A/N: For this chapter, it is best if one is familiar with the song "Born for This" by Paramore.

75. Code White

NEW YORK CITY, 616TH EARTH

The sun broke the horizon, lighting up the sky, and in doing so, illuminated the city and the grounds around it. Only one place in the sky was not affected by the sun's rising, remaining dark. This was the sky over the crystal field Loki had directed the layout of. It was no longer a thin film through which the sky beyond could be seen. It was instead a mass of blackness. A portal, powered by the Darkness, complete and open.

H.A.M.M.E.R. agents lined up in rows in preparation for the move toward Asgard. Natasha, suited up to be Black Widow, found herself in the last row, seething with anger as she watched her comrades line up for a mission she wasn't even sure they truly believed in.

Then she looked to her left and right. To her left was Morse, dressed as Mockingbird, and to her right were Johnson, in full attire as Quake, and Coulson, being, as he ever was, Phil Coulson. Her anger subsided slightly. She had four friends and allies with her. They would do whatever they could to make things right.

But that didn't excuse the person to the left of Mockingbird. "What are YOU doing?" Mockingbird asked Maria Hill.

"Helping to contain any threat that comes from Asgard so we don't have a repeat of the Loki incident," Hill answered.

"You know this is wrong," Mockingbird hissed.

"I don't think it is," Hill replied. "If it's so wrong, why are you going along with it?"

"It's complicated," Mockingbird replied.

The agents were lined up in rows of six. A new row filled in at the front of the group; Shocker strode into the room, with Mysterio, Electro, Sandman, Rhino, and Vulture in tow. The Sinister Six took their place before the other agents. Then out came the Dark Avengers – or six of them, anyway. Zemo, Amora, Venom, the Red Hulk, Bullseye, Daken.

The next row to emerge surprised Black Widow to observe. First, there was Dr. Doom, who she hadn't realized had still been haunting H.A.M.M.E.R. property. Then Namor. Then Emma Frost, looking quite pleased with herself, and Crouch following her, appearing rather miffed and glaring at the back of her head. Then someone Natasha didn't recognize at all, though his black attire was somewhat off-putting, and when he turned his eyes upon the other agents, each flinched, feeling the presence of a mysterious and fearsome energy. Black Widow couldn't put a name to him, though the rest in his row could easily identify him as Blackheart.

And finally…nothing. When the entire group, save those in the first row, expected Osborn, the director himself, he did not appear. "Where is our revered director?" Amora asked, somewhat frustrated, somewhat suspicious.

"He has entrusted me with leading you to the site of transport," Doom informed the troop. "He shall meet us there shortly, as he has his own business to attend to. Now, we must get moving before any more time is wasted. We can't afford much."

Knowing exactly where they were going, Doom, Namor, Frost, Crouch, and Blackheart began to walk, stepping in unison. The Dark Avengers had no choice but to follow their lead, and the Six after that. Then the next row followed, and the next, and the next, until at the very last, the row containing Hill, Mockingbird, Black Widow, Quake, and Coulson was set into motion.

Onward they marched.

The crystals on their six posts blazed with white light to welcome the troop marching toward the field. Everyone marching behind the first row was taken aback at the sight of the gleaming lights and the blackened sky above.

Then the frontline halted before the border of the crystal field. The entire troop waited.

"I don't like the looks of this," Coulson whispered.

"With all due respect," Shocker groaned, "what're we waitin' for?"

"Your Director," Doom answered. "He will be along any minute."

They waited. And waited. And waited. Black Widow wondered how long it would take Osborn to walk to the spot.

"You know," Crouch hissed to Frost, "you could have just told me you were angry."

"And you could have been honest with me," Frost whispered back. "I think my actions weren't just justified. They were more fun."

"To your credit, you really don't take being slighted lightly. Neither do I."

"I know."

"I should have known you'd know."

They waited, waited, waited.

"HOW long is this going to take?" Amora hissed. "We should continue the march without him!"

"To continue without the Director would be a direct breach of his orders," Doom told her. "Besides, I am sure you will all be pleased to see what he has in store."

From a distance, the steady hum of some sort of small flying apparatus was heard. A high-pitched laugh pierced the air: "EEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEEE!"

The sound was too familiar. Black Widow reached for her gun. Quake grabbed her wrist. "This is exactly what he wants," Quake hissed.

