My Little Avengers: Part 1

"Tony," gasped Pepper Potts, her mouth wide open in shock. "I…I…I gotta be dreaming here."

"No, you're not. It really is me, Pepper."

Still, Pepper couldn't believe what was happening. As far as she was concerned, her husband and business partner was dead.

"This…this has got to be some kind of your virtual messages," Pepper stammered. "Did you leave another message that wasn't played at the funeral? Peter, tell me if this is really him."

"It is, Mrs. Stark," replied the young boy, walking over towards her and gesturing her to look at Tony's spirit. "It's…it's quite a long story, but it has something to do with Thanos."

"With…Thanos?" asked Pepper, becoming more and more confused. "Are you sure about that, Peter?"

All Peter could do was nod yes, leaving Pepper with very little sanity. To her, this was a sort of a denial that she was experiencing.

"Okay," she said, pacing back and forth. "How in the world is Thanos back from the dead? All I know is that you took the infinity stones and turned him and his army to dust, Tony. If it really is you."

With each word his widow spoke, Tony began to realize more and more that he needed to be of flesh and blood once more. But, none of his technologies or his Iron Man powers would give it to him.

"Listen," sighed Tony, floating over to Pepper's desk. "I know you have been struggling with all that has been happening. You may not see me, but I can see you and I can see your pain. And right now, we need your help. It's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake again."

Just then, another knock was heard at the door and the door opened to reveal Julia Carpenter, walking in with some papers.

"Uh, what's going on here?" asked the red haired COO. "Who's the kid?"

But Julia didn't get any response. Remembering his manners, Peter turned to her.

"Name's Pete Parker," he said. "And you are…?"

"Julia Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer of Stark Enterprises and shouldn't you be in school right now, Pete?"

"It's summer break, Miss Carpenter. And I was Mr. Stark's protégé."

"Protégé?"

Suddenly, Julia began to realize who was standing in front of her.

"Wait a minute, you're the same Peter Parker that Tony had been mentoring, right?"

"Yes, but not to work here."

He took his right arm and showed Julia the web slingers on his wrist, catching the COO's attention.

"Where did you get those?" Julia asked, realizing more and more of who was standing in front of her. Pulling up the sleeves of her suit jacket, Julia revealed a pair of web slingers on her wrists as well. "You're Spider Man, aren't you?"

Tony couldn't help but chuckle to himself upon realizing what was playing out in front of him.

"I am Spider Man. And you must be Spider Woman, of Force Works?"

Julia nodded silently in reply. But Pepper was still dumbstruck by all that was happening.

"All right, this is nothing but awkwardness all happening in my office. Someone needs to tell me what is going on here and fast before I call security."

"We just told you, Mrs. Stark that Thanos has come back from the dead, planning to take over Equestria with King Sombra."

"Seriously?" stammered Pepper. "You're a brony, aren't you?"

"A rather G rated brony to be exact and we need you to help us, Mrs. Stark."

"Because if Thanos conquers Equestria and gets its magic, then he could carry out the decimation all over again," said Tony. "Please, we need you, Pepper. If not for me, then for the sake of our daughter."

Realizing that she had no other option, Pepper had no other choice but to accept the fate that had been given to her.

"And I'll join you as well," added Julia. "It's going to take time to get to know one another, but I'm certainly no stranger to teamwork."

Just then, the arrival of another individual added to the urgency of the situation.

"What's going on here?" asked Rhodes. "What is…?"

Letting out a sharp gasp, he saw Tony's spirit sitting in Pepper's desk.

"Tony?" gasped Rhodes. "Can…can it be?"

"Hey, Rhody," smiled Tony. "Come on in and make yourself comfortable."

Accepting his fate, Rhodes joined the group gathered in the executive office.

…

…

Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch and the injured humane five had taken shelter in a nearby coffee shop from the throngs of hypnotized citizens.

"What…what's going on here?" gasped Rainbow Dash, peeking out from behind a bar. "Who…who is doing this?"

"It must be Sombra's doing," answered Sci-Twi, moaning slightly from the pain in her arm she had sustained in the fight with the Crystal Prep students. "Guess this must have been their plan, to build an army."

"Well, we can't just sit around here and do nothing," added Rainbow Dash, walking over to console a deeply worried Rarity. "We've got to stop him."

"We will," said Scarlet Witch. "But not alone. Right now, we need to join forces with my comrades."

"Comrades?" asked Fluttershy. "What comrades?"

But Scarlet Witch didn't answer right away. For she was also just as scared as the girls were and little did they know that she had a personal vendetta against Thanos that needed to be carried out.

Just then, a portal opened and out stepped Dr. Strange and Sunset Shimmer, who ran over to the side of her injured friends.

