//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: A Day in the Life // Story: Doomwar // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Earth, New York Despite what most movies and TV shows tell us, car chases in New York City aren't all that common. Yet, this very moment, a van packed with criminals was on its way down the street, with several cop cars in close pursuit. What was especially interesting about this one was the red and blue figure swinging through the air, after the van. Beneath his mask, Peter Parker groaned. All he'd wanted to do after school was go home and work on his chemistry essay, maybe tweak with the web fluid formula a bit more. Of course, some jerks had decided to rob a local Oscorp laboratory, stealing a bunch of chemical capsules for who knew what. Thus, here Peter was, chasing after them on a web line. Correction. Chasing after them while being shot at, Peter thought, as he felt another bullet whizz by his head. Thank you, spider-sense. Bouncing off of a lamppost, Spider-Man fired another web at the crook who was leaning out of the window, managing to tag the shotgun the goon was holding. With a quick yank, he pulled the gun out of the man's grip, and tossed the weapon onto the nearby brick wall, hooking it on with another blast of webbing. With another web zip, he dived forward, landing on the roof of the van. "FYI you guys, this is a school zone!" he yelled, swinging down and across, crashing through the driver's side window. He clocked the driver and the passenger across the face with both feet, before reaching down and pulling the gearshift into park. "Gee, that was eas—" he started to say, before that tingling of his spider-sense began to kick in again. He dived down to the floor mats, pulling the two unconscious thugs with him, as two bullets came flying from the back of the van, penetrating the windshield. "Stupid goons hiding in the back," Spider-Man grumbled under his breath as he pushed open the door and crawled out onto the asphalt. With a quick jump, he came around to the back of the van, grabbed both of the doors, and yanked them off. Inside were the remaining three criminals, wearing black jumpsuits with purple goggles, armed with guns. Spider-Man's fingers were faster than those of the crooks, as he activated the triggers on both web shooters, sending web lines to yank the guns out of the crooks' hands. With them disarmed, Spider-Man moved in to finish them off, only for one of the thugs to grab one of the stolen capsules. Uh-oh, Peter thought, remembering exactly what would happen if the contents were exposed to air without some kind of mitigating chemical. The crook hurled the capsule at Spider-Man, who managed to snag the projectile out of the air, preventing it from shattering. Seeing their spur of the moment plan failing, the crooks grabbed more capsules, chucking them at Spider-Man in rapid succession. Peter, not wanting his skin burned off for obvious reasons, managed to securely catch every single one, even balancing one on the tip of his foot. "Okay, this is getting a little old," he grumbled. Tossing the capsule in his right hand into the air, he jammed his fingers down on his web shooter, launching a sticky net that enveloped all of the goons at once, completely immobilizing them. Peter's hand managed to snap back to its original spot, catching that last capsule once again. Then he whipped up a small web sack, tossing all of the capsules inside safely. As he finished mopping up the crime scene, the cops, punctual as ever, finally caught up to them. "We'll take it from here, Spider-Man," said the lieutenant, a man apparently named Davis, according to his badge tag. "Thanks for the help." "Always happy to swing by," replied Peter, jumping into the air and firing a web line, swinging off into the distance. "And thanks for not reading the Bugle!" As he traversed across the rooftops of New York, Spider-Man took a few moments to reflect the course his life had taken over the past few months. First he'd been dragged into the Avengers' fight in Germany, then found himself on an alien planet populated by talking ponies, and then had to face off with his crush's father, who was actually a tech-based super villain. All in all, it was a lot to take in. But, after all this time, Tony Stark had told him he could consider himself a member of the Avengers, at least when he was needed. Peter smiled fondly as he thought about the adventures he'd lived through. He wondered if Aunt May would let him spend part of his summer vacation in Equestria. Pinkie Pie would probably love that. Speaking of the Avengers, his phone (not his personal cell, but the private Stark International phone Stark had given him) rang from its spot in his belt. With a few more swings, Peter parked himself on the edge of a building, taking the phone out of his suit. It could've