Earth, Latveria, Doomstadt
Tony, Steve, Twilight, and Applejack took the fight to the real Doom immediately, identifying him as the biggest threat. Twilight, though hesitant, activated her Iron Sparkle suit as they charged towards him, the nanoparticles flying out of her reactor to cover her body. She activated her jets, launching off the ground and firing a repulsor blast at Doom. Tony joined in with his own repulsor, Steve chucked his shield, and Applejack, with no other ranged attack, resorted to bucking off a chunk of the wall at him.
Doom was ready for them, however. He ducked under the flying shield, and created a portal with a wave of his hand, catching both repulsor beams and sending them back at the respective owners. Tony and Twilight both caught their own blasts in the chest, knocking them out of the air. Doom was unable to avoid the piece of debris, but it merely shattered against his armor, and didn't push him very far back. Steve caught his shield again, taking a flying leap towards Doom with the disk pulled back.
Beneath his metallic mask, Doom smiled as he formed a whip of eldritch magic in one hand and lashed it towards Steve, catching him around the ankle in midair. With a swing of his arm, he sent Captain America flying into Applejack, knocking the man and mare into a corner of the room.
"Avengers," Doom laughed. "So mighty, you are but ants when faced with the power of Doom."
"Oh, give it a rest already," Tony grumbled, getting to his feet, Twilight climbing back up beside him. "This ego trip is worse than mine."
Twilight fired a bolt from her horn, amplified by the power of the Iron Sparkle suit. Doom's jet boots rocketed him out of the way, countering by firing bolts of green energy from the tips of his fingers. Twilight jetted forward, weaving between the beams, and came up towards Doom, rearing back with one leg and punching forward. Doom blocked it with his forearm, but when he came up for a counter punch, Tony blasted him with both repulsors, knocking him into a brick wall. Steve proceeded to bounce his shield off of Doom's chest, and Applejack came up to try and buck him in the same spot.
Grunting, Doom forced his way out of the wall, grabbed Applejack by the hoof, and raised the farm pony above his head. Twilight rushed towards him to try and help her friend, but Doom used Applejack as a club, smacking the alicorn away. He then hurled Applejack towards another wall, but Steve dived over and caught her, taking the brunt of the impact himself.
"Y'know, I barely know him, and I already dislike this guy," grunted the farm pony.
"Feeling is definitely mutual, Applejack," said Steve.
Doom fired his finger blasters again, but Steve and Applejack huddled together behind Steve's shield, which was more than strong enough to deflect them. Across the room, Tony fired up his rocket boosters, flying towards Doom and grabbing both of his wrists. The two armored men grappled each other, both trying to find an opening, as Twilight climbed back to her hooves.
"Friday, can you give me an analysis of Doom's armor?" Twilight demanded. "We're getting nowhere with this."
"Scanning..." replied the A.I. "Scanning—" Static sparked across Twilight H.U.D., forcing the alicorn to shut her eyes. "Sorry, boss. Doom's armor is blocking my scanners. I'm unable to provide full analysis."
"Figures," Twilight complained, flapping her wings. She flew towards Tony and Doom, coming up behind Doom and wrapping her front legs around his neck. Seeing her plan, Tony released his grip on Doom, and activated his ion cannons, which emerged from his back. Tony fired just as Twilight released her grip, blasting Doom in the chest and sending him flying. Applejack's lasso came and wrapped around Doom's arm, holding him in place, as Steve came charging forward, shield at the ready, and slammed directly into Doom's chest.
Doom grunted in pain, before he regained control. He seized Steve's shield with both hands, wrenching it out of the captain's grip. He flipped it in his hands, looping his own arm through the straps, before backhanding Steve across the face with it, knocking him onto his back. Steve managed to roll with the blow, as the quartet came together, facing Doom, armed with Steve' shield.
"First Bucky, now this," Steve groaned, curling his fingers into fists.
Doom took a moment to admire his new shield. "Impressive, captain," he remarked. "Vibranium has always fascinated Doom."
