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Chapter Text

A cab pulled up just outside of the main entrance of Stark Tower to let out a passenger who was finally returning home after five years away. He wasn’t a soldier returning from war or a prodigal son coming home for redemption. He was Ron Stoppable: former sidekick of Kim Possible, a student of the Middleton High graduating class of 2007, multi-millionaire, Japan-trained ninja, and the current Iron Fist.

“That’ll be twenty bucks, mac.” said the cab driver with a thick new yorker accent and a slight smell of cheap cigars on his breath.

Ron fumbled through his wallet for the cash and handed it to the cabbie. “Hey, thanks for–”

The cabby drove off before the returnee could finish.

“--Driving me here,” Ron finished. “Mom was right, everyone is in a rush in the big city.” 

“Rude!” squealed Rufus as he crawled out of Ron’s pocket and climbed up his shoulder.

“You said it, buddy! But I still need you to keep hiding in my pocket. There’s no telling how these rich types will react to seeing you.”

Despite his limited capacity for them, Rufus gave Ron the most deadpan look before complying with his request.

“Thanks, buddy.”

Ron then turned around from his spot on the sidewalk to look up at Stark Tower in slight awe.

I can’t believe dad actually got a job working for TONY FREAKING STARK of all people! Wade used to go on and on about the guy’s weapons design innovations…or about how he could never hack into any of his mainframes. Actually, it’s been five years since I’ve seen Wade. Maybe he finally pulled it off!

Ron made his way into Stark Towers, heading straight for the receptionist’s desk. He got weird looks from the staff present in the lobby but paid them no mind. He was here to see his father again.

Ron made it to the receptionist and as he was about to speak, the receptionist, a professional but young-looking black woman, held up a hand to stop him from interrupting her oh-so-important phone call with whoever was on the other end of her personal phone.

Ron tried to speak once more, but the receptionist just turned around and ignored him.

It’s better to just let her finish her call. Rushing her will probably just get security called on me…

Ron did the mature thing and just waited for the woman to finish. It took a few minutes but eventually, the receptionist finished her call and turned to Ron. “how may I help you…” she looked the returnee up and down derisively, “...sir?”

Ignore the attitude, Ron.

“Yeah, my name’s Ron Stoppable. I’m here to see my father, Donald Stoppable.”

The look the receptionist gave Ron was derisive and pitiable. “Look…sir, if you’re going to come in here and run some sort of long-lost relative con then you should probably take a few things into consideration.” the receptionist held up her left hand while placing her right index finger on one of her fingers. “For starters, try to make yourself look presentable. You look like a bum, which you clearly are. Second, Mr. Stoppable doesn’t have a son, he has an Asian baby girl that he and his wife adopted. If he already had a son why would he adopt a baby?”

This girl was starting to touch on some sensitive subjects, but Ron kept his cool. “Because, for all intents and purposes, I was a happy accident my parents weren’t expecting. When they decided to have kids again, adopting was easier considering their ages.”

“A likely story.”

And that is what I get for sharing, whatever. “Are you not even going to check the system or something? He should have notified someone that I was coming.”

“I don’t need to check the system, I know I’m correct. Now please take your leave or I will be forced to call security.” unbeknownst to Ron, the receptionist already pressed a button to call security.

Are you kidding me right now? “Look, can you just call up to his office? I’m sure he can clear all of this up.”

Before Ron could get an answer, a stern voice interrupted him. “Come on, mac. Just make this easier on everyone and come along quietly.” in a split second, Ron looked behind himself to see a pair of beefy security guards coming up behind him. One was reaching out to him with a pair of handcuffs while the other was hanging back.

Before the guard could put the cuffs on him, Ron forced the guard to over-extend while snatching the cuffs out of his hands to then use them to lock one cuff around the guard’s wrist while the other is around the railing of the receptionist's desk.

Ron stood back from the captured guard while playfully tossing the handcuff keys he somehow managed to swipe from his person. “Now how about we all calm down? Ma’am, all I’m asking is that you call up my dad’s office. He can prove who I say I am.”

“Hands above your head!” the other guard was now aiming at Ron. His shot was lined up directly with Ron and the other guard who was directly behind him. This thought was not lost on the young man.

Ron tried to slowly approach the  guard.“Okay, you might want to be careful where you’re aiming that thing dude, you could–”

BZZT, ZAP!!!

The guard fired his taser gun, but with an expert dodge that no one was expecting to see from him, the projectile missed Ron completely and hit the restrained first guard at center mass.

“And that’s why I was telling you to be careful!” Ron rushed over to the convulsing guard and with a faint glow in his fist, yanked out the prongs of the taser. “There. You should be okay now, dude.”

Turning his attention back to the receptionist, while still having the taser prongs in his hand, Ron continued to politely ask her to fulfill his request. The unfazed guard still holding the trigger, however, decided to try and capitalize on his target's distraction by sending another surge through the trigger mechanism to the prongs Ron was still holding in his hand.

It did nothing.

“Okay, Mamacita. Things have escalated a little. I’ve done my best not to harm anyone while defending myself. Just call up my dad’s office, I’m sure he or his secretary will clear up this misunderstanding and we can all walk away from this with a laugh and maybe I can get your number?” Ron flashed a cheezy grin as he tried to be disarmingly charming but all the receptionist did was duck under the desk as more security guards showed up to apprehend Ron.

This is getting ridiculous! Ron thought as the new guards came at him.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Bonnie I would really appreciate it if you came to your sister’s wedding this year. You skipped out on Lonnie’s the last time. Can you really not make it?” asked Tonnie Rockwaller, the mother of Bonnie and her two older sisters.

For all of her embarrassing antics and obliviousness, Bonnie still loved her mother dearly. This is why it was difficult for her to lie about not being able to get a break from work to attend family functions like weddings.

Believe me, mom, I would love to go but if Connie and Lonnie are going to be there flaunting their oh-so-perfect lives and successful careers in my face then I’d rather spend the weekend drinking alone . While these thoughts ran through Bonnie’s mind, she wouldn’t dare say them aloud and especially not to her mother of all people. So she went with something else.

“Sorry, mom. The company is very busy this year. Especially after Mr. Stark decided to take the company in a new direction. It’s actually been murder on the actuarial department. As the head of the actuarial department’s secretary, I have to be available at all times.” That was a lie. Mr. Stoppable was quite generous with vacations and PTO, but Bonnie would be damned if she was going to put up with her sisters’ bullshit for an entire weekend. At least Mr. Stark’s midlife crisis gave her the perfect excuse.

“I guess if things are really that hectic at work, then there isn’t much you can do about it. I’ll make sure your sisters send you some pictures of the wedding so that you at least get to see it.”

Oh, joy…

“Thanks, mom, but I’ve got to get going now. My break is almost over and I’m about to walk into Stark Tower.”

“Okay. talk to you later, Bon-Bon! Love you.”

“Love you too, mom,” said Bonnie as she hung up the phone.

SIGH

Okay, Rockwaller, put on your game face. You can’t show weakness in the corporate world. Bonnie stepped through the threshold of Stark Tower, completely ready to get back to climbing the corporate ladder , but what greeted her upon stepping into the lobby was a headache and a half as well as a blast from the past.

In the middle of the lobby, several security guards were being dealt with or had already been dealt with by a scruffy-looking guest with messy facial hair and familiar blonde locks. His clothes were raggedy and on his feet, he was wearing worn-out straw sandals. The kind you would see in Asia. Underneath all of that though, at least what Bonnie could briefly glimpse, his body was well-toned and defined.

Then Bonnie saw something that made her relive her high school years in fast forward. Peaking out slightly from the pocket of this scruffy-looking man was a naked rat-looking thing.

“No fucking way…” Bonnie thought to herself. “Mr. Stoppable did say he had some family visiting the office today…”

Bonnie then looked toward the receptionist on shift and then started putting two and two together. “So it’s Monica. Okay, I see the problem.” Bonnie immediately made a B-line for the receptionist, ignoring the not-melee happening along the way.

“Monica, tell me what happened,” asked Bonnie.

“Oh, Ms. Rockwaller!” Bonnie could see in the woman’s eyes that she was one the last person the receptionist wanted to see. “You see, this homeless bum–”

Bonnie cut off Monica right there. “You mean Mr. Stoppable’s son?” Monica had forgotten that Bonnie was Mr. Stoppable’s personal secretary. “Here’s a new game, tell me when I’m wrong. He came in dressed like a bum on the street, you judged a book by its cover and refused to double-check with either me or Mr. Stoppable. You took matters into your own hands and tried to urge him to leave. When that failed you doubled down and called security which leads us to now.” Bonnie gestured to Ron making a fool of the Stark security team. “Where we have a department head’s son making our security look like amateurs. What I don’t understand is why this is happening. Mr. Stoppable sent several notices to the front desk that he was expecting company, so this should not be happening. Oh let me guess, you don’t read work emails? Even if they’re from the higher-ups?”

Monica’s silence was telling.

“I thought so. I’ll be taking control here. You can go home for the day. I’ll have Rachel fill in for the rest of your shift.”

“But–”

“Go home, Monica!” with the last order delivered emphatically, Monica got up and left. She hoped and prayed to god that she still had a job here.

With Monica gone, Bonnie focused on the next order of business. “Stoppable!” Bonnie called out. She immediately got a hold of Ron’s attention as he turned around to face her. Contrary to what she was expecting, Ron’s expression lit up when he saw her.

Wasn’t expecting to see that, thought Bonnie.

“Bon-Bon!” shouted Ron.

Definitely didn’t want anyone else to hear that! Thought Bonnie angrily as she moved to shut up Ron while also calling off the guards. All the while she had a brilliant blush on her cheeks.

“How have you–” before Ron could finish, Bonnie clasped her hand over Ron’s mouth.

“Zip it, Stoppable!” Bonnie then turned her sights on the guards that were approaching Ron with zip ties. “You lot can go back to your posts. I can handle things from here.”

The head guard protested. “But he’s trespassing, Ms. Rockwaller. We need to apprehend him and remove him from the premises.”

With her hand still over Ron's mouth, Bonnie shut down the guards. “He’s the son of the actuarial department head and he’s been expecting his son for some time now. Do you want to be the one to explain to Mr. Stoppable why his son was being detained?”

The security chief decided to relent. “No, I don’t…Ms. Rockwaller.” the head guard turned to his subordinates and ordered them back to their posts.

With the commotion over, the onlookers went back to their own business, leaving Bonnie to finally deal with Ron. She finally let go of his mouth. “Hey, Bonnie! How’ve you been?”

Bonnie ignored his inquiry and dragged him off to the executive elevator.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron stood in silence with Bonnie in the elevator. It was uncomfortably quiet. Ron felt like he had done something wrong but didn’t know what he did. Being who he was, he decided to just ask. “Did I do something wrong back there, Bonnie? Everything I did to those guards falls well within the  bounds of self-defense, so–”

“That’s not what I’m mad about, you colossal moron,” said Bonnie in a frosty tone.

Not taking the hint, Ron pried further. “Then what are you mad about?”

Bonnie growled out her response. “You called me Bon-Bon in front of my peers and colleagues! I’ve gone through a lot of trouble to make sure that nobody finds out about that embarrassing nickname and then you show up out of the blue and ruin all of that work! I actually had half a mind to call the police and have them escort you off the premises for that!”

Ron’s expression grew apologetic. “Oh, well I’m sorry about that. I’ll keep my mouth shut next time I get the idea to call you that.”

“Yeah, well whatever! Leave it to Kimmie’s little boyfriend to drudge up one of my old shames.” Bonnie turned her back to Ron and planned on ignoring him for the rest of the elevator ride, but being the type of person that he is, Ron felt the need to keep talking.

It just so happens that what he was about to talk about would be of interest to Bonnie.

“Did you really have to bring up Kim?” asked Ron, sourly.

“What?”

“Kim, did you really have to talk about her? I was actually in good mood for a bit there.” sensing his buddy’s turmoil, Rufus made an appearance to comfort Ron.

“There, there…”

“Thanks, Rufus,” Ron said, graciously.

“Pfft hahahahaha!” Bonnie seemingly burst into laughter at Ron’s expense.

“What so funny, Bonnie?” said Ron, nonplussed by his old classmate’s behavior.

“You are! Let me guess, trouble in paradise?”

“Actually, we broke up…”

“That’s even better! I guess little miss perfect can’t keep a man either, hahaha!” 

Ron didn’t take kindly to that. “Well, what about you and Junior? Last I checked, the guy was loaded and from what I remember of you from high school you wouldn’t shy away from someone wanting to pamper you.”

“We…broke up…”

“And you were laughing at me,” Ron said incredulously.

“It’s not my fault! I wanted him to grow up a little and finally be a man but he stubbornly refused to!” Bonnie defended. “What about you, Stoppable? What happened with you and Kimmie-cub? Did she finally realize that she could trade up to something better?”

“We had a fight…”

“Ha! I’ll bet! Let me guess, the stress of college life got to you both and you took it out on each other?”

“I actually didn’t go to college…”

“What?” said Bonnie.

“I didn’t go to college. I felt bad about Kim sandbagging her future prospects by going to a mediocre school like the one that accepted me so I made the decision to follow her to the school of her choice. She would attend college and I would work in the same city where she attended. It worked…for a while. Near the end of our second semester, Kim got scouted by S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Wait, that S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“Yeah, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. It was everything that she wanted to be.”

“So what was the problem?” asked Bonnie. “You and Kimmie were practically attached at the hip and if this was so important to her, I doubt you would try to stop her from pursuing it.”

“You're right, I wouldn’t have stopped her. Hell, I would have encouraged KP to follow her dreams. The problem was the fact that she didn’t talk to me about any of this stuff until she’d already accepted the invitation. When I asked her why she didn’t at least consult me about it, not that I think she needs my permission to do stuff, she said that she couldn’t spend the rest of her life in the minor leagues with me.”

The fact that Kim would say that to Ron of all people actually shocked Bonnie. 

“After she said that, we had a huge fight. The biggest we ever had. I said some things, she said some things and it ended with me being banned from the campus. She broke up with me over text two days later. The stuff I kept in her dorm room was delivered back to me through the mail. I haven’t seen her since the fight.”

“Is that why you went on that trip to Japan?” Bonnie asked.

“?”

“I know about it because your dad keeps mentioning it. Especially when he started sending reminders that he would be expecting your arrival today.”

“Oh, well okay. To answer your question, I did take the trip just to get away from everything. I figured that if Kim was going to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. then I would finish up my training at the Yamanouchi school.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just want to have a rebound fling with that Yori girl?” Bonnie asked teasingly. She remembered how the foreign girl seemingly had a thing for Ron. Now that she thought about it, there were a few girls that had a thing for Ron. Wait, was Stoppable actually a catch?

“Nah, by the time I went back there, Yori had already completed her training. She was out in the world living her life. Long story short, I ended up finishing my training in about six months.”

“If it took you that little time, why didn’t you come back until five years later?”

“I still didn’t want to deal with the Kim situation and the master recommended I train with the masters of K’un Lun. Fast forward five years and I’ve mastered everything they could teach me there and they ended up declaring me their champion: The Iron Fist.” as a demonstration, Ron channeled his Chi throughout his body, making his body glow with yellow light. It filled the entire elevator with a brilliant light.

“So what now? You’re like that glowing green chick Kim was always fighting?” Bonnie was skeptical about all the martial arts mumbo jumbo but it was clear to her that Ron had some sort of power now. Guess the world really is getting weirder, what with that giant green guy running around and Captain America literally coming back from the dead. For all I know, Kim’s probably got powers now, too.

“Fast forward to this year and I finally tell my dad that I’m coming home and he decides to blindside me with the info that he and mom no longer live in Middleton. Now we live in one of the richest parts of New York City. At first, I thought he and mom were dipping into my Bueno Nacho trust fund, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.” Ron shrugged in a non-commital fashion. Ron had grown used to the fact that his parents will never consult him when they make life-changing decisions without his consent or knowledge. It didn’t mean he liked it. “And now, I’m here on this elevator with you about to see my parents again for the first time in five years.”

While Ron finished his story, Bonnie keyed in on a particular part of his ending. “You still have money left over from that one time in high school?”

Ron turned to her and said. “I’m still getting royalty checks from Bueno Nacho LLC. I’ll still be getting royalties from them until 2014 when the terms of the contract will be renegotiated.”

Bonnie looked at Ron with a twitch in her eye. “What’s your net worth right now?”

“I don’t know. That’s one of the reasons I’m here to see my parents. That and just a long overdue reunion.” Ron thought about how long he’s been away. He thought about the last time he saw someone he knew from before his fight with Kim. Man, I wonder how old Hana is by now. She’s gotta be, what? Five or six years old by now?

With Ron thinking about his imminent family reunion, Bonnie was…getting ideas. He’s definitely not bad looking anymore, especially with those muscles I saw earlier. Kim’s not even in the picture now so I don’t have to worry about her picking a fight over him and from the sound of things, he hasn’t been in a relationship since they broke up. He seems to have finally grown up and the mole rat isn’t the worst thing to put up with in a relationship. Taking all of that into consideration, he’d be prime real estate…!

What are you thinking, Rockwaller? You’ve moved passed this! You’re no longer a golddigger! You’re a self-sufficient member of society. A high-ranking employee of one of the largest financial juggernauts in the world ! You don’t need to be planning on how to get a guy wrapped around your finger! Besides, he probably thinks I’m a bitch after how I acted with him in high school, anyway!

DING

The elevator opened up to reveal a well-furnished and tasteful secretary’s office that led to a department head’s office. There was a desk to the right of the entryway of the elevator. It was stylishly designed and had a great view of the city skyline. Everything on the desk was proprietary, from the phone to the computer, it was all made by Stark Industries. 

Bonnie made her way in and took a seat at the desk, her desk. She pressed a button on the phone’s base and spoke into it. “Mr. Stoppable, your son is here to see you. Shall I send him in?” before Bonnie could get an answer, the door swung open to reveal Donald Stoppable. Ron’s father.

After Ron’s five years away, the man looked different. He was graying at the sides and his glasses seemed thicker. No doubt a result of age affecting his eyesight. “My boy’s finally back home!” Donald swept his boy up in a big hug. Five years ago, Donald would have been able to get his boy off the ground, ever so slightly. Now, the man couldn’t even manage that.

“You’ve gained weight,” said Donald.

“I’ve put on muscle,” corrected Ron.

“Muscle is still weight.”

“Yeah, but when I say I’ve put on twenty pounds of muscle it sounds more impressive than saying I’ve gained weight.”

“Fair, fair. Come, we can catch up in my office. We should probably call your mother and Hana!”

“Lead the way.” Ron followed his father but not before giving a small wave to Bonnie who only rolled her eyes in response. Shrugging, Ron followed his father.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Oh, my baby’s finally back home!” shouted Janine, Ron’s mother. His father had called her up on Zoom. Like, his father, Janine had gained a little weight and had collected a few grey hairs. “And you look so handsome now! You’re the spitting image of your grandfather!”

That’s a weird comparison . “Mom, wouldn’t it make more sense to say I’m the spitting image of dad?” asked Ron.

“No, son, she has the right of it,” Donald corrected. “You take more after your mother’s side of the family than you do mine. I feel like that would be obvious since you have your mother’s height.”

“Enough about that, let me go get Hana. I’m sure she would want to see you after all this time!” Janine left the video call for a moment to go find Ron’s younger sister. She quickly returned with the five-year-old bundle of joy in her arms. “Hana, do you remember who this is?”

“No,” said the little Asian girl.

Hearing that his little sister had forgotten him was quite the blow to Ron’s mood but what came next hurt even more. “Hana, this is your big brother, Ronald. He helped-”

“No! I didn’t want a big brother! I wanted a little brother! He’s too old to play with!” Hana got up and out of Janine’s grip and ran away. Ron assumed she was heading to her room, most likely to cry.

Ron’s mom looked back at him and his father. “I’m so sorry about this, sweetie. Hana’s been saying that she wants a sibling and we thought that you coming home would cheer her up. I guess we were wrong.”

Ron just rolled with the punches. “Why does she want a sibling so bad?”

Donald spoke up this time. “Hana has been experiencing some isolation among the other kids in her class. No one wants to play with her. Her teachers say that she spends most of her time alone during recess and she hardly interacts with the other kids.”

“We took her to see a specialist and they’re saying that Hana is gifted, exceptionally so.” Janine looked like a woman at her wit's end. “They say that her asking for a sibling is the solution her young mind came up with to solve her current dilemma. That doesn’t take into account that Hana doesn’t realize that we aren’t her biological parents and even if we were able to give her a sibling, they probably wouldn’t be like her.” Janine sighed. “I’m sorry, this probably isn’t what you wanted to deal with after returning home. I’ll let you and your father catch up while I go and try to help Hana.” Janine ended the Zoom call thereafter.

