70. A Blight in Black
NEW YORK CITY, 616TH EARTH
"I don't wanna know," Applejack stated as Tony brought the paper to the table.
"I didn't even say anything about it," Tony retorted. "You don't know what's in here. For all you know, the Canadian prime minister's dog made the front page."
"I know it ain't good," Applejack pointed out. "That Jameson fella could stay away from pickin' on Twilight just about as well as the vampire fruit bats could stay away from the apples back on the farm."
This statement was met with a lot of blank looks.
"Y'know, 'cause vampire fruit bats suck the juice outta apples," Applejack tried to explain. "Y'all don't have those here? What I'm tryin' to say is that paper is gonna be slanderin' us!"
"Well, the good news is, page 2 is filled with coverage of the recent summit to discuss American-Atlantean relations," Tony informed the group. "After Namor owned Attuma, suddenly everybody wants to be Atlantis' best friend. There was even talk about mutant rights."
"That all sounds good," Steve pointed out. "Atlantis has been looking for peace for a long time."
"ATLANTIS?" Twilight nearly spat out her food; she chewed and swallowed quickly before asking, "It's HERE?"
"Yes," Thor told her, "though not in its entirety. When the Lands of Legend became the various worlds, pieces of Atlantis were scattered. A segment turned out to be on this world, and it was reconfigured into this world's version of the ancient kingdom. Though it remains underwater."
"I know you're trying to say stuff," Tony told Thor, "but it's just coming out as white noise."
"The cosmic history may not make much sense to you now," Thor replied, "but I am immortal. I observed much of this myself. The multiverse is complex."
"Anyway," Steve broke in, "Atlantis has been sort of an outsider compared to the rest of the world's nations. And from what I hear, the mutants haven't been getting the respect they deserve either. Back during the war, I heard…rumors about how people with mutant abilities were treated. And it seems to be the same today. This all sounds like a good thing."
"So why do I get the feeling Osborn's fingerprints are all over it?" Tony posed.
"Maybe Osborn really is working for the greater good this time," Steve suggested.
"What's all this about mutants?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Perhaps we should take time to explain things to each other," Thor proposed. "The Lands of Legend and fall of Atlantis to those of you who live on this world, and the struggle of this world's mutants to those of you who do not."
"So we know what's on page 2," Applejack told Tony. "Now. What's on the front page?"
Tony clutched the paper defensively.
"FRONT PAGE," Applejack demanded. "NOW."
The paper hit the table. A headline blared: "WITCH AFFILIATED WITH AVENGERS DEMONSTRATES MIND VIOLATION". A large picture of Twilight casting the Imperius curse on Attuma filled a large section of the page.
"They BARELY focus on how you basically prevented the entire city from being wiped out by Attuma," Tony summarized. "Instead, it's all, 'If she can do this to someone like Attuma, how safe are we?'"
Rarity edged the paper closer to herself. "Oh dear. It seems to get worse."
"What happened?" Banner asked, gritting his teeth. Fluttershy lightly touched him on the shoulder, and he breathed deeply, forcing himself to be calmer.
"Well…there's a sidebar about how the Avengers got in the way of the new Avengers," Rarity pointed out. "Apparently, eyewitness reports say that Thor hit Osborn with Mjolnir, Clint cut down Bullseye's arrows, and Tony prevented Zemo from striking what could have been a victory blow. I swear, journalists these days will make up ANYTHING for attention!"
"Is there anything you want to SAY about that?" Steve cast his gaze to Thor, to Clint, and finally to Tony.
"It…was an accident," Thor admitted.
"He…had it coming," Clint muttered.
"I regret nothing," Tony stated.
"You ATTACKED them?" Rarity was aghast. "This will only make our case worse!"
"Yeah, well, that's not the point right now," Tony insisted, grabbing the paper. "They put Twilight on the front page, and that's what they're going to be focusing on."
"I don't get it," Twilight said softly. "How did they even get that picture? There was no one around to take it."
"Unless Osborn recorded that from his armor," Ms. Marvel pointed out.
Twilight gasped. "That's the only way!"
"Still think he's working for the greater good?" Tony asked. "Betcha he's behind most of those 'eyewitness reports,' too."
"I should never have cast that spell," Twilight sighed.
"Without that spell, we would have been doomed," Thor argued.
"No," Twilight groaned. "Namor would still have shown up and won."
"But what if he didn't?" Steve posed. "What if he wouldn't have been powerful enough? Maybe you saved Namor, too."
"I hope you're right," Twilight sighed.
"C'mon, Twi," Jan pouted. "Don't be down about this. You did great. We need you!"
"I…I'll try to let it go," Twilight resolved. "But I'm NOT going to be using that spell again."
"Unless you really have to," Rainbow Dash finished.
"I mean at all," Twilight asserted.
"But what if you HAVE to?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'm hoping I'll never HAVE to," Twilight told her. "Otherwise, I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it."
"If it'll take your mind off it," Tony broke in, "I was thinking of taking you all on a tour of Stark Industries today. Out of the goodness of my own heart."
"And your ulterior motive is…?" Steve countered.
"Possibly to show off some of the new modifications I made to improve Spectrum," Tony answered without missing a beat.
"Would I get to wear it the whole time?" Rainbow Dash asked, suddenly excited by the prospect.
"If you want," Tony answered.
"YES!" Rainbow Dash cried.
"That sounds like a simply marvelous idea," Rarity said. "You can count me in."
"And me," Fluttershy added.
"And me," Applejack chimed in.
"And me!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"It would help take my mind off things," Twilight said. "If I can even show my face in public."
"Over at Stark Industries, I call the shots," Tony told her. "If you're my friend, which you are, you're their friend. Besides, Pepper and Rhodes know way better than to take the Bugle at face value. So, anybody else in?"
"I'd like to go," Steve volunteered.
When no one else said anything, Ms. Marvel pointed out, "With all these recent attacks, we have to stay on our toes. Keep training, hone our skills, and be ready for anything."
"I get it," Tony said with a nod. "Just keep your ID cards on."
"FIELD TRIIIIIIP!" Pinkie Pie cried, hopping up and down.
"Well?" Tony looked to Rainbow Dash. "Go suit up!"
"YEAH!" Rainbow Dash took off running for the workshop.
As she rushed through the halls, a figure watched her from around the corner. He cradled a small, rectangular object in his hands. When Rainbow Dash had passed, he slipped down the hall after her.
He opened the door to an unused room. The perfect place. He gently set the object down in the middle of the floor.
Observing his work, Discord couldn't help but laugh before he teleported away.
The tall, pale woman with long red-orange hair swept back into a ponytail and sporting a crisp business suit focused intensely on the work that had piled up on her desk. When there weren't papers to file, there were phone calls to answer. The phone so happened to ring, and she picked up the receiver to hear a male voice say, "Did you place an order for badass? Because there's a delivery of badass here."
She sighed, rolled her eyes. "Tony…"
"Hi, Pepper. Bad time?"
"No…" Pepper looked over the various papers. They could wait. "Come on up. What's the order of business? And please no jokes this time."