Tony immediately fired a few repulsor blasts at him, but Doom managed to deflect them with the shield. Applejack tried to charge his legs, but Doom simply kicked her in the face to stop her. This turned out to be a mistake on his part, however, as Applejack had only been distracting him from Twilight flying behind him and launching a magical beam into his back. Doom grunted in pain, but his armor took most of the impact. He rounded on Twilight, eldritch magic whirling around his fingertips at he conjured a Tao Mandela to block her follow up bolts. Her frustration growing by the minute, Twilight activated the Iron Sparkle's weapons systems, launching a handful of small missiles at Doom, which he managed to dodge.
However, he wasn't prepared for Tony's next attack. The unicorn horn-like protrusions reformed on Tony's wrists, firing streams of concentrated magic that focused into ropes, lashing themselves around Doom's neck and legs. The armored overlord was struggling with them so much, he failed to notice Steve charging up to him. The captain then proceeded to scissor-kick Doom in the head, knocking his shield free of Doom's grasp. Grunting, Doom pressed a button on his gauntlet, activating a field of electricity throughout his suit, blasting away Tony's restraints. Getting to his feet once again, Doom faced Steve, Tony, and the two mares, Steve's shield back where it belonged.
"You really will never surrender, will you?" Doom asked, casually dusting off his cape.
"Sounds like somebody didn't do all their research before they picked a fight," Tony joked. The quartet charged Doom once again.
The rest of the Avengers and their Equestrian friends found themselves facing off against Doom's army yet again, along with a handful of Doombots. They'd fought these same enemies before, sure, but this was different, as they were indoors, with less and less freedom to move around. Not that they let that stop them.
Carol immediately zoomed towards Abomination, her fist pulled back for a devastating punch, but Blonsky cut her off with a powerful backhand, sending her flying so hard she smashed through the castle's brick wall. She would've kept going had Spider-Man not caught her with a web line, pulling her out of her momentum.
"Thanks, kid!" she called out to him as she flew back in. "Guess that guy's stronger than I thought!"
"No shame in that!" replied the web head, his web shooters spraying again. "We're all kinda in over our heads here!"
Abomination's small moment of triumph was cut off by Bruce, who charged forward and landed a powerful roundhouse punch on Blonsky's shoulder. The two titans then got caught in a grappling match, their strength roughly equal.
"Glad you managed to overcome Banner, Hulk!" Blonsky growled, tensing his muscles. "I've been waiting for another rematch with you!"
"Guess again, bonehead!" Bruce snarled. "You're fighting Bruce Banner and the Hulk now!"
Blonsky blinked in surprise, and that half-second of distraction was all Bruce needed. He snapped his knee upwards, nailing the Abomination in the stomach. As he grunted in pain, Bruce heaved his opponent over his head, slamming him head-first in the brick floor with a powerful crack. As he struggled back to his feet, Blonsky spat out one of his teeth, but smiled through the pain and the blood.
"So, you've finally managed to control your power," he cackled, rising to face Bruce once again. "Finally embraced it. Now I can kill you both at once!" He threw another haymaker, which Bruce dodged.
"You do recall that the last time we faced off, you lost?" joked the green giant, as he dodged Abomination's follow-up punch.
"You had backup before!" Blonsky snapped. "This time, I'm not letting you partner up!"
Bruce responded by clapping both hands on the sides of Blonsky's skull, leaving his head ringing. He followed up by seizing Abomination's head and driving it into his knee. Blonsky began to flail angrily, one of his elbow spikes managing to slash across Bruce's leg, leaving a large gash. Bruce's healing factor patched it up, but he still felt that pain.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Pinkie Pie were battling Doc Ock again, with some slight success. After their last battle, the doctor wasn't going to fall for the Fastball Special again, and was whirling his tentacles like four giant, metallic propellers, keeping them from getting closer. Peter attempted to bind the tentacles together with webbing, but they easily tore through it.
"Stand still and die, arachnid!" roared Octavius, ripping individual bricks out of the wall and hurling them. Only Peter's spider sense enabled him to weave in between the deadly projectiles.