Ron didn’t know how to feel. For those five years that he was trying to run away from his issues, his baby sister was feeling alone and isolated. Some big brother he was.

“Since your mother and sister have their own issues to deal with right now, this gives us a chance to talk.” Donald caught his son’s attention. The boy needed it with where his mind was going.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Ron.

“How are you feeling?” the question was simple, yet Ron still misunderstood it.

“I’m feeling fine, dad. Better than fine, I’m in the best shape of my life.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Donald gave his son a knowing look but it seemed the boy was going to be stubborn. “You disappeared into Asia for five years. For some of those years, your mother and I weren’t even able to contact you. No one could. Not even Wade.” Ron really didn’t want to have this conversation but his father did and Ron respected his father so he let him speak. “All that because of a girl. So I’ll ask again, how are you feeling?”

“It feels weird being back here. I’m gone for five years and the world is a completely different place. Tony Stark is a superhero, Captain America is back, the giant green guy, that guy with the hammer out in New Mexico.”

“You’re still deflecting, son. I want to talk about what happened to you and Kim.”

Ron sighed in defeat. He told his father what happened that day. He told him about the fight, SHIELD, the break-up, everything. Ron even told his father about how apprehensive he was about meeting Kim again. How he was worried that his old friends had turned against him.

Donald did his best to alleviate those worries. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Donald said.

“What do you mean?”

“Outside of Kim, while you were gone, your friends asked about how you were doing and where you had been. Monique, Wade, The Twins, Felix, Zita, and even Dr. and Mrs. Lipsky?”

Ron was confused by the last pair of names. Lipsky. Lipsky… wait. “Dad, do you mean Drakken?” asked Ron in shock.

“Oh, yes that’s right. I forget that he used to go by that name back when he was a criminal.”

“And who is Mrs. Lipsky?”

“Oh, what was the name she used to go by? Shego?”

Kim and Ron knew that Drakken and Shego had gone straight, but they didn’t know that they had tried to reach out and reconnect. At least Ron didn’t. Kim probably did. It wasn’t like she literally disappeared off the face of the earth for four and a half years like him.

“Instead of focusing on the past, how about we move on to the present.” Donald stood up and headed for his desk where he grabbed his personal tablet.

“Let’s talk about your finances, shall we?” Donald punched in his pin and opened up some financial apps. Banking, the stock exchange, financial advisors, and apps of that sort. “First of all, take this.” Donald handed his son a phone. Ron looked at it quizzically. 

“This is the latest StarkTech brand phone. On it are several banking apps, financial advisory apps, and stock market apps. They’ll help you manage your wealth. If you need a more personal touch when handling your money, then you have open accounts with Well Fargo and JP Morgan Chase. I should also inform you that since you’re now basically a part of the one percent, you should keep your wealth spread out over several other accounts. Which I’ve taken the liberty of doing. I’ve also invested your money in several companies with great returns on investment.”

“Wait, dad, hold up a minute.”

“What’s wrong, son?”

“This is a whole lot to take in all at once. All I’m understanding from this is that I have a lot of money. How much do I have exactly?”

Donald took the phone that he had handed his son and opened up the banking app that monitored his accounts across several banks and showed him the number.

“I HAVE FIVE BILLION DOLLARS TO MY NAME?”

It would be an understatement to say that Ron was not expecting that amount of money.

Neither was Bonnie who heard Ron’s scream on the other side of the door.

It goes without saying that she began to reconsider her earlier choice.

____________________________________________________________________________

In another part of New York, a young man of Wakandan ancestry felt a pulse from the amulet that rested upon his chest.

Cub. An avatar of Shou-Lao has made its home here in New York. Be on your guard. They may be hostile.

The White Tiger God Amulet that the young man received from his late grandmother stopped speaking and ceased its glow. 

The holder of this amulet, One Stewart “Sticky” Webb, held a hand over his chest to hide the glow from the rest of the barbershop that he frequented.

“...the things I do for you, grandma…” Sticky muttered to himself as he rose out of his seat to leave.

“Hey, where you going Sticky?” asked Pop, or Henry Hunter, the owner, and proprietor of Pop’s Barber Shop.

“Just remembered there’s something that I have to do. I’ll take a raincheck on that cut, though.”

“Alright, see ya ‘round.”

“See ya, Pop. You too, Cage.”

“Mhm,” hummed Luke Cage from the other end of the Shop.

Now out of the shop, Sticky began to converse with the White Tiger once again. “So where is this champion, you talked about? I might as well go and check them out. I’d rather not get blindsided if I can prevent it.”

“Follow your senses and they will guide you.”

“For once, could you not be cryptic and just tell me where to go? I don’t want to spend hours getting crossed up because of conflicting smells.”

“...”

“Fine,” said the amulet.

Through the amulet’s energies, Sticky began to see the trail of this “Shou-Lou Avatar” and began to trace its origin.

“Thank you. Now let’s get this hunt over with.”

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

As Ron walked through the streets of New York, his mind was still spinning from the news that his dad had hit him with.

He was a billionaire.

He had stock options.

He had a black card!

It was a lot for a normal guy to take in.

He needed to clear his head and he told his dad as much. Fortunately, Donald Stoppable still had work to do so Ron could get the seclusion that he wanted. He left Stark Tower to look for somewhere to eat.

He had done that an hour ago and was now lost in New York.

He found himself in some back alley with no one around. “How the hell am I going to find my way out of here?”

“You could just use the map function on your phone,” said a voice from behind Ron.

“Oh right, these smartphones have GPS! Thanks, dude!”

“No problem,” said the voice.

It took a minute before Ron realized that something was wrong. When he did, he slowly turned around to see a black man of average height with glasses and a do-rag.

“Hi,” said the black man with a genial wave. Ron waved back unsure of what was about to happen. “So I take it you’re the guy?”

“The guy? What guy? If this is some drug thing, I’m not your guy!” denied Ron. He watched as the black man’s expression morphed into one of confusion. 

“I mean are you the avatar of Shou-Lao? If not I’m gonna feel really stupid.”

“How do you know about the Shou-Lou?” the newcomer answered by reaching into his shirt and pulling out a piece of tiger-shaped jade.

“Is that a White Tiger Amulet?” asked Ron. “Are you a member of the Panther Cult?”

“What made you guess panther cult? They’re not the only people with connections to the White Tiger Spirit.”

Ron scratched the back of his head. “This is gonna sound kinda racist, but I thought since you’re black that…well…”

The stranger laughed off Ron’s nervousness. “Okay, yeah that’s a fair point. Let’s start over. My name’s Sticky Webb, a White Tiger conduit. The tiger sent me to look for you. I’m just here to make sure that you’re not some ass hole that’s gonna screw with things around here.”

“Dude, I wasn’t planning to start any kind of trouble. I just got back from a five-year trip through Asia and K’un-Lun. I’m still trying to get my feet under me. The last thing I’m worrying about is messing up the status quo by flagrantly flaunting my powers in public.”

Sticky quirked an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

It was Ron’s turn to look confused. “Weren’t you warning me away from overt public displays with my powers?”

“Well, yeah, in a sense. My main concern was you trying to take charge of New York’s magical community.”

Ron looked absolutely dumbfounded.

“You didn’t know about that, did you?”

Ron shook his head. “I mean, I knew about magical stuff “in general”, but I didn’t know that there was a legitimate community here in New York.”

Sticky tiredly rubbed his temples. “I guess I’ll just have to fill you in. You got anywhere to be right now? I don’t want to hold you up for too long.”

GRUMBLE

“I was actually looking for a place to eat.”

“Then what are you doing in a back alley?” Sticky looked at Ron like he had a second head.

“I…got lost,” said Ron.

“Bad with directions?” Sticky asked.

“Kinda.”

“Then come on. I know a place in Chinatown with great egg foo young.” Sticky turned around and began to head out of the alley. Ron seemed reluctant to follow.

“I really shouldn’t follow this guy,” whispered Ron, “for all I know, he could be running a scam on me.”

From up ahead, Sticky shouted, “Even if I was running a scam, how would I know about Shou-Lao?”

“...”

“Point taken!” Ron shouted as he followed Sticky.

____________________________________________________________________________

Bonnie sat at her desk as she went over and confirmed all of Mr. Stoppable's appointments for the next week. While it was “nice” seeing Ron and his pet rat thing again, she had to focus. Just because Mr. Stoppable was lenient didn’t mean that he would keep a slacker around.

While Bonnie got lost in her work, Mr. Stoppable stepped out of his office. “Bonnie, if you’re not too busy, I’d like to talk to you in my office.”

“Sure thing, sir.” Bonnie set up her screen saver and proceeded to join her boss. “What did you wish to talk…about…Mr…Stoppable?”

Waiting right there in her boss’s office was her mother and sisters. Well, they weren’t actually there. They were all on a Zoom call on Mr. Stoppable’s monitor.

“Hello, Bon-Bon!” Tonnie Rockwaller was a voluptuous Latina woman with curly brown hair, tan skin, and green eyes. Her beauty was something that each of her daughters inherited. And speaking of her daughters. 

“Hi~, Bonnie!” the twins Lorena and Concepcion, or Lonnie and Connie, waved at their little sister with smug grins from across the screen. Connie had wavy brown hair and blue eyes and dressed conservatively. She came into a lot of money some years back but no one knew how. She said it was from the stock market but that didn't explain where it came from. Lonnie had semi-straight blonde hair and tanned skin like the rest of the family. She was the focus of this weekend as she was the one getting married. The groom was some well-to-do politician.

Nothing good can come of my sisters Zoom calling my boss, thought Bonnie as she gave her sisters the worst stink eye she could muster.

“Bonnie, why didn’t you tell me that your sister Lorena was getting married this weekend? I would have surely given you the weekend off to attend such an important family function.”

Goddamit! This is the last thing that I want to deal with over the weekend!

Tonnie chimed in. “It’s a good thing that your sisters suggested that I call your boss directly to plead your case, sweety!” Bonnie’s sisters stuck their tongues out at her while no one else was looking.

Those fucking bitches! Is it too much to ask that they just leave me alone? It’s bad enough that their lives are better than mine but do they really have to make sure that I’m miserable as well?

“Don’t worry, Bonnie. You can take the rest of the day and the weekend off to attend the wedding. Don’t worry, I’ll even give you PTO to cover the hours you’ll miss.”

Bonnie ground her teeth in anger but hid it behind a smile. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

I think I might just kill these two bitches! 

“You’re quite welcome,” said Mr. Stoppable. He then had a thought. “Tell me, Ms. Rockwaller, is Bonnie allowed to bring a plus one?”

“I have everything set up in case she does. Why? Was there someone you had in mind?” Tonnie asked with a mischievous smile that only a well-intentioned meddling mom could put on.

“Yes, actually. My son Ronald is back in the States and I was hoping to get him to socialize a bit.”

“Ronnie’s back! Bonnie, why didn’t you tell me he was? He was such a sweet boy! I bet you’d be married to him right now had you not broken up with him back in high school for whatever reason.”

“MOM!”

Mr. Stoppable turned to Bonnie. “You and Ron dated?” he asked.

“We didn’t exactly date, we…” Bonnie really didn’t want to say to her kind boss that she started hanging out with his son just so he would buy her stuff with his Bueno Nacho money.

Connie and Lonnie didn’t have that problem, though.

“She whored herself out so she could get freebies,” said Lonnie. Embellishing her sister’s time with the aforementioned Stoppable.

“Honestly, I’m surprised the boy stuck with her for any amount of time. It’s not like she has much to contribute to a relationship.” Connie twisted the knife.

“Even the last guy, who was arguably her best bet, kicked her to the curb.” Lonnie curb-stomped the knife into Bonnie's sternum.

SLAM

Bonnie ran out of the office with tears in her eyes.

“Bye~, Bonnie~hahahaha!”

SLAP

SLAP

“OW!”

“What did I tell you about teasing your sister, mercilessly?” shouted Tonnie. She had slapped her daughters over the head with a slipper that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Tonnie turned to Mr. Stoppable with the intention of apologizing only to find the man missing.

“Where did he go?” she asked.

____________________________________________________________________________

Donald could recognize bullying quite easily. He also knew what it was like to be the family's black sheep. Donald had come from a family of policemen,  soldiers, first responders, firefighters, and detectives. Men of action. Not pencil pushers and brains.

Like he just witnessed with Bonnie, Donald was teased by his siblings and cousins for his interests and pursuits. They called him a wimp and a coward for being a ‘pencil jockey’ instead of having a profession that required ‘running headlong into danger.’

It’s safe to say that Donald had the last laugh, though. He had a six-figure salary, a penthouse apartment in New York, full benefits, a hefty retirement package, and a son who was set for life. For all intents and purposes, Donald had won the ‘pissing contest’ between himself and his family.

But right now, that was the least of his concerns. His secretary clearly needed some guidance.

“Bonnie?” said Donald. He looked around the office but didn’t find her. That is until he heard sniffling from the closet

The girl was on her knees and crying inside the closet. Donald went over and opened the door and found Bonnie with tears on her face and her mascara running. Donald knelt down to her level. “Bonnie?” he said once more.

“Oh! Mr. Stoppable!” Bonnie straightened herself out. She sniffled a little before addressing her superior. “I’m sorry that you had to see me like that. I’ll get back to work right away and–”

Donald placed his hands on Bonnie’s shoulders, startling her. “Bonnie.”

“Y-yes?”

“Your sisters torment you, don’t they?” asked the fatherly old man.

Bonnie wanted to protest. She wanted to just brush this entire thing under the rug and have things go back to normal. But something kept her from doing that. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Stoppable is one of the fairest bosses she’s ever had. Maybe it’s the fact that growing up without a father figure has caused her to latch on to the first positive male influence in her. Whatever it was, it made her want to say “Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“...yes.”

And they talked at length for around an hour, Bonnie got many things off her chest with someone that wouldn’t judge.

It was cathartic.

Soul cleansing.

Bonnie had never had a positive father figure in her life, but she was reasonably sure that Mr. Stoppable would fit the bill. Sure, Bonnie had a father but he was entirely absent from the girl’s life like Connie and Lonnie’s dad.

Bonnie barely even remembered the man’s name. It was Emil-something or other.

“So you’ve been dealing with this since you were a kid?” Donald asked.

“Yeah, Connie and Lonnie wouldn’t miss an opportunity to mess with me.”

“What I don’t understand is that if things were this bad at home then why didn’t you try to make friends outside of it?”

“...I’d rather not talk about that,” said Bonnie.

“Fine. fine. What do you plan to do about your sister’s wedding?” asked Donald.

“What else? Avoid it like the plague,” Bonnie said emphatically. The only reason the subject of her going was brought up was because her sisters wanted her there to be their punching bag. Bonnie lived in a gated community and worked for Stark Industries. Connie and Lonnie had no clearance for either so as long as that stayed the same, they wouldn’t be able to get to her.

“So you’re just going to let your sisters win?” asked Donald.

The question surprised Bonnie. “Yeah?”

“Bonnie, take it from someone who's been in the same situation, running away and hiding from family does not help in the slightest. You either make a stand or continue to be their punching bag for the rest of your life. So, what are you going to do?” asked Donald.

“But where am I even going to get a dress on such short notice? And who would I even take with me?”

“I mentioned Ron didn’t I? And if you need a dress, then I would recommend dropping by Monique’s Place. I hear her boutique’s become quite popular in recent months.”

“You’re really not going to let this go, are you?” asked Bonnie.

“No, I’m not.”

“Why are you so adamant about putting me together with your son?”

“Well, as a father, I want my son to be happy. I had to sit by and watch as he ran away from his problems because a girl broke his heart. I’ve also watched him grow up and I have seen the potential that he has inside himself even if he doesn’t see it himself.”

“I’ve also seen a strong and respectable young woman pick herself up by her bootstraps to make something of herself. I watched her start off at the bottom of the barrel in the mail delivery room and work her way up to being a department head’s secretary, all in the span of three years. I see that she’s strong of mind, capable, and practical. Just what my son needs to move forward.”

“Now what kind of father would I be if I didn’t mettle in my son’s love life, just a little?”

Bonnie was touched, she really was, but she couldn’t rush into a relationship. Especially one that would have as much baggage as a relationship between herself and the ex of her former high school nemesis.

“I appreciate the thought, Mr. Stoppable but I can’t just rush into a relationship. I appreciate that you think I’d be a good match for your son, but right now I’m just trying to be a better version of myself.”

“That’s understandable. Promise me that you’ll at least take him as your plus one to this wedding, and I’ll consider the matter settled.”

SIGH

“Okay, Mr. Stoppable,” said Bonnie. She acquiesced to the man’s request. She knew well enough that once her mom saw that Bonnie brought Ron, she’d try to force the two of them together. Bonnie hoped that by putting her foot down adamantly enough, she’d be able to squash this whole thing.

“Thank you, sweety. Now, you’ve probably got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it, so I’ll give today and the rest of the weekend off to do what you need to do. I’ll contact my son and tell him what’s going on.”

Because that’s totally how you hook up your son with your secretary. By ordering him to as his father.

“Alright, Mr. Stoppable.” 

“Here’s Monique’s number in case you decide to go with my earlier suggestion,” said Donald. While Donald walked away, Bonnie opened up her phone to make a call. She waited for the dial tone to pick up.

CLICK!

“Hello,” said the voice on the other end.

“Monique?”

“Bonnie? How do you have this number?” asked the afro-Latina.

“Mr. Stoppable gave it to me after he recommended you,” said Bonnie.

“Alright. Say no more. What do you need?” asked Monique.

“That’s it? You’re not going to ask questions? No quips? No snide remarks about our prior history?” asked Bonnie.

“Bonnie, it’s been five years since high school. You haven’t wronged me or my friends in any way since then and I like to think that time away from high school has done you some good. Not to mention, Mr. Stoppable essentially vouched for you so I have no reason to turn you down, so what do you need?”

Okay. Apparently, everyone grew a little after leaving high school…

“Long story short, I’m being forced to attend one of my bitchy sisters’ wedding and Mr. Stoppable wants me to go there and ‘make a stand’ to get them off my back.”

“Yeah, Kim did say something about your sisters being bitches,” said Monique as she reminisced about the old days. “What else?” asked Monique.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I doubt you showing up looking drop-dead gorgeous is going to be enough to get your sisters to back off, so what else do you have planned?”

It’s better to just say this now than deal with it when we actually get there.

“I’m bringing a date.”

“Who?”

“Stoppable?” said Bonnie like she wasn’t sure what Monique's response was going to be.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Bonnie, are you telling me that Ron’s back in the States?”

“Yeah?”

“And he’s your plus one?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay, I’m not letting you go. You are explaining how this came to be from start to finish!”

Bonnie immediately regretted calling Monique…

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron had followed Sticky to a restaurant called Genghis Connie’s. It was a Chinese place with a series of apartments situated above the shop. It was owned and operated by an old couple known as Connie and Jin Lin.

Ron and Sticky sat down to have some lunch while Sticky filled Ron in on the workings of New York’s magical community.

“So wizards are real?” asked Ron.

“They prefer to be called Sorcerers, but yeah,” Sticky said nonchalantly. “They kind of take it upon themselves to ‘police’ the magical workings of the world but they don’t go too overboard. Their main concern is magic and other extradimensional shenanigans.”

“...so ignoring the idea that there are other dimensions, who else should I not cross?” Ron took a bit of his lo-mein and waited for Sticky to speak.

“There are vampires and werewolves but they pretty much keep to themselves.” Ron was about to ask why when Sticky held up a hand. “The reason that the vampires keep to themselves is because their weaknesses are known enough that we make fiction about them and society has advanced enough where we have the kinds of technologies that can deal with vampires once we adapt our weapons for them. The same could be said for werewolves and before you ask, it’s rare to see one that’s powerful enough to do stuff like manipulate blood, turn into mist, summon familiars, etc…”

“Honestly, I figured you would have said something about someone hunting them. There always seem to be guys like that in the stories.”

“Oh, there is. He goes by Blade. He’s the other reason the vampires keep to themselves. They don’t want to deal with him.” Sticky ate a few chicken fingers.

Ron took a swig of his drink. “I take it that he’s not a pleasant guy?”

“That depends. If you’re a vampire. The guys a fucking nightmare. If you’re  a normal person or some other supernatural person not starting shit, he’s got no beef with you.” Sticky took a bite of his shrimp fried rice.