Over the horizon, the hoverboard careened toward the troop. It finally reached them, parking before the frontline, levitating ten feet off the ground so that its rider could look down upon the others. Looking from the feet up, one might not recognize the man atop the board at first. His skin from the neck down appeared to be a shade of electric green. He was clothed in a tight-fitting garment of plum, leaving his arms and legs bare, culminating in a long purple breechcloth below the waist and secured with a codpiece that resembled a carved Halloween pumpkin. His wrists and forearms were wrapped in plum, and his feet, planted above the silvery, slightly bird-shaped hovercraft with a red-eyed falcon head carved in front, were encased in knee-high boots of the same plum color. He carried another green-colored item in the crook of one arm, and though no one could identify it from sight alone, everyone had a pretty good guess what it was.

His head looked oddly out of place, as his skin wasn't the same green color- the green was a fabrication. Several agents couldn't imagine the man standing before them to be capable of wearing the getup he donned. Several more were used to the thought. The head was unmistakably that of Norman Osborn.

"I hope you've all enjoyed my little surprise appearance!" Osborn cried in a higher, raspier voice than usual – one laden with playfulness. He threw up his free arm to the sky. "I realize I had de-confirmed any reappearance of the Green Goblin, but in the end, isn't it worth the wait? The Iron Patriot was getting boring anyway. If you each had a dollar for every time you saw someone in one of those ridiculous suits, why, you'd be half as rich as me. Oh, but where IS my fashion sense today? I suppose I must look absolutely stupid without the matching piece."

He unfolded the object from under his arm: an electric green mask, depicting the face of a long-nosed, long-chinned goblin. Osborn slipped it over his own face, pulling up the plum-colored hood of his clothing to secure the top of it. "There we go," he remarked, his mischievous grin widening. "You may now say hello to your new director…though 'Director Green Goblin' lacks sort of a ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Why are you doing this?" Hill snapped from the back line.

"Why?" the Goblin retorted. "Well, there's the question of why not. But more logically, how better to face Asgard than in top form? And finally, strangely enough, I had missed this. It had been far too long since the Goblin got to come out and play! I'd almost forgotten how GOOD this felt."

"If you are quite finished, Director Osborn," Doom stated sternly, "we cannot afford to waste any more time."

"Quite," the Goblin confirmed. "It's onward and upward for us. Time for the Asgardians to see the mess it makes when the H.A.M.M.E.R. falls! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEEEEE!"

He spun the hoverboard around, zooming right into the center of the crystal field. There was a sudden flash of light, almost blinding; then he was gone.

"We follow," Doom commanded. The frontline stepped forward in unison. The others had no choice but to step as well; they'd cast their lot. The entire troop entered the crystal field.

The crystals glowed, and the portal reached down from above to take them all in. The light flashed all around them. Through the darkness, across the way between the world, and they were on their way to Asgard.

Saturday morning, Peter Parker thought dreamily as he lay in bed, was a beautiful thing. After a week full of stress, school, and supervillains, Saturday morning was the one time when a Spider-Man could sleep –

Unless he was interrupted at five in the morning by a beeping alarm.

He hadn't remembered setting it. As his senses cleared, he realized it wasn't his alarm going off. It was a different device, placed in the bottom of his nightstand drawer. He fumbled for the drawer, rummaging until he found the slim card, then brought it up to his face. "And I thought it was the wicked who got no rest," he murmured. More than anything, it worried him. The card had been presented to him by the Avengers themselves. They wouldn't have called him unless they had an emergency. And given the state they were in – which, working at the Bugle, he knew quite well – whatever emergency they had to contact him for was a big deal indeed.

Before he could answer the card vocally, he heard a woman's voice emitting from it. He forced himself to wake up enough to absorb her words:

"This is Pepper Potts, issuing a Code White. All recipients are to report to the front lawn of the Wakandan Embassy at six a.m. sharp. Authorized personnel will be granted access. Unauthorized personnel will be indicted for trespassing and their actions will be taken into consideration as acts of war against the nation of Wakanda. Recipients of this message are to report fully geared for battle. I would also advise you to clear your plans for the day. Further explanation will be given at the rendez-vous point."

The connection cut off. Peter groaned. Whatever required a Code White, it couldn't be anything that would leave him a relaxing Saturday. He slid out of bed, suiting up. He jotted a quick note: "Went out with friends for the day. Will call if home late." He knew very well that wouldn't be specific enough to satisfy his aunt May, but had he named anyone in particular, such as Gwen, there was a chance that May and Gwen would run into each other, and his alibi fall through.

He carefully left the note on the downstairs counter where May would see it, then left the house. Once near enough to a sufficiently tall skyscraper, he aimed a web upward; it stuck, creating a point from which to swing. He let it pull him upward so that he was nearly flying, then cast another strand at the adjacent building. Skyscraper by skyscraper, he made his way to the embassy.

