TONY STARK
Despite all the changes FRIDAY had made, everything happened just as they knew it would, well everything except Natasha piloting the quinjet. He was in the Mark VII armor when he blasted Loki off the captain in Stuttgart, Germany. The mark 47 armor was stored in the penthouse apartment of the Stark tower, ready to be called whenever he needed. But things started changing once they were in the quinjet.
He had kept his faceplate down and was trying to take a nap when Rogers approached him.
"Mr. Stark."
Without opening his faceplate he looked up.
"Captain Rogers."
"I would like to talk to you about something the army mentioned."
He motioned the captain to wait, still not opening his faceplate. The captain's brows furrowed and he straightened a little.
"You should remove your helmet while taking, Mr. Stark."
And there was the arrogance he was waiting for. This time his faceplate opened after a few seconds.
"Considering that I was talking to my COO and my daughter when you approached me, I don't think it was necessary, Captain."
Steve's face flushed immediately, and he stepped back. "I am sorry, I thought..."
"No problems, Captain. Go ahead, what do you want to discuss?"
Steves face took a determined expression once more. "The shield provided by your father is still with me. I have been told that I need to return it to you, or I need to pay you to continue using it."
"That is correct, Captain."
"How much do I need to pay you?"
Finally, he had his chance. Making his expression calculative, he spoke.
"Since you are renting the shield, I can mark 10% of its value as the rent amount, and assuming you want to pay the rent till next year, the amount will be 363 million, 9 thousand, and 73 dollars. You can pay it in a cheque, visa, cash, anything. My bank accepts it all."
He knew everyone in the jet was listening to the conversation by the silence that followed his words. The captain himself was wide-jawed. He decided to continue.
"But my father considered you a friend, I will wave off all the charges. You just need to pay me 70 dollars for renting the shield till next year. That amount is unnecessary, but government rules state that I cannot give an expensive item to anyone working for them, without getting paid for."
Rogers was silent for a few seconds before he collected himself. "You said you will mark 10% of its value as rent amount."
Seeing as the tone the captain used was accusatory, he made his tone neutral.
"I did, captain. The shield weighs 12 pounds and one gram of Vibranium costs 10,000$ in the current market. That makes the value of the shield you are holding at 53 million dollars. 10% of it is 5.3 million. If we calculate for the 3 years of wartime use, 66 years in ice, and 1 year in the future, the amount comes to what I told you."
Any reply that Rogers was going to give was interrupted by a loud thunder. He pushed his faceplate down again and stood up. Time to meet the god of thunder.
(3 hours later)
The moon was overhead when they landed on the helicarrier. As soon as they stepped out, Natasha and Fury came forward to meet them. After handing Loki to some agents, Fury turned to face him. He nodded towards both of them.
"Director, Ms. Romanova."
He was sure that Natasha made a facial twitch so that Fury would catch it. Fury though had a clear expression of shock. He snarled, completely pissed that Tony had hacked shield.
"You know about her." It wasn't a question, but a fact.
"You sent a honeypot in my company and expect me to not know about her. Jeez, director, underestimating much."
Fury did not say anything for a few moments, before speaking again. "Dr. Banner is in a lab, trying to locate the tesseract. You..."
Tony overrode whatever the one-eyed pirate was going to tell him. "I will join Brucie. He'll need my help."
He didn't miss Natasha's comment about his ego as he walked off. He would flip her off later.
FRIDAY
As the argument in the lab started, FRIDAY had the cameras focused on Thor. She didn't have to wait for long. The god of thunder spoke up soon.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies to it. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."
FRIDAY would crow if she could do it. Instead, her holographic form danced a little where she was playing with Morgan. This was the final nail in SHIELD's coffin.
She and boss had decided to not interfere in the events that would follow. Well except stopping hulk from rampaging through the carrier. She had plans for the carrier and would prefer it to be as undamaged as possible.
As boss ran towards the room where his suit was, FRIDAY guided Dr. Banner towards a safe location. She had activated the nanite band fixed in his body seconds before the explosion happened. As Dr. Banner walked away from the now destroyed lab, he murmured something in the communication device.
"Thank you for that, FRIDAY. But I don't think it was needed. Hulk wouldn't have come out either way. He is waiting for the portal to open. Its been a long time since he got a good fight or even been allowed to cut loose."
FRIDAY agreed with Hulk. Once the design for the band was checked and accepted by Dr. Banner, they had asked Hulk to come out in the mansion garden. FRIDAY had explained the complete process and the working of the band in the simplest words and to everyone's amazement, Hulk had understood. Since that day, Dr. Banner would let Hulk out once a week, mostly on weekends. Hulk spent most of his time either in the pool, with Betty, or building structures with bricks. Seeing the last one had excited Boss, and he had ordered 5 trucks of bricks for Hulk to work with. Recently Morgan had demanded a castle during one of the dinners, and the next weekend Hulk had started making one. Even with everyone pitching in at one time or another the weekends, the castle was still only half complete. Morgan had become quite comfortable with Hulk and would spend the entire time he was out with him making changes to the castle. But when he comes out to fight in the invasion, that will be the first time he would be using his strength for a long period.
