Earth, Latveria, Doomstadt
Castle Doom was a rather imposing sight. The blood-red bricked structure stood on the top of a small plateau, overlooking Latveria's capital city. Turrets and spires stabbed upwards, seeming to pierce the sky. No entrance looked the least bit inviting, and if one looked very closely, they would swear that there was something swimming in the moat. Something big. It was a fortress so intimidating that only a fool would try to break into it.
Which was exactly what Ava Starr was planning to do.
"Remind me again why I agreed to this?" she groaned, as she finished putting on the rest of her Ghost armor. Her partner for this occasion, Vision, had no need to suit up, of course, so he was reduced to sitting quietly in the corner while she did.
"Uh, because I asked really nicely?" Scott asked, hope written all over his face.
The Avengers, along with their pony allies, had stationed themselves on a cliff standing above Castle Doom, having flown the Quinjet in as low as possible to avoid Doom detecting them before they were ready. The Dazzlings had been left to hold down the fort at the Avengers Compound (after tying up Ross and his men, of course), since they weren't experienced enough with their pony forms to be super useful.
"I wouldn't be too concerned," said Tony. "From what Lang's told us about you, this should be right up your alley...that wasn't meant to be an insult, I swear."
Ava bit her lip nervously, thankful that nobody could see her face under her mask. She was a skilled fighter and infiltrator, she knew that, but she was no hero, especially considering she'd almost sacrificed Janet Van Dyne to save her own hide, which turned out to be unnecessary. Nonetheless, she owed her life to Scott Lang and his friends, so she'd pay off that debt here.
The sound of thrusters shutting off alerted all present to the arrival of Twilight, clad in her Iron Sparkle armor. She'd been out doing a small flyby around the castle, scanning in stealth mode, hopefully not attracting any attention. She landed on the grass, her suit dematerializing into her reactor. Ava couldn't help but stare at the alicorn with something akin to wonder. Like everyone, she was taking a good amount of time to process the talking, alien ponies.
"There's a force-field surrounding the entire structure," she announced. "He's got anti-aircraft cannons, laser grids, and some stuff that wasn't in Friday's database. If we charge in, we won't last a minute."
The purple alicorn was glad she managed to stop herself from breathing a massive sigh of relief after removing the armor. Tony had been giving her some basic instructions on how to use it on the way here, but she was still afraid to truly go all out with the suit. Knowing that Doom wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of that fear didn't help her.
"Good recon, Twilight," said Steve. He turned to Ava and Vision. "Your job is simple: shut down that barrier, and as much of the other stuff as possible. Vision, once that's done, you regroup with us." The android gave a small nod of agreement, before Steve turned to Ava. "Once that's done, you're free to go. One of them," he gestured to Wong and Dr. Strange, "will warp you someplace safe."
Ava considered it, but eventually shook her head. "No, thanks. If I'm going to be part of this, I might as well be in it for the long run."
Steve nodded. "If that's your decision," he agreed.
"I'm ready to do my part," Vision stated.
"Good luck," said Carol, leaning against a tree. She hated being benched like this. She wished she could just fly in and punch out Dr. Doom and all of his cronies, like she was used to doing. Luckily, the logical part of her brain pointed out that she had needed the help of the others to take down the Pony of Shadows, and she probably couldn't defeat Doom's entire legion by herself. She was powerful, but not invincible.
Dr. Strange, sling ring in hand, whipped up a sparking portal next to the two advance scouts. "I haven't seen the inside, so this is as close as I can get you," he informed them. "Hopefully it'll be enough."
That didn't exactly fill Ava with confidence, but nonetheless, she stepped through, followed by Vision.
The duo crept around the outer rim of the castle, searching for the optimal place to phase in. Passing through the force-field had been no problem, but if they just stepped inside, they could walk into a room full of enemies, and then the entire plan would be ruined. The good news was, they hadn't activated any other traps in the time they'd been circling the fortress, so Doom probably didn't know they were there. Yet.
"Are we sure nobody on the team has x-ray vision or something?" Ava complained. "It would've made this a hell of a lot easier."
"Yes, we're sure," Vision replied, dryly. "I think we should enter from the northeast sector."
"Dare I ask why?"
Vision pointed to the aforementioned sector. "See those cables? I bet those emerge from where the castle's main power source is. If it is there, that's where we'll be able to shut down the barrier. Also, don't sense any mental activity there, so it's likely empty."
