72. The Night Gwen Stacy Fell, Among Other Things

NEW YORK CITY, 616TH EARTH

The three youths left the movie theater late that night, laughing about the humorous scenes and recapitulating favorite quotes. They made their way slowly down the streets to get back to their residences while discussing.

"Hey," Harry Osborn said at last, "thanks for coming out with me tonight. I needed to get out of the house."

"You've had a rough time," said one of his companions, a thin girl with blonde hair to her shoulders and dressed in a pink tee, a salmon-colored sweater, and jeans.

"Yeah," agreed the other, a boy with chestnut brown hair, clothed in jeans and a blue tee. "Remember: you need anything, you just call us."

"You're basically what's keeping me going right now," Harry admitted. "Thanks, Gwen. Thanks, Peter."

"No problem," Peter replied. "Now, I'd better get home before Aunt May – "

It swung across his peripheral vision. Jet black, with streaks of white. He turned and stared into the mass of buildings, trying to see if he could pinpoint where it had gone. Its shape and coloration had been all too familiar.

"I…gotta go," Peter Parker announced before dashing away quickly.

"What was that all about?" Harry wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Gwen said. However, she had seen the shadow too, and after putting two and two together a while back, she had a guess. "But I just remembered I have something to do too. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"All right…" Harry said forlornly as Gwen Stacy also ran into the night.

Black Panther, Yellowjacket, Ms. Marvel, Vision, and Falcon stood in the atrium, waiting. Falcon had begun to pace nervously.

"You don't think they all got caught, do you?" Falcon asked nervously.

"Give them time," Black Panther advised.

"Five approaching the gate," J.A.R.V.I.S. announced. "Identified: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy."

Falcon breathed a sigh of relief.

Rainbow Dash opened the doors, leading the group in. "Wave one? Done."

"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Falcon asked.

"She's fine," Twilight answered. "At least, she's probably fine. When has she ever not been fine?" She began wringing her hands together. "Just because we don't know where she is doesn't mean – "

"Calm down," Yellowjacket said, walking up to Twilight and lightly slapping a hand down on her shoulder. "It's a big city. She's probably taking her route at her own pace. Or she threw some extra turns in there. Or got distracted by something shiny."

"You're right," Twilight sighed. "All of that sounds like Pinkie Pie. I promised myself I wouldn't worry, but I'm kinda failing at that."

"She's fine," Yellowjacket insisted. And then, for his own benefit: "And so is Jan."

"Time is wasting," Black Panther stated.

"Right," Twilight agreed. She turned back toward the door. "Everypony ready?"

The group spilled out into the night, and the only entity left within the walls of the mansion was J.A.R.V.I.S.

Yellowjacket and Twilight kept to side streets. Twilight fervently glanced upward at every chance.

"What's with…that?" Yellowjacket pointed up.

"Thor and I had a run-in with Amora on the rooftops," Twilight explained. "She's probably still looking for us."

Yellowjacket put a hand on Twilight's shoulder, halting her. "What was that?"

"What was WHAT?"

"I saw something move."

Twilight scrutinized the view above. "I don't see anything," she said, though her voice shook.

"Probably just a shadow," Yellowjacket said with a slight shrug. "Let's keep – "

The mass of blackness slammed into him, pinning him against a wall. Twilight only had enough time to scream before a similar web crashed into her, sticking her on the wall next to Yellowjacket.

Venom swung down to land on the pavement before them. "Just a shadow, huh?" he mocked. "We didn't actually think it would be this easy."

Twilight struggled against her bonds, calling her wand to appear in her hand. "Verdimillious," she whispered. There was a flash of green, but no effect on the webs. "Holyja," she whispered; another flash, but the web remained unbroken.

"It's a cute little fireworks show, at least," Venom remarked. "Now to take you back to Osborn where you belong!"

Twilight and Yellowjacket struggled futilely against their bonds as Venom advanced. They expected to have to come to terms with finally having lost.

They were saved when Venom was knocked off his path and sent flying by another body, a blur of red and blue that swung from what appeared to Twilight to be a white rope attached to a higher point on the buildings above. Venom hit the ground and rolled before halting and standing immediately.

The newcomer dropped to the ground, staring venom down. Small and slim, he wore a bodysuit of red from the waist up and blue from the waist down, with a mask that covered his face entirely; a weblike pattern was inset over the entire ensemble. "So you're picking on the AVENGERS now?" he asked. "Aren't they a little out of your league? Besides, I thought I was your archnemesis. I'm a little hurt!"

"This isn't your concern, BRO," Venom hissed. "We have new priorities, if you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, I picked up on the whole 'New Avenger' thing. Which is REALLY out of character for you. How'd you even get back to being, well, you anyway? I thought I put an end to that."

"That's none of your business!" Venom growled before throwing out his arm and slinging a dark strand toward the newcomer. His opponent leapt out of its way, backflipping and landing on his feet a yard away. Venom cast out two more strands of darkness, causing his opponent to quickly sidestep them while crying out, "Whoa! WHOA!"

Twilight found herself still frustrated by the dark bonds that held her down and why none of her light spells had any effect upon them whatsoever. Then she realized the problem. She'd been reminded right away of Mozenrath's black sand, of Alecto's viscous darkness. But this was something new; nothing like that.

"It's not a magic compound," she realized out loud. "It's a MOLECULAR compound!"

She gripped the wand tightly, muttering, "Diffindo." The black webs surrounding that hand were sliced away, dropping to the ground. Working her hand free, Twilight called her staff to it, stating more loudly: "DIFFINDO!"

There was a burst of light from the staff. The webs holding both her and Yellowjacket dropped to the pavement. The pair rushed to their savior, lining up on either side of him to face Venom.

"Thanks," Twilight said quickly. "Um…who are you?"

"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," the newcomer said. "What, you've never heard of me?"

"She's not from around here," Yellowjacket explained.

"That's right," Spider-Man realized. "There's been so much slander of you in the Bugle, no pics of me have gone into public circulation! You ALREADY have my respect as a sister in arms in the war on bad press."

"Will you STOP making small talk?" Venom yelled in frustration. "Actually, why am I complaining? You're lined up exactly easily enough for us to take you all out at once."

"Think again." Yellowjacket pointed the gun he'd been fiddling with in his lab at Venom.

"Did you ever get those particles stable?" Twilight asked.

"Theoretically," Yellowjacket said, "this should work."

He fired. He missed. Where the blast connected with the pavement, a great explosion sounded, a mushroom cloud bursting into the air.

"So much for 'theoretically,'" Spider-Man commented.

"I'm working on it," Yellowjacket muttered.

"If you run at him," Twilight told Spider-Man, "I can cover you."

Spider-Man nodded, starting a charge toward Venom. "Ready or not!" he taunted.

"Oh, we're ready," Venom laughed, launching a black web.

"DIFFINDO!" Twilight yelled, pointing her staff. The web severed, leaving Spider-Man a path to run between both falling halves.

Venom attempted this twice more; twice more, Twilight cut him down. "Must suck to be a one-trick pony, huh?" Spider-Man asked Venom, reaching him.

"It would," Venom agreed, "if I WERE."

Before Spider-Man could make a move, Venom grabbed ahold of him by the arms, twisting him, pinning him to the ground.

"Do something!" Yellowjacket yelled at Twilight.

"I don't have any spells that wouldn't hit both of them!" Twilight cried.

"Well, I'm stuck with nuclear grenades!" Yellowjacket replied.

"It's been fun, bro," Venom said, drawing back a fist. "But we need to get you out of the way in order to get to the REAL prize."

He felt a rush of flames course across his back. Venom rolled onto his back to douse them, grunting in pain as they burned.

Spider-Man sat up and looked at Twilight and Yellowjacket, but they were looking in the opposite direction; the flames had come from the other way. Spider-Man turned to see the teenage girl wielding the lighter and the hairspray, having effectively created a flamethrower.

"GWEN?" Spider-Man blurted. "I mean…um…CIVILIAN GIRL I'VE NEVER MET BEFORE?"

"Niiiiiice!" Yellowjacket complimented.

"I remember you," Gwen growled as Venom kept rolling. "I remember everything you did. I'm sorry, Eddie, but I had to."

Venom staggered to his feet. "We are in pain," he groaned. "I can hardly believe you…I…NO! WE NEED TO STAY TOGETHER!" Fed up, he advanced toward Gwen.

"Gwen, NO!" Spider-Man yelled.

Venom slung a black web. Immediately, Gwen was enveloped in it. With another sling of the strand, Venom latched onto the top of a building and launched high into the air.

"COME AND GET US!" he yelled back down.

"Following him is exactly what he wants, isn't it?" Yellowjacket asked.

"What choice do we even have?" Twilight asked. "I'm NOT letting him take her! Let's GO!"

She and Spider-Man took off running, with Yellowjacket in pursuit.

"She's just bait!" Yellowjacket pointed out. "We have to find a better way than just charging after him!"

"Not an option," Spider-Man stated, growing angry.

"She's close to you, isn't she?" Twilight asked.

"Very," Spider-Man replied. "So was he, once. But some things happened, and now he's a danger to both me and her."

"We'll save her," Twilight resolved. "No matter what."

Venom waited atop the highest post of the bridge for the others to show up below – three tiny dots of bright color.

"SURRENDER YOURSELVES," he yelled down to Yellowjacket, Twilight, and Spider-Man, "OR WE DROP HER!"

