• Published 22nd Feb 2019
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Doomwar - Boltstrike58



The Avengers and the Elements of Harmony face their greatest nemesis yet: Dr. Doom.

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Chapter 22: Harmony

Twilight and the others blinked, their eyes struggling to adjust to their new surroundings. There was no solid ground to stand on, yet nobody felt like they were falling. They just floated, as though adrift in space, with no sense of gravity. They found that they could push themselves in any given direction with enough movement, oddly enough. The expanse around them was a bright, peculiar orange, the same color as the Soul Stone, in all directions. Tony still supported the injured Thor, who seemed to be okay, at least for the moment.

"So, does anyone have any idea where we are?" asked Spider-Man, his eyes darting around at the nothingness surrounding them.

"We're inside the Soul Stone," Thor grunted. "It's unique among the Infinity Stones. It has a special, endless pocket dimension that it can trap living beings inside. Doom must've gone inside the Stone, though I can't say why."

"Good to see you aren't a complete buffoon, Odinson," remarked a voice. "I may yet have a use for you after all."

Twelve heads turned, discovering the source of the voice was exactly who they'd been expecting. Dr. Doom floated above them, his armor glimmering in the orange light bathing the area. His hands were encased in orange orbs of light, and Twilight shivered, feeling the sheer power coming from them.

"I fully admit, I didn't anticipate you using the Dazzlings to counter the Soul Stone's power," Doom remarked, casually folding his arms. "You really can't think of everything. However, it makes little difference. Their music will not hold back Doom's power forever."

"Okay, are you ever gonna stop referring to yourself in the third person?" asked Spider-Man. "Seriously, you sound like a villain from an eighties cartoon designed to sell toys!"

Doom didn't respond with words, instead merely focusing his eyes on the web-garbed teenager. They suddenly turned bright orange, and lasers lanced forward from them, blasting the spot where Spider-Man floated. He would've been hit had Rainbow Dash not shoved him to the side.

"I don't think he appreciates quippage," remarked the pegasus.

"Surely you don't believe you can win against Doom," continued the doctor, as though nothing had happened. "Doom controls the power of the Soul Stone. The power of every soul in existence. There is no power that can match that, even among the other Infinity Stones."

"That's where you're wrong, Doom!" Twilight retorted, her horn flaring. "We can match it, with these!" She levitated the broken chunks of the Elements of Harmony beside her.

Doom took one look at the sight and burst out laughing. "Your precious Elements, Princess Twilight?!" he cackled. "You honestly believe those can stop Doom?! Your outdated, insignificant platitudes?! They are nothing to Doom! Meaningless!" He gestured at the shattered crystals. "Besides, they broke with the Tree of Harmony! They're powerless! Useless!"

"You don't understand, Victor von Doom. You could never understand," Twilight snapped back. A familiar magenta glow began to materialize around her body, her purple eyes disappearing into pure white. "The Elements of Harmony are eternal concepts and values, things you can never truly destroy. They are alive, in their own way. They knew you'd try to do this, and they sought out secondary bearers. Those who embody those qualities of the Elements, and could empower them to reform even when you tried to destroy them.

"Generosity..."

Tony, giving Twilight the Iron Sparkle armor out of nothing but the goodness of his heart, and his value of their friendship.

"Laughter..."

Peter, his carefree, jovial nature giving him an immunity to the D'Spairs, enabling him to save the others.

"Kindness..."

Bruce, comforting Fluttershy in her time of sadness, making up for the mistake he made that broke her heart.

"Loyalty..."

Natasha, rejecting offers from Yelena to restore her old position, because she would never abandon her friends.

"Honesty..."

Steve, admitting his crimes and mistakes to Ross, accepting the consequences of his actions.

"And Magic. The greatest magic of all, Friendship!"

Thor, risking his own life to save a friend from paying the ultimate price.

"You can break the Tree and the stones, Doom, but you can never take those things away from us!"