been Captain America, as he now had access to the number, but nope, the caller ID read Tony Stark. Peter answered. "'Sup, Mr. Stark? Pinkie want me to help throw another party?" he asked, laughing as he thought of the pink pony. "For the last time, you can just call me Tony," said the inventor on the other end, but his tone wasn't sincerely annoyed. "Anyway, I need to hold a little Avengers teleconference. Something's...come up with Thor and Equestria. Can you get somewhere you can access video chat?" "Yeah, sure, let me get home to my laptop," replied Peter. He hung up the phone and started swinging his way home. What he didn't notice, unfortunately for him, was the small robot observing him from the side of another building. It had a round, spherical body, and eight, long, tentacle like legs. Almost like an octopus. Earth, Avengers Compound Tony, Vision, and Rhodey all sat around a number of computer screens, waiting patiently for all of the Avengers to pick up their phones and join the united call. Except for Thor and Bruce, of course. Tony had instructed Friday to make sure this wasn't recorded, just in case Ross dropped by for a random check. Considering how badly they were butchering the rules of the Sokovia Accords, this was a smart decision. Suddenly, screens began to light up, revealing the familiar faces of the various Avengers. Steve Rogers, ever vigilant, having once again donned his iconic Captain America helmet. Sam Wilson, styled in his Falcon goggles, smiling broadly at the sight of all his friends again. Natasha Romanoff, her hair now dyed a disguising shade of blond, but looking as fierce as ever. Wanda Maximoff, her eyes sparking with that familiar red light, making eye contact with Vision before flinching away, causing Tony and Rhodey to roar with laughter. T'Challa, royal and regal, as his Black Panther helmet dematerialized from his face. Clint Barton, doing his best to maintain the appearance that he was still retired, and failing. Scott Lang, smiling his same stupid smile, but keeping that charm he always carried. Hope van Dyne was crammed into the frame with him. Peter Parker, still wearing every piece of his Spider-Man costume except for his mask, sitting in his bedroom. Bucky Barnes, battle worn and wary, but still putting on a grin for everybody. Last but not least, Nick Fury, as gruff and hard as ever, staring through the screen with his signature glare. "Welcome to the Avengers teleconference extravaganza!" said Tony, spreading his arms with the aura of a showman. "Glad to see you could all make it here! Now, first, I'd like the thank the Academy—" "Tony," Vision interrupted him. "Could we please deal with the important topics?" "Yeah, some of us are undercover," added Bucky, prompting a laugh from the others. "I'm violating my house arrest just by being in on this call," said Clint. "Okay, fine," Tony agreed, grudgingly. "Let's get the big stuff out of the way first. Twilight sent me a pretty detailed message. Thor landed a giant spaceship on Equis, and apparently Asgard itself has been destroyed because of his crazy older sister who was the goddess of death, who got released after Odin died. All of the citizens are now staying in Canterlot. Oh, and he found Bruce off on a far-away planet called Sakaar, but now he's stuck in Hulk mode. And Loki's alive, and hanging out with them. And...actually, I think that about covers everything." Tony sat back in his chair, letting the others take in the news. Peter in particular had his mouth gaping open at the thought, Natasha was just staring at the screen in shock, and Steve wiped his head as he tried to process exactly what was going on. It was actually rather amusing to watch. Rhodey and Vision were the only ones who weren't stunned senseless, since Tony had told them everything beforehand. "Well, out of all the places we expected Bruce to turn up, that wasn't one of up," Clint said, finally breaking the silence. "How did he even end up there?" asked Peter, still looking rather shocked. "I mean, he was in a Quinjet, those things can't fly through space." "We're not sure about that," replied Rhodey. "The only information we could've found was in the Quinjet's flight log, and according to Thor, Hulk smashed it. Besides, what's left is stuck on Sakaar." "Stuck in Hulk mode?" Natasha chimed in, trying to keep her voice level. "How is that even possible? He changes back as soon as his pulse goes down." "Something must've happened to him the last time he shifted," said Steve. "Maybe the Hulk is trying to assert his own will. Take control of their shared body. Tony, has Fluttershy spoken to Hulk at all?" "A bit, and all she learned is that he is not a happy camper," said Tony. "On the bright side, he's not breaking everything in sight at the moment, so he seems to have learned some self-control." "Loki's alive, huh?" said