Chapter Eleven: Wonderland's Mightiest Heroes
Merida knocked three times at Tiana's door. After Peter had told Jim about a meeting that was going to take place regarding Jafar, Jim and Merida headed over.
Peter opened the door.
"Hey Jim, Hey Mer." He said, letting them in.
They walked into a sitting room where Tiana, Naveen, Mulan, and Jasmine were sitting. The three sat down together, with Merida in the middle. Tiana motioned to them.
"So, Peter, do you want to tell Jim and Merida what's going on?" Peter turned to the other two.
"So, we know whos been doing this." He took a breath. "His name is Jafar. He uses magic to shapeshift; He's from Jasmine's old universe."
Merida looked to Jasmine.
"When he wants something, nothing will get in his way." Jasmine said.
Peter shot her a look, but she ignored him.
"Where is he?" Merida and Jim asked.
They looked at each other and Jim smirked.
"He's still back at your place, Mer. Jack, Sweet, and Aladdin are making sure he doesn't escape." Peter looked between Merida and Jim. "We're trying to figure out what to do with him."
"We can't just keep him in the dungeon, like everyone else." Mulan said, leaning forward. "That's where he was last time, but he got out."
"Last time?" Merida asked, looking at Peter.
"He doesn't exactly have the best track record." Tiana said.
Naveen nodded.
"We need to keep him somewhere his friends don't know about." He said.
"You don't happen to have a dungeon, do you?" Jim asked him. Naveen shook his head.
"No. Sorry, my friend." Peter shot up.
"I think I know some people who can help. Come on, Merida." He grabbed his bag.
"Wait, what?" Merida asked, confused.
"I'll come with you." Jim said, starting to get up.
"No, Jim, we need you here. We think you can help us with something." Jasmine said.
Jim looked at her for a second, and then sat down.
"We'll be back soon." Peter said, and began to walk out. Merida looked around the room and then followed him.
Once they were outside, she stopped him.
"What's going on?" She asked, looking up at him.
He sighed.
"We have to go talk to the Avengers." He said "I think they can help us."
Merida looked Peter over. His clothes were wrinkled, his hat was crooked, and he looked tired.
She fixed his hat for him.
"Are you okay?" He grabbed her hand.
"Yeah, I'll be better when this is all over." He smiled slightly. "So, do you want to try flying on your own?"
Merida stared at him.
"Peter, not everyone can fly." He laughed at her.
"Of course everyone can fly! You just have to try."
Merida stared at him. It wasn't the most ridiculous thing he'd asked her to do.
She sighed.
"What do I need to do?" Peter smiled.
"You just need to think of what makes you the happiest, and concentrate on that until you're in the air." Peter closed his eyes and then started to levitate. "See?" He said.
He was still holding her hand, but now her arm was at an angle because he was in the air.
Merida closed her eyes. What made her the happiest? She tried to concentrate.
Slowly, a memory of her family came back to her. They were sitting around their dinner table, and her father was telling stories. She felt her toes scrape the ground.
"Yeah!" Peter yelled, pulling her higher. Merida's eyes widened, and then she laughed.
She tried to pull her hand free, but Peter held it tighter.
"Careful, there. It only works if you're close." He said, and they began to fly.
Merida looked around herself. They were flying above the tree tops.
"Where are we supposed to find them?" She asked, looking around.
"Their tower. It's in the mountains over there." Peter pointed straight ahead with his free hand.
Merida squinted. A few miles away the trees began to give way to brown rock.
"Did Jim's house look untouched?" Peter asked, dipping Merida down lower and then bringing her back up.
"Yeah, the only thing that had moved around was Morph."
Peter's eyes brightened.
"Morph! That little guy is a ton of fun." Merida laughed.
"So it's a guy?"
Peter span them around.
"Of course!"
"How do you know?"
"Because-" Peter's eyebrows pulled together and he put on his thinking face. "Well, he acts like a guy."
Merida laughed, and Peter started flying toward the ground.
"We're here." He said.
They landed in front of a huge structure.
The tower was multiple stories high, and made of glass and metal. On the top, the word "Avengers" was sculpted out of more metal.
Peter knocked on the door.
"Who is there?" A voice asked.
Merida looked around, trying to see where it was coming from.
"Peter Pan." Peter said, smiling.
"Please hold." The voice said.
Merida looked up at Peter and he laughed.
"That's Jarvis. He's not really a person, but he lives inside of the house."
Merida stared at him.
"You'll see." He said.
The door opened and they walked in.
Merida stared at the door. Did it just open on its own?
"Hawk Eye?" Peter asked, looking around.
Merida was still staring at the door.
"Peter!"
She looked up to see a man walking towards them. His clothing was purple and black, and he had a bow on his back.
"Who's this?" He asked when he approached them.
"Merida." Peter said. "Merida, this is Hawk Eye."
He shook her hand.
"You can call me Clint. It's nice to finally meet you." He said, giving Peter a look.
Merida looked at Peter. What did that mean?
He shrugged.
"We need your help." Peter said.
Hawk Eye smiled.
"Is this a job for everyone?" He asked, and Peter smiled back.
"Yeah, it would be good to have everyone."
Hawk Eye pressed a button on his watch; It beeped.
"They should be here in a few minutes."
Merida stared at him.
"Technology new to you?" He asked, and she nodded.
"The button he pressed sends a signal to everyone else and tells them to go to the meeting room." Peter said.
"What meeting room?" Merida asked.
"The one we're going to."
Merida turned her head to the staircase and saw a woman walking down. She was wearing all black, had red lips, and medium-length red hair.
"Natasha Romanoff." She said.
