Ahmanet stared at the screen, licking her lips lightly, before looking at Harry. "Harry if we are ever in a position where I am going to be enslaved by a giant slug, I want you to kill me." She said bluntly. Harry looked at her, then at Jabba, then nodded.
"Fair enough." He said, unable to blame her. "Though...how exactly would I do that?" Ahmanet paused and cocked her head to the side.
"I'm...not sure..." She admitted slowly. "Perhaps..." She shook her head. She had an idea, but did not know Harry nearly well enough to voice it. Not yet. "I'm sure you'll figure something out." Harry looked at her, then shrugged.
"Hopefully we just won't meet one of those." Ahmanet pursed her lips and nodded.
"One can hope." There was a long moment of silence as the pair continued to watch the movie.
"Hey, you were desert royalty, right?" Harry asked. Ahmanet nodded silently, not taking her eyes off the screen as she popped a handful of Milk Duds into her mouth. "Did you have a harem like this?" Ahmanet dropped her box of candy.
"No." She said flatly, gritting her teeth.
"Uhm, sorry." Harry apologized hesitantly, wishing he hadn't asked. Ahmanet shook her head.
"It is not your fault. It was a harmless question. There were merely some...arguments between my mortal father and I on that front." She told him, bending down to retrieve her box of candy. Harry blinked, then decided to let it drop. He might have moments of insensitivity, but let it never said he was as bad as Ron. He was slowly but surely getting a picture of Ahmanet's relationship with her father and it seemed to have been a...complicated one to say the least. Not that he had much experience with parental figures, but every time her mortal father was brought up she looked very tense.
Two hours later
Tony looked up as Thor plopped down into a chair in the lab with a heavy sigh. "How'd it go?" He asked mildly.
"Their house still stands and I did not lay hands on them." Thor said shortly. "I consider that a victory." Tony nodded.
"And Jane?" He prompted. Thor smiled briefly.
"I have never seen her so angry. Indeed, I believe that she could have given my own mother some pointers on righteous rage." He shook his head. "She is currently having a 'girl's night' with Darcy, Maria, and Natasha." Tony nodded sagely.
"That makes sense." He said, turning and fiddling with some wiring. "It's not you you know." He added casually. "She just had her world turned upside down and needs some time to process everything." Thor nodded and gave Tony a calculating look.
"You can be a very wise man Tony." Tony just chuckled.
"Can being the operative word." He said flippantly. "And don't tell anybody, I have an image to protect." He paused and turned back in his swivel chair. "But what are you doing down here? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, I'm just curious. I figured you'd be with your kid." Thor sighed.
"He and the daughter of Set are currently watching Star Wars. I did not wish to interrupt. And..." He shook his head. "My son has just had his world turned upside down even more thoroughly than Jane and I. I do not wish to add stress to him. I thought it would be best to let him have this moment of normalcy, of watching a movie with someone close to his age. And I know that you most likely have questions about wizards, so I thought I would come and answer them. You were right, explaining things helped." Tony looked at him for a long moment, then let out a resigned sigh and shook his head.
"Okay big guy, you're probably never going to hear me say this again, but...I don't want to ask you anything right now." Thor blinked as Tony continued. "Look, my dad...wasn't the best. And I don't have any kids. Not that I'm aware of anyway. So I admit I don't have any experience with being a good parent. But...I'm pretty sure that your kid would rather have you with him than every movie in the world." Thor stared at him for a long moment of silence.
"Perhaps you are right." He admitted slowly. "I...I should go." With that he stood back up and walked out of the lab. Tony stared after him, then glanced over at the computer.
"How's it going J?"
"I have yet to find any record of a child of yours in North America." The AI said briskly. "That does not mean that you have none of course, but I think for the moment that you are in the clear as it were." Tony nodded and got back to work. The discovery of Harry had lit a fire under him, and he just wanted to make quadruply sure that he didn't have any kids out there that needed his attention but weren't getting it.
"Alright, well, keep looking. And make sure you don't stop in North America. Europe, Japan, Rio, Australia, I want a whole search."
"Of course sir."
Three Minutes Later
Harry blinked as the movie paused. He looked down the aisle as Thor walked towards them. His...dad stopped awkwardly and looked at the two teenagers (for a certain value of teenager with regards to Ahmanet). He nodded at Ahmanet. "Greetings Princess Ahmanet." He said formally. Ahmanet nodded back.
"Greetings Prince Thor Odinson." She replied, equally formally. Thor looked at Harry next.
"I...was wondering if I could watch the movie alongside you." He asked hesitantly. Harry, however, did not hesitate.
"Yes!" He said quickly. Thor smiled and sat down next to him, and the movie resumed.