"I'm giving some friends a tour of the place. And also, I had some ideas I wanted to talk over with you and Rhodes. Got a new Mark of the suit with modifications."
"All right. I'll see you in a few minutes." She set down the receiver.
Moments later, Tony entered her office, and so did his seven companions. "Hello, Captain Rogers," Pepper greeted. "Nice to see you."
"And the same to you, Pepper," Steve said with a smile.
"So who are they?" Pepper asked with a grin. "I'm guessing these are the women that Jameson's been having a heyday writing about."
"You got it," Tony confirmed. He pointed, one by one: "Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. The cool one."
Pepper was awestruck to see what Rainbow Dash was wearing: Spectrum, with the mask retracted to show her face. "That's one of yours?" Pepper asked, surprised. "I can't actually believe you gave one to somebody else."
"Well, Falcon wanted one, and it was all downhill from there." Tony shrugged. "He almost took War Machine before I talked sense into him. Speaking of which, where is Rhodes? I want everybody to meet him."
"Down in the reactor room," Pepper answered. She turned to Rainbow Dash. "So, how's it working out? The armor, I mean."
"It's AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash gushed. "I feel like I can take on anypony!"
"You're Pepper Potts, right?" Twilight asked.
Pepper nodded.
"I've been wanting to meet you ever since Tony told us you were one of the most helpful people to his work," Twilight admitted.
"I pretty much do ALL the work around here," Pepper teased. "Tony's too busy being an eccentric genius to actually run a company with his own name on it."
"Hey, my ideas, my Industries," Tony argued jokingly.
"They do say success is 99 percent perspiration…" Steve said as he gestured toward Pepper. "And one percent inspiration." He gestured to Tony.
"Anyway, I've been wanting to meet you too," Pepper told Twilight, "ever since I heard about how you took down Graviton. And now Red Skull and Attuma?"
"Well…we helped," Twilight replied. "Osborn's squad did a lot of the work."
"What's going on with that, anyway?" Pepper asked.
"That…is probably not something we discuss out in the open," Steve stated. "Tony, how about you show our new friends around while I get Pepper up to speed?"
"Sure. Meet you in the reactor room," Tony agreed.
They parted ways; Steve and Pepper sought out someplace private where Steve could tell Pepper that the charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. had passed from Fury to Osborn and that Coulson wasn't as dead as everyone had thought. Tony led the six Equestrians down the halls of the building.
"As much as I hate to admit it," Tony sighed, "she does do most of the grunt work around here. This company probably wouldn't be alive without her."
"She seems pretty nice," Fluttershy commented.
"Believe me," Tony asserted, "I probably couldn't find another assistant anywhere who could put up with as much bullshit as she gets on a daily basis. She's kinda like that nagging older sister who's always right that I never had. Anyway…"
"…And here's the heart of the operation," Tony said, leading the group into a room where a bright reactor, white energy trapped behind glass, surged. "The arc reactor. They said it couldn't be done, so, naturally, I did it."
"Wow," Twilight said, stepping closer to the reactor. "It almost seems like magic."
"It's a sort of magic," Tony agreed. "I maintain that magic is just everything science hasn't found a way to explain yet. But try telling that to Thor and all he hears is 'I'm a stupid techie who doesn't believe in faeries.' Anyway, that reactor powers the iron suits, and we're working on making it into a green energy source."
Across the room, a dark-skinned man dressed in a suit noticed the group. "TONY!" he cried, running toward the ensemble. "Been forever since YOU showed your face around here."
"Nice to see you too, Rhodey," Tony replied with a grin. "Ladies, this is James Rhodes, also known as War Machine." And quickly, he ran through the Equestrians' names again.
"From the Graviton incident?" Rhodes asked.
"That was us!" Rainbow Dash announced proudly.
"I see Tony let you have one of his preciouses," Rhodes commented.
"If I gave Falcon one, I had to give her one," Tony pointed out. "Falcon almost took War Machine, by the way. I stopped him, though."
At this point, Pepper and Steve re-entered. "Did you tell her?" Twilight asked.
"He did," Pepper said, looking a little dazed. "I'm still taking it all in, but I understand what's going on now. How's the tour going?"
"I was just telling them about the energy source we're trying to make from the arc reactor," Tony explained. "Stark Industries used to be all about military technology, but we're trying to make green energy priority number one now."
"Why did you move away from military tech?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Because putting all your eggs in the war basket ends up getting you stuck in a cave with a box of scraps," Tony answered. "Though the more I've been thinking about it, the more I'm wondering if we should be heading in another direction entirely."
"What now?" Pepper and Rhodes asked in unison.
"So these girls." Tony turned to gesture to the Equestrians. "Ladies. Mares? They have this…REALLY outdated and rickety ship for space travel. But apparently, it's better at traveling dimensions, space, and time than anything we have on this world right now. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"Y'know, it is possible for you to go a full day without insultin' our ship," Applejack sighed.
"Let's say that this tech becomes mainstream," Tony said. "Hypothetically. People are going to want in. That's where we provide the solution. We can provide parts and maintenance. We can work on a radio frequency that will cross dimensional barriers so that you could call, say, somebody in Asgard from a ship parked on Earth. Or across enough space that you could call Hala from here."
"This all sounds INCREDIBLY risky," Pepper told Tony. "Putting aside the technical difficulties, are you sure the world is ready for that kind of technology?"
"They are the only ones traveling between the worlds like that," Steve pointed out.
"Um…not exactly," Twilight broke in.
"One of our bestest friends from Corona, Princess Rapunzel and her husband Eugene, are on a journey with Twilight's brother Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadance, and they're probably having an adventure that's just as magnifitastic as ours!"
"See?" Tony turned back to Pepper, Rhodes, and Steve. "This is already becoming a movement…wait. You said 'Rapunzel,' didn't you?"
"Yup!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"Like the fairy tale character," Tony sighed.
"We used to think Thor and Loki were just storybook characters too," Steve pointed out. "Not to mention Dracula."
"Wait, DRACULA?" Tony shook his head. "Is there something about what you did in the war that you forgot to tell me?"
"Side alliance. Quick mission. Long story."
Tony was at a loss for words.
"I actually think adapting technology for the kind of travel we do would be a GREAT idea," Twilight asserted. "Especially if you found a way to make a radio link that could help us talk to other ships. I would love to be able to talk to Cadance, Shining Armor, Rapunzel, and Eugene on their journey. And also have a way to link back to Phil that didn't cost me a drachma."
"Because THEN," Pinkie Pie squealed, "you could spend all the drachmae on talking to – "
Rarity nudged Pinkie Pie hard in the side, and she was quiet.
Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Somebody you need to contact in a special way?"
"In a way," Twilight said softly.
"Well, in that case, I'd be more willing to put funding into this," Pepper said, "but the physics would still be a nightmare. We'd have to have a team of astrophysicists on board who already have knowledge of interdimensional travel as opposed to just space travel."
"What about Jane Foster?" Applejack proposed.
"Yeah!" Twilight realized. "She knows about Asgard and the Bifrost. She HAS to know more than your average astrophysicist."