“Are there any other groups?” asked Ron after taking a bite of the egg foo young that Sticky recommended.

“Keep an eye out for The Ten Rings. They’re not strictly magical, but they’re aware of our community and aren’t above muscling their way in to get what they want. They’re particularly prevalent in Asia but aren’t averse to flexing their muscles here in the States. We try to steer clear of them on general principle on account of the fact that if the Ten Rings start making too many moves then SHIELD will start getting suspicious. Which nobody wants.”

“What’s wrong with SHIELD?”

Sticky sighed and put down his fork. “The government trying to weasel their way into matters of the supernatural is not a good idea for anyone involved. They don’t know about K’un Lun. They don’t know about Kamar-Taj. And they barely know about Wakanda. That’s by design. Do you know what happens when the government finds out about something they don’t have a hand in? Especially if it’s the American government? They force their way in and take over. They regulate and monitor what everyone who is in on this is doing and make sure that they are now top dog. They’re not going to care about tradition. They are not going to care about balance. They just want to be in charge. Do you see how our community would have an issue with that?”

The fact that Sticky had emphasized Ron’s inclusion in that statement told the blond more than enough.

You’re a part of this too now. Keep your mouth shut or else.

Ron heard the message loud and clear.

“Is there anything else you need to tell me?” Ron asked in trepidation.

Sticky finished his food while shaking his head. “Nah, there’s nothing. Just don’t say anything about us to your government buddies and you won’t have to worry about us taking issue with anything you do.”

Ron raised an eyebrow. “I don’t work for the government, though.”

It was Sticky’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “You are Ron Stoppable, aren’t you?”

“Yeah?”

“Sidekick to Kim Possible. Globetrotting crime fighter and former teenage badass?”

“...yes.” Ron’s voice this time was a little more icy thanks to the mention of his ex.

“Well, it’s common knowledge that she’s worked with Shield in the past and as her former sidekick, even if you’re not a team anymore, the government or Shield at the very least would keep tabs on you.”

Ron hadn’t considered that. He figured that once he and Kim went their separate ways, he was beneath the notice of the US government or any government body for that matter. They didn’t pay attention to him when he was with Kim so why would they pay attention to him now? Either way, he’ll have to keep an eye out for spooks now that he’s back in the States.

“Well, that just about covers everything that I wanted to talk to you about. Keep your nose clean and no one around here should have any issues with you.” Sticky stood up from his seat at the table that he and Ron sat down at to eat. He left his portion of the bill and walked off.

“Wait! How do I get in contact with you?” shouted Ron. thankfully, Genghis Connie’s was empty at this time of day and the proprietors were in the back.

“If we need to talk, I’ll get in contact with you. Don’t worry finding you is easy with a nose like mine. But if you really need to find me, go to Pops Barbershop in Harlem. Tell them you’re looking for Sticky Webb and they’ll take a message.” after giving the instructions, Sticky left the establishment and went about his day.

Ron was left dumbfounded after everything that he had learned after meeting Sticky. He sat there and let the information ruminate in his head. So magic is real. Well, more real than I originally thought.

Ron looked up at the ceiling. I’m pretty sure this day can’t get any weirder…

BZZT

BZZT

BZZT

Ron looked down to see that his phone was going off. It was enough of a start that it got Rufus’s attention. The naked mole rat had dived into his best friend’s pocket to procure the offending object. “Come on, Rufus. Don’t destroy my phone just because it ruined your beauty rest.”

Rufus’s tussling in his pocket ceased for a bit before he felt the naked creature come shooting up his body with his phone following him. “Here!” he said, presenting his phone to him. It showed the caller ID of his father.

Ron slid the green button to the slide and answered his father’s call. “Hey, Dad!” the call was pretty normal. Donald checked in on his son and asked if he got his fill where he was specifically. Typical small talk. That was when the elder stoppable hit his son with a tackle from out of left field.

“You want me on a wedding date with Bonnie!?”

It goes without saying that Ron was blindsided by this request.

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

“Dad, you can’t be serious! I just got back home and you’re already making decisions for me?” It was a tail as old as time for Ron Stoppable. His father had once again made plans without consulting him. Last time, it was the family moving to New York. Before that, Dad took a job halfway around the world and dragged his son along with him. Now here Ron was having his dad task him with being Bonnie’s plus one.

“I think this is quite the reasonable request, Ronald. With the kind of money that you now have, you’re going to attract a certain kind of crowd. I thought that it would be best to let you get your feet wet around people who were already a part of that crowd.”

“Dad, I’ve known Bonnie since I was in middle school. Her family isn’t rich like that.”

“But the husband and groom of her older sisters are,” said Donald before elaborating. “Standard protocol for the Stark Industries hiring process is to have all potential hirees vetted thoroughly. This includes background checks of them, their families, and their associates.”

Ron couldn’t believe his dad sometimes. He loved him. He truly did but sometimes the man’s antics would grate on the nerves of his only son. “Dad, you’re missing the point. Nothing is going on between me and Bonnie! This entire thing is going to be awkward and you may just lose a good employee over it!”

“Ronald, please, just do this. Both you and Bonnie could really benefit from seeing each other. Even your mother approves.”

“Of course, Mom approves!” Ron was now yelling. Thankfully, he was outside of the restaurant and away from prying eyes in an alleyway. “You and her always agree on everything especially when you don’t have to talk to me about it!”

“Ronald, where is this coming from?”

“Are you seriously asking that after all this time?” Ron roared. It was loud enough to get the attention of people who passed the mouth of the alley. “Every time you and mom make life-changing decisions you never consult me about them! Every time some big change happens you guys decide to go through with it without telling me anything until after it’s time to upend our lives. And low and behold, you’re doing it again!”

“To be fair son, you’ve done that to me and your mother plenty of times.” Donald didn’t scream or yell but his tone was no less angry. “When you decided to join Kim for her globetrotting, your mother and I stayed silent. It was clear that you were adamant about doing this and we didn’t want Kim out there doing who knows what without someone to look after her. When you decided to put off going to college so you could be with Kim at her college we stayed quiet. Your mother and I figured that with how close you and Kim were you’d go the distance. And lastly, when you ran away and disappeared into Asia for five years we stayed silent because this seemed like something that you felt that you needed.”

“While I admit that Janine and I have not been considering your feelings, the same could be said for you. Don’t act like you haven’t done some selfish things in the past.” Ron actually didn’t have a comeback for that. “And I’m not asking for a commitment here. I’m only asking that you give this a try. Do you even have any plans now that you’re back home? What do you plan to do with your money? Are you going to be sedentary or are you going to get a job? More than potentially setting you up with Bonnie, this is meant to be a way for you to network.”

“But does it have to be with Bonnie, though? Couldn’t you have set me up with someone that doesn’t have anything to do with my past?”

“Bonnie needs help just as much as you do, Ronald.”

“What could she possibly need help with? She’s got a cushy job here at Stark Industries under you!”

“It is not my business to divulge that information. Just come back to the Tower. Bonnie will be waiting for you at the entrance. I’m sure that you can take things from there.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Thank you. See you later, son.” the call ended and Ron pocketed his new phone. He looked up toward the sky as this new problem settled into his lap.

“I really don’t want to go to a wedding. Not with Bonnie.” Ron remembered what his dad said about Bonnie needing help and forced himself to head back to Stark Tower. Thankfully, Ron had the presence of mind to use the map feature in his smartphone this time.

____________________________________________________________________________

Bonnie waited outside the entrance of Stark Tower. She was tapping her foot and getting impatient. Monique’s Boutique would be open for only so long and Stoppable was dragging his feet. “Where the fuck is he?” Bonnie nearly screeched before she heard the pitter-patter of straw sandals against the pavement. Bonnie looked up and saw Ron walking up to her. She saw that he was still wearing that same disheveled appearance that he left the office in. 

“You didn’t change?” she asked.

“No? I went to get something to eat.”

“Don’t you have a change of clothes?” asked Bonnie.

Ron shook his head. “Pretty much everything that I left here is too small for me now and the clothes I brought with me are old and worn. All I have now is this outfit and some monk robes.”

Bonnie sighed aggressively. “Fine. We can do some clothes shopping for you while we also shop for our outfits for this weekend.”

“Can I just stop you right there for a minute?” asked Ron.

Bonnie gave him a look but allowed him to continue. “What’s so important about this wedding?”

“Didn’t your dad tell you the point of this?”

“He told me that he wants me to try and get out there and network. He told me that I should try getting myself back into the dating game. What he did not tell me was why this was so important to you,” Ron stated. “Why’s this so important to you?”

Bonnie sighed. She could see what Mr. Stoppable’s logic was with this. He was trying to force some emotional intimacy between the two of them. Sadly, engineering such things was not the right move. Still, she needed to inform Ron what was going to be happening this weekend. They won’t be able to effectively show up and show out at Lonnie’s wedding if he’s not in the loop. “I’ll tell you on the ride over.”

____________________________________________________________________________

BANG

BANG

BANG

The Humvee carrying Loki drove off. He had the Tesseract. The specialist in the mysteries of the object. And some of Fury’s best agents along with a scepter that could control the hearts of men. Add in the fact that the facility that had been constructed to house and study the Tesseract was now in ruins and things were not looking good for Director Fury.

“Director Fury? Director Fury? Do you copy?”

Fury heard the voice of Coulson over his radio. The director picked up and responded. “The Tesseract is in enemy hands. I have men down. Hill?” Fury kept calm. There would be no point in getting worked up right now.

Hill picked up her end and responded. “There are a lot of men still under. I don’t know how many survivors.”

“Sound a general call. I want every soldier not working rescue on the lookout for that briefcase.”

“Roger that,” confirmed Hill.

“Coulson, I’m going to need you to get back to base. This is a level seven emergency. As of right now, we are at war.”

“What do we do?” Coulson asked.

Fury knew what needed to be done. He was just hoping that it would be enough. “Assemble The Avengers.”

____________________________________________________________________________

In a dilapidated warehouse near an abandoned railway, an American woman was being interrogated by an old Russian general and his thugs. She had red hair and was of a pretty persuasion. She was playing up the act of being captured and cornered as she led the old man by the nose to reveal the information that she wanted.

The general was singing like a canary and he didn’t even know it. Just a few more minutes of this act and the undercover agent would have everything that she needed.

BRING

BRING

BRING

Unless someone decided to upend her hard work. One of the general’s thugs answered the phone. It was his phone. He was sure that anyone who had his number would not be calling him right now. That phone was strictly for work.

With a bit of panic, the thug answered the phone. “Privet?” the thug got a confused look once he realized that the speaker was using English. He handed his phone to the general with no small amount of confusion. “It’s for her?” he said.

“Now listen here–”

“You are at 114 Salinksy Plaza, third floor. We have an F22 exactly eight miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will light up the building like New York on Christmas.”

The general was actually intimidated but he didn’t show it. He nonetheless complied and put the phone to the ear of the older agent, the infamous Black Widow.

____________________________________________________________________________

“We need you to come in.” Natasha was so done. She’d been working on this mission for the better part of a month and was finally about to be done with it. 

“Are you kidding me? I’m working.” Natasha did not appreciate the disruption.

“I know but this new mission takes precedence.”

“I am in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is telling me everything. You couldn’t have waited an hour or two?”

The general looked confused. “What? No, I wasn’t?” his accent was very thick in English but his confusion was no less apparent.

Natasha just gave him a dubious look. “Look, you can’t pull me out of this right now. If you need an agent for something, why not send May? Better yet, take Carter. She’s ready for the big leagues.”

“Natasha…Barton’s been compromised. The Tesseract has been stolen and Dr. Selvig along with it. Fury had declared this a level seven emergency. We’re Assembling The Avengers.”

That was enough for Natasha to put everything in perspective. “Let me put you on hold,” she said in a low voice.

The general walked up and took the phone back. That was the last mistake of his life. The Black Widow unleashed hell on the man’s legs. She kicked his knee in the wrong direction with her six-inch heels then headbutted the man. The headache was negligible. She’d done it before. That was when the thugs began to move and when The Widow rose from the floor with her chair. These idiots were too stupid to put her in something bolted down. That was their mistake.

They came at her with knives and Widow simply brutalized the thugs. They were nothing special. They weren't even trained. 

At some point in the fight, Widow back flip body slammed one of the thugs with her chair, her full weight behind it. She used the shattered remains as weapons and began to beat on her would-be captors.

The general was starting to come to. The Widow couldn’t have that. She ran over to the massive drop where they were planning to dispose of her after interrogating her and grabbed a dangling chain. The Widow caught the general with the chain and wrapped his leg up in it before tossing him into the pit where he hung by his leg.

“Where’s Barton now?” asked Natasha as she picked up her phone. She walked away from her victims and was planning to leave.

“We don’t know,” said Coulson.

“But he’s alive,” Natasha stated more as a fact than as a question.

“We think so. I’ll brief you on everything once you get back, but before that happens I’m going to need you to swing by the Middleton and pick someone up. After that, you’ll also need to pick up the big guy.”

“Was Dr. Lipsky cleared for The Initiative?” asked Natasha. She was reasonably sure that the man had turned down the invitation.

“No.”

“Then his wife Sharon?” Natasha figured that the former criminal Shego was of a similar mind to her husband, but the secret agent wouldn’t deny that Shego had formidable powers and skills to back them up.

“You’ll be grabbing Ms. Possible. It seems the Doctor’s project was a success. Agent Possible now has the powers of Mrs. Lipsky’s brother, Hank Go.”

Natasha had to stop her walk. “Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at the list of potential recruits for Fury’s Avengers Initiative. Was Possible added to it and no one informed me?”

“No, you’re just going to need her for when you Pick up Dr. Banner.”

That was a relief to hear. Natasha had no problem with Kim, she just felt that the woman was too much of a showboat for Fury’s program. Stark was bad enough and he was twice the age of Agent Possible.

Natasha kept walking and was eventually outside the compound. “If I’m picking up big green then who’s got Stark?”

“Unfortunately that would be me. A transport will be there to pick you up in a few minutes. Coulson out.”

“Roger.” Natasha hung up and waited for her transport. All the while, she thought about Clint. “You better not be dead, Barton.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron and Bonnie arrived at Monique’s Boutique after a short drive. It felt like an eternity after Bonnie told him about how horrible her sisters were. Ron had issues with his parents but he at least knew that they loved him and had his best interests at heart, even if they overlooked his input. Connie and Lonnie on the other hand just seemed to hate Bonnie for some reason. It’s not like they got it from their mother because Ron could remember meeting the woman.  She was warm and loving in a way that was different from his parents and even Kim’s. She was just so openly emotional and free with her feelings. When Ron really thought about it, he couldn’t understand how any of her children turned out the way that they did. Bonnie’s at least mellowed out but her sisters seem like the mean girls that never grew out of high school. 

Ron eventually put his thoughts aside as the pair entered the establishment. Monique’s store was situated in an area of New York that had many high-end fashion boutiques. They were all getting some serious business this time of day but Monique’s store seemed strangely lifeless. “Are we at the right place?” Ron asked.

“Yes, I followed the address to the letter. Monique even gave me the directions,” said Bonnie. “I don’t understand. Why does it look closed?”

Bonnie and Ron walked to the front entrance where customers were supposed to enter. As they got closer, they found that there was a sign on the front entrance with a note. Rufus poked his head out of Ron’s sleeve as he was reaching for it and began to read the note.

“Come around back,” said Rufus. 

“They want us to go to the back?” asked Bonnie. She was unphased by the little rat thing’s ability to speak and read. She’d seen similar feats back in high school.

“I hope nothing’s wrong,” said Ron. He and Bonnie headed to the back and found the door to the back entrance unlocked for them with another note on the handle.

“Come inside,” it said.

“I don’t remember Monique being this dramatic,” said Ron as he opened the door.

“You’d know better than I would.” Bonnie shot back. “Monique was your friend. Not mine.”

As the pair made their way in, they were greeted by a young man in a green beanie, an overgrown hoodie, and cargo shorts. By Ron’s metric, they looked younger than him but not by enough to still be in high school. Ballparking his age, Ron would say the guy was eighteen or nineteen. He also looked a little too chill.

“Oh! Are you the guys that Ms. Symone told me to let in?” asked the chilled-out doorwatcher. “Wait, that’s a bad way to ask that. What are your names? And just so it’s fair, my name is Spud!”

Bonnie didn’t believe him. “There’s no way that’s your name.”

Spud blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he palmed his fist and his face lit up like a light bulb just turned on. “Oh, wait, that’s right. Not everyone knows I go by a nickname.” he chuckled good-naturedly. “Sorry about that. My name’s Arthur Spudinski, but please just call me Spud. I think the name Arthur is kind of stuffy.”

Ron just rolled with the punches. “Well, Spud, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Ron Stoppable, and this is–”

“I’m Bonnie Rockwaller. Can you tell us where to go to meet with Monique or are you too blazed out of your mind to give us directions?”

“Bonnie!”

“What? Tell me I’m wrong.”

Spud seemed to take umbrage with that comment. “Hey, that’s hurtful! I’ll have you know that I do not use recreational drugs.”

“See, Bonnie. He’s not hocked up on weed–”

“-However, I do work at a monastery and who knows what incense they have burning half the time.”

Feeling vindicated, Bonnie gave Ron a smirk. He sheepishly turned away and continued to talk to Spud. “Could you take us to Monique, please?” he asked.

“Yeah. Sure. Follow me.” Spud got up and led the pair to where Monique was waiting. “Ms. Symone? Your guests are here!”

“Thank you, Spud. You can go home now. Sorry to keep you for so long.” Spud saluted and turned around on his heel to leave. “Tell Trixie I’ll see her at Jake’s later.”

“Will do, sweety.” 

Monique was waiting for the pair in a parlor with several mirrors and rows of clothes racks set aside. There were dressing rooms at the corners of the room marked for men and women. In the center with Monique was a Stark speaker dock playing upbeat but not intense music. The kind that could get you in a good mood but not get you dancing. Next to the dock were refreshments. An ice-cold bucket with a bottle of Chardonnay and wine glasses accompanied by light snacks like nuts, grapes, and chips that were not too salty or greasy.

As for Monique, she hadn’t aged a day since Ron had last seen her. That was incorrect. She had aged but it was like her high school self was just enhanced. Her hair was fuller, her figure better, and her eyes sharp with intelligence. She wore a burgundy blouse with a pencil skirt, nylon stockings, and sensible but highly fashionable heels. On the neck of her collar rests a pair of glasses that Monique used when taking measurements. Ron figured they must have been a new addition. Back in high school, Monique never needed glasses as far as Ron was aware.

“Wow, Monique. Time sure has been good to you,” said Ron as he walked into the deluxe dressing room.

Monique chuckled. “Ron, the last time you saw me was when we were both in high school. I’m not that much older. Of course, I look good.” Monique walked over to her old friend and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s great to see you again. A lot of people were worried when you up and disappeared on everyone.”

Ron returned the hug. “I’m sorry about that. I just needed some time to focus on myself. But enough about me. Look at you! Running your own high-end store in New York. you must be swimming in cash.”

“I try,” said Monique before she switched to fashionista mode and focused on her customers. “Now, let’s get down to business. What brings you to Monique’s Boutique?”

“Besides our need for some good outfits for a wedding, this doofus needs an entirely new wardrobe.” Bonnie pointed to Ron and his ramshackle ensemble. “He came back to the States with nothing but the clothes on his back and apparently he’s outgrown most of the clothes that he left here.”

Monique looked at Bonnie. “Are you paying for his new wardrobe?” she asked with mild astonishment.

Bonnie waved off the very notion. “No, he can pay for his own clothes. Including the suit he’ll be wearing for the wedding.” 

Monique looked at Ron. “Ron, I think my store might be a little bit outside your price range. Unless I missed something, you haven’t had a job in the last five years so how are you going to pay for any of this? And just to clarify, I won’t be giving clothes away for free. I can give you a discount but that’s it.”

Ron wasn’t offended in the least by Monique's refusal to give him a handout. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I think I should be able to cover things with this.”

Monique laid her eyes on Ron’s Black Card. It was all there in matte black and silver. Monique could see it but she couldn’t believe it. The last time she checked, Ron had blown through all of his Bueno Nacho money within his first week of getting it. How would he be qualified to own a Black Card?

“Ron, what were you doing while you were over in Asia? Did you seduce some rich old widow?” asked Monique. 

Bonnie already knew the answer to this question and wasn’t interested in hearing it again. She walked over to the Chardonnay and poured herself a glass. Rufus joined her and helped himself to the snacks.

“None of that happened, Monique. Contrary to what everyone thought, I still get money from Bueno Nacho. It’s more than enough for me to afford a Black Card.”