Clint. "Good. I've got a couple of arrows reserved for his eye socket." "You might wanna take a rain check on that, Robin Hood," said Tony. "Thor's gotten pretty protective of him since the last time we met." "Wasn't he the one who sent the aliens to New York?" asked Scott. "Shouldn't he be in jail or on death row or something?" "It's...complicated, apparently," said Rhodey. "Though, if Thor expects us to buddy up with his brother, he's got another thing coming." "Excuse me?" said T'Challa, speaking for the first time. "But isn't there something else we should be concerned about? Namely, all those homeless Asgardians? There's no way Equestria can support them forever." "That's what Thor told us," replied Vision. "Apparently, he was hoping to use the space bridges to discreetly move them to Earth, and we could go from there on trying to find them some kind of permanent new home. Thor wants to establish a new Asgard on Earth. Of course..." "We're gonna need a lot of land to do that," finished Bucky. "Stark, how much land do you own that you're not using?" "Well, I've got a fairly nice plot in Oklahoma," replied Tony, "but I don't know if that's gonna be enough. There's gotta be at least a couple hundred Asgardian refugees on that ship. Nick, what do you think?" "It's kind of a long shot, Stark," replied the one-eyed man. "Thor hasn't signed the Accords, and Ross will probably consider Asgardian refugees to be an attempt to exert his power over Earth, or some crap like that. Getting those Accords either repealed or modified is probably the best thing we can do. How's that going, by the way?" "Not great," Tony admitted, looking frustrated as he did so. "Ross is blocking every attempt, and actively trying to push for the creation of some kind of UN crafted super hero team to replace the Avengers. It's ridiculous. If he finds out about Equestria, Rhodey, Vision, and I will be outlawed faster than you can blink." "Our best option is probably to put our heads together with Equestria's," replied Steve. "Maybe we can reveal Equestria and try to convince people to accept them. From there, it'll be easier to accept Asgardians." "Maybe," replied Tony. "Twilight wants us to come together for some sort of Friendship Conference where we can talk it over. Anybody not able to come?" "Probably not us," said Hope. "We're working on quantum realm research." "I don't know about my schedule over the next few days," said Clint, "but I'll see what I can do." "You should probably use the Wakandan space bridge," chimed in T'Challa. "Even with us revealed to the outside world, it's still safer than the one in the compound." "Great. We'll work out the specifics later," said Tony. "Now, do we have any other business that needs taking care of?" "Well, there has been a rather large increase in robberies of scientific equipment," said Peter, "especially from places like Oscorp. I've stopped a handful of them, but they just keep happening. Even worse, you remember that guy on the Staten Island Ferry, Mr. Stark? Mac Gargan? His gang name is the Scorpion? I just found out he somehow broke out of jail." "That reminds me," said Steve. "You guys remember Georges Batroc, that Algerian pirate from the Project Insight fiasco? Sharon sent me a tip, apparently he got out of jail too." "Two of our enemies breaking out of jail? A ton of scientific robberies? That's not suspicious at all," said Tony, resting his hand in his goatee. "You think there's a connection?" asked Natasha. "Not for certain, but possible," Tony replied, thoughtful. "Anywho, Twilight and I have to get out the details of this conference out of the way soon, and I've got something I'm working on. If there's no other business, then we're done here." "Which present are you working on? The one for Pepper, or the one for Twilight?" asked Rhodey, laughing. "What's he talking about?" asked Steve, suspicious. "Nothing!" Tony interrupted, jamming his finger down on the 'End Call' button. Ten screens faded to black as he got up from his chair. "Why are you so against telling anyone about your presents?" asked Vision, puzzled. "There's no harm that can come from it." "I want it to be unexpected," insisted Tony. "I want them to be surprised. Seriously, you know how bad Steve is at keeping secrets, especially after Equis. Applejack must be rubbing off on him." "True enough," said Rhodey. "Though, I still don't understand. How are we ever going to get the UN to agree to help those Asgardian refugees? The second Thor shows his face, Ross is gonna try to force him to sign the Accords, or be banished off planet, or some crap like that. And how are we gonna reveal Equestria without that backfiring?" Tony sighed to himself. It was true. Even after the discussion, they hadn't really come to any kind of practical solution. "We'll just have to burn those bridges as we come to them," he admitted.