AN: Wow. It always feels like its been forever since I've updated a story this quickly whenever it happens, but then again, considering the content of this chapter, and all the stuff that is going to happen here, I can't say that it's surprising that this chapter's now finished and out there.
Wasp: No kidding. I'm actually pretty excited, even if it is a return to the EMH main storyline. I mean, sure, we've already done an alternate version of this adventure in Code Avengers, but this time around, it feels like it's going to be especially good.
Sora: Not to mention some of the stuff that happens on my end of things, because let me tell you guys, not only was that crazy to do, but it was also kinda fun, looking back on it now.
Hawkeye: So why are we all just sitting here talking about this stuff? Why not let them get into the chapter so we can start rehearsing for later ones, like the scenes on HYDRA Island when Sora...
AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits controls]
Hawkeye: NOOOO! [ducks his head down in anticipation for the impending pain, but finds it never comes after a few moments] Wait, what happened? [looks to see that the only thing on him is a red cape with a hood along with a pair of yellow gauntlets, a black bow, and a rapier] Uh, was any of this supposed to actually hurt me? I think you're slipping a little lyoko.
AN: Am I? [smirks evilly in anticipation]
Ruby: [from somewhere in the background off screen] Hey! Who took my cape?!
Yang: [from somewhere in the background off screen] I know someone didn't touch my gauntlets!
Weiss: [from somewhere in the backgound off screen] Who's the degenerate that dared to steal Myrtenaster?!
Blake: [from somewhere...oh, you get the idea] Where. Is. My. BOW?!
Hawkeye: [pales more and more with each question that's being asked before looking at AN] You didn't.
AN: You tell me. [grins as he turns to call out] Oh girls! Hawkeye did it, and he's right here!
Hawkeye: Oh no! No he's not! Gotta-go-BYE! [immediately dashes out with a smokey outline of him being left in his wake while Team RWBY chases after him]
Riku: Anyone else feel like they've been hanging around here a little too much lately? I mean, I don't think I've even seen the Ben 10 or Star Wars casts here nearly as much as those guys have been lately.
AN: Hey, don't look at me. I'm not about to tell those four to leave. Not when I haven't finished preparations for the safety precautions against anyone from the world of RWBY.
Iron Man: You're making safety precautions just for people from that series?
AN: Have you seen that series? I feel like it would be necessary if I want to safely use any spoiler gags on them. Ahem, let's move on to the review answers really quick before we get into things, shall we?
Spider-Man: I'll go first, if no one minds. Namely with a response to the "Guest" of 7/16/2019, and his comment on my luck in Far From Home. I wouldn't say it was all bad. I mean, at least I got the girl in the end, unlike in Homecoming, but yeah, there's going to be little chance that MCU me will be able to handle his secret identity being exposed like that. Still, you have to admit, it was cool that they brought back J.K. Simmons to play Jameson for that scene, right?
AN: Yeah, that was definitely cool. Now, "Spiderfan626", you're questions will be answered today, my good friend, and I think you may all be quite surprised for what will happen.
"CT7567Rules", to answer your question about the RWBY fanfiction, in terms of an actual story...there is no deal, because I haven't been able to think of anything for it yet. At least anything in terms of a full-on story for the RWBY series, crossover or otherwise, beyond just a brief adventure in my KH stories. At least, not yet, but I'm sure that an idea will come to me sooner or later, so you never know. Just keep your eyes open for that, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the adventure when Ruby and her friends make an appearance in one of my KH series.
Gwen: Oh, hey "Dragon Rider 66", Kairi's not here right now, partly because we can't say You-Know-Who's name out loud when she and Sora are around [mouths Xehanort just to be clear on that], but you don't have to worry about that request too much. She and I are already looking into whether or not we can give the MCU Beck the same treatment for what he pulled on MCU Peter.
AN: Yes, and while we're addressing said reviewer, I know it might be a bad time to mention this to you, but I'm afraid that the studio of lyokoMARVELanime does not accept gift cards, certificates, coupons, or other various vouchers of any kind that would allow Dumbfool (and yes, that is now my new official name for the Merc with a Mouth) to appear in any stories, and even if we did...well, he's still out hunting for those associates in a vain attempt to fulfill your request. So sorry. Oh, and just to be clear, no one's going to be referring to Gwen as Ghost-Spider or Spider-Gwen here. She's going to be sticking with Spider-Woman for a long time to come.
And finally, to address your last concern, you don't need to worry about Tony, and before you freak out about Sora, you don't need to worry about him either, because if I can help it, no one's going to die in this story's Infinity War/Endgame, and even if they do, keep in mind that this is a Kingdom Hearts AU. The only person who's ever actually died so far in that series was Eraqus, Xehanort, and near as anyone or at least as I can tell, Vanitas and Riku Replica, so I don't think you have much to worry about there. Besides, I did mention that there were going to be more than a few differences in this version of the Infinity War. I'll give you a hint about what one of those differences is. It involves a certain blade.
Well, I think that's all the review answers I wanted to address, considering those are the only ones with questions or that needed responses to, so let's get on with the show, shall we? Avengers, to the chapter!
I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or MARVEL franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter XIV
News spread fast about the newest web-slinger in New York, and no one was surprised that the only one to get any good photos of Spider-Woman was the Bugle. Of course, most if not all of those photos showed her working alongside Spider-Man, and as a result, you would think that the headlines would be something to accuse her of being a menace like the original wall-crawler. Imagine Peter's surprise when J. Jonah Jameson's first front page story with his last set of Spidey pictures for the Bugle did not use the word menace, threat, or any other label that the Bugle's editor normally went for at all, but instead, it read "Spider-Couple, Web of Love." Granted, it was not entirely wrong, but the reasons why Jameson drew up that conclusion did not sit well with Peter.
"You really think he's just saying that because we both have spider-powers," Gwen questioned at the lunch that same day. It was only her, Sora, Yuffie, Peter, and Miles at their table right then, so there was no need to worry about anyone overhearing them. Of course, Miles did look a little bit down after hearing that Anya was out sick at the moment, but it was really only noticeable to the girls.
"And there's also the fact that we're always working together, plus the fact that our names are really similar," Peter reasoned. "I mean, I'd bet that he'd be saying this stuff even if you had just gone with something that had 'spider' in it as opposed to Spider-Woman."
"Hey, look on the bright side. At least he's not calling you two menaces or bad guys," Yuffie shrugged with a smile.
"She has a point," Miles nodded. "After all the stuff you told me about your old boss the other day before you turned in those pictures, I was half-expecting to see something about Gwen being your new partner in crime, or some other scathing article."
"I thought newspapers were supposed to only ever print the truth. Why does Jameson always make it seem like you were the villain when just about everyone knows you were trying to save lives," Sora asked Peter.
"It's an editorial, Sora. They're not always based in facts. Mainly just whatever they can get at that moment. Plus, there's also the fact that Pickle-Puss just doesn't like me," Peter explained.
"As Peter or as Spider-Man," Yuffie questioned.
"Uh…It's a little hard to say whether or not it's both sometimes, but I can definitely say that it's always Spider-Man he hates," Peter admitted with a grin that came off as more humorous than sheepish.
Gwen just giggled at Peter's joke while placing a hand on his shoulder in that gentle way that all girlfriends would with their boyfriends and the other three could only smile at this latest reminder of how cute the two were together. While most of the city was going crazy about the newest celebrity superhero gossip (which was apparently being referred to as #Spider-Couple), everyone at Midtown was actually really taken in by how Peter and Gwen had finally gotten together. Just about their entire class, if not the whole school seemed to think that the two were the top couple, even in the case of Peter's ex, Liz Allan, and the two were constantly bombarded with congratulations or similar praises for finally getting together ever since they officially announced their getting together. Peter and Gwen's friend Mary Jane seemed to be the most vocal about the good news, even if she was just watching on with a knowing grin that made it seem like she knew it was going to happen all along, but Sora and the others were sure that she was liable to cheer as loudly as she could from the top of the city if she was given the chance.
Of course, there were downsides to seeing Peter and Gwen together. The most minor of those downsides was how their fellow senior, Sally Avril, was apparently determined to rant and rave over how, in her words, Midtown's champion geeks could never possibly be the it couple of their school, and there was also the fact that she was almost always glaring scathingly at the two every time they were in a room with her. Peter did not really blamed Sally too much at first, given that she was a close friend of Liz, but after a while, it was getting a little annoying. Even Liz had started to think so and asked her friend to back off, but that just barely stopped Sally for too long. The other downside was of a more personal nature for Sora, because every time he looked at the two, he could not help but think about Kairi, and that just made him worry about her wherever she could be. Luckily, there were more than enough distractions to keep him from getting too mopey for very long.
One such distraction was the news of what had happened to Harry. Gossip vines in High School did tend to make various pieces of news travel fast, but Peter and Gwen were both determined to keep the record straight and in-line with the official story that they and Gwen's father had set up. Despite what had happened the previous year, the entire football team actually felt really bad for what had happened to their former running-back, and felt that they should all try and visit him at some point to show their support. Of course, the only ones that had been able to visit Harry at the moment were his mother, Peter, and Gwen, but beyond that, his doctors felt that it was best that no one else saw him for the moment. On one of their visits, Harry reassured Peter that he would keep his secret identity hidden, and revealed that he had figured out Gwen's as well after thinking things over a little. Peter was a little worried that the news would probably have set Harry back in his treatment a little, but Harry just winked and joked with him by reminding him that in some species of spiders, the female ones would often eat their mates. Peter did not find the joke nearly as amusing as his best friend and girlfriend did when she heard about it, but they both did their best to reassure him that it was just in good fun.
At the moment, the group was just enjoying a good lunch during their break between classes, while discussing their plans for that evening. "So, I was actually going to run through a few drills with Cap at the mansion's training room today. Any of you kids want to join us," Yuffie finally asked, getting the ball rolling on the afterschool plans discussion.
"Nah, I think me and Gwen are gonna pass, Yuffie," Peter waved off. "I mean, I'm flattered, but I don't think either of us are quite ready to try one of Captain America's training runs, let alone one that he does with you."
"Agreed," Gwen nodded. She knew just from watching him in old documentaries that any training that Captain America probably did was a lot more intense than what she, a rookie superhero, was probably ready for, spider-powers or not. "If anything, I think we're just going to do a few patrols after I finish up with work for my internship at ESU. Peter may no longer work there since he now technically has one with Stark, but I still do."
Yuffie nodded in understanding, but she was a little surprised that Sora had not mentioned anything about how her training sims with T'Challa could be a lot worse than the ones she did with Cap, having experienced them himself. Turning to the Keybearer, she saw that he had a look of silent, serious contemplation on his face. This would probably not be a big deal to anyone had Yuffie not seen that same look several times over in the past week, so it was only natural that she would be concerned about him. "Hey Sora, everything okay," the ninja asked.
Sora did not say anything in reply, and that prompted Miles to give him a gentle nudge in order to bring him back down to Earth with the rest of them. "Huh," Sora asked with a start. "Sorry. I guess my mind was miles away."
"Any reason for that? You've been really quiet lately," Gwen pointed out.
"Have you had any visions lately that are bothering you," Peter asked, thinking that might have been the cause for his worries.