“So you’re telling me that you qualify as ultrawealthy?”

“Yeah, I have five billion dollars to my name. Trippy right?”

For her own sanity, Monique decided to put that all to the side and focus on what she needed to do now. “Well seeing as how you have the bank account to afford my services, let’s get to work!” Monique took out her phone and dialed a quick text.

“It’s a good thing that I decided to keep one of my workers around tonight for this. Now we have someone that can help Ron get settled in with some new outfits.” a young woman walked into the room. she was a black girl on the shorter side with her curly hair done up into twin puffs with purple scrunchies.

Monique turned to her and gave them orders. “Trixie, I want you to set up Ron here with a new wardrobe. Get him covered from day-to-day occasions to special occasions like dates, job interviews, formal events, and stuff of that nature.”

“Right, boss lady,” said Trixie.

Trixie grabbed Ron by the arms and pulled him away to the men’s area.

That left Bonnie and Monique on their own. The fashionista grabbed her Tailor’s Tape and put on her glasses before looking at Bonnie. “Well, then Bon-Bon, let’s get to work.”

____________________________________________________________________________

A Quinjet touched down outside of the Possible Residence. It landed on the front lawn and the back of it opened up to allow Natasha Romanoff to walk out of it. She was dressed in business casual along with a pair of shades.

Now at her destination, Natasha walked up to the door to get things rolling but was beaten to it by the person whom she was here to pick up. “Agent Romanoff! What brings you here?” asked Kim Possible in her PJs.

“Gear up, Possible. You’re with me. Fury’s calling in the Avengers and–”

“And I made the cut?!” she said excitedly. “Well, obviously I did. How could I not? I’ll go get my gear!”

Before Natasha could get a word in edgewise, Kim was gone with a trail of blue and black energy behind her. Natasha just followed her inside and took a seat on the sofa. “This is why I hate working with Hotshot rookies,” she muttered.

After a short wait, Kim was back downstairs in her old school mission outfit from her final year in high school: a purple fitted shirt with fitted, purple striped pants.

“Alright! Ready to go!”

“Where’s your uniform, Possible?” asked Natasha. During her wait, she decided to go over the specifics of her mission on a SHIELD-issued handheld device. She was a little disappointed to know that Dr. Banner was hiding out in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Sussing him out without causing a scene became that much more problematic.

“I’m wearing it?” said Kim.

Natasha looked up. “That’s not SHIELD regulation. Do you not have a uniform here with you? Not a problem. I’m sure there are some on the Quinjet.”

“But I thought that Agents of a certain level could wear their own custom uniforms. You and Agent Barton–”

“Agent Barton and I both have a Clearance Level of at least seven.” Natasha cut off Kim’s pleading. “Whereas you, Agent Possible, are still at level two.”

Kim quirked her eyebrows. “But I thought I made the cut for Fury’s Initiative! I thought that was why he selected me for Drakken’s–”

“Dr. Lipsky’s,” Natasha corrected.

“Dr. Lipsky’s Go Treatment.”

Natasha put away her handheld and gestured for Kim to take a seat. “Kim, do you know why you were recruited in the first place?” she asked.

“Because I was given such a glowing recommendation by Agent Betty that SHIELD knew that they had to recruit me?”

‘I wouldn’t have worded it like that,’ thought Natasha. “The reason that you were recruited is because you were believed to make an excellent field agent. At no point was Fury considering you for the Avengers Initiative.”

“But why was I volunteered for–”

“Fury didn’t select you, Dr. Lipsky and his wife did. Because of favoritism and familiarity, they refused to pass Hego’s powers to anyone else. If Fury had things his way, he would have volunteered a more seasoned agent for the procedure.”

Natasha noticed Kim’s crestfallen look but ignored it. She had to focus on the mission and consoling the ego of an overzealous twenty-something was not a part of the mission. “Now change into your uniform agent and get ready to disembark. We’re heading to Rio de Janeiro.”

Kim perked up at the location. “What are we heading there for?” she asked.

“We’re retrieving Dr. Banner.”

____________________________________________________________________________

There was finally a lull from Trixie setting up new outfits for him. Ron pulled out his old Kimmunicator. It was still in working order and Ron made sure to keep it regularly charged. He never needed it, not even when he was running missions with Kim. Wade always contacted her when a new mission came up. If Wade wanted to talk to Ron, the younger genius would simply call him on a cell phone. The problem with that was the fact that Ron had gone five years without contacting anyone which meant that a lot of the numbers of his old friends had likely changed. If Ron wanted to get in contact with Wade now, then the Kimmunicator was the best option.

BZZT

BZZT

DING

The device booted up and Ron was welcomed by the usual start-up screen as well as the usual chime. What he wasn’t expecting was the prompt to download some new updates and file extensions along with other technical minutiae that Ron couldn’t quite wrap his head around.

Thankfully, the process didn’t take very long. It was a handful of seconds at most. Ron was now looking at the new and improved user interface for the Kimmunicator. It was all sleek looking but Ron was here on business. He needed to get in contact with Wade.

Ron looked through the contacts list and brought up a list of former associates and allies. Right at the top of the list, out of alphabetical order, was Wade’s name and information. Ron clicked on it and the device started to connect.

Several seconds ticked by that eventually became a full minute until something happened. 

CLICK

“Ron? Is this really you?” Ron was not expecting the voice that he heard. It was deep with a low boom that put one in mind of an older gentleman. That couldn’t be possible. Wade was younger than Kim and Ron by at least five years. He should be eighteen at the most right now. What’s he doing with that kind of voice?

“Ron? Can you hear me? Let me adjust the signal. It’s been a bit since I’ve used this tech. I’ve had to upgrade to some new stuff since you’ve been away.”

Slowly, the video feed on the Kimmunicator adjusted and showed the picture of a man that was twice Ron’s height with three times the muscle. And Ron had put on a decent amount of muscle since he’s been gone.

“Okay, that should do it. Can you see me, Ron?” asked the muscle-bound man with an afro-like mullet and soul patch.

“Wade is that you?” asked Ron.

“I could say the same to you, Ron. Asia was good for you, it seems. When did you get back in the States?” 

“Earlier today. A lot has happened, but the long and short of it is that I’m a billionaire. I finished my training at the Yamanouchi school. I trained in some other areas around Asia. And I’ve picked up some new tricks. Right now, I’m currently getting a new wardrobe and being fitted for a tux for a wedding.”

“Holy shit! Ron, are you getting married?” exclaimed Wade.

“Keep it down over there, Wade. Some of us are trying to handle some complex calculations!”

“Sorry Fittz!” Wade apologized.

“Someone else there?” asked Ron.

“Yeah, I’m no longer working out of my room back home. When Kim got recruited, I also got picked up by SHIELD for their cyberwarfare division as well as R&D. But enough about me, you’re getting married?”

“Okay, let’s clear that up. I’m not getting married. I’m just attending a wedding with Bonnie and…”

“WITH BONNIE?” Wade exclaimed. “Did she invite you or was this a case of you asking her out?” asked Wade.

Ron sighed. “It’s more a matter of my dad meddling where he shouldn’t have been. I’m kind of obligated to go with her now.”

Wade sat down in his chair and grabbed a bag of beef jerky from off-screen. “Couldn’t you have said no?”

“I wanted to but after hearing Bonnie’s side of the story, I’m kind of invested in seeing this through with her. I’m not sure if you ever heard about them from Kim, but Bonnie’s sisters are real pieces of work.”

Wade shook his head. “No, Kim never told me. I assume she learned this herself during that one time Bonnie got stuck to Kim and they had to team up?” Ron nodded. “Alright, alright. Now why have you called me? Because I assume there’s a reason that you called me other than to catch up.”

Ron nodded once again. “I was hoping that you could hook me up with some info about Bonnie’s sisters and maybe their husbands. I’d rather not walk into this wedding blind and helpless. I at least want the both of us to come out of this whole thing with a semblance of a net positive.”

Wade gulped down another handful of beef jerky. “I can do that. Shouldn’t take too long. I’ll have what you need by the end of the night or the early morning at the latest.”

Ron put on a smile. “Thanks, Wade.”

“No problem, Ron.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Bruce was thinking a lot of things when he saw that little girl climb through the window at the back of the home she led him to. One thought he had was that he probably should have gotten paid upfront. Another thought was whether or not he could get out of whatever predicament this was without the big guy coming out. His last thought before turning around and seeing a pretty redhead was whether it was Fury or Ross chasing him this time. The pretty redhead told him it was Fury.

“You know, for a man avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle,” the redhead was dressed appropriately for the location that she was in. It did little to help her blend in. The light skin and red hair were counterproductive to the purpose of wearing the local garb.

“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret.” Bruce sat his bag down and prepared for whatever this was going to be. He’d rather avoid a fight at all costs, but SHIELD may very well force his hand. He kept his distance from the woman and began to fidget with his hands.

“Then what is it?” asked the woman. “Yoga?” she asked coyly.

Bruce ignored the jab and paid more attention to his surroundings. “You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart.” Bruce began to pace around the dwelling that he was brought to. It was big as far as homes in favelas went. There were multiple rooms built around the den. Bruce also recalled that the place had a lot of out-of-the-way spots to hide in. Spots that agents could lay in wait before moving in for a capture. Bruce cursed his carelessness. He’d gotten too comfortable, as hard as that was to believe. “I assume that the whole place is surrounded?”

“It’s just you and me.” That was a lie. Bruce had been ambushed before and he’d learned to pick up the tells.

“What about the little girl? Was she a spy, too? Are they starting them that young?” Bruce needed to stall until he could figure a way out of here that didn’t involve the big guy.

“I did.” the woman said.

“Who are you?” asked Bruce.

“Natasha Romanoff.”

Bruce fidgeted with his hands and looked at the ground before making eye contact with Natasha. “Are you here to kill me Ms. Romanoff because that’s not going to work out for everyone.”

Natasha walked closer and continued to speak. “Of course not. I’m here on behalf of SHIELD.”

“I know. Generally speaking, only two groups are coming after me consistently. The US Military and SHIELD. If Ross wanted me captured, he wouldn’t waste time trying to have someone distract me. He’d roll into Rio de Janiero with a full platoon of soldiers, maybe more, and would proceed to chase me across Brazil until he either caught me, killed me, or I escaped.”

“The fact that you’re here talking to me, trying to keep me calm, that’s more Fury’s speed. Distract the enemy with something pretty while hiding a dagger behind your back.”

Natasha gave him a look. “I don’t use daggers.”

“It was a figure of speech. I assume you have a gun somewhere on your person? Maybe there are some agents in full gear closing in on this place?”

“That’s a rather impressive guess. I assume this isn’t the first time you’ve had a run-in with SHIELD?”

“I thought it would be wise to learn about the people following me. Now mind you, I don’t have access to any databases but I can make some educated guesses based on behavior and passed interactions. It’s not foolproof, I’ve been wrong more often than not but the times that I’ve been right have saved my life.” Bruce decided to change the subject. “How did you find me?”

“We never lost you, doctor. We simply kept our distance. We helped keep some other interested parties off your scent.”

Bruce rolled his hands around. “Why?”

“Director Fury seems to trust you, but right now we need you to come in.”

“What if I say no?” Bruce grew more tense.

“I’ll persuade you,” Natasha said calmly.

Bruce looked at her, looked down, then licked his lips. “And what if the other guy says no?”

The room grew tense. “You’ve been more than a year without an incident and I don’t think you want to break that streak.” Natasha began to walk over to grab a device.

Bruce looked at a makeshift bassinet and pushed it around to ground himself in the moment. To remind him that he was in control. “Well, I don’t usually get what I want.”

Natasha came back with her device. “Doctor, we are facing a potential catastrophe.” she pressed buttons and Bruce could hear the digital sounds of each button press.

The doctor chuckled and said “A catastrophe? Now those, I actively try to avoid.”

Natasha placed her device down on the table and pushed it over in Bruce’s direction. It showed an image of a blue cube. “This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.”

Bruce gingerly picked up the device after putting on his reading glasses to look at the image. As a scientist, he was intrigued but as a fugitive, he was weary. “What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?”

Natasha leaned forward and kept her voice soft. “He wants you to find it. It’s been taken. The cube emits a particular gamma signature that is too weak for us to trace. No one knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that is where I’d be.”

Bruce watched Natasha lean back in her chair. It was a calculated move. It was like she was saying ‘That’s everything’ when it really wasn’t everything. There was something else to this whole thing that he wasn’t seeing. He needed to figure out what it was. His life could depend on it.

“So fury isn’t after the monster?” Bruce took off his glasses. He was skeptical. Everyone wanted the monster. That was why he’d been chased for so long. Nobody wanted his mind, not anymore.

“Not that Fury has told.”

“And he tells you everything?”

Bruce watched Natasha pause. She was hesitating. She was lying. “Please, just talk to Fury. he needs you on this.”

“He needs me in a cage?”

“No one’s gonna put you in a–”

Bruce slammed his hands on the table and yelled at Natasha. “STOP LYING TO ME!”

Showing great restraint on her part, Natasha didn’t reach for her gun. Bruce was surprised. He was also surprised by the redhead coming through the window covered in some blue glow.

“Stand down!” she said. Bruce managed to get a good look at her. Something was itching in the back of his mind, trying to tell him something.

“Stand down, Agent Possible, and withdraw,” Bruce heard Natasha say. This surprised Bruce for two reasons. The first reason was that Natasha was ordering a woman who was clearly meant to be her muscle to stand down in the face of him ‘losing’ his temper. The second reason was that he finally recognized where he knew this girl.

“James and Anne Possible.” Bruce saw that his mention of the girl’s parents caught her attention. “Those are your parents, right? Your mom and dad?”

Bruce watched the girl’s guard ratchet up higher than it was before. “What’s to you?”

Bruce sat down at the table and began to rifle through his pockets. He no longer wanted to fight. Not with this girl here. “You can calm down. I knew your parents. We went to grad school together. I attended their wedding. It was a few years before all of this happened.” Bruce gestured to his general personage. “Kimberly, right? Your mother wanted to name you that. Your dad wanted to name you after his mother. Ann and your grandmother vetoed that,” Bruce finally found what he was looking for. It was an old photo from Bruce’s college days. He tried to hold on to anything that could remind him of better times that he could carry with him. This photo was one of them.

Bruce sighed and rubbed his temples. “Did Fury put her on this mission knowing about my connection to her parents?”

Natasha shook her head. She was telling the truth. He could see genuine shock on her face. Either she was telling the truth or Fury hadn’t clued her in. Bruce let his shoulders sag before finally speaking again. “I’ll come with you. I’d rather not risk a fight that could include the daughter of an old friend. If worse comes to worse, I can just jump into the ocean from whatever ship Fury has me on.”

“Wouldn’t that kill you?” asked Kim. 

“The big guy’s a great swimmer. We’d survive the swim,” Bruce explained.

“We’ll be out in the middle of literal nowhere. I doubt your friend will be able to swim for that long.”

“That’s how I made it to Brazil,” Bruce said quietly. He offered up his wrists to Natasha. “Do you have any cuffs or zip ties for me? I figured Fury would have provided them as an option.”

Natasha forwent the restraints and ushered Bruce out the door with Kim not far behind. She was going to have to question Fury on whether or not he knew Agent Possible’s parents had a history with Dr. Banner.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Alright, Ron, that should be everything that you came here for. A new wardrobe, a new tux, and the number for a stylist because you need it. Seriously, your hair looks like a bird’s nest.”

Ron winced at the comparison. So far people had avoided his disheveled looks. At least he was wearing better clothes now. Speaking of clothes, Trixie had really done a swell job with all the clothes that she picked out for him. She didn’t just come up with outfits. She even set him up with what type of undergarments he should wear now. She did away with his usually baggy look and set him up with fitted but comfortable attire.

What Ron was wearing now was to his liking. He had on a jacket with artificially worn leather. A T-shirt that was reminiscent of his old jersey that he wore a lot back in high school. Fitted jeans, and some high-end sneakers from a brand that he didn’t recognize.

“Yeah, i’ll be sure to check them out,” Ron said.

“You’ll be going to them first thing in the morning. We’re leaving for the wedding venue tomorrow,” Bonnie ordered heatedly.

“Is it a destination wedding?” asked Monique.

“The Adirondacks. My sister’s fiance rented out the entire venue and multiple families are going to be there. All of them (save for ours) are wealthy, powerful, and well-connected.” Bonnie turned to Ron and directed a glare at him. “Which is why you have to be presentable for this, Stoppable. I never wanted to go to this stupid wedding but we’re at least going to show up and show out. So don’t Fuck. This. Up. Stoppable.” Bonnie grabbed him by the collar of his new jacket and glared at him.

“Don’t worry, Bon-Bon. The Ron-Meister has got you covered.” Ron poked his chest with his thumb.

Bonnie gave him a dull glare and then stepped on his foot with her high heels. That sent Ron hopping on one foot and clutching his toes. “Don’t call me Bon-Bon in public!”

Monique smirked. “So he can call you Bon-Bon in private?” she asked. “Didn’t know you were thinking that far ahead, Bonnie.”

Bonnie blushed before she whirled on Monique. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Monique! I’m only using Ron for this one thing then we’re back to being acquaintances!”

Ron finally eased the pain out of his foot and then addressed Monique. “Bonnie’s right. I’m just doing this because my dad asked me to. I don’t think I’m ready to be jumping into a relationship. Regardless of my father’s wishes.”

“See, Ron gets it,” said Bonnie. 

Bonnie and Ron gathered up their things and headed out.

Monique watched them go. Trixie came up beside her. “She’s got it bad, doesn’t she?” asked Trixie.

“Oh, definitely,” Monique concurred. “They had a few moments in high school so it’s possible this weekend could be hot and heavy for them,” said Monique. 

Trixie smirked. “Want to bet on it?”

“You’re on!”

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

Ron smashed his palm down on his alarm clock. It was the same one he had from his youth, a Fearless Ferret collector’s item that he hadn’t seen since his departure. “Alright, time to get up.” Ron got up out of bed and moved to his personal bathroom. His family’s new place was pretty swanky. Two of the bedrooms had personal bathrooms. The other being his parent’s room. He stepped in front of his mirror and started his morning ritual. 

While brushing his teeth. Ron looked himself over in the mirror. That untamed mop was gone. After their time at Monique’s, Bonnie took Ron to a stylist. He got his usual cut from back in high school, and it was like saying hello to an old friend. He looked like himself again. 

Ron looked down at his naked body, save for his Fearless Ferret collector’s edition boxers. He once again thought back to high school, specifically that one time he used the Molecular Muscle Enhancer to give himself a body like the one he has now. It was a little on the large side back then, but Ron preferred what he had now. He earned these muscles, and they couldn’t be taken away because someone pulled a ring off his finger.

He also earned the scars adorning his body. Most of these scars had come from K’un-Lun. His time at the Yamanouchi school had been no cakewalk, but it just didn't measure up to training to be the Iron Fist. Ron’s body had scars everywhere. Scars from weapon training. Scars from broken, protruding bones and scars from his fight with Shou-Lao The Undying. That had been a harrowing fight.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

“Ron? Are you getting ready in there?” It was his mom. She probably wanted to know how soon he’d be ready for Bonnie’s pick-up. “Will you be down for breakfast soon?” Ron was wrong.

He cracked the door and peeked out. He didn’t let her see his full body. He was still in just his boxers, after all. “Yeah, mom. I’m brushing my teeth as we speak.”

“Good, I’ll pack your clothes for the trip. Don’t take too long. I don’t want that Bonnie girl to wait too long when she gets here.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Ron stated. “I took care of it last night before I went to sleep.”

Janine turned around. “Oh…you did?”

“Yeah?” Ron said questioningly. “Why do you seem so surprised?”

“Nothing. I just remember you being more scatterbrained about this kind of stuff. I was expecting to have to take care of it because you left it until the last minute.” 

“No, I know how to look after myself now.”

"Alright then. Join us for breakfast when you’re ready.” Janine left, closing the door behind her.

After hearing his door click, Ron spoke to himself. “Was she expecting me to still be a slob after all this time?”

____________________________________________________________________________

After Ron finished up in the bathroom and got some clothes on(some slim-fit jeans, a fitted T-shirt, and a leather jacket that he was carrying on his arm), he went to grab his bags for the trip.

BZZT

DOOT, DOOT

DOOT

DOOT

DOOT, DOOT

Ron recognized that jingle. He switched objectives and went for the Kimmunicator. He left it on his nightstand, and he could see the screen flashing and the device buzzing. Ron went over and snatched it up.