"In that case, you might be able to get Selvig's whole team," Steve added. "I'm not sure how willing Selvig would be to be associated with Stark Industries' history of war profiteering, but it's at least worth asking."
"Um, he would be on a Stark Industries payroll," Tony reminded Steve. "He wouldn't care."
"Money doesn't just buy out feelings," Steve asserted.
"You can try to convince him," Pepper sighed. "But he NEVER gets that concept. I've learned to live with it."
"So it's settled," Tony recapitulated. "We get Selvig and Foster and their whole team on board. Try to get the tech details worked out. Then open up the space and otherwise travel division of Stark Industries."
Pepper shook her head, laughing slightly. "Only you could open up a new division of the business in a DAY. We don't even know if this is going to work out."
"It's going to work out," Tony asserted, "because it was my idea."
"His track record checks out," Steve added.
"Says the guy who won't wear the energy shield I created specifically for him," Tony retorted.
"Tony," Steve insisted. "You can try all you want. I'm not giving up the shield. Not for anything."
"What, are you in love with that thing?"
"I'm…attached."
"Knew it."
Discord, in human form, leafed through a packet of papers.
"Got the scene yet?" Impossible Man asked.
"Word for word," Discord said, casually tossing the papers over his shoulder.
"And don't go off script," Impossible Man asserted.
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Discord laughed. "All right, let's bring him in."
He clapped, and the lights went out, save for the sole spotlight. "FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF NIFLHEIM," Impossible Man announced.
"Much to Hades' dismay, more than likely," Discord muttered to himself proudly.
"BACK FROM THE DEAD NOT FOR THE FIRST, NOT FOR THE SECOND, BUT FOR THE THIRD TIME!" Impossible Man went on. "PRESENTING THE DARK ELF HIMSELF…MALEKITH THE ACCURSED! And…cue the villain."
Discord swooped a hand toward the spotlight gracefully; in an explosion of smoke, Malekith appeared. Tall in height, his white-blonde hair flowed past his waist. The left half of his skin was as dark as night; the eye inset on that half of his face gleamed yellow like that of a cat. His right half was an icy blue, and the same piercing electric blue shade filled the iris of that eye. Discord knew full well that Malekith's right half was undead, and would forever remain that way. He was clothed in armor of black, with a bright white breastplate.
"Well," Malekith said, looking around to take in his surroundings. "This is interesting." A sly grin crept over his face. "I'm certainly not in Niflheim anymore."
"Does being resurrected ever get old for you?" Discord asked.
"No," Malekith answered, "though after so many times, I suppose I should come to expect it. Now, I take it you're responsible for this, and I want to know what you want."
"Why, I'm just a sympathizer of the Dark Elves," Discord stated. "Your loss of the conflict against the Asgardians was NOTHING short of unfair."
"Humans don't usually take that sort of concern. But then again, humans also don't have the power to bring souls back from the dead." Malekith's grin increased. "You're not quite human, are you?"
"You found me out," Discord replied. "But despite that, I'm just…NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH to get back the thing that could turn the tide for the Dark Elves to reclaim this world! But you…you managed to steal it and wield it once."
"The Aether," Malekith guessed.
"Oh…not that," Discord said hurriedly. Much like the Tesseract, the Aether was someplace he didn't want it to leave anytime soon. "But wasn't there something else?"
Malekith realized what Discord meant. Happily, he stated, "The Casket of Ancient Winters."
"Bingo." Discord drew a circle in the air with his finger, and the circle filled with white space. "After Stark, Thor, and T'Challa gave you a beatdown – "
"How do you know their names?"
"I know a lot of things. Now, are you going to let me finish or not?"
Malekith's smile faded as he became more pensive about this stranger who'd given him life. "Go on."
"After that whole debacle, the Casket went into the custody of the Avengers." A blatant lie; it had actually gone into the hands of Amora and Loki. But Discord and Loki had agreed on what purpose the Casket could serve them: bait. At Discord's will, an image of Avengers Mansion appeared in the circle he'd drawn in midair. "They're keeping it deep within their stronghold." The view in the circle zoomed in on the door, then passed through it, flying at lightning speed through the halls until it stopped in the room that contained the Casket. The view then slowed down, circling the Casket lazily to show it from all angles. "Try as I might, I can't get past the front gates. After all, they have the thunder god on their team. But you…YOU'VE faced off against Thor and the other Avengers before. You could do it." Discord put a hand above and a hand below the circle, then slammed them together, causing the circle to disappear. "Are you up for it?"
"I get the feeling you are not telling me the whole truth," Malekith said.
"You're alive, aren't you?" Discord countered. "Do you really want to question it, so long as you're here?"
"…No," Malekith said in an even tone.
Discord knew exactly what was going through Malekith's mind at that moment. When Loki had brought him back to find the Casket, Malekith had immediately turned on Loki and overpowered his faction. If he could do it once, why couldn't he do it again on Discord? It was this line of thinking that Discord was counting on. After all, just as before, all he needed was to unleash another threat on the city. Betraying Discord would only make Malekith that much sweeter for H.A.M.M.E.R.
"I'll take you up on your little offer," Malekith stated. "What's the price?"
"There is none."
"Don't try and fool me. There is always a price. I suppose you want the Casket for yourself?"
If Malekith was hellbent on betrayal, Discord might as well give him something to betray. "That is the eventual goal, yes. I mean, you would wield it, but you would be wielding it FOR me."
"I can live with that," Malekith said smugly.
"Now," Discord said, "if you need any weapons at all in order to make the invasion – "
"That won't be necessary," Malekith interrupted. "I won't need anything that I don't already have."
"And they say girls don't game," Jan remarked, clutching her game controller. "I am kicking your BUTT!"
Onscreen, a princess dressed in a pink ballgown was beating the pixelated man in the blue flight suit into submission.
"Aw, man…" Wilson remarked as he lost yet another match to Jan.
Carol passed through the room, observing for only a moment before saying, "Are you sure this is how you should be best spending your time?"
"Can't we have a little fun?" Jan asked. "I PROMISE we'll get back to business after…three more fights."
"All right," Carol sighed. "If you need me, Vision and I have been talking about the recent incidents in the situation room. Turns out there are some coincidences going on here that we can't figure out."
"Like what?" Wilson asked.
"First, a villain we thought was down because of S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol escapes inexplicably," Carol pointed out. "Then, we thought Amora was lost for pretty much forever, but then SHE turns up from the blue. Right after we save her, she becomes part of Osborn's new structure. Then Red Skull shows up after we thought we were long done with HIM, and it just so happens that Zemo has a grudge against him. Finally, Attuma shows up, again, out of pretty much nowhere, and the guy he has a grudge against also happens to be hanging out in the city. It's almost like specific criminals are being brought out of thin air because they suit the purposes of people connected to H.A.M.M.E.R. Almost like they were brought here on purpose."
"Um, how could Norman Osborn get Amora and a pack of fire demons to run an attack on New York?" Jan asked.
"And how could Osborn contact Attuma?" Wilson asked.