A massive kaleidoscope of light burst outwards as Twilight finished speaking. The familiar glows of light burst out around the ponies and the Avengers, purple for Tony and Rarity, blue for Peter and Pinkie, pink for Bruce and Fluttershy, red for Natasha and Rainbow, orange for Steve and Applejack, and magenta for Thor and Twilight. Jarnbjorn was pushed out of Thor's back, and floated back into his hand, as the giant gash in his back was sealed shut by magenta light.

The broken pieces of the Elements of Harmony began to spiral in rapid motion, floating over each pair. Then the pieces began to fuse together again, reforming the Elements. This time, the shapes were different.

Generosity shifted into a circular form, glowing brighter in the center, taking on the shape of Tony's arc reactor. Honesty did a similar thing, except it had the markings of Steve's shield on it. Laughter expanded outwards into a spider. Loyalty collapsed inward, taking on a red hourglass form, like that on a black widow spider. Kindness went from a butterfly to a clenched fist. And Magic was now a thunder cloud with several lightning bolts jutting outwards from it.

Then, as quickly as they had reformed, the Elements of Harmony dissolved into pure light. The light dived down towards each pair, bathing them in the appropriately colored light, leaving faint magic auras around their bodies.

"Whoa..." said Spider-Man, looking down at the blue light that encased his form. "This is...interesting."

"Twilight, do you have any idea how corny that sounded?" asked Natasha.

"You're kind of ruining the moment, Nat," remarked Bruce.

"Well, the moment's over, anyway," said Tony. "Let's get him!"

His nanites reconfigured his left hand into a massive repulsor cannon, firing a blast of purple energy straight at Doom. The maniacal doctor didn't move from his spot, convinced the energies of the Soul Stone would be enough to protect him. Imagine his surprise when Tony's beam smacked into his chest, sending him flying backwards.

"WHAT—HOW—?!" he exclaimed.

"You ain't getting out of this one, Doom!" yelled Applejack, pulling out her lasso. "We're taking you out!"

Doom dodged another blast from Tony. "Hm...perhaps I have underestimated the true power of the Elements. No matter, I will destroy you all the same."

The Avengers charged.

Steve hurled his shield at Doom, the vibranium disk surrounded by a spiky orange light. Doom backhanded the offending weapon away with one arm, but left himself vulnerable for a half-second. Natasha took advantage, firing a stunner from her Widow's Bite into his chest, charged with the power of Loyalty. Even Doom's armor failed to protect him from the electrical shock, though he still managed to duck under Bruce's swinging fist. He responded with a laser bolt straight into the Hulk's chest, but Twilight managed to magically catch Bruce before he drifted too far.

Then a blast of webbing hit Doom in the face, obscuring his eyes, just as Applejack's lasso zipped outwards and wrapped around both of his wrists, binding them together. As Doom reached up to rip the fibers off of his face, Thor charged in, hitting Doom with an electrified punch to the stomach. Fluttershy flew up behind Doom, enveloped in yellow light, clocking him on the back of the head with both hooves in a nasty uppercut. Thor waited until the pegasus was out of the way before launching more bolts.

Twilight and Steve hung back for a second as the others kept the still blinded Doom occupied. "Well, we seem to be able to match him, at least," Steven noted, using his shield to block a stray laser from hitting Twilight.

"Yeah," agreed the Princess of Friendship, her visor down once more. "But still, the energy surrounding him is incredible. Even if we hit him with a full power Harmony Blast, he'll probably just keep going."

"Then our strategy is to wear him down," said Steve. "We watch each others' backs. Nobody attack him solo."

"It's as good a plan as any," said Twilight.

Thor roared as he brought down his axe, which Doom managed to block with one forearm. Doom's eyes burned with power, the webbing stuck to his mask disintegrating. He clenched his free fist, forming a massive spike of pure energy, and attempted to stab Thor in the stomach with it. Fortunately, Rarity managed to conjure up barrier around the thunder god, protecting him.

