I stared up at the seething yellow eyes that had haunted my family for generations - only this time, they were coming from a different source: Iron Man's armour. The man who yesterday I had been watching socialise and flirt so nonchalantly. He didn't look quite as friendly with five types of gun pointed at my head.

Although long past any real emotion, I could almost detect a victorious, gleeful tone just at the edge of Clockwerk's voice as he explained what had happened. He thanked me for our previous encounters, claiming that I had shown him the light as far as technology was concerned. He said that his robot body - while "perfect" - was only really a vessel for his mind when you got down to it. And it was that attitude which had led him down the path of upgrading himself to send his mind into other machines. Machines like the Iron Man suit.

As Clockwerk gloated, I could just about make out Tony's muffled voice. From the sound of things, he was still in the armour, and thinking aloud his plans to get out or regain control. As for me, I wasn't much better. My arm filled with pain every time I moved it, and even if I could grab my cane in time, I doubted it would have been very effective against a vengeful AI using a highly advanced metal suit as a body.

I could see people approaching in the sky, and prayed that they made it to me in time before Clockwerk finally ran out of wind and decided to finish me off. But as bad as my situation was, things were about to get a whole lot worse for everyone.


In the deep, dark room of the Halberd where a poker game was occasionally held, Sig smiled at his hand. Obviously, he did so internally. Sig had a good poker face. But four fours was lucky.

"I'm out," said Ghastly.

"Me too," muttered Angry Joe.

"Go fish," said Caboose.

"Dammit Caboose! I only told you about this game because you assured me you knew how to play!" snapped Sarge.

"Of course I do! Quick question though. How much is this worth?" asked Caboose, showing the other players a Joker card.

Sarge's palm clanged metallically against his helmet as he muttered about the average intelligence of Blue Team. Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, close to shouting.

Ghastly turned to Sig. "Can you believe this guy?"

Sig didn't respond. He was too busy regarding the golden, bloodied blade which protruded from his chest.

Loki peered over his shoulder. "What a pity," he remarked blithely. "You might have won with that hand."


In the tower, things were panicked.

Maleficent fired blast after blast at the heroes, who were just about managing to avoid her assault. She cackled joyfully, enjoying forcing them to dance around like puppets.

Wash crouched down and emptied a magazine of his rifle into Maleficent's back. She glowed green where the bullets hit her, and fell forward slightly, but was unharmed for the most part. She spun on her heel and fired a burst of flame directly at the Freelancer.

"Son of a bitc-!" swore Washington before the blast hit him. His armour did nothing to prevent his death. Revan noted this as calmly as he could.

"What's that protecting her?" asked Raiden, nimbly dodging another burst.

Dr McNinja threw a shruiken at Maleficent, and noted the exact manner it bounced off of her. "Magical shielding!" he declared matter-of-factly, flipping away from the sorceress.

"Magical shielding?" parroted Snake incredulously, lobbing a grenade at Maleficent. She saw it and redirected upwards. It exploded against the ceiling and shook the tower.

"You heard me!" said the doctor. "Hard to say if we can undo it quickly enUGH." McNinja gave up trying to explain things when a shot from the staff came far too close to him for comfort. He slid under it and ducked into shadow.

"You should stay down," Raiden said to Revan. "You're our commander. You should be observing."

"I am observing," retorted Revan. "I can multitask, you know."

A single tranquillizing dart bounced off of Maleficent's shield. She gave Snake a withering look. She then raised a hand and slammed a large portion of the wall he stood beside into him, with enough force to send him and the bricks across the tower and break through the wall on the opposite side.

##

Carth and Jak stood outside the tower, unaware of the battle raging within it. Jak was still annoyed at being left behind on what he felt was a pointless task. Carth was not especially happy either, since he had been relegated by Revan to stand in awkward silence with an angry young man who was heavily armed.

"So," said the pilot, desperate for some conversation, "how do you think they're doing?"

Before Jak could reply, a large shower of heavy stone bricks and an unconscious stealth operative exploded from the tower and slammed into himself and Carth, burying both. As Jak slipped out of consciousness, he became even more angry at his situation.

##

"What a pathetic attempt to stop me," murmured Maleficent, looking down at the dart.

"Ever hear of teamwork?" retorted a voice behind her. Maleficent turned to see Raiden bearing down her at an extreme speed. Maleficent saw his katana aiming for her heart, and she had a brief moment of panicked thoughtlessness. She needn't have worried. Her shields held under Raiden's assault, and the force he had applied to the sword caused it to twist out of his hands and spiral away.

Maleficent and Raiden stared at each other for a brief moment, and then Maleficent shot him with her staff, killing him.

She turned around to see Revan standing alone, arms folded. They held each other's gaze for a few moments.

"Are you going to shoot me with your little notebook spell?" said Revan. His tone was mocking, but he knew fully that he was about to die.