"What did Osborn even do, pay them all off to be humiliated?" Jan added.
"And Graviton was released BEFORE Osborn became the new Director," Wilson confirmed.
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Carol said. "If either of you has an insight, you're welcome to join us. Oh, and T'Challa and Yellowjacket are in the lab looking over the applications of Pym Particles again if you have any advice for them. Thor, Clint, and the Hulk have taken over the training arena."
The entire conversation was brought to a halt when J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice boomed: "INTRUDER ON THE AVENGERS MANSION GROUNDS."
"What?" Carol snapped. "J.A.R.V.I.S. Engage defense systems."
"Engaging defense systems," J.A.R.V.I.S. stated.
The doors to the mansion burst open. Malekith casually strode into the atrium in time to hear the words "Engaging defense systems."
He raised a hand, as though gesturing for J.A.R.V.I.S. to stop. There was a quick crackle of energy in the air. Then J.A.R.V.I.S. began to announce its malfunctions:
"Defense systems offline," J.A.R.V.I.S. stated. "External communication systems offline. General services system going offl – "
His voice cut out in a sudden burst of static.
"That's not good," Jan whimpered.
"I'm going back to find Vision," Carol barked. "Sam, go get Yellowjacket and T'Challa. Jan, you call Steve and Tony. And if you have time to suit up, do it. Avengers, assemble!" She ran from the room. Sam followed suit while Jan removed her ID card from her pocket.
"Anyway," Tony was saying, "I'm hoping we can at least release beta versions of some of this at the next Stark Expo. You're all gonna be there, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Steve answered. "Front row. Seeing all the new technology this era has to offer…it's going to be beautiful."
"Rhodes and I have to be there," Pepper said teasingly. "We're going to be the ones doing all the work while you smile for the cameras."
"And you?" Tony turned to the six Equestrians.
"Well…we'd love to," Twilight said sheepishly, "but we don't know if our journey will take us away from here or back to this place in time."
"But I think I speak for all of us when I say we wish we could make it," Applejack added.
"You HAVE to tell us EVERYTHING if we miss it," Rainbow Dash asserted.
"Complete play-by-play, with video footage," Tony promised.
The synchronized beeping of his and Steve's ID cards alerted them all. Tony and Steve drew the cards from their pockets.
"Uh, guys?" Jan's voice emanated from the card. "We've got a situation. There's some kind of intruder in the mansion. All of J.A.R.V.I.S.' systems just went offline. You need to get back here RIGHT NOW – "
She gasped suddenly. There was a sound in the background like a low growl. A THUD; the ID card had collided with something. Then silence.
"Jan?" Tony yelled at the card. "JAN!"
Pinkie Pie screamed. "WHAT IF SHE'S GONE?"
"We need to leave," Twilight insisted. "NOW."
"You gonna need me for this one?" Rhodes asked, concerned.
"I think we can manage it," Tony said. "We've got a lot of the cards in our hand. You and Pepper keep managing things here like normal. This isn't gonna be a big deal."
"But Jan…" Pinkie Pie sulked.
"I know that sounded bad," Steve reassured her, "but she can take care of herself. Plus, the others were there too. They'll all be fine until we get there."
"I'm gonna need the highest mark iron suit we have here," Tony realized. "And Steve, you are NOT going back in there without a shield."
"I'll get my shield in the mansion," Steve argued.
"Unless whoever it is has it for some reason, or gets to you before you have it," Applejack pointed out.
"What alternative is there?" Steve asked.
Tony clamped a brace around Steve's wrist. Pressing a section of it, he caused an energy field to appear – a field the diameter of Steve's shield, radiating in the same colors and patterns.
"I get to make you wear it today," Tony told him.
"You need to get back here RIGHT NOW – " Jan insisted before the hounds entered the room. She gasped; she dropped the ID card to the floor.
They looked like wolves, but larger, shaggier, and meaner. They growled hungrily; their eyes seemed to burn. Three of them padded into the room, glaring directly at Jan.
In but a moment, Jan had shrunk down, becoming Wasp. She zipped directly upward, then down, then left and right, letting off a bio-stinger at each of three precisely timed moments. She struck each hound in the back of the neck; all three howled in pain.
Wasp zoomed down the hallway, on her way to the lab. She didn't get far before she found what she was looking for: Yellowjacket, Falcon, and Black Panther all gathered in the same hallway. Unfortunately, they were being stared down by ten hounds.
And the three Wasp had injured were on their way to join.
"GUYS!" Wasp yelled.
"What ARE these things?" Falcon cried, flinging feather projectiles at the frontmost hounds, knocking three back and a fourth unconscious.
A hound charged Yellowjacket; he flipped it over his back and slammed the creature against the floor. "You got me there," he said.
"I have seen these once before," Black Panther said. He rushed at a hound, engaging it in combat; he locked his arms around the hound's neck, wrestling it down to the floor and knocking it out of consciousness. "But it is not a circumstance any of us want to face again, I am sure."
"Let's just deal with them!" Wasp cried.
The four kept up with their attacks until all the hounds lay unconscious in the hallway. "Okay," Wasp panted. "WHERE exactly do these things come from, Panther?"
"I first and last saw them in the service of Malekith the Accursed," Black Panther stated.
"You mean that elf guy that keeps bothering Thor?" Wasp asked.
"Wait, did I miss something?" Falcon broke in.
"Thor's people have always been at war with the Dark Elves," Yellowjacket explained. "The Dark Elf leader, Malekith, has a nasty habit of coming back from the dead to settle the score. I can't speak for most of the Dark Elves, but Malekith's a nasty piece of work."
"Wasn't he the one that had those weird shadow creatures with him?" Wasp asked.
A mass of darkness bubbled up from the floor. It rose until it touched the ceiling, then molded itself into the shape of a creature with an elongated body, sticklike limbs, and a horned face with eyes and a mouth that were just slits emitting dull light.
"Yeah, those ones," Wasp clarified.
Iron Man, Captain America, Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity dashed toward the entry of the mansion.
"Blown out door," Iron Man remarked. "Oh, HELL no."
"That's not good," Captain America and Twilight said in unison.
Three of the shadow creatures towered inside the situation room. Aloft, Ms. Marvel and Vision blasted them again and again. All Vision seemed to do was annoy the creatures, but after a few blasts of gold plasma from Ms. Marvel, each vaporized.
"There are probably more," Ms. Marvel pointed out. "Let's go!"
She and Vision emerged from the situation room, moving downward and into the training arena. Hearing footfalls coming around the corner, Ms. Marvel readied a blast of plasma in each hand.
Three figures ran into view; Vision put a hand on Ms. Marvel's wrist to signify that she needed to dismiss the golden plasma. Thor, Hawkeye, and the Hulk looked slightly the worse for wear.
"Giant shadows?" Ms. Marvel asked.
"I do not understand," Thor said. "They are the shades of the Dark Elves, whom Malekith the Accursed summoned from his throne against their will to do as he bid. Even after death, they knew no peace from their tyrant ruler. But if they are here, that means as well that Malekith…"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," Hawkeye broke in, "because there is no WAY that sentence ends well."