Thinking over whether or not he should tell them, Sora admitted, "It's not that. To be honest, I haven't really had any visions since Spira, but that's not what's bothering me."
"Then what is it," Miles asked.
"It's the Heartless," Sora revealed, making everyone look at him in confusion. "We haven't seen any of them in a long time now. I don't mean in general, but more specifically, on this world. Ever since Peter and I beat the Guard Armor that Night Hunter sent to attack us on my first day here, it seems like the Heartless have become nonexistent. We didn't see any of them even once while we were in Wakanda or dealing with Leader's Gamma World scheme, and meanwhile, we've run into them almost nonstop on all the other worlds we've visited."
"Now that you mention it, that is a little weird," Yuffie admitted with a thoughtful expression of her own. "Normally the only time the Heartless ever go that quiet on a world would be after that world's Keyhole has been sealed. There's always a chance that they could pop up again at any time, but not to the point where a Keyblade wielder would be needed to deal with them. Either way, this is definitely strange."
"Not to mention you guys haven't really had any run-ins with that Night Hunter creep on this world since he showed his face here," Miles added on. When the others all looked at him in question, Miles knew that they were silently pointing out the fact that Night Hunter had not technically shown his face to anyone during any of his appearances, and he rolled his eyes as he said, "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, we do, and all of that is why I'm worried," Sora stated, getting them back on topic. "Call me crazy, but this lack of activity from Night Hunter and the Heartless on this world is giving me a really bad feeling. It feels like some kind of calm before the storm, and that said storm is going to hit pretty soon."
"So…what should we do," Peter asked, already deciding that he was going to help out Sora in whatever way that he could.
"First thing after school lets out, I'm going to hit the streets and search every part of the city that I can for even the smallest hint of the Heartless," Sora answered. "If they're hiding anywhere in New York, then I've gotta find them."
"You can count on us to help then," Gwen promised as she gestured between her and Peter.
"And me too," Miles volunteered. When the others looked at him weirdly again, Miles shrugged and said, "What? I never said I was going to go out there and search with you guys. I know I can't help like that, but you can't tell me that you guys wouldn't appreciate having a guy in the chair, can you?"
"A what," all four superheroes asked at once.
"A guy in the chair," Miles repeated, only earning blank looks in return. "Oh come on! You know, the guy in the chair? The guy with a headset who gives you all kinds of info, like on where to go, what to look for, and gives you a bunch of other stuff because he's got access to various systems and has a bunch of computers and screens around him. You know, like how Batman has Alfred, or Kira Yamato from Gundam SEED has Miriallia, or Green Arrow has Overwatch, or Iron Man has his computer butler…"
"You mean JARVIS," Sora asked.
"Yeah, that. I could be your guy in the chair, or at least Gwen and Peter's," Miles finally finished.
"I don't know, Miles. I never really needed a guy in the chair," Peter shrugged with uncertainty.
"But it would be pretty helpful to have every now and then," Gwen reasoned. "Besides, it's not like we don't have other ways of getting info on what's going on around the city besides what we find just by swinging around, or flying around in Sora's case."
"Exactly! I could listen out on the info coming in from police scanners and stuff, assuming you guys have access to that," Miles almost cheered, glad to see that at least someone was on board with his idea.
"Hey, if it helps us to figure out why we haven't seen Night Hunter or any Heartless around on this world lately, then I'm all for it," Sora agreed.
Peter let the idea mull over in his head for a little while longer. It was true that Miles was very smart and could probably be a big help to them, at least in the capacity that he was talking about. Add in the fact that he did know that there were a few times when he probably could have used that kind of help, and Peter could not help but concede defeat on this matter. At least, not entirely. "Okay, but don't be doing that right away. You've still got some homework to deal with first, so after school lets out, you get home, deal with that as fast as possible, and then get on your computer."
"Right, and if my parents ask, I'll tell them I'm just playing online with my friends or something," Miles finished.
"Uh…sure, do that," Peter shrugged, having been just seconds away from saying that as well. He was beginning to think that there was a chance he was underestimating Miles Morales a little bit.
"Okay then. I guess that's everything regarding our afterschool stuff," Yuffie determined right when the bell rang. "And just in time to return to the torture."
"Oh don't be so dramatic. It's not that bad," Sora lightly chided.
"You're right. It's worse," Yuffie joked, getting laughs from the others as she waved goodbye to the group while hurrying to her next class.
When school finally let out for the day, Miles practically raced out of the building so he could get home and finish his homework assignments in order to help his superhero buddies, while Sora and the two Spiders ducked into an alleyway in order to take off on their patrol. If the Keybearer was worried about his own homework, he sure did not show it. Then again, there was also the chance he had forgotten all about it due to be so worried about the Heartless. Either way, it was likely well out of his mind as he took off into the sky with Spider-Man and Spider-Woman swinging after him while Yuffie watched them go from the street below.
Sighing a little as she watched them go, Yuffie turned to return to the mansion, resisting the urge to get there via ninja travel. Apparently, people found making incredible leap across the streets and buildings something to gawk at, and while Yuffie did not mind getting a good amount of praise and recognition, there were times that she preferred to stay out of the spotlight, so she had to settle for traveling around the city like a normal person. That said, part of Yuffie was tempted to suit up in her hero attire and join Sora and the others on their Heartless hunt. She was not usually a vengeful person, but Yuffie did still carry quite the sore spot towards the dwellers of darkness for what they did to her home, and since she was not sure if there was a greater master mind behind its fall, she had to settle for destroying every Heartless she could. Hence the reason why part of her was a little sad she had already promised Cap that she would join him for training that evening earlier today. Yuffie was not one to back out on plans that had been made in advance, especially when they were made in direct response to a challenge like the one that Steve had subtly made by saying that she could join him if she thought she could keep up. Yuffie fully intended to remind the super soldier as to why she was made an honorary Dora Milaje in Wakanda after that remark.
Yuffie's thoughts on how she was going to put Captain America in his place later that day were put on hold when her keen eyes caught sight of something a few blocks away which gave her pause. Wanting to be absolutely certain that she was not seeing things, Yuffie quickly sped up her pace and rounded the corner, only to gasp in shock at the sight of someone in a billowing black coat and a horned headdress that could only have belonged to one person in all of the worlds. Sure, she knew that on this world and one or two others, the person in question was a character of fiction, celebrated as one of the greatest villains in fantasy, but to her, this person being here was cause for alarm, especially if the individual was real.
"It can't be," Yuffie whispered as she started to give chase, tossing down a smoke bomb as she did. When the smoke cleared, Yuffie was revealed to have changed from her casual clothes and into her dark colored hero attire. Don't ask how she was able to make the change so quickly, because she never gave a straight answer, if any. Now suited up, Yuffie leapt into the air and began running along walls, leaping across lampposts, and basically going full ninja mode as she pursued her target. Eventually, she found her quarry heading into a rather large alley, and upon seeing the figure in full, the ninja paled quite a bit at seeing who it was. "Maleficent! What…How is she here?!"
Indeed, the mistress of all evil was standing in the alley way, surveying the area without a care in the world, and Yuffie could tell that this was not just someone wearing a costume, because there was no way for an average civilian to exude that aura of unease and terror that only the real Maleficent could. Still, last that Yuffie had heard, the dark fairy had perished at the hands of two brave warriors ten years ago, one of which was said to be a Keyblade wielder, so how could she even be here. It was all one big mystery, but Yuffie was not the type to puzzle over questions regarding an obvious bad guy; she was the type to take action in order to stop a threat when it was right in front of her. So, it would come as no surprise that her first instinct was to draw a set of shuriken stars from her pouch and toss them right at the most evil woman in all the worlds, but what was surprising was that Maleficent seemed to sense the attack, and quickly spun around to deflect each of her shuriken with a few simple spins of her staff.
Yuffie did not let that deter her for long, as she quickly leapt down from her perch, fist drawn back to let loose a powerful punch, and she easily let it fly right at Maleficent's face. The old hag just smirked deviously and sidestepped Yuffie's attack, before blocking her follow-up kick and second punch with her staff. The two continued to trade blows for a few more minutes, with Yuffie throwing at more shuriken in order to try and make some openings before she finally drew her signature, large shuriken so that she could use it as a close-range weapon. When Maleficent suddenly teleported in a flash of green smoke though, Yuffie paused in her efforts to bring down the witch of a fairy, confused by the tactic, and that almost caused her to be hit by the blast of magic that Maleficent fired from her free hand.
Now Yuffie knew something was up, and she was not going to give up the chance to call this woman out on the fact. "Whoever you are, you're definitely not who you seem to be," Yuffie accused. "I will give you props for effort though; you are making a very decent impression of Maleficent, but that magic you just used is the wrong kind. Or at the very least, it's not the same as the kind Maleficent is said to use."
"You're quite right, child, and I must admit, I'm surprised you have any knowledge at magic at all," the fake Maleficent commented before she was enveloped in a swirl of greenish-yellow light and smoke. When the spell had finished its work, Yuffie's true opponent now stood revealed in all of her blonde haired, green clad glory with an evil smirk on her face. "And I will admit, I am a little flattered that you thought I was the dark fairy. To be compared to the likes of Maleficent is quite the compliment to one such as myself. Even before her descent into darkness, she was a very impressive sorceress."
Yuffie instantly recognized this person, having reviewed the Avengers' most-wanted list after she joined the team, along with the records of the battles and missions up until now, and she was immediately raising her guard just a little more. "Well I wouldn't expect anymore compliments, Enchantress," Yuffie growled with a glare. "Unless you would consider getting your butt whooped by the greatest ninja in Hollow Bastion as something to be proud of."
"Don't make me laugh, child," Enchantress scoffed, her smirk never once faltering into any sign of worry.
The reason for Enchantress lack of concern, aside from the obvious one, soon became clear to Yuffie when she heard something land behind her, prompting her to glance over her shoulder and see that the red armored villain, Crimson Dynamo had just arrived on the scene, with Executioner stepping out of a portal alongside him shortly after. "Aw, you brought your boy toy and a wind-up soldier. How cute," Yuffie mocked, hoping that it would better hide her growing nerves. Not that she did not think she could handle them on her own, but she certainly would prefer not to if she could help it. Any further remarks she would have made went unspoken when a shadow suddenly fell over her, and she looked up to see a purple man with red eyes glaring down at her as he descended from above. "Simon Williams? But how…" Yuffie started to ask, having heard about the man-turned-ionic-being from the other Avengers shortly after joining them. Before she could finish her question, she ended backing right into something really big, and looked behind her again to see Abomination grinning down at her, savagely. "Oh, Scaly! You're here too," Yuffie nervously quipped, making the gamma villain go from grinning to scowling in seconds. She somehow managed to shake off her nervousness though, and decided to go for the best show of courage she could muster. "Don't think that ganging up on me is going to make a difference though. I'm a lot more than the greatest ninja of Hollow Bastion; I'm an Avenger as well, and we never back down."
"Oh, we're well aware of that, Yuffie," commented the voice of Night Hunter, and Yuffie instantly turned to see the masked swordsman was on the scene as well, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed like he had been there the entire time. "Or is it Kage Bara now? Or Rěnzhě? I've heard those are the names that some people have started calling you."