The alarms all rang at the same time.

"GAAAAH!" Twilight sat bolt upright, startled by the noise, before quelling the clock's sound.

Rarity hurried down the hall with a blanket wrapped around herself, covering her hair. "Nopony look at me until I've beautified! I'm HIDEOUS at this hour in the morning!" she wailed.

Clint, Banner, Carol, and Fluttershy stood outside Rainbow Dash's door. "So…who's gonna go drag her out of bed?" Clint sighed.

"Everypony start gearing up!" Twilight commanded. "We've gotta be out on that front lawn in fifteen minutes!"

Between the alarms and all the commotion, Steve was awoken immediately. At first, he was half afraid that he would find himself alone, that the previous night had either been a dream or that Tony would have left sometime during the night. Instead, he was filled with joy to find Tony waking up beside him, rubbing his eyelids deliberately.

"How'd you sleep?" Steve asked. "Were there any…dreams?"

"Yeah," Tony admitted groggily, "but it was better."

"How was it better?"

Tony wasn't sure how to properly phrase the feeling of waking up overcome with anxiety only to find oneself not alone in bed, and though the bedfellow was not awake, it was someone whose very presence was comforting. Not enough to make it as though the dream had never happened, but enough to be a signal that one could attempt almost immediately to slip back into unconsciousness, for one would be, in some sense, protected on the physical plane. All he could come up with was "Not alone."

He then turned to look at Steve. "Guess it's time to rise and shine. Imminent shitstorm and all."

"We'll make it," Steve assured him.

They quickly pecked each other on the lips before parting to prepare themselves for the day ahead. Steve began immediately to remove the shirt of his sleepwear before Tony had even left, and Tony couldn't help but mischievously linger long enough to catch a glance. Steve looked over his shoulder, catching Tony's eye and grinning.

When Tony did leave, he almost crashed into Applejack. "Hey there!" she greeted. "I take it things went well enough with you and Steve last night?"

"What do you know about last night?" Tony asked.

"Steve was real worried 'bout ya," Applejack explained. "He cares about you a whole lot, y'know."

"I know," Tony answered. "I'm pretty fond of him myself."

Applejack winked. "So, between that an' the fact that you're comin' outta his room this mornin'…are you two officially goin' steady?"

"Yep." Tony couldn't suppress a glad grin.

"Well, if Rarity were here instead of in the bathroom fixin' her hair for what's gonna be way more than – " Applejack began.

"THIRTEEN MINUTES!" Twilight called from down the hall.

" – Way more than thirteen minutes," Applejack went on, "she'd tell ya how absolutely beautiful and adorable y'all's relationship is. But seein' as she ain't here, I'm just gonna say congratulations."

They were interrupted by the sight of Clint, Fluttershy, and Carol carrying Rainbow Dash out the door of her room and laying her on the floor. "Will you just wake up already?" Clint groaned.

"Five more minutes…" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"TWELVE MINUTES!" Twilight called out.

"Even better," Rainbow Dash murmured.

Fluttershy turned away from Rainbow Dash to find Banner leaning against a wall, staying out of the commotion. "Bruce?"

"Hey," Banner greeted quietly.

"Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked, concerned.

"It's as okay as it always is," Banner admitted. "I just…don't do well in crowds. The other guy does, but I'm just…not really in the mood to let him out yet."

"If you have to sit the meeting out," Fluttershy told him, "I'm sure everypony would understand."

"No…I can't," Banner insisted. "I have to be with everyone else. I just have to stay out of the way."

"I can make sure nopony bothers you," Fluttershy promised.

"You don't have to do that."

"Oh, but I want to!" Fluttershy insisted. "Don't worry. If anypony tries to bother you, I can distract them!"

"You're a good friend," Banner told her. "You know that?"

"Aw…thank you." Fluttershy blushed deeply.

"TEN MINUTES!" Twilight yelled.

"Rarity, will you hurry up already?" Clint pounded on the bathroom door.

"NOT UNTIL THIS CURL GOES CLOCKWISE INSTEAD OF COUNTERCLOCKWISE!" Rarity screamed from the other side of the door.

Tony emerged from his room, fully dressed, only to nearly trip over Rainbow Dash, who was still half asleep on the floor. "Don't you and I have suiting up to do?" he asked her.

"That's RIGHT!" Rainbow Dash jerked herself into wakefulness. "Let's go!" She and Tony took off for the lab.

Steve then appeared, fully dressed. He approached Twilight; "Good luck trying to keep them in order."