He held aloft the thick black cocoon that held Gwen bound but for below her ankles and above her mouth. She wriggled and screamed: a useless endeavor.

"NO!" Spider-Man yelled.

"We have to do it," Twilight said somberly. "We have to turn ourselves in. We can break out later."

"How are we supposed to break out from him?" Yellowjacket asked.

"There's only one thing that really gets to him," Spider-Man said. "Loud noises. And I mean REALLY loud."

Spider-Man and Yellowjacket locked eyes, and Twilight was unnerved by whatever unspoken conversation they were having that she wasn't a part of.

Then Yellowjacket nodded. "No problem."

He aimed the gun up toward Venom just as Spider-Man slung a length of webbing toward the bridge to propel himself toward the enemy and captured friend. Before Twilight could finish screaming "HANK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Yellowjacket had fired three rounds.

The projectiles of unstable Pym particles crashed into the post around Venom, exploding loudly. Venom reeled, clutching his ears.

He dropped Gwen.

Spider-Man's course was true. As Gwen fell, consumed with terror, he landed atop one of the bridge posts, flinging a long web toward her, to catch her.

Twilight put two and two together. Acting as quickly as she could, she swung her staff up to the bridge: "DIFFINDO!"

Spider-Man's web was cut in half. It never reached Gwen, instead dropping uselessly through the air. Spider-Man, in a panic, looked toward Twilight briefly, wondering why in all of existence she would have done such a thing, then back to Gwen, whom he was sure was most certainly doomed.

Twilight aimed her staff at the falling girl, and a sphere of magenta aura formed around her like a bubble, slowing her fall until it eventually stopped in midair, gently. Twilight guided the bubble to the area of bridge where she stood, lowering it carefully. When it touched the nearby pavement, it burst. Twilight reached out, grabbing the black webbing secured around Gwen before the girl could fall over, and used yet another Severing Charm to free her.

Gwen gasped deeply. "Thank you," she breathed.

Spider-Man landed next to the pair. "What did you DO that for?" he yelled. "You TERRIFIED me, you know that?"

"I saved her life," Twilight said sternly.

"And I couldn't do it?" Spider-Man asked indignantly.

"No!" Gwen asserted. "Don't you know anything? If you'd used your web on me when I was falling like that, it would have broken my neck!"

"I…" Spider-Man was at a loss for words. "Wait, what?"

"Her fall had to be broken more slowly," Twilight added.

"I…" Spider-Man struggled for something to say in response. "I'm…sorry, I…"

"You had a knee-jerk reaction," Gwen said with a smile. "Don't worry about it."

In the meantime, Yellowjacket kept on firing rounds at Venom, causing more explosions. Venom writhed, and though no one could hear him from below, he was moaning to himself, "We must stay together…we must…I must…I can't lose it, not now…"

Twilight raised her staff. In a twinkling, she had become her witch form. "Let's finish this," she said.

She went straight to Elemental Rain. The bursts of magic cascaded down from the sky, slamming upon Venom. Venom found he had no choice but to run. And as he did, swinging across the bridge, Twilight could have sworn she saw his black skin peeling away slightly to show glimpses of a human beneath it.

The exertion took its toll on Twilight, and she reverted when the spell was done, her staff shimmering away from her hands. "Let's just hope that's the last trouble we run into tonight," she panted. "My magic's just about used up."

"Hey…thanks for saving Gwen," Spider-Man told her. "I really wasn't thinking."

"You're welcome," Twilight said, "but really, try not to worry about it. After all, I was here. I should be thanking you. BOTH of you."

"What did Eddie – what did Venom want from you anyway?" Gwen asked.

"It'll be all over the news tomorrow," Yellowjacket said, holstering his gun. "All the Avengers are enemies of the state now, thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Osborn."

"Why am I not surprised that OSBORN is the one pulling the strings?" Spider-Man groaned.

"Doesn't he know what this is DOING to his son?" Gwen raged.

"You know his kid?" Yellowjacket asked.

"We're…close," Gwen admitted. "When this gets out, Harry is just going to be hurt more. He doesn't NEED this."

"What he probably needs right now is a good friend," Twilight told her.

Gwen nodded. "I should get back to finding him. I wonder if Peter went back for him. He just went running off without saying where he was going or if he'd be back."

Twilight caught it out of the corner of her eye; the moment that Spider-Man twitched. "This Peter," she asked. "A friend?"

"A very good friend," Gwen confirmed.

"Something tells me he'll be around," Twilight said. When Gwen looked away, Twilight fired a wink at Spider-Man, who shrugged in response like he didn't know what she was talking about. Perhaps, she thought, she'd guessed wrong.

"While you do that," Yellowjacket said, "we're going to finish the run to the embassy. We're almost there."

"Kinda funny that Venom led us most of the way," Twilight laughed.

Yellowjacket and Twilight took off running. Gwen looked to Spider-Man, who returned her gaze for a moment before saying, "Well, you know, places to go, people to see, bad guys to beat up…I'm a busy spider!" Then he launched a strand of webbing into the air and was gone.

"GWEN!" Harry Osborn came running across the bridge. "There you are! I was worried about you! You okay?"

"You have no idea," Gwen stated. "Long story short…yes."

The two turned to walk back into the city streets, only to find Peter waiting on a street corner. "Sorry for running off like that," he said sheepishly. "Nature called, and y'know, when you gotta go, you gotta go!" He tucked his shirt hem into his pants, hiding a flash of red and blue.

"You could have just used the nearby convenience store restroom," Gwen pointed out. "At least, I think I saw one in there."

"What were you doing in a convenience store?"

"I had to pick up some hairspray."

"You two are weird, you know that?" Harry laughed.

Black Panther and Applejack continued down the busier roads, watching as traffic sped by, headlights glaring.

"You were all attacked in back routes that deviated from main roads," Black Panther said to justify the choice. "It seems Osborn's team has been dispatched to patrol the unlikely routes. There has been no public declaration of our arrest announcement, so we are in no danger from the pedestrians. It is unlikely we would be attacked on a main street."

"Good thinkin'," Applejack said as the two raced down the sidewalk between blinding lights. Even at that hour of night, the streets were bright.

Applejack tripped. She hit the sidewalk, scuffing several areas of skin, including on her cheek – that hurt the most.

Black Panther turned to help her up, extending a hand, and was interrupted by the sight he saw. Applejack hadn't merely tripped. She'd tripped on an extended foot. Someone leaning against a wall had put out his leg to halt her, and he retracted it, pressing it against the wall. Black Panther's eyes traveled up to see him in full. Applejack turned over to get a look at him as well.

"I knew somebody would be dumb enough to take the busiest road," Daken said with a smirk.

"DON'T YOU DARE." Applejack stood. "There ain't no announcement that we're s'posed to be in custody. You attack us here, you lose all that rep that you worked to build up for your new Avengers!"

"You're kidding," Daken said, stepping away from the wall. "Everybody already hates you. Don't you know that? And everybody loves me. At the very least, if we start fighting, they won't know WHAT side to pick."

"Don't you go tryin' to use that mind control…whatever it is ya got on us," Applejack snarled.

"That almost sounds like an invitation to do just that," Daken commented. "But to be honest, I'm done playing nice." He lifted both hands, clenching them into fists. Gleaming blades between his knuckles caught the glare of the neon lights. "I'd rather play rough."

"Then try THIS on for size!" Applejack cracked her rope whip, letting it wrap around him.

His reflexes were slightly too good. He lifted one arm into the air so that it wasn't caught up in the rope. "As good as I look in bondage," he remarked, "I'm just not feeling it today." He drew the claws of his free hand over the rope, and once again, Applejack saw her weapon hit the pavement in pieces, shimmering away. She wasn't fazed; this time, she knew it would come back.

"Now it's time to make you scream," Daken growled, raising both hands and rushing Applejack. He brought both claws down together toward her neck.

CLANG.

Black Panther had appeared between the two, bearing dual Vibranium arrowheads. Daken's claws were crossed, the arrowheads caught between them, preventing them from going any further. Vexed, Daken ripped one arm away from the tangle, raising it to take a slash at Black Panther.

Applejack's whip snapped sharply around that wrist, pulling it back; she'd maneuvered behind him in the commotion. Black Panther took that time to leap into the air, twisting; his foot connected with Daken's face. Daken was thrown backward onto the pavement.

By this time, a sizeable crowd had gathered, watching in shock, no one really sure what to do.

"What was that you said again?" Daken asked Applejack. "They wouldn't know who to root for?" He looked around at all the onlookers. Every one of whom suddenly felt an incorrigible attraction to the young, handsome man wielding the long claws. He was beautiful, he was irresistible, they would die for him if he gave the word –

And the word he gave was, "These two are bothering me. Please get rid of them."

The people began to advance.

"Hang on a minute now!" Applejack said nervously. "We weren't – "

"THEY'RE HURTING MY DARLING!" yelled a young woman with short blonde hair, dressed in a yellow collared polo.

"LEAVE THE SEXY ONE ALONE!" screamed a pale youth with dark hair, wearing a black ruffled shirt that resembled that of a pirate.

Daken leaned against the wall and watched as the crowd charged at Black Panther and Applejack. "This is why I love all of you," he encouraged. "Don't worry. There will be enough of me to go around after this."