"Bravo, bravo." The dark elf seemed to materialize almost from shadow. "You've figured out what you're up against. But that hardly changes anything. You have what I want, and I'm going to take it back from you."
"What have we that you would want?" Thor snapped.
"The Casket of Ancient Winters," Malekith answered.
"We don't HAVE any Casket," Ms. Marvel seethed.
"Lies," Malekith said coldly. "After you destroyed me at the site where I released the Casket's power, you took it for yourself and hid it within the deepest vaults of your stronghold."
"I've had about enough of this," Hawkeye grunted, loading his bow. He loosed a single explosive arrow at Malekith.
The arrow was caught in Malekith's right hand; he squeezed, and the arrow detonated, with no effect on him whatsoever.
With a mighty roar, Thor loosed Mjolnir; Malekith almost seemed to dance out of its way so that it curved back around and struck its wielder in the chest. As Thor hit the ground, Ms. Marvel let a great burst of gold fly. Malekith caught it, throwing it at Vision; it collided with the android with a sick crackling sound. Vision attempted to fire his laser upon Malekith, but it did nothing, as though Malekith's skin was absorbing it.
Fed up, the Hulk charged, throwing a punch. Malekith's hands clamped atop his fist. The dark elf launched up and over the Hulk, landing on the other side of him.
"I've wasted enough time on you," he said. "It's time for me to claim what is mine."
Twin beams of energy struck Malekith in the stomach, causing him to stagger. "What…"
Iron Man and the Spectrum-clad Rainbow Dash held their palms outward, facing Malekith. "Somepony call for backup?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Applejack cracked her whip toward Malekith, who caught it and looped the end around his wrist a couple times. His expression betrayed surprise. "The Elements of Harmony," he said softly. "I didn't expect to be seeing YOU again after all these years."
"Don't tell me," Twilight sighed. "We knew you a thousand years ago." She readied her staff, deliberating on what spell to cast.
"You're outmatched," Captain America told Malekith, approaching him from behind, energy shield turned on. On either side of Malekith, Rarity drew her bow and Fluttershy readied her katana. "If you surrender peacefully – "
The shield ricocheted through the air, slamming into the Hulk's shoulder and causing him to cry out before smacking Malekith dead on in the chest. A bright energy beam not unlike Iron Man or Rainbow Dash's seared through the air, causing Ms. Marvel to stagger and cry out while covering her eyes with her wrist. A black web unfurled in midflight; Malekith ducked it, letting it smack into Captain America and pin him to the back wall.
"Oh," Iron Man growled, turning to face the lineup of seven: Osborn, Zemo, Amora, Venom, the Red Hulk, Daken, and Bullseye. "HELL. NO!"
"How did you even get in here?" Rainbow Dash snapped.
"Your door was open," Zemo replied.
"I believe we have control of this situation," Osborn said, approaching Malekith.
Malekith suddenly jerked the rope whip, causing Applejack to fall to the floor. He made a run for the end of the hallway; Twilight teleported in front of him, casting a burst of ice, but with a wave of his hand, he caused the ice to divert and spray across the wall. He ran around Twilight, and the Hulk was the next to try and stop him.
Meanwhile, Bullseye loaded three arrows into his bow. Twilight's head was turned, looking after Malekith; Bullseye raised the bow and drew.
"NO!" Ms. Marvel shouted as the arrows were loosed.
Twilight felt the velocity of the arrows clip the edge of their face as they sailed toward Malekith. Malekith stopped in his tracks, turning only a hair to the side; the arrows breezed past him.
The Hulk roared as the triple arrows pierced the skin of his shoulder. Satisfied, Malekith dodged him and ran on.
"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!" Thor boomed at Bullseye.
"AND YOU HURT HIM!" Fluttershy added.
"I didn't mean to hit your team monster," Bullseye groaned. "And I aim better than hitting your bloody witch in the head."
Iron Man cut the black webs away from Captain America before turning to face Osborn. "I've had just about ENOUGH of you all just waltzing in here and screwing us over," he growled.
"Tony," Fluttershy said worriedly.
"No," Iron Man insisted. "You're done. You're ALL done screwing with us. Starting with the guy who pinned Cap to the goddamn wall." He turned his blaster on Venom.
Venom was knocked head over heels; when the energy beam subsided, Venom stood, snarling, "If that's what you want, THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL GET!" He launched more webs directly at Iron Man.
"As long as we're settling scores," Hawkeye added, loading up his bow with plain arrows, "let me show you what THIS feels like." He loosed several arrows at Osborn, who vaporized them one by one.
"None of this would have happened if your MONSTER could have stopped the elf," Amora growled.
Ripping Bullseye's arrows from his shoulder, the Hulk screamed, "Don't…CALL ME THAT!" before charging at Amora. Amora summoned bursts of green energy to her hands, flinging them back at him.
"This is for hypnotizing me to stay in place when Attuma attacked," Captain America snarled, smacking Daken on the back of the head with the flat of his energy shield.
Daken stumbled slightly before facing Captain America; his expression slid from one of anger to one of bemusement. "Didn't anyone warn you?" The metal blades slid out from his knuckles. "The beast's got claws, Cap." He lunged, and the metal of his claws struck against the energy shield.
Bullseye loaded his bow again. Ms. Marvel positioned herself directly in front of the arrowhead. "Don't even think about it," she snarled. "You've already almost killed one of our teammates and literally shot another. And Malekith's nowhere around. Who were you thinking of shooting THIS time?"
"Oh, what are you going to do?" Bullseye taunted. "Take away my toy because I've been a bad boy?"
"I will DESTROY that bow if I have to," Ms. Marvel snarled before gathering golden energy in her hands. Bullseye leapt out of the way before she let it fly.
"How amusing," Zemo remarked. "Tell me, Thor. Do these people – Iron Man, Hawkeye, the untarnished Captain America – truly think they can call themselves above me and mine when they are so quick to give in to anger and violence?"
"Anger and violence are all you know," Thor replied. "And it was your shield that began this incident!"
"Is that so?" Zemo challenged. "Do you really believe me among the likes of them?"
"You don't even believe yourself among the likes of your own teammates," Thor answered. "You are perhaps the lowest of them all."
"A pity you think that, thunderer. I suppose you think yourself superior, as your brother did."
"Do not compare me to…"
"Is that, then, why you let him die on the field in Svartalfheim? Is THAT the act of a man who takes the higher road?"
"How DARE you!" Thor roared. "Despite his attempts on my life and that of my father, I tried to PROTECT Loki at Svartalfheim! HE GAVE HIS LIFE WITH HONOR!" A thought struck him. "How…how do you even know what happened at Svartalfheim?"
"Does that really matter?" Zemo challenged.
"I will NOT BE SPOKEN TO THIS WAY!" Thor roared. To Zemo's absolute delight, he raised Mjolnir, letting the hammer fly; it clashed against Zemo's shield.
The Red Hulk and Vision were left to stare each other down. "I don't want to hurt you," John admitted.
"I do not want to hurt you either," Vision told him. "Can you convince your allies to stop attacking my friends?"