"It's all under control," Twilight told him. "Everything's gonna be fine. Fine! It'll be fine. NINE MINUTES!"

"I'll take it from here," Steve told her. "You just go get ready."

"Thank you!" Twilight said hurriedly as she ran into her chambers.

One by one, they lined up before Steve, dressed and ready. Twilight. Thor. Yellowjacket. Applejack. Black Panther. Rarity. Hawkeye. Vision. Fluttershy. Banner. Falcon. Wasp. Ms. Marvel. Filing in at the very back, encased in their armor, Rainbow Dash and Iron Man, the latter of whom gleamed brighter than ever before to Steve.

"Everyone's ready?" he asked to confirm. He pulled the blue hood up over his head, becoming Captain America. "Then let's move out!"

"Right on time!" Twilight sighed.

Steve had to keep from grinning. Since Twilight had let him take over, it had actually been ten minutes.

Spider-Man landed on the dewy green lawn of the embassy. "Here's hoping getting that call makes me authorized personnel," he sighed. "I do NOT need international crime on my record." He scanned the area. "Where is everybody? Aw, man, don't tell me I got the wrong place!"

The doors opened. Captain America and Applejack led the group out onto the lawn. Captain America took immediate notice of Spider-Man. "I see our call went through!" he said with a wave.

"So I did get the right place?" Spider-Man confirmed.

"This is the one," Twilight told him.

"Then where is everybody?"

"You're the first to show up," Yellowjacket stated.

"Well, that's a first," Spider-Man remarked. "Me actually being EARLY."

The hum of an iron suit was heard; Rhodes descended onto the lawn encased in the War Machine armor. "Do I want to know?" he asked, staring directly at Iron Man.

"I figure we should save the explanation for when everyone gets here," Iron Man responded. "So we don't have to say the same thing God knows how many times."

Applejack took notice of a shadowy figure stealing onto the lawn. She recognized him, putting up a hand and waving. "Hey there!"

"I came as soon as I heard," the Winter Soldier hissed.

"Thank you," Captain America told him sincerely. "I know you've had other things on your mind."

"I also know you don't just call Code White for easy situations," Winter Soldier countered.

All present flinched when they were made aware of a small aircraft piloting itself down to land in the street before the embassy. Vision started out toward it, but Wasp put up a hand in front of him. "Don't! They're clear!"

The four stepped forth, looking more impressive than usual when they were lined up, their uniforms indicating they were a close-bound team. Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch – Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm.

"'Sup?" Johnny asked.

"We're in a bit of trouble," Falcon replied. "Did you ever get the lab cleaned up?"

"Still working on the damage," Mr. Fantastic grumbled. Sue jabbed her elbow into his arm, and he followed up, "I don't blame you, though. If anything, I blame Vulture for – "

"We're glad you're okay," Sue interrupted.

The next to arrive was Samson. Falcon immediately rushed to him, grinning madly.

"I take it you're enjoying being an Avenger," Samson told him.

"You have NO idea," Falcon replied.

"He's taken to it like a fish to water," Rarity added.

Samson looked back to Banner. "How's – "

"Everything's fine," Fluttershy interrupted him with a soft smile.

The group was startled when Scott Lang, who had ridden onto the grounds on the back of a fly, restored his original size, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. "Lang," Yellowjacket sighed with relief.

"Pym," Lang replied, sounding a little unsure.

"Something wrong?"

"Is it wrong that even after all this time," Lang sighed, "I still feel like you're more Ant-Man than I'll ever be?"

"I'm not," Yellowjacket replied. "You have the right spirit in you. And you've learned the skill."

"From what I've heard," Twilight told him, "you make a GREAT Ant-Man!"

"I let your friend get taken," Lang said shakily.

"That doesn't mean anything," Twilight said sternly. "You TRIED to protect her, and that's enough. H.A.M.M.E.R. is filled with powerful people. It wasn't your fault. Please, don't walk away from us because of that!"

"I wasn't intending to walk away," Lang admitted. "At least, I was hoping I wouldn't have to. But I thought after what happened, maybe you wouldn't want me to be part of this team."

"We NEED you to be part of this team," Yellowjacket urged.

Lang nodded, and Twilight said quietly to Yellowjacket, "He called you Pym."

"And?" Yellowjacket replied.

"You didn't correct him."

"He wasn't wrong. Hank Pym isn't dead anymore, Twilight."

When she didn't answer, he turned to look at her and see her face lit up with happiness.

When Luke Cage and Iron Fist strode onto the field, Iron Man approached them immediately. "I know, I know," he opened. "You wanna talk about the bill for this."

"Ten bucks," Cage and Iron Fist stated in unison.