“That you, Wade?” Ron asked.

His old friend was eating a bag of jerky. “Yeah…it’s me. I got those files for you. All the information about who you’ll be meeting.”

“Thanks, Wade. I really don’t feel like getting hazed by the rich folks. I got enough of that back in high school.”

“Think nothing of it. I kept the breakdown of the information simple. You should be able to peruse through it on the drive over.” Wade stuffed his mouth with more jerky. “You guys…taking the bus or…driving there.”

“Driving. We’ll be using Bonnie’s company car.”

“Good luck with the wedding then. And Bonnie.”

“Thanks.” Wade and Ron both hung up. Before long, the Kimmunicator beeped, and Ron received a notification that his files had arrived.

“Alright, I’ll read these later.” Ron grabbed his travel bags and headed for the door.

“Coming!” Rufus came scurrying up Ron’s pant leg and placed himself on his best friend’s shoulder.

“Nice to finally see you, buddy.” together, they walked out.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron placed his bags down and walked into the kitchen. “Morning everyone.” Ron took a seat next to his sister, Hana. She was finishing off her scrambled eggs. “Hey, Hana.”

Hana looked at him. Frowned. Gupled down her food. And then pushed away from the table before running away. Ron watched the whole thing before he looked at his parents. “She’s still mad?”

“It’s gotten worse since yesterday. Now she’s not talking to anyone,” said Janine. “I really hope this doesn’t turn into a phase.”

Donald, who was reading the paper, spoke. “The best that we can do is give her time. She’ll grow out of it.”

“I hope so,” said Janine. She came over to Ron with a big plate of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages, and hashbrowns. “And I hope you’re hungry.”

“Believe me, I am.” Ron picked up his fork, and his mother turned around after setting down the plate. She turned back to grab the hot sauce for him but was shocked to see that his plate was already empty and was already wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Man, that was good.”

Donald looked down from his paper. “I bet it was.”

BZZT

BZZT

Ron reached into his pocket and fished out his phone. “It’s Bonnie. I’ve got to get going.” Ron grabbed his belongings and headed for the door.”

Janine tried to flag her son down. “Wait, what about–”

SLAM

Sadly, he was already out the door.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Something wrong, sweety?” asked Donald. He could see that his wife was looking a little disappointed. She sat down at the table with him.

“Ronald’s not the same. He just seems so…together now. It feels like he doesn’t need us anymore.”

Donald raised a brow. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Well…no. He’d have to grow up eventually. It’s just…”

“...You were expecting to be there for every step of it,” Donald completed.

“Yes. He disappeared for five years, and now he’s his own man. Sure, we looked after his wealth, but he did the growing where it counted. I feel like I didn’t do enough as his mother.”

Donald nodded. “I know how you feel. Ron’s made it clear to me how he feels about us not consulting him about big decisions. He thinks that we don’t care how he feels.”

Janine leaned back, shocked. “Of course, we care about how he feels. It’s just that these were adult matters.”

“And I’m sure he understood that. I think he just wanted to be clued in earlier. I think he still held it against us when we moved to Norway.”

“And now he’s trying to stand on his own. Is he still angry about you setting him up with Bonnie? I thought he would have been excited. They did date.”

“Wait, you knew that they dated?” Donald asked Janine.

“Yes? You didn’t?”

“No, I just found out yesterday.”

“Oh, wait, that’s right. It was during that time that you were pulling longer hours at the firm. They broke up pretty quickly. I still don’t know why. Ron seemed smitten”

Donald and Janine both considered it, but they eventually let the thought go when it was time for Donald to go to work.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron raced to the elevator of the apartment building. He reached the elevator and pressed the button to open the doors. “That was surprisingly fast. I guess money means faster elevators.” Ron stepped in and almost pressed the button to reach the bottom floor.”

“Hold that door!” Ron looked out the door and saw a young man racing to the elevator. He wore a Juilliard hoodie, jean shorts, red shoes, and headphones around his neck. He also had a backpack and a laptop carrying case. He looked Asian, though his voice sounded like he lacked an accent in English.

The young man finally reached the elevator and jumped in. “Thanks for holding the door.”

“No problem. Ron Stoppable.” Ron held out his hand for a greeting.

“Jake Long.” Jake took the hand.

Ron felt like having a conversation, especially since this kid seemed to attend a school that Ron had at least one question about. “So you attend Juilliard?” Ron asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah. I started my freshmen year last September. My major is in music.” the kid looked proud to say that.

“Interesting. I was hoping that you could answer a question for me about your school?”

“Lay it on me,” Jake said.

“Is it a college or a high school?” asked Ron. “I’ve gotten conflicting opinions.”

“It’s a college,” explained Jake. “You need a certain GPA to enter, and believe me, it was murder on my brain trying to raise my GPA to get in. My sister Haley was surprised that I managed to pull it off.”

“Well, congratulations.”

DING

“Well, that’s our floor,” said Ron. They both stepped out and made their way to the front entrance. Ron walked straight to Bonnie’s waiting car, a swanky BMW, and Jake took a left, where he was joined by two others his age. Ron managed to recognize both of them. It was Trixie and Spud from last night.

“Huh? Small world.” Ron said before he put it out of his mind and jumped into Bonnie’s car.

____________________________________________________________________________

Steve stepped off of the Quinjet with Coulson. He was amazed at how far technology had come. He could never imagine a plane this small traveling so far. Even this ship that Steve was brought out to was larger than anything he’d seen the Navy or Air Force working with back in the day.

It was also a stark reminder that he was still so far from home.

Steve watched Coulson flag down a woman in a red shirt and black leather jacket. “Agent Romanoff.” he introduced. “Captain Rogers.”

Steve held out his hand to shake hers. “Ma’am.” 

“Hi,” she turned to Steve and said. She didn’t take his hand. Only nodding her head in his direction. Steve awkwardly retracted his greeting. “They need you on the bridge,” she said to Coulson.

“Right.” he soon walked off in the direction of the ship’s tower.

Steve was about to wonder what was needed of him, but Romanoff gestured for him to follow her. They walked across the deck of the carrier and made small talk. About his time stuck in the ice. Coulson’s trading cards and his pride in them. It was a nice distraction for Cap until he and Romanoff stopped in front of a pair of people.

One was a panicking older gentleman in a tweed suit, and the other was a young woman with red hair and green eyes wearing the SHIELD regulation uniform. For a moment, Steve was stuck in place, just staring at this girl. He felt like he had stepped into the past and was staring at the girl who had knocked him on his ass for basic training after the success of the Hydra Base rescue that cemented his name as Captain America.

“Marie? Marie Possible?”

The younger redhead blinked in confusion. “You know my nana?”

That was when Steve snapped back to reality. This wasn’t his old friend, Marie Possible. This was likely her granddaughter. “I’m sorry. Steve Rogers.” he introduced himself to reduce the awkwardness.

The girl introduced herself. “Kim Possible, sir. So you knew my my nana?”

“Uh, yeah.” that was still such a weird thing to get used to. The fact that his old allies were grandparents now. “She served with me in the Howling Commandoes. She put me through my paces so that I wasn’t out there embarrassing the flag on my chest.”

That seemed to confuse Kim. “I didn’t know that she was a commando.”

That was another thing that Steve couldn’t get used to. In his day, connecting with your grandparents was a privilege. The stuff that you could learn from the previous generation was amazing. Steve remembers sitting in Bucky’s house listening to his best friend’s grandpa tell them stories about his time in WW1. It was those stories and wisdom, along with his mother’s teachings, that formed Steve’s ideals.

It seemed like people of today didn’t have the time to learn from their predecessors. Everyone was so caught up in the here and now. He remembered going to see some of his war buddies. They talked about how their kids and grandkids hardly ever came to see them. Only Jim and Gabe’s families seemed to care about anything that they had to say.

Deciding to switch gears, Steve turned to introduce himself to the doctor before him. “Hello, I’m Captain Rogers.”

“Dr. Banner. They told me you’d be coming.”

“Word is that you can find the cube for us.”

Steve watched the man look at him appraisingly. “Is that the only word going around about me?”

“It’s the only word I care about.” that was the truth. Steve had been briefed on Dr. Bruce Banner or the Hulk as the Media and some of SHIELD had taken to calling him. The media had said that he was a monster and a killer, but according to the information, the man had been running since the incident that gave him his condition, even practicing medicine where he could. This was just a man running from his demons.

“This must be…kind of weird for you,” said Bruce.

Steve didn’t agree. “This is actually pretty familiar. The military rigidity is somewhat comforting.”

Before Steve and Bruce could talk further, Romanoff came up behind them with Kim. “Gentlemen, you may want to take a deep breath. It’s going to get hard to breathe very soon.”

All around them, they could hear machinery moving and crew shouting and making gestures to others.

“Is this a submarine?” asked Steve.

“Really? They want me in a pressurized metal container?”

Bruce and Steve made their way to the edge of the carrier, expecting to see the vehicle slowly diving. Instead, they saw the water parting to reveal turbines. The carrier was lifting into the air instead of diving.

As the wind buffeted them, Steve and Bruce commented, “No, no, this is much worse” about now being in a FLYING pressurized metal container.

The crew of the deck finished strapping down all of the jets and copters as the Helicarrier lifted into the air.

____________________________________________________________________________

Natasha, Steve, Bruce, and Kim were now inside the carrier and heading toward the command deck.

Steve was caught off guard by the entire setup. He was caught off guard by the Helicarrier itself. He was reminded of a previous bet he had with Fury. So the Man-Out-Of-Time made a B-Line for the Director of SHIELD and slid a ten spot into his hand before walking around to take a look at the Helicarrier a little closer.

“Gentlemen, thank you for coming.” Fury walked over to Bruce and greeted him personally. “Thank you for coming, doctor.”

Bruce reluctantly shook Fury’s hand. “Thank you for asking nicely. Though, I’ve got to know. Did you send Kimberly there specifically because you were aware I was friends with her parents?”

“I’d like to know that too, sir,” Natasha brought up the rear behind Bruce. She had been wanting to get this question answered since she left Brazil.

Fury shifted his singular eye between the two of them. “I’ll be honest, I was aware. I’d been hoping that by having her there, you wouldn’t resort to violence and would hear out what Agent Romanoff had to say.”

Bruce looked at Fury. “That’s better than the reason that I thought of.”

“What did you think I had her there for?” asked Fury.

“Not entirely sure,” Bruce admitted. “I figured you probably wanted her presence there to distract me so that she could take me out that much easier. It’s a viable strategy. She didn’t know me until now.”

“And what is your stance on helping us?” asked Fury, moving the conversation along.

“As long as I’m just helping you search for the cube, then I’m willing to help. Try to swing the Big Guy into things, and we’re in the wind.”

“That’s fair,” said Fury. “What I want most of all on this op is your brain.”

“Let’s hope that you stick to your word. Now, what can you tell me about how you’re tracking this cube?” asked Bruce.

Coulson picked up the conversation. “We’re connected to every satellite. If Loki or his people use an electronic device, then that’s eyes and ears for us.”

Bruce took off his jacket and got ready to get down to business. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?” he asked.

“How many are there?” that sort of answered Bruce’s question.

“Call every lab you know. Tell them to put their spectrometers on the roof and have them calibrated for Gamma Rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm. A basic cluster recognition. That should help us narrow down a few places. Do you have a place for me to work?”

Fury turned to Natasha and issued her an order. “Agent Romanoff? If you would show him to the lab.”

She gestured for the doctor to follow her. “You’re gonna love it, dock. We’ve got all the toys.”

While Natasha got Bruce situated, Kim walked up to Fury. “Director Fury?”

“Yes, agent Possible?”

“I would like to request clearance to join in on the search for the Tesseract.”

“Denied.”

“What? But I’d be great for this!. I’m qualified!” Kim argued.

“Oh? Are you equipped with several degrees in gamma radiation and other such sciences? Do you have the experience of a seasoned agent of SHIELD? Are you a war hero who helped turn the tide of one of the world’s greatest wars? Are you a genius, billionaire, philanthropist with a flying suit of armor?”

“Well, no,” Kim admitted.

“Then you are not cleared for this operation, Agent Possible. This is an Avengers Op. This is not what I recruited you for. You’re being groomed to be one of my best agents, not one of the world’s protectors.”

This wasn’t what Kim wanted to hear, but she didn’t argue further.

Steve came up behind her. “They’re not giving you a chance to prove yourself?” he asked.

Kim shook her head. “No, and it’s frustrating. I can be a part of Fury’s Initiative. I know that I’m a good fit for it.”

Steve chuckled. He had been here. “I can imagine. The army recruiters kept turning me away every time I tried to join. Dr. Erskine was the one who got me in, and he was the one who made it possible for me to serve.”

“Why’d they turn you away?” Kim asked. “You can’t have been that hopeless?”

Steve took out his wallet and showed her a picture of himself and Bucky before his best friend shipped out for the war. Kim was surprised. “That was you?” she asked.

“Yup. just a scrawny loser, but I had a lot of heart, and I wanted to do my part.” Steve was almost nostalgic about those days. Picking fights that he can’t win only to be bailed out by Buck and even jumps into Buck’s fights even though he can’t do much. Man, he missed Bucky. Then he looked back at Kim. “Just keep trying. You’ll eventually get your shot to do your part.”

Kim smiled. It was like talking to a supportive uncle. She guessed that made sense, considering he knew her nana. “Thanks, Cap.”

“Call me Steve. Come on, why don’t you show me what you got in a sparing match?”

“Sure!” Kim said enthusiastically.

____________________________________________________________________________

Within the confines of Loki’s hideout, Eric Selvig and several scientists worked on the Tesseract. They were hard at work making Loki’s goal a reality. As Selvig directed the other scientists, he looked over at Barton, who was another thrall of Loki’s.

“Where did you find all of these people? They’re some of the best minds I’ve worked with,” the doctor explained.

“Shield has no shortage of enemies,” Barton explained as he fiddled with a pad. “Is this the stuff you need?” asked Barton as he held up his pad and showed a picture of a mineral next to the picture of one Heinrich Schafer.

“Yes, Iridium! It’s a mineral found in meteorites and forms antiprotons. It’s very hard to get a hold of.”

“Especially when SHIELD knows that you want it,” Barton finished.

“I didn’t even know,” Selvig admitted. Then he saw his benefactor walking up behind Barton. It was Loki. he wore his green, black, and gold vestments. That devilish smile was on his lips as he smirked at the giddy Selvig. “Hey! It’s the man of the hour! Thank you for showing me the Tesseract. It’s shown me so much. It’s not knowledge. It’s truth!”

Loki kept smirking. “I know,” was all he said to Selvig. He turned to the side. “What did it show you, Agent Barton?”

Barton put down his pad and made a B-line for the case that held his bow. “My next target.”

Loki followed. “What will you need?”

Barton took out his bow, expanding the collapsable weapon. “A distraction…and an eyeball.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Bonnie’s car pulled into the grounds of the Whiteface Club & Resort in the Adirondacks. This was the venue for her sister’s wedding. This was the place where she would have to survive for two days. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to stay the whole week like the rest of the guests, thanks to negotiating with her mother. She would come the day before the wedding and would stay for the reception. After that, she was out of there.

She pulled into valet parking and handed her car off to the valet. A few bellhops came around and grabbed hers and Ron’s luggage. The two of them walked up to the concierge and checked in.

“Name?” asked the concierge. She was a mousy young woman with glasses.

“Bonnie Rockwaller and Ron Stoppable. We should be under the Rockwaller guest list for the wedding this weekend.” the concierge looked at the guest list. “Yes, Bonita Rockwaller and Ronald Stoppable. You were last-minute additions. The bellhop will direct you to your room. With you, all the guests have arrived.”

“Well, don’t I feel special,” Bonnie grumbled. Ron tried to be comforting and patted her on the back. She responded by shrugging him off.

“Don’t get any ideas, Stoppable. This is just to appease your father. After that, we don’t look at each other, capische?”

Ron put up his hands. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice. I was just trying to help you ease up a bit.”

Bonnie relaxed a bit, but not much. “I’ll be fine once we’re at our lodgings.” as they followed the bellhop, Bonnie noticed a kiosk with a layout of the resort. She snatched one up.

“Why’d you grab that?” asked Ron.

“Resort map. This will come in handy for avoiding my sisters until the wedding and reception,” Bonnie explained.

“Won’t that be kind of useless for what you want to do?” he asked. “Those things only show you the sights and attractions.”

Bonnie scoffed. “Maybe at those low-end places you’ve been to. Places like this for the rich and wealthy always have the most detailed maps.”

“You sound knowledgeable.”

“I had to be. Connie and Lonnie would always give me hell when Mom took us to resorts with her new boyfriends. It was either spend the whole trip locked in the bathroom or learn the best hiding spots at the Resorts.”

“I assume that worked out well.”

“Yeah, my sisters aren’t going to do anything that doesn’t interest them,” Bonnie explained. “Simply put, all I have to do is spend my time at the attractions that require physical exertion or anything to do with nature or animals.”

Ron raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised you would do anything related to those yourself. You always came off as the princess type. Didn’t figure you like getting your hands dirty.”

“We all must make sacrifices for peace of mind.”

The pair, along with the bellhop, eventually arrived at their suite. And it was a suite. Not just a room with a bath. Living room, bathroom, kitchen, balcony, jacuzzi, the works. There was just one problem.

“What the fuck is this?” screamed Bonnie.

There was only one bedroom. Worse yet, there were heart-shaped pillows and mood music playing.

“This is the secondary honeymoon suite, ma’am.” the bellhop immediately rushed over to see what the problem was.

“HONEYMOON SUITE!”

“Yes, this was the room that you were booked for.”

“Under who’s orders?” Bonnie demanded to know.

The bellhop sorta shrugged. “That’s not something that I would really know. I just bring luggage where it needs to be, ma’am.”

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

There was a knock at the door.

____________________________________________________________________________

“I’ll get that,” said Ron.

Ron went to open the door. Truthfully, he didn’t want to be anywhere near Bonnie if she was going to potentially tear the service staff a new one. Answering the door was the perfect distraction. Hopefully, it would also defuse the situation.

Ron opened the door and found Tonnie Rockwaller, Bonnie’s mom, waiting on the other side. She was a Latina woman with a figure similar to Bonnie’s, and her hair was a long river of brown curls. She was dressed in country club chic and had a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

“Ronnie!” Tonnie immediately pulled Ron into a hug. He gave her a light pat on the back. Tonnie was always very physically affectionate, and it always made him feel awkward, considering their age gap.

Tonnie pulled away. “Look at you. You’ve gotten so muscular and tall. It looks like traveling has done wonders for you. And look at how dashing you dress now. I guess it’s no more of those ratty jerseys for you anymore?”

“Mother?” Ron heard Bonnie call. He was glad for the interruption.

“Bonnie!” Tonnie zoomed past Ron and cleared the distance that Bonnie still had to walk. Ron watched Tonnie hug Bonnie.

“Mother, let me go. I have a problem that I need to fix!”

“What problem would that be?” asked Tonnie.

“Someone booked Ron and me for a honeymoon suite! There’s only one bed. I swear to god if this is Connie and Lonnie’s doing–”

“Oh, no, sweety. It wasn’t them. It was me.”

Ron had to give it to Bonnie. She didn’t yell or get violent when her mom admitted that. She just looked her mother in the eye and said, “Explain.”

“I knew you were bringing Ronnie, and I wanted to make sure that things were perfect for a budding relationship.”

“What?” Ron echoed Bonnie’s question.

Tonnie continued. “You have to understand sweety. Ronnie is the best boy that you’ve brought home to meet me.”

“I never did that!” Bonnie screamed.

“Well, not in the way you think, but during that small amount of time that the two of you were dating, I did meet him the few times you brought him around the house. He’s nice, he’s thoughtful and helpful, he has a future, and more importantly, his eyes don’t wander. That’s how you know that a relationship is going to make it.”

That’s where Ron felt the need to speak up. “Why do you and my father seem so keen on hitching me and Bonnie? You do know that we spent most of our lives not exactly getting along, right.”

“And yet you’re here as her plus one,” Tonnie countered. “The both of you could have easily brushed this whole affair off and gone off about your business, yet here you are. There is clearly something here between you. I’m just trying to help things along.”

“Ugh, mom! Stop trying to play matchmaker! I’m here with Ron to appease you and Mr. Stoppable ! I’m not trying to date him! So get us a new room!”

“That won’t be possible,” said a new voice.