Yuffie pondered the two names for a moment, knowing that one was Japanese for Shadow Rose and the other was Chinese for Ninja, and felt that both were pretty good options for her to consider as a codename, but she quickly remembered where she was at the moment and put a pin in the matter. "For now, just stick with Yuffie, the great ninja master who's going to kick all of your butts!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, little girl," another person interrupted, and when Yuffie turned to face the speaker this time, she was left a little more horrified at what she saw. Or more accurately, who she saw that the speaker was holding captive. "Unless of course you want something…unfortunate to happen to your little friend."
There, being held by one of her wings in between the fingers of Baron Zemo, was none other than an unconscious Wasp, and while it did not seem like she had sustained any other injuries aside from whatever had been done to knock her out, it was a little hard for Yuffie to really tell since Janet was still at her smaller size. Either way, it did not matter, because at that size, all Zemo would have to do was either pull her up into his hand and squeeze, or throw her to the ground where someone could step on her. There was no way that Yuffie was going to let this creeps hurt her friend, but as it stood, she could not really do anything at the moment to stop them either. She could try using a smoke bomb or something to blind them and attempt to get Janet clear, but that idea was also really risky since it would likely cause Zemo to drop Janet, leaving her vulnerable to someone accidentally stepping on her. It seemed like a serious no-win scenario, but Yuffie was not going to leave a friend behind like this, and she kept trying to figure out a way to save both herself and her fellow Avenger, even as Zemo and the other villains continued to try and goad her into action.
Eventually, someone got tired of waiting, and came up behind Yuffie to strike her in the back of her head. The impact from the blow instantly caused Yuffie to go limp and drop her weapons as she fell unconscious, right at the feet of another newcomer. This final person was clearly a young woman, clad in a full body suit that was varying shades of white, and included a hood that she wore over her masked head. The eyes of her suit looked a lot like a pair of red lights, with a matching light set on the forehead, and two more resting just below the eyes. Blue lights ran around her belt, while a single, off-white pistol rested in a holster on the left side of said belt.
"Nicely done, Miss Starr," Night Hunter praised with a mocking clap, while the newcomer seemed to fade in and out of phase every couple minutes or so. "It would seem your phasing abilities live up to their reputation."
"I told you not to call me Ava Starr. My name is Ghost," the mercenary snarled at the swordsman.
"Of course, dear. After all, you're not the innocent scientist you used to be so long as your condition continues to plague you," Night Hunter mocked.
Ghost was ready to run a hand through the shorter man when Zemo said, "That's enough you two." When the two had settled, Zemo walked over as he said, "While his way of congratulations leaves something to be desired, Night Hunter's praise is well-earned my dear. It seems we were right to enlist your services, and I promise, if you stand with us, we will deliver you your chance to be human again."
"I don't just want that. I want the ones responsible for this and all the rest of the shit I've had to deal with to pay as well," Ghost growled, nodding to the unconscious Wasp. "If you can get me Ant-Man along with his little bitch, then you've got me."
"Then it would seem we have an accord," Zemo grinned from behind his hood as he held out his hand. When Ghost accepted the handshake, Zemo made it final by saying, "Welcome to the Masters of Evil, my dear." He then looked to Night Hunter and asked, "And what of your own efforts, Night Hunter? Is everything ready for the Keyblade wielder?"
"Naturally," Night Hunter confirmed with an arrogant huff. "Sora will be kept well out of the way when we make our move on the other Avengers. And if by some miracle he does survive, not only will it already be too late for him to do anything, but he'll be too tired to even try, with or without the help of his little spider friends."
"Excellent," Zemo nodded in acceptance. He then nodded to the unconscious Yuffie, silently commanding someone to grab her, before he stated, "Then let's move on to the next phase, shall we?"
Without another word, the other villains soon followed the masked daemon down the alley way, with Ghost scooping Yuffie up over her shoulder as she joined them. Right before they reached the end of the alleyway, Enchantress opened a portal that would take them right to their destination without anyone knowing until it was too late, and she was about to follow along when Night Hunter suddenly stopped her. "You know that Zemo's little scheme is going to fail, right," the swordsman questioned.
Enchantress just hummed in amusement before she confirmed, "Of course it will, but it matters little, my boy. This will merely let Thor and his mortal friends know that there is something out there that can match them, while also allowing us a few other opportunities."
Night Hunter said nothing in response, but instead just nodded and followed the other Masters of Evil to the portal. Despite that though, Enchantress knew that he was likely sporting a smirk underneath that helmet of his that was similar to hers, since he was just as much aware of what was really at work here as she was, and like her, he could not wait to see the looks on these mortals' faces when they finally realize the truth of their intentions for this world and all the others.
A few hours had now passed since he and the others had left Midtown, and there was still no sign of even a single, small Heartless, much to Sora's dismay. Sure, he probably should be glad that those monsters were nowhere to be find, but the less he saw of them, the more worried he got. Like he had said earlier, there was just something about their lack of activity that made him worried. That was not to say that he was just looking for Heartless during this patrol flight, because there were a few times when he stopped to drop down and help bring down more than a few criminals as well. These stops allowed him to better meet up with Peter and Gwen in person, since they would often be stepping in to deal with the same criminals when he arrived, and even allowed them to run into Yuri once, giving them the chance to congratulate her on her promotion, but aside from that one happy occurrence, the only news that Sora received from his friends was how they had not found any sign of the Heartless either.
The sun was now setting over the city, and since it was getting late, Sora knew that they were going to have to call it a night. Gwen's dad may know about her and Peter's secret identities, but Peter's aunt did not, and May Parker always wanted her nephew to be home by ten, or call if he was going to be late. Since the only criminals that were out that night seemed to be the usual variety, Peter really had no excuse to not be home by said curfew, and Sora felt that it would probably be better if his other friends called it a night at the same time as well, even if he was going to stay out a little later just to be absolutely certain. Still, just because it was sunset, it did not mean that they were going to have to call it quits in the next few minutes. They just had a little less time to really patrol together, and Sora did not want to waste that time.
"Miles, have you got anything," Sora questioned after tapping his helmet to activate its built-in communicator.
"Sorry, Sora. No dice aside from the usual chatter," Miles reported from the other end, with the sounds of his fingers tapping against his keyboard being faintly heard in the background. "I'm starting to think that tonight might be a dud for Heartless hunting."
"Let's give it a few more hours before we call it that, Miles. You never know when something might change," Peter advised. A moment later, he added, "Though with my luck, they'll probably show right when I'm about to book it home so that I can make my curfew."
"Yeah, that would be something that would happen to you," Gwen teased as the others could hear the tell-tale sounds of wind to indicate that she was in mid-swing during her search of Upper East Side. "All's quiet over here though. How about with you, Spider-Man? What's the story over in Hell's Kitchen?"
"About the same," Peter replied. "There does seem to be a more few guys running around and causing trouble while speaking in Mandarin, but aside from that, I've got nothing."
Sora let out a tired sigh at hearing that news, and was about to give his own report, when Miles cut in. "Hang on guys! I think we might have something." The three heroes all went silent as they waited for their guy in the chair to add on to his report, and Miles did not disappoint. "Yep! Someone just called in a sighting of strange, shadow-looking monsters running rampant over in Lower Manhattan. Sound promising to anyone else?"
"It does to me," Spider-Man stated. "I'm heading over there now, assuming you've got a more precise location. Lower Manhattan isn't exactly a small area."
"Give me a minute…The nearest I can narrow it down to would be somewhere between the lower edge of Tribeca and Battery Park."
"Still a lot of ground to cover, even for three heroes," Gwen pointed out, sounding very concerned as she spoke.
"But it's a lot better than searching all of Lower Manhattan, so I'll take it. Meet you guys there," Sora reported, turning his Keyblade Glider in the right direction, and rocketing over there with a blast of its engine.
It did not take long for Spider-Man and Spider-Woman to rendezvous with Sora, and the three were all quickly making their way to the area that Miles had specified. When they got there though, they quickly landed on a rooftop just at the lower edge of Tribeca, and froze a little at what they saw down below. Even the sound of Miles's voice coming over their comms did little to shake them out of their states of apprehension. "Uh guys…That one call I mentioned earlier? It's just become several calls, all saying similar things about shadow monsters."
"Yeah, and I think we can see why, Miles," Spider-Man worriedly reported.
There before the heroes, was the biggest swarm of Heartless that any of them had ever seen. It was so big, that one would probably think that this part of the city was flooded with the dark creatures, and people were definitely running scared in an attempt to get away from the monsters. There were Powerwilds and various other monkey-like Heartless scaling up the sides of buildings, Shadows, Neo-Shadows, Soldiers, Armored Knights, and many more ground-based Heartless running through the streets and alleys, Defenders, Bizarre Archers, and Bookmasters on the rooftops, and even the skies were infested with Heartless, namely ones like Air Soldiers, Air Pirates, Wizards, and Search Ghosts. The sight of so many Heartless would have made anyone pause for a moment at the sight, especially when it looked like their numbers kept growing with each passing second, and Sora, Peter, and Gwen were certainly no exception.
"Anyone else remember this being a lot easier and less intimidating on Spira," Gwen asked when she found her voice again.
"I guess you were right about the Heartless gearing up for something big, Sora. I just wish it wasn't…this," Peter gasped as he surveyed the area, already fishing his hand into his belt so that he could retrieve his phone and let his aunt know that he was either going to be home late or end up spending the night at Sora's. Hopefully May would not have too much of a problem with him spending the night at Avengers Mansion again.
As he looked out at the sight of all these Heartless before them, Sora found himself flashing back to that night on Destiny Islands, and while that did strengthen his determination to stop this madness before the Heartless grew any stronger, it also made him feel just as nervous. If the entire area was just as bad as this one little bit that they could see, then there was no telling how long it was going to take to deal them all, or even if the three of them could handle it. Either way, it was going to be a long night, and Sora could only think of one thing to say in order to voice that thought. "I think I'm going to need a bigger Keyblade."
Unaware of the Heartless invasion in the Lower Manhattan, the rest of the Avengers were hard at work with other matters. For Hawkeye, that meant bothering T'Challa while he was trying to do some work for Wakanda, at least in the opinion of some people, while a majority of the rest of the team was in the mansion. The only other person who was not at Avengers Mansion right now was Thor, as he had plans to spend time with a certain medic by the name of Jane Foster that night, so with Hulk occupied by whatever was on TV at the moment, Tony could not help but let out a small sigh of relief over the fact that he was finally allowed a moment's peace to work on some upgrades to his armors. Now the only problem was getting his trusty AI to help him get it all right.
"No, no, no. The suits have to be in an expandable array. Interchangeable, too, so I can have any suit at any time in seconds," Tony told JARVIS as he used a wrench to adjust a bolt on his current go-to armor.
"You only have three suits, sir," JARVIS pointed out.
"Sure now, but what if…" Tony then paused for a minute as he asked, "Why are you arguing with me? Just reconfigure it."
JARVIS was about to carry out the order when he announced, "Mansion update. Avenger ID: Wasp accepted. Avenger ID: Yuffie Kisaragi accepted."
"Oh good," Tony sighed in relief. "Jan would want me to have more suits. Yuffie, too. Maybe you'll do what they say."