"You don't even know what this mission is," Iron Man reminded them. "It's RIDICULOUS."

"What's ridiculous is paying us two grand for the fuckin' RHINO," Iron Fist pointed out.

"THAT was supposed to be a ten-dollar job," Cage added.

"Plus, this is Code White stuff," Iron Fist stated. "If our ten somehow got lost in the mail this time around, I guess that's just how the chips fall."

"All right," Iron Man said. "It's a deal. Our originally agreed price for the Rhino, and ten for this. Though I didn't know it would be the Rhino. You could have ended up with Baron Zemo."

"Is everyone here?" Applejack asked Captain America.

"Not yet," he answered. "There's one more person…but whether or not he actually responds to a Code White is a gamble. If he doesn't see this as his problem…well, then it's not his problem."

"All right. So we wait?"

"We wait."

The two groups lined up across from each other: Avengers and Equestrians on one side of the lawn, those called by Code White on the other. Small talk was fired across the dividing line as they waited on the final member. Fluttershy stole a glance back at Banner, who leaned against the wall, a fair distance away. He smiled at her from his position of solitude, and she smiled back before turning back to the bulk of the group.

"Well," Captain America sighed after some time, "looks like he's not going to be showing up after all. We better get started." He cleared his throat: "ATTENTION, EVERYONE – "

"Hold on…hold on," a voice rasped from the far edge of the lawn. "I'm here, all right? It would be nice if you could at least wait for me to get in earshot before giving the rundown."

Wolverine approached, bearing the countenance of quite a cranky mood indeed. "Just so you know," he stated, "I wasn't even going to come. But I don't want it on my head if anyone gets killed, and I'm guessing this is one of those times that might happen."

"You okay after that last fight?" Applejack asked him. "Never heard what happened after that. Kinda got afraid that you lost in a big way."

"No," Wolverine answered. "He can't get the best of me."

"Who was he, anyway?" Twilight asked. "Applejack told me all about what happened, and I'm curious. Why did he want to replace you in the first place?"

"He's my son," Wolverine answered, giving Twilight a look that was almost deadly. "I left him when he was born."

"How could you DO that?" Twilight gasped. "You just LEFT him? No WONDER he's mad at y – "

"Twilight," Thor interrupted.

"…Sorry," Twilight said meekly.

"You think I don't KNOW what I did wrong?" Wolverine growled. "You think I don't UNDERSTAND why he wants to kill me? If that's all you want to talk about, maybe I shouldn't be here after all."

"No, WAIT!" Applejack cried as Wolverine made the slightest of turns, considering walking away. "Listen…we all got opinions on the situation, but nopony here but you actually knows all the circumstances! So I'm thinkin' we should all just stop talkin' about it right now an' focus on what's goin' on in the here and now!" She flicked a glance back to Twilight.

"I'm sorry," Twilight muttered, eyes downcast. "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so sorry."

"Hmph…" Wolverine considered her apology, wondering how much it mattered to him.

"Listen," Captain America told him. "We do need you on this team."

"I would think you would know by now how well I do with teams," Wolverine replied.

"Logan," Captain America said hushedly but sternly. "Please."

"We'll see," Wolverine resolved. "But I don't want to hear any more about you-know-what."

"I'm still sorry," Twilight chimed in.

Wolverine sighed. "If I tell you to stop worrying about it, will you stop apologizing?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well, stop worrying about it, then."

"Um…was there a point to this meeting?" Johnny asked.

"There is," Captain America told him. "We called you all here because…"

He looked around at the group. Iron Fist and Luke Cage were busy conversing. Sue seemed to have gotten into a small argument with Mr. Fantastic. Falcon and Samson were still making small talk. "Excuse me – " Captain America tried again. "The reason we sent out the Code White is – "

Fluttershy inhaled deeply and loudly before screaming, "EVERYPONY QUIIIIIIIEEEEEEEET!"

When her yell died down, a silence fell over the embassy lawn.

"Thank you," Captain America told Fluttershy. He turned his attention to the group at large. "Last night, Pepper Potts and Jane Foster found an interdimensional portal forming in the sky outside the city limits while scanning for a Stark Industries project."

"Interdimensionally convenient technology," Iron Man chimed in. "Patent pending."

"The portal was going to open this morning," Captain America went on, "and there's a good chance it leads right into Asgard. I'm sure we can all think of a thousand reasons a portal like that would open up, and none of them are good. When it opens, I want this team to cross over and see what's happening on the other side. H.A.M.M.E.R. might be involved. Odin might be involved. Any number of things might be involved. But even if there isn't any foul play, leaving the grounds of this embassy will put us back into jurisdiction of the state, and our reputation isn't the best with the people. We'll be in danger if we so much as step off this lawn."