Roaring, Dr. Doom formed another spike on his other hand, but before he could stab, Rainbow Dash flew directly into the backs of his legs, wrapping her forelegs around them. Her wings beat furiously, dragging Doom along with her, directly into a roundhouse punch from Bruce. Rainbow released her grip on Doom's ankles, letting him fly backwards from the hit. Before he could recover, Doom found both of his hands ensnared by Spider-Man's taser webbing, and several more electrical charged from Natasha found their way into his back.

"Spider people, unite!" yelled Peter, as he fired a web net over Doom's body.

"We're not calling ourselves that," Natasha retorted, firing another shocker.

"Oh come on! We've both got the spider motif, it's not like you've got it trademarked—"

He never got to finish his argument, as Doom whirled around, tore through the web net, and lunged at them. His hands shot up, seizing Peter and Natasha by the throat.

"I'm beginning to see why Octavius hated you so much," he growled at Spider-Man, tightening his grip.

"Hey!" yelled a familiar voice. Doom stopped what he was doing and looked around, confused. That was when Pinkie Pie popped out from under his collar, shoving a pie into his masked face. "Hands off the spider! He owes me money!"

Doom, in his haste to get the coconut cream delight off his mask, released Spider-Man and Black Widow, allowing them both to kick him in the stomach. Peter and Pinkie high-fived, before turning their attention back to their mortal enemy. His vision still obscured, Doom raised one hand, firing a laser beam from each fingertip, which the Avengers were forced to weave between.

Finally, with one long wipe, Doom cleared the remnants of the pie from his face. "I despise that pony," he grumbled to himself. He stood up again, and found himself facing Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight mentally ordered her helmet to dissolve back into her suit, revealing her true face to Dr. Doom. She tucked her wings in, trying to present a less threatening image.

Doom raised both fists, glowing with power. "You may have surprised me, Princess Sparkle, but I promise, you will not defeat me."

Twilight gazed somberly back at her opponent. "Doom, Victor, whatever you want me to call you...it doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to fight. If you really believe that you can help the world, then don't take it over. Share your gifts with Earth, with Equis. Friendship isn't the nonsense you claim it is." She extended one hoof. "I—"

Doom threw back his head and laughed. "You offer me friendship, Twilight Sparkle?!" he cackled. "After everything I've done?! You ponies are more foolish than I initially believed. You cling to idiotic and childish ideals, while your society advances slower than Earth's. You're beyond pathetic. Only Doom's rule can put both worlds at peace and free from suffering, but they won't just hand over the seat of power. I have to take it by force. Any other idea is idiotic."

He snapped his fingers, sending several long, orange ropes of pure magic at Twilight, which proceed to wrap themselves around her wings, legs, and horn.

"First I'll eliminate you, and then—"

Doom's taunt turned into a grunt of pain, as Tony flew up behind him and punched him the back of the head. Tony's armor shifted, reforming the artificial unicorn horns on his wrists, and sending trails of magic to seize Doom's hands, breaking his hold on Twilight. Tony used his jet propulsion to spin around, taking Doom with him, and hurled him off into the distance. Satisfied, Tony came up to the armored alicorn.

"You okay?" he asked, his own mask retracting.

"Yeah," Twilight replied, sounding rather downcast. "I just...I had to try, y'know?"

"I understand," said Tony. "His fault for not taking it."

The two were pulled out of their conversation by the roaring of more rocket jets. They turned to see Doom, jet boots flaring, flying towards them, fists glowing pure orange. Tony barely had time to grab Twilight and fly upwards, dodging another energy beam. Doom roared with fury, casting his eyes upwards to try and find his targets, only for another blast of webbing to blind him again. Spider-Man zipped up behind him, giving him a roundhouse punch in the side of the head. Applejack, riding on Peter's back, leaped off and bucked the doctor in the back.

