Rainbow Dash: Aerial Avenger

by The Bricklayer

Mare-Vel Adventures #9: The Mane Event

Author's Note:

So... yeah. Going to try and finish this before Shang-Chi hits theatres. Going to do these quick little chapters and hopefully, get out one a day.

“I know… I know, I’ve rambled on enough and honestly I suspect you’re pretty bored of me by now. So how about we cut to the main event. Madam President, the wait is over. Bang!” the Mandarin laughed, holding up his fingers with all ten rings sparkling and shining. “It’s time we get down to business, I know I’ve been leaving you hanging and waiting in anticipation. So much anxiety, right?”

“Well, like I said, the wait is over. It’s time. Sunday Sunday Sunday! Gather around, grab a seat. Your uncle Mandarin is done telling stories. It’s Rocky vs Drago. Ali vs Superman. The USA Vs… well me. I’ve been building up to this, hyping you all up. Are you ready? I can’t hear you. A famous American cartoon character once said: “I have the power!” Well, now I have the power.

“Run and hide all you want, don’t worry I don’t really care about any of you. I only want one woman. I want to become President. Lead this country into a new brighter era. And if you try to get in my way, consider yourselves enemies of the state.

“And if you think your Captain Marvel can even hope to stop me, well… heh, you’ve seen what I can do. I’ve beaten her before, and honestly she can step right up with any little comeback mechanic she wants. Unstoppable force… meets an immovable object.

“Goodnight, sleep well. Tomorrow is a brand new day. The dawning of a brand new era. I can’t wait to step into the light with you.”

---

“Right this way folks, just take this exit. Calmly now, single file, and no shoving!” Soarin’ directed, trying to avoid being trampled as he ushered staff out of emergency exits. “You have nothing to worry about, don’t worry we’ll handle this guy!”

“That may sound like platitudes to the panicking populace,” Mar-Vehl said, back in his Lawson disguise. “They’ve seen the Mandarin’s true power now. I highly doubt the US military will be able to stop him.”

Tanks were rolling down the streets, cannons trained to the sky.

“Then the Mandarin must love the smell of green. Because I think those tanks disagree with your statement,” Soarin’ said. “If you want, you can hide behind their guns. There’s not much that can stop one of those shells from blowing a hole in someone’s side. And fancy rings or no fancy rings, a big boom is a big boom.”

“What’s that expression? It’s not over till the fat lady sings?” Mar-Vehl remarked, hands behind his back as he walked up to a window. “The opera is approaching its climax, but I’m not sure it’ll end the way it's intended.”

“Stop waxing poetic and get to the point,” Soarin’ demanded. “Me, I’m thinking if the Mandarin didn’t want to get his ass kicked, maybe he shouldn’t have stuck it out so far. Who does he think he is? He claims to be proving a point, making life better for everyone. Then why is he doing it as such a blatant Yellow Peril stereotype?”

“Mhmmm, I admit his goals are noble but his aims are very flawed,” Mar-Vehl acknowledged with a nod. “That being said, there’s only one person who can stop him now that he’s got all Ten Rings.”

“But she’s not here,” Soarin’ said. “We are.”

“But will you be enough?” a voice said in his mind. “Mhmmmmm, credit where credit is due. You’re intending on putting up quite a fight. Attempting to squirm out of my grasp before you die. You can stand down now and you won’t be harmed. You are only obstacles in my way. Move or you will be moved.”

“...damn it, telepathy huh?” Soarin’ said to himself before sighing. “A few weeks ago, that would have sounded completely crazy and now… my life’s basically become something out of a comic book.”

Mar-Vehl wasn’t phased. “I am Geheneris Halason Mar-Vehl, Pluskommander of the Kree Void Science Navy. Deactivate all weapons and shut down, this is a direct order. Hand the rings over, and this doesn’t have to get messy.”

“Empty words from someone who doesn’t dare face me in battle. Instead you just-”

“Hide away from the world, like you?” Mar-Vehl returned in challenge. “The Kree Empire has seen your kind, you talk the talk but you can’t walk the walk. You have all the power in the world and yes, maybe you could change it for the better. But this isn’t changing it, this is promising to rule it via fear and terror.”