"So why drag US into it?" Wolverine asked cynically.

"Well…" Captain America paused.

"Because y'all are our friends," Applejack said. "Now, we don't wanna take advantage of that. If you don't wanna risk bein' associated with the Avengers durin' our breakout, so to speak, y'all have every right to leave. If y'all don't wanna risk goin' through a portal to who knows where to deal with who knows what, y'all can leave then too. But dependin' on what's over there, we might not be able to do this on our own, an' the night we escaped to here just proves how well y'all specifically work with us. The way it was explained to me, y'all are basically Avengers already in everythin' but name! We're just afraid that if we're right about this portal, one or both of those worlds is in danger. That's why we're checkin' this out. Now, it's your choice. Come with us or go home. We ain't gonna think any better or worse of ya one way or the other. We just know y'all make a great team with us. An' so we're askin' for help if you wanna give it." She turned back to Captain America. "Was that pretty much what you were thinkin'?"

"Yeah," Captain America said with a nod and a beam. He turned to look back at the other members of Code White, then raised his right arm, shield attached.

One by one, every single right hand, whether it was Avenger, Equestrian, or other among the Code White, formed into a fist and rose into the sky.

"Then let's move out," Captain America ordered.

As the group moved out of embassy property and down the street, they drew attention from every corner. It was hard to miss the city's greatest heroes and most hated pariahs parading down the street en masse. It wasn't long before a mob gathered. Citizens lined up on the sidewalk, pointing and yelling, "It's them!"

The group was able to ignore them until they reached the city limits, when the sirens suddenly became audible. Police cars surrounded them. A helicopter descended from overhead. And a throng of civilians stood between them and the city exit, screaming angrily.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Iron Man sighed.

A policeman emerged from one of the cars, yelling into a bullhorn, "Avengers! You are under arrest by the New York City Police Department! Please come nonviolently!"

"The rest of you will be charged with aiding and abetting!" another yelled.

"What do we do now?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Fight our way out?" Iron Man suggested.

"Listen, y'all can't do this!" Applejack yelled. "There's a portal formin' outside the city limits, an' this whole city could be in danger! We're tryin' to stop it!"

"Likely story," the first policeman retorted. "I repeat: COME NONVIOLENTLY!"

A gruff male voice boomed from the crowd ahead: "Wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE!" One man, pale skinned with a shock of white running through his gray-black hair and a mustache and beginnings of a goatee to match. He wore a crisp brown suit, a brown vest and red tie visible. He clutched a voice recorder, which he thrust at the group of heroes. "So you've finally made an appearance," he said with a sly grin, triumphant. "Finally, I'll get to hear why you've been on your destructive rampage straight from the horse's mouth!"

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "I'm offended! I mean, I think that's offensive."

"Jameson," Iron Man growled, addressing this man. "Don't you know when to leave well enough alone?"

"THAT'S JAMESON?" Rainbow Dash seethed. "Do you KNOW how bad you made us look for no reason? Are you just here to print more lies about us?"

"I don't print lies!" J. Jonah Jameson argued. "I print what the public needs to know! Anyway, you're about to be hauled off to jail anyway, and I wanna get your last words!"

"The only words you need to know are that we're trying to SAVE you and everybody else," Captain America asserted.

"If you do not let us investigate this portal – " Thor attempted.

"Portal schmortal!" Jameson scoffed. "I think you're making things up to look good in the public eye!"

"I didn't want to do this," Iron Man said hushedly, "but we need to get ready to do this the hard way."

"Hang on," Rainbow Dash told him, looking at Twilight. "I think she's got a plan…"

"Last words…" Twilight stared at the voice recorder device. She stepped forward. "Excuse me? I think there's something I want to say."

"Well then, little missy," Jameson said, "let's put you on the record!"

Twilight looked around at the people that had gathered, staring in wonder and fright. At the police, who were readying weapons in case of a scuffle. At the other heroes, who were genuinely perplexed by what she was going to do. So she breathed in deeply, leaned in to the recorder, and sang:

"Oh no, I just keep on falling!"

Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy leapt behind her, chorusing, "BACK TO THE SAME OLD!"

"And where's hope when misery comes crawling?" Twilight kept on.

The other four Equestrians turned to face Iron Man, Captain America, Banner, Thor, and Hawkeye, who, with a shrug in unison, belted out, "OH, MY WAY AY!"

