the side of him that believed this was reality jumped for joy. It finally had the chance to prove it.
"Okay, when do we leave?" Tony asked calmly, surprising the others.
"Right now. We just need to go outside and Heimdall will open the Bifrost for us." Fury replied. He kept his eyes on the billionaire, wary of any tricks he might pull.
The whole group walked up the stairs from the lab, well, everyone but Tony. He used crutches to go up, very slowly too with his ribs. By the time they were standing outside in the warm Malibu air, Tony was exhausted.
If he hadn't been leaning up against his crutches, he would have been on the floor, much to his chagrin. This didn't affect Thor's bellowing for Heimdall or the great flash of light and emergence of butterflies in Tony's stomach.
The feeling of a wild roller coaster went through his body. The next thing he knew, they were standing in some kind of building with as extremely intimidating man who had a gigantic sword.
His golden, fiery eyes caught sight of Thor and the rest of the group. The two exchanged greetings before the company went on their way to the herd of horses that awaited them on the rainbow bridge. Tony looked in disbelief at the horses.
There is no way I am riding that, he thought disdainfully.
Pepper seemed to notice his displeasure and realization dawned on her.
"I forgot you don't like horses Tony," she said, a smile tugging at her lips.
"You were in your suit of iron at the last visit." Thor recalled.
"It's fine. I can walk," Tony said, although he couldn't decide which was worse, using his crutches all the way down the endless rainbow, or riding the horse instead.
"No that won't work. How about you and I ride together. This way your ribs won't be jarred as much and I'll make sure your leg isn't injured when we mount and dismount." Pepper suggested, the smile still threatening to break loose.
I've don't have a better option. I guess I'll have to ride with fake Pepper... Fepper. Tony muttered in his head, forgetting to add that they should be grateful he was even talking to them.
Merely nodding his consent, Tony hobbled over to the closest horse, still eying it like it was the devil himself.
"How is he going to get up there?" Steve asked, and after a few minutes of brainstorming, Thor came up with a solution.
In an awkward hugging hold, Thor lifted Tony up and put him on the saddle of the horse. Pepper hopped on a few seconds later. After getting situated and everyone getting settled on their horses, they were riding across the sparkling road.
If it hadn't been so painful and uncomfortable, Tony might actually have been able to enjoy the view and marvel at the beauty of Asgard. Pepper, who was sitting behind him with her arms gingerly around him to hold him steady, was giggling.
"You are so lucky I didn't tell them why you don't like horses, especially for riding."
Her words sparked more hope for Tony that this was real.
If she was an imposter she wouldn't know why I don't like horses.
But before she could enlighten him of her knowledge, a dark cloud formed in the sky above them. Tony's joy ended when his eyes landed on the clouds. He felt a bit of foreboding, which of course had to come true.
Loki came flying out of the cloud, his scepter in hand as he glided to land in front of the charging horses. They stopped dead in their tracks. Thor dismounted and was holding his hammer in his hand with his eyes boring holes into Loki.
"Hello, I hope their acting hasn't convinced you, Tony." Loki said slyly, completely ignoring Thor and the threat that he was.
Tony's insides turned cold and his heart to ice. Now he was torn. Who, or really what reality was real? The one that was a nightmare but seemed to be continuing, or the one he so desperately wanted but was seeing slip through his finger tips?
Pepper squeezed him a bit tighter and whispered, "Don't listen to him, Tony. You're free from that curse."
The words were meant to soothe him, but they only succeeded in splitting his decision further.
Pepper is here in this one, it must be real, he tried to convince himself. Loki shattered that hope.
"Are you really going to believe those words from that fake? She grows weaker by the day from holding the shift for so long. Just one shove will break the spell."
Once the thought was planted Tony couldn't help but consider it.
Just one push, he thought.
While he was distracted Thor made his move, attack. Lightning came out of no where and shot directly at the trickster. It went straight through.
He appeared next to Tony and his arm contacted with flesh. Pepper was falling off the horse, but she suddenly changed. It wasn't Pepper any longer.
NO!
A beautiful Asgardian lay sprawled on the ground. Her eyes flashed dangerously at Loki. Tony, however, felt betrayal well up inside of him.
Although he had thought that his paranoia and fears might be right, he had never truly believed they would turn out like this. The Asgardian woman stood and drew her sword.
Brandishing it, she swung it at Loki, whipping it over the top of the horse. Tony had to duck so it wouldn't hit him.
Loki just grinned and let it go through him once more.
"Loki is here! Find him!" She shouted, and all of Asgard, as if it had been waiting, sprung to life. Warriors jumped from hiding places, archers appeared at the tops of the high structures, and spell casters unveiled their invisible forms.
Tony couldn't believe his eyes.
They lied about everything.
A few tears trickled down his face, where he was still laying on the horse after ducking. The rest of the Avengers dismounted along with Fury and were discussing battle plans. They all seemed to forget one person.
Even the fake Pepper (Fepper) was too busy glaring at anything that moved to notice Tony.
I have to get away, was all he thought as he finally sat up on his horse.
'Too bad you can't,' another voice said.
Loki was back in his head, but for once Tony wasn't surprised, or even sad.
Just use me and get it over with. I've got nothing left to live for anyway.
The inner conversation continued and Tony became oblivious to the outside world.
'Why so gloomy?'
I killed my girlfriend and my team lied to me about it. I was almost convinced.
His body fell off the horse onto the ground and someone was now shaking his shoulder, but Tony didn't notice.
'Would you like me to end it right now?'
The thought, oddly enough, was like a wish come true. But it seemed too good to be true.
'I could stop your heart right now, but it will have to be you who agrees and says the words', Loki's voice encouraged.
His shoulder was being shaken violently now. Nothing was registering except, 'I could stop you heart right now.'
A new voice was filtering in.
"He hit you with another spell! Snap out of it!"
It wasn't loud enough to break the wall of uncertainty and magic.
Just tell Loki, and everything will be fine, Tony told himself but it didn't feel like 'himself'. The voice became more than a background noise this time.
"You have to choose! We can't make it for you Tony!"
I have to choose? Between life and death?
The decision that was being forced upon him finally struck home. The death spiral Tony had been in ended.
I have to choose, he though more firmly. The shaking of his shoulder felt like it had paused.
This isn't real. That is the real world. The one where Pepper is there, and my team has my back. That is what I want.
'So be it,' Loki whispered.
Please Review!
What is going to happen next?
Don't worry there is a plot to this whole thing, otherwise it would've been abandoned.