"I think we need a new plan!" yelled Pinkie, as she continued chucking cupcakes at the doctor, only for them to splatter onto the tentacles. "We're not getting any ground here!"
"I'm aware of that—OW!" Spider-Man yelled back, as one of the tentacles clawed at his chest, leaving three long scratches in his skin. He released his grip on the web line, falling backwards onto the ground. Another of Ock's tentacles lunged towards his downed form, when Pinkie charged towards him and caught the tentacle, using her earth pony strength to hold it in place.
"You okay, Spidey?" she asked, as the tentacle thrashed in her grip. Before he could answer, two more tentacles seized the pink pony, lifting her into the air.
"So, you would protect that miscreant, you pathetic simpleton?" Octavius growled, as one of his remaining arms prepared to claw into Pinkie's chest. "Then I'll enjoy killing you as well!"
Pinkie gulped, but before Octavius could attack, the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak snaked towards him, wrapping around his two unoccupied tentacles. Wong, on the other end of the red ropes, yanked as hard as he could on them, pulling the doctor off his feet. The claws holding Pinkie Pie released, sending her flying into the ceiling, but Pinkie, being Pinkie, simply bounced off, landing on all four hooves once again.
Spider-Man, having recovered, fired two web lines onto Octavius' chest, and yanked him towards the web-swinger. He punched Doc Ock in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. However, as he went flying, Octavius managed to snag Spider-Man's costume with one tentacle, pulling him along as the two slammed into a wall. Pinkie and Wong rushed over to help Spider-Man, but two Doombots dropped down in front of them, forcing Spider-Man to deal with Doc Ock alone.
"This is precisely the opposite of fun," Pinkie complained, raising her front hooves.
Over by the main entrance, Celestia and Luna found themselves battling a handful of Doombots, along with the mesmerized Cinch and Neighsay. The two alicorns were busy raising shields to block the various energy blasts coming their way, while returning fire whenever the opportunity was available. So far, they'd only managed to destroy one Doombot, because the things were remarkably durable. Attempts to snap Cinch and Neighsay out of their brainwashed stupor hadn't succeeded either.
"Well, at least in the end, they didn't go all the way with it!" Luna remarked, as she blocked another one of Cinch's blasts.
"Not helping, sister!" Celestia snapped back, ducking under another Doombot's punch. Her horn ignited, a curved blade of pure magic appearing around the appendage. She sliced upwards, cutting the Doombot in two pieces with a crackle of sparks.
Neighsay ignited his horn, creating a tether of magical energy that snapped forward, wrapping around Celestia's neck. Luna rushed to try and help her sister, but was grabbed by two Doombots, holding her in place. Celestia thrashed, but the magical rope was cutting off her air supply, making it harder for her to think. Neighsay pulled, stepping back as he did so, making the rope constrict even harder.
"Princess Celestia!"
Sunset Shimmer came charging out, horn flaring as she blasted Neighsay in the side, knocking him off his hooves. His magical tether immediately disappeared, releasing Celestia. Turning to Princess Luna, Sunset fired two magical bolts at the Doombots holding her, causing them to loosen their grip enough that Luna was able to break free. Luna seized one in her magical grip, methodically ripping it apart into scrap metal, before tossing the pieces aside.
"Are you okay?" Sunset asked, galloping up to the side of her former mentor.
"I'm fine," Celestia insisted, raising a shield to block another beam from Cinch. "Thank you, Sunset."
Cinch hunkered down, laying even more bolts of magic at the trio, forcing them to keep their shields up. Neighsay got back up, empty-eyed as ever, and joined her. With Celestia and Luna occupied, only Sunset could return fire, and the two unicorns could easily dodge her attacks.
Salvation came in the form of Wanda floating across the battlefield, swinging a Doombot encased in her telekinetic grip like a flail, smacking Cinch and Neighsay away. She then mentally picked up the two unicorns, pulled back and clocked their heads together, cartoon style, before dropping them on the floor.