"Wait a minute," Ava stopped him, gripping his arm. "You can sense mental activity?"
"Yes." Vision pointed to the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead. "The Mind Stone is capable of sensing the movement of other minds." He stated this as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.
Ava sighed, rolling her eyes beneath her mask, deciding to just go with it. "Whatever," she finally replied, climbing up the hill.
The two made their way across the earth to the castle walls, keeping their eyes peeled for security cameras or anything of the like. Oddly enough, they didn't spot a single one. It was troubling for Ava. It was almost as though Doom was purposefully making this infiltration easier.
Once they'd reached the actual wall of the castle, the slowly sidled along, the backs pressed against the bricks. Ava insisted on Vision phasing his face partially through the wall, just to double check that nobody was actually inside. The android willingly obeyed, and, finding that the cost was clear, phased all the way into the control room, pulling Ava inside with him.
"Okay," Vision started, "now we just need to find a way to shut down the defenses from here."
"Don't worry," Ava replied, sitting down at the computer console. "I can take care of this." She plugged a hacking drive from Tony into the computer, which immediately overrode all of Doom's security and allowed her access to all the defenses. Ava went down the list, shutting down the barrier and the sentry cannons, trying to suppress her suspicions that this was just a bit too easy.
Vision activated his com once she'd finished. "Okay, everybody, the force-field's down, along with everything else. We're ready."
"Yeah," said Ava, quietly praying this wasn't a trap.
While the infiltration was going on, Bruce was busy putting his plan with Wanda into action. He and the Sokovian woman were seated a good distance away from the others, with Thor keeping an eye on him in case things went south. Wanda had the familiar red haze gather around her fingertips, preparing to access Bruce's mental plane.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked, remembering the last time she'd used her mind powers on the physicist, with some pretty nasty results, "I mean, we can probably do this without—"
"No," Bruce insisted. "Blonsky only joined this party because he wanted another chance to clobber me. This is my problem just as much as yours. And this is the only way I can think of to fix my problem with going green."
Wanda swallowed, her nerves threatening to fail her, but she refused to allow them. "Very well," she replied.
Her red energy snaked towards Bruce, up his body, before stabbing into his temple. Bruce's eyes glowed the same crimson color, before they relaxed and closed softly.
Bruce Banner found himself floating in an endless abyss, stretching over a vast landscape. He looked in all directions, but there appeared to be nothing to the location. No land, no people, even no sky. However, his instincts told him he couldn't be completely alone. There was one other being here. One he'd come to see.
"Come on, big guy," he called out. "I know you're here somewhere. We're in my head, you gotta be here."
At first, there was no response. Then, there was a stirring in the darkness, as a massive shape shifted within it. The shape advanced forward, revealing a humanoid silhouette, the skin slowly revealed as emerald green. Bruce looked up, into the face of the Hulk.
"There you are," he remarked, keeping his voice as level as possible. "Glad to see you're not hiding."
"Leave Hulk alone," growled the behemoth, clenching his massive fists. His green eyes seared with anger, boring into Bruce's face. But the physicist refused to back down.
"Hey, I went to all this trouble to arrange this little meeting," he snapped, thrusting one finger upwards towards the Hulk. "I'm not gonna just walk away. Look, I wasn't looking forward to this any more than you were, but we're here, so we might as well talk."
The Hulk clenched his teeth in fury, one massive hand lashing forward to try and wrap it around Bruce's neck. However, the appendage phased harmlessly through the man's body, with no effect whatsoever. Hulk tried a few more times to hit, to grab, to do something to Bruce, but nothing worked.
"We're in my head," Bruce repeated. "We can't do anything to each other."
Hulk grunted in annoyance, before he stomped a few steps away from Bruce, setting down on his rear and folding his arms.
"So...can we talk?" Bruce ventured.
"You talk. Hulk don't have to listen," replied the green beast.
Bruce sighed. He'd expected this resistance from the Other Guy, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He'd never been able to truly communicate with the Hulk before,and he'd never really wanted to. He'd wanted it out of his system. But now, there was no other option.
"Look, I just want to know...why won't you come out? Nothing's ever stopped you before. Why now?"
He expected silence. Maybe a bit of a sarcastic response that left him annoyed. What he wasn't expecting was the Hulk to round on him, towering over him. However, when Hulk spoke, it was oddly restrained, almost tranquil. And that scared Bruce more than if he'd been screaming.