Everyone, save for the bellhop, who was busy depositing luggage, turned to the doorway to see Connie and Lonnie standing there. Connie dressed conservatively and was the tallest of the sisters. She was slender but curvy like the rest of her family and had blue eyes and brunette hair. Lonnie was much like her sister, except she dressed much less conservatively and had teal-almost green eyes with long blonde hair.

Ron beheld them. These were Bonnie’s sisters. Judging from the absolute disdain on Bonnie’s face, she hated them as much as she let on. Maybe even more so.

“And why can’t we get a new room?” Bonnie asked.

“Because the whole resort is booked for the wedding, silly,” Lonnie said with faux innocence. “This was the last room that Mom could get you. You should enjoy it, we both know that you can’t afford places like this or get a man who can do such.”

BAM

Normally, a girl would slap someone or pull hair at the first sign of an altercation. Bonnie didn’t waste time with that. She closed the distance and punched her second-oldest sister in the face. She avoided the mouth and nose and went straight between the eyes, disorienting Lonnie. She went down and didn’t get back up.

Bonnie looked at Connie threateningly. “Take her and leave.”

“This isn’t over, you little Bitch!” Connie picked up her twin sister and dragged her out of the honeymoon suite. 

Bonnie marched over to Ron. “You’re sleeping on the couch!” then she marched out of the suite, but not before grabbing the room key.

There was an awkward silence as Bonnie left, but Tonnie did not let it linger. She walked over to Ron and pulled him over to the couch. “That is why I’m trying to get you together with Bonnie, Ronald.”

“What do you mean?”

Tonnie sighed. “I failed as a mother. I went too easy on the twins, and they turned out the way they did. Now, Bonnie feels like she has to have a tough outer shell to keep people out. I don’t want that for her. I want her to be happy like I was during the short time I was with her father. You’re a sweet young man, Ronald. I remember how you carried yourself whenever I saw you at school functions. You lived your life regardless of what others thought, and your mother sang your praises during the PTA meetings. When you broke up with Kim I was hopeful you and my daughter could give things another shot.”

“That time in high school, she was only with me for the money I had at the time. She’s not like that anymore, so I doubt she’d be interested,” Ron tried to explain.

“I know that, Ronald. I’m not blind or stupid. But what you and my daughter likely didn’t see were the genuine smiles you both had when you came to see her during that short period. You probably thought you were excited to have a pretty girl on your arm, and she probably thought that you were just a piggy bank to exploit. But I knew better. I’ve been around the block before, Ronald. So please, at least try to see if there may be something more between you and my daughter. I want her to feel like she has at least one person she can trust. Even if it isn’t me.”

Ron had expected a lot of things by coming with Bonnie to this wedding weekend. Good food, ‘networking,’ and rich people. What he wasn’t expecting was a heartfelt plea from Bonnie’s mother to bond with Bonnie. He didn’t want to do this, but he didn’t have the heart to say no, especially after seeing Connie and Lonnie in action. There was going to be a reprisal there, for sure.

So, with reluctance, he agreed.

____________________________________________________________________________

Loki walked into the venue like a man on a mission. No, a king with ambition. He was dressed in a fine black suit with a long green scarf. He reconfigured the Scepter like a gentleman’s walking stick. He looked every bit the debonair royal that he was.

Loki reached a balcony overlooking the dance hall where the guests were gathered. He scoped out his target, one Heinrich Schafer. The mortal was giving a speech about one of Midgard’s many inaccuracies about the wider universe. Loki found it repugnant that they thought they were the only life in the universe. Soon, they would be relieved of that ignorance.

Loki made his way to the stage where Schafer was speaking. A guard spotted him. Loki did not care. The guard tried to stop Loki and intimidate him by reaching for his weapon. Loki merely swung his scepter and struck the guard in the head. The man collapsed to the floor.

Schafer was now in Loki’s sights. He grabbed and manhandled the man over to a stone slab before flipping and slamming Schafer onto it.

The people were shocked. Loki reveled in the mayhem, but not for too long. He had a job to do. He took out a device that looked like some unholy union between a suction cup and a scooper. Loki slammed the device into Schafer’s eye, robbing the man of his sight in that socket. His body violently convulsed, but Loki effortlessly held him down.

Elsewhere in the compound, Loki knew that Hawkeye was doing his job. Loki just had to let the device keep scooping out the worthless mortal’s eye while it transmitted a digital replica, and the next phase of his plan could commence.

The people continued to run like headless chickens,s and eventually, Loki’s business with Schafer was over.

‘Now it’s time for a little fun,’ The Norse god thought. He slowly followed the terrorized mortals out of the hall and into the open air of Stuttgart, Germany. His gentlemanly clothes shimmered with gold light until they transformed into the royal vestments of the God of Mischief. The scepter returned to its original form, and Loki slowly stalked toward the crowd.

In the distance, he could hear a siren. The roar of the local constabulary. Loki saw a collection of cars come around the bend. With contempt, he simply aimed the scepter at the offending vehicles and unleashed a bolt of blue energy.

BOOM

One car was blown to smithereens while others were knocked off course or crashed. With the interference gone, Loki set his sights on the crowd. “Kneel before me!” Loki ordered. They did not. Instead, they tried to escape, but Loki projected a magical clone of himself. One in each direction to box in the mortal cattle. Loki flared his scepter and spoke again. “I said… KNEEL!”

The people stopped jostling and stopped screaming. The fear took hold, and they obeyed Loki’s command. They kneeled.

Loki smiled with self-satisfaction. This was where he was meant to be. Ruling over the masses. “Is this not simpler?” he mockingly asked as he walked into the crowd. The mortals parted before him as he came toward them, too scared to do anything but stay out of his way. “Is this not your natural state? It is the unspoken truth of humanity. That you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in the mad scramble for power, for identity.” Loki stopped walking through the crowd and gestured his hand out to people before him. “You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

Loki watched an aged and wisened mortal stand up in his presence. He stared at Loki defiantly. “Not to men like you.”

“There are no men like me,” Loki countered.

“There are always men like you,” the man retorted.

Loki smirked. “Look to your elder, people.” Loki’s scepter glowed as he took aim at the old man. “Let him be your example.”

ZAP

BIFF

Loki was genuinely surprised to see someone deflect a bolt from his scepter. He was even more surprised when his bolt came back at him at twice the speed, knocking Loki off his feet. The one who sent it back at him was a man dressed in red, white, and blue who carried a shield.

“Y’know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”

“The soldier,” declared Loki as he stood back up. “The man out of time,” he said breathily.

“I’m not the only one who’s out of time.” right on cue, an aircraft came in behind the soldier and primed its weapons.

A voice resonated from the craft as it aimed its weapon at Loki “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”

Loki did the opposite and opened fire. He would not be told what to do by mortals. He fired a blast with his scepter. The moment he did, the soldier tossed the shield, knocking Loki off kilter. That was when the soldier rushed Loki.

That was when they did battle. To Loki’s surprise, the mortal soldier was spry and capable of keeping up with the God of Mischief. Loki tried to stab the ant with the blade of his scepter, but the soldier moved with practiced efficiency. He threw body shots and jabs. Haymakers and uppercuts. It frustrated Loki to see a mortal stand up to him.

Loki managed to knock the soldier away and placed his scepter on the man’s head. “Kneel,” Loki ordered. The soldier did no such thing, knocking the weapon away and continuing to fight.

____________________________________________________________________________

Up in the cockpit of the quinjet, agents Romanoff and Possible watched the fight play out.

“He needs backup,” Kim declared.

“Stand down, agent Possible. You were only brought on this mission thanks to Captain Rogers recommending you. That doesn’t change the fact that you are not a part of the Avengers Initiative. If you want to still have a job, I suggest you do as I say.”

Kim couldn’t believe this. There was a supervillain causing havoc, and she was relegated to the sidelines. This was the kind of thing that she grew up handling. She could totally back up Captain Rogers.

Kim went back to paying attention to the fight and controlling the ship. She was looking for some way to get a shot in on Loki. “They’re all over the place,” she muttered.

While both Kim and Natasha were distracted by the fight, a noise started to come in over their comms.

“Oh! Shoot to thrill! Ready to kill!

Then it was followed by the most smug voice ever.

“Agent Romanoff, you miss me?”

“Is that Tony Stark?” asked Kim

The voice of Tony Stark took over the quinjet’s PA system as he flew onto the scene.

“I got my nine at the ready. Gonna fire at will! Because I shoot to thrill, and I’m ready to kill! Cause I can’t get enough, and I can’t get the thrill. Cause I…shoot to thrill~. Ready to kill~”

The song finished, and Tony Stark, in his Iron Man Armor, landed right on time, primed all of his weapons, and aimed them at Loki.

“Make a move, Reindeer Games…”

____________________________________________________________________________

Back in the Adirondacks, Bonnie found a secluded place to mellow out. She found it using the kiosk map. It was a rest area along a hiking trail. The trail was meant to show the splendor of the Adirondacks. Bonnie only cared that her sisters weren’t going to come looking for her there.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

It was an alert from her work phone. Call Bonnie a workaholic, but she liked to keep on top of anything that might pop up. She looked at the alert and then immediately swiped it off of her phone.

• Tony Stark deploying in Stuttgart, Germany. Business as usual.

It was just another of the boss man’s stupid updates about him gallivanting off to some country to punch whoever in the face with state-of-the-art technology. Bonnie didn’t see why there needed to be an update for this, especially not for the whole company. She put her phone away and just relaxed with the sounds of nature. She closed her eyes, sat back on the surprisingly comfy bench, and just prepared to while away the hours out here, imagining that she was anywhere else.

Bonnie was finally calm. It was a rare commodity for her. From stupid coworkers, evil sisters, oblivious mothers, and the stress of living in New York, Bonnie found little time to relax and calm down. Her job, despite the benefits, was high-stress. At least Mr. Stoppable wasn’t harsh. He was encouraging and understanding. She could see how Ron turned out the way he did.

“Now I’m thinking about Stoppable.”

She thought about how he saw her slug his sisters like some thug. What had even come over her at that time? Punching Lonnie in the face like that. Bonnie remembered the last time she got violent with either of the twins. They just harassed her worse.

“Maybe it’s not too late to grab Ron and leave,” Bonnie said to herself.

“Bonnie?”

Bonnie heard the voice of Ron. It wasn’t too far away. What was he doing out here? Had he come looking for her? He probably just didn’t want to be around her family. She couldn’t blame him. Bonnie didn’t want to be around her family. Sometimes, that included her mother.

Bonnie didn’t move from her spot.

“Bonnie?”

She just let Ron keep searching for her. On some level, it felt nice to be chased. Even if the one chasing her wasn’t romantically interested…and also Stoppable of all people.

Bonnie looked up into the sky as Ron’s footsteps got closer. She listened to him walk. His walking was measured and controlled. It sounded like how a lot of Junior’s bodyguards walked. Tight, controlled, deliberate. Bonnie chalked that up to all that kung fu training Stoppable did.

“Bonnie, there you are.” she heard him say as if he were relieved to find her. “How are you feeling?” she heard him ask. Bonnie looked up and saw him looking at her…with concern.

‘Weird,’ she thought. ‘He hadn’t had a look like that when I told him about my sisters. At most, he had pity.’ Bonnie decided to answer him. “Dreading the mistake I just made. Connie and Lonnie are probably thinking up some way to screw me over as we speak. They’re probably going to do something like ruin my dress at the wedding or pay someone on staff to steal my clothes. I’m better off just staying here in the wilderness. At least I know that they won’t come looking for me out here.”

“Why don’t we do that, then?”

“Do what?” asked Bonnie.

“Stay out here. You don’t want to deal with your sisters, so let’s just not deal with your sisters or the wedding. We’re at a resort, so let’s enjoy the resort.”

Bonnie looked at him with a raised brow. “And how exactly do you plan to do that?” she asked. “Lonnie’s fiance’s family is footing the bill. If we don’t show up to any of the functions, he can just boot us from the place.” that admittedly didn’t sound so bad to Bonnie’s ears.

Bonnie watched Ron take out his black card along with a wad of cash from his wallet. “Bonnie, I think you’ve forgotten that I’m basically a five-time billionaire. I can afford our own lodgings”

“Okay, then what do you plan to do about the whole resort being booked up? There are no other spaces, especially not out here in the wilderness.”

Bonnie saw Ron pull out another kiosk map before walking toward her. He pointed to a particular area of the map that said lodges. “They have summer lodges and cabins for rent. Why don’t we head to the lobby and request a lodge for a week? I’ve got more than enough money to throw around to incentivize them to do it.”

“We’re only here for the weekend. I can’t spend the week here.”

“I’ll talk to my dad. I’m sure that I can get him to let you have the rest of the week off on short notice.”

Bonnie looked at Ron. He smiled a big smile. He was like a golden retriever with a bone. She wanted to say no and be done with it, but then she thought to herself. ‘He’s going out of his way to make me feel better. Junior had never been that good at the whole ‘comforting and supportive’ thing. There’s the chance that he’s just looking to get lucky, but at this point, I could use the distraction. And it would be nice to be pampered.’

“Fine, Ron. We’ll do your idea,” Bonnie agreed. She wasn’t prepared for Ron to hoist her into his arms and go running off in the direction of the Resort’s main building. She wanted to protest, but he was moving too fast. Ron started to glow blue and she wasn’t sure about this, but Bonnie thought she saw a ghostly tail appear on his backside. Before Bonnie could confirm it, Ron had leaped clear into the air. The sound of monkeys at play trailed behind them.

____________________________________________________________________________

Loki had been captured. No one believed that it would have been that easy. Least of all, Fury. The individuals that would make up the Avengers Initiative deliberated on what their next move should be.

Bruce tried to locate the tesseract. He seemed to be the only one trying to do his job.

Tony had placed a device to burrow into the SHIELD mainframe on the Helicarrier. He planned to have every dirty secret that Fury knew about.

Having suspicions, Steve went looking for answers in the Helicarrier’s basement.

Thor waited Aimlessly on the Helicarrier, answering questions but mostly feeling out of place. He felt that he should be out there stopping Loki. The problem was that he didn’t know what Loki’s aim was.

Kim and Natasha interrogated Loki. They played the part of tortured souls trying to bargain for Barton’s life. Loki fell for it, playing up the dramatics and doing everything in his power to instill fear into the ‘lesser species’ that was humanity. Kim and Natasha were sufficiently scared…until Loki mentioned Dr. Banner. The monster. They knew that he was the play Loki was making.

That brought them to now, where everyone was gathered in Bruce’s lab.

“What is ‘Phase 2?’” asked Tony to Fury as his device got back to him with the information that he wanted.

CLANG

Steve entered the room and placed one of HYDRA’s old Cube Weapons on the table before Fury. “Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons!” Steve declared tersely. He looked at Tony and said, “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me.”

Fury immediately went into damage control. “Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we are–”

Tony interrupted Fury’s attempts to ease Steve’s concerns. “I’m sorry, Nick. What were you saying?” Tony showed a screen to Steve and Fury. It showed missile schematics.

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed. Not one bit.” Fury just looked so done. So did Steve, but not in the same way. Steve looked betrayed. His friends’ legacy was tarnished.

Thor and Natasha entered the room along with Kim. Bruce looked at Natasha and Kim. “Did you two know about this?”

“Have you thought of removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” Natasha immediately tried to get Bruce to leave. If whatever Loki did to him works, then the fallout could be catastrophic.

“I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed,” said Natasha.

Kim came at the problem from another direction. “Dr. Banner, Loki is manipulating you. We need to get you somewhere safe.”

“What, now you got her trying to manipulate me again?” asked Bruce accusingly.

“Dr. Banner, that’s not what's going on. Loki might be pulling something and using you to do it.”

Bruce took off his glasses. “Listen, I’m not leaving because all of a sudden, you get a little twitchy. What I want to know is why SHIELD is using the Cube to make WMDs?”

It was silent for a few seconds, but Fury spoke up. “Because of him.” Fury pointed at Thor.

“Me?” the son of Odin pointed at himself.

“Yes, you. Last year, when you visited our planet, you ended up having a grudge match that leveled a small town. Not only did we learn that we are not alone, but also that we are hopelessly outmatched.”

“My people want nothing but peace with Earth,” Thor tried to defend.

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you? You’re not the only threat, either.” Thor turned around to look at the rest of the room. “The world is filling up with people who can’t be matched, who can’t be controlled.”

“Like you controlled the Cube?” Steve challenged.

Thor came back into the conversation. “Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies to it. It is a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of warfare.”

“A higher form?” Steve echoed.

“You forced our hand,” Fury defended. “We had to come with–”

“A nuclear deterrent,” Tony butted in. “Yeah, 'cause that calms everything down.”

“Remind me how you made your fortune, Stark?” asked Fury.

“I’m sure if Stark still sold weapons, he’d be neck deep in–”

Tony cut off Steve. “Hold on, how is this now about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” asked Steve.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this?” said Thor.

“Excuse me? Do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” asked Fury.

“You treat your champions with mistrust,” accused Thor.

“You’re not my champion,” Fury rebuffed.

“Are you boys really that naive?” asked Natasha. “SHIELD monitors potential threats.”

“Captain America’s on threat watch?” asked Bruce with disbelief.

“We all are.”

Kim watched everyone go back and forth with their accusations and arguments. ‘What the hell is going on? When did this spiral so far out of control? It’s like they’re acting like their worst selves!’

Kim saw a flashing blue light from the corner of her eye. It was from the Scepter. Loki’s Scepter. It was glowing brilliantly, washing everyone in its light. Kim put two and two together. The scepter was affecting them. But why? More importantly, why wasn’t it affecting her?

That could wait. Kim needed to do something about it right now. “Everybody, Shut Up!” the room went quiet, and everyone focused on her.

“You want to repeat that, Agent Possible?” it was director Fury who spoke up first. From the way he was speaking, Kim could tell that he was pulling rank. Kim didn’t have time for it.

“You all need to get out of this room RIGHT NOW!” 

“I’m sorry, Agent Possible, but what?”

“You all need to get out of here.” she pointed at Loki’s scepter and saw everyone’s eyes go wide at its pulsating glow. “That stupid glowstick is affecting you. You all need to remove yourselves now. You’re all one snide comment away from this turning into a grudge match, and I’d rather not have to try and reign in the likes of Thor and Dr. Banner.”

That seemed to bring everyone to their senses, but it did little good. That was when the Helicarrier went up in flames.

____________________________________________________________________________

Ron woke up. His shirt was off, and his back was killing him. He spent the night on the couch as Bonnie had promised. It wasn’t the worst sleep, though. Bonnie’s mood managed to pick up. Ron let her take the jacuzzi, and he ordered room service. He ordered the finest stuff on the menu as long as it wasn’t something pretentious like caviar or gold-covered chicken. From there, they just spent the night talking. Sharing stories about what they’d been up to. Bonnie trauma dumped about her sisters until she was blue in the face. Ron could tell that it was cathartic for her. Not quite as much as punching her sister in the face, but it helped.

Ron grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He had no idea what he was going to watch. It had been five years since he watched TV, and the shows had no doubt changed. For a lack of better options, Ron just put the news on.

Ron headed to the kitchen. The summer lodge that Ron rented for the week with Bonnie came stocked with goods. Soaps, towels, face cloths, water, and most importantly, coffee. Not the instant kind. The lodge even came with one of those ritzy coffee machines. The kind that doesn’t get advertised in commercials.

The pot finished cooking, and Ron poured himself a cup, making sure to leave enough for Bonnie. 

SIP

SIP

“Mmm, that’s good,” Ron said to himself. He went back to the den where he left the TV going. He was surprised to see what the news was talking about.

“And in other news, Stuttgart, Germany, was the epicenter of a climactic showdown between an individual calling himself Loki, the revived Captain America, and Genius Billionaire Tony Stark in his patented Iron Man Armor. The death toll…”

“When the hell did this happen?” Ron asked himself. Apparently, it all went down last night. There were mentions of SHIELD also intervening. The mention of SHIELD reminded Ron of Kim.

“I wonder if she was there,” Ron thought to himself. Rufus poked out of pocket and crawled up his arm to his shoulder. The little rodent didn’t say anything. He simply just stood on his shoulder in solidarity. “Thanks, buddy.”

Still, Ron thought back to his talk with Sticky. If this Loki guy was the real deal, then wasn’t he endangering the rest of the magic community by being so out in the open like that? Ron wondered if those Sorcerers that Sticky mentioned were going to do something about this guy.

As Ron mused in the privacy of his mind, he heard a knocking at the door of the summer lodge.

“Get your fucking ass out here, Bonnie!”

If Ron’s memory served, then that was Lonnie shouting at the top of her lungs.

“You think you’re too good to come to my wedding? Come out, or i’ll drag you out!”

