Once the party winded down, and the guests had returned to their peaceful homes, the team gathered around the coffee table near the Windows.
She sat down next to Tony, chatting idly at first, but bickering soon after.
"Tony, Star Wars is 100% better than Star Trek."
"But, I mean, Captain Kirk is so—"
"—Tony, no."
"But—"
"—No."
"But it's a trick," Clint proclaimed, causing their attention to shift to him.
Victoria looked towards Rhodey for an explanation, to which he said, "They're arguing over Thor's hammer."
"Oh no, it's much more than that," Thor stated while handing Steve some of the alcohol he brought from Asgard.
"Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power," Clint mocked while motioning to the Mjölner. "Whatever man, it's a trick."
"Well please, be my guest," Thor gestured to his Mjölner.
"C'mon," Tony taunted Clint.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Thor replied.
"Daddy, don't pull a back muscle!"
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodey remarked.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony taunted again, this time causing the team to let out a few chuckles.
"You know I've seen this before right," Clint said to Thor. He gripped onto the hammer and began to pull. The hammer didn't even budge, causing the archer to laugh. "I still don't know how you do it."
"Smell the silent judgement?"
"Please," Clint gestured to the hammer. "Stark, by all means."
Tony put his glasses down and sauntered to the Mjölner, ignoring the comments he was receiving.
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," he stated, wrapping the material around his wrist. "It's physics. So if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"
"Yes, of course."
"I will be reinstituting primanocta," he remarked before pulling.
Like Clint, the hammer stayed in place. He took the material off again and began walking away, "I'll be right back."
Tony returned with one of his suit's arm. Even with the artificial strength, the hammer refused to budge. He then called upon Rhodey to help him lift.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked him.
"Are you on my team?"
"Just represent," Rhodey replied. "Pull."
After Tony and Rhodey tried, and failed miserably, Bruce took his turn. After another failure, Steve stood up to the challenge. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and stood behind the hammer.
"Come on, Cap," Tony said as Steve started pulling.
The hammer budged slightly, causing Thor's face to drop. Steve readjusted his hands and pulled again, this time the hammer stayed put. Thor let out a nervous chuckle, remarking, "No, nothing!"
"Hop on up, Nat," Victoria grinned. "Your turn."
"Oh no, no. That's not a question I need answered."
"What about you, baby bird?" Clint looked at his daughter, who rose an eyebrow at the question. "Why don't you have a try?"
"Oh, what the hell."
She stood, her curls flying through the air. She bit her lip in concentration and pulled with all her might. The hammer was glued to the table. She flopped down, huffing as her father stood up.
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be King," Tony stated. "But it's rigged."
"You bet your ass," Clint said, patting Tony on his back.
"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria tittle-taled.
"You tell everyone about that?" Steve questioned Tony who ignored him.
"The handles imprinted, right?" Tony concluded. "Like a security code. Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints is, I think – the literal translation."
"Yes, it's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor stood and gripped his hammer's handle, lifting and flipping it. "You're all not worthy."
Everyone laughed, until a ringing noise was heard. Victoria cringed, her ears seeming to echo the noise. Her attention shifted to the archway where a destroyed legion stumbled.
"Worthy..." A low and eerie voice dragged out the word. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."
"Stark," Steve said, his voice firm.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony called out.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a— dream..."
"Reboot Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony instructed the system.
"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in— in— strings," the suit said, looking around him. "I had to kill the other guy, he was a good guy."
"You killed someone?"
"Wouldn't have been my first call," he said. "But— down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."
"Who sent you?" Thor questioned the legion.
"I see a suit of armour around the world," the suit voiced Tony. Bruce looked towards the playboy.
"Ultron."
"In the flesh— or no, not yet," the suit looked at his body. "Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready, I'm on a mission."
"What mission?"
"Peace in our time."
A legion flew directly towards Victoria, causing her eyes to widen as she rolled out of the way just in time. Another robot came towards her and after a struggle he moved to another Avenger. Her father gripped onto her arm, pulling her up the stairs to where Steve's shield lay.
"Cap!"
Clint threw him the shield and looked at his daughter, who's eyes were wide with fear. His heart dropped – he hated seeing her scared. He left to fight while Victoria crouched down, avoiding a robot that was flung above her. She ran up to one, wrapping her legs around it's neck and twisting – making the head fly off.
"That was dramatic. I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change? How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to— evolve?" He picked up the destroyed legion. "With these— these puppets? There's only one path to peace. The Avengers extinction."
Thor, aggravated, threw his Mjölner at the bot and it smashed to pieces. Clint's eyes met his daughters, who looked away.
Victoria sighed, realising that whatever that just happened, was far from being over with.