Unsure what to do, the two heroes took the blows at first. And the crowd wanted blood, driven into a frenzy of anger. Nails scraped across the part of Applejack's cheek that had already been roughed up by the sidewalk. A fist connected with Black Panther's stomach. Someone stomped on Applejack's foot. At last, having enough, Black Panther began to swing people out of the way – grabbing them by the arm, whirling them away so their momentum carried them out of his vicinity. He intended to carve a path through the crowd this way.

Applejack was a step ahead. In a glimmer, she transformed to the Mahou Shoujo state. She raised the whip above her head, twirled it a few times, then cracked it.

The rope zigzagged among the people, wrapping around every individual, keeping them all in place in the intricate web. As they struggled to free themselves, Applejack and Black Panther ducked below, crawling out between the struggling feet, and Applejack's clothing reverted. They broke free, they stood, they ran.

Daken stepped out into their path, claws drawn. "How many times do we have to go through this?" he asked.

From behind him, a gruff voice: "No more than this."

Applejack and Black Panther could both see the change visibly come over Daken. Rage. Pure rage. The very sound of the voice filled him with it. Every muscle in his body impossibly tensed, he turned to look at the one who had addressed him.

Applejack got her first good look at him then as well: a well-built man dressed in a bodysuit of black and yellow, with a pointed mask – in fact, an almost identical ensemble to Daken's, but brighter in color.

"Why are YOU here?" Daken seethed.

"I got a call," the man said; his voice was gruff. "But that's not why I came. I've been watching what you've done. Everyone knows about it. How you're trying to be me."

"I'm trying to be BETTER than you," Daken argued. "NO ONE should be like you! Even I would never do what you did."

"I'd rather not bring up the past," said the man. "I'd rather focus on here and now. And what you've just done."

"It's easy enough for you to forget the past when you don't have to live with it," Daken snarled. "You made a mistake, putting yourself this close to me."

"I don't think I did."

Daken lashed out; his claws were blocked by a second set, bursting from the other man's knuckles unannounced. Daken's second swipe caught the man across the chest briefly; the other man staggered, but did not fall or even appear to be hurt.

The man took a brief moment to stare down Black Panther and Applejack. "RUN," he growled, as though they were idiots for not doing so in the first place.

"But – " Applejack protested, moving toward the two men who struck out at each other again and again, metal hitting metal, metal slashing skin.

"No," Black Panther told her. "This is between the two of them. We must go."

The senses of the people tied up in the aftermath of Applejack's final attack began to return. "What just happened?" "Was I about to…?" "Why did I even do that?" "God DAMN, that guy was sexy." This last comment coming from the brunette in the ruffled shirt while the blonde woman nodded her head in approval.

As Black Panther and Applejack ran, the latter asked, "Who was that fella?"

"Wolverine," Black Panther answered. "The true one. Of the team known as the X-Men. A well-known hero."

"So…what's his deal with the other guy?"

"A very old and personal grudge, and one that serves to remind us all that even those of us who mean the most well can make mistakes that will forever haunt the lives of others."

Crouched in an alleyway, Shocker and Mysterio lay in wait for their targets.

"This is almost unbearable," Mysterio complained. "Lying in the alleyway like stray dogs!"

"Well, it's either this, or try and pick up all your tech equipment and stash it somewhere else while we wait for somebody to come through here," Shocker pointed out. "You wanna carry ten fog machines and a projector and hide 'em all again, be my guest."

Mysterio gave a dramatic sigh and leaned against the wall to indicate his relent on the subject. "One question still perplexes me."

"And that is?"

"Why this alliance? You do not strike me as theatrically inclined."

"That's 'cause I ain't," Shocker admitted. "At first, I didn't get what was up with all your Latin chanting and smoke bombs and fancy lighting. But the thing is, it gets the job done. Your methods may be borderline insane, but it works, and I ain't gonna mess with what works."

"Well. I thank you for your respect."

"It's gettin' to be a little more than respect," Shocker went on. "The way you work, it reminds me that there ain't no harm in havin' a little fun on the job. Puttin' a little passion into it. You got a real eye for puttin' together a show, Beck."

"Please. Call me Mysterio."

"Well, then, Mysterio, you got an eye."

After a pause, Mysterio replied, "…Admittedly, your strategy does add to the show. Almost frustratingly so."

"If it's credit you're worryin' about, then don't. Don't think I don't know you want full credit for this capture. And you can just go ahead and take it, so long as we get 'em and I get a couple swings in at 'em."

"You would REALLY let the world believe that you had no part in it? That it was only the work of the great Mysterio?"

"As I said: so long as it works, I ain't gonna knock it."

"Well! I must admit, I am flattered! It is always a pleasure to meet an admirer."

"I never said I was an ADMIRER."

"I thought it was implied," Mysterio pointed out.

"Admirer's a strong word," Shocker groaned. "And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I still don't get why you gotta fake that accent."

"Don't you KNOW?" Mysterio replied, sounding shocked. "Nothing excites an audience more than a dashing British villain!"

"Yeah, well, your British accent's about as convincin' as Rhino in a dress pretendin' to be Osborn's wife."

"How DARE you!"

"Can you ever NOT overreact to somethin' for once in your life?"

"OVERreact?" Mysterio gasped. "You call it OVERreacting?"

Shocker shook his head. "My mistake, there. You didn't overreact to somethin', well, you wouldn't be you, now, would ya?"

Mysterio seethed silently at that comment, unable to tell that beneath his mask, Shocker was actually smiling – and not mockingly.

The movement outside the alley caught both of their eyes. "Looks like we got a couple of live ones," Shocker remarked. He looked to Mysterio. "You go out there and do what you do best."

"It shall be a performance to remember," Mysterio vowed.

Ms. Marvel and Rainbow Dash flew low over the streets, having taken fair warning from Twilight that Amora would be patrolling the skies.

"No sign of her yet," Ms. Marvel sighed. "But the night is young."

A sudden cloud of acid-green smoke erupted from the ground, obscuring the vision of both women. Ms. Marvel got a good breath of the fog, coughing and choking; she was forced to land. Rainbow Dash followed her, barely able to see anything in the clouds of green, though Spectrum protected her from the smoke's more invasive effects.

"What the hay is going on?" Rainbow Dash snapped angrily.

Ms. Marvel coughed and coughed before managing, "SOMEbody obviously wanted to slow us down."

The smog began to clear, leaving only a puff of green that formed a ring around the square. A voice boomed out, seeming to come from all around: "PRODUT HISTRIO!"

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Rainbow Dash barked.

He appeared through the smoke, throwing his arms out wide, parting the smoke into puffs and curlicues that framed his entrance. Fixing his sights upon his victims, Mysterio bellowed, "You have run afoul of THE GREAT MYSTEEEEERIOOOOO!"

"Are you one of Osborn's?" Ms. Marvel asked.

"I AM THE HERALD OF YOUR DOOM!" Mysterio replied. "I AM THE FINAL BLOW OF THE SWORD!"

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Rainbow Dash said.

"What is your PROBLEM?" Ms. Marvel asked, confounded.

"PROBLEM?" Mysterio replied, his voice still echoing from all around – a handy mic tucked away inside his helmet and speakers cleverly hidden at intervals in the square contributed to that effect. "I AM AFRAID THE ONES WITH THE PROBLEM ARE YOU! DRACO PROELIUM!"

A twenty-foot tall dragon erupted from the smoke, scales gleaming a glossy green, eyes yellow and burning.

"WHERE DID HE GET THAT?" Rainbow Dash screamed.

"I don't know, but let's take it down!" Ms. Marvel commanded, leaping into the air. She gathered as much energy as she could and threw it at the dragon.

The gold energy seemed to pass right through it, having no effect. The dragon reared back its head, gathering flame in its maw. "LOOK OUT!" Rainbow Dash yelled; she and Ms. Marvel jetted to opposite directions in time to avoid the rush of flame that torched the ground.

Rainbow Dash turned her palm blasters toward the dragon, hitting it with as much power as Spectrum had. They seemed only to be absorbed by the dragon's skin. "What kind of dragon IS this?" she wailed.

The dragon swung its head toward her, snapping at her. She zipped out of its way once, twice, thrice, avoiding being caught in the jaws.

"I think I know what kind of dragon it is," Ms. Marvel said, an idea suddenly dawning on her.

Rainbow Dash had by that point summoned her sword, striking out at the dragon. The sword did absolutely nothing to diminish its energy. "I don't even know if my final attack will WORK on this thing!" she groaned.

"It won't," Ms. Marvel told her before flying right at the dragon, one fist outstretched.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Rainbow Dash screamed as Ms. Marvel flew to the dragon's scaly hide, punched it, and slipped right through it, eventually coming out the other side.

"You know what kind of dragon it is?" Ms. Marvel said as she flew to Rainbow Dash's eye level. "A fake one."

The dragon, seemingly offended, drew back another hot breath. When the fire was expelled directly at both women, they felt a slight increase in the air temperature (Mysterio was nothing if not thorough) but no other effect.

"It's an illusion?" Rainbow Dash realized.

"A hologram," Ms. Marvel stated. "Our sorcerer there is using the fog to project it in the air. And here we were worried about REAL magic tracking us down."

"Hmph!" Mysterio waved a hand, and the dragon disappeared right on cue. "So you've figured out my little game! No matter! I WILL STILL SPELL YOUR DOOM! OMNIS ENIM FULGUR!"