Celestia, Luna, and Sunset all waited, hoping. Their prayers went unanswered as the two unicorns rose to their hooves once again, horns ready.
"Strange," Wanda noted, her hands igniting with power once again. "Usually, that's enough to snap someone out of mind control."
"I don't think we ever get to be that lucky," said Sunset, as she primed her horn for another shot.
Above the main fight, Rhodey, Spike, and Rainbow Dash were having their own problems, courtesy of Wind Rider, Garble, and several Doombots. The three Avengers were flying in a tight formation, as their enemies followed closely behind them with a constant volley of fireballs and laser blasts. Wind Rider had attempted to tackle Rainbow again, but with War Machine guarding her, he found the task much more difficult than before.
"Come on, little dragon!" Garble cackled as he released a steady stream of flame at Spike's rear. "Show me you got guts! At least face me like a real dragon!"
"Not interested!" Spike shouted back, frantically flapping his wings to stay ahead of the teenage dragon.
Rhodey opened a hatch in the back of his suit, dropping a handful of explosive charges behind him. Garble was forced to rocket upwards to avoid the blasts, and several Doombots lost limbs, but Wind Rider's experience enabled him to curve his flight path, dodging the blasts, and pouncing down on Rainbow Dash, shoving the mare out of her flight pattern.
"Dashie!" yelled Spike, trying to dive down and help her. Unfortunately, Garble came from the side, slamming into the smaller dragon with his shoulder. Rhodey grunted, unable to help them as long as he had those Doombots on his tail.
"You'll pay, Dash!" Wind Rider snarled, rearing back and punching Rainbow in the face. "You'll pay for—!"
Rainbow managed to catch his next punch between her front hooves, flipping them over in midair. She beat her wings furiously, driving the stallion into the ground.
"Skip it, Rider," she snapped. "Nopony wants to hear your stupid sob story."
Spike was in a similar situation, with Garble wrapping one arm around his neck and squeezing. Spike gasped, trying to belt out a fireball, but with his air supply cutting off, he couldn't manage it. Garble laughed cruelly, applying yet more pressure. Knowing that he only had moments before he blacked out, Spike, desperate, reached up with one claw and poked Garble in the eye. The teenage dragon screeched, reaching up to clutch in injured optical, giving Spike just the second he needed to break free. Spike then flew above Garble, rotated head over heels, and slammed his tail into Garble's skull. The red dragon was knocked out of the sky, pitching him downward. Rainbow, seeing Spike's success, chucked the weakened Wind Rider at Garble, clocking the two of them together. Flying towards them, Spike punched Wing Rider, while Dash rammed into Garble's chest.
Rhodey was having a little bit more success, wrestling with two Doombots. He had one by the skull and was currently blasting its head to pieces with his chain gun, while the other was trying to blast him. So far, Rhodey had take a handful of blasts to the back of his armor, but it was holding.
"Come on, just fall apart, you stupid hunk of metal!" he growled, punching the bot that was somehow still functioning despite its head being in millions of pieces. His frustration growing, he shoved his fist down where its neck would've been, and fired a missile, blowing the thing apart from the inside.
He then found himself on the receiving end of a charged laser burst to the back, knocking him senseless. As Rhodey struggled to regain his composure, the Doombot came up to him, retracting its hand and producing a long blade, surrounded by a laser field.
A green fireball came from the side, blasting a hole into its head. Spike and Rainbow came up to it, tackling the bot and shoving it away in the air. Rhodey, having regained his focus, fired his grenade launcher at it, blasting it apart.
"Thanks, guys," Rhodey commented, "but we're not done yet."
He pointed behind them. Rainbow and Spike turned to find Garble and Wind Rider coming at them. They did not look happy.
"Of course," Rainbow groaned, raising her hooves.
Amora, having roped Scorpion, Shocker, and Ahuizotl into helping her, was busy driving Thor and Ghost into a corner. The king of Asgard and the spy were doing the best they could to hold off their enemies, but even with Thor's power, they weren't making much progress.