"No need," smiled Maleficent. Revan, taking this as some kind of insult, raised a finger accusingly and prepared to retort. Before he could form any words, the wall behind him, having been destabilized by Snake's violent exit, fell forward and smothered him. His arm pointed out of the wreckage for a few moments before it too was covered.

She calmly looked around herself, searching for other opponents. She couldn't see anyone alive; only bodies. She laughed merrily to herself, satisfied.

She breezed from the room happily, and headed to the room where Dr Doom had left the transporter running.


Sly blinked rapidly, and tried to shuffle backwards. His mind burned with questions. "...How?" was the first he vocalized. "How did you manage to -"

"Upload myself into this machine?" Clockwerk's deep voice dripped, as ever, with unshakable conceit. "Well, Cooper, I could explain, but the question is, would you understand? I imagine you wouldn't."

"I'm hurt. I mean, you're not even going to try?" Sly's eye kept subtly darting to the figures in the sky. They were approaching, but were still painfully far away.

"No," said Clockwerk. "I'm not. I've been waiting years to kill you. Slowly. And now I will."

"You're as eloquent as ever, you monster," said Sly. And with that, he threw himself upward and began to run.

He didn't get far before before a repulsor blast exploded against his back. Sly toppled forward and landed face-first in the sand.

"Ouch."

Ironwerk walked over to him slowly, awkwardly moving the suit's legs. "That was foolish," he noted in his deadpan. "How far, exactly, did you intend to run blindly into this vast desert, chased by an unstoppable, perfect being?"

"Not sure," replied Sly, rolling over so that he was resting on his unharmed elbow, looking up at Ironwerk. "I tend to make plans one step at a time."

"I've noticed. I've also noticed your plans are abysmal. And this time your turtle friend isn't going to save you. Now, which limb would you describe as your favourite?"

"Maybe you've got a point," said Sly calmly. "Maybe Bentley isn't getting me out of this scrape. But there's no shame in relying on your friends. And this last month, I've made a lot of new friends."

Ironwerk tilted his head to the side smugly. He raised his hand and pointed a wrist-mounted laser at Sly. Sly looked up at him, and then was suddenly looking up at the empty space where he had been. The only thing Sly's eye had processed between these two points in time was a blur of grey and red.

He turned and saw Thor and Ironwerk tumbling over each other. When they came a stop, Thor was on top, and grabbed Ironwerk's throat. He pushed the suit down, roaring triumphantly.

War Machine landed smoothly next to Sly. "Careful!" he called to Thor. "Tony's still inside that thing." Thor grunted in acknowledgement. War Machine offered his hand to Sly, who gratefully used it to stand.

"You cannot stop me," boomed Clockwerk. "You are all beneath me."

Thor smiled condescendingly. "Of course, of course. That attitude only ever ends well. Knave."

"What's the situation?" Rhodes asked.

"Um," began Sly. "That's Clockwerk, my enemy. He took over the Iron Man suit and tried to kill me."

War Machine nodded. "Okay then."

"You're not confused?"

"I'll be confused later," said War Machine. "Priority now is to tear that thing into little pieces. Carefully, of course. We're going to get you out, Tony!" he called.

Tony's response was almost audible.

"Rhodes," said Thor, "what say you th-" At that moment, Ironwerk brought a knee up and blasted Thor with his foot. Thor flew backwards and knocked into War Machine, sending both flying.

Ironwerk staggered to his feet, snarled at Sly, and blasted towards him. Sly successfully dodged his charge. Ironwerk executed a tight 180 turn, and levelled both hands and his shoulder-missiles at the thief. Three different targeting systems locked on to Sly, making a second escape impossible.

It was quite fortuitous, then, that at that moment a green fist slammed into the side of Ironwerk's head. He rolled mid-air and landed in the sand. His golden eyes flickered off.

She-Hulk flicked her hand a few times to lessen the pain in it. Thanks to Fox, her fall had not been fatal, but it was still painful. Her immediate rush towards the battle hadn't helped things either. Now she was tired, woozy, and slightly dizzy, but still determined to beat the one responsible into pulp.

She nodded to Sly. "You alright?"

He moved his broken arm slightly. "Been better. You?"

She spat some blood as Thor and War Machine approached. "Fantastic."

Iron Man was slowly standing. The eyes eventually turned gold again, and he floated to his feet. He turned around to see She-Hulk, Thor and War Machine glowering at him. Sly stood behind War Machine and grinned awkwardly.

"So," drawled Clockwerk. "You mean to oppose me. Unwise. I have no reason to fight you. Just surrender Cooper."

"I don't think you fully understand the concept of a superhero," said She-Hulk.

"We will never condemn an innocent to thine twisted hands, fiend!" growled Thor.

"Give me back my friend," muttered War Machine.

Ironwerk raised his arms. "So be it. You shall all perish."


Angry Joe ran down the corridor, shooting wildly the way he came.

"I'm not retreating, you surrendered!" he bellowed.