Bolts of lightning crackled upward from the pavement, striking at Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel. Rainbow Dash nearly flinched and began evasive maneuvers before Ms. Marvel shook her head, flying directly down through the lightning. Several bolts touched her, but they were as holographic as the dragon; Ms. Marvel passed through them as though they were air. Rainbow Dash followed.

"Let's get this guy!" Rainbow Dash insisted.

"NOT SO FAST!" Mysterio bellowed. "SECRETUM AMICI! TEMPUS VOBIS EST!"

Green blasts of energy emitted from intervals around the ring of smoke. They passed right through Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel, who exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.

"You know, if you keep trying the same illusions over and over, it's not going to work," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Ms. Marvel strode toward Mysterio, fists clenched and glowing with gold. "I almost feel bad taking you out, seeing how you were too stupid to even – "

As she stepped closer, she was suddenly thrown back, hard. The green energy beam had become real.

A second figure appeared: a shadow, at first, in the green smoke, but Shocker's image became more defined when he entered the ring, holding out his palms to emit the green energy that had connected with Ms. Marvel. "That's the thing about illusions," he remarked. "They just make you forget how painful reality is."

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You set this up! You let us think all you had were illusions this whole time so we would walk right into that!"

"Well, congratulations. You're a real ace detective," Shocker droned sarcastically.

"Oh, we most certainly did!" Mysterio announced. "But that's not ALL we planned! OBSERVE! EVANESCUS!"

Accompanied by a firecracker KABOOM, a cloud of smoke rose from the pavement, obscuring Shocker completely. When it faded, he was gone.

"QUOD UBIQUE EST ITA!" Mysterio yelled, gesturing toward Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel, the latter of whom was getting to her feet.

There was another BOOM, a smaller ring of smoke; it cleared, and Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel were surrounded by thirty images of Shocker.

"As you probably guessed, one of me's real," Shocker's voice announced, now emitting from all around – Mysterio wasn't the only one with a mic connected to the speakers. "Care to take a little gamble?"

Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel each picked a Shocker, charging their respective targets. Rainbow Dash blasted hers with an energy pulse; Ms. Marvel swung a glowing fist through her target's head. Both were met with the emptiness of having attacked a hologram.

All thirty put up their hands at once. All thirty sent out glowing green pulses. One pulse alone knocked Rainbow Dash off her feet, sending her to the pavement, armor clanging as it connected.

In a shuffle of smoke, the thirty Shockers randomized positions. Ms. Marvel tried for another strike, but hit another illusion; the real one caught her hard.

"I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS PERFORMANCE BY MY BEST LEADING MAN TO DATE!" Mysterio crowed.

As Ms. Marvel hit the ground, Shocker remarked, "Helps that I got one HELL of a director."

Ms. Marvel and Rainbow Dash quickly scrambled to their feet. "We need to get out of here," Ms. Marvel said, grabbing Rainbow Dash by her Spectrum-encased wrist and dragging her toward the edge of the circle of smoke. As soon as Rainbow Dash figured out how to direct her feet, she synchronized her running in the same direction.

"ERRABIS!" Mysterio cried, raising his hands to the starry heavens.

When Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel reached the edge of the smoke, they were horrified to see that they had gone nowhere. The exact same square of pavement lay out in front of them, a second ring of smoke on the other side of the first. Rainbow Dash turned to see that there was a third across the border the other way.

"It's another illusion," Ms. Marvel said. "He's projecting the image of the same place on the smoke so it looks like we're going nowhere."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash grunted, "I figured that out. Now which way ISN'T nowhere?"

"Up," Ms. Marvel answered.

Needing no further cue, Rainbow Dash blasted into the air; Ms. Marvel followed. As they rose above the smoke, everything became clear; they could see the city melting back into reality around them.

"NOT SO FAST!" Mysterio bellowed, swinging his cape back dramatically. "DEUS DAMNATUS VESPERTILIONES!"

A horde of tiny animatronic bats, each small enough to fit in Mysterio's palm and colored a sickly burgundy, burst forth from beneath his cape, each screeching out a phrase in a high-pitched voice:

"Going up!"

"Third floor, iron women and Ms. Marvel!"

"Fly by night away from here!"

The bats swarmed Ms. Marvel, crawling on every inch of skin; she swatted at them, but they weren't stymied, simply digging in their claws deeper. However, the greater toll was taken on Rainbow Dash. She had the distinct sense that Spectrum was being gnawed into by the metallic teeth. Sensing what was about to happen, she quickly changed course, angling downward, back to the ring of smoke around the pavement.

Two seconds before she would have touched down, they ate through the circuits, and Spectrum was dead in the air. Rainbow Dash crashed down hard.

Ms. Marvel immediately flew down to check upon her, shaking the bats. She landed on the pavement, crouching over Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash? Say something!"

"I'm okay," Rainbow Dash said, getting up. "But this armor isn't gonna fly or blast people anymore. I'll deal with these jerks. You go on ahead!"

"I'm not leaving you behind," Ms. Marvel insisted. "We're taking these…jerks…on together."

Rainbow Dash's greatsword shimmered into appearance; she swung it, causing the bats to be blown backward. They tumbled across the pavement like so many oddly shaped marbles.

"You have played right into my hands!" Mysterio crowed. "YOU SHALL NEVER DETERMINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY IN THE REALM OF MYSTERIO!"

A lineup of what seemed to be a hundred Shockers materialized before Ms. Marvel and Rainbow Dash. From all around, his voice boomed out, "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide…"

There was the sound of a CRASH, then another CRASH and CRASH and CRASH again. And when Shocker said "This battle's already over," the voice only came from one of him, the fifteenth in from the right.

"WHAT THE – " All the Shockers recoiled from the sudden loss of sound distribution.

CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.

The fog dissipated, and the images of Shocker, all but the one who had spoken, truly spoken, faded until they were gone. Ms. Marvel, Rainbow Dash, the sole Shocker, and Mysterio stood on the pavement, the usual scenery around them. Though there was one other among them: a gigantic man, around the size of the Hulk, with orange skin, rough like stone, and no hair to speak of. He wore only a pair of deep blue shorts, fastened with a black belt, the buckle of which bore a "4" symbol that would have appeared much more familiar to Thor and Twilight. He stood near a crushed and sparking pile of projectors, speakers, and fog machines, all ripped out of their positions by force.

"Damn theatre types," the large man groaned. He tossed one more speaker onto the pile.

"THING!" Ms. Marvel cried in relief.

"Got a call from Stark that you were in a situation," the Thing replied. "Dunno what I was expecting, but it wasn't this."

"Hold that thought," Ms. Marvel told him, turning back to Shocker to fire a bolt of golden energy at him.

Shocker had had the same thought at the same time. He pumped a wave of green energy toward her, and the two beams collided, pushing against each other. Ms. Marvel's teeth gritted as she tried to push her beam over the balance; Shocker glared at her from across the connection.

Meanwhile, the Thing turned toward Mysterio. "I'm thinkin'…it's clobberin' time," he stated.

Without any of his robots or illusions to back him up, Mysterio was suddenly caught off guard, adrenaline rising; he raised his hands. "FACIEM MEAM NON AVERTI!"

Ignoring Mysterio's pleas, the Thing slammed his fist into the glass globe. Mysterio was thrown against a wall, and his helmet shattered.

Shocker focused on Ms. Marvel, continuing to fire upon her and completely forgetting that she hadn't been alone. He was suddenly knocked over from the side; as he hit the ground, Ms. Marvel's beam passing over him, he saw Rainbow Dash hoisting her sword defensively. He quickly flicked his gaze over to where Mysterio was slumped against the wall, glass sliding down his head. He knew he was beaten. There was only one thing left to do, and he hated even considering it. He leapt to his feet, running toward the downed Mysterio.

"PLEASE tell me you are conscious," he growled.

Mysterio looked up at him, somewhat weakly but miffed nonetheless, through the shattered glass shards of the helmet. Shocker got a good look at his face, one he'd seen before on a remarkably convincing android double. Beck's dark eyes complemented his raven hair, and a single tiny mole offset his face, just one small imperfection. Due to the explosion of the shards, a stream of crimson blood had erupted over his left eyebrow and was trickling down over his visage, a grisly accessory. "This is NOT how my scene ends," he growled.

"Well, you're outta tricks and I'm outta options, so I'm directing you this time," Shocker informed him. "EXEUNT STAGE LEFT."

Mysterio stood, but instead of making for a getaway, he began to storm toward Ms. Marvel, Rainbow Dash, and the Thing. Frustrated, Shocker forcibly grabbed his wrist: "GET A MOVE ON!" He then ran, practically dragging Mysterio along with him until Mysterio also decided to give in and run.

"Yeah, you BETTER run!" Rainbow Dash yelled after them. She then turned to the Thing. "But seriously, we were about to be toast before you showed up. Thanks!"

"It was nothin'," the Thing replied. "Now get movin' before I have to bail you out from another weirdo."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I would fly, but I'd have to take off Spectrum to get to my wings, and I'm not leaving it behind."

"Then we go on foot," Ms. Marvel agreed.

They parted ways, Ms. Marvel and Rainbow Dash heading toward the embassy while the Thing moved back into the city's heart, absolutely unsure what to make of the scene he'd just resolved. Particularly as his feet crushed the littered remains of several magenta android bats.

Rhino stormed across the grass of the park, leaving large circular imprints in the soil wherever his feet planted. "OHHHHH, LITTLE AVENGERRRRS!" he bellowed tauntingly. "WHERE AAAAARE YOUUUUU?"