"Sunset!" cried Sci-Twi.

"Twilight!" Sunset cried back, bending down to hug her friend. "What happened?"

"The Crystal Prep girls, they were kidnapped by Thanos and brainwashed into serving him," explained Rainbow Dash. "They gave us all these injuries."

Sunset couldn't believe what she was hearing and realized very quickly that this was a war that she couldn't escape from.

"That's not like them," she said, looking back to Dr. Strange as Scott and Sam walked through to help the girls to their feet. "What do we do now?"

"We regroup and prepare to work together," said Dr. Strange. "Even as we speak, Thanos is preparing to build his army to attack Equestria with."

Now Sunset was becoming more and more determined to stop Thanos and Sombra at all costs.

…

…

At the same time, Adrian Toomes sat in his prison cell, thinking of what could have been. All he wanted was to make a living and support his family in every way possible, living the life of a salvage worker. But despite being in the position he was in, Adrian still had a code to live by. Looking at a picture of his daughter and wife, Adrian closed his eyes, hoping and praying that he would one day see them again as a free man.

"Look Toomes," asked a fellow prisoner, interrupting Adrian's solitude and reflection. "I know you know who Spider Man really is. Care to tell me."

"How many times must I tell you, Mac?" said Adrian, giving a hard look to his fellow prisoner. "I don't know who is the man behind Spider Man."

"I also know you are lying, Toomes," snarled Mac, pulling Adrian towards him by the collar of his prison uniform. "You know that he used to be your daughter's boyfriend and you made a threat against him. And don't even bother trying to hide the truth from me any longer, because I will find out the truth eventually."

"You want to find out the truth?" remarked Adrian, giving a forced smile. "You'll have to kill me to get it."

"Maybe I will," said Mac. "And you won't get to see your daughter and wife again."

Still, Adrian held his ground, determined to not let the intimidation of a fellow prisoner bring him down.

"You can kill me, but my spirit will live on," cried Adrian, pushing Mac away from him against the wall of their prison cell. "I gave a word of honor and I am not going to turn back my word."

Suddenly and without even looking, he was engulfed by a black force that took him underground. Mac gasped in shock and horror at what just happened.

"What the hell?" he cried. "Toomes?"

…

At the same time, in the depths of hell, a human figure in Asgardian attire also sat in the confines of a prison, his eternal punishment for his misdeeds. As he sat in solitude, a bowl of gruel was shoved beneath the doors of his cell.

"Are you going to eat that, Loki?" asked a horned angel guard. "No point in letting it go to waste."

"I'm not hungry," Loki responded sharply. "Why must you even keep serving this slop every day? I had better things when I was in Asgard."

But the guard said nothing and turned away from the disgraced brother of Thor. Looking down at the bowl of gruel, Loki could only wonder what was going to happen with his life going forward.

Suddenly, he felt himself engulfed with the same dark magic that had engulfed Adrian Toomes.

…

In the depths of the galaxy, a dark and evil spirit floated endlessly crying out in anguish and frustration.

"Peter…my son," the voice rasped. "Peter…"

Like the others before him, the spirit was engulfed with the black mass.

…

At that moment in a junkyard in Sokovia, the remnants of a robot created by Tony Stark long ago, were resting amongst the piles of junk. Just then, the same black mass engulfed the destroyed robot and pulled it down into the earth.

…

…

A few moments later, Adrian Toomes found himself in the depths of a cave looking around to see where he was.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked as the black mass also revealed Loki to him. "Who the hell are you? Some kind of character from Snow White?"

"I'll have you know that I am not a character from whatever you just said," Loki snapped, grabbing Adrian by his collar and pushing him against the wall. "I happen to be Loki, prince of Asgard. Or at least I was. Why did you summon me? What do you want?"

"Nothing," Adrian replied, seemingly having no fear. "I was brought here as well and am just as confused as you."

Just then, the two men were joined by the evil spirit which up until then had been floating around in the galaxy. A figure in a brown tunic with a white beard stepped out from the shadows, opening his eyes at them.

"Ego the Living?" gasped Loki. "You have returned?"

But the man said nothing.

"Why did you bring us here?" Loki asked.

"He didn't," said a voice and the three villains turned to see a demonic blue ram walking towards them, coming out of the shadows and placing his hooves on a table, in front of a glowing crystal ball. "It was I. You may call me…Grogar."

The three men glanced at one another, looking confused.

"Who?" asked Loki.

"And I assure you that I am very real," continued Grogar. "And you have all been brought here as part of my plan to obtain the power of the Mad Titan himself…by any means necessary."

Little did any of the villains know that they were about to be pulled into the growing plans that the mad ram was cooking up.