"Come on, partner!" shouted the farm pony. "You gotta see that you can't win this fight!"

Doom's response was to round on the earth pony before she could retreat. His eyes glowed pure orange as rays lanced outwards, blasting through Spider-Man's webbing and into Applejack's side. The power of Honesty took some of the force, but there was still enough to push her back a considerable distance. Fortunately, Bruce moved into place and managed to catch her.

"Mighty—urk—kind of you, Dr. Banner," grunted Applejack, rubbing the spot where she'd been hit.

"No problem, AJ," replied the Hulk. He glared at Doom, who'd conjured another arm blade, and was currently dueling with Thor. "He's tougher than he looks, I must admit."

"We can't give up now."

Steve charged towards Doom and Thor, intending to bash Doom with his shield again, but the dictator saw him coming. Quickly, Doom punched Thor in the face, before forming a whip of orange energy in his hand, and lashing it towards the captain. Steve, caught off guard, suffered a strike across his chest. Doom cracked with whip again, wrapping it around Steve's shield and yanking it out of his grip.

However, before he could take control of the shield again, Steve raising his hand, focusing the power of the Element of Honesty. The shield was encased in an orange glow, and Steve gained mental control of it, allowing his to wrench it free of Doom's whip. He then rapidly spun it, sending it flying towards Doom and ramming it vertically into his stomach. Steve then called the shield back to him, giving Thor an opening to hit Doom with a thunder punch. Doom tried to retaliate, only for Rainbow Dash to come zooming towards him and ram into his chest.

"That's it, everybody!" Steve yelled, as he raced at Doom once more. "Keep the pressure on him! Don't give him a moment to breath!"

"We're on it, Cap!" responded Twilight. She swung her glowing horn in an arc, sending a magic, knife-like blade into Doom's body.

As for the mad doctor himself, his frustration was growing by the second. His power was immense now, certainly, but it wasn't doing him much good. He simply couldn't hold off the Avengers' superior numbers. Even worse, whenever he did land a blow, the power of the Elements of Harmony managed to deflect some of the force. Everywhere he turned, he always had one or two attacking his back, and when he turned to deal with them, the others immediately pounced on him.

Screaming unintelligible words, Doom fired two more gigantic blasts, only for Rarity to raise two diamond-shaped barriers to deflect them. Iron Man rocketed towards him, carrying Spider-Man on a long web-line. Doom, naturally, turned his attention towards the duo, but Rainbow and Natasha attacked him from one side, while Twilight and Bruce come from the other, catching him off-guard. Tony then swung the web-line in an arc, bringing Peter up to Doom's level. Flying into Doom, Peter slammed one of his palms against the man's mask, activating the power that allowed him to cling to walls. Then he vaulted over Doom, but didn't release his attraction to the mask, ripping it off of Doom's armor in the process.

"Hey guys, look! I got a collectible!" Peter called out, holding up Doom's mask. "Now, let's see what you were...hiding..." he trailed off.

Doom screamed in fury, trying to shield his face with both gauntleted hands, but he failed to do so before everybody saw what was there. To be honest, there wasn't really much to see. Doom's face did have a number of small scars on it, most notably one jagged line tracing down from his left eye to his chin, but nobody present would've said his face was hideous in any way.

"Horrible, isn't it?" remarked the dictator, peeking out from between his fingers.

"Uh, not really," replied Rainbow. "I mean, are you really that vain about your face? Not even Rarity goes to that extreme!"

"I'm not even annoyed by that remark, darling," said the unicorn in question. "I take pride in my appearance, but I don't despise others seeing me without makeup on!"

"ENOUGH!" screamed Doom. His hands flared with the power of the Soul Stone, gathering everything he had. "NONE may look upon the face of Doom! For this travesty, you all die!"

Twilight felt her horn begin to buzz at the build-up of power Doom was creating. This was on a level she'd never encountered before, even back when Sombra had absorbed the power of the Monolith. She shivered in fear at the prospect.