He passed a park bench, a lamppost, a tree line that marked a small copse of foliage. From within the shadows of the trees, two sets of eyes watched him.

"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!" Rhino laughed.

Hidden in the trees, Rarity hissed, "He has no concept of subtlety whatsoever. Nevertheless, we are in somewhat of a sticky situation."

"Follow me," Vision said, almost inaudibly. "We can stay out of his sight."

The two had tried cutting through the park only to find Rhino patrolling it, loudly and ungracefully, and were then forced to figure a way back out of the park unnoticed. Vision turned and moved smoothly through the trees, not making a sound against a single branch or twig. Rarity carefully followed.

After several silent minutes during which all Rarity could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat – and she and Vision were both sure that if he had an organic heart, he would be hearing his own beat as loud as thunder as well – they reached another edge to the trees, looking out on an expanse of open green grass.

"I don't see him," Rarity whispered.

"Me either," Vision replied.

There was a sudden rush of noise, like a tornado blowing through the forest. Rarity froze in shock; Vision was unsure of what to do. They turned to see Rhino plowing through the forest, knocking down trees left and right, until he halted before the pair.

"GOTCHA," he laughed.

Vision immediately leapt into the air, firing a beam upon Rhino's chest. It collided with the thick exoskeleton, but did nothing to it, not even putting Rhino the slightest bit out of balance. Rhino stared curiously down at the red beam for a while before looking up at Vision. "Really?" he sighed.

"Perhaps this requires a more MAGICAL touch," Rarity announced, her bow appearing in her hand. She fired a crystal arrow at Rhino. This one was more effective. It sank into Rhino's skin, causing him to stumble as he felt the damage done to his very essence.

"HEY!" he grunted, unsure what had just happened. All he knew was that Rarity's weapon had done him more damage than he thought a bow and arrow should have been capable of.

As Rarity loaded up another arrow – with less deliberation than usual, as her target was quite large and three feet in front of her – Rhino stormed forward, reached out, and grabbed the bow by the upper riser. "Gimme that!" he yelled, jerking the bow toward himself and out of Rarity's hands.

"HEY!" Rarity screamed. "That is MINE!"

"Not so tough without your little toy, are ya?" Rhino asked, snapping the bow in half.

Rarity gasped, then screamed, then swooned; Vision had to catch her as she fell.

Rhino examined the pieces of the bow; they pulled toward each other with an almost magnetic pull, taking his hands with them, until they snapped back together at the breaking point, shimmering to produce a whole, unbroken bow. Curious, Rhino broke it again. It repaired itself. He went through this for a while. Break, repair. Break, repair. Finally, with a shrug, he slung the bow over one arm.

Rarity stood, her wand materializing in her hand. "Did you think that was the ONLY trick I had up my well-tailored sleeve?" she asked. She flicked the wand; "FLIPENDO!"

The jinx ricocheted off of Rhino's skin, breaking a tree branch.

"Errrrr…incendio?" Rarity tried.

A WHOOSH of flame appeared temporarily on Rhino's shoulder, then burned out.

"Dif…fin…do?" Rarity squeaked.

A slight glow over Rhino's heart and nothing more.

"Eheheheheh…" Rarity laughed nervously. "RUN!"

She grabbed Vision by the wrist, turned, and charged out of the trees into the park. The two sped ahead as quickly as they could, but were unable to ignore the sound of the thudding of Rhino's feet behind them, getting louder and closer as he ran faster than they could.

Then the thudding stopped, taken over by a different set of noises. Had Vision and Rarity looked back earlier, they might have been able to tell exactly what made each noise: the hard SLAP sound (a foot connecting directly with Rhino's head after a perfectly executed jackknife kick), the loud WHAM (a large-bodied man tackling Rhino directly from the side), the THUD (said man actually knocking Rhino over), the CRACK-CRACK-CRACK (the bow's risers splitting and reforming, remaining in place over Rhino's shoulder), and then the snort (someone trying very hard not to laugh). As it was, they didn't turn around until after the sound to view a strange sight indeed. Groaning, Rhino was splayed out on his stomach on the grass, Rarity's bow gleaming into full form over his shoulder. To either side of him stood a man. To his right was the larger, someone almost the size of the Rhino himself, dressed simply in a dark gray tee, a lighter gray hoodie, and a pair of jeans held up by a belt fashioned to look like a chain. His skin was quite dark, and though he had no hair atop his head, he sported a thin mustache that trailed down either side of his mouth neatly. To Rhino's left was a shorter, slimmer, and paler man dressed in a considerably flashier manner; Rarity couldn't help but think that the other man could take pointers from this one. He dressed in an emerald green bodysuit, cut off at the knees and showing off his chest with a great V indent; shoes, a sash, and a tall collar of bright yellow accented it. To top it off, he'd shourded the upper half of his face with a yellow mask, outlined black around the eyes, that tied off like a bandanna. His exposed chest revealed a large insignia of a winged serpent upon his skin. He was the one who had snorted; he was trying to stifle a giggle at the situation.

That made Rarity forget all about her appreciation of his fashion choice. "EXCUSE me," she grunted, "but do you find our humiliation AMUSING?"

"No," the smaller man replied. "I just can't believe Stark shelled out two grand for us to take down the fuckin' RHINO."

"HEEEEY!" Rhino groaned. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"It means you got a reputation for being a goddamn idiot," the larger man said frankly.

"Pardon me," Rarity asked, "but who are you?"

Vision filled in for her: "The Heroes for Hire. Known defenders who will only take paid cases." He looked toward the larger of the two. "Legally known as Luke Cage. Occasionally known as 'Power Man,' but prefers not to go by that name. Possesses superhuman strength and impenetrable skin." He turned his attention to the other. "Daniel Rand-K'ai, known in the field as 'Iron Fist.' Accomplished martial artist schooled in the ways of the H'ylthri. Possesses supernatural abilities as well."

By that time, Rhino had gotten back to his feet. "All right, no more messin' around!" He rushed at Cage, apparently attempting to knock him over. The two locked hands, shoving each other, equally matched in force.

"Seriously," Iron Fist remarked, "you could have gotten us to take this job for $10. Stark just said there'd be 'trouble.'"

"Um…excuse me," Rarity said, "but if you would be so kind as to focus on retrieving that stylish bow from the Rhino, it does happen to be mine, and also happens to be the only thing I've seen so far that actually affects him."

"Magic, huh?" Iron Fist guessed. "HEY, you hear that?" he yelled to his partner.

"Get the bow back," Cage said with a nod from his position of battle. "Got it!"

"You ain't gettin' your hands on THIS!" Rhino growled.

Vision swooped in behind Cage, aiming his laser for Rhino's unprotected face. It hit the mark, and Rhino let go, staggering backward. Iron Fist launched off the ground, soaring over Rhino, reaching for the bow; Rhino swatted him out of the air onto the grass while stepping backward, taking the bow off his shoulder.

"Yeah, doesn't look so good when it's used on YOU!" he crowed, aiming the bow at Rarity and drawing the string only to realize it had no arrow. "What the…this thing's useless!"

"To anyone but ME!" Rarity insisted.

That gave Iron Fist the space to quickly approach Rhino, the hand that provided his namesake glowing a bright red as it connected with Rhino's face. He was sent crumpling to the ground again, where Cage leapt atop him, pinning him down.

"GRAB IT NOW!" Cage yelled.

Vision soared down from above, deftly plucking the bow from Rhino's loose grip; he dropped it toward Rarity, who caught it perfectly in one hand. She considered transforming, but somehow knew it wouldn't be necessary. She drew back the bowstring.

Arrow after arrow was fired at Rhino until, woozily, he stopped struggling. With a groan, he finally went unconscious. Cage waited until he knew Rhino wasn't going anywhere before gingerly getting off him.

"What even is that thing?" Cage asked, eyeing the bow suspiciously.

"Magic," Rarity said, dismissing the bow in a flash. "So…you dashing fellows only take down villains for profit?"

"Before you judge us – " Iron Fist began.

"AH-AH-AH-AH-AH." Rarity raised her hand to interrupt. Then she reached into a pocket sewn into her clothing and removed from it two golden Galleons, kept in case of emergency since they'd left Fourth Earth, before tossing a Galleon to Cage and Iron Fist each. "Consider it a tip."

"Are these even real?" Cage wondered out loud, examining the otherworldly coin.

"Quite," Rarity said. "I simply MUST thank you both for your assistance. Oh, and Iron Fist, your ensemble is nothing short of DAPPER! Now, Vision and I must be on our way, hopefully with a little more luck this time."

She ran away, across the park, Vision following by hovering slightly over the ground.

"She thinks it looks dapper," Iron Fist reiterated with a smirk.

"Shut up," Cage replied, rolling his eyes.

Falcon and Fluttershy had decided to take to the air.

"What if Amora finds us?" Fluttershy worried out loud as they sped among the rooftops, Fluttershy's wings pumping.

"We're on the opposite side of the city from Twilight's first route," Falcon assured her. "There's no chance Amora will catch up with us!"

With a ZZZZZIP and a rush of smoke, a small missile soared over Falcon's shoulder and exploded against a wall. Fluttershy screamed; both she and Falcon stopped in midair, looking back at the source of the missile.

Vulture careened around a corner, wings spread, Flight Tech device in full activation, though with a few modifications from its previous incarnation – in the form of twin cannons mounted above the main pack.