"I'm seriously regretting my decision not to ditch you guys!" Ava snapped angrily, as she punched Ahuizotl in the face, altering her density quickly to allow Scorpion's stabbing tail to pass through her. "This is insane!"
"I don't know what else you expected, Lady Starr," Thor replied. "We're the Avengers. Insane fights with thugs is kind of our thing." He fired a bolt of lightning towards Amora, who raised another dome-shaped shield to block it. Shocker fired from both of his gauntlets, striking Thor in the chest and knocking him onto his back.
"Pathetic, King Odinson," Amora laughed, her hands glowing with pure magic. "Even as a king, you're still a simple brute. I wonder what I ever saw in you."
"Wait, you two used to—" Ghost started.
"No!" Thor cut her off, hurling Jarnbjorn at Amora, who managed to deflect it. He caught the axe on the rebound. "She stalked me!"
Ava groaned. This was beginning to get too weird for her. However, before she could voice her displeasure, Scorpion's massive tail came swinging around, catching her in the chest before she was ready. She was knocked off her feet, and crashed into Thor, dazing both of them. Amora and her comrades advanced on them, all of them grinning wickedly.
"Hold on, we gotcha!" yelled Dr. Strange, Rarity on his tail. Eldritch magic swirled around his fingertips, forming a long whip. He swung the line in an arc, smacking it into Amora and all her allies, driving them backwards. Rarity fired a bolt of magic from her horn, striking Ahuizotl in the chest, slamming him into a wall.
"Thanks," said Ava, as Rarity helped her to her feet.
"Not a problem, darling," said the unicorn. "You can thank me by letting me design some new outfits for you! My goodness, that white suit does nothing for you!"
Ava rolled her eyes. However, she didn't have time to dwell on that, as Amora snapped to her feet, her hands and eyes glowing with magic. She fired a powerful beam towards the quartet, but Dr. Strange opened a portal to the mirror dimension, allowing the blast to pass harmlessly through it.
Scorpion, his frustration growing, charged past Amora, claws extended and tail primed to stab. Dr. Strange made a signal with his hand, and the Cloak of Levitation flew off his back, dived straight towards Gargan's knees, and acted as a tripwire, knocking the man onto his face. Strange then lashed an eldritch whip towards him, wrapping it around his neck and pulling him upwards. Strange then punched the unarmored part of his face.
Meanwhile, Ahuizotl leaped over his fallen comrade and dived at Ava, all three hands extended. Grunting, Ava altered her molecular density, allowing them beast to pass harmlessly through her. Re-solidifying herself, she grabbed his tail, yanking him off the ground and delivering a powerful kick to his neck. Ahuizotl screeched in pain, and his tail hand seized her by the wrist, pulling her towards him before she could react. The two smacked into each other, rolling across the battlefield, punching each other as they did so.
Thor and Rarity were left to battle Amora and Shocker. Both fired upon the two Avengers, forcing them to dive to the side. Shocker fired another blast at Rarity, who rolled away and retailing with a magical beam, pushing him back. Thor brought Jarnbjorn down on Amora, who barely managed to raise a shield in time to block it. Some of Thor's electricity diffused across the shield, shocking the sorceress slightly, but she held.
Across the hall, Fluttershy was beating her wings as hard as she could, fleeing from Cozy Glow's fire, and some blasts from Chrysalis, along with a rather angry Yelena. Barney had been taking shots at her, but Clint cut him off, forcing the two archers into another long range duel. Unfortunately, this meant he couldn't help Fluttershy, who was left alone to flee the evil trio. Eventually, they managed to force the timid pegasus into a corner.
"Don't bother trying your famous Stare," Chrysalis cackled, charging her crooked horn. "It won't work on us!"
"Sorry, Professor Fluttershy," said Cozy Glow, priming her cannons, "but Doom says you gotta die!"
Fluttershy quivered. It wasn't that she was afraid to punch her enemies, but she was the least combat oriented out of the entire team. If she tried to fight one, the others would no doubt pummel her. She wasn't sure what to do.