"Banner lock Hulk up. Bury Hulk deep. Only let Hulk out when need something. Friends of Hulk only friends with Hulk because friends prefer puny Banner. Even ponies prefer Banner. Hulk sick of solving Banner problems. Hulk want to be left alone."
Bruce was actually stunned for a second. Out of all the reasons he'd been considering, this had been filed under impossibilities. He realized, with a surge of guilt, that he'd never thought of the Hulk as a feeling being. To him, the Hulk was a one-track mind of smash, smash, and more smash. He'd treated the beast like a rabid animal, one incapable of caring about anything. Now, the sheer magnitude of how wrong he'd been penetrated his mind, leaving Bruce filled with remorse.
"I'm sorry," he admitted. Hulk started a little at his words. Clearly, the creature hadn't expected this.
"You're right. Ever since the day you came into my life, I've looked at you like a curse. I thought you were just some disease I put inside myself by accident, something that needed a cure. But I was wrong. You're a part of me. You're all the rage I suppressed all my life, with Dad and..." Bruce trailed off. That brought up painful memories he had no desire to revisit.
"Look, the point is, neither of us like sharing this body, but we have no choice. If we're stuck together, we might as well work together. And the others don't hate you. Fluttershy was as worried about you as she was about me. Don't we owe it to her at least to try?"
The Hulk looked down at Bruce. Then he looked at his own hands. Hands which had done nothing but destroy. Hands which could be used for so much more. Finally, he looked Bruce in the eye one more time.
"Hulk try."
Bruce smiled with genuine happiness. "That's all I ask."
The two beings reached forward, their hands gripping each other...
Bruce Banner suddenly released a massive sigh, his eyes snapping open and starting to glow green. Thor looked at his friend, surprise covering his face.
"Banner?" he asked, "Are you..."
He never finished. Because Bruce's skin began to turn green once again, spreading across his body. His muscle mass began to increase, the telltale sign of a Hulk transformation. However, this time, the change was smoother, less primal, and Bruce didn't seem to be in pain from it. Tony, Fluttershy, and Natasha all directed their attention to the physicist, watching as he grew back to his Hulk proportions, but with no roaring in agony. Once the shift was complete, the Hulk stood up, noting that his shirt was shredded from the transformation, and casually discarded it.
"So," he noted, in the voice of Bruce Banner, "this is what it feels like." He flexed his muscles, feeling the raw power contained within.
"Bruce?" Natasha ventured, her voice nervous.
"Dr. Banner?" asked Fluttershy. "Is that you?"
The Hulk looked at them. "I think so...sort of," he said, simply. "I'm not the Hulk, I'm not Bruce Banner, I...am."
Tony's face fell into a wide grin. "Bruce, you did it!" he exclaimed, rushing over and clapping his old friend on the back. "I knew you could do it!" Then he took notice of his hand, which was beginning to turn red. "Oh, ow...that was a bad idea." Pepper laughed.
"Well, I do feel pretty good," Bruce admitted, looking down at his new body. He directed his gaze over at Wanda, the Sokovian woman's jaw hanging open with pure shock at what she'd done to him. "Thanks, Wanda. I couldn't have done it without you."
"I...you're welcome?" Wanda managed to get out.
A beep on Natasha's earpiece demanded her attention. The spy pressed the button, listening to the message. "Ghost and Vision have succeeded. We're good to go."
"Good," said Bruce, cracking his now massive knuckles. "Blonsky wants a fight, he'll get it."
With Dr. Strange's portal magic at work, the entire group soon found themselves inside the main hall of the castle. A purple carpet trailed from the door across to Doom's currently vacant throne, while the sides were flanked both by suits of armor and portraits of Doom, glaring down at anyone who dared walk through the castle. If forced to describe it, Rarity, along with several of the others, would've immediately brought out the word 'tacky.' Celestia and Luna would've backed them up. Even Sombra wasn't this egotistical when he ruled the Crystal Empire.
"Okay," said Tony, his weapons systems primed and ready. "So where is everybody?"
"I don't like this," Twilight agreed, her Iron Sparkle suit still set in its reactor."It's too simple."
"A wise observation, Princess Sparkle," came a voice from the ceiling. "Perhaps my evaluations of ponies were too harsh."