"The Flight Tech Battle Gear is definitely succeeding at its first test," he remarked proudly before pressing a trigger in one of his gloves, connected to the cannons. Another missile locked and loaded.

"Fly!" Falcon cried, looking to Fluttershy. "FLY!"

Falcon and Fluttershy sped ahead, swerving around corner after corner, attempting to lose Vulture. However, every now and again, another missile would sail by them, missing by a hair's breadth, reminding them that they had not escaped.

"That's it!" Falcon flipped over in mid-flight, launching several red feather projectiles at the next missile. The two collided.

The resulting explosion's shockwave threw Falcon and Fluttershy through the large glass window of a nearby building. Had Falcon gotten a good look at his surroundings, he might have been able to identify it by the familiar insignia on top, but as it was, he had no clue where he and Fluttershy had landed. They hit the floor and rolled; he immediately cried out "Are you okay?" before even standing up.

"I'm…fine…" Fluttershy squeaked, standing to get a good look around. She and Falcon appeared to have crashed into a laboratory, filled with various devices, blinking lights, and bright computer screens. She couldn't identify what any of them did.

She turned around and gasped. Perhaps one of the most beautiful humanoid beings she had ever seen was behind her and Falcon, suspended in a cylindrical tank, floating, eyes closed; she was sleeping, or perhaps comatose. Her hair and skin were jet black, she was almost rail-thin, and she wore a plum-colored bodysuit, a silver breastplate studded with shining aqua gemstones, matching silver gauntlets and boots, and a drape of glimmering blue fabric. She was crowned with a silver headdress featuring three prominent spikes and a blue visor over her eyes.

The sight of this woman distracted Fluttershy from everything else for a moment; she was brought back to reality when Falcon stood next to her, looking at the woman as well. "Who is that?" he wondered out loud.

"I wish I knew," Fluttershy admitted. Remembering the task at hand, she asked, "Do you think we lost him?"

"That explosion had to blast him as far in the opposite direction," Falcon deduced. "There was no way he could have seen which way we went!"

Right on time, Vulture appeared, framed in the broken window. "I have you NOW," he growled before soaring into the laboratory.

Fluttershy's katana materialized; Falcon readied his wings. "Take your best shot!" Falcon challenged. He then turned to Fluttershy: "SPLIT!"

The two ran in opposite directions across the lab, momentarily leaving Vulture confused by the decision. He turned and launched a missile at Fluttershy.

The katana's blade cut the projectile down in midair, defusing its power. Fluttershy spun the sword, holding the blade out toward Vulture.

Vulture turned his attention to Falcon, launching a missile. Falcon sidestepped it, and the missile crashed into a wall of devices and computers, reducing them to sparking wires. Falcon launched several red feathers back at Vulture, who ducked them all; they continued on their path to Fluttershy.

"NO!" Falcon cried.

Fluttershy was ready. She leapt over the feathers, keeping aloft with wings spread, letting them crash into the opposite wall.

Before Vulture could launch another missile, a bright blue ball slammed into him. Confused, Fluttershy and Falcon watched the ball uncurl itself into the form of a tall, slim man, with dark hair streaked with white framing his pale face. He wore a blue bodysuit emblazoned with the emblem of the "4" that Falcon recognized quite well.

"Hey, I know that guy!" Falcon cried.

"That guy" clenched his right fist until it had taken on more of the shape of a hammer than a hand. He slammed it into the pack on Vulture's back, his eyes scanning the wires. "This is pretty primitive," he remarked, plucking out three wires. "That should be enough to ground you and disarm your weapons. There ARE far more sophisticated flight and weapons systems in production, you know. You could learn a thing or two from Stark Industries."

"WHAT?" Vulture whined. He clicked the triggers he'd installed in vain; the missiles refused to launch. He made to leap back out the window before realizing that his wings were more than likely defunct. So instead, he ran to the edge of the window, gingerly climbed out, and dropped, descending the skyscraper very slowly by leaping from window frame to window frame, terrified the whole way down that he'd make a misstep and plunge to his death.

"I knew something was going to happen to this place," the man in blue remarked in dismay. "I wish I'd gotten here before he obliterated half of it, but at least he didn't hit Ravonna or any of her life support devices. I guess my job is working to patch what he broke for the next three weeks."

"You're Mr. Fantastic, right?" Falcon asked in awe. "I remember you from S.H.I.E.L.D. files! Dr. Reed Richards!"

Mr. Fantastic nodded. "Tony Stark called my entire team to let us know there was going to be some kind of incident involving the Avengers and what became of S.H.I.E.L.D. The others went out into the city, but I just had a feeling something would happen here."

"Wait…are we actually IN the Fantastic Four tower?" Falcon asked with glee.

"In one of its labs," Mr. Fantastic confirmed. "Luckily, the only one that sustained any damage."

"Um…I'm sorry, but I'm a little lost," Fluttershy admitted.

"This guy is one of the Fantastic Four!" Falcon explained excitedly. "One of the best hero teams in the city, right up there with the Avengers and the X-Men! He's also a genius!"

"It's nice to meet you," Fluttershy said with a nod. "Thank you for protecting us."

"I'm guessing you'll want to be escorted to the embassy premises," Mr. Fantastic sighed.

"Actually," Fluttershy said, "it looks like you need to patch this place back up. We can make it on our own. But thank you anyway! Good luck!"

"Good luck," Mr. Fantastic replied.

"C'mon, Fluttershy!" Falcon yelled, running to the broken window. "Let's go!"

Fluttershy followed, leaping out and spreading her wings, looking back at the lab, where Mr. Fantastic seemed absolutely engrossed in picking up the scattered shrapnel.

"They did say he was self-absorbed," Falcon stated.

"I feel a little bad we didn't do more to protect his things," Fluttershy said.

"Hey, we got away from the bad guy," Falcon pointed out. "That's good enough for me!"

They soared through the night toward the Wakandan embassy.

"BRING IT ON!" Pinkie Pie and Wasp yelled. Then all four – Pinkie Pie, Wasp, Electro, and Sandman – rushed to the center of the square.

Twin pistols shimmered into Pinkie Pie's hands, and she twirled them before beginning to fire burst after burst of confetti at Sandman. Sandman promptly responded by morphing into a wave of sand, flowing below the range of the blasts before rematerializing into human shape not a foot in front of Pinkie Pie, one giant fist of sand sending her flying.

Wasp was having just as much luck, perhaps less. Every one of her bio-stingers just seemed to be soaked up by Electro. Electro, on the other hand, was running on full power; his entire body glowed brightly, and he threw out his hands, sending a network of lightning careening at Wasp. Wasp desperately flew round and round the various bolts, screaming slightly at every near miss.

"Hold STILL!" Electro growled.

"Whooooaaaa!" Pinkie Pie marveled at their battle. "ELECTRICITY powers? That's SO cool! I wish I had powers like that! That has to be the best superpower ever! You could light up anything or – "

"Hey," Sandman said, morphing from another wave to human form at Pinkie's side. "Shut up."

This time, Pinkie was ready for his attack. She leapt into the air, over his next punch, backflipping; when she landed on the ground, she wore the clothing of the Mahou Shoujo. Her next shot from the pistols hit the mark.

"HEY!" Sandman was unsure what to make of the blast. He didn't feel physically hurt…but was impacted all the same.

"Gotcha now!" Pinkie Pie crowed, discarding the empty pistols so that new ones reloaded in her hands. She blasted them both at once, six times.

Sandman let a segment of his chest melt away, sending all six of Pinkie's blasts through an empty hole. "Um…maybe I don't gotcha," Pinkie said before turning to run in the opposite direction.

She passed Wasp, who'd had the same idea. "Switch?" Wasp asked.

"SWITCH!" Pinkie Pie agreed.

Wasp charged her bio-stingers, sending blasts at Sandman. They hit his skin with a small splash of sand grain each time, akin to small pebbles dropped in the water.

"Uhhhh…" Wasp was at a loss for words.

"Are you even useful at all?" Sandman asked. Then, without further hesitation, he shifted his hands into a pair of sand-sculpted maces, swinging them out at Wasp, who deftly avoided them.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was trying to get a shot in at Electro. He was avoiding her shots as well as Wasp had avoided his. "You are REALLY shiny!" Pinkie Pie couldn't help but squeal.

"SHUT…UP!" Electro threw another blast of lightning toward Pinkie; she leapt out of the way, handspringing to a new location.

"Face it!" Sandman taunted. "You're both losin'!"

Wasp couldn't reply, too busy evading attack from both maces. However, she couldn't help but think that Sandman was right. Pinkie Pie had heard, and she contemplated the thought. She hadn't been able to land a single blow on either of her opponents, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. She still had an ace up her sleeve.

A dragonfly zipped through the square, almost imperceptible to those of greater height. Its rider zipped toward Wasp, catching her in midair, swinging her so she was astride the dragonfly, speeding her out of Sandman's vicinity.

"HEY!" Sandman yelled. "Where'd you go?"

"Forget her!" Electro cried. "Help me with this one!"

"You got it!" Sandman morphed both his arms into sharp spikes, charging into the fray to attack Pinkie Pie. He lunged at her; she twisted out of the way of both spikes.