"Everypony! Everybody!" she called out. "We have to join together now! Only the full power of the Elements can stop him!"

Her comrades obeyed instantly, all coming together in one long line as Doom continued to charge his power. Hands and hooves joined, forming a living chain, as the power of each Element of Harmony began to surge. First Rarity, then Tony, then Bruce, Fluttershy, Steve, Applejack, Thor, Twilight Sparkle, Natasha, Rainbow Dash, Peter, and Pinkie Pie. Purple, pink, orange, magenta, red, and blue all flared around them, the Elements within them activating and uniting into one power.

"You cannot stop Doom, you fools!" the mad doctor screamed once again. "Not while I possess the power of all souls!"

"Guess again, you monster!" Twilight shot back.

This time, Doom didn't respond with words, instead gathering all of his collected energy into his hands, forming an orange ball. Likewise, the combined avatars of the Elements of Harmony pooled all of their power, creating a twisting rainbow of light that spiraled above them before reaching a peak, freezing in place. Literally one second later, both parties fired with everything they had, Doom firing a massive orange beam, while the Elements launched a rainbow blast. Then the two attacks collided.

As she felt herself and the others at the mercy of the backlash, Twilight briefly had time to muse that anything caught in the middle of the clash would likely have been atomized. The two beams were caught in a power struggle, neither apparently able to push past the opposition. Twilight felt her entire body begin to vibrate as she poured everything she had into the beam, trying to push through Doom's attack. Looking to either side of her, she saw her comrades were in a similar state of affairs, concentrating with all their might to win the contest.

"SURRENDER NOW, FOOLS!" Doom screamed above the chaotic clatter. "THE POWER OF THE SOUL STONE WILL OBLITERATE ALL OF YOU!"

"SHUT UP!" Tony screamed back, the stress of the situation making it impossible for him to think of a decent quip. The billionaire's eyes were flaring bright purple as the Element of Generosity surged through him, and he was giving it all he had, as were the others.

Twilight felt worry begin to creep up her spine, in spite of the pain she was in. The Elements of Harmony weren't all powerful—the fact that Doom was able to destroy the Tree was proof of that—but they had never failed before. Yet now, even with the combined power of two bearers each, they didn't seem able to defeat Doom's newfound strength. As if that wasn't bad enough, Doom's orange beam began to push back the mighty rainbow, and Twilight knew instinctively that if the beam reached them, not a single one of them would survived. She clamped her eyes shut, pushing with everything she had, but there was nothing left for her to give. What--

Twilight, it's okay.

The alicorn blinked in surprise. She could've sworn she heard Steve's voice in her head, above the sound of the beam clash.

You didn't imagine it, Twily.

Now it was Tony. Suddenly, the explanation came to Twilight so fast she mentally smacked herself for not realizing it sooner. The minds of the bearers were now linked by the Elements of Harmony.

I know, it might seem like we're losing, continued Steve's soothing voice, but we won't. We won't lose because losing isn't an option. Because we're Avengers. And like I said before, you're Avengers, too. We never give in. We never surrender. Not as long as one of us is left to fight for our cause.

Don't give in, Twilight!

We've got this! Together!

We're all with you on this one, Twilight!

Give it everything you've got!

Twilight took one moment to reflect. What had she been thinking? She'd said it to Doom; friendship was magic, and it was the most powerful magic in the world. She'd let her fears get to her, let Doom get inside her head. Nothing he could bring to this fight was stronger than the bonds between her and her friends, and she would prove it now.

With a sudden flare of light, the rainbow began to surge against Doom's beam, pushing the doctor's attack back towards him. Doom's armor began to rattle as his whole body shook, the force of both attacks being sent back towards him.

"No, NO! YOU CANNOT HAVE THIS POWER!" Doom screamed in desperation, as though his words might make that fact true.