At The Same Time
Colonel James Rhodes, aka Rhodey, aka the Iron Patriot (and wouldn't Tony laugh at the new name), slowly lowered himself into the Chinese valley, his weapons currently inactive in an attempt to display that he hadn't come for a fight. That didn't mean he wasn't ready for one obviously, but he didn't want to fight his way through an unknown valley if he didn't have to. He looked around, scanning the area, as he carefully made his way through the valley. "Anybody out here?" He called. "I'm not here for a fight, I just want to talk!" He really needed to talk to Tony about getting a JARVIS of his own, an extra set of eyes that wouldn't be a second target would be incredibly useful. Plus JARVIS might know what this black fog rolling in was.
Rhodey quickly sealed his suit, going to the oxygen already stored. He had filters of course, but he didn't want to risk it when faced with an unknown gas. Soon he was completely engulfed in the black fog, even his spotlights only lighting up the five feet directly around him. "What the hell?" He muttered, turning in a cautious circle. Suddenly a wall of blue ice rose from the ground, cutting him off from the way he'd come. Rhodey quickly whirled back around, on alert. His suit could fly of course, so the wall wasn't much of a threat, but the warning was clear.
As he turned around the fog was parting to reveal a man walking towards him at a slow, stately pace. He wore a very formal looking green robe, and a jeweled ring on each of his fingers but, weirdly, was also sporting Ray Bans. The man stopped a good ten feet away from Rhodey, simply standing and contemplating him. After a full minute of silence, Rhodey spoke up, holding up his hands. "I'm Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force..." he began. The man snorted.
"Your nationality is obvious." He said dryly, his accent a mix of British and something vaguely Chinese that Rhodey couldn't identify off the top of his head. "I could hardly mistake you for someone of Japanese origin with a color scheme like that." Rhodey sighed.
"Yeah well, I didn't get a say in the new paint job." He said in resignation. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Look, I didn't come here for a fight. We lost a plane down here, in this valley a day ago, I'm just here for the pilots." The man reached into a pocket in his robe and pulled out a stopwatch, pressing a button.
"Twenty six hours and thirty seven minutes." He announced. "I confess to being impressed. It took the Russians two weeks to send someone after their pilots, and they are much closer." He turned around, beckoning. "Come. I will take you to where your pilots are being held." Rhodey blinked and followed after the strange man.
"You were timing our response time?" He demanded. "Is that why you shot down that plane?" The man shook his head.
"No. I'm afraid that the Chinese government has attempted to drive me from my home a great many times. As a result, I have made it a policy to shoot down any military aircraft that flies over this valley, as I lack the equipment to ascertain their purpose while they remain in the air." He shrugged carelessly. "It is an imprecise strategy I concede, but the most prudent I have available to me." Rhodey blinked.
"Wait, you couldn't tell what the origin of the jet was, but you could see it clear enough to shoot it down?"
"The mountains surrounding this valley are quite tall. It greatly lowers the operational ceiling of aircraft." The man explained as he led Rhodey under an arch to a very opulent looking mansion. "Not enough to make out insignia of course, but enough to be able to make them out with the naked eye." Rhodey blinked.
"You know, if you promise not to shoot down any more of our planes I'm sure I could talk the Air Force into getting you a telescope." He said dryly.
"I'd happily forgo a telescope in favor of you declaring my valley a no fly zone." The man retorted, his voice equally dry as he gestured for Rhodey to enter a room. It wasn't exactly a luxury room, but compared to most of the places that US military personnel usually got stashed after being captured it was the Four Seasons. The two pilots looked up. Both were blonde with blue eyes, one in her late twenties, the other in his early twenties.
"Colonel Danvers, Captain Storm." Rhodey said, looking at the two as they clambered out of beds.
"Hey Rhodey." Carol Danvers said with a little wave. "They sent the big guns huh?" Rhodey snorted as he scanned them, making sure that they weren't seriously injured and didn't have any spyware on them. They left the room and headed towards the door. They walked in silence until the man led down a different path than what he'd used to lead Rhodey in. As they entered a large hall, Rhodey stopped dead in his tracks, staring at a massive tapestry over one of the doors. It bore a darkly familiar symbol on it, loud and proud, and Rhodey whirled around to stare at his host.
"What is *that* doing here?" He demanded, jabbing a finger at the symbol of the organization known as the Ten Rings. The man arched an eyebrow.
"You recognize that symbol?" He paused, then nodded. "Ah, yes, I suppose you would. Rest assured that I have throughly purged those involved in that nasty business in Afghanistan. Well, those that Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark didn't kill first of course. Attempting to hold a man like Tony Stark captive was foolishness, and a plan that I did not approve." Rhodey stared at him, processing what the man was saying, taking in his clothes, his manner of speech, his body language, his...rings.