"Miss Van Dyne and Miss Kisaragi are not…are not…"
Tony's eyes instantly widened with worry at the sound of the AI clearly malfunctioning for some reason, and if that was the case, then something was definitely wrong here. "JARVIS," Tony called out in worry, but the only response he received was a large metal fist that nearly took his head off as he rolled away.
Upon seeing Crimson Dynamo had found his way into the mansion's armory, Tony prepared to fire the repulsor he was already wearing as he started work on his armors, only to get knocked from a blow to his head that came from behind. Tony was then lifted up by Dynamo, and the large armored villain began to crush Stark's skull in his massive grasp until someone shouted out, "No Dynamo. Not yet."
That was the last thing Tony heard before he was thrown against the wall and fell unconscious.
Up in the lounge, Hulk was lying on a couch watching some TV as he munched on some peanuts, groaning in annoyance at the commercials that were currently playing like anyone else normally would when they were waiting for their show to come back on. At one point in the commercial though, the camera panned up to reveal a blonde that the Hulk had a very serious bone to pick with. "Hello again, monster," Enchantress mocked from the picture.
Hulk's response was to jump off the couch he was on and throw said couch at the television. The minute he was up, Hulk was suddenly wrapped in a strong hold by Abomination. Hulk was quick to free himself, but he was not fast enough to keep Abomination from slamming him through a portal that Enchantress had conjured up the minute she appeared in the room itself. When Hulk came to, he turned back to see that the portal was sealed shut behind him, and that he was somewhere that was raging with blizzards.
At that moment, a pair of large shadows fell over him, and Hulk turned to see massive ice monsters that he remembered Thor calling Frost Giants standing over him with weapons in hand. Seeing these two clearly wanted a fight, Hulk just roared loudly before he lunged at them, feeling the need to build up a sweat and work off a little anger before he found a way back to the mansion to deal with Enchantress.
Steve was a little disappointed when Yuffie did not show up for their run in the training room, but all the same, like any good soldier, he was not going to skip out on training just because his partner was a no-show. He just had to make a few adjustments to the program beforehand so that it was geared for just him as opposed to him and the young ninja. Part of him was actually glad that Tony had at least shown him how to work the controls of this piece of modern technology, but that did not mean he was going to be okay with the billionaire trying to get him to try wearing rocket boots or a suit of armor like the Iron Man's as opposed to his usual uniform and shield. Captain America did not need some fancy suit to do what he does best, and he was proving it too just from this run through the course he had set up. He was easily jumping over spike pits, deflecting missiles with his shield before destroying the launcher with said shield as he leapt over the last few, and then catching the vibranium disk after it bounced off the nearby wall, and he was doing it all in record time. To be honest, getting this workout in actually brought a relaxed smile to Steve's face, but his relaxing run seemed to come to a close when the lights in the room suddenly went out.
"Tony," Steve called out, wondering if there was some kind of problem or if Iron Man or one of the others was playing another joke on him as they sometimes would while he was training. This belief was soon proven false, as he narrowly avoided being chopped in half by the Executioner.
Captain America then leaped off the wall and slammed his shield into the bald Asgardian, but before he could move in for another strike, he was suddenly tackled by Simon, much to his surprise and shock. Before he could do anything, the captain ended up being shoved right through the wall behind them. Thankfully it only left him slightly disoriented, and Steve was on his feet again pretty soon, but unfortunately, he was not standing for long, as he was hit with a blast of dark fire, courtesy of none other than Night Hunter. A few more swings of his demonic-looking sword, and Night Hunter was easily able to subdue the hero of World War II.
Captain America was only able to hold onto a bit of consciousness long enough to see Zemo kneel down to where Steve could see him as the former Hydra leader told him smugly, "I told when we last met this wasn't over, Captain. Now it is."
The moment the captain fell unconscious, Enchantress walked into the room with the other villains, and asked, "What of Thor?"
"I haven't forgotten, Enchantress," Zemo assured his compatriot. "The Thunderer, the Keybearer, and Ant-Man remain."
"Actually, all that's left at this point would be the Asgardian and the pacifist scientist," Night Hunter corrected, only just noticing from the corner of his eye how Ghost's hands tightened into fists when he mentioned the latter. "Sora's currently dealing with a wave of Heartless unlike any that he's seen before, and last I checked, he's barely even made a dent in those numbers, even with the help of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman."
"Excellent. Then all is going as planned," Zemo declared. He then pulled out Wasp's ID card and activated its signaling device as he called out, "Avengers…assemble."
Lower Manhattan was in chaos, to put it mildly. Everyone was scrambling to get away from the Heartless that were attacking, and many people were not so lucky as to find a place to hide before the dark creatures had caught them. Even New York's finest were not safe from the wrath of the Heartless, as Captain Yuri Watanabe soon learned when she arrived on the scene just in time to see some of her officers being consumed by the Heartless and ultimately end up transformed into more of the horrible creatures. Luckily, it was not all bad, as the flash of lightning that just destroyed several airborne Heartless proved.
Sora was not holding anything back as he swept across the streets, skies, and roofs in an effort to take out each and every Heartless that he could. One minute he would be down on the street slashing away at several different Shadows and Neo-Shadows, before parrying the blades of the Armored Knights so that he could finish them off, the next minute he was leaping into the air and onto his Keyblade Glider so that he could cut through the Air Soldiers that were flying straight for unsuspecting civilians and police officers. Even the Heartless mounted on the sides of the buildings were not safe from his wrath, as he proved when he dismissed the Glider while in mid-air so that he could fire off a few different spells, and if the spell he used did not destroy that Heartless, it did knock it off the building long enough for him to finish off once he had landed on the ground again, assuming that either Spider-Man or Spider-Woman did not get there first. In fact, it was not just the wall-mounted Heartless that he was blasting into oblivion with magic, but several others as well, but especially the ones that he could not easily reach, which were usually the ones that were up on the roof or that were about to hurt someone he could not get to in time.
Given how often he was using his magic though, he was actually surprised that he had not had any problems with his spells since the fight began. Every time he attempted to cast a fire spell, that's what he got, each call for a lightning spell brought a rain of lightning bolts onto his targets, and every command for an icy blast granted him an ice spell. All of these came to him in quick succession to, and for a little while, Sora was starting to think that maybe he was getting better with magic at last. It certainly seemed like that was the case so far, but he still stuck to what he knew best and a few of the special attack moves like the Raid abilities he had recently learned, and his Sonic Blade ability as well whenever the opportunities arose.
Spider-Man and Spider-Woman were not just sitting around having tea, of course. They were taking just as much action as Sora was in this fight. Sure, they did not have a Keyblade, but as they had learned from their time on Spira, they did not necessarily need one to really take down the Heartless, nor did they really need to finish them off right away. More often than not, the two spider-heroes were wrapping up various Heartless with their webs, or pulling people to safety before the dark creatures could sink their claws into another victim, and when they did see a chance to try and finish one off, they took it. Knowing that the Heartless were not actually living creatures in the typical sense definitely helped too, because that meant that neither of them had to hold back out of fear of hurting their opponents, and so it was not surprising that the Heartless were having a much harder time keeping up with or even standing up against the two spiders than even some supervillains had.
As she was spinning through the air and webbing up various Air Soldiers, Air Pirates, and Wizards, Gwen noticed that a Large Body was heading straight for Yuri and some of her officers, and she quickly changed course so that she could pull them to safety. Shouting out a warning of her arrival to the men and women in blue, Gwen soon scooped Yuri and her officers up and over to safety before turning her webs on the massive, rotund Heartless, webbing its eyes shut and leaving it vulnerable to her retaliatory attack from behind. "You okay, Yuri," Spider-Woman asked.
"I'll live, I think," was the only reply that Yuri could give right now, given their current situation. "What the hell are these things, and why is it that none of my men's best guns can even scratch them?"
"They're called Heartless, and they're not easily injured by conventional means," Gwen explained as simply as she could. "As far as I know, the only things that are really able to hurt them aside from Sora's Keyblade would be anything that us superheroes can do."
"Surfs up," Spider-Man's voice called out before any of the police could protest her claims, and they all turned to see Spider-Man riding on the back of a Large Body, using his webs to steer the thing away from them and any nearby civilians, and right into its fellow Heartless. "You know, I'm actually a little surprised that you guys don't end up doing this on your own by accident more often, what with your large dispositions and how you basically just charge around without a care in the world like Rhino often does." Spidey then leapt off the Heartless so that it would be sent careening into another Large Body, destroying both in the process, and with a fluid grace that would leave professional gymnasts green with envy, landed next to Gwen, Yuri, and the other officers. "I gotta admit, I haven't had to put in this much work since Green Goblin's last attack on me."
"Tell me you've got some kind of plan beyond just hitting them all really hard, because we can't keep this up all night," Yuri almost begged.
"Hate to say it, Yuri, but right now, that is the only plan we've got. The Heartless aren't living creatures, at least not like you and us, but they're also not something that you and your men can fight. At best, you'd probably just end up getting in the way," Spider-Man shrugged in apology.
"Well you can't expect us to just sit here and do nothing," Yuri argued.
"I never said that," Spidey pointed out. "Look, Spider-Woman, Sora, and I need to focus on fighting them while keeping the collateral damage to as much of a minimum as possible, but we can't do that if we're too worried about bystanders getting hurt, and there are a lot of people still out on the streets and up in those buildings. What we need you to do is get people off the streets and down into either the subways or the basements. We'll also need men in those buildings to guide people to those same areas. Finally, we need to keep this contain, so have your men set up a perimeter from city hall to Battery Park."
"Any chance we can narrow it down a little more than that," Yuri questioned, knowing that was still a really big area left open for these creatures.
"Maybe by having that perimeter also run from the World Trade Center to Wall Street," Spider-Woman shrugged before she sprang into the air and began firing off several bursts of webs in different directions, ensnaring Heartless left, right, above, and below her by the time she landed.
Spider-Man aimed a web-shooter in a random direction, and then fired off a Trip-Wire Web that snagged another Armored Knight just as it was closing in on their position, and seeing that the two had things under control in terms of fighting the monsters, Yuri quickly turned to her officers to see to it that they carried out the two heroes' suggestions. "You heard the web-heads, now move it, people," the new NYPD captain ordered, and as her men began moving out, she relayed those same instructions into her radio so that she could spread the word to the rest of her force.
Gwen and Peter both nodded in approval of Yuri's quick response, glad that she was willing to take their suggestions before making any hasty decisions, but another blast of lightning quickly pulled their attention back onto the fight at hand, and they immediately swung over to where it came from. When they arrived, it was just in time to see Sora using Wind Raid to destroy several Heartless that were perched above him on either a rooftop or on the walls of surrounding buildings, and from what they could see, it looked like he was actually starting to break a sweat. Getting in closer, they could see that he was panting a little too, and they started to feel a little worried for their younger friend.
"Hey, you okay there, Hot-Shot," Gwen asked upon landing next to Sora.
"Yeah, I just need a minute to catch my breath," Sora panted in reply.
"Hate to break it to you, Sora, but I think you've only got thirty seconds," Spider-Man reasoned as he noticed how the Heartless seemed to start pouring in from all sides. "Hey, is it just me, or does it seem like they're all starting to come to us?"