"Hang on, Fluttershy!" came Starlight's voice. The pink unicorn blasted Chrysalis in the side. Autumn Blaze, in burning nirik form, roared at Cozy Glow, forcing the pegasus to back off. Yelena tried to aid her comrades, but Natasha snuck up on her and tackled her, forcing the two women into a violent roll.
Fluttershy and Starlight were left facing Chrysalis. The changeling queen hissed, baring her fangs at the two mares.
"Starlight Glimmer. It seems I will eliminate you first." She opened her wings, igniting her horn. "That suits me just fine. For it is you I despise the most."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," the unicorn shrugged it off, charging her own magic.
Chrysalis fired the first blast, but Starlight managed to teleport herself and Fluttershy away. Appearing behind Chrysalis, Starlight countered with her own beam of magic, but the changeling had anticipated this, and dodged to the side. Growing more irritated, Starlight charged Chrysalis, her horn blaring, and fired several more blasts. Chrysalis weaved in and out of them, only to get clobbered by a bunch of bricks Starlight had blasted off the wall (she'd been missing on purpose). The changeling queen was pinned down by a heap of rubble.
Starlight slowly advanced on her, horn still primed to blast just in case. What she wasn't prepared for, however, was Chrysalis suddenly enveloping the bricks in her magic, levitating them and bombarding Starlight with them. The unicorn was scratched and bruised by the assault, and unable to protect herself when Chrysalis pounced on her her, the two of them rolling about the floor.
While all this had been going on, Fluttershy had been nervously shuffling backwards. She was nervous about trying to confront Chrysalis, even with Starlight on her side. Considering how her previous encounters with Chrysalis had gone, her fears seemed justified.
Finally, she swallowed. She couldn't leave Starlight alone to fight the changeling queen. As powerful as the unicorn was, she couldn't take Chrysalis alone. Fluttershy couldn't just stand by and do nothing. She spread her wings, taking off from her sitting position and charging at the duo.
Unfortunately, Chrysalis saw her coming. With a flash, the changeling shifted her appearance, changing into an exact copy of Starlight. As the two continued to wrestle, Fluttershy couldn't keep track of which one was which. Chrysalis even sounded like the real Starlight.
"Fluttershy, don't fall for her trick!" yelled one of the Starlights.
"She's lying! I'm the real one!" insisted the second Starlight.
Fluttershy groaned internally as she found herself at another impasse. She couldn't risk accidentally attacking the real Starlight and giving Chrysalis an opening. Then an idea came to her. Something the Chrysalis would probably answer differently than the real Starlight, considering how little the changeling understood about her.
"Starlight!" Fluttershy called out "Do you regret anything you did?"
"Of course not!" snapped one of the Starlights. "I'm Starlight Glimmer! What could I possibly regret?"
"Hey, shut up!" yelled the second Starlight. "And you know I do, Fluttershy! I regret taking those Cutie Marks, I regret using magic on you and the others, I regret the whole time travel thing—"
Fluttershy was no longer listening. Instead, she flew straight into an airborne charge, ramming into the Starlight that'd spoken first, wrapping her front legs around her neck. The "Starlight" hissed angrily, morphing back into Chrysalis. She tried to reach up with her leg and shove the pegasus off, but Starlight conjured a magical tether on the tip of her horn, lashing it outwards and wrapping it around her stomach. Fluttershy let go just as Starlight yanked, pulling Chrysalis upwards and slamming her into a wall.
"I'm sorry about that question," Fluttershy insisted, flying down to the unicorn. "I had to ask something I knew Chrysalis wouldn't answer correctly."
"Heh. No problem," said Starlight, smiling happily. "You did help me out back there."
The rumbling of bricks disturbed their conversation, and they turned to find Chrysalis getting out of the pit she'd been smashed into. Her horn blared with green energy.
"Well, here we go again," Starlight complained, her own turquoise magical aura igniting.
At the same time, Autumn Blaze and Cozy Glow were still dueling, the nirik chucking multiple blue and red fireballs at the floating pegasus. Cozy Glow was firing her back cannons like crazy, forcing Autumn to jump around to dodge the shots.