"They're MY friends," John retorted – trying to convince himself. "Without them, without Osborn, I'm nothing. You have to call your teammates away from attacking them! They were the ones that started it!"
"I think you are mistaken," Vision said. "Analysis of past events leads me to the conclusion that Norman Osborn does not understand the concept of friendship. I also believe that your team engaged my team in combat first, in subtle ways."
"Don't SAY those things!" The Red Hulk took a swing at Vision, who dodged it, leaping into the air. "You're JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM!"
"I did not want to hurt you," Vision lamented, charging his laser.
Fluttershy was close to tears. "STOP!" she wailed. "EVERYPONY, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP! STOP FIGHTING! YOU'LL DESTROY EACH OTHER!" Then the tears came, flowing heavily.
"WILL Y'ALL GIVE IT A REST?" Applejack yelled into the commotion, but there was no attention paid to her.
"Girls," Twilight said somberly, "this hurts to say, but we can't waste time here. Malekith is looking for something, and I have a bad feeling he'll find it here. We HAVE to go after him and use the Elements to stop him. All of us, or it won't work. The sooner we defeat him, the sooner we can come back here and work this out!"
"She's right," Rainbow Dash insisted. "Let's GO!"
Twilight took off running in the direction Malekith had gone. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash followed in hot pursuit. Fluttershy lingered, watching the Hulk collapse as Amora threw an energy bolt at him, hovering over him, jeering.
"FLUTTERSHY!" the other five Equestrians yelled, and the bearer of the Element of Kindness knew what she had to do. She turned her back on the chaos, letting her friends and their enemies try to tear each other apart.
Malekith opened the door to the vault to be greeted with exactly the sight he'd seen in Discord's vision: the Casket, lying on the floor in the middle of a large, empty room. He approached it quickly, reaching down; his fingers brushed the lid as he heard a voice yell "STOP!"
So he stopped. He grinned, and then straightened up and turned so he could show Twilight his pointed teeth. He'd recognized her voice immediately. And behind her stood Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, weapons drawn.
"It seems as though this is your first time meeting me," Malekith conjectured. "But it is not my first time meeting you. How fortunate for me. It means I know what weaknesses you WILL have…and you don't have the strengths I'm used to."
"What in tarnation are you even – " Applejack began.
Malekith thrust out his hands, palms outward. With a scream, each young woman was enveloped in a column of dark smoke. The six columns remained stationary as Malekith turned his attention back to the Casket.
He bent down and picked up the small box, which was just the right size to fit in his hands. He caressed the lid, marveling at the power within.
Then he pried the lid open, and all hell broke loose.
A gust of snow, wind, and ice erupted. It flowed past the six smoky columns, out into the hall. It permeated the air into the vents. And Malekith laughed.
Above Avengers Mansion, clouds formed and darkened. More and more joined them; the storm grew to cover the city, and the snow and hail fell rapidly. A desolation of white, it expanded ever outward, flowing out to the lands beyond the city, not to stop until it had covered the world.
"What's happening?" Twilight said worriedly, looking around. As far as she could see, she was standing in the middle of pure blackness. The Mansion had gone, and so had Malekith and her friends.
Dark tendrils erupted from the ground. Twilight could see that they ended in sharp points, so she readied her staff. "INCENDIO!" she cried, swinging out at the nearest tendril. "GLACIUS!"
Some of the tendrils caught fire; others absorbed the ice into them, becoming masses of cold. They wrapped around Twilight, the points digging into her skin; though their movement was fluid like that of snakes, they felt like the texture of stone.
Twilight cried out as the pain of the burn and the freezing increased.
" – doin'?" Applejack finished, finding herself in the blackness.
The black tendrils came at her all at once. She jumped over one, ducked another, twisted out of the way of a third. She cracked her rope whip.
A tendril intersected with it. Horrified, Applejack tried to shake it away by cracking the whip; instead, the entire thing wrapped around her, binding her. The points of other tendrils pressed against her skin like needles.
"CAN'T GET ME UP HERE!" Rainbow Dash yelled at a mass of tendrils.
They seemed to take that as a challenge. They shot upward as a single mass of spikes, growing infinitely long as she flew higher and higher. She projected energy beams at them, trying to cut them down.
They caught up to her first. The points knocked uselessly against her armor, but she had flown quite a ways up. Her armor suddenly lost the ability to fly, and she was dropping like a stone all the way back down.
As tendril upon tendril erupted from the ground, Rarity screamed again and again, higher each time. She loaded her bow, but her hands shook; she couldn't bring herself to fire an arrow without the proper steadiness.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she wailed as the tendrils fenced her in. "LEAVE ME ALO-O-OOOOONE!"
Pinkie Pie cocked her head, confused, at the tendrils that had begun to gather. When they shot toward her like a cobra striking, she immediately dodged them.
"I'M OVER HERE!" she yelled from several feet away.
More sprouted up around her feet, but she was gone again, a long way across the infinite darkness. "OVER HEEEEE-EEEERE!" she taunted.
Several tendrils speared the place where she was.
"And now I'm up here!" she laughed from above, hanging upside down.
Fluttershy hugged her knees and sobbed as the tendrils closed over her, forming a dome that made the darkness even blacker.
Twilight was doing the only thing that remained for her to do under the current circumstances: think.
"One of two things happened," she muttered, trying to ignore the painful sensations around her. "Either Malekith transported me somewhere else…or this is an illusion. A very painful, convincing illusion. Unless it's a little of both…this IS real, but it's a pocket dimension he created on the spot. I'm still in Avengers Mansion, standing in place in that room, no matter how far I go! This is just really strong magic. Which means…I have to trust that my own magic is STRONGER!"
As she shifted to a Mahou Shoujo, a burst of light radiated out from her, breaking the tendrils already upon her. She raised her staff to the black "sky."
"ELEMENTAL FINALE!" she screamed.
It began to rain magic.
"That does it," Applejack muttered.
She shifted to the Mahou Shoujo; she gripped her rope whip tightly. She willed it to attack, and it did. The rope elongated, overpowering every tendril, assimilating them all.
She cracked the whip. The tendrils shattered. And so did the darkness.
Mid-fall, Rainbow Dash called up her sword. The shift took place beneath her armor. She raised her sword up. Clouds formed. Lightning struck her blade, absorbing within it.
With a mad yell, Rainbow Dash let the rainbow wave of lightning fly, and it pierced right through the blackness.
"I! HAVE! HAD! ENOUGH!" Rarity roared, shifting to the Mahou Shoujo state, lifting her bow. "CRYSTAL RAIN!"
She drew the bow back, aiming it directly at the ground. The string snapped out of her hand. Hundreds of arrows pierced the ground, breaking anything that sprouted from it.
"It's been fun," Pinkie Pie squealed, "but I'd better get outta here!"
Clad in pink ruffle, she lifted her shoulder-mounted launcher. BOOM.
The dome of stone tendrils broke open as flower-shaped shuriken burst through it. In the center stood Fluttershy, teeth gritted, practically radiating anger.