"You know, that reminds me of a goddess I knew about, " Pinkie brought up. "Her name was Nemesis, goddess of revenge, and she could make her hands into all KINDS of weapons, like swords and axes and – "

"SHUT UP!" Electro and Sandman yelled at the same time; Pinkie cartwheeled out of the way of a lightning blast and a sand strike at once.

"But now that you mention it," Sandman went on, "that ain't a bad idea." His hands shifted into the form of double-bladed axes. Pinkie Pie flinched at the sight of them.

The dragonfly landed on the ground, dropping off both riders, and the two grew to full human size. Wasp beheld a man dressed in a red bodysuit, with a silver belt and an all too familiar silver helmet fixed with a mouthpiece and two antennae on top of its dome. Mistakenly, she cried, "HANK?"

"No," the man replied.

"Wait…" Wasp placed the voice. "Scott LANG? What are you doing here?"

"Tony called," Lang replied. "Said there might be trouble tonight."

At that moment, Pinkie Pie ran screaming past the two of them. She halted, took two steps back, and said, "Hi! Nice to meet ya! I'm Pinkie Pie! Who are you?"

"Scott Lang," Lang replied. "The new Ant-Man. It's a long story."

"Hmm…" Pinkie Pie thought it over. "Did something happen, like Hank getting too guilty over something he did as Ant-Man to use that identity ever again and you stealing his stuff and him deciding you could keep it and use it for good before he became Yellowjacket?"

"…Huh?" Lang replied. "That's…exactly right. Did they tell you about me?"

"Lucky guess," Pinkie Pie replied with a shrug. Then she gave a scream as she leapt out of the way of one of Sandman's axes, which slammed into the ground, cracking the pavement, in front of Wasp and Lang.

"You're going to regret doing that," Lang told Sandman.

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Sandman asked, dubious.

Lang spoke into the mouthpiece of his helmet. His words were garbled into a buzz. They were heard by all the ears they were meant for. They came from the edge of the street, from the sewers, beneath the cars, beneath discarded newspapers, scurrying around feet, flying in on gossamer wings. Insects. Of every shape, size, and color.

They swarmed Sandman at Lang's request, covering him from head to toe. Sandman, stricken by horror, flailed; "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!" However, for him, the worst was yet to come. The insects detected the consistency of his skin. And they burrowed.

Panicking, Sandman morphed into a sheer wave of sand, swirling about to try and rid himself of the insects that resided within his being. As he was distracted, Pinkie Pie stared down Electro.

"And what are YOU going to do?" Electro asked.

Pinkie Pie leapt into the air, twirling; when she landed, her final weapon was hoisted over her shoulder. "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE PARTY!" she screamed, pulling the trigger.

BOOM.

The blast caught Electro full-on, sending him staggering backward until he hit the pavement, knocked out.

"WOOHOO!" Pinkie Pie began to leap about, spinning in the air, as she reverted to her normal clothing. "I did it! I took down the bad guy!"

Hearing that, Sandman hazarded a glance toward the scene. He took in the sight of Electro on the ground, unmoving. The sight of Pinkie Pie rejoicing.

He exploded. The insects were sent flying in all directions. The grains of sand reformed, bringing Sandman to his humanoid form just long enough for him to snarl, "YOU…JUST…DIDN'T!"

Pinkie Pie saw the rising shadow first. Then she turned around to see the tidal wave of sand building up over her.

"PINKIE PIE!" Wasp yelled.

The wave of sand crashed down over Pinkie Pie, surrounding her. She struggled, but couldn't break free of the sheer force. She was simply carried away by the rolling sands. The wave took one more detour; picking up Electro's prone body. A pair of small hands emerged to replace his mask over his face first, ensuring his energy would be contained during transport.

Wasp chased Sandman in his fluid form, shrinking down, blasting him with her full power, but it had as much effect as it had before. The wave kept on rolling until it encountered a large sewer grate. Then it shoved the grate aside, pouring down into the sewer, repositioning Pinkie Pie and Electro to carry them both down.

Pinkie Pie kept on struggling to break free until the moment when her head was slammed against a wall. Then she fell as still as Electro.

Wasp and Lang leapt down into the grate after Sandman and his passengers, but by the time they did, all they could see was a labyrinth of branching passages and no one in sight. There was no way to tell which way their target had gone.

"This can't be happening," Wasp breathed. "It can't…"

Fully bandaged, having insisted he could stand of his own volition and proven the statement correct, Steve Rogers stood sentinel upon the lawn of the embassy, waiting for the others to cross the line.

First came Twilight and Yellowjacket. Unsurprisingly, when Twilight ran toward Steve, her first statement was "You should be resting!"

"I'm fine," Steve assured her. "I wanted to make sure the rest of you were. Any trouble?"

"A run-in with Venom," Yellowjacket answered, "but luckily, we got some help from a certain friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. And Twilight taught us all a valuable lesson in physics."

"What…?" Steve was confused.

"It's a long story," Twilight said. "We can talk about it later."

Then Applejack and Black Panther arrived. "You okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah…" Applejack answered, "but we ain't entirely sure that somepony else is."

"He will manage," Black Panther reassured her. "For now…it feels good to return here. Steven, let the others know that if they need anything here, they need only speak to me."

Rainbow Dash and Ms. Marvel entered at that point, and Twilight gasped. "Oh my GOSH! Rainbow Dash! What happened to your armor?"

"Don't even ask," Rainbow Dash sighed. "For now, it's just grounded."

Rarity and Vision barreled onto the lawn. Rarity cried out, "Oh, YES! SANCTUARY!" At the same time, Falcon and Fluttershy landed from above.

"That just leaves one," Steve observed.

"She's still missing…" Twilight said shakily.

"I bet you anything Pinkie Pie and Wasp turn up here within the next thirty seconds, talking about how lost they got," Rainbow Dash tried to reassure her.

So they waited for thirty seconds. Two figures appeared on the edge of the lawn. One was clearly Wasp. "See? I told you!" Rainbow Dash crowed.

However, as the pair neared, it was clear that the figure next to Wasp was not Pinkie Pie, and Wasp's eyes were downcast, a look of devastation upon her face.

"Scott?" Steve addressed Lang.

"I tried," Lang said mournfully.

"What happened?" Twilight asked worriedly.

Wasp looked up at her.

"WHERE'S PINKIE PIE?" Twilight shouted.

Wasp's eyes filled with tears.

Osborn paced the room, looking at the lineup before him. "Is this the best you have to give me?" he asked. "Not a single Avenger or ally? And how did I find you?" He paced the line, staring down each, listing the state in which he had discovered each of his allies.

To Zemo: "Unconscious in a back alley."

To Amora: "With the nerve to come back here and say you'd given up because the sun was rising."

To Venom: "Crawling back here, moaning about loud noises."

Red Hulk: "Without your powers."

Daken: "Losing to the Wolverine." (As Daken muttered under his breath, "He'd be dead if you hadn't interfered…")

Bullseye: "Dragging a broken motorcycle through the streets."

Mysterio and Shocker: "On the RUN."

Rhino: "Asleep in the park."

And Vulture: "Stripped of all defenses, running to home base like a coward."

Then he turned to an empty space in the room: "And two haven't even returned. God only knows if I'll see the two of them again, let alone with their targets."

"Electro and Sandman ain't no cowards," Shocker pointed out. "They'll be back here any second. And for the record, Mysterio and I ain't no cowards either. We just know to quit when we're behind. Or, at least, I do."

"With all due respect, Director," Zemo added, "You were also stymied by your opponents. Those who live in glass houses."

"I had THOUGHT that the others would have captured them by now!" Amora growled.

"At least now that the sun has risen, we can contact the presses," Osborn stated. "Let the world know that the Avengers are wanted…and now for resisting arrest. However, if, as we suspect, they were making their way to the Wakandan Embassy tonight, we will not be able to touch any of them once they are on those grounds. We can either wait them out or flush them out."

"Them bein' stuck there's as good as prison anyway, right?" Rhino asked.

"No," Osborn growled. "They may be confined, but on their own terms. We have no control over the situation. We – "

He was interrupted when the door to the room was flung open. Sandman hurried into the room, announcing, "You're gonna wanna see this!"

Pinkie Pie and Electro lay sprawled out across the floor of the adjacent room. "Couldn't figure out where to put 'em," Sandman explained. "Anyway, I got one of the girls, like you said."

"Well done." Osborn's lips curled into a smile. "Though I am surprised that you, out of everyone, were the successful one."

Sandman could practically feel the resentment flowing from the others – Zemo in particular. He decided not to care. "I'm just good at what I do," he said with a shrug.

"Amora," Osborn commanded, "help me take the girl somewhere more secure."

"Now wait just a minute," Sandman interrupted. "She roughed Electro up pretty bad out there. You got anything you can do for – "

As if on cue, Electro stirred, sitting upright. "What…?"

"He appears to be in good enough condition," Osborn stated. "Amora, assist me. The rest of you are dismissed for the moment."

Amora took hold of Pinkie Pie's shoulders, and Osborn her feet. They carried her out of the room, leaving the other Dark Avengers and Sinister Six in the small room. The majority of them glared at Sandman resentfully.

"Whatever you're thinkin'," Shocker growled, turning to face the group, "don't. Ain't worth it. If I were you, I'd go do somethin' to make sure I didn't lose next time."

He waited until all but himself, Sandman, and Electro had left before Shocker himself took his leave.

"What happened?" Electro asked, standing.

"Oh, not much…just that we're the only team to have actually brought somebody back," Sandman said with a grin. "She took you out, and I took her out. You okay now?"