"You're the Mandarin." He said bluntly. The man nodded.
"Indeed." Rhodey powered up his shoulder cannons, a dull hum filling the air as his weaponry focused on the Mandarin, who stood where he was, seemingly unconcerned by the threat aimed at him.
"I'm going to need you to come with me." Rhodey said. Standing in front of him was one of the most wanted men in the world, the leader of the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. The Mandarin considered him for a long moment, then shook his head.
"No, I don't think I will." He said simply. "You have your pilots. They have not been harmed. I have no desire to go to war with the United States, much less the Avengers, at this moment. Depart in peace Colonel Rhodes. Leave the fight for another day." Rhodey shook his head and took a step forward.
"Yeah, see, it doesn't work that way." He started. Before he could take another step though, much to his surprise both pilots grabbed his arms, pulling him back. Neither was strong enough to budge the suit, but the intent was clear, and that was enough to give Rhodey pause.
"Not the time Rhodey!" Carol hissed, nodding towards the door they'd been heading for. "We need to go."
"She's right Colonel." Captain Storm said, nodding fervently. "That guy managed to shoot down an experimental jet that was designed to handle attacks from the Chitauri. Neither of us saw any anti aircraft weapons in the valley when we got dragged here, which means either they're very well hidden, or he's got some serious enhancements."
"He disintegrated the wings of our jet Rhodey." Carol growled. "Like the armor plating wasn't even there. I don't think your suit will fare much better." Rhodey took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"You're right, you're right." He muttered, making the pilots relax. "Now isn't the time." All three Americans turned and headed for the door. Before they'd even gotten halfway across the room Rhodey whirled around, opening fire on the Mandarin with of his repulsors. The man's fingers twitched, and a wall of metal appeared between him and Rhodey, absorbing the blast. The wall disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, and the Mandarin let out a disappointed sigh.
"So you insist on taking action than." He said calmly. Rhodey was seething.
"You know, if you were just some gun toting Capone of the mountains I'd probably let you go." He growled. "But you had my best friend kidnapped and tortured. That makes this a whole different ballgame." He opened fire with the rocket launcher on his shoulder, firing off six rockets at once. There was a second finger twitch and a swirling vortex opened up, swallowing the weapons. Rhodey opened up with his shoulder mounted machine gun, as well as the ones in his arms. The wall of metal appeared once more, as ice climbed the walls, sealing the doors and preventing the two pilots from escaping.
"Enough of this." The Mandarin sighed. "These carpets are very expensive, and matter manipulation only makes up for so much." A beam of yellow energy punched through the metal and slammed into Rhodey's right arm, sheeting off his weapons and much of his armor on that arm. A second beam did the same to his left arm, and a third hit his right knee, forcing him to kneel. The metal disappeared, as did the ice, and the Mandarin walked forward, an orb of wind hovering over one hand.
"Tell me Colonel, can that remarkable suit of yours tell me what kind of gas this is?" He asked, his voice conversational and utterly unconcerned. Rhodey gritted his teeth. Even down two arms and a knee, his armor was far from helpless. Being dismissed rankled him fiercely. But he scanned the gas all the same.
"Sarin." He growled. The Mandarin nodded.
"Correct. Now, I have no doubt that even in this state your armor could protect you from most of the harm this, and any number of other gasses I could create could do. The same however, can not be said for them." He nodded significantly at where the two pilots were standing, the Colonel glaring daggers and clenching her fists while the Captain's eyes darted from person to person. The orb's surface rippled, threatening to grow. "Now, should you continue on this course, I will be forced to release my grip on the poison and allow it fill this room. Do you still wish to further this fight?" Rhodey growled.
"No."
"Good." The Mandarin nodded and turned around, heading for the door through which they had entered. "If go through the door which your companions are gathered by, you will enter a straight hallway. Go through it, and you will emerge outside. Take a left, and you will arrive at a narrow path which will lead you out of the valley, where you can arrange for transport. Safe travels." He left, leaving Rhodey shaking in anger as the other two quickly helped him stand.
"I hate that guy." He growled as they headed out.
One Day Later
Nicholas Fury turned to face Rhodey, taking his eye off the mangled remains of the Iron Patriot armor. "The Mandarin did that?" He demanded. "Without any artillery?" Rhodey shook his head, wincing as a medic put an ice pack on one of the burns on his arms.
"None that I could see at least sir." He said, frustrated. "Whatever energy weapon he used, he didn't do it until he was firmly behind a defensive barrier. But at the same time, I don't see how he could have gotten a weapon of any size in and out of that room so quickly without me seeing something." He sighed. "Frankly sir? I'd put money on his rings being extraterrestrial. Even Tony couldn't make something so compact that packed that much of a punch." Fury raised an eyebrow.