Everyone's eyes shot upwards. Dr. Doom himself hovered above them, assisted through the use of his jet boots. His green hood obscured part of his metallic mask, giving him the appearance of a grim reaper. His arms were folded across his chest, and he made no move to attack.
That, of course, didn't stop Thor. "Doom!" he roared. "Have at you!" Rearing back, he hurled his axe with all of his strength, the bladed weapon spinning in midair, closing in on Doom with incredible speed. Steve gulped, expecting Doom to dodge, or perhaps use his own abilities to send the axe back at them.
What he hadn't anticipated was the blade slamming into Doom's chest, knocking him out of the air and causing him to slam into the wall, slide down, and thud lifelessly onto the ground.
"Thor!" Tony yelled. "What did we say about jumping the gun?!"
"What?" protested the thunder god. "He was clearly going to attack us!"
"Well, at least you didn't kill anything," remarked Spider-Man. Everyone looked at him in confusion. He pointed to Doom's 'corpse,' where the axe was still lodged. There was no blood or viscera, but the the inside of Doom consisted of circuits and wires. "That's just a robot."
"I've heard about this," said Tony, examining the wrecked machine. "He calls them Doombots. Robotic duplicates made to take his place."
"Precisely," came a voice from around the corner. All eyes turned, finding another Doom standing in front of a seemingly normal brick wall. With a press of a button on his gauntlet, Doom raised the wall, revealing all his minions standing behind it, prepared for battle, along with several more Doombots. Titanium Man's armor was repaired, and Cozy Glow was outfitted with a dual cannon device mounted on her shoulders. This time, his three Windigos were there as well, held by green magical leashes in Amora's grip.
"This another drone, or do you have the guts to face us yourself?" demanded Bruce.
"Trust me, Dr. Banner, Doom doesn't lack the courage to stand up to your kind," Doom replied, folding his arms. "In fact, since my subordinates have failed to eliminate you, it's the best option left to me."
Tony kept both repulsors trained on Doom. "Why are you doing this, Victor?" he demanded. "You know, besides world domination."
"Besides, Stark?" Doom chuckled to himself under his armor. "Why would there be anything else, when only Doom is fit to rule? Earth is being led by buffoons. Equis is led by naive children. Under the heel of Doom, both Earth and Equis shall prosper, and flourish into a new golden age. Yet you Avengers refuse to see reason. Therefore, you must be eliminated."
Twilight angrily stomped her hoof. "You're crazy!" she snapped, her Iron Sparkle armor materializing over her body in the process. "You have no right to decide what's best for every creature! You only want to take over to satisfy your own lust for power, just like every other monster we've faced! You'll fail, just like them!"
"Ah, but that's where you are wrong, Princess Twilight," Doom laughed, "Unlike those other adversaries, Doom has no flaws. Doom cannot be overcome. You ponies cling to your foolish and immature ideas of 'harmony' and 'the magic of friendship.' Yet you ignore the real problems within your society. Doom will correct them."
"I wouldn't underestimate the magic of friendship if I were you," Luna snorted, wings flared and horn glowing. "It is the most powerful force in the universe. You will learn for yourself soon enough."
"Admirable, but foolish," said Doom. He thrust his fist forward. "Destroy them. Do not fail me again."
While most of Doom's minions began to clench their fists (or hooves) and tense up for battle, Cinch and Neighsay both looked down at the ground. Finally, Neighsay spoke up.
"No."
Doom turned on his heel, facing the two unicorns. "Excuse me?"
"You heard him," snapped Cinch. "We won't do this anymore. You claimed you would protect the interests of Equestria, but you've done nothing but ruin it. We will no longer follow you." Both unicorns ignited their horns, standing firm against their former master.
"Oh, they shouldn't have done that!" Cozy Glow whispered, laughing to herself.
Doom rolled his eyes, though it was hard to see under his titanium mask. "A shame. But not unexpected."
Cinch and Neighsay both fired their magical beams at him, but Doom formed a tao mandela on his hand, blocking both their attacks. Then, before anyone could act, he snapped his fingers, sending bolts of green energy lancing towards them, which stabbed into their skulls. Both unicorns screamed, before their eyes turned white and blank, and they stood tall once again.
"Kill them," Doom commanded again, and this time, the unicorns raised no objections.
"Oh, great. Mind control," complained Tony, his armor shifting to attack mode.