"With your faith," Twilight continued, grabbing the recorder in her own hands, "You'll trigger a landslide…"

"Victory!" Wasp, Yellowjacket, Falcon, Vision, Black Panther, and Ms. Marvel sang out.

"To kill off this common sense of mind!" Twilight concluded, staring Jameson down angrily.

A wave caught her eye. She turned to see Captain America signaling, a hand in the air. So Twilight tossed the recorder to him, and he picked up where she left off: "It takes acquired minds to taste, to taste, to taste this wine…"

"You cannot down it with your eyes," Thor added.

Iron Man grabbed the recorder and sang angrily into it: "So we don't need the headlines. No, we don't need the headlines, we just want – "

"We want this city back," Wasp sang softly.

"We want this city back…" Yellowjacket agreed.

Applejack thrust her fist into the air. "EVERYBODY SING LIKE IT'S THE LAST SONG YOU WILL EVER SING!"

"Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure now?" Twilight backed.

Captain America raised his shield again. "EVERYBODY LIVE LIKE IT'S THE LAST DAY YOU WILL EVER SEE!"

"TELL ME, TELL ME, DO YOU FEEL THE PRESSURE NOW!" Falcon belted.

"All right, ALL RIGHT!" Jameson interrupted, swiping his recorder back from Iron Man. "We get it! You're a bunch of radicals who aren't gonna back down even in the face of the law! Your little song and dance number is doing no favors for you but getting you on the front page! And the REST of you? War Machine, Mr. Fantastic…you're gonna get tied up with THEM?" He turned his gaze toward Spider-Man. "YOU, I'm not surprised by." Then to Wolverine. "YOU, on the other hand…"

"About that," Wolverine replied. He practically ripped the recorder from Jameson, spinning away. "Right now – " He gestured to the others. "THEY'RE the only reason…"

"I'M NOT LETTING GO, OH!" Iron Fist picked up.

Spider-Man stepped forward with a shrug. "And time's out if everyone's worth pleasing!"

"WELL HA-HA!" Johnny crowed.

"You'll trigger a landslide," the Thing asserted.

"Victory…" Sue sang softly.

"To kill off their finite state of mind," Rhodes finished, sailing over the crowd to land in front of Jameson.

And in one movement, the entire Code White group slid forward, beginning to leap, to spin, to DANCE their way down the street as they sang as one: "Everybody sing like it's the last song you will ever sing! Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure? Everybody live like it's the last day you will ever live! Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure!" The crowd had no choice but to part for them as they carved their way down the street. "Everybody sing like it's the last song you will ever sing! Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure! Everybody live like it's the last day you will ever see! Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure – "

Wolverine threw the recorder back at Jameson. "Tell me, tell me," he sang directly to him, "do you feel the pressure?"

The citizens parted and let the group move through. All but one officer, who raised his gun and pointed it at the back of the group, happening to aim directly at Wasp.

"I would NOT pull that trigger if I were you," a sharp voice barked.

The voice struck intimidation into the officer, and he turned to see Nick Fury glowering at him.

"Unless you want to be known as the guy who shot the last hope standing between us and destruction," Fury continued.

As the group continued out of the city and toward the portal, Iron Man pointed out, "Anybody else notice that we got held up by the NYPD and JUST the NYPD?"

"…Nopony from H.A.M.M.E.R.," Twilight realized.

"No 'New Avengers,'" Black Panther added.

"So if they're not here…" Iron Man continued.

"Then we need to get to that portal NOW," Applejack conjectured.

So it was that the Code White forces arrived at the portal site, it was much later than previously expected. They hadn't even glimpsed Osborn's troops going in and hadn't the foggiest that such a group had entered before they had. They did, however, see the darkness contrasting starkly against the blue sky, and the crystal field laid out on the ground below it.

"These are Asgardian crystals," Thor realized out loud. "This is an ancient ritual to break the walls between worlds. I was not aware it worked."

"Meaning somepony set this up on purpose," Twilight deduced.

Applejack turned to Captain America, and in a low voice, sang, "All right, so they think they're ready…"

"Okay," Captain America replied, turning to face the entire group. "Can you SING THIS WITH ME NOW! WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!"

Everyone else present – Avenger, Equestrian, Fantastic Four, others – responded with a rousing reply: "WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!"

"WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!" Captain America belted again.

"WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!" they all replied.

Then, together, "WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!"

Without hesitation, the entire group moved into the crystal field, and in a flash of light, they were transported up.