"You sure it's the rings?" He asked bluntly. There was no known footage of the Mandarin himself fighting past what the Iron Patriot suit had recorded. The man rarely engaged in combat personally, and when he did nothing usually survived. They had precious little to go off of. Rhodey shrugged.
"I mean, I suppose it could be something built into the hall itself, or he could have the power himself like Thor or Banner, but my gut says it the rings. I mean, he calls his group The Ten Rings. You don't do that just because you like your jewelry." Fury sighed.
"That's what I was afraid of." Weapons he could handle. Cannons, artillery, robots, suits, he could deal with all of that. And maybe Rhodes was right and this was just alien tech. But unlike the Air Force man turned hero, Fury had seen a few more...earthly threats that could conjure structures from thin air in seconds. Magic. And that was a whole different mess. There were wizards of course, he'd done business with some in the past and dealt with more. But there weren't a lot of people in SHIELD trained to handle magic. It simply wasn't a problem that came up often enough to require dedicating large amounts of resources to. For one thing, most of the Wizarding nations insisted on policing themselves, and reacted negatively (and sometimes even violently) to 'interference' from those without magic. And for another, wizards were frankly a minority. Admittedly one average wizard with the element of surprise on his side could do more damage than ten average non magical people, but at a little over two hundred non magical days for every one wizard, there just wasn't enough to worry about too much.
At least, that was the line that the World Security Council insisted on. Fury did his best to work around that kind of thinking, because he was of the opinion that there was no such thing as a threat not worth preparing for, and Pierce did his best to help, but ultimately the Council determined his budget, which determined his options. He let out a sigh.
"You did good work Rhodes." He assured the other man. "You got Danvers and Storm out, and got us more footage of the Mandarin in action than all the task forces assigned to deal with him combined." He patted him on the shoulder. "Rest and heal up, then take this to Stark." Rhodey blinked, and Fury sighed. "The gods know I hate to boost his ego any, but if anyone can get your suit strong enough to resist whatever the hell the Mandarin was firing at you within the next decade, it's him." Rhodey nodded.
"And you sir?" He asked curiously. Fury shrugged.
"We've got a god that likes to go explore space in his spare time." He said, heading for the door. "I rather thought I'd ask him what he thought."
-
Author's Notes
Thank you for reading everybody! I'm legitimately stunned (in the very best way) at the positive reaction this story has gotten, and I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint!
So, we've finally moved a bit past the events immediately following the discovery of Harry and Ahmanet. Don't worry, I'm not done writing about the adjustments this will cause, nor am I going to avoid Thor and Harry explaining the Wizarding World to the Avengers. But the nice thing about a Cinematic Universe (or any other shared universe), is that lots of things can be happening at the same time. So yeah, I figured that while I built up the personal relationships, I might as well build the plot in other ways.
So yes, the Mandarin will be our first boss as it were, the villain who drives the existence of Harry and Ahmanet fully into the open and gets Diana to come back out of retirement. I've decided to go with a blend of the comic version's powers and Ben Kingsley's version's fashion sense, with a hopefully tolerable blend of their personalities.
I hope any Rhodey fans out there aren't angry with me. I'm not worfing him or trying to downplay his power and skill, I promise. He lost as badly as he did because he fought an extremely skilled and powerful opponent without prior knowledge of their powers, he was very angry, and he had two other people who weren't equipped for that kind of fight to think about. He will get his back, I promise.
Also, Carol Danvers and Johnny Storm were here, yay! I'm going to hold off on giving Carol her powers until I see how the MCU handles it (or at least until Infinity War 1) to limit the number of toes I step on and plots I crush. Obviously we're going very off the rails in relation to the MCU canon, but this is still based on the movies as much as the comics. And given how much I love the MCU versions of Wanda Maximoff, Scott Lang, Ultron, and the Guardians, far more than I expected to, I'm hesitant to completely cut off that particular branch. Admittedly, Carol Danvers is one of my favorite Marvel heroes, so I don't know what the movies could do to make me like her *more*, but still.
Johnny though...he'll probably show up again, along with the rest of the Fantastic Four, but when that will happen I don't know. I'm less hesitant to bring them in than I am Carol though, since Fox is being stupid petty and won't share them with Marvel even though they've never had a truly successful Fantastic Four movie :/
Speaking of Fox, no, the X-Men won't be appearing, nor will mutants in general. Sorry, I've got enough to work with as it is, and if I tried integrating the X-Men some of them (Rogue, Gambit, Deadpool and the Jennifer Lawrence Mystique) would take over the whole plot. Sorry!
Please review!