A hand grabbed him from behind and he whirled around, guns raised. He relaxed when he saw it was Linkara.

"Calm down, Joe! What's going on?"

"Fucking Loki is what's going on!" was the reply. "He teleported in and started stabbing everyone!"

"He did!?"

"Yeah! We tried fighting him off, but it was pretty useless. Sarge should've damn near blew his shoulder off, but he looked like he didn't feel it!"

Linkara nodded tersely. "His healing factor." He looked at the floor, his head shaking as he formulating a plan. Suddenly he clicked his fingers. "Of course!"

"What?"

"Insano's Anti-Magic Field Generator!" yelled Linkara. "It should cancel Loki's regeneration. Maybe."

"Maybe?!" demanded Joe.

"Well, have you a better idea?"

"Guess not."

"Right. So, let's go find it."

"Indeed, let's." A deep voice cut through the corridor. Joe and Linkara turned to see Dr Doom striding towards them. "Show me the location of this device," he commanded. "It would be most useful to Doom."

Linkara paled and reached for his flintlock. Joe wasted no time and immediately opened fire with both guns.

Doom laughed mockingly as his shields activated. "Fool! More expensive bullets than yours have tried, and failed, to overcome Doom's defences!" Doom blasted Joe with his palms, sending him flying down the hallway.

Doom turned to Linkara just in time to receive a heavy blast from the latter's magic gun. The shields crackled under the powerful assault.

"Interesting weapon," noted Doom. "But against Doom, all weapons are insufficient."

The supervillain flew towards Linkara and punched him in the stomach. The reviewer cried out and fell to the ground. The battery for Insano's device fell from his pocket and clattered towards Doom.

Doom picked it up and held it between thumb and forefinger, reading its inscription. "The device's power source. Doom shall claim this," he declared. "It would be most useful to employ this machine against Maleficent. Her time is at an end, and Doom serves no-one."

Dr Doom lifted Linkara by the throat, until Linkara's feet dangled over the ground. "When I return, you will lead me to this device," he growled. "Then, perhaps, Doom will be merciful and spare you." Doom dropped Linkara, kicked him for good measure, and then continued to make his way through the ship.

"So... that's a no to getting your autograph, then," Linkara weakly called after him.


"I'm telling you, we shoulda set up traps!" Rocket Raccoon yelled, as he aimed both laser pistols at the boardroom's door. "Ya bloody idiots didn't listen! Your captain was the only one with the right idea!"

"Please calm down," said L. "I'm sure everything is fine."

The door was violently kicked off its hinges, flying against Rocket Raccoon and in turn slamming him into the far wall. He sank to the floor.

L shrugged. "I've been wrong before."

"I told you that door wasn't solid," added Phoenix meekly.

M Bison swaggered into the room, his hands on his hips. "Greetings, gentlemen!"

"Hello," replied Layton tersely.

"I," said Bison with a flourish of one hand, "am M Bison. Your death, given rather strapping physical form."

"And I suppose that with that confidence, we can't dissuade you? Make you reconsider what you're about to do?" asked Bentley.

"Not a chance," said L gravely, unwrapping a new chocolate bar. "He's a war-like man, as clearly evidenced by his clothing. But you'll notice that his uniform isn't that of any national military – instead, it's based on his own image. He's a narcissist, working for himself only. As such, I would wager that this man is completely immune to any argument, threat, or plea we could produce."

Bison laughed heartily. "Without sounding too immodest, that seems accurate to me!"

"Hmm," said L. He sprang out of his chair and kicked M Bison in the face. The warlord staggered momentarily, but then laughed it off. L went to kick him again. Bison grabbed his ankle, pulling him upwards. He grabbed L's head with his other hand and twisted his wrist violently. L's dark eyes widened as his neck snapped. Bison released the scrawny detective and let his body fall to the floor.

M Bison was about to make a witty comment when a huge burst of fire slammed into him.

Iroh had also left his chair. His face was twisted into an expression of rage. With one hand, he kept burning Bison. He raised the other and blew a hole in the boardroom's wall with another explosion of flame.

"Go!" he roared at the three remaining people in the room. "I'll hold him off!"

"But... he'll kill you!" protested Bentley.

"My chances are better than yours," snapped Iroh. "Now go before I start burning you as well!"

M Bison's silhouette was visible within the wreathing flames, and it was moving slowly towards Iroh.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Phoenix grabbed Bentley's wheelchair's handles and pulled him back. "Listen to the general. If we stay here, we'll all die!"

Phoenix and Bentley disappeared into the hole. At this point, the boardroom was on fire. Layton gravely tipped his hat to Iroh before following behind Phoenix.

Iroh began to sweat under the effort of Firebending so intensely with his still sore arm. M Bison's head appeared from the fire, charred and enraged.

"I'm going to kill you slowly, you old fool," he spat.

Iroh retracted both his flames and arms, and drew in a deep breath.

"If you think you can, you're welcome to try."