“That’s the only thing people understand. I am just a simple shepherd, guiding his flock,” the Mandarin replied. “The world’s had years to change and what does it do? It continues to tear itself apart.”

“So violence is met with more violence, is that it? One man can’t change the world, especially not with how you plan to do it,” Mar-Vehl said. “I see what you are now… a dog to be put down. It’s dirty ugly business, but it must be done.”

“Yes, so it is…” the Mandarin trailed off, before a wormhole opened streets away. Loud explosions filled the city, tank shells turning to bubbles before they even reached him. “Now gaze upon your new master, America, and tremble.”

“He’s here,” Mar-Vehl said, pulling off his glasses as he revealed his true form. Then came a knock at the door. “What is it?”

Then the door was blown off, and both Mar-Vehl and Soarin’ were blown out the window by an Extremis-fueled staff member.

“Damn!” Mar-Vehl swore to himself as molecules shifted and a pistol formed in his hand. “I never would have expected… No, I should have seen it. Soarin’, get out of here. Get to your suit. No… just run. This isn’t a battle you can win.”

“And leave you alone?” Soarin’ said, drawing his sidearm and firing off a shot. With a loud BANG! the Extremis soldier fell to the ground with a hole in his head. “No, looks like we’re both up shit creek now.”

“You’re a fool,” Mar-Vehl said. “But a brave one nonetheless.”

A military van smashed through the blockade and slammed into a tree, with more Extremis-fueled soldiers filing out. Flames licked their special battlesuits, the men literally burning with anger.

“They’re hot under the collar,” Soarin’ said. “Maybe they just hated the midtown traffic.”

Mar-Vehl let out a war cry, his weapon shifting into a sword. He was a blur of motion, his white suit shining in the sun as he dashed from enemy to enemy cutting them down.

He whirled on his heel, slashing through one of the Mandarin’s soldiers as two more rushed him from behind.

Again his weapon shifted, becoming a massive cannon fed by tubes from his back. One shot, two birds with one stone.

“DUCK!” Soarin’ shouted, shoving Mar-Vehl to the ground as a blast of hot flame ripped through the air just where they’d been standing a few seconds before.

“Thank you, I… admit I’m still used to fighting as a unit. Expecting others to have my back,” Mar-Vehl said, dusting himself off. Another Extremis soldier surged towards him with surprising speed, using his own flames as jets. One arm wrapped around his throat.

Soarin’ couldn’t help, he was busy trading punches with another soldier. So Mar-Vehl shoved his knee into his opponent before grabbing the staggering terrorist by the shoulder. Pulling him upwards, the Kree warrior spun him around before tossing the Extremis agent at one of his fellows.

Soarin’ meanwhile bashed his opponent upside the head with the butt of his gun. “They just keep coming, they’re going to overwhelm our position! And we haven’t even gotten to the big boss enemy yet!”

“Now will you get to your suit?” Mar-Vehl asked with a little sigh, his weapon morphing into a shield to hold off streams of fire from two different attackers. “Become the star-spangled metal man with a plan to get out of here.”

The Mandarin meanwhile made his way towards the White House, not really bothered by the attempts to stop him. A tank rolled out from a sidestreet, main cannon aimed squarely at him.

His ring glowed, and the main gun began to hang limply. “Don’t be alarmed, I’ve heard this happens to 3 in 5. Performance issues aren’t that uncommon really.”

The very street began to melt under the massive vehicle sucking it down into the gooey concrete. The crew inside leaped out as the tank vanished from sight. Another tank was rolling up, and with a wave of the Mandarin’s hand collapsed into a small tidal wave of water.

The men inside trained their guns on him, but another of the villain’s rings began to glow.

“Where is he? I can’t see him!”

“It just became black as night!”

“Fire, shoot him! He’s in here somewhere!”

The Mandarin strode on by listening to the sounds of chaos behind him.