“It will be easier on all of us if you just come out, Bonnie. I know you’re probably in there trying to ‘secure your ‘sugar daddy,’ but try to get the pity dick out your mouth long enough so you can explain yourself.”

That was Connie, and that was where Ron drew the line. He put down his coffee and marched to the door. Rufus was on his shoulder and standing at attention. He unlocked the door and swung it open.

Outside of the lodge on the porch was Lonnie in her wedding dress and Connie by her side wearing what Ron expected to be the Bridesmaid dress. In Lonnie’s hand was a bottle of extra-strength mace, and Connie was holding a tazer.

“Can I help you ladies?” Ron asked, keeping a firm grip on the door to stop Connie and Lonnie from barging into the lodge.

Ron made the right choice because Lonnie tried to kick her way through the day. Ron didn’t let it budge.

“Bring Bonnie out here!” Lonnie demanded.

Ron looked them both dead in the eye. “No,” he said simply.

“What?” asked Lonnie.

“You heard me, I said no. Now clear out before I’m forced to remove you from the premises.” Rufus echoed Ron’s command by hissing at the girls like a cat. They jumped a little when they noticed the rodent.

Not deterred, Connie and Lonnie kept trying to get what they wanted. Lonnie stuck her foot in the door to stop Ron from closing it. She ended up getting her foot crushed and ruining the heel of her shoe. Lonnie just rolled with it. “Look,” Lonnie batted her eyes, and Ron just rolled his. “I’m sure whatever that bimbo Bonnie has been doing for you, I could do several times better. All you have to do is let me in so I can… talk to Bonnie. Then you can get your reward.” the last sentence came out saucily.

Ron just stared at Lonnie like she was a completely different creature. “Are you really Bonnie’s sisters?” Ron finally asked.

The twins were caught flat-footed. “I asked are you really Bonnie sisters? Because from where I’m standing, you might as well be spiteful strangers. What did she do to you that you feel this unrelenting need to belittle and hurt her to the point that you are willing to bargain with your own body just to hurt her more? My god, woman. You are getting married today, and you are trying to proposition me.”

“That bitch isn’t getting away with punching me between the eyes!” Lonnie declared.

“She only did that after you accused her of whoring herself out,” Ron shot back.

“Of course we did,” declared Connie. “That’s all she ever does. That’s all she’s good for.”

Ron knew that something had to happen in the past between these three to cause so much vitriol, but at the moment, he didn’t care. “If you ask me, it seems more likely that the two of you are jealous of your sister.”

Connie and Lonnie stepped back as if they had been struck. Ron ignored them and thought back to the dossiers that Wade sent over. After getting this lodge with Bonnie, Ron figured that he wouldn’t have any need for it. He sees now that he was mistaken.

“Unlike the two of you, Bonnie has been looking after herself and trying to make something of herself. She’s paying off her own home at twenty-three, she has a high-paying job in one of the most successful companies on the planet, and she has the option to move up in her company,” Ron looked accusingly at the two Rockwaller Twins. “What do you two have? What did you two work for?”

Ron thought back to the dossier and the mention of Connie and Lonnie’s father.

“Your father is the Tech Mogul Justin Hammer. You scrounged up as much evidence as you could manage to prove you and Lonnie were his daughters, as well as any info on any other kids he had that he wasn’t paying child support for just so you could blackmail him into paying you an obscene amount of cash to stay silent. You used that cash to buy shares in the company, and when Hammer Tech went tits up, you were one the many scavengers who tried to cut out as much profit from it as you could from the company's carcass.” 

“Wait, Connie, you had that kind of money?” asked Lonnie. “Why didn’t you cut me in on this?”

Ron turned to Lonnie. “This isn’t your first marriage. This is just the first one that you told your family about. You have a string of divorcees in your wake. You’ve seduced billionaires and CEOs and fleeced them for half their money. When you run out, you move on to the next guy. The only reason anyone knows about this wedding is because your new beau reached out to your mom. You’re just a glorified gold digger. Bonnie, at least, is willing to do an honest day's work to get where she is. Sure, she’s made a few selfish moves and decisions, but from what I’ve seen, she’s trying to do better. What's your excuse?”

Connie and Lonnie were silent. They’ve never had their poor behavior thrown in their faces before. They could usually get away with whatever they wanted to because of their beauty(Lonnie) or smarts(Connie). Now here was someone who didn’t give a damn about either of those and was willing to call them out. Not even their mother called them out.

Ron grew tired of waiting for a response and closed the door on their faces, making sure to shove Lonnie’s wedged foot out of the gap.

SLAM

Rufus blew a raspberry at them as soon as the door closed. “I agree with you, buddy. Those girls are the worst.”

Ron went to sit down on the sofa and continued to watch the news. He thought about calling room service, but before he could really consider the option, Bonnie spoke up.

“Did you really mean all of that?” Ron was startled to the point that he nearly knocked Rufus off his shoulder. He jumped up to his feet and saw Bonnie coming out to the lodge’s den behind the sofa. She was dressed in a robe that came with the lodge and a pair of slippers of a similar make.

“Bonnie? When did you get here? Did you hear all of that?” asked Ron.

“I heard Connie and Lonnie screaming my name and came out to see what was going on. Then I found you at the door talking to them. Now answer my question: did you mean all that?”

Ron calmed down. “Yeah, I meant all of that. Your sisters are like worse versions of you from back in high school.”

Bonnie scowled. “What do you mean?”

Ron scrambled to explain himself. “What I mean to say is that even though you were kind of jealous and catty with Kim back in high school, you at least just tried to compete with her or one-up her. You didn’t do any underhanded and petty shit. You just tried to be better than Kim. With your sisters, all they do is put you down, and when they came here, they had every intention of trying to hurt you.”

Bonnie quirked an eyebrow. Ron saw her confusion. “Lonnie had extra strength mace with her, and Connie had a taser. It was obvious they were coming here to hurt you.”

“And you stopped them?” she asked.

“Well, I didn’t beat them up if that’s what you're asking.”

Bonnie sighed. “Of course, I know that you didn’t beat them up. I was there to hear you dress them down. How’d you know all that stuff anyway?”

Ron came clean. “When I first agreed to come here, I reached out to Wade and had him give me some info on the wedding guests. I didn’t want to be caught flat-footed with all these rich people. I think Wade got the wrong message because he ended up compiling a list of damning information about the guests. Since we decided just to skip the wedding and relax here, I was prepared to just forget about all of it, but then your sisters came here looking like a couple of thugs so…I just let them have it.”

Bonnie blinked. She blinked again. Ron had gone to bat for her. That was…really sweet of him. Bonnie walked to the front of the lodge and looked at the window. Lonnie and Connie were gone. Then she looked at Ron. He was shirtless, and the muscles he was showing off were scrumptious to look at. Bonnie came to a decision and walked over to Ron and pushed him down onto the sofa.

“Bonnie?” asked Ron. She silenced him by putting a finger on his lips as she sat down on his torso. “Be quiet.” she opened her robe and threw it to the side of the couch to reveal the yellow tank top and pajama shorts she was wearing. Ron’s eyes went wide as he realized what was happening.

Bonnie leaned forward and captured Ron’s lips in a kiss. Bonnie pulled back and saw Ron about to say something. She put another finger on his lips. “Don’t think too deeply about it. I’m just paying you back for tearing my sisters a new one. Also, I could use the distraction. Also, sex isn’t on the table, so forget about it.” she forced him back down to the couch and continued to make out. Ron didn’t protest. For as much as he had some bad history with Bonnie, he couldn’t ignore the fact that he found her attractive. Probably more attractive than Kim. His hands traveled to her waist and pulled her closer while Bonnie leaned into his grip by grinding against him as they kissed. His hands explored her body while her tongue explored his mouth. All the while, they ignored the news broadcast on the TV.

To Be Continued

Chapter Text

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

Just before the Helicarrier went up in flames, Dr. Banner’s scans picked up the Tessercact’s location. It was right on top of them. That meant that Loki’s people were right on top of them.

The explosion rocked the Helicarrier. The would-be Avengers in Dr. Banner’s lab were rocked about.

Steve and Tony got tossed around but were otherwise fine. Steve told Tony to put on the suit, and Tony rushed to access it.

Fury was injured and called for a sitrep. Hill told him that there was an external detonation and that there was no way to fix it while in the air. Being the only one able to fly and having the technical know-how, Stark moved to take care of that problem.

Natasha, Kim, and Dr. Banner were knocked down to a sublevel. Natasha was injured and had her leg trapped. Kim was okay due to her new powers, but Dr. Banner was beginning to change.

Things weren’t looking good.

____________________________________________________________________________

Kim quickly got up from her prone position and pried the debris off of Natasha’s leg. “Are you alright, Agent Romanoff?” asked Kim as she tried to help the senior agent up.

“I’m not the one you should be worried about,” said Natasha. Natasha pointed behind Kim, where the prone but struggling form of Dr. Banner could be seen. The man was covered in sweat, and his clothes were ripping from the quickly increasing muscle mass.

Kim was concerned. She knew exactly what was happening. “Dr. Banner? Is everything alright?” Kim asked hesitantly.

Dr. Banner didn’t respond. His body just began to contort. Kim could hear his bones bending, twisting, and extending. It was gut-wrenching to hear. That was when Kim really started to see the change. He was looking more and more like the monster from the footage. Kim could see the Hulk now.”

ROAR!

Soon enough, the change was completed. Banner–The Hulk–was up on his feet and stumbling about. He knocked into an important-looking piece of machinery, a light bump, and the entire thing was dented.

ROAR

Hulk roared again.

“Possible, we need to get out of here,” Natasha whispered to Kim. That was when Hulk turned his sights on the pair of agents. Both parties paused.

ROAR

Then, Hulk gave chase, and Kim and Natasha took off. Kim had quickly left Natasha in her dust but doubled back to hoist Natasha into a princess carry.

“Put me down!” Natasha tried to order, but Kim wasn’t having it.

“I’m sorry, do you want to run away from the hulking green monster on foot? Or would you prefer the only superhuman between the two of us to do the heavy lifting?”

Natasha glared at Kim. It wasn’t one of those tsundere types of glares. There was genuine anger in it. “You tell anyone and you’re dead.”

Kim shook her head. “And risk having you kick my ass in a spar? No thanks!”

Kim picked up the pace as Hulk became more motivated to catch them.

____________________________________________________________________________

Thor was within the bowels of the fortress. The explosion had rocked the aircraft and landed Thor in an unfamiliar part of the craft. Worse yet, he was without Mjolnir.

ROAR

“What manner of beast is that?” Thor asked himself. He began to give chase to the sounds of battle and cries of beasts.

The crashes and smashes became louder. Thor was getting closer; he knew it. If a beast were running amok on this aircraft, then it would be wise of him to lay it low.

Soon, Thor came upon the running form of Dame Possible running away with Dame Romanoff in her arms. That was when Thor saw him—the green giant. Large and muscle-bound. He was tearing his way through the craft. The metal was not, but parchment under his might.

The warrior-minded part of Thor wished to face this creature in combat to test himself. The protector knew that he had to stop its rampage. With his mind made up, Thor charged to collide with the green beast.

____________________________________________________________________________

Hulk had cornered Kim and Natasha, and he was slowly walking them down. Kim put down Natasha and activated her powers. A blue and black aura surrounded her body. Pure power coursed through her veins. She got into a combat-ready stance but still addressed Dr. Banner, hoping he was still in there.

“Dr. Banner? It’s me. It’s Kim. You need to snap out of it.”

Hulk just roared more.

“If you don’t stop, then I’ll make you stop.” Kim flared her aura threateningly. Hulk continued to march forward.

Just as Kim was ready to fight Hulk, a blond missile collided with him, knocking him through a wall and into the prep bay where the jets were.

BAM

Kim and Natasha quickly followed them through the hole. And found both of them sprawled on the ground with many onlookers.

Natasha, being injured, decided to bow out and get some treatment if she could. Kim, on the other hand, moved forward with her powers still active. The Hulk couldn’t be left to rampage, and letting Thor get into a slugfest with him wasn’t the best of ideas either.

Kim took a running start and then leaped. Thor and Hulk were exchanging blows when Kim came in with a flying elbow to Hulk’s face. Hulk stumbled, and Thor capitalized on the opening by delivering an uppercut.

Hulk was knocked on his ass. Thor summoned his hammer after a few seconds and then got behind Hulk to try and choke him out. Meanwhile, Kim continued to try and reach Dr. Banner.

“Dr. Banner, you need to calm down,” she pleaded.

“This is Banner?” asked Thor. Kim nodded. “Then she is right, Banner. You must get control of yourself.”

The Hulk continued to roar until he formed words: “NO BANNER! ONLY HULK!” This was the first time anyone had heard the Hulk speak, and it caught both of them by surprise. It was enough for the Hulk to surge in power and knock both of them through a hole in the ceiling.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Hulk is in Research Level Four. I repeat, Hulk is in Research Level Four.”

Agent Hill heard the report and was instantly worried. “Sir, the Hulk is going to tear this place apart!”

Fury, aiming his gun at the entrance of the command deck and taking shots at whoever tried to force their way in, gave her an order. “Send someone to get his attention.”

“Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile!” Hill ordered.

____________________________________________________________________________

Outside the SHIELD Helicarrier, one of the escort jets zeroed in on the location where the Hulk was destroying the Helicarrier, and two others were trying to stop him. The pilot prepped his weapons, took aim, and then fired.

“Target acquired. Target engaged.”

The escort jet unloaded its guns on Hulk. The guns tore through the windows. The other two, who were battling Hulk, ducked. Hulk, on the other hand, turned around with anger in his eyes. Hulk went charging and leaped out of the window at the jet.

“Target is angry. Target is angry!”

Hulk was now on top of the jet, tearing away paneling and destroying the wings. The jet was going down, so the pilot tried to eject. Hulk caught him mid-flight. He swung the pilot around for a bit but ultimately threw him away. Thankfully, the ejector seat’s parachute deployed. The pilot would be alright.

BOOM

The same could not be said for Hulk, who was caught up in the explosion of the falling jet.

____________________________________________________________________________

“DR. BANNER! NO!” screamed Kim as she watched the Hulk go up in flames before falling further down to the earth. She had tried to keep the Hulk from jumping out of the Helicarrier, but he was simply too fast. Kim couldn’t move fast enough.

Thor placed a hand on Kim’s shoulder. “I am sorry for your loss. I understand that you and the doctor were close.”

Kim shook her head. “We weren’t close, but he knew my parents. He even agreed to come in when he recognized me. I feel guilty that he died like this.” Kim clenched her fists. “I’m taking care of the guy responsible for all of this,” she declared. “He’s not getting out of here.”

Thor nodded in agreement. “Verily. Loki will not win this day.” Thor and Kim ran off in the direction of Loki’s containment cell. Kim led the way.

Kim and Thor reached the containment area. They showed up just in time as Loki was exiting his cell. Kim and Thor charged. Loki braced himself, but it turned out that he was nothing more than a hologram. Kim and Thor sailed through him as they lunged at him.

The hologram dissipated and revealed that the real Loki was standing farther away. He had his hands behind his back and looked at them both like they were utter fools. “I expect as much from the oaf, but you would think the human would be more cautious when facing something beyond her ken.”

BANG

BAM

Thor and Kim smashed against the container that imprisoned them, cracking it. Loki was actually surprised but still smiling that slimy smile. From his perspective, he still had all the cards.

“Humans think we are immortal. Should we test that?"

“Ooff!”

The guard who freed Loki was taken out. The one who did it was Coulson. He was carrying a big gun. A very big gun.

“Coulson! You’ve got to let me out of here so I can kick this bastard's ass!” shouted Kim.

“Stand down, Agent Possible. I have this under control.” Coulson looks at Loki threateningly. He walked forward, brandishing his weapon. “You like this? We started working on the prototype when you sent the destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does.”

CHARGE

Coulson flipped the switch, and the barrel of the gun lit up with an orange glow. Coulson aims at Loki. Thor and Kim were waiting anxiously, watching the exchange. “How about we find out.”

SHINK

Before Coulson could pull the trigger, Loki appeared behind Coulson and stabbed him with the blade of the scepter before he forcefully tore it out. There was blood on the blade. Coulson’s blood.

“NO!” shouted Kim. She immediately began powering up and smashing her fists against the glass of the containment unit. Thor joined her. In their anger, they would be able to break free quickly enough.

Not wasting time, Loki headed to the console that controlled the containment unit. Kim saw what he was doing, and her eyes went bloodshot. “Don’t you–!” It was too late. Loki pressed the button and dropped Thor and Kim from high altitude.

____________________________________________________________________________

Kim and Thor were tumbling around within the container. Kim was taking more damage than Thor was. Thor’s biggest worry was getting his hands back on Mjolnir. As he tossed and turned, Thor righted himself and managed to grab onto his hammer. His next order of business was to grab Kim. He could see that she was not faring too well. With a quick lunge, he snatched her out of the air and tucked her under his arm before flinging himself out of the containment unit to safety.

____________________________________________________________________________

Back up top in the falling Helicarrier, Loki looked at what he had done. He was sure that he had managed to kill Thor this time. Not even he could survive a drop from this height. Loki started to walk away, but then Coulson spoke.

“You’re going to lose.”

Loki stopped in his tracks and looked back at Coulson. “Am I?”

Coulson nodded weakly. “It’s in your nature.”

Loki smiled coldly. “Your heroes are scattered. Your flying fortress falls from the sky…where is my disadvantage?”

“You lack conviction,” Coulson said in a mocking tone.

“I don’t think–!” Before Loki could finish speaking, Coulson pulled the trigger on his gun, and a bright orange blast bombarded Loki, sending him flying through the walls of the detention area.

“So that’s what it does…” Coulson said before the light faded from his eyes.

____________________________________________________________________________

Tony had managed to get the turbines of the engine going. The Helicarrier was starting to stabilize. There was just one problem: the turbines were speeding up, and he was still stuck in them. He needed Steve to pull the lever. Now.”

“Okay, Rogers. Any minute now. Pull the lever!”

There was grunting on the other end of the comms. “I need a minute here.” From the sounds of things, Steve was being buffeted by the wind. Tony shuddered to think that his only way out was tumbling through the sky right now.

“Lever…” Tony pushed again. He heard more grunting followed by gunfire. That was somewhat of a relief. If there was gunfire, that meant Rogers was still on the carrier. Unfortunately, the turbines were picking u, and Tony was caught in them. They snatched him up and were now grinding him against he steel flooring of the turbines. “Seriously…Rogers…Lever!” Tony was getting rocked in his Iron Man suit. If this kept up much longer, the blades would eventually grind him to dust. Suit be damned.

The gunfire continued to fill the comms as Tony waited with bated breath for Steve to respond. That was when Tony heard the clang of metal and the clink of something clicking into place. He didn’t have to guess what it was as the blades of the turbine slowed down. Tony saw his chance and bailed out of the engine fans. His suit was damaged and still showing sparks, but it managed to fly.

Tony zoomed to Steve’s location with an express purpose. He could still hear the gunfire. Once there, Tony zeroed in on the culprit—a fake SHIELD agent. Tony charged and tackled the man as he opened fire on Steve. Tony took the punk out and sprawled out on the ground. The fighting was over.

____________________________________________________________________________

The remains of the Avengers Initiative were gathered on the bridge. Thor, Hulk, and Kim had been jettisoned from the carrier, and Romanoff was in medical, tending to a recovering Barton. The only ones there were Fury, Hill, Steve, and Tony. The mood was somber, and the feeling of defeat hung heavy in the air.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket.” Fury threw a handful of bloody trading cards onto the table. They were Captain America Trading Cards. The very same ones that Coulson wanted Steve to sign. “I guess he never did get you to sign them.”

Steve and Tony looked at the cards. Steve looked devastated. He picked up one of the cards and looked at it. “We’re dead in the air up here. Communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor, Kim…”

The mention of Kim really struck a chord with Steve. If she fell from the carrier, then there was no way that she was still alive. Someone would have to explain to her family that she was dead. Steve was going to make sure it was himself. Marie and her family at least deserved that much.

“...I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye and an agent I was hoping to train up to replace the two I was putting into the Initiative. I might have had that coming my way.” Fury started to pace around the table where this meeting was taking place. Steve and Tony did not meet his gaze. “I’ll be honest with you. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. But that was never going to be my number one priority. There was something far riskier that I was betting on as well.” Fury paused, ceasing his walk around the table before abruptly continuing. “There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, so that they could fight the battles that we never could.” Fury paused behind a seat. The very seat next to Tony. Tony had his back to Fury. “Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.”