"Why are you siding with them?!" Autumn demanded, her voice booming due to her current state. "You're a pony! Why would you betray your own species like that?!"
"Oh, you silly little non-pony," Cozy laughed, firing two more blasts at Autumn. "You couldn't understand, because it's not in your nature. Friendship isn't in your nature. Friendship is the ultimate power. And now that I have Lord Doom for a friend, I'll have the most power out of anypony in Equestria!"
Unfortunately for the pegasus, her words only served to infuriate Autumn even further. The burning nirik suddenly leaped from her position, tackling Cozy Glow out of the air. She dosed the flame on one limb, punching Cozy in the face. Cozy tried to maneuver her cannons to blast Autumn in the face, but she couldn't manage it. She eventually managed to buck the nirik off her chest, and the fight resumed.
Carol, meanwhile, was flying above the battlefield, trying to help where she could. So far, the best thing she could think to do was to keep the windigos busy so they didn't freeze everyone. The ghastly horses kept blowing streams of icy wind at the captain as she zoomed through the air, retaliating with photon blasts when she could. Her fists seemed to just phase through the things, so she was left with photon blasts.
Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the things got lucky. One of them launched an frosty blast at her legs, encasing them in ice, while she was busy blasting another. Carol gasped as the ice burned her legs, her blood circulation slowing down, and she was unable to maintain her flight, tumbling out of the sky as the three windigos swooped after her.
"Could somebody help me, please?!" she yelled into her earpiece. "I'm half-frozen in midair, here!"
Luckily, she didn't have to wait long. Korg rushed over and caught her before she could hit the ground. Meanwhile, a ball of blue lightning launched towards the windigos, blasting them away and shocking them. Tempest, the origin of the attack, galloped over to Korg and Carol, followed by a reluctant Loki.
"Don't worry, Cap," said Korg. "I can take care of this." He reared back and punched the ice encasing Carol's legs, and it shattered. Free, Carol took off into the air again, muttering a quick thanks.
"So who wants to fry some ghost horses?" called Tempest, firing another blast.
Loki sighed in annoyance, but readied his knives anyway.
The battle had been going on for a decent length of time, and the Avengers were making some progress. The number of active Doombots was reduced to nearly zero, but Doom's living minions were still doing their best to take them down. Even more troubling, Tony, Steve, Twilight, and Applejack still hadn't managed to take down Doom himself.
His frustration growing by the moment, Steve chucked his shield at Doom yet again, only for Doom to block it with a Tao Mandela. Steve barely managed to catch the rebounding disk as Twilight flew past him, her suit forming a laser blade on her front leg. She slashed at Doom, but the blade failed to penetrate his armor. Doom sent a whip of eldritch magic towards the alicorn, wrapping it around her chest and pulling. He punched her as she came close to him, causing her to fly back and slam into Tony's body, their suits clanging together. The two Avengers fell out of the air and slammed into the floor.
"This doesn't seem to be going according to our plan," Twilight remarked, getting back on her hooves.
"I'm aware of that," Tony snapped, firing a few repulsor blasts at Doom. "What are we going to do about it? Cap?"
"To be honest, I don't have a lot of suggestions," Steve replied, blocking another laser blast with his shield "Maybe if we—"
His words came to a screeching halt, as a loud beeping sound filled the chamber. Doom took one second to glance behind him, where a massive apparatus shaped like a cannon rested. A blinking light on the side suddenly turned from green to red, and three chambers on the side (containing the Crystal Heart, the Alicorn Amulet, and Sombra's horn) glowed white. Beneath his metallic mask, Doom smiled.
"Right on cue," he muttered to himself.
He pressed a button on his armor's belt. Sparks of electricity began to dance around his suit, and in seconds, a dome of pure energy burst out from him, blasting Tony, Twilight, Steve, and Applejack away. Free of distractions, Doom rushed over to the cannon device, heaving it onto his shoulder. He then waved his hand in a circle, sparks of eldritch magic flowing and opening a circular portal in midair. He strolled right on through, carrying the cannon.