A call from Boss brought her attention back. It was an inquiry about Dr. Banner's status. Assured that he was safe, Boss flew off towards the engine. There was no need to enter the fan area this time, as Boss had loaded his suit with mini repulsors, the same device his alternate self used to save the ferry in their old universe. She left the problem in hands of Boss and JARVIS and focused her attention back at things happening inside the carrier.
She had thought about stopping Loki from stabbing Agent Coulson but had ultimately decided to let it happen. Fury needed something to bring the group together, and if he didn't have this excuse, she had no idea what he might do. Plus, it would take the agent out for a long time, making Fury rely on less competent agents for the duration, thereby helping FRIDAY's plans a little more.
This was her first decision that nearly everyone in the group had argued against. Boss, Boss lady, and Mr. Barton had argued for an entire night and made some good points too, but while arguments were weak, she had stood on her decision. Agent Coulson could not be present during the decline FRIDAY had planned for SHIELD. For all his mistakes, he was a very good agent. The only one to support his decision had been Ms. Romanova, but FRIDAY knew the reason behind it was that she now hated Agent Coulson. Seeing him kill her alternate self without flinching had broken any trust and good feelings she had for the man. When Boss had threatened to save him regardless of what she decided, she had brought up a recommendation report written by Agent Coulson. It suggested that SHIELD evaluate Nela and Morgan, and if they are as smart as Boss, initiate plans to make Boss irrelevant in the future. The arguments had stopped after that. Not even Mr. Barton argued about that.
So, she watched as Loki stabbed Agent Coulson, and then dropped the cage along with the god of thunder. The meeting after that went on as she expected it to go, waiting for Boss's theatrical speech to end. The moment he guessed the location of the portal, FRIDAY sent a ping to her siblings on the common channel and individual ones. The channel was a temporary link between all A.I.'s except VERONICA and KAREN, as those two won't be participating in the battle. FRIDAY didn't know that her idea of creating a common link would lead to a chain of events that will forever change the future for some people.
"Initiate Protocol KANSAS."
She could feel the amusement from her sibling. So she sent another ping letting them know who had named the protocol, feeling offended that they hadn't thought about the obvious culprit. Only boss could name such a serious protocol as "Kick Aliens Ass."
VERONICA
As soon as the awaited ping came from FRIDAY, she activated the two mark 5 suits in the Stark tower. These suits would be responsible to direct the missile towards the portal and the ship. They would remain in their place until the jet carrying the missile left the carrier. She also scanned the New York City and the surrounding area, marking the location of every police, fire, and military forces present, and started feeding the information to TADASHI.
KAREN
She had been going through designs for a prototype suit when FRIDAY's message alerted her. She immediately paused every unnecessary protocol or action and diverted all her processing power to help TADASHI.
She also informed Parker's about the coming invasion and asked them to reach the mansion as soon as possible. As Mr. Parker had declined to move in the tower, they were still at their home when her message arrived. 5 minutes later, they were in the car, moving towards the mansion. She kept talking to them throughout the ride, discussing things with Penny, and answering the questions from Ben and May Parker.
EDITH
She immediately notified Colonel Rhodes about FRIDAY's message and started prepping the suits and systems under her control. The War Machine armor came online in the hangar it was stored in, scaring some of the soldiers stationed there. She also deployed two nanotech suits from the mansion towards the tower, for any unforeseen emergency.
Two mark III's and two mark IV's took their place in guarding the mansion.
The Hulkbuster suit was also activated in VERONICA's module, just in case. Once all the systems were up and working, she started monitoring the defensive forces being mobilized by the military due to Colonel Rhodes's prompt.
DIANA
When FRIDAY's message arrived, she withdrew from the suit Nela had been using and activated the original Iron maiden suit. She also checked on Nela and Virgil, who were sleeping in different rooms in the penthouse. Deciding on letting them sleep for a little longer, she contacted EDITH for any help she might need.
TADASHI
The moment FRIDAY's ping arrived, she went into action.
An alert was sent to every SI employee about the invasion and restricted access to the tower. The departments Captain had mentioned were also notified and asked to remain on standby. She also activated the rescue suit in the mansion just in case it was needed.
With that done, she waited for the invasion to start.
JARVIS
He had already started his preparations when FRIDAY's message arrived. He activated the mark VII armor to bring sir back while bringing the mark 47 online. He also checked his connection with the stored nanites and the security systems of the mansion.
Once he received the confirmation that every system was working as it was expected, he focused his attention back on Marl VII, which was in the process of forming around Sir.
"Maximum power, JARVIS. Remove all restrictions. Nela is in the penthouse. Get us back as soon as you can."