The six columns of smoke broke open at once, and Malekith flinched.
"It was an illusion?" Rainbow Dash groaned, realizing she was standing exactly where she'd been before Malekith confined her to darkness.
"It was a pocket dimension, actually," Twilight clarified. Then she felt the blast of cold radiating from the Casket.
The Mahou Shoujo clothing shimmered away, leaving the six in the clothes they'd been wearing beforehand – though Rainbow Dash's exterior of Spectrum remained unchanged. "You've spent all your powers," Malekith said. "Your Elements will have little effect against me. I am magic. I AM Darkness!"
"Maybe they won't affect you," Twilight said, her eyes flicking to the open Casket – it didn't take her long to figure out what its purpose was. "But we can affect SOMETHING! Let's go, girls!"
Malekith watched, curious, as they formed the sphere of light. "What are you trying to accomplish?" he asked.
The great rainbow burst forth. Weak, he could tell. He would have easily been able to repel it.
But it wasn't aiming for him.
The rainbow focused directly upon the Casket of Ancient Winters. Surrounded by power, the Casket slammed shut. A lock appeared on its lid, shimmering with rainbow.
"NO!" Malekith hissed. He clawed at the lid; it remained shut.
Above the city, the clouds dissipated. The snow ceased to fall; that already on the ground began very rapidly to melt.
The sphere of light dissolved, depositing the six on the floor.
"How d'you like THEM apples?" Applejack laughed.
"You have taken my weapon," Malekith replied. "An admirable feat. But I can still do plenty without it – "
The iron dart pierced his shoulder, and he screamed. After that, another dart followed, slamming into the other shoulder.
"The briefing said pure iron was your weakness," Black Widow said, striding into the room with dart gun loaded.
"WIDOW!" the six Equestrians cried in relief.
Black Widow removed a thin filigree chain of iron from where it was looped ar her belt. She lashed out with it as though it were a whip; it surrounded Malekith, who was still shivering from the iron embedded in his body, and bound him.
"You really saved our bacon!" Applejack sighed.
"Well, it looks like you did most of the legwork," Black Widow admitted.
"What are you doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Did you come because everpony else was showing up for the battle and you felt lonely?"
"Director Osborn assembled a team of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents as soon as he heard something was attacking Avengers Mansion," she answered. "We were supposed to step in if Osborn's squad took too long, or if something went wrong."
"Then…why did you come here?" Twilight asked, a sudden horror overtaking her. "And where are the rest of the agents?"
"We came here because Osborn sent a distress signal," Black Widow said somberly. "The others are breaking up the fight upstairs."
The Avengers were lined up against one side of the wall; the Dark Avengers against the other. Coulson, Quake, Mockingbird, and assorted others stared them all down.
Black Widow entered the hall with the Equestrians in tow. "Malekith's been taken care of," she said. "We'll just need to bring him into custody. And here…?"
"We're mediating," Mockingbird replied. She turned to Hawkeye. "How COULD you?"
"They were being jerks," Hawkeye insisted.
"You assaulted a S.H.I.E…a H.A.M.M.E.R. squad," Mockingbird pressed. "You're technically ONE of them."
"Um, THEY SHOT THE HULK," Iron Man insisted.
"Maybe you didn't notice through those gold-plated glasses you're always looking through," Bullseye snarled, "but I was AIMING for the bloody DARK ELF!"
"We're going to be looking through Osborn's records," Quake informed the group. "Guys, if the proof comes out that it was you guys that did the instigating, you'll have obstruction of justice on your record. That's NOT A GOOD THING."
"So you're trying to tell me there are people on this planet that DON'T want to punch Baron Zemo in the face whenever they see him," Iron Man countered.
"I think you know how valid that argument is," Quake sighed.
"I'm ALMOST hurt, Iron Man," Zemo added.
It was then that Black Panther, Yellowjacket, Falcon, and Wasp entered the hall. "Good news, everyone!" Wasp announced. "We got rid of all the shadow…creatures…" She looked around at the scene. "Okay, what's going on here, and why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
On the front lawn of the mansion, H.A.M.M.E.R. agents transported the squirming Malekith to a nearby jet. Osborn's team was lining up to board the craft. Black Widow stood before the Avengers and Equestrians.
"Expect me to contact you soon," she said. "Osborn won't take this lightly. I'll let you know the damage."
"Natasha," Hawkeye sighed, "if it's worth anything, I'm sorry."
Black Widow sighed. "I don't even know what I'd have done in your position." With that, she turned and walked away.
"We messed up," Captain America moaned. "Why did I give in? I should have just left it all alone."
"It ain't fair, though," Applejack argued. "They provoked y'all."
"But you still shouldn't have DONE it!" Twilight countered. "They were trying to take down Malekith as much as we were!"
"Provoked…" Ms. Marvel repeated. "Shot in the dark here, but what if they WANTED us to attack them?"
"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash realized. "Thor was completely out of it until Zemo started insulting him! And Zemo knew EXACTLY what to say to make him angry! Thor, whaddaya think?"
Thor's gaze was fixed upon the team loading Malekith aboard the jet.
"Thor?" Rainbow Dash repeated. She waved a hand in front of his face. "616th Earth to Thorrrrrr…"
Thor watched as a dark-haired female agent took hold of Malekith, looking right into his eyes and smirking. Then, as if she felt Thor's gaze from afar, she looked up and across the lawn, meeting Thor's eyes. Slowly, her smile widened. Seeing Thor's expression turn to one of concern, almost fright, she nodded. Then she was gone, aboard the jet.
"HEY!" Rainbow Dash barked. "You okay?"
"I don't know," Thor stated.
"You look like ya just seen a ghost," Applejack pointed out.
"I am not sure I didn't," Thor admitted.
A short, brunette woman with quite pale skin and sporting a pair of large spectacles to offset her oddly patterned sweater and baggy jeans stared at the reactor, almost hypnotized. She extended an arm, her hand moving closer to it.
"If you were willing to work on this project," Pepper told Jane Foster and an elderly man with wispy white hair, "your starting salary would be – PLEASE don't touch that."
Jane and her older companion whirled around to glare daggers at the other woman. "Darcy," Jane hissed.
"What?" Darcy Lewis whined. "It's shiny!"
"As I was saying," Pepper went on – Darcy hurried over to join her companions nearby – "your starting salary would be somewhere around the neighborhood of this." She presented a contract, then tapped a line containing a number with a pen. "So, Dr. Selvig. What do you say?"
Dr. Erik Selvig seemed taken aback. "Are you sure this isn't some kind of scam?" he asked in disbelief.
"Dude," Darcy urged. "We'd be on a STARK payroll. Don't question it."
"Tell me it wouldn't be blood money," Selvig said, concerned.
"DON'T QUESTION IT," Darcy reiterated. "LOOK AT THAT NUMBER."
"If it makes you feel better, your salary could come completely out of the profits from the energy venture," Pepper reassured him.
"I'm more concerned about how this would impact the projects we're currently working on," Jane admitted. "I agree with Tony. It's important to figure out as much as we can about the universe now that we know how many different worlds are out there. Or, at the least, a glimpse of how many there are. But our studies are also exploring that. Just in a different direction."