"He's getting away!" yelled Steve.
The four of them charged towards the portal, but Tony could tell from here that it was a lost cause. The portal was already beginning to collapse on itself, the sparks slowly fading away.
"Dr. Strange!" he called.
Strange shoved Batroc off of him, hurrying over to the portal. He activated his sling ring, taking control of the portal and trying to keep it open. But Doom's will was strong, and he had to fight every second to keep it open.
"Go!" he yelled. "I can't keep it open forever!"
The Avengers didn't hesitate, Tony, Twilight, Steve, and Applejack leading the charge into the portal. The others threw Doom's minions off of themselves, making their way to the portal as fast as they could. Doom's soldiers managed to make their way along as well, and the Cloak of Levitation dragged Dr. Strange after them.
Equis, Everfree Forest
Twilight came out first, her armor's jets bringing her to a stop as she looked around. She slowly recognized the place she was in as part of Equestria, Her elation slowly turned into fear as she realized exactly where she was: The gorge by the Castle of the Two Sisters. The location of the Tree of Harmony.
Twilight directed her gaze to the Tree itself. Doom had carried the cannon device over to the Tree, deploying three metallic legs to hold the thing up. The barrel of the cannon was pointed directly at the Tree. Twilight's fear morphed into panic. She knew exactly what he was doing, as he reached for the fire button.
"No...NO!" Twilight yelled, her suit's jets taking off, as she flew directly at Doom. "STOP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"
Doom turned on his heel, creating another sparking portal directly in front of Twilight. The alicorn was unable to stop herself, flying through it and emerging directly in front of a wall, slamming head-first into it with a crash.
"Be silent, Twilight Sparkle," he growled. "Doom always knows what he is doing."
He reached for the button again, only for a second interruption to cut him off. This one took the form of one of Thor's lightning bolts lancing past him. Doom managed to sidestep the blast itself, but Thor firmly had his attention now.
"Doom!" roared the king of Asgard, hurling Jarnbjorn in a spinning motion, aiming for Doom's head. "Stop this nonsense! You can't stop us—"
His voice faltered as Doom held out his gauntleted hand, firing a strange, yellow ray of energy from his fingertip that caught the axe in motion, freezing it in place. With a yank, he pulled the axe into his own hand.
"Alright, maybe you can," Thor conceded.
None of the others had the opportunity to attack Doom. His minions, even the windigos, had followed them through the portal, and Titanium Man had seized Tony and Steve, forcing Applejack to try and rescue them. The others were similarly occupied, trying to fight off their enemies in the new environment. There was only one unguarded Avenger: Twilight, still recovering from the blow she took earlier. Doom took notice of this fact, and quickly took aim at the fallen alicorn, rearing back and hurling Jarnbjorn. With its speed and sharpness, the axe would cut clear through her armor.
Thor's blood turned to ice. "NO!"
There was no hope of stopping Doom now. He'd already thrown the weapon with lethal accuracy. There was only one option available to Thor now. He charged towards Twilight, hurling himself in front of her.
And taking the axe directly into his back.
Thor's armor provided no protection against the magical weapon. The blade stabbed into his skin, punching through muscle and bone. Thor squeezed his one remaining eye shut, clenching his teeth, but he refused to scream in pain, resorting to an anguished grunt. Twilight, having shaken off her head injury, looked up at the terrible sight in front of her, her face falling. Her helmet retracted into her suit, revealing her purple eyes on the verge of tears.
"THOR!"
Satisfied, Doom turned back to the cannon, and pressed the button. The machine beeped several times as it charged to full power, a ball of red light gathering at the barrel. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, as a beam of raw magic burst from the cannon, firing directly into the center of the Tree of Harmony, where the Element of Magic rested. The beam held for a few seconds, before tiny fractures started to spread outwards from the point of impact. The light of the Elements of Harmony began to shine brighter, the way a candle glows brightest just before the flame cuts out.
With a thunderous crack, the Tree of Harmony exploded.