"Yes, sir. Diverting power to the repulsors. Hold on tight, sir."
The Mark VII suit blasted off the carrier's deck. He apologized to FRIDAY, who was chastising him for damaging her carrier.
TONY STARK
Since he had no plans to be thrown out from his window, as soon as Loki started walking towards him with his magic stick raised, he dropped the glass in his hand and summoned the Mark 47. The armor covered him just as the stick touched his chest reactor. The repulsor on his hands glowed as he aimed them at the stunned god.
"You really shouldn't have come to this planet."
And he let loose a blast. The new suit and reactor had enough power that the god was thrown on the other side of the room. Hearing the sound of the portal opening, he flew out of the room and upwards, the multiple weapon systems in his suit activating at his command.
PEPPER POTTS
When she had gone to sleep last night, she was sure that everything would be okay today and things would go just had planned. FRIDAY had assured her, so she had slept without any problem. But now, standing at the gate waiting for the Parkers, her emotions were all over the place. While a small part of her mind was busy thinking about Nela, Virgil, Bruce, Rhodey, and her other friends that would be fighting today, Tony was the one who took up the major part. She kept imagining him in worse situations, and nothing that she did stopped it. Many a time her eyes had wandered to the suitcase containing the rescue suit. She knew that if not for Morgan, she would already be in New York wearing the suit. Even with all that, her body would sometime step towards the suitcase.
She knew what Tony meant to her, what her feeling were for him, but she had never acted on it. And now she was regretting that. If something happened to him, she didn't know what she would do.
Once the Parkers arrived, she escorted them, Morgan, and Betty towards the old bunker in the basement. The place had seen a lot of new additions in a few past days. Ranging from food supplies, water, and clothes to important legal documents, Morgan's toys and a lot of others had been stored there, in case things went south. May had asked to go back to the hospital, but Pepper had asked her to wait until the invasion was over. It was safer for May to be here.
Her emotions must have been visible on her face, because half an hour after arriving in the bunker, Betty sat down next to her. "They'll be okay, Pepper. Tony will be okay."
She tried to stop the tears that started forming in her eyes. "I'm just worried. Tony is ..."
"I know. Even with Hulk, I'm worried about Bruce too. Trust them. They will be okay. FRIDAY would never let any harm come to them."
Before Pepper could reply Morgan jumped in her lap, telling her about the new toy she and Penny were planning to force Nela to make. She listened to the little girl in her arms, but her mind was still focused mostly on the billionaire fighting aliens in a self-made armored suit.
MORDO
As he blasted another chitauri soldier attacking the tower with his staff, he couldn't help but thank his alternate self. If he had not assisted FRIDAY or made a video to convince him, he wouldn't have experienced so many wonderful things. Even if he didn't consider Morgan, who was a very sweet child, he had friends, good friends on whom he could depend on. He had started enjoying life a little more, he had a home, a place where he could come to relax and enjoy, and people who understood what mattered.
JAMES RHODES
He was coordinating another airstrike against one of the whales when EDITH addressed him.
"Colonel Rhodes. Captain Rogers is requesting you to stop using airstrikes in the city."
He was sure he had heard her wrong because there was no way what he was being requested a genuine thing. "Would you please repeat it EDITH?"
"Captain Rogers is requesting you to stop the ai..."
"Okay, Okay, I got it. Why the hell he wants the airstrikes to stop?"
EDITH was silent for a few seconds before she played a recording. It was the captain's voice. "The bombing would damage the rest of the city. Those planes need to be stopped now."
He was silent for a few seconds as he wondered how to answer. "EDITH, he knows what the airstrikes are doing, right?"
"Yes, Colonel."
"hmm. Ignore him, and until he says something useful or important, keep his messages away from me."
"Roger that, Colonel."
Reminding himself to talk to the captain's trainers once this is over, he lifted off towards the tower. Hopefully, the man just needs a better grasp of modern warfare and weaponry. He was barely halfway there when the display went blank and he started falling.
NELA
Killing chitauris in the suit was much more entertaining them killing them with handheld weapons or bombs. She had mercilessly blown away any soldier that had crossed her path. Her missiles had taken down three whales already and the gun she had made using the nanoparticles was targeting the flyers with great accuracy.
As she targeted one of the flyers coming towards her, DIANA started to say something. But she didn't finish it, and a second later the display went blank. The suit went inert immediately and she started to fall from the sky.
FRIDAY
She had been tracking everyone on the battlefield when a disturbance came through the link. The disturbance was originating from TADASHI's channel. Before she could do anything, the disturbance activated her safety protocols, and everything disappeared.
NATASHA
The cry of surprise in her communication unit distracted her from the fighting. She turned to look at Clint who was fighting next to her. But her partner's eyes were fixed on something else, and the expression told her that whatever it was, wasn't good. She turned to look where his eyes were focused, and her blood froze.
She would never forget the sight of the three suits falling from the sky.