“I heard something! There, I heard him right there!”

A gunshot rang out, and a body slumped to the floor while his killer smirked in apparent triumph.

And the Mandarin? He just continued his stride. More soldiers ran up, only to be sucked up into a vortex and thrown out onto the street. Barricades were simply blasted away by cyclonic winds, their master enshrouded in gales.

The Mandarin thrust his hand out, and another ring glowed, sending out a powerful wave of energy smashing through barricades. It glowed again, and two tanks were seemingly attracted to each other. They were pulled together, the magnetic forces inescapable. Smoke rose high from their smashed bodies.

“None of you are worthy to challenge m-AAGH!”

The Mandarin flew backwards, slamming into a tree as a helicopter hovered low above the rooftops with its minigun spiraling up for another series of shots.

The Mandarin powered through with each bullet turning to bubbles before thrusting his hand as yet another ring glowed. A bolt of pure lightning erupted from his finger and smashed through the gunship sending it spiraling down.

The man waited for the crash and the explosion, but none came. His eyes widened, seeing Detroit Steel holding the smoking hulk of steel and military hardware.

“Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?” the man asked. “You can’t stop me, no matter what you do.”

“Yeah, well forgive me if I give it the good old college try,” Soarin’s voice echoed out of the mecha, chainsaw spinning up. “Welcome to America, jackass!”

One punch sent the Mandarin flying, as he smashed into a building with bricks and mortar flying everywhere.

“You should have just stayed in your cave,” Soarin’ said, his suit’s minigun spiraling up and ready to dish out death. “From Silver Zoom, here’s a little gift of appreciation. A little thank you for sending him into early retirement. It’s better than flowers.”

The Mandarin glowed with a violently red aura as he flew up and over out of the gun’s range only for Detroit Steel to leap forwards and bodyslam him back to earth.

He picked himself up, and rolled out of the way from a deadly chainsaw swing and another of his rings glowed. Suddenly, Detroit Steel felt like he was in the grip of a black hole and finding it impossible to move.

Mind, his gun still worked and the Mandarin was kept on the defensive with his own armor barely managing to keep him powering through the shots.

And yet the mecha was still moving by some miracle, even as ice raced up its legs to grip it tightly and hold it still.

“FOOOOOOOR HALA!” came a war cry, the good Captain leaping out from behind Detroit with sword in hand. The Mandarin leaped back as the Kree slammed his sword into the ground, before pulling it out for another swing. “For Earth!”

Mar-Vehl rushed towards the Mandarin, ready to impale him on a bloody blade.

The Mandarin sidestepped and encased his fist in lightning with one knuckle ready to cave Mar-Vehl’s skull in.

The Kree warrior whirled and blocked the blow with his blade before sliding backwards as a stream of fire erupted from the Mandarin’s other fist.

And again, Detroit Steel’s minigun had its eye on target. Thinking fast, the Mandarin shoved Mar-Vehl in front of it with the Kree warrior quickly summoning his shield.

And in his other hand, a laser pistol. Several shots made the Mandarin stagger before Mar-Vehl changed his shield into a more familiar shape. As the Mandarin dodged and weaved to avoid Soarin’s shots, a round disk bounced off several buildings before colliding with him.

The Mandarin spit and swore as he smashed into the side of a van. “Very well then… if you won’t submit to me, your rightful ruler then I’ll find someone you will submit to. BOW!”

His hand shot upwards and a beam ruptured the sky, a hole in the walls of reality growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. And then an unearthly roar, turning to a screech.

“From the realms beyond our own, came a dragon. The ancient monks called it Shao-Lao the Undying,” said the Mandarin, his face contorted with maniacal glee. “So what, I wonder, would they call this?”

And sickly green claws gripped the hole in the world, pulling it open wider and wider with sounds like thunder. A repeating foom, foom, foom. Fins and fangs peered through the hole and the great dragon roared to the world...

Comments

[badninja]

Bringing in a certain dragon I see. Plus they finally dropped the Spider-Man trailer.