"Well, I think Thor or one of my other friends did once mention that the Heartless are drawn to the Keyblade for some reason, but that may be all the better for us," Sora reasoned out. "If we can keep their attention focused on us, then they won't be too interested in going after anyone else."
"Yeah, that's great. I've always wanted to be bait for monsters that would eat my heart and turn me into one of them," Gwen sarcastically droned. "At least it can't get any worse."
Right after Gwen said that, a faint beeping suddenly came from Sora, and the wielder of Kingdom Key immediately reached into his pocket to pull out his Avengers ID card. "Please tell me that's your teammates calling to say that they're coming to help us," Spider-Man pleaded.
"I can if you want me to lie," Sora quipped in return, hating that he was going to have give his friends more bad news. "It's actually a distress call from the mansion. Looks like there might be something going on over there to that needs all the Avengers' attention, if not as many of us as possible."
"Guess that means we're on our own with this, right," Spider-Woman asked.
"…Yep, looks like it," Sora hesitantly confirmed before pocketing the ID card again. He probably hated that fact more than the other two though, as he was just seconds away from calling the others for help when the ID card went off. In retrospect though, he probably should have considered calling the others when they first saw this Heartless swarm, but he did not want to put anyone else at risk, thinking that he, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman would have been enough to handle this. Clearly he did not think that through as well as he thought.
"Maybe not. I mean, it's not like the Avengers are the only ones you can call for backup, right," Spider-Man reminded him.
"I actually tried reaching out to Donald and Goofy a little while before you two got here. They're on some jungle world that's several days away from here right now following up on another clue to King Mickey's whereabouts. They'd never make it in time, so…" Sora revealed, trailing off at the end since he figured that it would be obvious where that ended.
Both spiders just sighed in response to that information before they hardened their resolves and assumed battle stances along either side of Sora. Before they made attack again, a massive Heartless suddenly dropped down in front of them, and it was a little too familiar to Sora and Peter. "Uh, didn't we already beat that Guard Armor thing back at Midtown," Spidey asked.
"Yep, but this one seems a little different from the one we fought with Sandman," Sora pointed out as he looked on at the newest arrival, scanning it with his helmet so he could better identify this Heartless.
"Considering that its using its hands as feet and its legs as arms now, while the torso has been flipped upside down, I'd certainly hope so," Spider-Woman pointed out.
"Got it! It's called the Opposite Armor, and it is similar to the Guard Armor, except its stronger, and possess a different set of attack patterns. Other than that, we might be able to take it down the same way we did the Guard Armor," Sora reported.
"That's great. We just have to worry about all of his little buddies attacking us and any civilians that Yuri and her people are likely trying to evacuate to safety, and not die or lose our hearts," Spider-Man pointed out. He then looked to his girlfriend and said, "Spider-Woman, for future reference, when you're a superhero, you should never say that things can't get worse. It's an even bigger jinx for us than it is for normal people."
"Sure, now you tell me," Gwen grumbled as the two boys rushed forward into battle once again, with her trailing behind them just seconds after.
While Thor was disappointed that he had to end his night with Jane Foster a little early, he could not ignore a call for help, especially when the call came from his friends, so it was only natural that he flew off to Avengers Mansion upon receiving the alert from his ID card. He was just glad that Jane was so understanding of the fact, unlike his father who did not seem to think that his time was well-spent defending Midgard. That was another problem for later though, as the Avengers were in need of his assistance, but when he arrived at the mansion, he was a little confused to find that everything seemed normal. Thinking that he would get a better understanding of why they were summoned here once he was inside, Thor quickly descended into his home away from home, and landed in the foyer. "Ho Avengers! Ho Computer! Thor has arrived," Thor called out once his feet hit the ground.
"Welcome Asgardian," a voice that was definitely not JARVIS's nor any of the Avengers' suddenly called out, and Thor spun to narrow his eyes upon the sight of the speaker walking down the stairs towards him.
"I know of thee," Thor snarled. "You are Captain America's foe, Zemo."
"You may call me master," Zemo chuckled in reply. "Now kneel before me."
"Are you mad mortal? Thor kneels before no one," Thor warned the masked man, but he had to blink as the other villains who had infiltrated the mansion suddenly appeared around him in a flash of light.
"As I said, kneel before your masters," Zemo commanded once more as Enchantress moved to stand by his side. Thor was not going to listen any more than he was the first time, and he immediately slammed his hammer into the ground as he unleashed a burst of lightning against Simon and Abomination and followed up by slamming the hammer into Crimson Dynamo.
Ghost and Night Hunter both moved to try and tackle the Asgardian, but Thor was surprisingly too quick for them, and easily deflected Night Hunter's sword before side-stepping both Ghost's first attack. Spinning around to slam Mjolnir into Ghost, Thor was surprised to see it pass right through her before she spun herself over to kick him as hard as she could. The blow made Thor stumble a little, but not to the point where he could not counter attack before the young woman could hit him again, and this time, his attack did not fail, as he simply blasted her with a bolt of lightning that did not seem to pass through her. The excess electricity from his attack also had the added bonus of preventing Night Hunter's next attack, and left Thor with an opening to carry on with his next move. Using that opportunity, Thor threw Mjolnir into Executioner's face, but the minute he redirected the hammer towards Zemo and Enchantress, the latter of the two used her magic to stop the weapon in its tracks and caused it to drop to the floor.
Seeing Thor caught off guard by the sight of his hammer being rendered useless, Crimson Dynamo instantly opened fire with a missile launcher in his arm which Executioner then followed up with a hard tackle into the Asgardian prince. Thor quickly flipped Executioner off of him and into Dynamo, but before he could do anymore, he was blasted into Abomination's powerful grip by Simon. As the gamma villain made sure that Thor was held completely still, Night Hunter raised a hand towards the Asgardian and unleashed a blast of dark fire into Thor. As a result of being struck at point-blank, Thor instantly lost consciousness and fell to the ground the moment that Abomination released his hold on the Thunderer. With the Asgardian now defeated, Executioner easily scooped up Thor so that he could transport him to where the Masters were holding the other heroes that they had already defeated.
The entire time this was happening, none of the villains knew that Hawkeye and Black Panther were outside watching through the sky light from a nearby rooftop as the Masters of Evil dealt with Thor, and seeing one of their biggest guns get taken down so easily had definitely left one of them feeling more than a little worried. "Well, that's not good," Hawkeye commented upon seeing Thor being carried off. "All right, we call in SHIELD, go in with the Hulkbuster gear, and…"
"And destroy the city in the ensuing battle, as well as seal the fates of our captive teammates," Black Panther interrupted.
"Well what do you recommend," Hawkeye asked half-sarcastically.
T'Challa looked down to his left for a minute, almost as if he were checking on something else before he said, "Indeed. It is up to us. Let us just hope that Sora will be able to join us soon."
"Yeah…I don't think that's going to happen any time soon," Clint informed him as he pulled out his smart phone, which was already playing a live newsfeed showing the ongoing battle that Sora, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman were fighting against the Heartless. "Something tells me he's got more than enough problems on his plate already."
"Then we will have to hope we can handle this without him for the moment," T'Challa reasoned, and with that, the two moved in to try and help their teammates. Though a part of them did hope that they could stop this home invasion before Sora arrived, they were also praying that Sora would be able to come and help them sometime soon as well, or at the very least, that he would be able to deal with his current problem without them for the moment.
Down in the Assembly Hall, Steve was suddenly awoken by a sudden splash of water on his face, and what he saw when he awoke was Zemo standing over him with Abomination nearby, and Night Hunter just a short distance away from both of them. "Welcome back, Captain," Zemo greeted as he tossed aside the empty glass that had held the water he had just splashed on Captain America's face.
The captain then looked to see Iron Man and Wasp both tied to chairs on either side of him, and Thor tied down to the table in the assembly hall, all bound by Enchantress's magic. Steve then looked Zemo dead in the eye as he said, "You've got me Zemo. Let the others go. There's no need to involve anyone else."
Zemo just laughed in reply as he informed the veteran of World War II, "Ah, but the Avengers are already spoken for, Captain. You're new friends have made powerful enemies."
"What do you want? The war is over. After all these years, is revenge on me really that important to you," Captain America demanded.
"Yes," Zemo confirmed. "But now, Captain, I've been promised the world, and you will live just long enough to see me have it."
Captain America did not like the sound of that, especially given what he and the others knew about Night Hunter and his connection to the Heartless. Then again, it was also likely that Zemo did not truly understand the kind of devastation that the Heartless could bring about, but he doubted that Zemo would have cared either way if it allowed him to achieve what he wanted. Of course, there was also a chance that Enchantress had made that promise to Zemo, given what the others had told him about her, and she could very well deliver on it as well, assuming she kept her word. Either way, Steve knew that he and the others had to figure out some way to get out of this before anyone else got hurt. He just had to hope that his teammates that were still free were able to find a way to circumvent any traps that Zemo and his new allies had set for them, because at the moment, they seemed like the Avengers' best hope.
Fighting the Opposite Armor proved to be harder than the fight against the Guard Armor, but Sora chalked that up to the fact that Sandman was not there to help, along with how they had already been fighting an army of Heartless both before and after the Heartless Boss had shown up. Not only was the Opposite Armor proving to be more flexible than its previous incarnation, but it also showed that its torso could be used to attack in a way other than just spinning around while slashing viciously like some kind of oversized top. The number times that it fired an energy blast from its base alone was enough to make the three heroes defending Lower Manhattan sweat, but the damage those blasts caused were a much greater call for concern. Various different cars went up in smoke, while buildings had new, gaping holes in them that were not there before as a result of that particular attack, and Sora, Peter, and Gwen all knew that if they were hit by one of those blasts, they would not be very likely to survive.
Thankfully, the strategy that Spider-Man and Sora used to defeat the Guard Armor was still applicable in that fight, with the only change being that they had to be a lot more careful in avoiding the Opposite Armor's attacks, and when you add in the fact that Sora now had a few new tricks and spells to use against this new foe, it was little surprise that the three were able to take it out soon enough. All that they had left to worry about at that point was the remaining Heartless that were running about this area of the city. Not a small task even with the number that they had managed to eliminate while fighting the Opposite Armor, and from what Spider-Man and Spider-Woman could tell, it was going to be even harder for Sora, because he was not looking too good.
By the time they had finished the fight against the Opposite Armor, Sora looked so exhausted that some would consider it surprising that he could still stand, let alone fight, and from what Peter and Gwen could tell, it looked like he was having a much harder time casting any magic at all. Sure, he could still fight like normal, but there was a very noticeable lack of fire, ice, and lightning in the area now. They figured Sora could use his healing spell to give himself an extra boost, but that turned out to have the opposite effect. The spell did heal any of their battle injuries, but it seemed to make Sora even more tired than before. Thankfully it did not make him drop down in the street, but at that point, they all felt that it might be best if Sora refrained from using any more magic until he was a little more rested, or they figured out what was wrong with those abilities now.