Tony got up. Fury had been keeping an eye on him the entire meeting. He was fidgety and restless. Fury hoped his words had reached him. Still, he couldn’t keep his hand away. So, as Tony marched away, Fury finished his speech. “Well, it's an old-fashioned notion.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The tumble out of the containment unit had not been clean. The landing had robbed Thor of his hammer, but he held onto Kim. Now the two walked side by side, looking for Thor’s hammer.

“Do you have any idea where it went?” asked Kim.

“I have a general idea,” said Thor. “I can sense that it is in the area, but that is it. We will have to search for it otherwise,” Thor explained. “It should not take long. I’ve become an old hand at finding my hammer.”

They quietly split off from each other but were still within earshot. As they looked, Kim raised a question that had been on her mind. “Why is your brother doing this?” she asked.

“What?” 

“Why is your brother attacking us? For that matter, why was he so ready to kill you?” Kim asked.

Thor paused in his search. The question made him rethink thoughts that he had been having since his brother’s betrayal last year, with his banishment and the Frost Giants. Was their bond ever true? Did Thor ever truly understand his brother? Was it something that Thor did to make Loki betray Asgard? If Thor had stayed on Midgard, would things have been better? All these questions made Thor realize one thing: he did not have the answers. “I am sorry to tell you, Dame Possible, but I do not know my brother’s reasons for attacking your people. He has been gone from Asgard. We thought him dead. When Heimdall finally found a sign of him, my first priority was coming here and bringing him home so that we could speak with him and sort things out. It seems that time away from family has only made him more hostile. Sometimes I feel that…I never knew him in the first place. Every time I wanted to do something, I would always drag him along. Never stopping to ask if that was what he wanted to do. Maybe that was the reason he betrayed us. We never considered how he felt.”

Kim thought about that. It reminded her of how things ended with Ron. Now he was gone. He disappeared into Asia and still hasn’t come back. Having five years to think about it, Kim realized that what she said to Ron was wrong. He had put off college to go with Kim to her dream school, and she threw that back in his face by just abandoning him. She didn’t consider how it would affect him. Now she had lost her best friend and best partner.

Kim came to a decision. Once this was all over, she was going to contact Wade and see if he could help her track down Ron in Asia.

While Kim resolved to reconcile with Ron, Thor picked up Mjolnir. They both had resolved to mend bridges, but right now, they needed ot do their part to stop Loki.

____________________________________________________________________________

Tony stood in the deployment zone where Loki had originally been contained. It was also where Kim and Thor were dropped. It was also where Agent Coulson died.

Steve joined Tony just a ways off. He looked at the billionaire and asked a question. “Was he married?” he said, asking about Coulson.

Tony shook his head. “No, there was…a cellist, I believe.”

“I’m sorry. he seemed like a good man.” Steve gave his condolences.

“What about you?” asked Tony. “You seemed close with the Cheerleader, who could do anything. Was she your squeeze or whatever you guys called your girlfriends back in the day?”

Tony watched Steve recoil in disgust as soon as he asked that question. “Oh, god, no! She’s the granddaughter of an old war buddy! I was just looking after her. Giving her some pointers.” Steve sighed. “I will be the one to break the news to her family. It's only right.”

It became quiet between Tony and Steve for a bit.

“They were idiots,” Tony finally said.

“Why? For believing?”

“They shouldn’t have taken on Loki. Sure, Point Break was there, but Loki probably had years to figure out how to deal with the walking thunder cloud. The Cheerleader was in over her head, and Coulson got played.”

“They were doing what they signed up for,” Steve defended.

“They were out of their league. They both should have waited. He should’ve…” Tony couldn’t think of anything to say. He didn’t know what Coulson and Kim could have done.

Tony and Steve paced toward each other. “Sometimes there's no way out, Tony.”

Tony scoffed. “Right, I’ve heard that before,” he said as he walked by Steve.

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” asked Steve.

Tony immediately turned around. “We are not soldiers!” It was quiet between the two of them for a bit. “I’m not marching to Fury’s fife.”

“Neither am I,” Steve agreed. “But right now, we need to put that behind us and get this done. Now, Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list…”

Tony looked away for a second. At the spot where Coulson was killed. “He made it personal.”

“That’s not the point,” said Steve.

Tony shook his head. “That is the point. That’s Loki’s point. He hit us all right where we live. Why? 

“To tear us apart,” Steve answered.

Tony continued. “Yeah, divide and conquer is…great, but he knows he has to take us down to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us. He wants to be seen doing it.”

Steve caught on. “That’s right. I cut his act short in Stuttgart.”

“Yeah, but that’s just previews. This is…This is opening night.” Tony started to pace, going on a roll. “And Loki, he’s a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers. He wants parades. He wants a monument built to the sky with his name plastered…” That was when it all clicked for Tony. A monument to the sky? What better place than Stark Tower and its cutting-edge clean energy? “...son of a bitch…”

____________________________________________________________________________

Loki watched as Selvig worked away at the Tesseract. Soon, he would be ushering in a new age here on Midgard. Loki would prove to everyone that he was worthy enough to be king. He would prove that–”

ZOOM

“Dr. Selvig, shut it down.”

‘Ah, the man of iron. I had been hoping that Midgard’s protectors would still show even after the thrashing I gave them…’

Loki watched the tin man try to blast his way into victory, but the Tesseract did not like that. It responded to the tin man’s interference in kind. It made Loki smile, watching the Midgardian try to contend with something beyond his ken. He touted himself as so intelligent, yet he approached problems like a goblin with a hammer.

As the Tin Man backed away after being blasted by the Tesseract, Loki spotted the Midgardian looking at him.

‘I guess I could grace him with the opportunity to meet his  future ruler.’

Loki walked into the Midgardian’s tower as the tin man did the same while doffing his armor. Loki could hear him arguing with the intelligence enchanted into his armor. As they came face to face, Loki decided to twist the knife. “Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.”

Instead of cowering or making some emotional argument, the Midgardian made his way to his home tavern, pouring himself a drink. Loki assumed the Tin Man wanted to be blitzed before dying. Who was Loki to judge a man for his last ‘meal? ’

“Actually, I’m planning to threaten you.”

Loki laughed. “You should have left your armor on for that.”

“Yeah, it’s seen a bit of mileage, and you’ve got…the glow stick of destiny.” The Midgardian dismissively gestured to the scepter. Loki smirked. The Midgardian was deflecting with humor. Typical behavior of the cowardly and spineless. 

“Stalling me won’t change anything.”

“No, not stalling. Threatening,” the Midgardian corrected. Like that made a difference. “No drink? You sure? I’m having one.”

“The Chituari are coming. Nothing you do will change that. What have I to fear?”

“The Avengers.” Loki didn’t know who that group was. Was there another group of champions that Midgard placed its faith in? “That’s what we call ourselves. Sort of like a team. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, that sort of thing.”

Loki smirked. He had nothing to fear. “Yes, I’ve met them.”

The Midgardian smirked back. “Yeah, it takes a bit of time for us to get any traction. I’ll give you that one, but let’s do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-god,” the mention of Thor upset Loki. he turned away from the rambling Midgardian. “A super soldier, the living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. The world’s strongest former cheerleader. A man with breathtaking anger management issues. A couple of master assassins, and then there’s you, big fella. You’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

Loki smirked. “That was the plan.”

“Not a great plan,” the Midgardian finished fixing his drink. “When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.”

“I have an army,” Loki countered.

“We have a Hulk,” the Midgardian countered right back.

“I thought the beast had wandered off,” Loki deflected, irritation growing.

“You’re missing the point. There’s no throne. There’s no version of this where you come out on top.” The Midgardian came closer, sipping his drink defiantly. “Maybe your army comes, and maybe it’s too much for us, but it is all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, then you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.” Another threatening sip.

Loki stepped threateningly toward the Midgardian. He felt that this ant talked too much. “How will your friends have time for me when they’re busy fighting you?” Loki closed the distance and placed the scepter on the Midgardian’s chest and prepared to put him under his thrall.

Then, nothing happened. There was just the sound of metal on metal. Loki tried again. The same sound. Nothing happened. “This usually works.”

“Well, performance issues aren’t uncommon…” the Midgardian began to ramble, insulting Loki’s manhood indirectly. Fine. If he couldn’t turn the tin man to his side, then Loki would simply quell the number of these so-called ‘Avengers.’ “One out of five–urk!”

“You will all fall before me!” Loki grabbed the Midgardian by the throat and dragged him to his window, where Loki threw him out. Along the way, the Midgardian had been talking nonsense. It mattered little. The tin man would be dead, and soon enough, so would the rest of these aveng–

WHIR

LAUNCH

ZOOM

Loki’s train of thought was interrupted by a red object launching from the wall of the Midgardian’s workshop and shooting off passed Loki. It travelled toward the Midgardian and began to encase him within his armor before he crashed on the ground below. Soon enough, the tin man was back and ready to do battle. Looming over Loki from midair.

“And there was one other person you pissed off! His name is Phil.” Loki raised his scepter to retaliate, but he was beaten to the punch by the tin man’s blast. Loki went flying back, but it was too late. The Tesseract had finished starting up. It fired a column of energy into the sky, where it opened a portal. From there, the Chituari came raining down on the Midgardian capital.

____________________________________________________________________________

It was supposed to be another day. Sticky was playing chess at Pop’s. Pops was working on another customer. Luke was sweeping the floor. It was a typical day. So why did a giant blue portal open up in the center of Manhattan with weird reptile men spilling out of it?

Pops ran to the window to get a look. “What in the name of god?”

Sticky followed after him. Sticky’s eyes went wide. This looked like something Kamar-Taj should be dealing with. Before Sticky could slip out the door, a group of those reptile men landed near the shop. They stepped off of this weird flying platform that one of the creatures had been controlling with their face. A bulkier-looking monster barked orders to the smaller ones, and they all started heading toward various shops. Pop’s included.

‘Shit,’ Sticky muttered. He could see this for what it was. The city was under attack, and it looked like he was gonna have to do something. At least for his community. He reached toward his collar and pulled at the White Tiger Amulet. ‘Whatever you got to give, I could really use it right about now!’

Responding to the wishes of its wielder, the White Tiger Amulet glowed and covered Sticky’s body in Wakandan Runes of protection that spread out and formed an armor similar to the Black Panther Habit. It was not Vibranium. It was a suit of pure spectral energy powered by a fragment of the Tiger God’s power.

Sticky was now covered from head to toe in a white tiger-themed suit. The seams glowed with green/white energy that radiated off the suit, almost like flames. The helmet was shaped like a tiger’s head, and the eyes were pure white.

“Sticky?” Pops said. “What the hell is that suit?”

“No time to explain, Pops! We got company!” Those reptile men were right in front of the store. One of them took out a spherical, glowing object and threw it inside. It started to beep and glow rhythmically. “Shit! Grenade!” Sticky was on top of the thing in minutes. He flipped with the grace of a feline, grabbed the grenade mid flip, and threw it back through the broken window it was sent from. All in mere seconds.

The reptile men made some garbled noises that could be mistaken for language. Sticky couldn’t tell what any of it meant, but he could recognize panic.

BOOM

The grenade went off and took the monsters with it. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?” shouted Pops.

Surprisingly, it was Luke who answered. “I don’t know,” he said while stepping toward the window, “but it’s got something to do with that portal in the sky over Stark Tower.”

As Luke said that, more of those monsters came out of the woodwork. Surprising, Sticky, Luke stepped up and ran outside. “Luke, the fuck are you doing? Get back in the shop!” Sticky followed him. More of those flying platforms landed…and Luke lifted a car and chucked it at a group of those reptile men as they tried to get off their platform. Sticky stopped in his tracks for a second. Only a second. And then just started moving. “Okay, so I guess we’re doing this now!”

Luke and Sticky started to attack the monsters. Luke smashed through them and tanked their energy shots. Sticky bobbed and weaved while slashing their flanks and blind spots. Soon enough, Pops had joined them. He had his shotgun and was doing the best he could, even if that wasn’t much in the grand scheme.

As all of this was happening, Sticky couldn’t help but wonder what the actual fuck was going on.

____________________________________________________________________________

Jake was in the recording studio doing his usual thing. He was mixing up some new tracks that he was working on for his practical musical theory class. Trixie’s classes at Empire State were done for the day. And Spud, who studied Kamar-Taj when he felt like it, was joining them with a bag of potato chips.

“Did you guys see the news about Captain America in Germany?” asked Trixie.

Spud smiled. “Yeah, that was crazy. I didn’t know the Norse gods were real, too. Why didn’t you say anything, Jake?”

“I don’t think that was the actual Loki. Why would he be picking a fight wth Captain America in Germany?” said Jake as he stopped his mixing. “More importantly, Gramps never said anything about it. He left to talk with the Ancient One. Probably for their usual meet-up.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Spud as he ate some more potato chips. “It’s still crazy that Captain America came back from the dead, though.”

“I know, right?” said Trixie. “Like, how did he survive in the ice for that long?” she asked.

Jake piped up. “Isn’t he like a Super Soldier or something? Maybe that had something to do with it.”

Before the conversation could continue, Jake’s phone buzzed. It was from his grandpa. “Huh? That’s weird. Grandpa’s telling me to get back home.”

“Doesn’t he know that you’re still in class?” asked Trixie. “What does he want?”

“I don’t know,” Jake said. “It looked like he was about to explain something, then it just kind of trailed off into gibberish.”

Before Jake, Spud, and Trixie could think more about it, they all heard a loud boom followed by screams. “What was that?” asked Jake.

Spud got up and looked out the door to the recording studio they were using. He saw several other students and teachers barreling down the hall to the exit. Chasing them were reptilian men with cybernetic parts and weird glowing staff that blasted blue light. Spud saw a few students get incinerated by those things.

Spud closed the door and immediately started opening a portal to Kamar Taj. He looked at Jake and Trixie. “Jake, you might want to Dragon Up! The school’s under attack by some weird reptile men!” The portal was open, and Spud grabbed Trixie.

Jake didn’t waste time. He looked out the door himself and saw what Spud was talking about. The reptile men didn’t look like anything that his grandpa or the Ancient One had ever told him about. Frankly, they looked kind of alien.

“No time to worry about where they came from!” Jake stepped back and flexed his muscles. “Dragon-UP!” his body erupted in red/orange flames, covering every extremity. His hands became claws, his feet became talons, scales covered his arms and legs, his face stretched and became more reptilian, wings burst from his back, a dorsal spine of spikes grew on his back, a tail ruptured from his behind, slamming the ground, and an aura of flame and electricity surrounded him.

ROOOOAAAAAR

“That’s right! I’m the American Dragon!” Jake burst out of the door and descended on the reptiles.  They tried to turn their weapons on him, but Jake melted them before they aimed. Then he followed that up with a viscous tail swipe that slammed a few of the reptile men into a wall.

“Aw, damn. Need to keep the collateral to a minimum,” Jake told himself. 

Jake’s fellow students paused to look at him. He didn’t appreciate that. “Ay! Enough gawking! Clear out before more of their friends show up.” The students and even the teachers didn’t listen. They pulled out their phones and started taking pictures.

‘You know what? Fuck it!’ 

Jake opened his draconic maw and roared.

ROOOOAAAAR!

His roar reverberated through the crowd and got the entire crowd of students and teachers to start moving again. It was just in time, too. More of those reptile soldier dudes were back.  This time, they had blasters. They caught Jake off guard.

BLAST

BIFF

Jake got knocked into the far wall of the building down the hall from where he entered the battle. “Okay, your toys hit pretty hard. Let’s see how you handle–”

The reptile soldiers didn’t give Jake a chance to finish talking and let off another blast. Jake cursed his motor mouth and brought up his arms and wings to guard himself, but Jake didn’t feel anything collide with his guard.

VRRM

Jake opened his eyes to see the signature red portal of Kamar-Taj opening before him. Out stepped Spud, no longer dressed in his usual jersey and cargo shorts, he was now wearing the robes of Kamar-Taj and had a Sling Ring on his fingers.

“Trixie’s safe at the Sanctum. I’m here for backup. Your grandpa says that if you’re going to stay out here and fight, then be careful.” Mandalas formed up on his hands, and Spud took a combat stance. Jake grinned. No more Spud the Dud. It was time for Spud the Spudnificent to step back onto the stage.

Jake quickly got up and stood next to his friend and ally in this fight. “Just like old times?” Jake asked.

Spud chuckled. “Now if only I still had my frog powers!”

No more needed to be said. Jake and Spud charged into the fray to deal with these weirdo reptile soldier dudes.

____________________________________________________________________________

Back in the Adirondacks, at the summer cabin that Ron rented for himself and Bonnie, they were still going at it. Bonnie was no longer on top. Ron had turned over and pinned her to the sofa. He kissed up her neck until he found her lips again. Bonnie forced her tongue into Ron’s mouth, holding his face close with one hand and having her arm draped behind his neck with the other.

“You’ve certainly gotten better at this since high school,” Bonnie said approvingly as she played with Ron’s tongue in her mouth.

“We only kissed once in high school, and you were specifically doing it to piss off Kim. You don’t get to have an opinion on my kissing,” Ron said as his right hand wandered to her right breast and played with it. The sensation of his nimble and firm hand on her chest forced Bonnie to moan into the next kiss.

Bonnie pulled away. “Don’t talk about Kim,” she ordered. “Focus on me.”

“As you wish,” said Ron, and he kissed her again.

As they went at each other like a couple of teenagers, their jostling on the couch had ended up pressing a few buttons on the remote. The volume quickly rose, letting the sound of the emergency newscast fill the room.

“IT IS A SCENE OF ANARCHY HERE IN NEW YORK! A PORTAL OPENED HERE IN THE SKY ABOVE STARK TOWER, BRINGING AN OUTPOURING OF STRANGE OTHERWORLDLY CREATURES. THEY’VE DESCENDED UPON THE POPULACE IN MASS AND ARE UNLEASHING THEIR STRANGE WEAPONS ON THEM. THE POLICE CAN’T MOUNT A DEFENSE AND THE MILITARY HAS YET TO ARRIVE! DOES THIS MARK THE END OF DAYS!?”

Though dramatic, it was enough to get Ron to stop kissing Bonnie. “The hell is going on?” Ron said to himself. He pulled away from Bonnie, who pouted. 

“Who cares? Get back to what’s important.” Ron had his back to Bonnie, but she put her arms around him. He got up anyway. He went closer to the TV and watched the chaos unfold. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was this a magic thing? Had something happened in the community? He looked at the portal in the sky that multiple stations were showing. Ron felt like he had to do something.

He primed his Kimmunicator and called up Wade.

DOOT, DOOT

DOOT

DOOT

DOOT, DOOT

Wade’s end of the call was chaotic. There were tons of people in the background running around. Wade looked swamped. “Ron, I’m gonna need to call you back. There’s an emergency in New York and–”

“I can help!” Ron cut off Wade.

“What?” Wade asked, confused.

“I said I can help. I just need a ride to New York.”

Wade didn’t budge. “Ron, this isn’t the time for–”

Ron cut him off again, this time raising his right fist into the screen’s view and bathing it with the energies of the Iron Fist and his Mystical Monkey Powers.

Wade looked at the display. “Is this a Tai Shing Pek Kwar thing?”

“And some other stuff,” Ron confirmed.

Wade weighed his options. “I can have Quinjet there in five. Be ready.”

“I will.”

Ron closed the call and didn’t waste time. He went for his luggage and opened up the bottom compartment. There, at the bottom, was his Iron Fist Outfit. It wasn’t the ceremonial or traditional vestments that would have been passed to him. It was an ensemble he came up with himself.

An armored martial arts cheongsam in green and gold with the symbol of the Shao Lao on the back. The sleeves were three-quarters in length, which left room for his hand wraps. Also rated for combat. He had sturdy combat pants and boots as well as a utility belt containing necessities. Tying the look together was the signature headband of the Iron Fist. Ron wore it proudly.

It took Ron only seconds to put everything on. Bonnie watched him as he did. “You just brought that with you? To a wedding?”

“Never know when I might need it,” he retorted.

Ron got ready to head out of the cabin, but not before Bonnie grabbed him. “Don’t you dare die. Got it?”

Ron nodded, but that didn’t seem to be enough for Bonnie. She planted one last deep kiss on him. “I mean it. I’m not letting the guy who put my sisters in their place go so easily.”

Ron raised a brow. “Wait, does that mean–”

“Just go!” Bonnie kicked Ron out the door. Newly motivated, Ron lit up with the mystical powers of the monkey and leaped into the air to make it to the landing area of the Quinjet. 

It was time to save the world again.

To Be Continued…