"We'd be able to fund any project you wanted to do," Pepper said. "Of course, we'd ask that you put enough time into Stark Industries research for this to be worthwhile. But we wouldn't ask you to stop your other research either."
"We could manage both," Selvig assured Jane.
"Are you in, then?" Pepper asked.
"Ch'yeah," Darcy answered.
"Yes," Selvig added.
"I'm on board," Jane concluded.
Selvig put his name to the contract, and Pepper took it back with a nod. "Well, then. Welcome to Stark Industries. Make yourselves at home."
The footage played again and again on the giant screens in the helicarrier's main room. Hawkeye shooting at Osborn. Captain America bludgeoning Daken. The Hulk charging Amora. All from the perspective of the Iron Patriot armor.
"As you can see," Osborn told his audience, "the Avengers are no longer the defenders of the peace we believed them to be. They have turned against us out of personal hatred and bias. To fight against H.A.M.M.E.R. is obstruction of justice to the HIGHEST caliber." He clicked a button on a small handheld remote, and the screens changed to show still images of the faces of the Avengers, as well as crudely taken photographs of each of the Equestrians. "There's only one course of action we can take."
When he announced it, Black Widow gasped silently, then slipped out of the room.
"I understand," one agent pointed out, "but what about the six women? They RAN from the battle."
"They've also proven themselves to be very dangerous," Osborn countered. "I hope you haven't forgotten that their ringleader doesn't consider herself above mental violation. Now, this job isn't one you have to concern yourselves with. I've informed you so that you know the situation. Under these circumstances, I ask you to please refrain from aiding or abetting the Avengers or their new friends in any way. Along with my new Avengers, I'm going to assign my best men to this job."
The inhabitants of Avengers Mansion gathered in the situation room to discuss the day's events.
"It's too convenient, again," Carol said. "Now we've got somebody who came back from the DEAD."
"Malekith tends to do that anyway," Tony pointed out.
"But the Casket of Ancient Winters?" Carol countered. "That went to Amora, not us. Somebody planted it here."
"And that can only mean ONE being is responsible," Twilight said. "Somepony who can bring people back from the dead AND put things like that where they don't belong. And that one is…"
"HADES!" Pinkie Pie cried.
"No," Twilight corrected. "Actually, I was going to say – "
"TRIXIE!" Pinkie yelled. "No, wait. HECATE! Let me keep guessing!"
"DISCORD!" Twilight yelled. "IT'S DISCORD! He's the only one I can think of who has enough power to do all that!"
"Maybe not," Thor chimed in.
"You have been silent since Malekith was taken into custody," Black Panther said. "What has been on your mind?"
"One of the agents of H.A.M.M.E.R.," Thor answered. "When I looked into her eyes…I had seen those eyes before. Even from a distance, I knew she seemed familiar. I haven't been able to forget it. I have reason to believe…that she is my brother."
"You mean LOKI?" Rarity asked, taken aback.
"You think Loki just walked onto our lawn without us noticing," Carol added.
"And Loki is dead," Steve chimed in.
"Asgardians do regenerate," Thor stated. "Though it should have taken him MUCH longer. Were it him, the only possibility that remains is that he was never dead to begin with."
"You SAW him die," Tony pointed out.
"But if Loki is anything like what we've faced," Twilight pointed out, "he's probably able to pull a trick like that off perfectly."
"He would have the power to resurrect Malekith from the dead, as well as to place the Casket of Ancient Winters within our walls," Thor pointed out. "Not to mention that if, as Lady Danvers has suspected, the foes Osborn's Avengers have faced were chosen because of their grievances with people already present in this city and connected to Osborn, it would explain Malekith. Loki is the one whom Malekith has betrayed the most. Nothing would please him more than to see Malekith bound in chains of iron. Who else within H.A.M.M.E.R. would have such a grievance against Malekith?"
"Wait," Clint interrupted. "So Loki was one of the FEMALE agents."
"He is fond of shapeshifting," Thor pointed out. "He does enjoy a female form."
"WHICH agent?" Clint asked.
"She had dark hair," Thor described, "and was slight in frame. She seemed entirely too proud."
"THE HOT ONE?" Clint moaned. "THE HOT ONE WAS YOUR BROTHER?"
"We don't have any proof of that," Steve said.
"I think we do," Applejack realized. "The fact that we're here. Think about it. We go where we're needed. Wherever we've been, the stallion or mare who gave that world the most grief has turned up."
"But we're already dealing with Osborn," Steve argued. "THAT'S who you're here for."
Before any further discussion of the subject could take place, the door slid open, and Natasha stormed in.
"Tasha!" Clint greeted.
"Why do I have a horrible feeling about this…" Rarity moaned.
"Osborn passed his verdict," Natasha stated coldly. "You've been charged with obstruction of justice of the highest order."
"No…" Twilight whispered.
Natasha delivered the final blow: "He's ordered your immediate arrest."
Chapter 70:
· Cap's "Dracula" line is a reference to an episode of Avengers Assemble where he reveals that he dealt with Dracula's clan during the war. It was too good a joke to pass up.
· I want to make it very clear here that I DO NOT ship Pepperony, and that I actually resent the couple, at least as it's portrayed in IM3…but I also don't want to kill Pepper or ruin her friendship with Tony in order to get that point across. She's a cool character. I hope I put their relationship across as "just friends" enough.
· You'll see that Malekith has his AEMH design and personality but is wearing the Dark World armor. AEMH did him a lot better as a character, but a lot of design elements of Dark World were just FANTASTIC – I couldn't sacrifice that black and white armor (which is, BTW, gorgeous) without possibly implying that the Dark Elves didn't have those beautiful spaceships. However, Dark World did kinda screw up his design in terms of his face – they not only "blackfaced" him, but, and this is where my priorities REALLY lie, they also kept his "split" face between black and white (or black and whitish-blue as of AEMH) for only a moment. I LOVE the split because it's a reference to the original goddess Hel. Had to give him his two-tone split back.
· Aaaaand we're back to Smash Bros, and Wasp's fighter is PEACH.
· I'm assuming the ID cards run on a non-J.A.R.V.I.S.-powered frequency for plot device reasons. If I had J.A.R.V.I.S. running, his defense systems would have stymied Malekith more than I wanted.
· Steve's energy shield is from AEMH. I don't believe he ever DOES wear it in canon. It was always my joke that he couldn't let go of his original shield because he was in love with it.
· I kind of embellished on Malekith's abilities here. A lot of it is an expansion of stuff he did in AEMH (I couldn't give him his spaceships from Dark World, of course). Like summoning the shades of Dark Elves. And the "pocket dimension" is based on one particular attack he makes on Black Panther – we never actually get any indication that said dimension is bigger than it looks on the inside, but this is Rule of Cool here.
· AEMH states that iron hurts Malekith. Running with it.
· I wanted to give the group a hint that Loki was running the show at this point. Otherwise the Big Reveal of him to the heroes would be a bit TOO jarring in my eyes.