Sora did not argue, because he definitely felt like using any magic other than his ability to call out the Keyblade Glider would just drain him of his energy even faster, and he proved that he still had enough strength for that ability quickly enough by summoning the flying motorcycle in order to reach a rooftop that several Heartless were perched on top of just minutes after the group's healing session. He managed to take out all the Heartless on that roof, and easily dealt with the ones on the next few roofs over before dropping back down to the street again to survey the area for anymore of the creatures on the ground. His observations were barely even halfway completed though when some Armored Knights materialized behind him, and raised their swords to attack the Keybearer from behind. Unfortunately for him, Sora never even registered that there was something there, until Spider-Man had swung by and caught a glimpse of the sneaky knights.
"SORA, BEHIND YOU," Spider-Man shouted as loud as he could as he used his webs to pull himself over to and take out some Air Knights, but it seemed like his warning came a little too late, as the Armored Knights were already beginning to attack when Sora turned around.
The attacking Heartless ended up failing to hit their mark though, because at the last second, something dropped down from above, and swiftly slashed through all three Armored Knights in a single attack. When the smoke and crystal hearts that always seemed to follow a Heartless's destruction cleared, Sora finally got a good look at his rescuer, and ended up grinning wider than he ever had since coming to this world upon seeing who this person was. Not that it was too surprising, considering Sora would know this guy anywhere.
"There you are! What's going on," the taller, silver haired boy greeted Sora as he waved his own red and black, key-shaped sword.
It was a valiant effort, you would have to give them that, but ultimately, it seemed that Hawkeye and Black Panther's attempt to save the other Avengers had ended in failure. Sure, they were able to get the drop on the Masters of Evil, since it seemed that Zemo was unaware that there were more Avengers still free besides Ant-Man and Sora, but even with the element of surprise on their side, T'Challa and Clint were only able to do so much for their teammates before they too were defeated. Seeing two more of his teammates being taken down had prompted Steve to start struggling even harder against his magic restraints, while Tony could only question why Hawkeye did not call in SHIELD for a little backup, much to Clint's ire. Zemo on the other hand just found it all the more amusing that these two really seemed to believe that they could best his new team, and as such was taking his time in finishing off the last two Avengers.
"You choose, Captain," Zemo then told Steve as held Hawkeye and Black Panther at sword-point, forcing them both to stand. "Which of your teammates will be the first to taste my blade?"
"You know what Zemo, I want to go first. I'm tired of listening to you," Hawkeye suddenly volunteered.
"Amusing," Zemo replied. "Did you really believe the two of you could defeat all of us?"
"Weird," Hawkeye then quipped. "Purple Puss here thinks we were trying to defeat him."
"I heard," T'Challa quipped back in reply. "He is misguided. We were not trying to defeat your team, Baron. We were simply allowing Ant-Man uninterrupted access to his lab."
"Yeah, we picked him up from the Wakandan Embassy while you tools were starting your little siege here," Hawkeye then smirked with pride. "He just needed to get a few things."
Zemo immediately turned around to find Ant-Man himself standing in the entrance to the Assembly Hall, armed with a rifle of some kind and not looking like he was certain that he would be able to win no matter what happened. "Surrender, Zemo," Hank warned the villain as he raised the gun-like device. "End this before anyone gets hurt."
The villains all looked between themselves for a minute, hardly believing that what they believed to be one of the weakest members of the Avengers had actually just said that to them. Night Hunter even took it a step further and let out a mocking chuckle as he asked, "What're you going to do if we don't? Send some of your bugs after us?"
"You'd be surprised just how much a few little ants can do, kid," Hank quipped in return.
At that point, Wasp had finally woken up, and when she saw her boyfriend standing before all the villains, she immediately panicked. Not that you could blame her after what had happened the last time he went up against Enchantress and Executioner alone. "Hank? Are you crazy," Janet asked in fear. "Run!"
"You should really take your partner's advice, Doctor Pym. You stand very little chance even with a few extra toys," Zemo advised, and he signaled for his allies to attack, prompting Wonder Man to charge forward in an attempt to take down the size-changer.
"Sorry, Simon," Hank said as he made a few final adjustments to his device, and once it was ready, he fired it off. When the blaster was fired at Wonder Man, Simon was struck with an odd energy beam that seemed to be tearing him apart as he cried out in pain until he was completely dispersed into thin air. With the first Master dealt with, Hank prepared to shrink down, but he suddenly stopped short when he felt something suddenly seemed to run painfully through his chest. "Wh-what's…happening…?" Hank barely gasped as Ghost suddenly appeared before him with her hand running through his chest, having been standing watch for the perfect time to strike while invisible.
"You're getting what you deserve, Pym," Ghost snarled. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment. The moment when you pay for your crimes against my family."
"What're you…talking about," Ant-Man gasped, only to release a pained cry as he dropped to his knees, the pain in his chest amplifying.
"Don't act like you don't know! All I have to do is solidify my hand while its inside of you, and you're dead," Ghost growled in warning. "Of course, that would be too easy, and I want you to suffer like I had after what you did to my parents, Elihas and Catherine Starr."
Hearing those names made something click in Hank's mind, and his eyes instantly widened behind his helmet as he realized who this final Master of Evil was. "Ava," Hank gasped. "Ava Starr?"
His exclamation earned him a hard punch from Ghost, as she practically shouted, "Not anymore! You and your little bitch did this to me, Hank Pym! Ava Starr is dead, just like her parents, because of you! Now, all that's left is me, the Ghost."
Hank wanted to protest those claims, having realized what the young woman was going on about. He wanted to deny that any of this was true, despite the clear evidence before him, and more than that, he wanted to plead with Ava's better side, but he could not do any of those things. Part of the reason was because of how Ava had her hand in his chest, and the other part of the reason was because someone managed to come in and pull Ava out of him with an easily landed web-line. "So wait a minute. If you're a ghost, then shouldn't you be haunting an old castle or some abandoned house or something? Or even just running around trying to scare a group of kids and their talking dog? Or am I just really behind the times on how ghost stuff works?"
"Spider-Man," a good number of the Avengers gasped in shock along with some of the Masters of Evil.
"And Spider-Woman," the web-head quipped as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.
That served as the superheroine's cue to leap in from the destroyed entrance of the Assembly Hall and begin throwing out several webs at any villain that she could. Some of her webs served to blind Executioner and Abomination, while others tied up Ghost, and caused Zemo's feet to be stuck to the ground. Another other webs were blocked by Enchantress's magic, leaving her completely untouched by them, while Crimson Dynamo merely found them in spots on his armor that were inconsequential. "I know that I'm still new to the scene and all, but that doesn't mean you should act like I'm not here just because Spider-Man is," the hooded heroine joked.
"Last minute reinforcements will not save you, Avenger. These children will merely share your fate," Zemo promised as he used his sword to cut himself free of the webs.
"Not while we have anything to say about it, Zemo," another new voice echoed through the air, and the group all turned just in time to see that Sora had arrived on the scene in a flash of light. "After all, we've got you more than a little outnumbered."
The Masters of Evil were all amazed to see the Keybearer before them, because from their understanding, he was not supposed to show up at all, and even if he did, he should have been way too tired to use any magic, never mind a teleportation spell. No one was more infuriated by how little sense this made than Night Hunter, as he proved when he suddenly surged forward with his sword ready to cut Sora in half with an angry roar. Much to his surprise, his sword was intercepted by another person's blade, and it was only then that he realized that Sora was not just referring to himself, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman when he had said "we" a moment ago.
This newcomer was someone that none of the Masters of Evil had seen before, while the Avengers had only seen him in the few pictures that Sora had on him from his homeworld. The most defining characteristic about this boy would have to have been his silver hair that just barely stopped short of being shoulder-length, while his attire consisted of a yellow-and-black tank top with white-trimmed, black straps crisscrossing his chest and upper back, grey-trimmed black gloves with matching wrist bands, dark blue pants with brighter blue baggy pant legs that were connected white-studded suspenders hanging off of his black belt and buckled with small black straps on his ankles, and white and blue shoes with white-trimmed black straps as opposed to shoe-laces. The most surprising thing about him was that the weapon with which he was using to hold back Night Hunter's sword appeared to be a black and red Keyblade, with the teeth of said blade forming the outline of a heart, but from the way he was grinning to the taller boy, it seemed that Sora did not care about that. He was just glad to have his best friend fighting by his side again after all this time.
"Hi, I'm Riku, and I hear you and your pals have been giving my best friend a tough time lately," the older Destiny Islander smirked in greeting before he pushed Night Hunter back and kicked him away with a hard spin kick.
Seeing this new, unexpected factor come into play made Zemo forget all about thinking strategically, and instead, he went right for a more basic approach. "Tear. Them. Apart!"
While Night Hunter and most of the other Masters had instantly turned their focus onto Sora, Riku, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman, Ant-Man managed to regain his bearings and quickly shrank down before racing across the room towards Abomination, dodging every form of weapons fire and attack that was now flying flooding the room. When Abomination finally took notice of the shrunken scientist, he merely smirked at what he thought would be an easy win, and turned his full attention to Hank. "Come on, bug," Blonsky challenged, but his attitude quickly changed when he saw Ant-Man start growing back to normal size, and then beyond that. "What're you…" Anything more that Abomination had to ask was immediately lost when Giant-Man kicked him out of the room, right through the wall.
Realizing his teammate had just been kicked out of the room like a football, Crimson Dynamo turned his weapons on Giant-Man, but even though he got off a few good hits on Hank, it made little difference in protecting himself from the barrage of blasts that were fired from Black Panther's vibranium daggers. While Panther continued his onslaught of attacks, Hawkeye tried to free Thor from where he had been tied down on the Assembly Hall's table. Enchantress quickly realized this and instantly sent out an energy blast at both the archer and the Wakandan, forcing them to dodge to either side. Sora had realized this in an instant, and quickly broke off his attack on Ghost and Night Hunter, leaving Riku and the two spiders to handle the villains so that he could try and use his Keyblade to free the other Avengers, but Night Hunter managed to quickly teleport away from Riku's next attack and got in a sneak attack from behind Sora. Luckily Sora seemed to have anticipated that move, because he easily jumped clear before Night Hunter's attack hit, and used Kingdom Key to slice through Yuffie's magic restraints, freeing the ninja girl at last.
Yuffie immediately jumped out of her seat, and upon tackling Ghost away from Spider-Woman, she growled, "Payback time for that cheap shot of yours, bitch."
"Try it, brat," Ghost snarled in return before she vanished from sight, and apparently through the floor, since Yuffie fell to it a minute later. Yuffie was on her feet again soon enough, looking this way and that for the phasing woman, but she was unable to locate Ghost before Ava hit her from behind, while still invisible. When she tried to retaliate, Yuffie only hit air, and ended up getting hit again from the other side.
"Urgh! I wish I had a smoke bomb or two right now," Yuffie grumbled, since the Masters had taken away all of her ninja tools when they tied her up, while leaving her signature weapon back in the alley where they ambushed her.
"You mean like these," Riku asked as he tossed her pouch of weapons over to her. He then quickly somersaulted away from a blast from the rematerialized Wonder Man and ran over to Yuffie, presenting her with her large shuriken once he was next to her and said, "I get the feeling this is yours too, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks," Yuffie nodded in response, glad to have her weapon back again. She then tossed a smoke bomb down, with the aid of the resulting smokescreen, she managed to locate Ghost and hit her with a hard kick to the side, forcing Ava to become visible once more. "Not so tough when someone can actually find you, huh?"