THE FOREST OF ELRIT, ASGARD

The Code White team found itself in a thickly wooded forest, with a humid canopy of green leaves above and a scattering of emerald plants with various shapes of leaves beneath the feet. Tiny white flowers were spangled throughout the ground foliage. The sun only peeked through openings in the shady canopy, but where it did, it blazed brightly onto the forest below.

"This is the Forest of Elrit," Thor explained. "Between the Asgardian kingdoms of Ragnanival and Titania."

"Which way is it to the city you're from, again?" Twilight asked.

"To Nebulapolis, in Ragnanival?" Thor clarified. "Follow me."

As he took the lead, Spider-Man commented, "I'm all for spending weekends on nature walks, but this is NOT how I was expecting Saturday to go."

"Beats wandering around the embassy all day," Wasp countered.

"It's beautiful," Fluttershy remarked. "I wonder what kind of creatures live here?"

"Probably the kind that are huge and want to eat us," Hawkeye answered.

It didn't take them long to reach the border of the forest. From there, they had full view of the skyline of Nebulapolis on the horizon. And Nebulapolis appeared to be beset by chaos.

Many flying objects – humanoid, winged horses, cruisers, insectoid creatures – clashed in the air between the glimmering spires, crashing into each other brutally. The sound of metal weapons meeting each other, providing the background noise to the occasional loud explosion – accompanied with a flash of bright light – was audible, even from the edge of Elrit.

"What happened…" Twilight whispered in disbelief.

"NO!" Thor screamed.

Before he could make a move, the group became aware of several flying humanoids careening their way across the air. As they got closer, it was clear that these people wore black and white armor, lights of different colors glowing upon the suits as accents. Their faces, left barely uncovered by their pearly helmets, showed that their skin was a deep teal color; their eyes burned green.

"THIS WAY!" the leader of them called out as he landed on the ground. "The way they came in is…" He halted when he saw the amassed Code White team and recognized them.

"Mar-Vell?" Ms. Marvel said incredulously, stepping toward the leader.

"Carol!" Mar-Vell replied, advancing toward her. "What are you all doing here?"

"Trying to figure out what's going on with THAT!" Ms. Marvel pointed toward Nebulapolis. "Why are YOU here?"

"We realized the portal from Earth to Asgard must be in this forest," Mar-Vell explained, "and we were going to shut it down before any reinforcements came through – "

"No," Ms. Marvel said sternly. "What are you doing in ASGARD?"

"Thanos," Mar-Vell said. "We came to stop him, but we didn't know why he was here. And now…we have an idea."

"You're not making sense…what does that have to do with troops from Earth?"

"Everything," Mar-Vell told her. "Loki is alive."

Chapter 75:

· IT TURNS OUT OSBORN WAS GOING TO GO GREEN GOBLIN ALL ALONG! Raise your hand if you were surprised. Yeah, none of you were…

· Don't ask me why I can't call the Storm siblings by their field codenames. It's just a weird thing with me.

· I wanted to pull some focus on Wolverine here because of a discussion that Ophira and I actually had about him and how he doesn't do well on teams. During this conversation, Ophira brought up a review he'd read of "The Wolverine" where the reviewer said it would have been better if Hugh Jackman had used his Bollywood skills in it. That led to me basically promising a Wolverine musical number, and…this happened. I REGRET NOTHING

· I realize the monologue basically translates to "Please follow us to your doom because we're friends." I may not be the best at motivational speeches.

· Welp, they bested Jameson. They are now qualified to take down any other evil in the Marvelverse.

· The song here is "Born for This" by Paramore.

· I really don't like Nick Fury. And yet I keep making him sympathetic. I don't know how this happens.

· The Forest of Elrit and Titania are locations pulled from Odin Sphere. I'll go into this in more detail later, but I'm taking the land of Erion from that game and dividing it among the Nine Realms a little bit. Recap: since Odin Sphere is fractured mythology, it uses AU names like "Erion" for what is obviously Asgard and "Volkenon" for what is obviously Muspelheim. I have decided to leave Erion mostly intact to form the nations of Asgard, using the four kingdoms of Ragnanival, Titania, Valentine, and Ringford to form it (I know Ringford was supposed to be Vanaheim, but it really makes more sense to Odin Sphere plot if I leave Ringford on the same world as the other three I mentioned, whereas Volkenon can be transferred to another world, being Muspelheim, without much damage being done to the canon).

· I apologize for the chapter's "plot twist" being the heroes finding out what the readers already knew, but it was just the best place to break it off.

· The next part of the story is going to be the giant endgame battle. It will take us back to a couple hours before the H.A.M.M.E.R. delegation shows up, and I'm not sure "two hours ago" is worth a flashback indicator, so I'm just gonna warn you here.