"Merida DunBroch." Merida said.
"DunBroch?" Peter asked. Merida nodded.
"Some people also call her 'Black Widow'." Clint said to Merida.
"If by some people you mean Director Fury, then yes. This way." Natasha said, and led them down a hallway.
They walked into a large room, containing only a large table and chairs surrounding it.
"You two can sit here." Clint said.
Peter sat down and Clint pulled out Merida's chair.
"Thank you." She said, and he nodded.
He and Natasha took the two seats across from them.
A large blonde man walked into the room, wearing clothing that reminded Merida of her father's old war suit.
"Has something happened?" He asked, looking at Clint.
"No," Natasha said "Peter has a job for us."
The man clapped his hand on Peter's shoulder.
"Ah, Peter! It has been too long since we have seen you."
He looked at Merida.
"Ah, you have brought back a wife!"
Merida and Peter looked at each other and then laughed hysterically.
"She's just a friend, Thor." Natasha said.
"My apologies." Thor said.
As he was sitting down, another man walked in. He was dressed in jeans with a flannel shirt tucked into them. His hair was neatly combed, and he smiled.
"Hey, Cap." Peter said.
Merida smiled. Peter made friends with everyone, it seemed.
"Hey, Peter." He said, shaking his hand.
"This is Merida. Merida, this is Captain America."
He shook her hand.
"Steve." He said with a wink.
Out in the hallway, there seemed to be arguing. Steve sat down.
"Looks like Tony and Bruce are going at it again."
"For the last time, Stark, I'm telling you, I did not eat your leftover Shwarma."
The door opened, and two men walked in.
"No, Banner, I'm pretty sure that you did." The taller one said. "But we'll talk about this later. Peter! How are you doin' buddy?"
"Good, Tony." He said, and he motioned to Merida. "This is Merida. Merida, this is Tony Stark, and that's Bruce Banner."
"But you can call me Iron Man, and that man over there just loves to be called the Hulk."
Tony sat down at the head of the table, and Bruce took the seat next to Merida.
He leaned over to her.
"Just call me Bruce, and don't call him Iron Man. It gives him an over-exaggerated feeling of importance."
Merida nodded.
"So, why are we here?" Tony said, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head.
"We need your help with a guy we caught." Peter said.
Tony looked at him.
"Well, if you already caught him, then what do you need us for?"
Peter smirked.
"He's kind of hard to lock up."
Merida looked around the table. Most everyone seemed interested.
"Why not just kill the man?" Thor asked.
Steve rolled his eyes.
"We can't just go around killing people, Thor."
"Besides, people can't die here, right?" Bruce asked, fixing his glasses.
"He's right." Natasha said.
"Well, we could put him in one of the cells." Clint said.
"And let the man know that we exist?" Tony looked at Peter. "He is a man, right Red?"
Merida raised her eyebrows.
"Red?" She asked.
Tony turned to her.
"Oh, I guess that could be a little confusing, with you and him and our red-head over there…"
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, he's a guy." Peter said.
"Let's just establish right now that he's Red. Can everyone agree on that?" Tony looked around the table. "Well, no one said anything, so I'm taking it as a yes."
Steve put his forehead against one of his hands.
"Do you think Fury knows anyone?"
"Let's not involve Fury if it's possible." Tony said, staring at him.
"What about that spider child who can climb up walls and shoot webs from his fingertips?" Thor asked.
Merida stared at him. Who in the world was that?
"Spider Mans taking a holiday." Clint said.
Tony popped a berry into his mouth. Where did those come from?
"Plus, he gets himself into more trouble than good."
Steve looked like he was going to object, but he shrugged.
"What about the big glass box of fun?" Bruce said sarcastically.
Everyone went silent.
"That could work." Natasha said, thinking.
"The what?" Peter asked.
"Oh, I think you misunderstood, I wasn't being serious." Bruce said, but they ignored him.
"If we can get away from Fury and bring it back here, it would be perfect." Steve said, smiling.
"Won't be too hard, we just have to stay out of range of his good eye." Tony joked, and laughed once.
"Guys." Bruce sounded desperate.
"It wouldn't even take a full day." Clint was lost in thought.
"The area he keeps it in is usually vacant in the mornings." Natasha said.
"What's going to happen when he notices it's missing?" Bruce asked, frustrated.
"He won't, because you're going to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security system." Tony said.
This conversation had flown over Merida's head a long time ago, but Peter seemed to understand what was going on. He would probably explain it later.
Bruce looked around the table.
"Fine." He said, slouching into his chair.
"That's why I love you, Banner." Bruce looked like he was annoyed, and he let out a huge breath.
Tony turned to Peter.
"We'll have a place for him tomorrow."
Peter smiled.
"Good. Come on, Merida, let's go tell the others."
Merida looked at Tony.
"Thank you."
She felt like it was a necessary thing to say.
"No problem, Curls." He said to her.
She and Peter walked out the door.
"Curls?" She asked Peter, and he laughed.
"Tony likes nick names."
Merida smiled.
"I can see that, Red." She said, poking Peter's stomach. They both laughed. "So what exactly just happened in there?"
Peter scratched his head.
"I don't really know. It happens every time I ask them for anything."
Merida sighed. She had been looking around inside, and she didn't recognize a lot of the new technology.
"Why do they have so many advanced things?" She asked.
"Tony and Bruce are scientists; They make a lot of the stuff."
Merida nodded, and Peter patted her shoulder.
"It's okay, Mer, I had to learn about a lot of stuff, too."
She smiled at him.
"Thanks, Peter." He smiled a wide smile.
"Ready to fly again?" Merida nodded.
"Yeah, let's go."