Meanwhile, Sora efforts to free the other Avengers were all blocked off by Night Hunter, and when he realized that he would have to take action to do so, Hawkeye immediately ran to retrieve his bow, and strung an arrow the minute it was in his hand. One simple shot later, and Hawkeye had managed to blast Enchantress off her feet, knocking her out just long enough for her spell holding the rest of the team to be canceled out, allowing the rest of the Avengers to join the battle at last in whatever way they could. While Wasp and Cap moved to engage the enemy, Tony made it a point to instruct JARVIS to send him a suit while he ran for cover until the armor arrived.
As the AI prepped the requested armor, Amora had came around just in time to see Mjolnir return to Thor's hand as he stood over her, and he did not look happy at all. "Thor, you would not harm me, would you," Enchantress nervously asked with a disarming smile, hoping that she would be able to play to Thor's consistent weakness to her whims.
"Nay," Thor replied, making the blonde think her charms had worked until he suddenly spun his hammer over his head and opened a portal that allowed a snow-covered, angry Hulk to step back into the mansion. "But my friend might."
Amora quickly realized this was true when Hulk's glare found her, and he let out a loud roar of anger before charging, and she immediately did the one thing she always did when she was in peril. "Executioner, I need you," Enchantress commanded in a panic, and like the obedient dog he was, Skurge came to his lady's aid, by tackling Hulk aside, engaging the gamma giant in battle once more.
While that was going on, Hawkeye was doing his best to stay clear of Zemo's sword swipes, until finally he gave Captain America just the opening he needed to lunge forward and tackle Zemo, grabbing his shield which Zemo was currently wearing on his arm like a trophy when they both landed. "I'd like my shield back now. It needs to be cleaned," Steve informed his old enemy before he yanked the iconic shield off of Zemo and back onto his own arm.
Over where he and Sora were currently fighting Night Hunter, Riku could not help but catch glimpses of Captain America as he continued to engage Zemo, feeling very impressed with the super soldier's skills. It was not just Cap he was taking notice of though, as every other hero was grabbing his attention as well, given how Wasp was flittering about and firing her stingers to disorient Crimson Dynamo so that Black Panther could better attack his weak points, Yuffie was now engaging Ghost alongside of Hawkeye in a no-holds-barred hand-to-hand struggle, and Hulk and Thor were battling it out with the Asgardian's old enemies. Even Spider-Man and Spider-Woman were getting in a fair amount of action as they swung about the room and did whatever they could to lend a hand, or a few webs, and as Riku noted all of this, he could not help but look to his best friend and say, "You've got some really strange friends, Sora."
"You would know all about being a strange friend, Riku," Sora joked in return as he parried another attack from Night Hunter, drawing a short laugh from his older friend as they quickly engaged Night Hunter once more, showing him just why the two of them were Destiny Islands' most undefeatable tag-team.
As the two best friends continued to chat and engage Night Hunter, Wonder Man finally reformed again, and quickly increased his size to match that of Hank's Giant-Man form, just as the size-changer was preparing to use said form to attack. The minute they were at matching sizes, Wonder Man tackled Giant-Man into the wall, and the two began grappling with each other as best as they could without accidentally stepping on someone. "Simon, I'm glad to see you up and about, but what are you doing with these people," Hank questioned. "You're a good man; you don't want any part of this."
"I don't have any choice," Simon admitted. "They're the only reason I'm even alive, and if I want to stay alive, I do what they say, much like Ghost."
Hank was about to ask what Simon meant by that, but he never got the chance, as Simon was already pulling back to punch him again. Thankfully, Wonder Man's attack never came, as a repulsor blast ran across his fist, making him turn to see Iron Man barreling into the room, geared up in his Mark VII armor. Giant-Man immediately shrunk down to give Iron Man the opening he needed, and Tony did not hesitate to take it as he blasted Wonder Man back over to the rest of the villains. Seeing the villains all gathered up, Iron Man quickly landed as the Avengers did the same on the other side of the room, along with Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Riku. The armored Avenger's next orders were very simple and even easier to agree with. "All right, team, I want this scum out of my house right now."
Hearing that made Riku turn between the armored hero and his best friend before he asked, "Wait, this is his house?" When Sora just nodded in response, Riku grinned a little more as he said, "I think I might be starting to officially like these guys."
"I figured you would," Sora grinned in response, and the two then joined the rest of the Avengers in charging forward so that they could engage the villains.
"Destroy them all," Zemo hollered as the Masters of Evil met the heroes' charge with their own, and just like that, the battle had erupted anew, but this time, with the Avengers not only at full strength, but also outnumbering the Masters thirteen to seven.
Eventually, the battles had spread to encompass the entirety of the sublevels as Iron Man and Thor battled it out with Wonder Man in the Quinjet hangar, resulting in Simon getting bashed into the pool of water below them, while Crimson Dynamo worked to blast Black Panther in Iron Man's armory, only for the Wakandan king to evade every single shot that was fired. Eventually, Wasp found her way into the armored Russian's helmet through the crack that T'Challa had made earlier, with stingers charged, and she admitted, "This is gonna hurt, and I won't lie to you, I'm kinda glad."
The second she said that, Janet blasted Dynamo right in the head with her stingers as charged up to almost maximum, and when the blast struck, Dynamo could only grunt in pain before he dropped to the ground like a heavy, dead weight, much to Wasp's satisfaction. She did not like being the first Avenger to be ambushed by these creeps, or how she ended up being used as a hostage so that they could capture Yuffie. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Giant-Man were facing off with Executioner in the training room, and while neither of them were in the same weight-class as Skurge, that did not stop them from delivering a very easy defeat to the Asgardian axe-wielder. Even though he would not admit it, Hank did get a bit of satisfaction from flattening Executioner like a bug under his hand, but it was understandable since the guy had blasted him in the face with a fireball the last time they met. They were not the only ones fighting in that area though, as Yuffie and Spider-Woman were hard at work trading blows with Ghost in the hallway just outside.
Ghost was proving to not be an easy opponent for the two girls, but they were not giving her many chances either, as Gwen was able to pick up on when Ava was going to attack, even while she was invisible thanks to her Spider-Sense. Sure, she had to blindfold herself with her webs so that she could better listen to the sixth senses, a tactic that Peter had told her he had once used against Mysterio, but it was not like she could really rely on her eyes to know when Ghost was going to attack for the most part. Plus, Yuffie was not complaining about having someone with a sixth sense for danger backing her up, and it also made it easier for her to have a quick chat about what she considered a very important matter.
"So where were you guys all this time? Not having a pizza while playing catch up with Sora's buddy, I hope," Yuffie asked as she tossed some small shuriken at Ghost, only mentally curse as the weapons passed right through Ava.
When Ghost attempted to counter attack, Spider-Woman jumped in and landed a hard kick to the phasing villainess's torso, before answering Yuffie's question. "No, we weren't. To be honest, we only just ran into Riku after fighting a massive army of Heartless that spanned across a fraction of Lower Manhattan, including a big boss one."
"No way," Yuffie gasped in shock. "You fought an army that big and didn't think to call the rest of us?!"
"Well don't look at me. It was Sora's idea. He figured that it would be better to keep you guys out of this for your own safety or something," Spider-Woman shrugged. She then noticed that Ghost had drawn her pistol and was now firing on them, thanks to her Spider-Sense, and she immediately jumped to the side to avoid getting hit, letting Yuffie toss her large shuriken at Ava.
The weapon passed through Ghost, but then she ended up becoming solid again a little too soon, as Yuffie was not aiming to hit Ava with the weapon. She just needed to make an opening for when she rushed in and punched Ghost in the face as hard as she could. "We'll have to have a talk with him about that later."
"Agreed. I do not want to go through that again without serious backup," Gwen nodded in response.
Back in the Assembly Hall, Zemo found himself battling Captain America once more, but this time, the captain had the assistance of Spider-Man. Zemo would not lie and say that he had always believed the friendly neighborhood hero of New York to be nothing more than a child beneath his notice, but as he continued to fight, he was starting to see that he had underestimated him, as Spidey proved to be a very capable combatant. He was rough around the edges, to be sure, clearly self-taught, but combined with his impressive array of web gadgets and the super soldier's skills, Spider-Man was definitely proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Zemo could not help but take notes of this for in case he ever encountered the wall-crawler again in the future, and as a result of his mental note-taking, he could not stop the web-swinger from pulling sword away from him until it was too late.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play with sharp objects," Spider-Man quipped after webbing Zemo's blade to the floor.
"I get the feeling his parents didn't teach him a lot of things," Captain America commented in a rare moment of jest.
Zemo's temper flared a little more at the mockery, and as a result, he had immediately drawn his dagger so that he could attack the two in a blind rage, much like the one that Night Hunter was in as he crossed blades with Riku and Sora. "How?! How is it that a pair of nobodies have something that should rightfully be mine," Night Hunter demanded as he swung wildly at Riku and Sora both.
"Guess you haven't heard. The Keyblade chooses its wielder, not the other way around," Sora quipped as he parried another sword strike from Night Hunter before forcing him back with a quick blast of fire. He was still feeling pretty exhausted from earlier, but the trip back to the mansion seemed to be plenty of time for him to recover at least a little bit. Not enough to rapidly cast spells like he had been earlier, but just enough for when it mattered most.
"And from what I can see, it doesn't look like any Keyblade would choose you," Riku finished for his friend as he took the opening Sora gave him to lunge forward and pin Night Hunter's blade down long enough for him to punch the helmeted villain in the face and then elbowing him right after.
Night Hunter just snarled at the two, but then took notice of how Amora was struggling to stay ahead of Hulk as he rampaged across the labs in an attempt to smash her, and when he turned again to see Captain America and Spider-Man knock Zemo halfway across the room, he came to only one conclusion. "We're not winning this one, Zemo. It's time to go."
Zemo glared at the boy for thinking he could give him orders, but it was not like he could argue with the brat with a distorted voice. Realizing this, Zemo looked to the blonde Asgardian and shouted, "Enchantress, we are leaving!"
The minute the villains' leader had shouted that, Enchantress immediately summoned as much of her remaining magical power as she needed and teleported every one of the Masters of Evil out of the mansion to safety, some just as they were about to be dealt a finishing blow by their opponents, such as herself. Before he vanished, Night Hunter glared at Sora and Riku through his mask, and promised, "Next time, Keybearers."
Upon seeing that they had driven the villains out of the Avengers' home, Spider-Man just had to joke, "And stay out!"
The following early morning, everyone was gathered together in the lounge, resting and recovering from the fight with the Masters of Evil. They had all suffered more than their fair share of bumps and bruises, as Wasp could attest to as she held an icepack to her black eye, while Yuffie kept one of the back of her head where Ghost had hit her, but none of them were any worse for wear. Thankfully if anyone had been hurt more than that, Sora was now able to heal them all up quite well, but they were still a bit concerned about why his rapid use of magic the previous night had caused him to end up so tired in the first place. Add in the fact that he had fought an army of Heartless with only Spider-Man and Spider-Woman as his backup, and the Avengers did not hesitate to chew him out a little, some more so than others, namely Janet, Hank, Steve, and Tony. They did appreciate that he only did it because he wanted to avoid any of them getting hurt by the dark creatures, but they still had to point out that they had signed up for that type of thing the minute they became superheroes and a team.