Twilight had nothing left to say for the mad dictator. If he didn't understand the power of friendship before, he certainly wouldn't now.

Doom screamed unintelligible words as the beam struggle pushed closer and closer to him, his orange blast faded away more and more under the power of them mighty rainbow beam. With one final push, the bearers of the Elements sent the rainbow all the way through Doom's attack, shattering it.

The blinding kaleidoscope of colors enveloped Doom's body, blanketing him in a sea of hues. He screamed, clearly feeling the sheer power of the Elements. Orange flares materialized around his fists as he tried to punch through the Harmony magic to no avail. Then, as if acting with coordinated will, the colors began to mash together, forming a massive white ball of light behind Doom. The mad dictator had just enough time to turn around and discover the sphere before the blinding glare enveloped him.


Equis, Everfree Forest

"Of course Thor takes the easy task for himself," Loki grumbled, as he dodged Scorpion's stabbing tail yet again. He hurled one of his daggers at the man, but it simply bounced off his green armor.

The battle against Doom's minions wasn't going swimmingly. Despite being brainwashed, the various villains were as adept with their powers as ever, forcing the Avengers and their allies further and further back into the cavern with the broken shards of the Tree of Harmony. The Dazzlings kept their singing up, but this unfortunately made them easy targets, forcing the heroes to defend them. To make matters worse, the former sirens were starting to get tired, and if they stopped, Doom would immediately take over the souls of the Avengers. It was clear they couldn't hold this fight forever.

"Anybody know how our friends are doing?!" complained Dr. Strange, as he pried Neighsay off his back. He glared as the orange vortex Tony, Twilight, and the others had vanished into.

"Twilight and the others will not fail, wizard," insisted Princess Celestia, blasting Chrysalis away once again. "Of that I have the utmost—"

Whatever else she had to say would remain unknown, as an invisible shock wave of magic rippled throughout the cavern. Even those with no magic felt it. From the orange vortex, a spinning maelstrom of light, in all colors of the rainbow, began to emerge, just barely visible at first, then becoming more and more solid. With a sudden explosion of sound, a circular rainbow burst out from the vortex, spreading outwards faster and faster. Loki flinched as it approached, but it passed harmlessly through him, doing the same for all the Avengers and their allies.

When it hit Doom's minions, however, something quite different happened. The rainbow seemed to freeze them in place, even if they were in the midst of an attack. Their arms dropped, any weapons they might've held falling to the ground. Scorpion's tail and Dr. Octopus' tentacles in particular plummeted with loud thumps. It was as though all fight was gone from them, and there remained no reason to keep going. So they all fell face-first into the dirt, completely unconscious.

Other trails of light branched off from the main ring of light, diving towards the shattered chunks of the Tree of Harmony. They lanced into the crystal shards, lifting them off the ground and floating them over to where the broken trunk sat. The pieces of the Tree stacked upon each other, rainbow light sealing the cracks up, until the crystal tree was whole once again.

But the rainbow didn't stop, merely continuing on whatever mission it had in mind, the energies headed right towards Canterlot.


Equis, Canterlot

The pony capital had remained a frozen shell of it's former self for the past couple of days. The windigos' attack had essentially turned the city in a massive iceberg hooked on the side of a mountain. All the ponies, dragons, hippogriffs, kirin, asgardians, and other creatures had remained trapped in states of suspended animation, like living statues.

Until now, that is.

The rainbow blast of the Elements of Harmony came from all around, sweeping over Canterlot. Upon contact with it, the ice began to melt, faster than should've been physically possible. And as it dissolved, reduced to small puddles of water on the ground, the creatures once trapped inside began to move once more, free of the ghastly power.

Discord immediately cracked his neck, spinning his head around like a helicopter blade. Being Discord, he also whirled his tail around.

"URRRRGH!" he grunted. "I swear, I'm never going to use ice in my chaos again! Being frozen is just plain boring!"