"Yeah. That weapon didn't…do…anything. It made me tired, and that's all. Did Osborn want anything else from us?"

"Not for now. We're free to do what we want."

Electro nodded.

"So I'll see ya round, right?" Sandman asked before turning to leave.

"Did you take her down BECAUSE of me?" Electro asked suddenly.

"Yep," Sandman replied without even missing a beat. Then he departed, leaving Electro to ponder.

Amora, Crouch, Blackheart, and Doom stood around the table of the Cabal conference room. Amora had been granted clearance, as she of course knew of Loki's secret dealings. On that subject, Crouch had something to say: "Where's Loki?"

"In order to keep up appearances, he has to maintain several hours in Asgard," Amora explained. "He can't waste his time here. Especially when Asgard is still in need of reformation under his hand."

Doom gently inserted the needle of a syringe into Pinkie Pie's arm, injected the syringe's contents – a mild anaesthetic – and then delicately removed the syringe. "That should ensure she sleeps soundly for as long as we need."

"And what do we do with her now?" Blackheart asked.

"We deliver her upstairs," Doom replied.

NEBULAPOLIS, RAGNANIVAL, ASGARD

Pinkie Pie gradually became aware of sensation returning to her. She felt satin sheets beneath her and atop her; a slight breeze blowing in through a window. She opened her eyes. She lay in a bed with a white canopy overhead. Looking down, she saw the bedclothes around her were also shimmering white. She took in the sight of the room around her. It was beautifully ornate, with golden walls, a polished wooden dresser, and a full length mirror. Several gleaming weapons – short swords and axes – were mounted on a rack on the wall. On the opposite wall was the window, revealing a brilliantly blue sky.

Pinkie slipped out of the bed, crossing to the window. She could see the skyline of Nebulapolis through it, recognizing the glimmering towers immediately.

"I'm in ASGARD?" she said to herself.

There was a slight knock at the door. "Who's there?" she asked.

Amora opened the door, striding in, dressed in her green attire as opposed to her darker clothing, a shining fabric draped over one arm. "I see you're awake," she said.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Pinkie shrieked. "YOU! YOU'RE THE PERSON THAT BROUGHT ME HERE!"

"Before you make wild accusations," Amora said, "perhaps you should get it into your head that not everything is as it seems."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"We did take you into custody," Amora stated. "But, as you can clearly see, you are not aboard the H.A.M.M.E.R. helicarrier."

"Well, duh!"

"Lord Odin wishes to speak with you," Amora said. "Though I wouldn't speak to him dressed in such a ridiculous fashion." She draped the garment she carried over a nearby chair. "Wear this before you speak to him." She turned and stalked out of the room, shutting the door.

Pinkie Pie was confused, to say the least. She wasn't sure what was going on – why she wasn't in custody of Osborn, where the people who arrested her were, why Amora was being so civil, why Odin wanted to talk to her. None of it made sense. She approached the chair, picking at the garment. It was a gown of shimmering gold and white; the bodice was golden, covering from the neckline to the bustline, and below that, iridescent white fabric spread out into a ballooning skirt. The bodice was adorned with two thick golden straps adorned with yellow gemstones to act as sleeves. It was certainly beautiful enough, Pinkie thought, and she removed the pink and white suit Rarity had sewn for her in favor of putting it on.

"Are you decent?" Amora called through the door.

"Yes I am!" Pinkie replied, adjusting the dress. It fit her just perfectly. She wondered why. If someone had made it just for her.

Amora opened the door. "Come with me," she beckoned.

She led Pinkie Pie through the labyrinthine halls of the palace, and Pinkie marveled at the beauty and detail of everything there, from the edges of the windows to the bases of the columns to the carving of the furniture. Occasionally, they passed other Asgardians, and Pinkie marveled at their manner of dress.

Finally, they reached the doors of the throne room. Amora knocked. "Enter," the gruff voice called.

Amora parted the doors, leading Pinkie Pie into the throne room. "Lord Odin," she said, addressing the king seated upon his throne. "As you have requested. She is here."

"Good," "Odin" said. "Leave us."

Amora smirked. "As you wish." She turned, exiting the throne room, closing the door behind her.

Pinkie Pie stared nervously up at whom she took for Odin. "Uhhhh…hi!" she greeted. "My name is Pinkie Pie, and – "

"I know your name quite well. In fact, I requested that Amora bring you to me to discuss a very important matter."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! WHERE are my manners!" Pinkie suddenly cried, bowing deeply, eyes cast toward the ground.

"Odin" smiled at this. All the better. "Pinkie Pie, what I have to tell you is something quite secret. I ask of you to please mention what you are about to see here to no one. I trust you above all others to help me…and I need you to show me the same level of trust. What may look to you as something horrible is not, in fact, what it appears to me. I ask you to listen to my story. To hear what I have to say before you judge me or my actions. That is my request. Will you keep it?"

"Sure!" Pinkie said, still not looking up.

"You would so easily trust me?"

"Well…you wouldn't be saying these things if it wasn't really, really important! And it sounds like you need my help! And I know that if you can't keep a secret, that's the best way to lose a friend…FOREVERRRRR!"

"I am glad to hear it." He let his illusion fall away. "For I am not, in fact, Odin of Asgard. That is who this kingdom needs me to be. And that is who I am when you leave this room. But that is not who you stand before now at all."

Pinkie looked up, intrigued. Then she gasped. Her heartbeat increased its rate. She felt heat rising within her. She was looking at the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen in her life – this man sitting upon the throne, clothed in green and gold, who flashed her a brilliant, almost teasing smile.

"I am Loki," he announced. "You have not met me, but I have met you. You were quite a good friend of mine in days past, Pinkie Pie. Will you show me the same kindness now? And above all, will you swear to keep my secret?"

Pinkie Pie nodded deliberately, unable to remove her eyes from him, and answered, in complete awe, "Okie-dokie…Loki."

Chapter 72

· Oh, hey, look, I brought Harry Osborn back after I said I wouldn't. I was trying to find a way to have Peter cross paths with the chaos, and ultimately decided to have him accidentally run into it all instead of being called by Tony, mostly because I wanted to do what I did with Gwen. Naturally, that meant Harry had to make another cameo – because I feel like the two of them have to be his emotional crutches right now.

· I'm running with SSM Gwen because I really, really, really, really. REALLY. Don't like Emma Stone's portrayal. So she has her suspicions about Spider-Man and his villain network, but doesn't know for sure it's Peter. She knows Venom is Eddie, though.

· That moment when I realize I've probably had Venom refer to himself as a singular being in the past chapters ("I" instead of "we") and am hoping to cover for that here.

· Why do unstable Pym Particles explode now? BECAUSE PLOT DEVICE THAT'S WHY

· As I said, I HAAAATE Emma Stone's Gwen. She's bossy and far too stoic and, as of the latest trailer, too stupid not to yell out her boyfriend's name when he's supposed to be undercover (WHAT is with that quick hand clap over her mouth like OH SHIT I JUST SAID HIS REAL NAME IN FRONT OF PEOPLE?). You know the one good thing about Stone's Gwen? The hairspray flamethrower. So what did I have to give SSM Gwen, the version I actually love? THE FUCKIN' HAIRSPRAY FLAMETHROWER. FUCK YEAH.

· And of course, this is literally me doing The Night Gwen Stacy Died with major modifications, but changing the timeline; the Mane Six's presence on this world means Gwen never had to die that way. Had Twilight not been there, this would literally have been the moment in my timeline when Gwen would have died due to the drop off the bridge and the web catch. (I know how to Wikipedia things.)

· I slipped in physical descriptions of GAvillain and myself among Daken's raging fan-mob. Because we so would be.

· You only get a glimpse of Wolverine and Daken's confrontation here. I'll go into it in more detail later.

· The Shocker/Mysterio dialogue here might be some of the worst flirting I've ever written in this story. Well…second worst. The worst has to be any time I need to write Dr. Doom flirting.

· For those of you that translated Mysterio's Latin for the Bilingual Bonus, you probably need the context that "Goddamn Bats" is a trope from , referring to how in video games, bats are one of the most common and annoying enemies. Also, you may have noted that one of the bats quoted "Fly By Night" by Rush.

· How did Thing know where all the projectors were? I DON'T FREAKIN' KNOW

· I have been informed that Mysterio's helmet is actually probably plastic. I made it glass and had it shatter because honestly, if Mysterio were the one writing the story, he'd want the dramatic effect and imagery that makes.

· Flight Tech Battle Gear is my own invention. Well, I mean, Flight Tech was canon for Vulture, but I added the cannons to the canon.

· RAVONNA CAMEO YAY! I'm not sure I can do anything with her in this storylet, but I do eventually wanna wrap up the plot they had going with her in AEMH, especially because looking over her comic canon story gives me a lot of ideas of what can be done with her. (And yeah…I think she's that pretty.)

· Pinkie Pie likes electricity powers. Hmmmmmmm

· Pinkie's "Asgard dress" is a design of my own that I've had in my head ever since becoming familiar with the MCU.

· The idea of Pinkie Pie being romantically involved with Loki is one that has always intrigued me, as he is one of her catchphrases and obviously he has a thing for horses. Also, I needed at least one character who is somewhat like me (well…a lot like me) to go point out how sexy he is. His feelings toward her, however, I'm keeping under wraps for now and letting unfold…