On the bright side though, they were glad to see that Sora had finally found one of his missing best friends, and that said friend was apparently a Keyblade wielder as well. Riku admitted that he did not know as much magic as Sora seemed to though, but that did not seem to matter all that much to Sora. He was just glad to have his best friend back with him, and he was not the only one who was glad to see someone had returned to their side at last. "So, when did you get back from Wakanda," Janet asked Hank as she turned to him, seeing that he looked pretty down ever since the fight had ended.
Hank did not seem to say anything in reply to her, and Janet had a very good idea what was bothering him. Before she could ask about it though, Hawkeye had dropped down on the sofa next to her with a groan, and said, "You know, I'm not so sure I want to be part of a team I have to rescue every week."
"Perhaps they will elect you team leader now," T'Challa joked, but it seemed that it went right over Barton's head.
"Really? You think," Hawkeye asked excitedly.
"No way! I don't know if it escaped your notice, but if anyone saved this team last night, it was Sora and your friendly neighborhood spider-heroes over here," Peter disputed.
"He's right, you know. You guys would've been toast without us," Sora agreed with a smile while resting his hands behind his head.
Before anyone could argue with the two boys, seriously or otherwise, Tony finally interrupted, having finally had enough about the big questions that had been bugging him since the whole thing started. "Okay, stop. Everyone stop! Does anyone know what that was all about?"
"Our enemies wish vengeance upon us," Thor then stated, almost as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Defeat does not sit well with some."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Spider-Man moaned as he remembered all the times that his enemies had escaped and then teamed up to try and take revenge on him.
"I'm not so sure," Captain America argued. "Zemo…he seemed so certain of what he was doing. Like it was going to put the world right in his hands."
"How," Tony asked.
"He said someone had promised it to him," Steve then revealed.
"Not to mention it seems like a pretty big coincidence that these guys just happened to attack us right when Sora's dealing with an army of Heartless," Yuffie pointed out.
"You think that they're somehow working with the Heartless," Janet asked.
"Well to be fair, Night Hunter has shown that he can command them better than all the rest, including Enchantress, so it is possible," Sora reasoned. "What I want to know is who that other girl was. The one in white that could walk through walls."
"Her name is Ava Starr," Hank revealed to the group in a somber voice. "Her parents were former associates of mine until I caught them…doing something that they shouldn't have been doing. They later swore revenge on me and decided that they would push forward with what they were doing with my work at the time, and it ended badly. I'd thought she had died with her parents until now."
"Ava Starr," Wasp whispered before her eyes went wide in recognition. "Hank, is she…"
"Yeah, the daughter of Elihas. I had a feeling you would remember," Hank informed his partner in crime fighting.
"Kinda hard to forget given what her father did," Janet pointed out with an expression of anger that none of the others had ever seen on her before.
"I don't care what those guys want to do, or how they plan on getting it done. Bring 'em all on. If they have anything to do with what happened to our world, then I plan on making sure that they pay the price for it," Riku promised.
Hearing the kid speak up immediately reminded everyone that he was here, and helped Janet's mood return to normal as she asked, "So Sora, mind finally giving us an official introduction at last?"
"Sure thing," Sora nodded with pride. He then wrapped one arm around Riku's shoulders as he said, "Avengers, this is my best friend, and one of the most obnoxious, egomaniacs on Destiny Islands, Riku Yoake."
"Hey, who're you calling an obnoxious egomaniac," Riku teased in return as he pushed Sora's arm off and grabbed him in a headlock, both of them smiling all the while.
Seeing the two best friends laughing and messing around with each other made all the others break out into a round of laughter as well, each of them happy for how Sora finally found one of his missing best friends, and somehow, they all knew that things were going to start looking up from here. That laughter soon ended though, when a strange circle of sparks suddenly erupted in the middle of the room, making everyone who was still armed and ready for action prepare for another attack. When the circle of sparks fully expanded, it deposited a black haired man with a well-trimmed beard into the room, and judging by his blue robes and red cape, they were all able to get a very wizard-like vibe off the guy.
They were all immediately thinking that this might be another villain, considering that the only magic-users they had encountered so far were either Thor, Sora, or someone from another world, until the man looked to one particular Avenger and smiled. "Sorry for taking so long to respond to your message, Hulk, but I was caught up in another battle against the dread Dormammu and only just returned," the wizard explained.
Nearly everyone was immediately left confused by more than half the things that this stranger just said, and their bewilderment only grew when Hulk grinned a little and asked, "What, did that flame brain actually give you trouble this time, or did you just misplace your lucky cloak?"
Surprisingly, the red cloak that the wizard was wearing actually sprang off the man's shoulders and zipped over to Hulk in order to slap him upside the head. "You know it doesn't like it when you make fun of it," the man grumbled as he waved for the cloak to return to him.
"Uh Hulk, who is this," Tony interrupted right when the big guy was starting to growl at the offending cloth.
"Oh, my apologies. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Hulk is an old acquaintance of mine from long ago, and he recently called to inform me that you have a particularly interesting member of your team that could use some tutoring in the way of his magic powers," the wizard finally introduced himself. He then turned to the two youngest boys in the room and finished, "Now then, what was this I heard about a new Keyblade wielder being on this world, and why is it that I've actually found two as opposed to the one that I was informed of?"
While the heroes were celebrating their victory and having a little meet-and-greet, a bright flash of light had suddenly illuminated Arnim Zola's lab as the Masters of Evil appeared before the scientist, clearly beaten and defeated. "I told you not to underestimate them," Zemo growled to the others.
"And you didn't account for Panther and Hawkeye," Abomination immediately retorted. "Not to mention helmet boy's little distraction didn't keep the Key-brat from interfering like he said it would."
"I said that it would keep him out of the way long enough for us to finish the others, and if in failing that, he would be too tired to really make any difference," Night Hunter corrected with a growl. "Do you really think that any of us could have accounted for a second Keyblade wielder appearing though?"
"Well what about Spider-Man and his new partner? Does someone care to explain how they ended up in the middle of all that, or even when the wall-crawler even got himself a partner," Ghost angrily demanded.
It seemed as though things were going to erupt in a spectacular fashion amongst the Masters of Evil, one that would have likely brought an end to the villainous alliance before it had really had a chance to begin, until Enchantress stood up, straightened her small crown, and softly declared, "Enough. It doesn't matter. None of it does, for it is all a game, and you've played your parts well."
Enchantress then gestured for Night Hunter to follow her, and the two both left the room for the one that Amora had claimed for herself, which Executioner moved to stand guard over not even a second after the door had closed behind them. The daggers that were being stared into their backs from the rest of their "teammates" did not seem to matter too much to either villain, because right now, they had a report that they needed to give to the true mastermind behind all of this. With a simple wave of her hand and mentally recited incantation, Amora called forth a communication spell, and smirked when she saw the person on the other end even as she reported, "The pieces are in place, my lord."
"Excellent, Enchantress. Despite the failings of our allies on other worlds, it is good to know that at least something is going well on Midgard," Loki grinned from his end of the spell. He then looked to Night Hunter and asked, "And what about you, my friend? Were you just as successful?"
"Of course, Loki," Night Hunter replied. "The fools don't suspect a thing."
"Good," Loki grinned in return. "Now, I'd disperse some more Heartless among this world to locate the Keyhole if I were you, but make sure to keep a majority of them in New York for now. Once you've finished, journey to Agrabah. It would seem that our vizier friend could use a little extra assistance in his own endeavors."
Night Hunter nodded in return, and then opened a dark portal of his own so that he could carry out his assignments. Not that he really cared too much for the goals of Loki, Enchantress, or even the vizier that the trickster had mentioned. He was only in this for one thing, and he would get what he desired. It was all a matter of time.
AN: Okay, we've got a lot to go over this time around. Firstly though, let's just get right down to what I consider to be a really big thing. If you're having a hard time picturing Sora, Gwen, and Peter's fight against the Heartless, just think of the Battle of 1000 Heartless, mix it together with the Battle of New York from the Avengers movie, add in a Heartless boss and Riku's surprise appearance in Traverse Town in the first Kingdom Hearts game, and there ya go. Simple, yet pretty epic when you think about it, even if we did not go into incredibly extensive detail.
Next up is...
Yuffie: Hey, hold on! I thought you said Maleficent wasn't going to appear here!
AN: And she didn't. At least not as herself. In case you weren't paying attention, that was just Enchantress in disguise, so really, Maleficent just made a cameo appearance. This was mainly because I couldn't think of anyone else that she could disguise herself as to get your attention like how she had disguised herself as Whirlwind to get Wasp's.
Speaking of the Masters of Evil, yeah, I've added the MCU version of Ghost to their line-up. My reasons, I needed to add at least one other member to the group so that they would have a counter for Yuffie. I already gave the Night Hunter to match Sora, so I needed one more person. Ava Starr AKA Ghost seemed like the perfect fit. And look at that, she's got a bit of history with Ant-Man and Wasp. Just what could that be, you may ask, and why does it seem to cause such a mood change in Janet? More will be revealed on that later, but I will let you all use your imaginations on it for now.
The next big thing to mention would have to be that, hooray! Doctor Strange has finally arrived, and he's now able to give Sora those long overdue magic lessons. About time, right? You'd think he was as hard to reach as the Fantastic Four with how long it took him to show up. More on that in the next chapter.
And speaking of surprise arrivals, look who's here: Riku! But wait! Riku's not only wielding the Keyblade of Heart, but he's also fighting Night Hunter along with Sora?! What is going on here?! lyokoMARVELanime, what gives?! We all thought that Riku was Night Hunter!...Yeah, I know that's what you're all thinking, but I'm not telling you guys anything about that. I did say earlier on that something would happen that would make you wonder about that, didn't I? Speaking of Night Hunter, I guess you guys have a pretty good idea as to where we'll see him next based on that conversation he and Enchantress had with Loki at the end there, right? Too bad we're not going to hop and carpet and fly just yet. First thing's first. Sora and Riku have both gotta get trained up a little more in their magic abilities, and as you're all about to see, that's all going down next chapter.
Riku: Hey, I got a quick question. Where did you get the idea for my last name in this story?
AN: Oh, I used Google Translate to look up Japanese translations for various words, and I ended up going with the one that means Breaking Dawn, or simply dawn. You know, because of Riku's whole road to the dawn thing that he eventually gets later in his journeys through the worlds, and I'm not talking about the Keyblade either.
Now, if that's all cleared up, I think it's high time we move Onto the Preview!...
Sora and Riku are reunited, and just in time for their first magic lesson under the tutelage of Doctor Strange. Not that such a thing will be easy, given how much of a death trap his own house is. Add in other magical realms and a former mystic of his predecessor out for revenge, and the boys may start thinking they might have bitten off more than they can chew by accepting Strange's offer for magic tutelage. At the very least, there's a chance that they may consider looking for another teacher or at least a different location for the lessons if they survive the nightmares that seem to be plaguing their time in the Sanctum Sanctorum. Things are going to get very magical indeed, in the next thrilling chapter.
Yeah, we about to enter the crazy world of Doctor Strange and his magic troubles next time, but for now...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon, fellow true believers!