"I'm thankful to see you at least took something away from this, Discord," said Heimdall, shaking off the water that remained on him.

Nick Fury casually dusted his coat off, looking off into the distance. "I knew they wouldn't fail," he said to himself.


Equis, Everfree Forest

The Avengers and their allies stood around the clearing, nobody knowing exactly what to make of the situation. Doom's minions all lay unconscious on the ground, and the Tree of Harmony was restored to its former glory. Nobody was afraid, given how good things looked for them, but they were rather surprised.

"So...did we win?" asked Pepper, her helmet retracting.

"I think it's a pretty safe assumption that we did," replied Tempest, casually kicking Abomination's unconscious body.

Soon, everyone's attention was directed to the orange vortex. It flashed a couple of times, pulsing with energy, before the glow slowly faded away, revealing twelve familiar faces. And in Thor's hand sat the Soul Stone. In addition, Twilight and her five best friends all wore the Elements of Harmony once again, back to their original shapes.

Princess Celestia was the first to reach them. "Twilight Sparkle," she said, looking down at her former student, "I am so proud of you."

"Thank you," replied the alicorn, blushing a little. "But I couldn't have done it without my friends."

"Yeugh," groaned Tony. "The sappiness levels are going through the roof." Pepper silenced him with a glare.

"Your spine seems to have healed up just fine," Loki noted, pointing at Thor.

"What happened to Doom?" asked Clint. "Did you guys completely obliterate him?"

"I'm not exactly sure," replied Steve. "The Elements of Harmony blasted him at full power, then there was a lot of white light, and then he was gone."

"The Elements exist to keep harmony and peace," Twilight chimed in, "but usually they don't destroy. I'll need to run some tests just to be certain, but my best guess right now is that they sent him somewhere he won't be able to cause any harm."

"I doubt we've seen the last of him," remarked Starlight. "We're never that lucky."

Twilight ignited her horn, levitating the crown of the Element of Magic off her head. "Well, girls, I suppose it's time to return these."

The other five ponies nodded in agreement, turning back to the restored Tree. With a quick pulse of Twilight's horn, the Elements of Harmony left their casings, flying back to their respective places on each branch. Magic floated towards the center, which opened to receive it. With a flash, the golden accessories that'd held the Elements disappeared from each pony's body. Another flash emanated from the Tree, and when they looked up, each Element had changed shape once more. Now, half of each stone represented the pony bearer, while the other half was the symbol of the human bearer.

"And now, it's time to clear things up for everyone," said Thor, focusing on the Soul Stone clutched in his palm.

"You sure you can handle it?" asked Bruce. "There's a lot of energy coming out of that thing."

"If it were more than one, I might have a problem," admitted the Asgardian, "but I can handle an individual Stone."

With that, he closed his fingers around the Stone, and his eyes started to glow a brilliant orange. Then, just as Doom had before him, Thor spoke to everyone, everywhere, on both Earth and Equis, through their very souls.


Citizens of Earth. Creatures of Equis. My name is Thor Odinson. I speak to you all now, through your souls. I bring you news that Victor von Doom, the man who desired to rule over all of you, has lost the power that enabled him to do this. He will threaten both worlds no longer.

I assure, I have no desire to rule over you. I merely send this message to you to inform you that you are safe, so you will not be afraid.

However, I cannot claim sole credit for defeating this threat to peace. I had the aid of the mighty Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes, along with many heroes from planet Equis. Were it not for their efforts, Doom would've succeeded in conquering both worlds. Please, extend you gratitude to them.

To the people of Earth, I tell you this, you must grant amnesty to Captain America and all the 'rogue' Avengers. They are true heroes who deserve to be called such, and have more than made up for any crimes they might've committed. This is not a demand, but a plea from a man who has seen firsthand the lengths these humans will go to protect innocent lives. I urge you, implore you to do the right thing.

That is all I have to say.

Author's Note:

Final chapter coming next.